“Why are you crying?”
Lu Zhi looked at Yu Xi flatly, not understanding why she was crying.
Since she had decided that day to marry him, she should have known that he would never waste even the slightest unnecessary effort on matters of romantic affection, nor would he spoil her simply because of their marriage.
Yu Xi’s red lips pressed together slightly. She remembered her mother’s instructions, since she had married for this face, she would have to endure Lu Zhi’s temper.
She decided she would bear with it, at least until Lu Zhi’s face stopped being handsome, and then she wouldn’t have to put up with him anymore.
Besides, he was nine years older than her, that old, by the time that happened she’d just divorce and remarry, hmph!
Thinking this, Yu Xi felt better inside, and nodded obediently, her voice carrying a slight sob. “Whatever you say, husband.”
Not expecting her to be so docile, Lu Zhi’s expression softened slightly. Since she was being obedient, he didn’t need to be overly strict either.
“It’s late.”
Lu Zhi stood up.
Hearing this, Yu Xi immediately stepped back and walked to the bed, blushing.
Lu Zhi frowned slightly, and saw Yu Xi turn to glance at him first, then burrow into the blankets, leaving only a pair of large eyes exposed, and crook a finger at him.
Yu Xi’s voice was shy and timid. “Husband, come quickly, I’m already ready.”
She could hardly wait to lie in Lu Zhi’s arms and talk to him all night while looking at his face!
Lu Zhi stood where he was without moving. The faintly flickering candlelight lit his cheek; his gaze was light and thin, giving no hint of what he was thinking.
Lu Zhi said, “I still have important matters unfinished. I’ll sleep in the study tonight. You settle in first.”
With that, he turned and walked out of the room.
Yu Xi sat up, a little dazed, and it wasn’t until Xique hurried in that she said, “Husband went to the study to handle matters.”
Xique looked at her mistress’s half-understanding little face and nodded sympathetically. “The young master is a cabinet minister, it’s normal for his affairs to be complicated. Miss, you should sleep quickly, you still have tea to serve tomorrow morning.”
Yu Xi flopped back into the blankets, her hand touching a longan fruit, and gave a muffled “mm.”
Not sleeping together with Lu Zhi, what a shame. But since he was so busy, never mind, after all, she wasn’t an unreasonable person.
Yu Xi rubbed her eyes, drowsiness gradually sweeping over her, her mind still full of Lu Zhi before she fell asleep.
Tonight was fine, but tomorrow she couldn’t let him be busy again, otherwise she’d follow him to the study to sleep too. Even if he got angry at her, she’d still go along.
…
Yu Xi didn’t have trouble sleeping in a strange bed, and slept soundly through the night. When Xique woke her in the morning, she burrowed reluctantly deeper into the blankets again and again. “Xique, I’m so sleepy! I’m not getting up!”
This was already the third time Xique had come to wake her. “Aiyo, Miss, get up quickly! The young master has been waiting in the front courtyard for nearly half an hour, you need to go serve tea to your parents-in-law!”
Hearing this, Yu Xi opened her eyes, and belatedly remembered, she was married now.
She was half-dragged, half-pulled by Xique to the dressing table, still drowsy, and couldn’t help saying, “I see Uncle Lu and Auntie Lu often, it shouldn’t matter if I’m a little late for the tea ceremony.”
Xique arranged her hair, speaking earnestly, “Miss, you need to change how you address them now, to Father and Mother.”
Yu Xi rubbed her eyes. “Fine.”
In the front courtyard, Lu Zhi waited half an hour, then another half hour, until the sky was fully bright, and still there was no sign of Yu Xi.
The servants attending with tea in the hall couldn’t help exchanging glances, on the first day of the marriage, the young mistress was already making the young master wait this long; she was surely going to get a scolding later.
After another cup of tea’s worth of time passed, Lu Zhi finally saw Yu Xi coming toward him like a flower butterfly.
She wore a brand new peach-pink soft cloud-gauze dress gathered at the waist with a jade ring, swaying gracefully as she walked, her black hair coiled up like dark clouds, adorned with an array of hair ornaments.
Yu Xi ran over, trailing a strong fragrance, and leaned close to Lu Zhi, saying sweetly, “Husband, I’m here.”
As she ran, the jade pendants on her ears swayed against the side of her face, adding to her charm.
The servants attending nearby couldn’t help staring, their young master had actually married such a beautiful, delicate wife, but unfortunately, she was already going to be found tiresome on the very first day.
Lu Zhi looked at Yu Xi, who was nearly an hour late, and instead of blaming her for being late first, said, “Why are you dressed like this?”
Yu Xi, having slept her fill, was in good spirits, and turned a circle in front of him with her eyes curved. “This looks nice, doesn’t it.”
She wanted to hear Lu Zhi praise her, blinking her cat-like eyes, and asked, “Husband, don’t you think so?”
Lu Zhi looked at her and remarked, “Like a butterfly.”
Pretty as it was, it was too showy, not dignified.
Yu Xi, a little embarrassed, twisted her handkerchief and said bashfully, “Husband, do you also think I’m pretty like a butterfly?”
She had originally worried she’d be scolded for being late, but instead of scolding her, Lu Zhi had praised her.
Yu Xi just knew it, no one could dislike her!
Lu Zhi had nothing to say to that, and stood up, looking down at her. “You’re an hour late.”
“Oh, oh,” what was bound to come hadn’t been avoided after all. Yu Xi gave a slightly awkward laugh and explained sweetly, “I accidentally overslept, I didn’t mean to. I promise it won’t happen again next time.”
“No matter how small the matter, one must always be punctual and keep one’s word. We’ll let it go this time,” Lu Zhi said, stepping forward first. “Let’s go. I’ve already had someone send word to Father and Mother, they’ve been waiting a long while.”
Yu Xi followed at his side with small steps. “Husband, you’re so thoughtful.”
Although he was occasionally a bit strict, it was a minor flaw against his overall excellence, Lu Zhi was handsome, thoughtful, and talented. Yu Xi thought her own judgment was really excellent.
She called him “husband” over and over, which made Lu Zhi quite uncomfortable.
Walking along the covered corridor, Lu Zhi said coldly, “Now that you’ve married me, you need to remember your position. From now on, your clothing should be plain and dignified, you may not wear such showy clothes again. In public you may not be overly intimate with me either. Your conduct must be proper, so as not to give people something to gossip about.”
As he spoke, Yu Xi answered with random “mm-hm”s, her eyes glued to him, not a single word going into her ears.
Lu Zhi was wearing an ink-blue round-collared robe today, his hair bound with a jade crown, fully revealing his face, clear and bright as the moon and the wind. His eyes were always light, carrying the calm and composure of someone who held everything in command.
But Yu Xi’s gaze was too intense; it was hard for him not to notice.
From placing first in the imperial examination to entering the cabinet, over ten-odd years, everything had gone smoothly for Lu Zhi, no one had ever dared to stare at him so directly the way Yu Xi did. He felt quite displeased.
He turned his head slightly and asked flatly, “Did you remember what I said?”
Yu Xi nodded. “I remembered, I remembered!”
Yu Xi had no idea what Lu Zhi was thinking. In her mind, Lu Zhi was her husband, which meant he belonged to her, she could look at him however she wanted!
Seeing her like this, Lu Zhi felt as if he were looking at the worst-performing official of the month, agreeing with everything said, but unable to actually accomplish a single thing that needed doing.
The two walked in silence all the way to Serenity Court, where Grand Tutor Lu and his wife lived.
Madam Lu had originally been worried that her son would be cold toward Yu Xi. Seeing the two of them walk in together, her worry was instantly confirmed, sure enough, Lu Zhi was cold toward Yu Xi.
Madam Lu asked Yu Xi with concern, “Xi’er, are you settling in all right?”
“I’m settling in fine,” Yu Xi said, not needing anyone to instruct her, taking the tea from the attending nurse and offering it to Grand Tutor Lu first as she spoke. “Father, please have some tea.”
Then she offered one to Madam Lu too, her voice sweet and bright. “Mother, please have some tea!”
Even though the two families had had some unpleasantness over the switched engagement, both Grand Tutor Lu and Madam Lu were generous people, not the sort to hold it against the younger generation.
Grand Tutor Lu drank his tea and said to Lu Zhi, “Now that you’ve started a family, you are a husband today, and a father tomorrow. Always remember, when husband and wife are in harmony, the household prospers, you must never treat your wife carelessly or scold her lightly. After marriage, you also mustn’t slacken in your official duties. Diligence and self-discipline are the way of a gentleman.”
Hearing this, Lu Zhi lowered his eyes. “I will keep Father’s instructions firmly in mind.”
Grand Tutor Lu nodded, and looked at Yu Xi. “Now that you’ve married into our Lu family, if you ever suffer any wrong in the future, Father will see justice done for you.”
Yu Xi said immediately, “No wrong at all! My husband treats me very well!”
When she finished, Lu Zhi glanced at her but said nothing.
Grand Tutor Lu and Madam Lu exchanged a glance, and Grand Tutor Lu made an excuse to leave first.
Madam Lu then took Yu Xi’s hand, full of tender affection. “Good child, just think of this as your own home. If anything ever troubles you, tell Mother.”
Because Yu Xi had been engaged to Lu Ping in a childhood betrothal, even though she hadn’t ended up marrying the second son but the eldest instead, to Madam Lu it made little difference.
She had doted on Yu Xi for all these years just as she would her own child, and now that Yu Xi had truly married into the family, she would naturally treat her even better.
What’s more… when the marriage was switched, her willingness to agree had also come from her own private reasons.
Yu Xi said, “Don’t worry, Mother, husband will surely treat me well!”
Hearing this, Madam Lu couldn’t help but smile, and squeezed Yu Xi’s hand, taking the bracelet off her own wrist and putting it on Yu Xi. “This was passed down to me from your grandmother. Now Mother passes it on to you.”
Yu Xi looked at the lustrous green bracelet on her wrist and exclaimed, “Wow, this bracelet has such fine color!”
As she said this, she turned and shook her wrist at Lu Zhi. “Husband, look, the bracelet Mother gave me is so pretty!”
Looking at the small stretch of pale bare arm exposed, Lu Zhi frowned. “Why are the sleeves so wide? Change it when we get back.”
Yu Xi pouted her red lips slightly, but before she could speak, Madam Lu spoke first. “This kind of sleeve is fashionable right now. It looks so nice on Xi’er. Besides, you shouldn’t demand that everyone bend to your wishes in everything, you don’t understand these things.”
Since Madam Lu had spoken, Lu Zhi could only say, “As Mother says.”
Yu Xi leaned against Madam Lu, unable to help thinking, if only Lu Zhi would listen to her in everything from now on too…
Just as she was thinking this, she looked up and saw Lu Zhi watching her, and immediately put away all the messy thoughts in her head, quietly sitting up a little straighter.
Madam Lu took in every move the young couple made, feeling somewhat helpless, her son was good in every way, but his personality was even more old-fashioned and rigid than his father the Grand Tutor’s, he needed a sweet, delicate wife to smooth him out a little.
“Xi’er, you’ve always been free and easy at home, and now that you’ve married in, I can’t bear to order you around either,” Madam Lu said gently to Yu Xi. “Our family doesn’t have so many rules, you don’t need to bother with the morning and evening greetings either. If you have time, just come keep Mother company and chat, that alone would make Mother very happy.”
Lu Zhi spoke up, signaling that Yu Xi shouldn’t abandon propriety. “Mother is being kind to you out of affection, don’t you have something to say?”
Yu Xi caught on quickly, smiling sweetly. “Thank you, Mother, I just knew Mother loves me most!”
Lu Zhi: “…”
Seeing this, Madam Lu nearly laughed out loud, and without keeping the two any longer, let them head back.
Watching the two walk off side by side, Madam Lu let out a long breath. Whatever else, her eldest son had finally married.
Yu Xi was a good girl, she’d do well no matter who she married. Thinking of her eldest son’s expression just now, Madam Lu shook her head and smiled; it had been years since she’d seen anyone leave her eldest son speechless.
But that was a good thing, after all, the one who left Lu Zhi at a loss for words was no one else but his own wife.
The light was bright and cheerful. After leaving Serenity Court, Yu Xi and Lu Zhi walked toward the courtyard where they lived.
Yu Xi was reasonably familiar with the Lu residence, but the path to Lu Zhi’s courtyard alone was unfamiliar to her. She looked left and right the whole way, occasionally tilting her face up to glance at Lu Zhi.
Compared to her somewhat cheerful gait, Lu Zhi’s steps were steady, one still, one lively, and yet the two of them fit together harmoniously amid the sweeping spring scenery.
Willow catkins drifted through the air. Yu Xi reached out to wave them away, then remembered Lu Zhi telling her to be dignified in her conduct, so she obediently kept both hands pressed to her sides instead, and blew at the catkins drifting in front of her.
“Whoosh, whoosh.”
Lu Zhi looked down and saw her puffing her cheeks to blow at the catkins, only for one to unluckily land on her forehead. She shook her head trying to shake it off, her hairpins jingling as she did.
Lu Zhi truly couldn’t understand what she was thinking, so he reached out and took the catkin off her head. “Stop blowing.”
Yu Xi raised her round eyes to look at him and said cheerfully, “Husband, you’re so nice.”
Lu Zhi turned his head away and didn’t answer.
The warm sun was calm and quiet, scattering dappled light through the new leaves.
Yu Xi’s sleeve brushed against Lu Zhi’s, the soft fabric grazing the back of his hand.
Lu Zhi pulled slightly apart to widen the distance between them, but Yu Xi quickly caught up to his side again. This time, though, what brushed the back of his hand wasn’t fabric, but her slightly moist fingertip, teasing it twice like an itch.