Shao Xun waved his hand. “I will handle this matter; you do not need to worry about it. It was not your fault either, so do not take it to heart. Once that hairpin is repaired, I will give it back to you.”
He sighed inwardly. She was right—all explanations were ultimately in vain. They truly shared the same fate despite their different backgrounds. Was not the old lady’s faction in the Marquis’s Manor treating him in the exact same manner?
In the past, he had tried to explain himself, but later he came to understand the truth.
They did not want the truth; they simply wanted to force him into submission and make him obedient.
Lin Yulan was taken aback. “That hairpin… is still to be given to this concubine?”
“Of course,” Shao Xun gave a soft laugh. “How could I take back something I have already given away? I am not that stingy!”
How could this be a matter of being stingy? That hair ornament was a gift from the late Empress Dowager to the late Marchioness, carrying extraordinary significance. Even if Shao Xun had merely lent it to her for the day, it would have been entirely normal. Failing to protect it properly meant that even if she endured his blame, it would not have been undeserved.
She had not expected that none of her apprehensions would come to pass, and that he actually meant to give it to her for good.
The Marquis was truly a generous man.
He was far better than Meng Mingchi. Meng Mingchi was someone who only knew how to shirk responsibility and blame others whenever something went wrong; it could never be his fault regardless of who was to blame.
Really, why did she keep comparing him to Meng Mingchi? In this life, they had no connection remaining.
Lin Yulan felt somewhat embarrassed and smiled weakly. “It was my slip of the tongue. I will definitely be careful in the future and not let such a thing happen again.”
Shao Xun said, “It is good that you are mindful, but there is no need to be overly obsessed with it. No matter how fine an object is, it is still just an object. If one harms oneself just to protect a item, that would be putting the cart before the horse.”
Lin Yulan agreed with these words and nodded. “I understand.”
Shao Xun smiled. “How about having lunch outside before going back?”
Today was their visit to her maiden home, and the Marquis’s Manor would certainly not have prepared lunch for them. Moreover, returning now meant the meal hour had already passed, leaving no food left to eat. Lin Yulan did not want to go hungry, so she nodded. “I will follow your arrangement in everything, Marquis.”
“Do not be so formal,” Shao Xun chuckled. “We will go to Manyue Restaurant. Order whatever you like; consider it my expression of thanks to you today.”
An expression of thanks?
Seeing that Lin Yulan was still dazed and did not seem to understand, Shao Xun was caught between laughter and tears. This woman truly did not claim credit for herself—she was far too straightforward.
He did not want his intentions to remain unclear either, so he had to spell it out. “If it were not for you today, and we had simply left, humph, your legal mother and younger sister would certainly have made up some story. I am afraid that before our front feet reached the Marquis’s Manor, a small sedan chair would have carried that Miss from the Meng family right through the back door.”
Lin Yulan said, “…”
Lin Yulan let out a bitter smile; the Marquis had realized it by now as well.
“When it comes down to it, this matter was still my involvement that dragged you in, Marquis. They actually wanted to cause trouble for me and make me lose face.”
“Yet the one they tried to scheme against was me. I am not so muddle-headed as to turn around and blame you instead.”
A warmth spread through Lin Yulan’s heart. “You are wise, Marquis.”
Shao Xun smiled. “That is simply how logic works.”
Otherwise, if they calculated according to her way of thinking, the matter regarding the wet nurse would mean he had dragged her into trouble instead.
How could such things ever be calculated clearly?
He, Shao Xun, was not an unreasonable person.
After thinking for a moment, he felt it necessary to remind her again, so he added, “Your legal mother and younger sister are actually quite foolish, relying on nothing more than their status to press others down. The people in the Manor of the Marquis of Wuwei are far harder to deal with than them, as you will come to know in the future.”
Lin Yulan nodded. “I will be careful.”
Before long, the two arrived at Manyue Restaurant.
Shao Xun was clearly a regular here, and a familiar waiter stepped forward with a flattering smile to lead the way.
Although the waiter had never seen Lin Yulan before, her attire was exceptionally splendid and prominent. Paired with the news of the Marquis of Wuwei taking a wife, a well-informed luxury restaurant in the capital naturally had heard about it. The waiter paused for a moment, then hurriedly bowed to pay his respects, flattering them with a laugh, “This must be the Marchioness, correct? Hearing that the Marquis took a wife, this humble one has not yet congratulated the Marquis and Marchioness! Congratulations! The Marchioness and the Marquis are indeed a handsome man and a beautiful woman, a match made in heaven, a natural pair!”
Lin Yulan and Shao Xun said, “…”
Shao Xun laughed and chided, “Enough of your slick talk, hurry up and lead the way!”
He originally wanted to say “the usual,” but then remembered that this meal was to thank Lin Yulan. The words took a turn at the tip of his tongue. “Introduce your specialty dishes to the Marchioness, and see what she likes.”
“Yes, yes, yes, rest assured, Marquis,” the waiter’s smile grew even brighter, not forgetting to use his fluent speech to coax the noble guests happy. “The Marquis is truly considerate and attentive to the Marchioness. The Marchioness is truly blessed! Ah, the Marquis is also blessed; one look at the Marchioness tells she is outstanding in every way, a perfect match for the Marquis, haha!”
Lin Yulan pursed her lips to suppress a smile. This waiter’s mouth was truly skilled at talking; no wonder Manyue Restaurant’s business was so good.
Shao Xun felt both amused and annoyed. He wanted to scold him, yet feared Lin Yulan might misunderstand. Letting him talk nonsense was getting to the point where even he could not listen further, fearing Lin Yulan would feel awkward as well.
In the end, he could only scold him for being verbose. “Are you going to hurry up or not? Both the Marchioness and I are still waiting with empty stomachs!”
The waiter hurriedly agreed with a chuckle and introduced the dishes to Lin Yulan with eloquent speech. In his heart, he felt endless emotion. Earlier, when he heard that the Marquis of Wuwei was going to marry a wife, they had even discussed it in private, saying that with the Marquis’s temperament, which noble lady marrying him would be able to manage him?
If she were virtuous and submissive, that would be fine, but if she could not manage him yet wanted to, her future days would be difficult indeed.
Who would have thought that right after getting married, the Marquis would actually bring his new wife to the restaurant?
The young couple’s relationship was truly good…
Lin Yulan ordered a dish of Eight-Treasure Tofu and a dish of fish soup. Shao Xun told the waiter to pick four or five items according to what he usually had and serve them quickly, and the waiter cheerfully acknowledged and went away.
When the dishes were brought up, there was also a pot of wine. The waiter said with a face full of smiles, “This is the ‘Nine-Brewed Spring’ specially gifted by our shopkeeper as a small token of regard to wish the Marquis and Marchioness a hundred years of harmony.”
Shao Xun and Lin Yulan looked at each other and thanked him with a smile. “Your shopkeeper is indeed thoughtful.”
Whenever he dined at Manyue Restaurant in the past, he would order a pot of good wine. Today, because Lin Yulan was present, he had not ordered it, yet he had not expected the shopkeeper to gift a pot anyway.
Shao Xun ordered Xiao Qu to pour the wine and said to Lin Yulan, “The Nine-Brewed Spring at Manyue Restaurant is brewed by themselves and tastes quite good. Drinking a few cups will not make one drunk. How about trying some, Marchioness?”
Lin Yulan naturally would not brush off his good intentions. In her previous life, after following Meng Mingchi back to the Manor of the Duke of Rong, she had undergone countless social engagements. A few female relatives from allied families had targeted her specifically, forcing drink after drink down her throat whenever they met. Since her mother-in-law indulged them, she could not say anything either.
To handle it calmly without making a fool of herself, she had relentlessly trained her drinking capacity in secret.
Fortunately, she had a bit of natural talent in this regard, and her drinking capacity was actually built up. Later, finding an opportunity to strike back, she drank those few people into a stupor, and only after that did no one dare target her with this again.
She did not know whether the drinking capacity she had trained in her past life remained now that she was reborn.
Yet whether it remained or not, she detested the act of drinking alcohol.
The moment she heard Shao Xun say he would pour the wine, Lin Yulan instinctively revealed a trace of resistance.