Pay respects to parents-in-law

  Su Mei lifted the silk curtain and walked into the inner room, not daring to glance around, and said in a low voice: "Young Master, it's getting late, Madam is probably waiting anxiously, you and Young Mistress should get up and pay your respects with tea."

  Xiao Heng furrowed his brow, hesitated and looked at Yuan Yi, considering whether to wake her up or not. Just then, Yuan Yi slowly opened her eyes.

  Her eyes, clear as crystal, flashed with a hint of confusion, and it wasn't until she saw Xiao Heng that she suddenly came to her senses. Remembering the events of last night, Yuan Yi gave him an unhappy look, ignoring his pleading and begging gaze, brushing aside his arm, and straightening up her body.

  What used to be a simple action in the past has become extremely difficult today, and just a slight movement makes her whole body ache and hurt, as if it's falling apart. Fortunately, she was already wearing her clothes, so she endured the discomfort, got out of bed, and asked, "Who came to the outer room?" Although she hadn't woken up before, in her daze, she had also heard a woman's voice.

  Su Mei finally lifted her head, supported Yuanyi in front of the dressing mirror and sat down, answering: "Miss, it's Qian Nainai by Madam's side, who came to take...take Yuan Pa's." She was after all a young lady from a good family, this sentence was somewhat embarrassing to say, her face slightly flushed with shame.

  Yuanni's face was also somewhat embarrassed, exposing such private things in public was like being stripped naked and watched by people, it was very embarrassing. However, this was a necessary procedure for ancient newlywed brides, without the red veil, it was equivalent to losing her chastity.

  After making up his mind, Yuan Yi took a small box containing a handkerchief and handed it to Su Mei, "Give this to her and ask someone to come in and attend to her."

  Su Mei responded and went out, Yuan Yi felt extremely exhausted, so she leaned against the headboard with her eyes closed to rest. At this moment, a scorching chest was pressed close to her back, Xiao Heng gently poked her cheek and asked, "Yi'er, are you angry?"

  She opened her eyes and smiled wryly: "Angry? How could I be, husband? Don't think too much."

  Her response made Xiao Heng nervous, he would rather she scolded him than be ambiguous and unpredictable. Otherwise, who knows what kind of trouble she might stir up for him in the future. Thinking back to the scissors that had been held against his abdomen earlier, Xiao Heng suddenly felt a sense of foreboding about his prospects.

  He hastily replaced Yuan Yi's shoulder and back, while flattering: "Yi'er, how is the force? Is it comfortable?"

  He closed his eyes, enjoying the attention, nodded slightly and slowly opened his mouth, "Not bad, continue, yes, a bit more downwards." However, when the movement on his shoulder stopped, Yuan Yi turned back in surprise and asked, "What's wrong?"

  Xiao Heng was already standing with his hands tied behind his back, looking out the window with an inscrutable expression, as if something strange outside had caught his attention. Yuan Yi's confusion was suddenly resolved in the next moment, and he saw that the soft curtain was slightly moving, and it was a servant who had come in to attend to him.

  She smiled and glanced at Xiao Heng, but didn't say anything, and instead focused on rinsing her mouth and washing her face under the care of Xing Hong. Xing Hong and Lan Zi were both senior maidservants arranged by Zhang Shi for her, and since Lan Zi was beaten that time, they had both become much more subdued, doing their work quietly and not causing any more trouble. Before she got married, Zhang Shi wanted to choose some maidservants to accompany her, but Yuan Yi deliberately chose Xing Hong and Lan Zi, at least having spent some time with them, she had a good grasp of their characters.

  Lan Zi's hair styling skills were excellent, which was also the reason why Zhang Shi gave it to her. Yuan Yi couldn't help but nod in admiration as he looked at the beautiful and neat bun in the copper mirror. She turned to the dressing table, her slender fingers moved lightly, and landed on the golden-inlaid jade butterfly flower hairpin, personally picking it up and inserting it into her sleek black high bun, with a pendant that swayed gently when she moved.

  At this time, Lan Zi took a pair of jade hairpins and pinned them on both sides of her bun, asking respectfully: "Young lady, is this okay?"

  Yuanyi glanced sideways, and saw that the hairpin on her forehead was still acceptable, but another pair of crimson tassels would be too showy. However, she didn't refute it, as her own senior maid should maintain some dignity in front of Xiao Fu's maids.

  So she smiled and nodded, "Okay, Lanzi's gaze became even more fierce."

  Lan Zi's face turned slightly red as she lowered her head and asked, "Does the young mistress want to put on makeup today?"

  In the past, Yuanyi didn't like to wear makeup, and her personal attendants all understood her rules. It's just that times have changed, which is why Lanzi asked this question.

  Yuan Yi saw the unmistakable fatigue and haggardness on her face, slightly furrowed his brow, and said: "Put on some light makeup."

  Lan Zi nodded and quickly applied a light makeup to her, covering up the signs of fatigue. She immediately looked refreshed and radiant. At this moment, Cherry brought in an ancient smoke-patterned blue silk dress and a golden thread-embroidered gauze skirt, waiting for her to change into them. After everything was ready, Yuan Yi finally had the mind to look at Xiao Heng, but what she saw made her so angry that her teeth itched.

  Xiao Hengzheng stretched out his arms, and without moving a muscle, he had beautiful maidservants gently helping him get ready, one to help him put on his clothes, one to tie his belt, one to comb his hair, and even one kneeling down to help him put on his shoes.

  Noticing Yuan Yi's gaze, Xiao Heng's peach blossom eyes curved slightly as he nodded at her, "Yi'er, are you alright? Wait a bit, I'll be right with you." Then, he turned to the several maids and said impatiently, "What's going on today? Why is everything so slow? Hurry up, can't you see that Young Mistress is waiting?"

  Those maids all lowered their eyes in a wronged manner, responded with a "yes", and the movements of their hands became nimble, and it only took a short while to get fully dressed.

  A black wide-sleeved robe, a jade crown holding back his hair, a brocade sash tied around his waist, with a handsome and elegant face, dignified and majestic, like a jade tree in the wind. If not for the faint hint of evil in his eyes, he would be considered a true gentleman, unmatched in the world, a gem among common people.

  Xiao Heng wore a pair of green velvet boots, walked to Yuan Yi's side, grabbed her hand and said: "Yi'er, let's go, I'm afraid we won't make it for breakfast, we can eat at Mother's place later."

  Although they were newlyweds, holding hands in broad daylight was indeed improper, and the servants inside had already looked away, not daring to glance again. Yuan Yi didn't want to give people a frivolous reputation either, so he hastily let go of her hand and led the way out. Xiao Heng didn't mind it at all, chuckled lightly, and followed after her.

  The old woman who had been waiting outside took the handkerchief and went back to report to Madame Wang, while Su Mei and Xiang Mei followed behind her.

  After walking for a while, Su Mei took advantage of Xiao Heng's distance and whispered to Yuan Yi: "Miss, Ba Jiao went to the madam's courtyard and hasn't come back yet."

  Yuan Yi didn't know about the errand beforehand, and she looked at her with confusion. Lan Mei briefly told her what had happened that morning, and Yuan Yi finally understood. She furrowed her brow and said, "It's not a good time to ask questions now, let's talk about it later. It seems that my mother-in-law is also a difficult person to deal with. You all should be careful too, remind our people when we get back to be cautious with their words and actions, don't let others find fault."

  Su Mei and Xiang Mei had long been aware of Qian Mama's glance, so they naturally understood the reason, nodded hastily and stood up to respond.

  Xiao Heng leaned over to Yuan Yi's side and smiled: "What are you masters and servants whispering about?"

  When he went out, he saw that the two maids had a look of wanting to say something but hesitated, as if they wanted to talk to Yuan Yi, but were afraid of him being on the side. They endured it all the way until they were about to arrive at the main courtyard, and then magnanimously fell back a few steps, leaving space for the master and servants to talk. Although the distance was far, people who practiced martial arts had good hearing, and could vaguely hear words like "Madam" and "maids".

  What's wrong with Yuan Yi's maid?

  She still didn't know what had happened and didn't want to talk to Xiao Heng about it. If something really did happen to that banana servant girl, then so be it. But if nothing happened, and the news reached Madam's ears, it would be a whole other lawsuit, stirring up trouble between mother and son - what kind of crime was that?

  She shook her head and said casually: "It's just a little maid by my side, nothing important."

  When she said that, Xiao Heng felt that it was just a small servant girl and didn't bother to pay attention, continuing to introduce the scenery on the road to Yuan Yi. In contrast to Xiao Heng's enthusiasm, Yuan Yi was much colder, but still gave face and nodded in response, indicating that he was listening, but in his heart, he was constantly calculating and estimating the difficulties he might face later, thinking of ways to deal with them secretly.

  In this way, she absent-mindedly arrived at the main courtyard, where a maid led several people into the main hall. A man and woman were already seated in the upper seats, who appeared to be Xiao Heng's parents, her father-in-law and mother-in-law.

  Yuanyi hastily followed Xiao Heng and paid his respects, calling them "Father" and "Mother". However, he did not get up, and continued: "Your daughter-in-law has arrived late, causing you to wait for a long time. This is truly unfilial, please forgive me."

  She propped herself up for a while, not hearing the call to get up, and didn't dare move randomly, so she could only keep her body still. If it were usual, it would be fine, but today her whole body was sore, and walking to the main courtyard had already exhausted her energy. After this ordeal, even with her strong willpower, she couldn't hold on at this moment, and her body swayed slightly.

  A woman's voice suddenly rang out, seemingly dissatisfied and sarcastic, saying: "The young lady of the Zhu family, etiquette is no more than this."

  "Shut up a bit." Xiao Shuo glared at Yun Shi beside him and scolded in a low voice. Yun Shi was not pleased with this marriage, and had quarreled with him for a long time before. But since Yuan Nan was willing to marry, he didn't want any trouble, so he settled on the person Yuan Nan liked. He knew Yun Shi was dissatisfied, but letting her give his new daughter-in-law a hard time was one thing, but if she continued to make sarcastic remarks, it would be unbecoming of an elder.

  He shook his head helplessly, and since he couldn't expect Yunshi to speak up, he turned to Yuan Yi, who was already swaying slightly, and said kindly, "Daughter-in-law, you can get up first. You were tired yesterday, and it's not a big deal if you're late. We elders shouldn't blame you."

  Yuan Yi let out a sigh of relief, hastily expressed his gratitude and stood up. He glanced at the dark-skinned family butler with an air of majesty, his face bearing a gentle yet slightly stiff smile, which seemed to be an uncommon expression for him.

  She thought of him bluntly saying that she was hardworking yesterday, if it were another young wife with a tender face, she would have been ashamed and angry. She remembered her father's evaluation of Xiao Shuo at home, and couldn't help but smile, this old man is also a wonderful person.