To Be A Virtuous Wife

22

Chapter Twenty Two, To Cause Ruin

The door to zheng yuan was on the same line as the door to the wang fu itself. This was showing that the person living in zhen yuan was the owner of the fu. The other concubines, including tong fang, were spread out in two side yards between the second and the third door. The guardsmen, man servants and married servants resided outside the ermin.

The rules of the wang fu were strictly enforced. The area that a person could move in was clearly divided. For the servants, to be one that could walk inside the second door to serve, that made them a rank higher than the average servant as they were serving the inner courtyard. Even if it was just sweeping the ground, it was still a duty that many competed for.

So it could be seen that Qu Qing Ju, who lived in zhen yuan and had the power over houyuan, was an existence that could not be defied.

"Wang fei, Jiang ce fei, Luo yiniang and Han yiniang have arrived," Yu Zan announced from the door.

Qu Qing Ju sat on the armchair where a thick blanket had been laid down. She laid down halfway on the back, her hands holding a pearl encrusted hand warmer. Hearing Yu Zan's announcement, her eyebrow rose: "It's cold outside in the outer hall, invite them in."

Yu Zan bowed and silently retreated.

A short while later, three different beauties walked into the rooms. After they obediently greeted Qu Qing Ju, Qu Qing Ju allowed them to sit. She drawled: "Just now I had somebody organize my personal stores. I found some good cloth and called you here to let you pick and make some new clothes." Finishing, she tilted her head to look at Mu Jin.

Mu Jin motioned for the yahuan to present the bolts. The cloth was actually of good quality. Even though it couldn't rival Yun and Shu brocade, but it still was expensive.

Of the three sitting, Jiang Yong Yu held the highest rank. She looked at the large heap of cloth on the table and couldn't help but stand to say: "Wang fei, we can't do this. The fu has already sent over cloth for us, how can we take yours?"

"There's so much even I can't wear it all. If it stays, the color will fade," Qu Qing Ju looked at the cloths. These had come from Chang De Gong Fu who had, to not shame themselves, used them as several chests of dowry. There was a lot of it, but even ten bolts of these cloths couldn't compare to the price of one bolt of Shu brocade, "Seeing you wear it, it will brighten my eyes. If it was left at the bottom of the chest, wouldn't it be a waste?"

Hearing this, Jiang Yong Yu smiled and bowed to Qu Qing Ju, "Nubi thanks wang fei for her genorosity." Finishing, she pointed at two bolts of umber cloth, "Then I'll take these two bolts first."

Qu Qing Ju looked at the two bolts of brocade and commented, "Those two are very nice. Mu Jin, give those two bolts of sapphire blue to Jiang ce fei as well. Jiang ce fei's skin is pale, the sapphire blue will show her off best."

Jiang Yong Ju remarked that wang fei was teasing her but didn't refuse. The other two shiqie picked a bolt each. Qu Qing Ju picked a bolt for each of them. The mood in the room started to become lively.

The three had the desire to ingratiate themselves and their implied compliments flowed. They weren't debasing themselves but it was possible to detect their respect.

"I had wanted to make a girdled dress but the color wasn't right. These lotus colored brocade that wang fei picked for nu, it will satisfy nu's wishes," Han Qing He caressed a bolt of lotus brocade with joy, "This color is also good for making pouches."