Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 219 - 8: The Wedding (Part 3)

Of course, not everyone among the four households’ servants could follow Susu to the Northwest. The Capital side still needed people to manage the estates, and most importantly, to relay messages.

Susu left behind Bai Fu and his wife as stewards and took Linglong and her younger brother with her. Qi Qiao’s grandfather and second uncle’s family were also left behind by Susu, besides, because that "Hong Xiu" needed a maid, Susu figured that since there was a lot of silver in her hands, and it couldn’t grow interest just sitting there, it would be better to invest in some business.

In the end, after some consideration, Susu, together with Yang Liu, Ning Cui, and Bisi, opened a furniture shop. Susu provided the manpower and designs, Yang Liu asked her husband to procure the lumber, Ning Cui’s husband had various connections who could keep an eye on things, and Bisi’s husband took charge of the accounts.

The shopkeeper was Qi Qiao’s grandfather, giving Qi Qiao face. Not much could be said against it, after all, Susu was the master and they had sold themselves into indentured servitude. What’s more, Susu even took out a tenth from her share of the profits to reward them.

Such a good opportunity had so many people clamoring for it that, aside from Qi Qiao’s second aunt and cousin being greatly surprised, everyone else was very touched.

Susu removed her makeup and dined first, and while Yang Liu and the others took their seats, a table was set in the new room, which was very rare in ancient times. The three who were married felt a bit envious of Susu.

It’s not that their husbands weren’t good, but compared to Hong Sheng, their strengths seemed less pronounced. Hong Sheng had no parents, and once Susu arrived, she took charge, not to mention any servants who might cause trouble had already been dealt with by Hong Sheng in advance.

Although Ning Cui and Bisi didn’t need to serve their in-laws, one had to look after a sister-in-law and a large number of relatives, and the other, though still a servant, each had their difficulties.

The most burdened was Yang Liu; besides an elder patriarch, there were four more burdens. Although she’s pregnant now and her husband was taking the reins, being a daughter-in-law was vastly different from being a daughter. If nothing else, despite being pregnant, she hadn’t been able to sleep in once.

If there was anything unfavorable about Susu’s marriage, it would be the need to go to the Northwest. But Susu originally intended to marry far away to avoid trouble, so going to the Northwest accomplished that for her.

Previously, Yang Liu misspoke, so everyone was careful to stay on joyful topics. If Susu didn’t have to go out to toast or if Yang Liu, being pregnant, could drink, perhaps they would have opened a cask to have a merry time, since such opportunities would be rare in the future.

After they finished eating, Fen Dai and the others called for someone to clean up the leftovers and then helped Susu change her attire.

She wore a long, waist-cinched jacket with a crimson Kesi fabric with a motif of pomegranates and hundreds of children on top, paired with a plain damask skirt edged with golden pomegranate threads below, and her feet in a pair of red embroidered shoes depicting mandarin ducks in pairs.

Her long hair was styled into a fallen bun, adorned with scattered rose flowers made of red gemstones, and on the left side was a step shake of a phoenix crafted from red gold threads, the beak of the phoenix held a string of tassels of millet-sized pearls, each ending with a teardrop-shaped red gemstone.

Her ears were adorned with rose flower clips of red gemstones the size of lotus seeds, a delicate necklace around her neck with a double-phoenix playing peony design, where the peony was backed by gold inlaid with fine red gemstones and diamonds, dazzling under candlelight.

Her wrists bore a pair of red gold inlaid with red gemstone dragon and phoenix bangles, and on her fingers were rings with a red gemstone and an emerald.

Susu absolutely refused to apply those cosmetic powders to her face again, opting just for a dash of almond moisturizer, yet her natural look possessed an enchanting beauty, evoking a "lively fragrance and beauty" at this time as Susu shed that ethereal beauty into one of pure allure. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

When Hong Sheng came in to accompany Susu to greet friends and family, his first instinct upon seeing her was "to hide his wife quickly," and while he didn’t say it out loud, his expression conveyed everything, to which Susu chuckled, "Ha ha, blaming me for being too pretty?"

Though Hong Sheng wished to keep such a stunning wife away from outsiders’ eyes, he also realized eventually she must be seen, today being his wedding day, and disregarding propriety now would only lead to more noise when it came to the bridal chamber time.

Meanwhile, Yang Liu, Ning Cui, and Bisi, with Ming Yu, Yun Tong, and Chun Feng, returned to the Shun’an Earl Mansion to report to the Old Madam. They had all been busy with Susu’s affairs the entire day, especially Yang Liu, who was pregnant, was beginning to recover after her earlier ill health.