Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Ruyi Cosmetic Shop
The sunlight shone brightly on the ground.
Yunxi listened to the words of the two maids and felt a cold sweat break out on her back, as if countless eyes were staring at her from behind, creating a chilling sensation.
She took a deep breath, wanting to see if these two maids were indeed from her mother-in-law's quarters as she had previously suspected. If they were, she had to ask them clearly why they believed that her mother-in-law did not want her to have children. As maids within Ruo Mansion, what was their purpose in spreading such rumors?
However, when Yunxi walked around the rockery and the thick layer of snow to where the two were whispering, she found no one there.
The jade ornaments on her head jingled, and inexplicably, Yunxi felt an even deeper chill, causing her body to tremble uncontrollably.
She could no longer remember how she returned to her own courtyard. Closing the door, she sat on the bed, feeling confused inside.
Her mother-in-law did not like her; this was something she had known before marrying into Ruo Mansion.
Yunxi's maternal family had once been prominent. Her aunt had been a concubine of Li Xian, the second son of Wu Zetian. With one person enjoying favor, the entire family basked in glory; her father, uncle, and cousins had all been granted official positions. The family's honor was unmatched in this remote area.
In the second year of Yongchun, Crown Prince Li Xian was exiled to Bazhou, and naturally, his concubine aunt was exiled with him. Fortunately, their family was not implicated, but her father and uncle grew wary; they dared not submit resignation letters for fear of arousing Wu Zetian's suspicion, nor could they be too ostentatious for fear of drawing attention and bringing disaster upon themselves.
In the third year of Yongchun, Li Xian was forced to commit suicide, and her aunt followed him in death. According to Wu Zetian's usual methods, their Yun Family would inevitably be implicated. In their anxiety, her uncle committed suicide, her father fell ill from shock, and even her cousin became timid.
It was unclear whether Li Xian's death truly had hidden circumstances as rumored or if her family simply did not attract attention. After a year of anxiety, there was no action taken by the court; however, her father, uncle, and cousin gradually resigned from their positions and went into hiding, even changing their names to conceal themselves.
Because of this connection, her in-laws remained cautious and feared that because of her aunt's situation, Ruo Mansion would also be implicated.
As humans are prone to selfishness, Yunxi could understand her mother-in-law's concerns. Since taking control of the imperial harem, Wu Zetian had been ruthless; incidents of exterminating the nine clans occurred frequently. If her maternal family caused trouble for the Luo Family, implicating her husband as well, she would certainly not want that. Therefore, over the years, she had been careful and even occasionally sent people to check on her maternal family to ensure that if anything happened, she could proactively ask her husband for a divorce to protect the Luo Family.
Her husband had mentioned these concerns to her in-laws before; however, her mother-in-law refused to believe it. Additionally, after many years of marriage without bearing children, her mother-in-law's disdain for her only grew stronger.
Yunxi tightly wrung her hands together as panic surged within her. She knew very well that there might indeed be an issue with her body; whether it was three months or even three years later, it might still be impossible for her to conceive. But allowing another woman into the household to share her husband's affection was something she simply could not accept. The thought of having her husband divorce her and take another wife made her feel both reluctant and resentful.
The more she thought about it, the more anxious and angry she became. Suddenly standing up caused her head to bump against the bed frame, and in an instant, stars danced before her eyes.
The personal maid, Xuan, heard the noise and hurried in. Upon seeing Yunxi's expression, she knew that Yunxi must have been upset by the Matriarch again and was sulking in her room.
"Madam, are you alright?"
Xuan rushed forward but noticed something on the floor. She bent down to pick it up and handed it to Yunxi.
"Isn't this the pouch that Sister gave you before she left?"
"The pouch from Luo Fu?" Yunxi rubbed her head while looking at the light green pouch in the maid's hand. "I almost forgot about it. This pouch was secretly given to me by Luo Fu when she left, without letting the Matriarch know. I remember she said a few words, but it was noisy at the time with firecrackers going off, so I didn't catch everything. I just thought it was a little gift from her and took it without much thought."
"Madam, please don't say that. In our household, aside from the Matriarch being a bit fierce, both Master and Sister are quite nice, especially Young Master, who dotes on you immensely. If this pouch were just an ordinary item, Sister wouldn't have hidden it from the Matriarch. Since she didn't want the Matriarch to know, it must contain some secret meant specifically for you. Why not open it now and see? We wouldn't want to waste Sister's good intentions."
"Forget about what you just said. Although Ruo Mansion isn't as grand as ours, there are still many eyes and ears around, each with their own thoughts. The Matriarch already has some dislike for me; if someone spreads your words around, those who know will think you're standing up for me, while those who don't will assume I'm teaching you these things behind their backs."
"I understand your instructions, Madam!" Xuan covered her mouth with her hand. "I promise I won't repeat those words again. Please... open the pouch that Sister left for you and see if there's perhaps a secret formula for having children inside so that you and Young Master can have a child soon and live happily together as a family of three."
"A formula for having children! Is there really such a reliable formula in this world? Over the years, how many medicines have I taken? How many formulas have I tried? How many Bodhisattvas have I prayed to? Do you think any of them worked?"
Mentioning this topic always brought Yunxi's mood down, especially since she had just returned from the Matriarch's place and learned of her intention to take a concubine for her husband. It weighed heavily on her heart. If it were to happen within three months as rumored, she had already figured it out. Looking at the pouch now, she truly hoped that what Xuan suggested was true—that it contained a formula from Luo Fu that could help her conceive, perhaps even the most effective one over all these years.
As Yunxi opened the pouch, her fingers trembled slightly. Perhaps due to her nervousness, she struggled for quite some time just to untie the colorful string holding the pouch closed.
Finally, when the pouch was opened, inside was only a short piece of paper with five characters written in elegant script: Ruyi Cosmetic Shop.
"Ruyi Cosmetic Shop? What kind of place is this?" Yunxi held up the note for her maid Xuan to see. "It looks like it's the name of a shop. Xuan, do you know anything about this place?"
"Ruyi Cosmetic Shop... I think I've heard of it somewhere." Xuan furrowed her brows in thought until suddenly her eyes lit up as she grabbed Yunxi's hand. "I remember now! Ruyi Cosmetic Shop is a new store in Town that sells Rouge and Face Powder. The shopkeeper is a woman who is very beautiful and comes from Divine Capital Luoyang. As for the Rouge and Face Powder, it seems different from what other shops sell; it's much more expensive but also very unique and effective. I heard other maids talking about it before and wanted to check it out myself but never found the opportunity."
"A shop selling Rouge and Face Powder? Why would Luo Fu give me this?"
"Sister might think that you've been too worried lately and your complexion isn't looking good," Xuan observed Yunxi's expression carefully. "So she introduced this shop to you in hopes that you would buy some Rouge and Face Powder to beautify yourself a bit. That way, when Young Master returns, you'll be able to surprise him."
Yunxi first nodded, then shook her head. "While you have some valid points, this doesn't align with Fuyer's usual style or her personality. Although she has been under her mother-in-law's control for many years and appears to be quite proper, deep down she is just as carefree as her brother. She rarely beats around the bush when it comes to doing things. If she simply thought that I looked unwell and wanted me to dress up to please her brother, according to her nature, she would directly buy Rouge and Face Powder and place it in front of me, then tell me to hide it for a surprise for her brother. Even if time were tight, she would prepare in advance rather than sending me such a mysterious little gift."
"Now that my sister has gone with her husband to his post, she probably won't return for at least a year or so. As for her intentions, we can only make some educated guesses. In my opinion, since we are unsure of what my sister means, we might as well go to the Ruyi Rouge shop to take a look, ask around. Perhaps once we arrive at the shop, we will immediately understand the deeper meaning behind my sister sending this little gift to the lady."
"That's true. Instead of making random guesses here, it would be better to check out the Ruyi Rouge shop." Yunxi said as she held the note up to her eyes, staring blankly at the five characters "Ruyi Rouge." "It's still early; you go prepare a bit. Once I change into another outfit, we'll head over to the Ruyi Rouge shop. By the way, bring enough silver; if you find something you like, you can buy it as a New Year gift from the lady."
"Thank you, Madam!"
Xuan happily replied and turned around to dash out to prepare everything needed for their outing.
At the Ruyi Rouge shop, Xing Ruyi was directing everyone in taking inventory after the New Year. Once the first month passed, she would take medicine and start preparing for her wedding with the fox. Afterward, she would hand over the shop to A Niu to manage while she traveled with the fox along with Yin Yuan, Chang Tai, and Deer Lady towards Qingqiu.
Thinking of Qingqiu made Xing Ruyi glance up at the fox. Ever since the fox returned from Qingqiu, he had always appeared troubled. It wasn't until last night when she chatted casually with Deer Lady that she suddenly realized a very important and crucial question.
In modern society, when she met the fox, his parents had already transcended and ascended. Transcending and ascending essentially meant they were no longer alive. However, returning to the Golden Tang Dynasty meant that time had jumped forward over a thousand years... Over a thousand years implied that the fox's parents were still alive.
If the fox's parents were indeed alive, then what she had to face was not just the awkwardness of a relationship between a human and a demon but also potentially countless future issues related to mother-in-law and daughter-in-law dynamics. This also explained why the fox no longer insisted on bringing her back to Qingqiu for marriage. He was worried that his parents would not approve of her as their future mortal daughter-in-law!
What should she do? For the first time, Xing Ruyi felt that marrying the fox was quite a troublesome matter.
Comment 0 Comment Count