After discussing with Shen Yun, Su Xiaoqi sent someone to the Duke Yu’s mansion to deliver a visiting card that very day.
However, just as the person sent to deliver the card left, Su Xiaoqi received an invitation from the Duke Yu’s mansion.
Coincidentally, she was invited to visit the mansion tomorrow.
Su Xiaoqi looked at the plain, unadorned invitation in her hand, then handed it to Shen Yun.
“What a coincidence,” Shen Yun said with a light smile after looking at it.
Su Xiaoqi nodded. “Indeed. Oh well, you said my godmother and Madam Du are easy to get along with. I wonder if the Old Madam and the Duchess will be easy to get along with.”
“Noble families value tradition and family principles. Madam Gu and Madam Du are both outstanding, and they are very fond of you. I imagine their family members will like you as well.”
Shen Yun thought for a moment and then added softly, “Who wouldn’t like someone as good as my wife?”
Hearing this, Su Xiaoqi looked at Shen Yun with surprise. When she realized he had truly said it, her face turned red, and she gently patted Shen Yun’s hand. “Don’t be so improper. How can you boast like that?”
“What I said is the absolute truth,” Shen Yun said earnestly.
“Nonsense,” Su Xiaoqi lowered her head, her face still flushed.
Honestly, does he have no sense of propriety? Even if he feels good about it, he shouldn't say it out loud. Doesn’t he understand subtlety?
Shen Yun suddenly became serious. He clasped Su Xiaoqi’s hand and said,
“My dear, I’m willing to tell you what’s in my heart. I hope we can support each other and trust each other.
You are the person closest to me. If we cannot be honest with each other, whom can we rely on?”
What he said made sense, but Su Xiaoqi felt something was amiss.
She thought about it all night and finally understood.
Did Shen Yun trust her this much?
But she didn't feel entirely ready yet.
Then she remembered how Shen Yun had unhesitatingly thrown himself in front of her to block a knife in the forest.
His disregard for his own life still moved her deeply.
He was willing to die for her. Even if it was just to reciprocate, shouldn't she show some effort in return?
Not her entire heart, perhaps, but at least sincerity.
Perhaps by exchanging sincerity for sincerity, in the end, she and Shen Yun wouldn’t have to walk the same path as the original owner.
With this realization, Su Xiaoqi felt as if she had finally freed herself.
She had previously felt as if she had hit a dead end.
She had been focused on the fact that Shen Yun would kill the original owner in the near future, but she had deliberately ignored a very important question.
That was, why would Shen Yun kill the original owner?
It was because she had harmed his family.
In truth, although Shen Yun could be ruthless,
in the novels she had read, he had never killed innocent people without reason.
Of course, this did not include the political struggles of the court.
But the original owner was truly detestable. First, she was unwilling to marry Shen Yun and maintained a complicated relationship with Su Jia Mo.
Not to mention cuckolding Shen Yun, she even cruelly murdered Madam Zhao to cover up those dirty deeds.
In the end, she also caused Shen Er Dan to fall off a cliff and die.
Even their younger sister was kidnapped and sold by the original owner in collusion with child traffickers due to lack of supervision and care.
It could be said that she had caused Shen Yun’s family to be destroyed, leaving him alone.
In such a situation, let alone Shen Yun, even someone as laid-back as herself would be driven to kill the perpetrator.
After much thought, Su Xiaoqi actually felt that Shen Yun could not be blamed for the original owner’s death.
The pitiable have their own detestable aspects.
If she were to continue living with Shen Yun like this…
Su Xiaoqi shivered uncontrollably at the thought.
She didn’t know if it was the lingering fear from the original owner’s subconscious or her own inner turmoil.
This emotion was too complex, and thinking about it made her mind feel like a jumbled mess.
She didn’t want to dwell on these matters any further.
In any case, she would take it one step at a time.
At the end of her thoughts, Su Xiaoqi felt a sense of reckless abandon.
Just then, Shen Yun entered and said that Guo’er and Li Shushao had loaded the gifts onto the carriage and they could set off.
Su Xiaoqi nodded, temporarily putting her thoughts aside, and got into the carriage with Shen Yun.
In the carriage, Shen Yun glanced at Li Shushao and Guo’er, who were sitting on the carriage shaft, and said, “In a couple of days, we’ll find an intermediary and buy some people.”
This three-courtyard house was considered large compared to the Zhao Family Village and Furong Manor where they would live later.
Although He Qiulei had left five people for them, along with Guo’er and Li Shushao, it was still too few.
Su Xiaoqi nodded, she had also noticed this.
With a larger residence, there were more matters to attend to, and without sufficient manpower, it was truly difficult to manage.
The matter of buying people had to be put on the agenda.
As they spoke, they arrived at Duke Yu’s mansion. As soon as the carriage stopped, a嬷嬷 immediately came forward and asked Guo’er, “Miss, is the person arriving our cousin Miss Shen Tai Tai?”
Guo’er was stunned for a moment before realizing that the cousin was referring to her mistress.
She quickly replied, “That’s right, it’s my mistress. May I ask who you are,嬷嬷…”
“My surname is Lin.”
“Hello, Granny Lin,” Guo’er hopped off the carriage and curtsied.
She had not received etiquette training for noble households, but being born to be a servant, she knew some basic etiquette.
Moreover, Granny Gao, who was by Madam Gu’s side in the Gu family a few days prior, often instructed her, so her curtsy was executed without error.
Granny Lin glanced at her a few times, nodded, and bowed towards the carriage, “This servant greets Cousin Miss.”
Guo’er appropriately lifted the carriage curtain, revealing Su Xiaoqi’s gentle face.
Su Xiaoqi noticed Granny Lin’s address to her, but she was not one to dwell on such minor details and pretended not to notice.
Shen Yun, however, looked at her with a smile. His wife was quite remarkable.
Before she had even formally acknowledged her kin, she was already recognized by the hosts.
Granny Lin, unaware of the couple’s thoughts, took a glance as the light shone into the carriage and was instantly astonished.
After a while, she recovered and said, “Cousin Miss need not alight. This servant will guide the carriage to the second gate.”
Upon reaching the second gate, Su Xiaoqi glanced at the hanging flower archway not far away. She alighted from the carriage and quietly said something to the inside, not letting the carriage stop in the wide courtyard.
Shen Yun also got off the carriage.
He had originally intended to escort Su Xiaoqi to the entrance of the Duke’s mansion and then drive away.
However, now that he was inside the mansion, it would be considered impolite to leave without paying his respects to the hosts.
Therefore, after some consideration, he alighted from the carriage and asked Li Shushao to convey his apologies to the people at Zhuangyuan Tower, saying he would visit later.
Granny Lin saw Shen Yun and merely thought he looked handsome. She said nothing about his accompanying them.
Su Xiaoqi realized then that the other party had anticipated Shen Yun’s arrival.
Fortunately, they had come together, otherwise, it might have been considered rude.
Normally, men, especially those from outside, were not allowed into the second gate and courtyard. However, as the Old Duchess resided inside, Shen Yun was accompanied by a specific person to pay his respects to her, so it was not considered impolite.
Upon entering the second gate, Su Xiaoqi saw a middle-aged woman with a large group of maids and servants waiting at the entrance.
She was startled but quickly realized that, judging by the woman’s age and attire, she was likely one of the mistresses of the Duke’s mansion—the current Duchess, Madam Wen.
She quickened her steps, stepped forward, and curtsied. “Greetings, Madam.”
“Oh my, this must be Xiao Qi and Xiao Qi’s husband, whom our Elder Aunt mentioned in her letter.
Indeed, this talented man and beautiful woman are a match made in heaven. When our Old Madam sees them, she’ll surely be delighted.”
Madam Wen initially appeared to be straightforward.
She had thick eyebrows and large eyes, wearing a red top with woven gold peony patterns, a dark red wide-skirted long dress, her hair styled in a high bun adorned with ruby hairpins, and a necklace with eight pearls, an eight-treasure brocade collar.
She appeared bright and wealthy.
She smiled a lot, and when she smiled, shallow dimples appeared on her cheeks, making her look much more approachable.
Su Xiaoqi also gave her a sweet smile, and in their exchanges, their eyes met.
Madam Wen saw affection in Su Xiaoqi’s eyes, so she smiled and warmly took her arm, greeted Shen Yun, and personally led her towards the main courtyard.