C4

Wan Rong last checked on her clothes at the side. There was not a single feather missing on the jade ornament, and the peach-colored jacket and skirt were tied up perfectly as well. At her waist was a lotus root bag embroidered with green branches. The string on his skirt also matched these two colors. It looked fresh and spirited at the same time.

Xu Mingwei was already accustomed to her meticulous actions, and even matched Wan Rong's gaze, she lifted her skirt to let her see her embroidered shoes. Wan Ting, who was slightly more lively laughed on the side, and got glared at by Wan Rong in a manner that was neither light nor heavy.

Xu Mingwei quickly covered the surprise on his face up and nodded her head, indicating that she knew. The master and servant pair walked towards the main house one after another. A look of disappointment flashed across Wan Rong's face and she couldn't help but smile bitterly, the girl was still too young.

There was no one else in the Palace for his longevity, so Xu Mingwei was curious as to why his two brothers would return home at this time. In a moment of carelessness, Xu Mingbai had already walked over and hugged them under his arms.

Her expression was expressionless as she looked at her big brother.

Xu Mingbai did not mind, he was already used to his sister's cold face, and laughed to himself: "Mother, my sister has grown taller, and heavier."

Xu Mingwei was afraid that he would not be able to stop her from hugging him, so he subconsciously grabbed onto her sleeves tightly.

"Quickly put your sister down. Didn't you see her pale face?" Lady Helan hurriedly stopped him.

Xu Mingbai looked at the jade doll in his arms. On the pink-white oval face, a pair of starry eyes reflected his shadow without any shock. It was real if he was not happy.

He laughed out loud, and then pulled down her meticulously braided hair before finally placing Xu Mingwei back down on the ground.

"Such a big person and he bullies your sister all day? Shameful?" Lady Helan laughed and scolded, while holding Xu Mingwei's hand. Only then did she feel truly relieved.

Xu Mingbai giggled and went around the Lady Helan to pinch Xu Mingwei's face. After being hit by the Lady Helan, he finally stopped.

Before she was born, the person Xu Mingbai liked to tease the most was his younger brother, Xu Mingzhang, who was six years younger than her. After she was born, Xu Mingbai changed targets, but as long as he was present, Xu Mingwei would never have a moment of peace. In comparison, the eight year old Xu Mingzhang was much more composed and more like a big brother. When she went out to play and see if there was anything nice to eat or fun to play with, he would always specially bring it back for her.

"Weiwei, come over. It's rare for the brothers to come back, you haven't even called for anyone when you came through the door." Lady Helan knew that she did not like being hugged, so she approached him and smiled gently.

Wasn't it because of big brother, he was stunned the moment he entered the door. Xu Mingwei ridiculed in her heart, but she still respectfully asked her brothers.

Xu Mingbai and Xu Mingzhang returned the greetings.

Xu Mingwei was carried by the Lady Helan to a specially made high stool and sat down. Only then did she hear the Lady Helan softly explain to her, "Your brother who studied at the academy got sick, and heard that he needed three hundred-year-old ginseng as a primer. It was only then that your two brothers went back to the manor to retrieve the medicinal ingredients."

Even Xu Mingbai and Xu Mingzhang who had left home a long time ago were not surprised. Back then, they were the same as his, and were brought up at his side by Lady Helan.

Normally, men did not need to know about the inner chamber, but Lady Helan had already brought them all to the church. She said that smart men not only had to deal with matters outside, but also had to be aware of the sordid nature of their wives and concubines. As long as he did not make a mistake, he would absolutely not act rashly and pamper his concubine until she was dead. One had to know that the destruction of many clans was first caused by the decay of their roots.

In Xu Mingwei's eyes, Lady Helan had achieved all of her imaginations of a perfect woman.

Because of their inferior blood, the ancestors of the Helan clan of Liangshan Tribe had extremely tall and wide noses and long legs. The woman was fair and beautiful, and any one of them could be a rare beauty.

The Lady Helan extended the strengths of the He Lan Clan. She was already over 30 years old, and the corners of her eyes were still so meticulous that not even the tiniest of lines could be seen. Her black hair pressed against her snow-white cheeks, and she was so beautiful that she seemed to have walked out from a painting. Xu Mingbai and the other two siblings had followed her appearance, and directly brought the beauty of the main house to the highest point of the Xu family.

If a woman can be so beautiful, it's fine if she's stupid. However, Lady Helan was extremely smart, the housekeeper was good at everything. For so many years, she had been the steward of the Xu family and had practically never made any mistakes in the past few years. It had to be known that it was not the end of the month. It was as simple as giving out monthly money to the servants. It was as simple as asking the madame and the old man's personal matters. Lady Helan did all these meticulously so that no one else could find any mistakes.

But even such a perfect woman like this, her husband Xu Tiangang could not keep a concubine either. Xu Mingwei had followed beside Lady Helan for all these years, but she was still unable to see what kind of feelings she had towards him. Speak of love, she thought as she hugged her still infant self, but was still able to maintain a straight face as she helped his husband. Saying no, when Xu Tiangang occasionally came to his room to sleep, the smile in Lady Helan's eyes could not be concealed.

Xu Mingwei's impression of love between a man and a woman only originated from a limited amount of TV series and the internet. In her previous life, she had been busy with work to earn money and hadn't had a good relationship with her. Therefore, to her, the Lady Helan's act of not being jealous was both contradictory and incomprehensible.

However, she also knew that the inner chamber women of this world had no right to be jealous. It was the right thing for a qualified manager to set up a backyard for his husband and serve him well.

Lady Helan's life was the future that she could foresee. If she married into a well-matched family and became a perfect woman in the inner chamber, she might just be a symbol, a position in the eyes of men. What she thought was not important, it didn't matter if she was satisfied with such a life. Because she was the daughter of the Xu family, she had been sheltered and raised by her family — the high walls protected them from being bullied, from being bullied, from having to rough her hands over luxurious food, from having to worry about rouge, just being a canary, and being kept in the most beautiful and durable of cages.

However, such asylum was not free of charge.

Xu Mingwei could see everything clearly, and she had thought about it long ago. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Having been raised in the Xu family, she was much luckier than most girls in this world. Just as someone once said, women were like flowers. When they were blown into the mud by the wind, they would sink into the dust. When they were transplanted into the house of a noble king, they were treated as precious treasures.

The thing that Xu Mingwei was most thankful for after crossing over was that she was fortunate that she did not wear it to the gallows court. In such a situation, it would be better for him to just die and be cleaned up. Being in a poor family did not mean that there were no worries. From what she had seen and heard from the Xu family, the girls from the poor families were not considered people at all. There were plenty of people who had been drowned at birth and had been raised randomly. It wasn't that there weren't many families who doted on their daughters, but rather, there were very few.

He was born in the Xu Family, and currently, he was only worried about the marriage. At least, he wouldn't have to worry about the food or clothing for the first half of Xu Mingwei's life. He would be safe and sound.