Lu Nian Fu stayed in the Marquis of Guangling's residence for over ten days. Qing Ya felt bored for her: "Young lady, don't you want to go for a stroll in the street? The snow has melted for two days, and the weather outside is quite nice."
Even with the snow melted, it was still cold.
Lu Nian Fu wished she could stay in bed all day.
She said, "Forget about going out for a stroll. Have someone prepare the carriage, I need to go back to Gourd Street."
"Oh."
As the housekeeper, Wang Shou Cheng couldn't follow her into the Marquis's residence and stayed behind at Gourd Street, as most of their assets were still there. Yan Qing had been elusive since arriving in the capital, and Lu Nian Fu hadn't seen him for a long time.
Qing Ya left Shang Lan Courtyard and, a moment later, returned in a huff: "Young lady, the doorkeeper said that if you want to go out, you need to get a pass from Madam."
Lu Nian Fu had never known this rule before and asked curiously, "Haven't you been going out frequently these past few days? Why didn't they ask you for a pass?"
"But young lady, I climbed over the wall directly from our courtyard." Shang Lan Courtyard was adjacent to the street; why would she take a long detour to go through the main gate?
"What about the provisions? Our small kitchen is open and needs to buy ingredients every day. Do they also have to get a pass from Madam every day?"
Qing Ya scratched her head: "I'll go ask."
Despite her plumpness, the maid was swift as the wind and returned from the kitchen shortly, without even a hint of breathlessness: "Young lady, Aunt Cui said no. She only informed the doorkeeper about buying groceries on the first day, and they haven't stopped her since."
Lu Nian Fu thought of a peculiar possibility. Could it be that Madam Fang feared she would be stopped and that the food for Shang Lan Courtyard would have to come from the household funds, so she...
Uh, she shouldn't be that stingy, right?
Never mind, she would go out today and then deal with it. She looked up at the wall.
Qing Ya, ever the sycophant, said, "Young lady, you don't need to climb the wall to go out. I can carry you over."
"The doorkeeper already knows I'm going out today, so climbing the wall wouldn't be appropriate. Let's go get a pass."
The mistress and maid left, one after the other. In Qiu Lan Courtyard, Madam Fang was reviewing accounts. She kept Lu Nian Fu waiting for a while before letting her in. Lu Nian Fu smiled brightly: "Mother, your daughter-in-law needs to go out. Could you give me a pass?"
Madam Fang put down her brush: "Nian Fu, it's not that I, as your mother-in-law, am speaking ill of you, but this capital is different from Yangzhou. The young ladies and young wives here are all discerning. Not stepping out of the inner chambers is basic; they don't go out without reason. If you lack anything, just tell the steward."
"Ah? Then won't I be unable to do business in the future?"
"What? You still want to do business?"
"My daughter-in-law's rouge and powder shop took a lot of effort. I can't just abandon it."
Madam Fang said, "How much money can a rouge and powder shop make? Is it worth you, the young madam of a Marquis's residence, to show your face in public? Isn't that deliberately embarrassing the Marquis's residence!"
Lu Nian Fu said, "But the expenses in the capital are high, Mother. If I lose the income from this rouge shop, what will I do if I'm short of funds?"
"The household has an allowance. Just spend it sparingly. You young people don't understand things. How can you spend money so lavishly? By the way, didn't the Emperor grant Yan Chen a reward earlier? Over ten thousand taels of silver cannot be squandered casually. You should quickly bring it back to the residence, and I'll keep it for you two young ones."
Damn it, Gu Yan Chen was right?
For the past few days, she had greeted Madam Fang every day. Madam Fang had hinted and insinuated in various ways, but Lu Nian Fu pretended not to understand, thinking that the dignified Madam of the Marquis of Guangling wouldn't be so shameless as to directly ask for money from a junior.
In the end, she had underestimated Madam Fang's thick skin.
She put on an expression of exaggerated shock: "No way, Mother? Is the Marquis's residence even taking back the betrothal gifts? Then who would dare marry second brother and third brother in the future?"
Madam Fang knitted her brows: "What nonsense are you talking about? What betrothal gifts?"
"Husband said so. When he married me, he didn't have money to prepare the betrothal gifts. Now that he has received this reward, he is making up for the original betrothal gifts and asked me to add them to my dowry list. Speaking of which, I wanted to ask, was the household in financial trouble two years ago? Why couldn't even the eldest son's betrothal gifts be given? My husband and I even got married in a rented house." Lu Nian Fu started with righteous indignation but then became aggrieved. She wiped her tearless eyes with a handkerchief, acting quite convincingly.
Madam Fang was caught off guard and could only vaguely say, "It was mainly because we were too far away at the time."
"It only takes a few days by water! Father and Mother didn't attend the ceremony, and Husband was sad for a long time."