Qingfengyuan.
As soon as Lin Fangruo left, Gu Sinian returned.
"Did she make things difficult for you?" Gu Sinian asked.
Qi Zhenzhen shook her head. "How could she? Eldest sister-in-law has a virtuous reputation in the manor, so why would she make things difficult for me, her newly married sister-in-law? Look, this is what Eldest sister-in-law gave me, saying it was a见面礼 (meeting gift). I gave her a vase for flowers in return."
Gu Sinian glanced at the tea set. "There's a tea set in the storeroom passed down from the previous dynasty. It looks much better than this one. Take that one out to use. As for this set, put it back in the storeroom."
Qi Zhenzhen had no intention of using it anyway. It was given by Gu Siya, so who knew if there was anything wrong with it? Even if there wasn't, she wouldn't feel comfortable using it.
"Also, I discovered something interesting. Eldest sister-in-law seems to really dislike Aunt Dong," Qi Zhenzhen said. "But I heard from Chunfeng and the others that Eldest sister-in-law was very respectful towards Aunt Dong, and would go to Aunt Dong's place to chat with her after paying her respects to Mother every day."
"Aunt Dong is the younger sister of Gu Siya's birth mother, and Father dotes on her greatly now. Whether it's to please Gu Siya or to please Father, she has to show respect to Aunt Dong," Gu Sinian snorted coldly.
"Then Eldest sister-in-law's life must be really hard, having to pretend every day."
"Some people are happy to pretend. They don't feel tired; they only think they are capable and can handle things with ease," Gu Sinian said, a hint of sarcasm in his smile. "If she comes to our courtyard again in the future, and you're tired of seeing her, just tell Chunfeng and the others to block her. After she's turned away once or twice, she'll understand your meaning."
"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles," Qi Zhenzhen said with a smile. "She came to find out about us, and in turn, I can also learn some things about Ya Yuan."
Gu Sinian looked at Qi Zhenzhen. "Just do as you please. Let's not talk about them. Tomorrow is the return visit. Do you have any thoughts on it?"
Qi Zhenzhen blinked. Should she have any thoughts?
"Mother has already prepared the superficial gifts. But for Grandmother and Mother-in-law, do you want to choose something yourself? After all, this can convey to them that you married the right person," Gu Sinian said seriously.
"So, are you trying to hand over your private treasury?" Qi Zhenzhen playfully chided him.
"So, Madam, I wonder if you're interested in taking stock of what's in the private treasury?" Gu Sinian said, taking Qi Zhenzhen's hand with a smile.
"Are these all your private assets?" Qi Zhenzhen's mouth widened slightly in surprise. The two storerooms were packed to the brim with musical instruments, calligraphy and painting, weapons, jewelry, and ornaments.
"More than half of it was given by Grandfather, along with imperial rewards and spoils of war," Gu Sinian said. "The musical instruments, calligraphy, and paintings are mostly ancient items from the previous dynasty. Grandfather followed the First Emperor to conquer the empire, and I heard these were all from the imperial palace's storerooms at that time. Back then, the palace servants looted all the gold and silver treasures, but these items were overlooked. Other generals were not interested in these, so the items were all given to Grandfather."
"Grandfather was truly lucky," Qi Zhenzhen sighed. Items that could be stored in the imperial palace's storerooms were definitely not ordinary. If they were brought out now, they would surely be fought over.
"Among the few generals who followed the First Emperor back then, apart from Grandfather, none of them knew a single character," Gu Sinian said. "To them, the appeal of musical instruments, calligraphy, and paintings was far less than that of a handy weapon."
As they spoke, Qi Zhenzhen selected a landscape painting by a great painter of the previous dynasty for the Old Madam, and a rare edition of poetry for Yun Shi. As for Marquis Changping, he was fond of chess. Gu Sinian had previously given him a chess set, so this time she chose a rare edition of chess strategies, which recorded several unsolved chess games. As for the gift for Qi Yi, Gu Sinian chose it: a soft sword.