Chapter 178: Chapter 166: I Am Your Husband! (Update 1)
Song Fang’s first lesson, the teacher explained a word to them: elegance.
The teacher said, elegance is in the bone, an embodiment of inner beauty and temperament.
A pretty girl may not necessarily be elegant, but an elegant girl always seems especially beautiful.
The teacher also said, a beautiful appearance can add to elegance, but it does not take up the whole; a girl’s elegance can be cultivated through continuous learning later.
In Hongwen Academy, whether it is studying, or the classes on tea, incense, flower arrangement, and painting, students are taught to be well-read while also learning how to become elegant girls.
...
Before going to Beijing, Song Fang was either working in the fields or around the stove every day. For farming families, the most important things are food and clothing, everything else is nonsense.
But now, she has heard a fresh word: elegance.
The teacher in class had a gentle nature, and his tone and teaching methods were easy to accept and understand, making Song Fang engrossed. Fearful of forgetting, she carefully wrote down every word the teacher said.
In the evening after class, Song Fang walked out of Hongwen Academy’s gate and saw Xu Shu waiting on the other side from afar. She frowned and intended to pretend she hadn’t seen him, blocking her head in her own direction.
Xu Shu shouted, "Hey hey hey! Who is it, if you don’t acknowledge me, I’m gonna shout! ..."
Song Fang stopped and turned to look at him, "What are you here for?"
Xu Shu stepped across, "Didn’t I say this morning? I’m here to take you home."
"The mansion has sent a carriage," Song Fang replied, "I can go back myself, don’t come to Hongwen Academy, or people might misunderstand."
"Misunderstand what?"
Seeing Song Fang unwilling to take the bait, Xu Shu had to say it himself, "Let them misunderstand, who’s to blame when our relationship is unclear."
Song Fang was angry, "Who’s unclear with you?"
"Exactly!" Xu Shu continued shamelessly, "If you listened to me, would I behave this way? They say after marriage you should follow your husband. At the General Mansion, if you don’t follow the rules, I’ll just have to do whatever I like secretly."
"You!" It was the first time Song Fang was put at a disadvantage in front of him.
Xu Shu smirked, "Now you see how capable your pal is, right?"
It was clear, Song liked Hongwen Academy the first day she went there. Now trying to make her leave is almost impossible.
If it weren’t for this, Xu Shu wouldn’t dare to tease her casually. After all, she was truly fierce; offending her might lead to getting backstabbed dramatically.
Indeed, as he thought, Song Fang liked Hongwen Academy very much and went inside hoping to study well and transform herself.
If anyone stood up now to make her leave, she would surely be mad.
Song Fang was silent and did not speak again until they returned to the mansion and went to see the old lady together with Xu Shu.
The old lady was sitting in the pavilion by the lake, holding fish feed, leisurely scattering it inside.
Just through the moon gate to see the old lady’s back, Xu Shu suddenly grabbed Song Fang’s hand.
Under Song Fang’s discomfort and frequent furrowing brow, Xu Shu grinned widely, "Wife, do you have a twitch in your eye?"
Feeling the hand holding her hand grew tighter, Song Fang really wanted to kick him while the old lady wasn’t paying attention.
The old lady put down the fish feed, turned around, and saw the "little couple" coming hand in hand, her eyes squinting with a smile, she asked Xu Shu, "Grandson, finished class?"
Walking up to the old lady, Xu Shu released Song Fang’s hand and eagerly went over to show affection, rubbing the old lady’s shoulders, asking, "Grandma, it’s evening, why are you sitting by the lake? What if you catch a cold?"
A nanny serving nearby whispered, "The old lady was in a good mood today, insisting on going out to fish. The madam was worried and had us prepare fish feed, saying the fishing wouldn’t work, instructed us to watch the old lady feed the fish to relax her mind. The old lady has been sitting here, unwilling to leave."
Song Fang bowed her head and looked at the back of her hand, as if it was stained with yellow mud, quickly rubbing it with the other hand, and sat down beside the old lady.
The old lady couldn’t hear their conversation clearly, seeing Song Fang sitting next to her, she asked with a smile, "Granddaughter-in-law, where did you go during the day?"
Song Fang’s heart skipped, did the old lady look for her during the day?
Without waiting for Song Fang’s reply, the old lady continued on her own, "I asked Nanny Wu, and she said you went out to choose thread to embroider a mandarin duck pouch for the grandson, is the pouch embroidered?"
Song Fang replied, "...Embroidery is ongoing, my clumsy fingers estimate it will take a few more days."
Nanny Wu looked at Song Fang’s expression, somewhat embarrassed, not wanting to bear this blame, as the old lady tossed it too swiftly, leaving no time to react.
——
After visiting the old lady, Song Fang had no choice but to have the maid fetch the needle and embroidery materials.
Back home, stitching and mending wasn’t a problem, but as for embroidery, without a dedicated teacher, even if she knew a bit, she might not be as good as a random little maid in the General Mansion.
So Song Fang was worried!
How to embroider a mandarin duck pouch?
She wanted to ask the maid for help, the maid informed her, "The old lady might be hard of hearing, but her memory is good! She knows the embroidery skills of the maids here. The young madam can let me embroider, but the fear of being found out by the old lady would make things difficult to sort."
Upon hearing this, Song Fang immediately abandoned the idea.
If replacement embroidery is not possible, ask the maid to teach her, since she has no qualms about appearances.
In the next two or three days, once Song Fang returned from Hongwen Academy she began embroidering, with the maid patiently teaching, completing the task with some stumbles.
She deliberately picked a time to give the pouch to Xu Shu, specifically stating, "It’s just a formality, this pouch, once out of the house, doesn’t count, if you plan to play rogue, give it back now."
Xu Shu didn’t say a word, he flipped the pouch back and forth and peered at it a few times, and exclaimed, "I found out you’re quite good at embroidering ducks, just can’t really tell which one’s the male and which one’s the female. How about you show me?"
Song Fang: "!!!"
Xu Shu really couldn’t understand why this woman suddenly got mad and left, but he obediently hung the pouch on his waist.
The maid stayed behind, quietly telling him, "The Young Madam embroidered mandarin ducks."
Xu Shu: "???" These mandarin ducks must have grown up ugly, right?
The next day when Xu Shu wandered over to the old lady, the old lady’s keen eyes spotted the pouch on his waist and asked to take a look.
Xu Shu handed the pouch to the old lady and asked her, "Grandma, can you tell what’s embroidered on this thing?"
The old lady took one look and said, "Oh, mandarin ducks, a pair of little mandarin ducks."
"Have you ever seen mandarin ducks that look like this?"
The old lady gave him a sideways glance, "Aren’t they all like this when they haven’t grown up yet?"
Xu Shu: "...As long as you’re happy."
The old lady returned the pouch to him, "Your granddaughter-in-law embroidered this with her own hands, you need to wear it with you, mandarin ducks have great significance!"
Xu Shu half-heartedly replied, "Mm."
The old lady tapped his leg with her cane, "Didn’t you eat? You don’t even respond when asked a question."
Xu Shu immediately raised his voice, "Got it! I’ll definitely wear the mandarin duck pouch embroidered by your granddaughter-in-law every day."
Today the Hongwen Academy taught basic embroidery. After Song Fang came back, she was very enthusiastic. She had dinner, lit the candles early so as not to hurt her eyes, and she was ready with embroidery threads and hoops, planning to thoroughly review the day’s lessons.
A shadow flickered in at the door.
Without looking, she knew it was that unreasonable annoying pest. Without lifting her head, Song Fang continued her embroidery, her hands never stopping.
"Wife, what are you embroidering?" Xu Shu stood in front of her with his hands behind his back, looking down at the pattern on the hoop that was yet to take shape.
"It’s not for you anyway."
Xu Shu sat down and rested his chin in his hands, gazing at her, "Then if I want you to embroider for me, will you do it?"
Song Fang glared at him sideways, "Didn’t I just embroider a pouch with two ducks for you?"
Xu Shu couldn’t help but burst out laughing, "You actually know you embroidered ducks?"
Being with someone this shameless, you absolutely cannot get angry. The angrier you get, the more he takes advantage.
So, Song Fang remained very calm, "What did you think? I’m not even someone to you to be embroidering mandarin duck pouches for you. Are you dreaming?"
"Hey, wife, that’s not right, Grandma clearly told you to embroider a mandarin duck pouch, but you embroidered ducks, isn’t that deliberately deceiving an elderly person?"
Song Fang raised an eyebrow, "When you showed it to Grandma, did she tell you it was ducks embroidered on it?"
Xu Shu argued, "Grandma’s eyesight isn’t great!"
"Whether her eyesight is good or not, as long as Grandma acknowledges that I embroidered mandarin ducks, then those two on the pouch are mandarin ducks."
Xu Shu said, "You’re being unreasonable!"
Song Fang scoffed, "Haven’t seen you being reasonable ever!"
Whenever these two started to argue, the little maids would hide aside and giggle.
This kind of argument lacked the smell of gunpowder, and instead resembled more like playful bickering between a young couple.
And yet, the two remained unaware, the more they bickered, the more energy they had.
The one who would eventually lose was always the young master, the saying ’the first to flirt is the cheapest’ seemed to describe him.
Hearing the little maids giggling, Xu Shu shot them a side-eye, "You’re everywhere, got nothing better to do?"
Upon hearing this, the little maids immediately stopped laughing and went about their own business.
Song Fang secretly rolled her eyes, losing the argument and taking it out on the maids, let’s see you try again!
Xu Shu was great at moving on, just after arguing he promptly forgot about it and sat down to mutter, "Tomorrow is a day off, wife, how about I also go listen to your class at Hongwen Academy?"
"..."
Well then, he doesn’t mind being the first to flirt, she can’t not give him face, "Hongwen Academy doesn’t allow servitors."
"Who’s a servitor? I’m your husband!"
"Men and dogs are prohibited from entering Hongwen Academy."
"...Song, you’re ruthless!"
Putting him and dogs in the same category? Then what is she?
Song Fang put down her hoop, propped her chin up, and smiled faintly at him, "My ruthlessness, wasn’t it all cultivated by you? Husband~"
Xu Shu shivered with dread, couldn’t sit steadily, and fell off the stool directly.