Chapter 46
The hall was brightly lit by candlelight. Xie Yao was dressed in a black scholar’s robe, his brow furrowed with years of accumulated majesty. Even when he smiled, the intimidating distance around him did not dissipate.
But at this moment, he was in a pile of pink, white, and purple broken flowers. His clothes were also stained with green leaves, as if life had favored him, or as if life had grown from him. The nearest bright yellow winter jasmine cast a faint, warm yellow glow on his cold, white nose bridge.
That pair of deep, dark eyes looked at her, half-smiling, with both doting and submission.
Yuli’s heart was filled with a mixture of emotions. In the end, she was occupied by an inexplicable light-headedness. Who cares? Right now, he treated her as his, and he was also hers.
On a whim, Yuli walked to his side, pushed aside the unique flower arrangement, and sat on his lap, at the same time hooking her arms around his neck.
Seeing his stunned expression, he lowered his eyes to look. Yuli’s heart was pounding like a drum. She tilted her head up and held his lower lip between hers.
She felt him stiffen for a moment, and his body temperature instantly rose. Yuli was secretly happy and became even more reckless.
Yuli kissed him for a while, but he did not respond. She retreated a little. His eyes were dark and gloomy, and his chest heaved violently, his gaze lingering between her eyes and her lips.
So he’s not unmoved.
Yuli was about to continue, but Xie Yao held her chin, his palms covering half her neck, the back of her head, and half her jaw, not letting her move.
“It’s no use. Seventy-five days, not a single day more.”
Yuli’s heart sank. Was she such a headstrong and unscrupulous person in his eyes?
“Alright, I know it’s no use. Just seventy-five days,” Yuli said, raising her hand to pull his palm away, pretending to get off his lap.
Xie Yao’s eyes gradually darkened. He let her go. Yuli stood up and walked towards the door. Xie Yao lowered his eyes to look at the flowers and leaves at his feet and stomped on them heavily.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Yuli had not left at the door. She had closed the door, turned back like the wind, and crashed into his arms, holding his face. “Continue.”
She pressed her body against his, lowered her head to kiss him deeply. Xie Yao subconsciously held her, his mind blank for a moment. When he came to his senses, a wild joy grew in his heart, like a surging giant wave.
He held her tightly and took the lead.
Yuli gradually leaned back, holding his face, not yielding at all.
Sensing his body’s reaction, she paused for a moment. Xie Yao pulled her closer, pressing them tightly together.
Xie Yao let her go a little. Yuli’s cheeks were flushed, her eyes moist, her slender eyebrows stretched, and a shy and gentle smile hung on her lips.
After a pause, she lightly kissed his moist, red lips again.
Xie Yao held her tightly again, so forcefully that he almost held her into his bones and blood.
Yuli felt a little pain and pushed his shoulder. He let go and turned to untie her sash and buttons.
The spring wind howled, and fallen flowers covered the ground. The faint scent of flowers entered the bed curtains.
Dark fragrance and floating shadows, scorching breaths one after another.
At first, Yuli put in some effort, but Xie Yao pressed her down, letting her follow his rhythm.
Yuli still preferred to take it step by step, but her thigh was no match for his forearm. In the end, she was defeated.
Until she was drowsy and almost unable to move.
Only then did Xie Yao let her go.
*
In the morning, when Xie Yao left, he did not kiss her forehead lightly as usual, but pressed against her lips and gently bit down.
Yuli opened her eyes. Before she could see him clearly, he had turned and left.
Her whole body was weak and unable to move. She closed her eyes and fell asleep again, only waking up at noon.
After a night of indulging in her nature, Yuli’s back was sore, but she was refreshed. She suddenly found dyeing silk threads extremely interesting again. Even the tongue-twisting and difficult-to-distinguish color names were poetic.
Yuli knew that Xie Yao had set a deadline because he didn’t want to see her suffer.
She was not the type to ask for trouble. If it were in her past life, she would definitely not have been able to hold on for so long. After suffering these setbacks, she might have given up long ago and just been a wealthy wife who enjoyed a life of luxury by his side.
But now, unlike the overachiever of her past life, any business opportunity she could think of had already been put into practice by someone. And this business of hers was a unique innovation in this world. As long as she persisted, she would surely have results.
And now, with a solid backing like Xie Yao, she had no worries and could move forward boldly without considering the consequences of failure.
At this thought, Yuli’s mood was excellent. She went for a walk in the residence, looking at the beautiful scenery of the large house she now owned.
She also held Xuemi and played with it for a while, trimmed the flower trellis, and then fed the goldfish.
Yuli took the booklet to Huayan Fang and continued to do research and development with them. But today, her thoughts were clear. She felt that this random approach, wanting all kinds of colors, was not suitable for the current urgent situation.
Yuli called the three people from the dyeing workshop and Zhile and Lizhen for a meeting to discuss what color system to focus on.
Yuli first asked Lizhen, “Recently, what colors do the customers who come to see the flowers like the most?”
Lizhen: “Although the ‘Ronghua Lihua’ has been discontinued, the imitations on the market have suddenly disappeared recently. Most customers came for this flower. Knowing that the ‘Ronghua Lihua’ is out of stock, they turned to buy flowers of similar colors, purple or blue.”
It was the first time Yuli had known that the imitations of the “Ronghua Lihua” were gone. Speaking of which, the clerks of Wanse Fang had often come to look around a few days ago, but it seemed they hadn’t been here for a while.
Yuli didn’t think much of it. No matter what tricks that second Chu was up to, the hard truth was to do her own research and development well.
There were few naturally growing purple and blue flowers, and green flowers also sold well. But there were too many crude imitations on the market, which had caused aesthetic fatigue and were not stunning enough. It would be a thankless task to develop them. She had to choose other color systems.
Yuli then asked Zhile for her opinion.
Zhile designed and made flowers. Although she didn’t know much about the market, her aesthetic was unique. “I think that besides the colors, the shape of our velvet flowers can also be made completely different from natural flowers. On a single branch, there can be lotus, peach, and apricot blossoms. As long as the colors match well, a flower shape that doesn’t exist in nature can also be eye-catching.”
“Then according to Zhile’s idea, what color of flower should we make to be the most eye-catching?”
Zhile thought for a moment and finally said, “Red.”
Zhile looked at the others. Lizhen and the old dyer both looked displeased. She stammered, “But not ordinary red, but the kind of bright and eye-catching, yet not vulgar, color that a lady with fair skin and dark hair would look noble and gorgeous in.”
Yuli had a smile on her face. “Zhile is right. In the end, it comes back to color research and development. What are your thoughts, the three of you?”
An old dyer cupped his hands and bowed. “If we focus on red, the current mature techniques are based on madder, safflower, and sappanwood. Although the colors dyed are different, they all end up as dark red or deep red, which probably won’t meet the requirements of the young artisan Liu. And cinnabar is bright, but the cost is high, and it is difficult to color and easy to fade. But this old man is not saying that it can’t be dyed, just that it will take time and effort.”
Yuli had previously discovered that these two old dyers seemed conscientious and specialized in weaving and dyeing, but they seemed to have some of the habits of the officialdom. Their words seemed flawless, but in fact, they couldn’t make a decision. They stayed in her dyeing workshop every day, just going through the motions and wasting time.
According to what Jingyu had said before, they were indeed like old workers who had been rehired after retirement. They had entered their old age, lost their drive, were proficient in their skills, and a little complacent. Besides, they might have been forced to come here, just going through the motions.
Yuli was impassive and turned her gaze to Ye Weiqing. “Mr. Ye, what are your thoughts?”
Ye Weiqing had been looking down at his feet. Only now did he raise his eyes, glanced at Yuli, and bowed. “Red, I’ll dye it.”
It was the first time Yuli had heard him speak with such a determined tone. He was a painter. She had seen the red he had mixed before, which was ever-changing. In his paintings, it was even more of a contrast between light and dark, thick and thin, extremely eye-catching.
It was just that the pigments were difficult to color, which was why he had not yet dyed a silk thread that was as stable and eye-catching as the pigments.
He was usually gentle and quiet, and rarely spoke. At this moment, Yuli inexplicably believed in his aesthetic and ability.
But she still asked him, “Can you dye it within two months? Are you confident?”
Ye Weiqing raised his head to look at Yuli. After meeting her gaze, he moved it down an inch and then to the ground. “Mm, I am.”
Yuli was greatly encouraged. “Alright, we’ll dye red. Mr. Ye, if you have any needs, just tell me. I’ll have Jingyu do her best to satisfy you. The two old masters too, from now on, you will fully cooperate with him and listen to his command.”
Ye Weiqing wanted to be polite, but the two old dyers seemed to have been relieved of a heavy burden. They bowed to Ye Weiqing. “From now on, we will follow Mr. Ye’s lead. Please feel free to command us, Mr. Ye.”
Ye Weiqing politely returned the bow, officially taking on the heavy responsibility.
Yuli doubled his salary and had Xiyun take him to have two new sets of clothes made.
Ye Weiqing politely refused.
Xiyun said with a smile, “Mr. Ye has grown a little stronger. It’s time to have a new set of clothes made.”
Yuli glanced at him. He indeed didn’t look as if he could be blown over by the wind as he had when she had first met him.
Ye Weiqing was teased by Xiyun for a few words and could only say that it would be disrespectful to refuse, and accepted the kind offer.
Seeing this scene, Jingyu calmly handed Ye Weiqing a cup of tea and stood between him and Yuli.
Yuli’s line of sight was blocked. At first, she didn’t feel anything. It was only when Jingyu stood there without moving that she sensed something was wrong. She sighed in her heart, retreated behind the desk, and had everyone go and get busy.
*
All the major and minor matters of Huayan Fang had been arranged. Yuli could not go to greet the guests, nor could she go and help Ye Weiqing dye. The number of times she went to Huayan Fang gradually decreased.
Entering the fourth lunar month, most of the flowers were already in full bloom. The orders that Huayan Fang had taken before had all been delivered or refunded.
After calculating, she had lost over a thousand taels of silver. The gold that Xie Yao had given her was almost exhausted. But because the imitations no longer had the support of Wanse Fang’s silk threads and were increasingly unable to keep up with Huayan Fang’s style updates, the business had finally stabilized. According to the daily revenue, after deducting the research and development costs of the dyeing workshop, she had already started to make a small profit.
But the cost of the dyeing workshop was huge. Ye Weiqing needed to add a small amount of cinnabar to dye red, but he had not yet succeeded in his research and development, and had wasted a lot of silk threads. Zhile used the silk threads that had been dyed too dark to reduce some of the cost, but it was still very expensive.
Seeing that the money sent from Xiangfu Zhai was also being used, Yuli began to panic a little. Xie Yao had not mentioned giving her gold again. When they met every day, he would not mention this matter, but would just carefully examine her expression to see if she was frowning or if she could still hold on.
Yuli put on a relaxed smile, and he would put on an impersonal attitude, reminding her every few days how much time was left, as if waiting for her to ask him for help.
She had a premonition that once she opened her mouth, it would be a complete surrender. He would smile and say to her, “It should have been like this long ago, Yuli. I’m doing it all for your own good.”
He was indeed doing it for her good, but she didn’t need it to be too good. With him standing behind her, she had a way out, which was just right.
She did not want Xie Yao to use his identity as the regent and use violent means to solve everything for her. It would be better to close Huayan Fang in advance and just collect the money from Xiangfu Zhai.
Yuli had been going to Xiangfu Zhai often recently to see the money coming in, to estimate how long Huayan Fang could hold on, and also to relax.
Xiangfu Zhai was located in the north of the city, and officials often gathered there. Yuli would occasionally hear people discussing political affairs, mostly about matters within their scope of responsibility.
On this day, Yuli heard someone mention the great defeat at the northern border again.
“This time, that young general of the Wei family didn’t come back alive. I heard that his bones were trampled into mud…”
Yuli put down the pastry in her hand.
“Last time, it was he who was eager for merit. In order to gain merit in front of that person, he insisted on going to the northern border. After being defeated, he should have been sentenced to exile. That person let him atone for his crime, but I didn’t expect…”
“The Southern Garrison is a bunch of good-for-nothings anyway,” another person said in a very low voice. “Without his Wei clan, if it were the Shenwu Army, the Rouran would have been taken down long ago.”
“Exactly, especially if that person had gone.”
The two of them laughed in unison. Although they were discussing a defeat, they were not very worried, but were full of cheerful laughter.
Yuli wanted to hear more, but the two of them did not mention “that person” again.
Yuli glanced at Jingyu and found that she seemed a little absent-minded, staring at the ground in a daze.
She suddenly thought of the story she had heard in the teahouse a few months ago. She thought of a way to send Jingyu away and went to that teahouse with only Xiyun.
When Yuli arrived at that teahouse, there was already a new storyteller, who was telling stories of scholars and beauties. Yuli listened from beginning to end but did not hear the story of that person again.
It was almost dusk. Yuli left the teahouse. Not long after she had gone.
Two onlookers in the teahouse whispered, “This teahouse usually doesn’t tell this story.”
“You don’t know, do you?”
“What?”
“It’s a taboo for the dead,” the onlooker whispered in his ear. “That person’s father passed away, just this morning.”
The other person was stunned for a moment. “But there was no funeral.”
“Do you really think this storyteller is just making things up? He said it was revenge. How can it be groundless?”
“Could it be… he didn’t even spare his own father?”
“Shh, are you looking for death!”
The two of them said no more and concentrated on listening to the new face on the stage tell the next story of a scholar and a beauty.
*
After Yuli returned to the residence, she rested for a while. When it was time for Xie Yao to return, she went to the second gate to meet him. She waited and waited at the second gate and saw a guard returning in a hurry.
“The Young Master has encountered something today and will be back late. He has ordered this humble one to send a message that the Mistress does not need to wait.”
Yuli thought of the matter of the northern border she had heard during the day and thought he was probably busy with this, so she didn’t ask any more questions.
At night, Yuli went to bed early. The outside of the bed was unusually empty, and she was a little unaccustomed to it.
After finally falling asleep, she heard a sound in the middle of the night and woke up at once.
There was almost no light in the room. Yuli subconsciously called out, “Husband.”
“Mm,” she heard his reply in the darkness, and Yuli’s heart was at ease.
After waiting for a while, she did not see him light a lamp. Yuli turned over and got up.
She got out of bed and, after a few steps in the darkness, bumped into him.