Pampered By All In Different Planes

Chapter 166: Chapter 166: The Lucky Farmer is at Ease, While the Husband with No Heirs is Busy Pursuing His Wife 26

Su Zhiruan and her party returned to their residence, where she settled everyone in. Then, she joined Zheye and Zhezhi for dinner.

After dinner,

“Mother, all the ledgers are ready,” Zhezhi passed the writing brush to a maidservant behind her, turned her head, and spoke softly, “Thank you, sister maidservant.”

A maidservant took the ledgers Zhezhi had prepared and handed them to Su Zhiruan, while another maidservant took the writing brush from Zhezhi’s hand, washed it, and hung it on the brush rack.

Su Zhiruan picked up Zhezhi and smiled as she ruffled her little daughter’s hair, “Zhizhi is wonderful.”

Seeing that Su Zhiruan praised her, Zhezhi immediately grinned with delight, “Mother~”

Zheye left after dinner because his master had arrived at the house this morning with some instructions for him. The two of them should be in the back courtyard by now.

“It’s getting late. Mother will go check on the shop. Zhizhi should go to bed early, alright?” Su Zhiruan affectionately smiled as she looked at the tiny hand in her palm, stained with ink. She wiped Zhezhi’s hand with a handkerchief, leaving some lingering marks. She dabbed some water and continued to wipe Zhezhi’s hand, “When Zheye comes back, tell him to go to sleep early too. I’m counting on Zhizhi for this.”

“Mother, come back early. My brother and I will go to bed early.” Zhezhi nodded vigorously, opening her hand for Su Zhiruan to wipe. Her round eyes sparkled with clarity as if washed by water. She was still young and entirely dependent on Su Zhiruan, her eyes full of love for her mother.

“Then, Mother will go now.” Su Zhiruan hugged Zhezhi, put her on the ground, and then took the large cloak a maidservant handed her and draped it over herself. She waved cheerfully to the little Zhezhi before lifting the curtain and stepping out.

They hadn’t returned early. After dinner and settling various matters in the house, nightfall had gradually come.

By this time, the sky had already darkened, and a maidservant carried a lantern in front of her, illuminating an empty space ahead.

“Miss Su, where are we going?” The coachman had the carriage ready. Seeing Su Zhiruan come out, he got a stool ready for her to get on the carriage, “Miss, the city gate is already closed.”

“We’re not leaving the city. We’re going to the Su Family’s jewelry shop, Liuyun Gold and Jade Studio, on the corner of West Street,” Su Zhiruan chose this time to go out for her own reasons, and after a moment’s thought, said, “When we get close, just stop the carriage at a distance.”

“You mean to…” The maidservant caught on to something as she listened, “You don’t want them to know that this is your shop?”

As Su Zhiruan’s fingertips touched the fluffy edge of the large cloak, she contemplated, “Mmm, at this hour, there should be a moderate number of people in the shop—it’s the perfect time to check the situation there.”

This jewelry shop was something she had started in a rush. After looking after it for two days, she had gone to Jiangnan. She had given the management of this shop to a young man from Su Family village. Later, the young man sent an invitation for her to come and make improvements. Su Zhiruan also wanted to see the place, but this time she did not want to reveal her identity and planned to disguise herself as an ordinary young lady shopping for jewelry.

The maidservant placed the lantern at her feet, and as the carriage moved forward, the lantern swayed, with the light flickering unsteadily.

When they reached West City, Su Zhiruan signaled to the coachman to stop, “This is good. I’ll get down here.”

The Su Family’s carriage was marked. If it stopped directly in front of the jewelry shop, it would definitely be noticed, so she decided to get off early.

The night in Capital City was somewhat cold, and even though she wore a large cloak, the chilly wind poured down her neck, causing her skin to raise in fine goosebumps. She wrapped her clothes tighter and headed toward the shop.

Standing at the shop’s entrance, Su Zhiruan looked inside and was surprised – the place was not crowded. Apart from a few scattered couples inside, there were no other customers.

She placed the lantern at the entrance, stepped across the threshold, and walked in, lifting the thick door curtain.

Liuyun Jewelry Store was doing quite well, located in the bustling area with a large shopfront, the first floor displayed many new styles of jewelry. Whether it was gold, silver, or jade, a complete set of ornaments for the hair, they had it all here.

When Su Zhiruan opened this store, she prepared a lot of design drawings—just at a glance, she spotted several designs that came from her own hand.

In the hall, there were totally three couples whispering to each other, pointing at this piece, then that one, all wanting to try them on their heads.

The store’s three shop assistants were each attending to the three couples, and besides them, there was also a young master.

Just then, a man with a face full of smiles came bounding down from the second floor, he had the look of good fortune about him. Running down the stairs, the flesh on his belly bounced, making him seem like a Maitreya Buddha come to life.

“Please forgive the intrusion, young master and this Madam! My, our little store has been neglectful!” He approached, panting, and spouted a stream of auspicious phrases, “Madam, do you and your husband have a piece of jewelry in mind? Have the two of you just married? You look so young. Why not try this piece?”

Su Zhiruan looked around, and finally, her gaze met that of the young master in the moon-shaped white brocade robe, both could see the confusion in each other’s eyes.

“Madam? Why not wear it and let your husband see how it looks? You two are truly a match made in heaven; Madam is indeed beautiful, wearing this will certainly make you dazzle!” The man tirelessly showed off the red garnet gold-dangled ornament he held, displaying it from all angles.

It was not until then that Su Zhiruan confirmed that the “Madam” and “husband” he referred to were indeed her and the young master before her.

“We don’t know each other, you have mistaken us for someone else,” said the young master in the moon-shaped white brocade robe indifferently. He had a strong scholarly aura and spoke evenly, “I am here to select a piece of jewelry for my mother, just show some jewelry to this young lady.”

“Ah?” The man now had trouble keeping his smile, scratching his head, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Once again, Su Zhiruan looked towards the young master in the moon-shaped white brocade robe, at first, she hadn’t noticed, but upon another glance, she realized that this young master bore an uncanny resemblance to someone she knew.

—Fu Huaichu!

These two had completely different temperaments, Fu Huaichu had previously been utterly cold, clearly not someone kindly, a man with means and determination. Then when she met him again in Jiangnan Prefecture, he gave her a sense of calm madness.

And this young master, while looking very similar to Fu Huaichu, appeared much more delicate and serene, giving one the impression at first sight that he was a charismatic scholar and unlikely to engage in many disputes.

She looked at the young master, and for a moment forgot to look away; feeling her intense gaze, he paused and then returned the look.

“Why are you staring at me?” the young master asked Su Zhiruan.

In that instant when their eyes met, his heartbeat skipped a beat.

She was truly beautiful.

Not like the noble ladies of the Capital City with their uniformly lavish and bright appearances, nor like the daughters of the gentry who always maintained perfect makeup at all times.

In her, he had found the feeling he had always been searching for.