Chapter 119.2: Serving Tea, Right and Wrong

A girl’s face was thin after all. Sun Yi Jia couldn’t help crying out at Luo Jing Bo’s sudden movement.

“Has young master and young madam awaken?” The mama’s voice sounded from the outside.

Sun Yi Jia frantically grabbed his hand, her face flushed red, “Jing Bo, Jing Bo, we still need to go serve tea.”

Luo Jing Bo hugged her for while, “Let’s get up then.” He grabbed Sun Yi Jia’s hand that was reaching over to help him dress, “I’ll do it myself, call the servant girls in to help you wash up.” With that said, he flipped out of bed. But seeing Sun Yi Jia sitting on the bed staring at him and not moving, for some unknown reason, seemingly as if suddenly becoming enlightened, he leaned over and cupped Sun Yi Jia’s face, kissing her on the lips, “Never mind for today, in the future, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to help this husband get dressed….change clothes.”

Sun Yi Jia’s face reddened once again.

Luo Jing Bo stood up and picked up the already prepared clothes, “Come in.”

The servants entered in a line carrying water and holding towels. One divided into two, one wave serving Sun Yi Jia, and one wave very naturally went to help Luo Jing Bo straighten out his clothes.

Seeing that servant girl’s behavior, never mind Sun Yi Jia, even her personal servants all had unsightly looks on their face.

Luo Jing Bo retreated a step, “I’ll do it myself, just go serve your young madam.”

“Look at how young masters says it, this kind of thing, how can one let young master do it himself.” She flirtatiously smiled, her glossy eyes roaming.

Even if Luo Jing Bo didn’t know his wife’s family had prepared tongfangs for him as the son-in-law, his little sister’s ‘teachings’ still echoed in his ear. Moreover, once a man was ‘enlightened[1]‘, would he still need for others to remind him? He pulled down his face, slapping aside the servant girl’s hand, “Go out, in the future, serve outside, prohibited from entering the room.”

That servant girl instantly felt wronged, her eyes rapidly filled with tears, looking to Luo Jing Bo with unspeakable grievance.

“Could it be that you’re even planning on crying (like at a funeral) on the the morning of the first day of this young master’s new marriage?”

That servant girl hurriedly wiped her tears that were about to fall, then immediately turned and ran.

Luo Jing Bo finished putting on his clothes, combed his hair, and washed his face. The entire process all very quick and didn’t take that much time. And his original two servant girls that served him also just helped out. Then, looking to Sun Yi Jia again, she was staring at him and smiling the entire time. That smile made Luo Jing Bo unable to make heads or tails of the situation. “What are you smiling for? Yi Jia, that servant girl just now, why don’t we change her, quite annoying.” Little sis said, regardless whether he liked or not, all need to be honest and candid. However, little sis seemingly also said, everything all needs to be discussed, don’t be too overbearing, “If you like her, you can leave her for yourself, just don’t let her appear before my eyes.”

Sun Yi Jia smilingly nodded, “All listen to you.” That kind of servant girl that specifically came to be one’s husband’s tongfang, presumably, not that many women would like. Luo Jing Bo’s attitude really made her happy.

And as for Sun Yi Jia’s wet nurse and servants, they also had delight in their brows. For young master to deeply respect their own miss, and not be enticed by those little demons, there was nothing more reassuring than this. Moreover, since the young master already said to take care of the person, then that ‘chicken feather command plaque[2]‘ won’t have the slightest use, and when sorting out, one naturally doesn’t need to hold back in the least either.

However, right now wasn’t the time, they still needed to wait until after serving tea.

Because Sun Yi Jia had both a mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law above her, the place for serving the tea naturally was at the main courtyard.

Jing Wan first went to Falling Plum Blossom Residence to meet her parents, then headed to the main courtyard together with the rest of the second branch.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

However, it seems today wasn’t a day off, yet her grandfather was still at home. Could it be that Le Cheng Emperor even specially permitted him a day off? On this matter, Le Cheng Emperor really was too sensible, or was it because Sun Yi Jia’s status was special————as the only one of his soon-to-be sixth daughter-in-laws to have properly married? Alright, regardless of reason, for Sun Yi Jia, it was all a good thing.

By the time the big and small masters of the Luo Manor rear court have all gathered, Luo Jing Bo appeared with Sun Yi Jia on the dot.

Sun Yi Jia was fully cladded in bright red, and her originally (unmarried) young lady hairstyle was already changed into a married woman’s hairstyle. Her hair accessories and head ornaments all weren’t very valuable. Of the twelve set priceless head ornaments, not a single one was worn. Setting aside that scar on her face, and looking as a whole, she was rather pretty, in great spirits, with a rosy colored complexion, carrying three part bashfulness, with the corners of her eyes even containing a bit of seduction. And as for Luo Jing Bo, he also seemingly shedded that youthful immaturity overnight, becoming a true man.

Jing Wan inwardly muttered to herself, looks like last night nothing embarrassing happened, and her third brother also had propriety.

Behind them followed Sun Yi Jia’s wet nurse, head mama, as well as eight servant girls——-Sun Yi Jia’s original four first-ranked servant girls, the two prepared tongfangs, Luo Jing Bo’s two first-ranked servant girls. Each and every one all had their hands full.

Placing a cushion on the ground, Sun Yi Jia first served tea to Head Minister Luo and Luo Old Madam.

(T/N: This part of the etiquette where the new bride serves tea to her in-laws, she needs to serve the tea on her knees to her elders.)

Towards the granddaughter-in-law, Luo Pei Shan naturally won’t say anything, accepting the tea and lightly taking a sip, then just directly handed out the red money packet. And afterwards, Sun Yi Jia naturally just had the things prepared in advance presented up.

Luo Old Madam however was very happy. Because of Jing Wan’s reason, she already quite liked Sun Yi Jia to begin with, and Sun Yi Jia herself didn’t have any shortcomings to nitpick either. “For you to be able to marry Jing Bo, that is his good fortune. In the future, if he dares to bully you, just directly tell grandmother, grandmother will help you sort him out.”

Sun Yi Jia was a bit stupefied. This wasn’t right, shouldn’t it be beating her down and letting her know her duties? Be harmonious with the other sister-in-laws (husband’s brother’s wives), take care of the younger brothers and sisters, quickly ‘sprout branches and spread leaves[3]

‘ for the Luo family and so on? Like for those older sister-in-laws (older brother’s wives) of hers, it was all like this.

Luo Old Madam smilingly had a small makeup box handed to her. Sun Yi Jia finally returned to her senses, quickly replying a few words and presenting her gift.

Afterwards, it was the father and mother-in-law, who once again broke Sun Yi Jia’s perception. Zhang-shi didn’t say a single thing, and even nodded ‘good good good’ with all her might. Sun Yi Jia suddenly felt, she perhaps not only married a good husband, but also a good family.

Since these four all didn’t say anything, then the rest of the elders naturally won’t say anything either. Sun Yi Jia just lifted the tea and accepted the ‘red packet’, then presented up the things to pay her respect. And after repeating these steps a few times, the matter was done with. It was unbelievably smooth, not having been troubled in the slightest. Sun Yi Jia knew, this wasn’t because her birth was noble, so the Luo family all lifted her. She wasn’t that esteemed, and the people of the Luo family definitely won’t do this because of her status. Rather, they genuinely accepted her and treated her kindly.

Afterwards was the people of the same generation.

Little Wang-shi’s complexion still wasn’t all that good, but she still came out.

Little Wang-shi although was born into an influential family, her branch wasn’t really the di (main) branch, and her father wasn’t a high official with a generous salary either. So in terms of status, she naturally was greatly inferior to Sun Yi Jia, and one further didn’t need to mention the dowry. As the eldest sister-in-law, she however was ruthlessly pushed down a level. To say she didn’t have a bit of thought inside, that definitely was impossible. But to say she would resent Sun Yi Jia because of this, that naturally wasn’t possible either.

Thus, between the two sister-in-laws, there weren’t any ‘crossing swords in the dark’ like how some people had imagined.

First was the brothers, then the sisters, going one by one. For the ones younger than Luo Jing Bo, naturally it was just giving out the gifts with nothing to receive in return. However, for Sun Yi Jia, this really was just trivial matters.

For the ones that have already entered school, Sun Yi Jia prepared the four treasures of the study for all of them, in addition to a paperweight. And for the younger ones, it was just some other little playthings. However, the price was all very considerable. That’s why, for every single thing she gave out, they actually were all good things. As for the things prepared for the young ladies, they naturally were also all good things, but weren’t too excessive either. It won’t let anyone think she was stingy, yet also won’t let anyone think she was wasteful.

Actually, when Jing Wan accepted the small box that Sun Yi Jia handed to her, she already could tell, her thing should be different from the others. If nothing else, just that weight was already quite heavy, afraid this thing from her sister-in-law is considerably valuable. Sun Yi Jia gave her a ‘tacit mutually understanding’ smile.

Speaking of which, Luo Jing Ying was the most sensitive towards Jing Wan’s matter. Moreover, she was standing right next to Jing Wan. She very much wanted to open Jing Wan’s box and see what exactly was inside. However, for the sake of being able to go out, she couldn’t do anything. If she does something, it’ll be considered ‘causing trouble’. That’s why, she could only clench her teeth and endure.

In reality, for the thing given to Jing Wan to be more valuable than others, that was all within reason. Jing Wan was Luo Jing Bo’s full blooded di younger sister. And prior to Sun Yi Jia marrying into the Luo family, the two of them were close friends. From whichever angle, it was all rightfully so. Aside from Luo Jing Ying, probably no one would go resent out of jealousy for this.

Since the tea was all served, it was time to go eat the morning meal. Luo Pei Shan led his sons and grandsons away, leaving behind the rest with Luo Old Madam.

However, because there were still some guests in the manor, Wang-shi left ahead of everyone, and also little Wang-shi, who couldn’t stay for too long.

[1] aka. not a virgin anymore.

[2] Basically meaning a fake symbol of authority.

[3] Give birth to next generation for husband’s family

T/N: Kinda random but I found out that I actually own a few gongbi style artbooks. I think my parents bought me these when I was younger. I have three sets, this one’s bamboo, the other two are for drawing birds, and a flower one. I figured this a good example, since this is roughly what Jing Wan was going for in her description of how to layout the gongbi instruction booklets.