Drunken Flower Room - Chapter 12

Su Taishou mulled over the situation. He had his concerns, of course, but in front of his wife, he had to staunchly support their daughter. Quickly scanning the letter and the list of gifts, he coughed lightly and feigned calmness. 

“I have always believed that Su Rong will find a good husband.” 

After all, her face alone was a strong advantage. 

The matriarch rolled her eyes. “High-ranking families all emphasize marrying virtuous wives. Look at your precious daughter, does she have even a shred of virtue?” 

Su Taishou, however, wasn’t too worried. “With a face like hers, virtue is unnecessary.” 

The matriarch bristled. “She’s to be a wife, not a concubine. How can virtue be unnecessary?” 

Su Taishou rubbed his nose sheepishly. “Well, Su Rong grew up under your guidance. You’re so virtuous, perhaps when she marries, she’ll follow your example.” 

The Matriarch snorted in exasperation. “Every time you bring a concubine into the household, I scratch your face. If that counts as virtue, then you’ve got a unique understanding of the word.” 

Su Taishou looked embarrassed. “That’s not quite it, but  haven’t you always managed to treat everyone fairly?” 

The Matriarch lacked the energy to argue with this infuriating man. “Over the years, I’ve urged you to climb higher in your career, but you refused to work harder. You’re content to remain in this backwater post. If you’d exerted yourself and raised our family’s status earlier, would I have to constantly worry about Su Rongrs future in her marital household? If Zhou Gu takes a concubine one day, will she dare scratch his face?” 

Su Taishou was stunned, as if he was seeing his wife for the first time. “Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about me? Even if I worked day and night, starved, and exhausted myself, I would not be able to reach the level of the Duke Protector’s household in this lifetime!” 

In other words, what kind of fanciful daydream was she having, imagining Su Rong daring to scratch Zhou Gu’s face someday? Their family could never achieve such leverage. 

The Duke Protector’s household was established through the achievements of the founding ancestors, sustained over three generations. 

The Matriarch sighed. “But your precious daughter, look at her temperament. She’s reckless and has a terrible temper. Do you think she can endure any grievance? In Jiangning, she can act out because you’re Su Taishou, but once she marries into the Duke Protector’s household, if she doesn’t restrain herself, how could she possibly get away with it?” 

“Well…” Su Taishou also felt it was a bit of a stretch. “Why don’t you guide her more and help her temper her personality?” 

The Matriarch let out a cold laugh, snatched the gift list, and waved him off disdainfully. “If I could change her personality, it would’ve been done already. I’m going to check the gifts now. You, get lost!” 

Su Taishou smiled obsequiously. “I’ll help you check the gifts.” 

He wasn’t one to embezzle public funds, relying only on their modest assets and his official salary. He had never seen such fine items before and wanted to indulge in some window-shopping. 

The Matriarch looked at his greedy expression and was speechless for a moment before reluctantly letting him tag along. 

The maid, Wang Ma, was efficient and meticulous. The Matriarch called her over to help verify and tally the gifts. She also instructed Yue Wan to copy the gift list. 

Su Taishou was already astonished when he saw the list. Now, faced with the actual items, he was utterly dumbfounded, mumbling nonstop. “Oh my, such a fine pine resin inkstone, what a waste to give it to that little rascal. She hardly writes! And these exquisite wolf-hair brushes, what a shame to give them to her. She’ll just stash them away. And this Xixuan paper, she doesn’t even like painting. If she were to paint, she’d just doodle and waste it…” 

The Matriarch couldn’t stand the sight of him, looking like he wanted to squirrel everything away into his private stash. She wanted to kick him. “Get out of here!” 

Su Taishou looked aggrieved. “Don’t worry, I’m just looking. I won’t take anything.” 

The Matriarch rolled her eyes and instructed Yue Wan, “Watch him closely. If the Master sneaks anything away, I’ll deduct it from your monthly allowance.” 

Yue Wan immediately perked up, her eyes wide and vigilant as she fixed her gaze on Su Taishou. “Rest assured, Madam.” 

Su Taishou: “…” 

He turned his head in frustration and indignantly questioned the Matriarch, “Please tell me, do I still have any status in this household?” 

The Matriarch gave him a gentle smile. “Of course. All of us share your surname, Su.” 

Su Taishou: “…” 

After spending an entire hour inventorying the gifts sent by the Duke Protector’s household, the Matriarch instructed Yue Wan, “Go ask Su Rong if she wants to come and see the gifts with her own eyes.” 

Yue Wan, who had never seen so many luxurious items, replied cheerfully and ran back to the small courtyard. 

Su Rong was already fast asleep on her bed. 

Yue Wan nudged her awake. “Miss, the Matriarch wants to know if you’d like to come over and see the gifts from the Duke Protector’s household. There’s so much, enough to fill one and a half carts, all for you.” 

Su Rong, still groggy, showed little interest. “No need. Let Mother put them in the storeroom. Just give me the gift list.” 

She wasn’t worried about the Matriarch withholding anything. Over the years, the Matriarch had diligently and frugally amassed a dowry for her, fearing she would squander it. And rightly so, if not for her mother’s oversight, Su Rong would have long squandered her dowry away. 

Yue Wan, brimming with excitement, added, “There are so many wonderful things!” 

Without opening her eyes, Su Rong reached out and patted Yue Wan’s face. “Why so excited? When I marry into the Duke Protector’s household, won’t there be even more treasures? This little haul is nothing.” 

Yue Wan immediately calmed down. “Miss is right. No need to look!” 

When the Matriarch heard from Yue Wan that Su Rong didn’t want to see the gifts and only asked for the gift list, she handed over the original list from the Duke Protector’s household to Yue Wan, keeping the copied version for herself. “Such a big heart,” she remarked, before turning to Su Taishou. “Learn from your daughter. At your age, why are you getting so worked up over this?” 

Su Taishou: “…” 

Even if he had a hundred years, he wouldn’t be able to achieve that level of nonchalance. 

He watched helplessly as the Matriarch sealed all the gifts and stored them in Su Rong’s private storeroom, keeping the key with herself. He sighed deeply. 

Yue Wan returned with the gift list, and Su Rong only got around to reading it the next morning. She went through the long list from top to bottom, thinking to herself, The Duke Protector’s household sure is rich. 

Hearing noise and commotion from the front, she asked, “What’s all the racket?” 

Yue Wan quickly explained, “The Matriarch is having the residence repaired. Since Young Master Zhou has come to Jiangning and mentioned he would visit one day, we don’t know when he’ll show up. The residence hasn’t been repaired in years, so the Madam said it needed tidying up. And you, Miss, we’ve been living in this shabby little courtyard. It was fine before, but now that Young Master Zhou himself might visit, what if he comes to see where you live? This little courtyard is too embarrassing and would hurt his eyes! The Madam has cleared out the west wing of her own courtyard for us to move into.” 

“I don’t want to move,” Su Rong protested. 

Yue Wan looked at her. “Miss, it’s true that sneaking out will be harder under the Madam’s watch, but this courtyard really isn’t presentable. If Young Master Zhou visits and sees it, he might think Su Taishou and the Madam have been mistreating you all these years.” 

“Why would he visit my courtyard?” Su Rong asked, puzzled. “Do all fiancés visit their fiancée’s courtyard the first time they come over?” 

“Uh…” 

Yue Wan was at a loss for words.