Beautiful Peasant Girl: The Young Marquis's Beloved

That afternoon, Liu Xu's house was once again surrounded by villagers.

When Xu Ruolan and her daughter heard Uncle He's report and rushed out, they saw Xu Hean and his son standing at the gate with the guards who had come with them, and behind them were five horse-drawn carriages.

Seeing Xu Ruolan and her daughter coming out, Xu Ruoan bowed deeply to them.

"This old servant has met you, young lady. After nine years, this old servant has finally lived up to the trust of the master and the mistress and found you. This old servant is late and has caused you to suffer for many years. Please punish me, young lady."

"Please punish me, Miss!"

"Please punish me, Miss!"

Xu Huairen and several guards behind him knelt on one knee in unison, their voices loud and clear.

Although there were not many people, anyone who was not stupid could see that the Xu family was not an ordinary family.

"Uncle An, Brother Ru, what are you doing? Get up quickly, everyone get up quickly!" Xu Ruolan walked forward anxiously and helped the old butler up with her own hands.

"Uncle Huairen, uncles and aunts, please get up! This is not Kyoto, there are not so many rules!"

Liu Xu knew that Xu Hean and his son were announcing to the people of Liujia Village that her mother was not an orphan, but a treasured daughter of the Xu family who the family had never given up looking for even after being separated for many years.

"Thank you, Miss, for not punishing me. Thank you, Miss!" Everyone responded in unison and stood up.

"Hiss, so this person is a member of the Donglai family?"

"Looking at their style, she must be from a wealthy family, right? I've always felt that Ruolan doesn't look like the girl from a peasant family like us!"

"Yes, yes, yes, I think so too, that's called temperament, yes, it's temperament!"

The people around were talking about it. Xu Hean patted Xu Ruolan's hand, turned around and said to the onlookers:

"My fellow villagers, I am the steward of the Xu family, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Kyoto. Thanks to your care over the years, my young lady is safe and sound. I have prepared some small gifts on behalf of my master and his wife, and I will have the guards deliver them in person later. Please don't be disgusted."

"Ah, no, no, it's the duty of neighbors, it's the duty!" The simple and honest man waved his hand to refuse.

"Yeah, that's too polite!"

"Yes, she is the daughter-in-law of our Liu family, so it is only right that we take care of her!"

"I don't mind, I don't mind!"

When the onlookers heard this, they started chattering and saying all kinds of things.

"My dear uncles and aunts, since Uncle An specially prepared this, please accept it! It's getting late, and it's freezing cold. I'll take them in to have some hot tea to cool off, and we'll talk again another day, okay?"

Seeing that everyone was still gathering around them, Xu Ruolan began to try to persuade them to leave.

"Hey, that's right, Dong Lai's family, please lead the people into the house first!"

"Yes, yes, let's go away first, let's go away!"

The villagers slowly dispersed, but the discussion did not stop:

"Hiss, I didn't expect that the Xu family is from Kyoto!"

"Yes, yes! But what is this Minister of Revenue?"

"Stupid, officer, he must be a high-ranking official!"

"Oh, then the daughter of Donglai must be a government official! Old lady Zhang is so lucky!"

"You're overthinking it. Don't you see what she did..."

Xu Ruolan and her group also returned to the courtyard. As they walked, they kept muttering:

"Uncle An, look at you, I really thought you were just going to the county town for a stroll, but I never expected something like this to happen!" Xu Ruolan was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

"Mom, Grandpa An is doing this for you! Grandpa An must have gone out and found out a lot yesterday afternoon!" Liu Xu said with a smile, her tone full of certainty.

"Oh, our young lady is really smart!" Xu Hean praised with a smile, and then said to Xu Ruolan:

"Miss, it's fine if I didn't know, but now that we have found you, how can we let people say you are an orphan? Otherwise, when the master, mistress, and the first and second masters find out, they will blame me."

"Although most people in Liujia Village are kind and honest, there are still some who love to gossip behind people's backs. I am doing this to shut up those who gossip about you. Please don't blame me for being nosy!"

His young lady has been kind-hearted since she was a child, and doesn't like to argue with others. Since she came yesterday, she has only reported good news and not bad news. If they hadn't mentioned the matter of the young marquis later, they would not have known that the eldest branch of the Liu family had done such a thing!

Even when the second young master of his Xu family had not become an official, although the family was not rich and powerful, they were still well-known in Yongkang Prefecture. How could the only young lady of their Xu family of this generation allow others to speak like this?

"What are you talking about, Uncle An? Ruolan is already grateful, so how can she blame you? But I'm afraid you must be exhausted after all this shopping." Xu Ruolan helped him sit down on the chair. She was deeply moved by Xu Hean's actions and said with red eyes.

"These are what I should do. I am in good health, so please don't worry, young lady." Xu Hean waved his hand.

"By the way, young lady, ask Butler He to help and lead the guards to deliver all the things later. In addition, this old servant has also bought some things for you. Huairen, go and have them move in and let the young lady and the young lady see if they like them."

"Yes, Dad!" Xu Huairen responded and left.

"Uncle An, we have everything we need at home, why are you spending all this!" Xu Ruolan knew that these things must have been bought for her by Uncle An out of his own pocket. Looking at the carriages outside just now, there must be quite a few of them.

The old man has worked diligently for their family all his life, so she couldn't bear to accept it.

Xu Hean pretended to be angry: "Miss, are you going to be estranged from me? Let me be honest, I have treated you like my own daughter since we were young. I was not here when you got married. Now you don't allow me to add some makeup for you?"

"This... Uncle An, Ruolan didn't mean that. Ruolan just wants you to leave more money for herself... and also for Brother Huairen and Brother Huaiyi..." Liu Xu looked at the anxious Xu Ruolan and the old housekeeper with kind eyes, and felt happy for her mother.

"Don't worry, Uncle An can still come up with this little bit. You know, the master has always been generous to me, and I have saved a lot over the years. As for your two brothers, don't worry about them. Huairen is now with the eldest master, and Huaiyi is with the second master. The first and second masters treat them well. Miss, just accept it with peace of mind!"

Xu Ruolan was about to say something when she saw Xu Huairen and others coming in with a pile of boxes and cloth.

After the things were put down and the others left, Xu Ru'an called Liu Xu and said, "Come here, young lady. Grandpa An specially selected brocade and moon-shaped silk for you. Our young lady will be able to wear silk and satin in the future! Come and take a look. Do you like these colors?"

Liu Xu looked at the pair of mostly pink but also other colored cloths, and she loved them very much: "Wow, thank you Grandpa An, Xuer likes them very much!"

In my mind, I thought: Oh, why is it pink again...

"I'm glad you like it. I'll ask the embroiderer at home to make clothes for you and we can wear them every day!" Xu Hean said lovingly.

"Uncle An...she is just a little child, why does she need to buy so many things!" Xu Ruolan disagreed.

"Miss, don't worry about it. Those are what the old servant asked the shopkeeper to choose for you. Some of them I bought based on what you used to wear. Take a look and see if there's anything you don't like. Then ask Huairen to change it later."

Background board Xu Huairen: ...

"Come here, young lady. These are all the jewelry that Grandpa An and your uncle Huairen prepared for you. Wear them for fun first. When we return to Kyoto, Grandpa An will take you to personally choose better ones!"

As he said that, he brought a jewelry box over. Liu Xu took a look and was surprised to see that it was full of jewelry suitable for her age, including headdresses, bracelets, and necklaces. Most of them were gold and silver, with a few inlaid with pearls and jade. The quality was average, but the quality was exquisite and very suitable for her!

"Thank you Grandpa An, Uncle Huairen, Xuer likes them all very much!" She still understood the principle that gifts from elders cannot be refused.

"I'm glad you like it. Let the maid carry it back to your room!" Xu Hean touched her little head and said with a smile.

"Uh-huh!"

"Miss, this is yours. The items inside were selected by the shopkeeper. They are our old servants' gift to you as a make-up." As he said this, he took another box and handed it to Xu Ruolan, which was larger than the catkins.

"Miss, this is a gift from my second brother and I to you as a dowry. Please don't mind." Xu Huairen also handed over a box, which was a little smaller than the old housekeeper's, but probably not much different.

Xu Ruolan's eyes gradually became moist, "Uncle An, Brother Ru... I'm sorry for spending so much money on you!" They said that they were giving her some extra gifts for her dowry, so she couldn't refuse. Besides, she had already bought all the things, so she could only wait until they left and then prepare some return gifts for them.

"The rest are some ornaments, books, pens and so on. I saw that the antique display cabinets in the house were a little empty, so I just bought some. They are all ordinary items and can be placed anywhere. Then the third master next door prepared another set, let's have someone send it over!" Xu He'an has been doing this for decades. When he came back from this trip, he bought everything that the Liu family seemed to be missing.

[Uncle He: You make me feel a little embarrassed...]

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you. We've been tired all day, so take a break. Leave the rest to Uncle He." Looking at the old housekeeper like this, Xu Ruolan remembered that when she was at home, Uncle An was also like this, afraid that something was missing in her room, and sometimes he was more attentive than her parents.

"Mom, you continue chatting with Grandpa An and Uncle Huairen. I'll go to the kitchen to take a look." Liu Xu said with a smile.

The old people had been running around for most of the day and must be tired, so she wanted to make some food by herself to reward them.

Xu Ruolan nodded, and Liu Xu left.

The workers in the back house and the embroidery room saw what happened in the yard and were naturally surprised.

Because they didn't hear what Xu Ru'an said at the door just now, they just thought that Xu Ruolan's family should be a wealthy family. Many people were happy for Xu Ruolan, and some were very envious.

Among them, Liu Juan in the embroidery room had the most complicated feelings. Her grandfather used to live in the town, and her brother was a student. She naturally knew that silk and satin could only be worn by people with official titles, and brocade and Yueling gauze were more expensive than ordinary silk and satin. There was no doubt that her second aunt's family must be high officials in the capital.

Thinking of what he had done before, he was even more worried, so much so that he didn't even come to his senses after stabbing himself. If Zi Ling hadn't seen it, the blood would have stained the fabric.

"Miss Juan, come over here and help divide the embroidery threads!" Zi Ling knew what she was thinking just by looking at her expression. The servants of the Liu family knew clearly what Liu Dongcheng's family had done. Although they were dissatisfied with them in their hearts, the lady and the young lady said nothing more, and as servants, they could not say much.

Thinking about Madam's plan, he deliberately said: "Madam and Miss are both open-minded people. Miss Juan just needs to do her job well now!"

Without caring whether Liu Juan heard it or not, he turned around to check on other people.