I'm a humble concubine. My acting skills are off the charts. You can check my performance.

Zhao Fangjin didn't understand why his aunt couldn't see through it?

If my aunt could see through it and divorce and return home, Sister Yanzhen would not have to give up her life and enter the palace as a concubine for the sake of the future and career of the Duke of Li’s Mansion.

The eldest lady sighed, her expression unable to conceal her loneliness: "Because your aunt can't see through it."

"The differences in life are nothing more than the differences in food, clothing, shelter and transportation."

"Your aunt takes her reputation too seriously, so she can't see through it."

Her sister... When talking about the past, the eldest lady couldn't help but tear up.

The eldest lady lifted up Zhao Fangjin's face and said solemnly and sadly:

"You don't need to tell others these words, just listen to them yourself."

"Our Longxi Li family is full of talented people and has been passed down for thousands of years. Even among the aristocratic families, we have a great reputation. Your aunt was originally a noble lady of the Longxi Li family, but because of the originally promising marriage, she was snatched away by another Li woman in the family. The family was concerned about the woman's generation, so they never sought justice for her. In a fit of rage, your aunt married far away in the capital and vowed to become a first-class noble lady, and must surpass that woman."

"But even though she has received the imperial decree, she still has countless sufferings. She doesn't want to go home and drag down the younger generations in her family, nor does she want to go back and let the people who stole her marriage laugh at her. She just keeps enduring like this, no matter how hard it is, she has decided to rot in the Duke of Li's mansion for the rest of her life."

"Until she had your cousin, Xun'er. She considered Xun'er's success as her top priority, but the Duke of Li's family had many illegitimate sons, and there were more than ten who were older than Xun'er. The Duke of Li was not very old, but his body had long been hollowed out by alcohol and sex, so the title would most likely not go to Xun'er."

Zhao Fangjin thought of Meng Yanzhen, and all the doubts in her heart disappeared. She finally understood why Sister Yanzhen had to enter the palace.

In fact, she was not doing this for the Duke of Li's Mansion, nor for her younger brother's so-called future. She just wanted to make her aunt feel at ease.

The eldest lady reached out and held Zhao Fangjin's hand, patting it gently: "Your elder sister's filial piety is admirable, but mother will never let you fall into such a situation."

"You must remember that you are only you. You are Zhao Fangjin first, and then someone's daughter and someone's wife."

"Whether it's your husband or your mother-in-law, they only ask for one thing from you. No matter how hard or difficult it is, taking care of yourself comes first."

"Eat well, drink well, rest well, play when you have time, and find time to rest when you don't have time. Don't be like the fourth girl, who is eager to work herself to death just to get a compliment from others."

"You are the eldest daughter of the Zhao family. Your father is a third-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue. Your mother is from the Longxi Li family. Your maternal grandfather's family is very famous. Your brother was a juren at a young age, and your sister-in-law is the only daughter of an official in the Ministry of Rites. There are not many people who can frighten you."

Zhao Fangjin nodded and straightened her back. She knew that her mother said this just to tell her that no matter where she was, she should take good care of herself and not sacrifice herself for others.

She is the apple of her mother's eye.

·

Zhao Fangjin's meeting was arranged in autumn to see the red leaves of Xiangshan Mountain.

Zhao Fangyu stayed by the eldest lady's side the entire time, never leaving her side, just to show her that he had no ulterior motives and was not the kind of bastard who would snatch his eldest sister's marriage just to get a way out.

Beside the Red Leaf Pavilion on Xiangshan Mountain, the Zhao family's servants spread out a thick felt carpet with a huge painting of grapes, flowers and birds on it. The eldest lady and Zhao Fangyu sat on it, with a tea table in the middle.

It is difficult to light incense outdoors, so Zhao Fangyu prepared incense balls in advance and hung them around.

The faint fragrance of bamboo is distant and clear. When you are in the sea of fragrance, it seems that you can see the bamboo forest and peach blossoms all over the mountain with your eyes closed.

In the nearby woods, Zhao Fangjin was sent by the eldest lady to pick red leaves. He was followed by many maids. The woods had been cleared long ago and could only accommodate those who needed to enter.

Zhao Fangwei was fishing in the creek behind, while Zhao Fangyu stayed behind to make tea for the eldest lady.

Mei Zhanhui and others arrived at this time.

"This fragrance is wonderful! I have never heard of any family in the capital being able to make such a pure bamboo fragrance!" said a man wearing gray brocade embroidered with eight treasures patterns excitedly.

He is not exaggerating, people in the Daliang Dynasty loved elegance the most.

Burning incense, making tea, arranging flowers and hanging paintings are the four elegant customs of Daliang, and burning incense ranks first among them. Every family with a little money will burn incense.

All the people of Liang loved perfume. Even the emperor was obsessed with it. Spice powders were mixed into the facial ointments used for daily maintenance to make the fragrance last forever.

Most of the things sold in the market are agarwood, sandalwood, agarwood, benzoin and the like.

The big families would make their own incense and not pass it on to others, so it was common for families to hang incense balls on carriages. One could tell interesting things about the family just by smelling the fragrance without hearing the sound.

Most of the spices are prepared by girls, and most of them are floral scents. No one has ever seen one with such a clear bamboo scent.

They were originally having a literary gathering not far away, but they accidentally smelled the bamboo fragrance and were all astonished and followed the scent.

When he arrived, he saw Zhao Fangyu and the eldest lady sitting opposite each other. Zhao Fangyu was wearing a lilac lace dress with wide sleeves and a golden ritual sword in his hand. In the clear bamboo fragrance that filled the wild, he was making tea for the eldest lady.

Mei Zhanhui immediately paid his respects to the eldest lady. He was taking classes at the Zhao family, and the Dragon Boat Club had also been to the Zhao family's tent to say hello, so he naturally knew the eldest lady.

The eldest lady was also quite surprised. She didn't expect to meet Mei Zhanhui and his group in the wilderness.

Everyone was very curious about the bamboo incense balls hanging around. When the eldest lady learned their purpose, she immediately picked a few silver incense balls and gave them to them.

The incense balls are of the same standard in the mansion, except for the one that the old lady is hanging closest to her, which was made by Zhao Fangyu himself, in the shape of auspicious clouds and butterflies.

She wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't.

They have all been picked, and talking about it now will only make the difference of that scent ball stand out.

It was just an incense ball. There was no trace of her having used it. If it was lost outside, it would not be traced to her. Thinking of this, Zhao Fangyu felt relieved and lowered his head to grind tea with Jin Facao again.

Mei Zhanhui, who was secretly observing Zhao Fangyu with his peripheral vision, noticed that when the eldest lady picked up the incense ball, Zhao Fangyu frowned for a moment. He glanced at several incense balls and immediately found the clue.

I guess the lady of the incense ball doesn't know either, because they are all silver incense balls and you can't tell the difference unless you look carefully.

Mei Zhanhui was very polite. He bowed to express his gratitude first, then took the box handed to him by the lady.

Everyone was very curious about the bamboo incense. They were all wondering which girl or young master of the Zhao family made the incense, and they were guessing as they walked.

"A man who can have such a noble character and spirit must be a young man! Who doesn't love flowers? Even if you prefer bamboo, you can't create such a frosty and icy aura!"

The bamboo fragrance of Zhao Fangyu is not just the smell of bamboo. It has some smell of soil on a rainy day, and then slowly transitions to a light bamboo fragrance, and then there is a hint of dust and mud during heavy rain, and the frosty coldness when snowing in winter.

The transition between layers and the hint of frost further highlight the character of the green bamboo, the three friends of winter.

People couldn't believe that the person who could make such a good fragrance was a girl.

Mei Zhanhui remained silent all the way, holding in his hand the brocade box given to them by the eldest lady. At this time, there was only a silver-white incense ball with auspicious cloud patterns in the box.

It was not good for his daughter's belongings to be left out in the world, so Mei Zhanhui hesitated for a long time, but finally took the scent ball home silently.