Chapter 2 Apology

 Full disclaimer this work is not mine. And should the author ask me to take it down, please contact me and I will take it down.

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Pei Shu came back, and the surrounding area suddenly became quiet.

Before Mrs. Xu finished speaking, she glanced at Aunt Xu and remembered that she said he wouldn't be able to wake up for a while.

Gu Yun turned around and saw a man in brocade clothes crawling in and kneeling beside her with a bang. His hair was messy. Although his features were sparse, his face was pale and he was still breathing heavily. That is her husband.

Gu Yun glanced at it, then lowered her head. She was holding a teacup, and her figure was half smaller than Pei Shu. She could sense Pei Shu's gaze, but she didn't look at him, only staring at the cyan teacup.

The Ying Duke slapped the table and said, "You still know how to come back!"

Pei Shu said: "My child has realized his mistake and made his father worried and made Ah-Yun suffer. I will accept any punishment. It's just that in the cold spring morning, the ground is too cold. I'm fine kneeling, don't let Ah-Yun kneel with me."

Pei Shu took the teacup, raised it above his head, "Invite father to drink tea."

Gu Yun thought, even though Pei Shu was indifferent, he could still speak human words.

She then handed the tea cup over.

Although the Ying Duke's face was gloomy, Pei Shu had already said that and so he drank it quickly and let Gu Yun stand up.

He gave a red seal, and then the two of them served tea to Mrs. Xu. Mrs. Xu waved her hand, and Aunt Xu brought a brocade box, "Good boy, get up quickly. These bracelets are my dowry, accept them."

Ms. Xu untied the pair of cards from her waist and said, "You are a bride, so I shouldn't hand over the housekeeping duties to you so soon, but I am really not in good health, so you have to work harder."

"I have read the account books, what should be made up has been made up, please correct it again, I am old, I am afraid that there are many mistakes." Mrs. Xu's face was warm, and she didn't look worried at all.

Gu Yun did not expect that Mrs. Xu would hand over the power of housekeeping to her so quickly. Mrs. Xu is the step-mother. The first wife, Mrs. Ning, passed away seven years ago. Since then, Mrs. Xu has been the housekeeper. When she first entered the house, she thought that there would always be some troubles. Some twists and turns.

Gu Yun smiled and said, "I will live up to my mother's trust."

Mrs. Xu looked apologetic, took Gu Yun's hand, and led her to meet the aunts and gentlemen in the house.

Naturally, Pei Shu didn't get anything. When he wanted to stand up with Gu Yun, he was swiped by the Ying Duke and his knees were nailed to the ground.

Duke Ying stated, "Go to the ancestral hall, kneel down and reflect." 

Mrs. Xu wanted to persuade him, but Duke Ying stubbornly said "You don't have to intercede for him. If he doesn't know what is wrong, he will keep kneeling."

Mrs. Xu glanced at Gu Yun and was even more relieved when she saw that Gu Yun had no intention of dissuading him, but her face was full of worry.

Pei Shu went to the ancestral hall, and Gu Yun met with the aunt and master in the house to present the gift. A silver hairpin was prepared for Mrs. Liu, a set of four treasures of the study was given to the second son, Pei Jing, and the fourth son, Pei Yuan. The second sister-in-law and two sisters were given pearls flower.

Mrs. Xu has a son and a daughter. The second son, Pei Jing, studied hard. He was awarded the Jinshi the year before last and now works in the Hanlin Academy. He is a gentle and courteous young man. His wife is Shangfeng's daughter. Pei Zhen is only 12 years old and is clever and eccentric.

Mrs. Liu has only one son, Pei Yuan, who is fourteen years old this year. There is also an eldest lady in the house who has been married for several years and is the daughter of Mrs. Ning. The fifth sister Pei Xiang is Pei Shu's biological sister. However, Pei Xiang has a distant attitude and shows no intimacy. After bowing, she retired to the side silently. Listening quietly to Pei Zhen talking non-stop.

After talking for a while, Mrs. Xu asked Gu Yun to go back and have a good rest. As for Pei Shu, he had to kneel for two hours.

This punishment relieved her anger.

Although kneeling is the simplest punishment technique, his knees hurt after kneeling for a long time, afterall two hours is not a short time.

Gu Yun went back to catch up on a good night's sleep. When she woke up, Qingyun and Lu Shao were standing beside the bed. Gu Yun asked: "How long have I been sleeping? Has Shizi come back?"

Qingyun said: "The girl has only slept for an hour, Shizi hasn’t come back yet." Chengxin courtyard was quiet, Gu Yun thought for a while and said, "Bring me the meeting gift first." 

The red envelope given by the Ying Duke contained three thousand taels of silver notes, and what Mrs. Xu prepared was a pair of jade bracelets.

Gu Yun breathed a sigh of relief, "Put the jade bracelet at the top of the dress box, and Qingyun, keep the silver. There will be more places to use the money in the future."

She was a concubine-born. Although she married into the Duke's palace, the dowry was not much. After all, The Gu family didn't value her, nor did they value this marriage. An uneducated heir would not be able to achieve anything in the future, even if he was given the title.

The dowry included a total of two sets of headdresses, two quilts, a shop that she had managed before, a small farm with more than 60 acres of land, and two thousand taels of silver notes.

In addition to the clothes, jewelry, piano, and books she had accumulated since she was a child, her grandmother secretly gave her a thousand taels of silver, and her aunt supplemented some more. However, her aunt was cautious and her younger brother was frail and sick, so she couldn't give her much.

Gu Yun also has a private house, so it cannot be included in the dowry.

If Pei Shu doesn't come back, she can do so many things, and it will be as if he doesn't come back every day from now on.

She thought of Pei Shu again.

Gu Yun still couldn't help but feel hopeful. As soon as the thought came to her mind, she quickly pushed back. If she could to rely on Pei Shu, the sow could climb the tree.

However, she couldn't let Pei Shu kneel for too long, and she had to pretend to beg for mercy no matter what.

After all, Mrs. Xu is the stepmother, and she and Pei Shu are family.

Gu Yun's words were very beautiful, "How can his body bear the coldness of the morning when he kneel for two hours? If he does it again in the future, you can punish him no matter what." 

The Ying Duke said angrily: "He dares!"

But he still couldn't hep it, so Pei Shu was released from the ancestral hall.

After all this fuss, it’s noon.

Pei Shu rubbed his knees back and forth. It was really painful, but it was not an innocent disaster. It was his fault. He just didn't know how to explain to Gu Yun. Gu Yun is only sixteen years old, she is just a little girl, he is not a beast. Having said that, if Gu Yun hadn't begged for mercy, he would have had to kneel for another hour.

The little girl was soft-hearted and reluctant to let him kneel down. He could not continue to be a bastard. Pei Shu rubbed his knees and looked at the sun hanging in the sky. It was time to have lunch.

After hearing that Chunyu said that the Duke of Ying had spoken and released the prince from the ancestral hall, Gu Yun didn't see Pei Shu's shadow for half a quarter of an hour. It was already lunch time and she didn't know where he went. As expected, The country is easy to change, but the nature is hard to change.

Gu Yun said: "Chunyu, you go look for me. If you can't find anyone, you don't have to wait."

Chunyu said: "Understood, slaves will go find shizi."

After he came back and caused trouble , he went again. Where is he now?

Gu Yun's face was sullen and she didn't say a word. Qingyun sighed. The heir who was so obscure, still asking for troubles. He was already eighteen years old and still ignorant. It even made her miss late for dinner.

After a while, Chunyu came in hurriedly, "Madam, we found it. Shizi is in the kitchen!"

No matter where he is, as long as he doesn't go out to drink and gamble, it's better than anything else.

Gu Yun frowned, "Kitchen?". He was a man, what was he going to do in the kitchen?

Chunyu said: "Shizi said that he wronged Madam yesterday, so he personally cooked to apologize to Madam. Shizi has never been in the kitchen since he was a child, but he is willing to wash hands and make soup for Madam. He may not be doing well, but this is Shizi. Madam must praise him for his kindness."

Gu Yun thought, why should she praise him if he does it? It is his first time to cook, can the food be eaten? A person who knows nothing can he cook in the kitchen? This is a lot of thought.

However, Gu Yun still felt relieved. It was better to cook than to go out drinking.

After waiting for a while, Pei Shu came in with someone.

Gu Yun stood up reluctantly. Originally, she was supposed to serve Pei Shu in dressing and grooming this morning. From now on, she would have to serve Pei Shu in his meals every day. If there were concubines and children born in the future, they should be treated equally and kindly.

Respect your husband.

Gu Yun sighed inwardly, lowered her head, and bent her knees slightly. She was about to salute when Pei Shu held her up.

She raised her head and saw that Pei Shu took her hand and helped her up. She was a little confused and asked, "Husband?"

Pei Shu's heart trembled when he heard the word "husband". They had only met each other twice. Gu Yun, he really can't treat her as his wife.

He said: "You don't need to, let's eat quickly."

The maid put the dishes on the table, with a plate on top of each dish. There were three dishes in total, one soup and two bowls of rice.

Pei Shu looked at the maids in the room and waved them to go down.

He took Gu Yun's hand and asked her to sit down, "I'm really sorry for yesterday. This kind of thing will never happen again in the future. You see, I knelt down and was punished. Don't be angry."

Gu Yun pursed her lower lip and said, "I wish my husband could think clearly."

She looked at Pei Shu and felt strange. They had never met before and they became husband and wife. Mrs. Xu looked gentle and reserved, but she didn't know what she was thinking. The Ying Duke has a bad temper and has been extremely disappointed with Pei Shu. The Yingguo palace is in dire straits. If Pei Shu continues to be like that, life will be unbearable.

But he didn't know anything and still had time to cook.

Pei Shu thought it was funny that Gu Yun obviously was a little girl, but she was pretending to speak in a mature way. He twitched his lips and said, "Then let's let this matter go. Let's eat quickly."

Gu Yun didn't know if she could eat the food yet.

She had just taken over Zhongfu and hadn't looked at the account books yet. Chunyu was the old nanny who took care of Pei Shu and told her a lot. For example, each courtyard had a small kitchen. Except for eating together during holidays, they would eat in their own courtyards on other days, all have fixed expenses.

Pei Shu opened the plate and Gu Yun saw that there were three dishes and one soup on the table. Judging from the colors of the dishes, they seemed very appetizing, but she had never seen them before, so she didn't know how they tasted.

Pei Shu said: "This is duck and soy beans. The beans are deep-fried. Then the duck egg yolk is crushed and water is added to make a paste. Add a piece of it and stir-fry. This is pan-fried tofu. Fry the tofu until brown on both sides. Add minced garlic and chili over low heat, slowly cooked, this is pot-roasted pork, it's sweet, try it."

He didn't like to eat out before and had no other hobbies except scientific research, so he cooked his own dishes, which came in handy.

Gu Yun had never heard of it, and she didn't know where he ate it from. She stood up and served Pei Shu with serving chopsticks. "It's hard work for my husband to do this, but the cook is here, so you don't have to work hard."

Pei Shu was stunned. He was stunned, how could he bear to ask Gu Yun to pick up food for him.

He also took a pair of chopsticks to Gu Yun and said cautiously: "You also know that I am the most unruly person. I never pay attention to those false etiquette. From now on, when we eat, we will just be like normal... husband and wife. You don't need to salute when you see me. Alas, it's just a few dishes. If the people in Chengxintang don't tell anyone, no one will know."

Gu Yun nodded, and she took a bite of duck and soy beans first. The outside was very crispy, and it still had a rustic texture, salty and sweet. It was delicious and tasted just right. When she ate the tofu again, it was not as tender as the ones she had eaten before, and it was very spicy. She choked on a mouthful, and Pei Shu handed over the soup.

The soup is pork rib soup, very fresh.

Pei Shu said: "The cook made the soup early, I don't dare to take credit."

Gu Yun glanced at Pei Shu, did he think he could please her with this meal, "Husband, I don't say anything when I eat or sleep."

Pei Shu thought she wants to sit and finish a meal silently, and that would be so frustrating, "We don't want this rule anymore, just talk while eating, it's more comfortable."

"Quickly try the hot pot pork, I... It's the first time I've made it. Please try and see if it tastes good."

Gu Yun took a small bite. The outside was crispy and she didn't know what kind of sauce it was wrapped in, but it turned out to be sweet. Such a large piece of meat tasted really delicious. Enjoyable.

It tasted better than many things she had eaten before. Regardless of Pei Shu's fault, it was quite decent for his first time cooking.

Pei Shu saw that Gu Yun liked spicy food more. Although the tip of his nose was red from the spicy food, she couldn't help but eat tofu, and she also liked to eat hot pot pork.

However, this was the first time the two of them had met each other, so they talked less.

Gu Yun unknowingly ate a lot. It was said that the Yingguo heir was uneducated and incompetent, but there were advantages to playing around. She had never seen her father enter the kitchen once.

Although it was the first time for me to be left behind on my wedding night, it was also the first time for my husband to cook in person.

Gu Yun glanced at Pei Shu quietly, last night was the wedding night, he would definitely not leave tonight, but he said that what happened last night would never happen again.

Do you still want her to be laughed at?

Pei Shu felt that Gu Yun's face was a weather. It turned sunny and then cloudy after a while. She had eaten a lot, so it probably wasn't because the food didn't taste good.

Pei Shu asked: "What's wrong?"

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TLnote: I'll try to update weekly, and as this was a MTL translation, I apologize in advance if there was a mistake. Oh, and consider buying me a Ko-fi to pay bills :)