Quality of a Wife

The whole Mansion was still talking about the event last night. Even though they were tied up by work, they still managed to have a small discussion regarding the matter from each of their perspectives. Some were appalled by the event and some grew respect for their master.

In their eyes, Ji Li Zhao was a block of ice. Throughout their short time serving him, they only saw one expression. Coldness. He was so distant to all of them—he wasn't indifferent but surely he was aloof and makes as few conversations as possible—even to his friends. Their minds blew up when they saw him running towards his wife like it was the end of the world.

As they were whispering around, a certain someone was already descending the stairs and was fast to hear their topic.

"Young Master looked so different last night," a maid said making Hou Wei Yan remember the fragments of the night. She can barely remember anything. All she knew about it was her husband arriving in the middle of the night.

Curious of everything, Hou Wei Yan stopped and listened to their busy chit-chat.

This time, it was a male servant that added to the story. "I haven't seen the Master so flustered and so worried for the year I've been serving him."

"Oh Gosh, and did you see the chemistry between him and the Madame? He was the only one able to coax her back to sleep!" another maid squealed like she was watching a soap opera.

She cannot stop herself from fangirling after witnessing all of the events. She was there when Ji Li Zhao arrived and was there when he went out of the room to fetch the basin of water. Ah, it was so romantic, her heart could not take it.

"You bet! I can no longer say they aren't a perfect match. Young Master looked so much better with her. She has one of the main qualities of a wife. I totally approve of them!" the first woman was furiously nodding her head as she stated this.

At first, most of the servants were unhappy with the sudden appointment of their Madame. They doubted Ji Li Zhao's judgment and thought they were incompatible. After all, he was an Emperor. Who can possibly match him?

But alas, they were so wrong. Ji Li Zhao showed them that his judgment should never be doubted.

The female servant pinched her delirious coworker. "They don't need your approval. They are already well received!"

Right at this moment, Gu Man entered the living room after preparing Hou Wei Yan's breakfast. He smiled as he saw their Madame already awake, but immediately frowned when he saw where her sight was directed. There were three servants huddled up together and were certainly chit-chatting.

Quite terrified that they would blurt out something they shouldn't, Gu Man interrupted by coughing. The three little servants looked around and were stunned to see Hou Wei Yan on the stairs and Gu Man at the dining room entrance. They didn't know what to do, they didn't know what to say, and they certainly didn't know what to use as an excuse.

Gu Man eyed each of them making them gulp down. Hou Wei Yan was certainly not blind nor stupid to not know what it implies.

She smiled at Gu Man and nodded her head at the servants. "Enough memorizing. I will send the list, later on, to make sure none of the seeds I asked for are missed."

All of them were lost. Was she covering up for them?

[ Why? Shouldn't be angry by now because we weren't doing our job? ] all of them thought at the same time while sharing confused looks at each other.

Hou Wei Yan looked at them, waiting for their reply. The first one who reacted was the male servant who bowed down at her. "We will do as you say, Madame!"

Gu Man who was watching them seriously earlier, smiled when he heard her orders. He was glad she was already comfortable with the environment and was already willing to ask them for something. The three servants immediately left, extremely grateful for Hou Wei Yan's help.

"Young Lady, breakfast is ready," he said and went to fetch her from the stairs.

Hou Wei Yan knew what he was up to so she hurriedly went down the stairs and stood in front of him. Gu Man smiled at this action and decided that it was not yet time to push through their pampering state. He guided her towards the table where a sumptuous feast awaited.

Hou Wei Yan was surprised once more when she saw the table. It was filled with her favorite dishes, everything that she was longing to eat. At the sight of such a meal, she cannot stop but think of her husband. Was he planning on fattening her up?

"Uhhh, Uncle," she spoke as Gu Man pulled up the chair.

He looked at her with an air of innocence that Hou Wei Yan found herself unable to speak her protest. Seeing such a sight made her head somehow ache. She won't be getting accustomed to this any time soon.

She took a seat and was glad they respected her eating habits. She wanted to eat peacefully, without anyone deboning her fish or anything of the sort and she's really thankful that her husband was willing to let this pass. So the entire course of the meal, Hou Wei Yan was enjoying her food without feeling conscious of the servants' overly acting greetings and service.

After her eating show, Hou Wei Yan proceeded to the living room and gave the servants the list of seeds she needed for the garden. She had already seen the beautiful and jaw-dropping garden. But she wanted to do something and contribute to the house. One quality of a wife that was taught to her was being responsible and organized.

For her, the house is the wife's territory, its decor and organization are her priority, and the garden is her haven.

The servants were delighted by this. As they walked away to purchase all the seeds, they began discussing once more. "Madame is so good to us. I'm glad she's not a henpeck woman."

The two little maids nodded their heads in agreement. "I hope this isn't just for show."

"Nonsense. If she was acting, and actually malicious, she could have allowed Butler Gu to scold us!" the servant defended Hou Wei Yan.

After such a statement, they were silent and were evaluating Hou Wei Yan's sincerity.

Meanwhile, the woman in their topic was running her fingers across the full-bloomed roses in the garden. She loved the smell of it and was very delighted to be presented with such a scene. Among the views of the Mansion, this was by far, the best.

With all her favorite flowers present and piled in an elegant and glorious manner, she cannot stop herself but comparing it to a fairy tale. It was showered in light that it wasn't hard to believe fairies existed. The flowers, the smell, and its delightful sight were dancing in harmony as she walked across its path.

She loved it. She was immensely drawn to it.

Right at that moment, her phone was ringing nonstop. Gu Man took it from the table and carefully offered it to Hou Wei Yan who was drawn to reality by its noise. "A call, Madame."

Hou Wei Yan accepted it without delay and answered it immediately upon seeing the caller's ID. It was Wang Wen, the elderly who handles Happy Home Orphanage under her foundation named White Wings. She smiled widely as she spoke. "Auntie Wang. I'm glad you called me."

"Wei Wei, are you coming for the event today?" the lady from the other line asked as she took a glance at the children eating their breakfast.

Confusion was written on Hou Wei Yan's face when she heard her statement. Event? "Auntie Wang, isn't the charity event tomorrow?"

"No, no. It was moved because the kids got invited to a tree-planting activity. I sent you a text message the other day."

"I didn't receive any." she honestly said.

All she got the other day was spam messages, nothing else. Wang Wen was already quite old, she could have possibly made a mistake that day. Not wanting to make her worry about it and think more of the matter, Hou Wei Yan curiously asked. "Can I still make it?"

Wang Wen vigorously nodded her head. "The other hosts will arrive at noon"

"Alright. I will be there." she said with a nod of her head. Luckily, she had already arranged for the gifts with the help of Xie Na's second older brother Xie Zhong. All she's got to do is fetch it at his toy store and bring it to the orphanage.

"Send my regards to the kids," she added before hanging up.

She then looked at Gu Man. Even though she's been doing charity for a long time now, doing it when married is a different thing. She wasn't alone anymore and she knew she had to report to her husband her activities. So a silly question was circling her mind at this moment.

Will her husband mind her charitable acts?

Gu Man smiled at her transparency.

"Young Master also supports and hosts a lot of charity events," he said which made her blush. Was she so obvious?

"Then am I allowed to go?" she asked as she looked shyly at him as though she was talking to her husband on the other side of Gu Man.

"Of course. Madame, you are free to do whatever you want, granted that you allow us to protect you from any possible harm," he said quite seriously making Hou Wei Yan curiously stare at him.

[ Protect her from harm? Who would possibly dare harm a mere doctor like me? ]

Well, no one would certainly do—if she was a normal doctor that is.

Hou Wei Yan wasn't sure what her husband's occupation was but based on the guards posted to guard her and her family's treatment, he wasn't ordinary. Given he isn't someone to be trifled with by others then her security is a must.

She understood this given her parent's occupations and the many enemies surrounding them that never seemed to dry out. Because of this, Hou Wei Yan withdrew her curiosity and beamed Gu Man with a smile. "Then I'm in your care."