"Mother, that lady has elegant manners and noble appearance. She doesn't look like she comes from an ordinary family. She is definitely the wife of a wealthy family in Beijing. You will know when you meet her. It is definitely not me who is attracted to her because of her beauty! I just admire her purely and I have absolutely no other thoughts!
Mom, you have nothing to do tomorrow anyway, and you haven't been out for fun this year, so why not take your sister to the cherry blossom forest this time?"
Hu Yunzhi held his mother's hand and begged, saying that he was such a grown-up, but he was still acting like a child and acting like a spoiled child to his mother.
Fortunately, Hu's mother did not dislike her son, but she knew what kind of character he had. So when she heard him trying to trick her into going to the cherry blossom forest, she keenly sensed what this boy was up to, and she found out the truth as soon as she asked.
"Which noble lady from a wealthy family in Beijing would come to Jiangnan for fun for no reason? Don't they have to take care of household chores and manage a large family? How could they abandon their husbands and children and run out to play on their own? Don't be fooled." Mother Hu said with her eyes wide open.
"Oh, how can it be impossible? Maybe there are elders and sisters-in-law at home, so it's not her turn to manage the household affairs? Aren't there servants to take care of the husband and children?" Hu Yunzhi said nonchalantly, "That Madam Luo is a free and easy person. How could she be willing to be trapped in the backyard like those narrow-minded women?"
Mother Hu was immediately furious and scolded, "So you are saying that I am a narrow-minded woman?"
Hu Yunzhi was dumbfounded by his mother's scolding. He realized that he had made his mother look down on him because of his slip of the tongue, and quickly apologized: "No, no, mother, how can you compare yourself with those mediocre women? You were a heroine who fought at the border with my father! No one has a narrow vision, you can't be narrow-minded!"
Hu Yunzhi said many nice things, and then his mother curled her lips and said, "Alright, alright, stop playing tricks on me. I promise you, I want to see if that lady is really as extraordinary as you said."
"Thank you, mother! You won't be disappointed. I'm sure you will get along well with that lady." Hu Yunzhi said happily.
Early the next morning, Xu Shichu met Hu Yunzhi and others at the city gate as expected. After a few brief greetings, the families went straight to Fosheng Mountain.
"Mom, what do you think? I told you that Madam Luo is not an ordinary person." Hu Yunzhi said proudly.
Mother Hu lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked at the magnificent carriage in front and the impressive guards on both sides of the carriage. She was full of doubts. When she heard her son's words, she glared at him:
"Did you find out which family that Madam Luo came from? I don't think her carriage and guards are what an ordinary official family would have.
Although we haven’t been in the capital for these years, I also met many wives of wealthy families when your father returned to Beijing to report on his work. Now, I don’t have much impression of this Mrs. Luo... This shouldn’t be the case..."
Mother Hu was really confused. Her husband's family was also from the capital, but her husband was an official in other places and rarely returned to the capital. However, she knew all the famous nobles in the capital, but at this moment she just couldn't remember Xu Shichu's identity.
"Mom, you and my dad only come back to Beijing once every few years and can't stay for long each time. Isn't it normal that there are ladies you don't know? Besides, that Madam Luo is very young and not of the same age as you. Isn't it normal that you have no impression of her?" Hu Yunzhi said.
"Shut up! Do you think I'm too old?" Mother Hu glared at him fiercely.
Seeing that he had stepped on his mother's sore spot again, Hu Yunzhi finally shut up.
It didn't take long for them to arrive at the Holy Buddha Mountain. When Xu Shichu got off the carriage, he saw a pink cherry blossom forest covering the entire hillside in front of him. The area was all over the mountain and at first glance, layer upon layer of cherry blossoms looked like the ground covered with pink clouds, brilliant and colorful. The petals fluttered down from the branches, turning the soil into powder and dyeing the black hair of the tourists into white hair.
"Wow—" Even though Du Zhao had seen the flowers blooming in Xu Shichu's garden, he couldn't help but exclaim in amazement at the spectacular view, his eyes widening, "Aunt, there are so many beautiful flowers."
"I told you this cherry blossom forest is beautiful, right?" Hu Yunzhi said proudly, coming up to show off, "Look how many people are here to enjoy the view! They're here earlier than us."
"It's indeed a magnificent sight." Xu Shichu took Xiao Zhaozhao's hand and walked towards the cherry blossom forest.
"Is this Madam Luo's first time coming to Wen'an Mansion?" Mother Hu asked.
"Yes, but I have admired Jiangnan for a long time." Xu Shichu said with a smile.
Hu's mother still wanted to find out about Xu Shichu's background, but Xu Shichu quickly found an excuse to separate from them and went to enjoy the scenery alone. She asked Hu Yunzhi and others to bring the women in their family just to avoid suspicion, but not to socialize.
"How can this person be so rude? He just left us alone!" Master Wen's mother looked at Xu Shichu's back as he left and said to Mother Hu with dissatisfaction.
"They are not familiar with us, so isn't it normal for us to enjoy the scenery separately?" Hu's mother did not think Xu Shichu was arrogant or rude.
"But we are the well-known figures in the Wen'an Mansion after all. She is a lady from the capital and we don't even know what kind of lady she is, yet she dares to be so disrespectful to us... I don't think she is a proper lady, but a mistress of some family. Look at her vixen-like appearance, she is restless!" said another lady with contempt. She herself was not good-looking, so she hated beautiful women the most. When she saw Xu Shichu, she became even more jealous and began to speak without thinking.
Seeing that they were getting more and more outrageous, Mother Hu quickly scolded them, "Don't talk nonsense! The guards around her don't seem ordinary. Don't make random guesses about people."
Xu Shichu walked away with Xiao Zhaozhao and a group of maids and guards. Mother Hu looked at Xu Shichu's back and suddenly her eyes widened. She called out to her son who was running away, breathing rapidly: "You, you call her Madam Luo... Is her husband's surname Luo?"
Mother Hu stared at Hu Yunzhi nervously and held her breath while waiting for his answer. Seeing her serious expression, others also became nervous.
Hu Yunzhi was puzzled and said, "Yes, she said her husband's surname is Luo and he is an official in the capital."
Mother Hu continued to ask: "The one she brought with her was her nephew. She herself has no children, right?"
Hu Yunzhi replied in confusion: "Yes, if she had a child, would she not bring her own child with her?"
"That's right! She must be from the Luo family!" Mother Hu let go of her son's hand and said with a long sigh.
"Which Luo family?" Hu Yunzhi asked puzzledly.
"Which other Luo family? The most famous Luo family in Beijing!" Mother Hu glared at him.