Chapter 220: 220
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"That's right." Rong Jian confirmed her information about the current Heads and the relations of the two families before them. "They probably think their brotherhood was what mended their relationships with each other's families so they're trying to pass this tradition down."
"But that's not really a good idea." Shen Tianyu sighed. "Things like sworn brotherhood are only effective if both, or all, parties willingly do it. If it's a family requirement, it beceomes more of a shackle than a treasured bond. Even if the current generaton of young masters have no problem with it, future generations will just see it as a chore because they're not doing it out of their own will. It might actually serve to deteriorate relations further by adding one more thing they can blame each other for." She stretched her arms and put them behind her head.
"Oh... is that so? I initially thought it was a good idea but now that Wifey says this..." Rong Jian reassessed his stance on the matter they have moved to discussing.
"Human relationships can never be forced. A forced relationship is nothing more than a fragile fake. A real relationship is built in trust and understanding in each other and affections that goes both ways. Something like a forced brotherhood will just make them drift further apart because why try to understand each other if you're going to be tied to each other anyways." Shen Tianyu easily pointed out the problems in their wsy of thinking without much effort.
"Then the elders..." Rong Jian trailed off because he thought the elders thought of that but if that was so, it should have convinced the two Heads and they would have dropped the idea.
"You said they, the two Heads, were the ones who bonded over their brotherhood didn't you? The other members of both families may have followed their lead but before the brotherhood, the relationship was thinning so the elders are probably more focused on that. The elders probably have their own reason why they think breaking from the other family is a good idea. Being tied to each other so closely can deter the building of relationships with other families. And though they probably have a lot of wealth in the form of rewards, that money will eventually run out. In order to run a family, you need money. The elders might be thinking about breaking from each other and forming relations with a welathy merchant family or something instead. Emotions and nostalgia can't feed a hungry mouth after all. Though the elders might not be so kind as to only think about the other members of the family but that might be the gist of it. It's all just a guess on my part." She responded to his unspoken question with ease. Being the president of a company in her last life has certainly heightened the degree and speed of her critical analysis abilities.
"I see... Wifey is so wise." Rong Jian smiled down at her.
"I told you it was just a guess. Stop exaggerating." Shen Tianyu responded.
Rong Jian walked Shen Tianyu back to her own quarters before he went back to his own for the night. Shen Tianyu took a quick bath in the wooden tub and went to sleep.
The following days leading up to the official meeting with the Emperor and the four Wangye, Shen Tianyu would stay at Lavender Palace during the day, reviewing documents to be presented to them and helping make copies. Only when dusk fell did she come back to the Zhu Wangye residence to stay the night and spend some time with Rong Jian. Conversely, Rong Jian didn't tie her down and let her go out as she wished. He was working on the documents and papers that had been piling up since his absence. Because he had spend so much time with Shen Tianyu recently, he didn't have as much time to work on the sitting documents, not that he would ever complain about spending time with his wife. This worked out for both of them so his close confidantes didn't say anything and the maids serving Shen Tianyu didn't say anything either despite not knowing anything besides that the Wangfei was owrking on something important. Thankfully, since she wasn't going on business meetings, the Head Maid didn't have any excuse to doll her up. She had tried to do so after Shen Tianyu's complaint but always backed off when the other adamantly refused.
...
The day for the official meeting with the Emperor had come. Shen Tianyu was shaken awake by the maids at the same time that Rong Jian woke up to get ready for the Morning Court. They were to meet the Emperor Wu hour after a quick brunch. Rong Jian ate a light breakfast and quickly got dressed to go to Morning Court, yelling at Shen Tianyu's courtyard that he'd be back soon. She responded back from inside the building, still half-asleep. Since she was meeting with the Emperor in an official capacity today, the Head Maid had insisted that she dressed up in a way befitting of her position. Shen Tianyu agreed with her to a certain extent but she didn't want to look like a literal doll so she had set down some parameters with the Head Maid and her assistant. Only natural makeup was allowed, they were not to put too much powder on her face, her makeup must not be too fragrant, her finished face must not look like another person, and her clothes must not be more than three layers. Her headress must not be a certain size and she must not feel like her neck is being strained, the hairpins must not be so plentiful as to hit one another everytime she turned her head and the amount of hairpins with dangling accessories were limited to only two after much compromise from the Head Maid's side. Expecting them to work within her parameters, and because she's not used to getting before the sun rose, she didn't pay much attention to what the army of maids were doing or discussing in the background. she would have fell asleep if they hadn't kept telling her to maintain her posture. Apparently, she tended to slump forward when she fell asleep, which would mess up the makeup.
When Rong Jian came back a whole shichen later, the maids were still not done. Smiling wryly as he looked at Shen Tianyu's courtyard, he had the servants postpone breakfast until she was done. They would bve in the middle of a meeting during lunchtime anyways so they could afford to eat later. He then went to his own study to work on more documents, the ones that were less important and so were allowed to sit around until now.
Shen Tianyu finally appeared in front of Rong Jian at Si hour, fully decked in the most extravagant robes that you could muster in three layers. Though she was wearing more makeup than she was personaly used to, it was better than the last time where she felt like there was a literal mask on her face. The makeup this time also accentuated her natural beauty rather than tried to change her look to suit the trends. Originally, the maids had tried to go around her parameters and put, what felt like, a whole thirty pound of gold and silver hairpins with various designs and gems in her hair. However, after she looked into the bronze mirror and scolded them, she managed to have the Head Maid remove half of them. Currently, she has two buyao swaying on each side of her head. On the left was a hairpin adorned with a cluster of white cherry blossoms with bright rubies in the middle and gold painted stamens. Each blossom had a tiny silver chain the length of half a hand hanging down from them. The chains were weighted down with a gleaming pearl at the end. On the right side was buyao hairpin shaped into a two-layered wing. The bottom layer was a golden wing that looked more like a cage for the aquamarines contained inside each feather due to all the empty space. The second layer was comprised of five feather-shaped light green jade with beautiful patterns in the stone in the color of a darker green. The hairpin was weighted down with a light green jade kept in place by a small cage of gold inlaid with more aquamarine gems at the end of a gold chain the same length as the other buyao hairpin. She wore a crown in the shape of a headband with a whole line of camellias with red coral petals and garnet centers. She also had on a hairpin with a large silver butterfly welded into it that had opal wings in addition to a few more hairpins the Head Maid managed to leave on her head that were either made of gold or silver and all had gemstones on them.
"... How am I going to be able to eat in this getup?" She sighed to herself as she tried to sit down with the help of two maids.11:00-13:009:00-11:00the hairpins with dangling bits
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"That's right." Rong Jian confirmed her information about the current Heads and the relations of the two families before them. "They probably think their brotherhood was what mended their relationships with each other's families so they're trying to pass this tradition down."
"But that's not really a good idea." Shen Tianyu sighed. "Things like sworn brotherhood are only effective if both, or all, parties willingly do it. If it's a family requirement, it beceomes more of a shackle than a treasured bond. Even if the current generaton of young masters have no problem with it, future generations will just see it as a chore because they're not doing it out of their own will. It might actually serve to deteriorate relations further by adding one more thing they can blame each other for." She stretched her arms and put them behind her head.
"Oh... is that so? I initially thought it was a good idea but now that Wifey says this..." Rong Jian reassessed his stance on the matter they have moved to discussing.
"Human relationships can never be forced. A forced relationship is nothing more than a fragile fake. A real relationship is built in trust and understanding in each other and affections that goes both ways. Something like a forced brotherhood will just make them drift further apart because why try to understand each other if you're going to be tied to each other anyways." Shen Tianyu easily pointed out the problems in their wsy of thinking without much effort.
"Then the elders..." Rong Jian trailed off because he thought the elders thought of that but if that was so, it should have convinced the two Heads and they would have dropped the idea.
"You said they, the two Heads, were the ones who bonded over their brotherhood didn't you? The other members of both families may have followed their lead but before the brotherhood, the relationship was thinning so the elders are probably more focused on that. The elders probably have their own reason why they think breaking from the other family is a good idea. Being tied to each other so closely can deter the building of relationships with other families. And though they probably have a lot of wealth in the form of rewards, that money will eventually run out. In order to run a family, you need money. The elders might be thinking about breaking from each other and forming relations with a welathy merchant family or something instead. Emotions and nostalgia can't feed a hungry mouth after all. Though the elders might not be so kind as to only think about the other members of the family but that might be the gist of it. It's all just a guess on my part." She responded to his unspoken question with ease. Being the president of a company in her last life has certainly heightened the degree and speed of her critical analysis abilities.
"I see... Wifey is so wise." Rong Jian smiled down at her.
"I told you it was just a guess. Stop exaggerating." Shen Tianyu responded.
Rong Jian walked Shen Tianyu back to her own quarters before he went back to his own for the night. Shen Tianyu took a quick bath in the wooden tub and went to sleep.
The following days leading up to the official meeting with the Emperor and the four Wangye, Shen Tianyu would stay at Lavender Palace during the day, reviewing documents to be presented to them and helping make copies. Only when dusk fell did she come back to the Zhu Wangye residence to stay the night and spend some time with Rong Jian. Conversely, Rong Jian didn't tie her down and let her go out as she wished. He was working on the documents and papers that had been piling up since his absence. Because he had spend so much time with Shen Tianyu recently, he didn't have as much time to work on the sitting documents, not that he would ever complain about spending time with his wife. This worked out for both of them so his close confidantes didn't say anything and the maids serving Shen Tianyu didn't say anything either despite not knowing anything besides that the Wangfei was owrking on something important. Thankfully, since she wasn't going on business meetings, the Head Maid didn't have any excuse to doll her up. She had tried to do so after Shen Tianyu's complaint but always backed off when the other adamantly refused.
...
The day for the official meeting with the Emperor had come. Shen Tianyu was shaken awake by the maids at the same time that Rong Jian woke up to get ready for the Morning Court. They were to meet the Emperor Wu hour after a quick brunch. Rong Jian ate a light breakfast and quickly got dressed to go to Morning Court, yelling at Shen Tianyu's courtyard that he'd be back soon. She responded back from inside the building, still half-asleep. Since she was meeting with the Emperor in an official capacity today, the Head Maid had insisted that she dressed up in a way befitting of her position. Shen Tianyu agreed with her to a certain extent but she didn't want to look like a literal doll so she had set down some parameters with the Head Maid and her assistant. Only natural makeup was allowed, they were not to put too much powder on her face, her makeup must not be too fragrant, her finished face must not look like another person, and her clothes must not be more than three layers. Her headress must not be a certain size and she must not feel like her neck is being strained, the hairpins must not be so plentiful as to hit one another everytime she turned her head and the amount of hairpins with dangling accessories were limited to only two after much compromise from the Head Maid's side. Expecting them to work within her parameters, and because she's not used to getting before the sun rose, she didn't pay much attention to what the army of maids were doing or discussing in the background. she would have fell asleep if they hadn't kept telling her to maintain her posture. Apparently, she tended to slump forward when she fell asleep, which would mess up the makeup.
When Rong Jian came back a whole shichen later, the maids were still not done. Smiling wryly as he looked at Shen Tianyu's courtyard, he had the servants postpone breakfast until she was done. They would bve in the middle of a meeting during lunchtime anyways so they could afford to eat later. He then went to his own study to work on more documents, the ones that were less important and so were allowed to sit around until now.
Shen Tianyu finally appeared in front of Rong Jian at Si hour, fully decked in the most extravagant robes that you could muster in three layers. Though she was wearing more makeup than she was personaly used to, it was better than the last time where she felt like there was a literal mask on her face. The makeup this time also accentuated her natural beauty rather than tried to change her look to suit the trends. Originally, the maids had tried to go around her parameters and put, what felt like, a whole thirty pound of gold and silver hairpins with various designs and gems in her hair. However, after she looked into the bronze mirror and scolded them, she managed to have the Head Maid remove half of them. Currently, she has two buyao swaying on each side of her head. On the left was a hairpin adorned with a cluster of white cherry blossoms with bright rubies in the middle and gold painted stamens. Each blossom had a tiny silver chain the length of half a hand hanging down from them. The chains were weighted down with a gleaming pearl at the end. On the right side was buyao hairpin shaped into a two-layered wing. The bottom layer was a golden wing that looked more like a cage for the aquamarines contained inside each feather due to all the empty space. The second layer was comprised of five feather-shaped light green jade with beautiful patterns in the stone in the color of a darker green. The hairpin was weighted down with a light green jade kept in place by a small cage of gold inlaid with more aquamarine gems at the end of a gold chain the same length as the other buyao hairpin. She wore a crown in the shape of a headband with a whole line of camellias with red coral petals and garnet centers. She also had on a hairpin with a large silver butterfly welded into it that had opal wings in addition to a few more hairpins the Head Maid managed to leave on her head that were either made of gold or silver and all had gemstones on them.
"... How am I going to be able to eat in this getup?" She sighed to herself as she tried to sit down with the help of two maids.11:00-13:009:00-11:00the hairpins with dangling bits
"That's right." Rong Jian confirmed her information about the current Heads and the relations of the two families before them. "They probably think their brotherhood was what mended their relationships with each other's families so they're trying to pass this tradition down.""But that's not really a good idea." Shen Tianyu sighed. "Things like sworn brotherhood are only effective if both, or all, parties willingly do it. If it's a family requirement, it beceomes more of a shackle than a treasured bond. Even if the current generaton of young masters have no problem with it, future generations will just see it as a chore because they're not doing it out of their own will. It might actually serve to deteriorate relations further by adding one more thing they can blame each other for." She stretched her arms and put them behind her head."Oh... is that so? I initially thought it was a good idea but now that Wifey says this..." Rong Jian reassessed his stance on the matter they have moved to discussing."Human relationships can never be forced. A forced relationship is nothing more than a fragile fake. A real relationship is built in trust and understanding in each other and affections that goes both ways. Something like a forced brotherhood will just make them drift further apart because why try to understand each other if you're going to be tied to each other anyways." Shen Tianyu easily pointed out the problems in their wsy of thinking without much effort."Then the elders..." Rong Jian trailed off because he thought the elders thought of that but if that was so, it should have convinced the two Heads and they would have dropped the idea."You said they, the two Heads, were the ones who bonded over their brotherhood didn't you? The other members of both families may have followed their lead but before the brotherhood, the relationship was thinning so the elders are probably more focused on that. The elders probably have their own reason why they think breaking from the other family is a good idea. Being tied to each other so closely can deter the building of relationships with other families. And though they probably have a lot of wealth in the form of rewards, that money will eventually run out. In order to run a family, you need money. The elders might be thinking about breaking from each other and forming relations with a welathy merchant family or something instead. Emotions and nostalgia can't feed a hungry mouth after all. Though the elders might not be so kind as to only think about the other members of the family but that might be the gist of it. It's all just a guess on my part." She responded to his unspoken question with ease. Being the president of a company in her last life has certainly heightened the degree and speed of her critical analysis abilities."I see... Wifey is so wise." Rong Jian smiled down at her."I told you it was just a guess. Stop exaggerating." Shen Tianyu responded.Rong Jian walked Shen Tianyu back to her own quarters before he went back to his own for the night. Shen Tianyu took a quick bath in the wooden tub and went to sleep.The following days leading up to the official meeting with the Emperor and the four Wangye, Shen Tianyu would stay at Lavender Palace during the day, reviewing documents to be presented to them and helping make copies. Only when dusk fell did she come back to the Zhu Wangye residence to stay the night and spend some time with Rong Jian. Conversely, Rong Jian didn't tie her down and let her go out as she wished. He was working on the documents and papers that had been piling up since his absence. Because he had spend so much time with Shen Tianyu recently, he didn't have as much time to work on the sitting documents, not that he would ever complain about spending time with his wife. This worked out for both of them so his close confidantes didn't say anything and the maids serving Shen Tianyu didn't say anything either despite not knowing anything besides that the Wangfei was owrking on something important. Thankfully, since she wasn't going on business meetings, the Head Maid didn't have any excuse to doll her up. She had tried to do so after Shen Tianyu's complaint but always backed off when the other adamantly refused....The day for the official meeting with the Emperor had come. Shen Tianyu was shaken awake by the maids at the same time that Rong Jian woke up to get ready for the Morning Court. They were to meet the Emperor Wu hour after a quick brunch. Rong Jian ate a light breakfast and quickly got dressed to go to Morning Court, yelling at Shen Tianyu's courtyard that he'd be back soon. She responded back from inside the building, still half-asleep. Since she was meeting with the Emperor in an official capacity today, the Head Maid had insisted that she dressed up in a way befitting of her position. Shen Tianyu agreed with her to a certain extent but she didn't want to look like a literal doll so she had set down some parameters with the Head Maid and her assistant. Only natural makeup was allowed, they were not to put too much powder on her face, her makeup must not be too fragrant, her finished face must not look like another person, and her clothes must not be more than three layers. Her headress must not be a certain size and she must not feel like her neck is being strained, the hairpins must not be so plentiful as to hit one another everytime she turned her head and the amount of hairpins with dangling accessories were limited to only two after much compromise from the Head Maid's side. Expecting them to work within her parameters, and because she's not used to getting before the sun rose, she didn't pay much attention to what the army of maids were doing or discussing in the background. she would have fell asleep if they hadn't kept telling her to maintain her posture. Apparently, she tended to slump forward when she fell asleep, which would mess up the makeup.When Rong Jian came back a whole shichen later, the maids were still not done. Smiling wryly as he looked at Shen Tianyu's courtyard, he had the servants postpone breakfast until she was done. They would bve in the middle of a meeting during lunchtime anyways so they could afford to eat later. He then went to his own study to work on more documents, the ones that were less important and so were allowed to sit around until now.Shen Tianyu finally appeared in front of Rong Jian at Si hour, fully decked in the most extravagant robes that you could muster in three layers. Though she was wearing more makeup than she was personaly used to, it was better than the last time where she felt like there was a literal mask on her face. The makeup this time also accentuated her natural beauty rather than tried to change her look to suit the trends. Originally, the maids had tried to go around her parameters and put, what felt like, a whole thirty pound of gold and silver hairpins with various designs and gems in her hair. However, after she looked into the bronze mirror and scolded them, she managed to have the Head Maid remove half of them. Currently, she has two buyao swaying on each side of her head. On the left was a hairpin adorned with a cluster of white cherry blossoms with bright rubies in the middle and gold painted stamens. Each blossom had a tiny silver chain the length of half a hand hanging down from them. The chains were weighted down with a gleaming pearl at the end. On the right side was buyao hairpin shaped into a two-layered wing. The bottom layer was a golden wing that looked more like a cage for the aquamarines contained inside each feather due to all the empty space. The second layer was comprised of five feather-shaped light green jade with beautiful patterns in the stone in the color of a darker green. The hairpin was weighted down with a light green jade kept in place by a small cage of gold inlaid with more aquamarine gems at the end of a gold chain the same length as the other buyao hairpin. She wore a crown in the shape of a headband with a whole line of camellias with red coral petals and garnet centers. She also had on a hairpin with a large silver butterfly welded into it that had opal wings in addition to a few more hairpins the Head Maid managed to leave on her head that were either made of gold or silver and all had gemstones on them."... How am I going to be able to eat in this getup?" She sighed to herself as she tried to sit down with the help of two maids.11:00-13:009:00-11:00the hairpins with dangling bits
