Repudiating a Good Wife Is Out of the Question

66. Jinhua Ham

Translator: Sissy That Walk

Cao Mo put the twenty top quality bars in wooden boxes and paid a visit to Cunxi Hall himself.

Dowager Xiao was going through the present list when Mammy Qin reported Cao Mo was here.

Dowager Xiao frowned briefly, “Invite him in.”

Cao Mo came in holding the boxes in his chest, “Greetings to you, grandmother, today I brought some novelties for you.”

Mammy Qin chimed in, “Our madam is well-travelled, I’m sure she has seen this novelty before, Young Madam.”

Cao Mo just smiled.

Mammy Qin took the boxes and opened them on the table, fragrant aroma filled the room and with that a few colorful bars came to Dowager Xiao’s sight.

“What are those bars?” Dowager Xiao asked in surprise.

“They are fragrant soaps. You can use them to wash hands and take baths, good for your skin and it will leave fragrance for a long time. The red ones are rose fragrance, yellow ones osmanthus, green ones aromaticum, blue ones cymbidium, white ones jasmine… … it’s winter now, hard to find all the spice. I made a batch in a hurry and picked the best ones for you, grandmother, hopefully you will like them.”

“Mo, how many more do you have?” Dowager Xiao asked seriously.

“Not many. Only five fragrant ones left. The rest are fragrance-free ones, and not as pretty.” Cao Mo smiled.

“Just five?”

“Unfortunately yes, I started to make this three days ago, plus there’s not enough flowers or spice in season.” Cao Mo explained.

Dowager Xiao nodded, she sniffed a rose one, “It smells so great, I like them very much.”

Cao Mo beamed, he pointed at the soap and said, “Grandmother, you can use it to wash hands and take baths, your skin will be as soft as silk… …”

Mammy Qin chimed in before Cao Mo finished the sentence, “Young Madam, stop giving orders to Dowager Xiao, it’s up to her what she wants to do with the soaps.”

Cao Mo was choked.

Dowager Xiao, however, didn’t give Cao Mo a hard time, she smiled at Cao Mo and said, “These are great, thank you Mo for remembering to send me some. Can I ask for more when you produce a new batch?”

“Of course grandmother!” Cao Mo exclaimed, he almost sprang to his feet in excitement.

Mammy Qin snorted again, “Young Madam, please behave yourself, especially at this festive season, guests will be coming and going all the time. I know you don’t care, but you are the Young Madam of this manor after all.”

Cao Mo decided to not take this nonsense any more, he replied, “Have you read the twenty four stories of filial piety, Mammy Qin? there is one story where a person dressed in motley and clowning to amuse his elders, I’m just trying to amuse my grandmother, I don’t think it’s that improper!”

Dowager Xiao laughed, “All right, all right, I know you are a filial kid. Mammy Qin was too harsh on you. My brother sent me some ham yesterday, Mammy Qin, go get some for Mo, he has been working hard recently, hopefully the ham will stimulate his appetite.”

Mammy Qin glared at Cao Mo and fetched him the ham.

Cao Mo deliberately missed it when Mammy Qin handed him the ham, with a bang, the ham fell on the floor.

Mammy Qin was stupefied.

“Mammy Qin, you know Young Madam is still recovering from the shoulder fracture, why not handle it more carefully when you handed it to him? Tut tut tut, look at the ham, now covered with dirt! This is Jinhua Ham!” Dowager Xiao looked displeased.

Mohua picked up the ham and said, “Young Madam, it’s all right, just some dirt. I’m sure the kitchen will clean it and cook it nicely for you.”

Dowager Xiao had never reprimanded Mammy Qin before, Mammy Qin’s eyes smoldered with anger, she dared not to confront Cao Mo, so she rebuked Mohua, “This is all your fault, you know you Young Madam is recovering from an injury, why didn’t you take the ham for him?”

Mohua was vexed, “Mammy Qin, this is Jinhua Ham, not Mammy Qin Ham! What’s the big fuss?”

Cao Mo and Mohua exchanged a look and both suppressed laughter, they both bowed to Dowager Xiao and withdrew the room before Mammy Qin talked back.

Dowager Xiao rebuked Mammy Qin after Cao Mo left, “Mammy, you cannot refute him in front of so many servants and maids, he is managing the household now, you need to show him more respect. Plus he was here to send me presents, you shouldn’t rebuke him like that.”

Mammy Qin spoke insincerely, “Please forgive me, Madam, it won’t happen again.”

“Add the blue and green soap bars to the presents and send them to my brother.” said Dowager Xiao, then she asked a maid to serve her to wash hands, she wanted to try the rose one.

Mammy Qin narrowed her eyes when she added the soaps on the present list, ‘Young Madam said he didn’t make much, I wonder will that person make a scene once she finds out she is the only one who doesn’t have soap as present?’

A cold smile flashed across Mammy Qin’s face.

In Lotus House.

Xiao Yuzhen smiled obsequiously when Liu Heng entered the gate, “You’ve got them?”

“Mo almost called me names, haha, Moqin said Mo recorded this on our account book.” Liu Heng pouted.

“Haha, it doesn’t matter. I tried so hard to ask him to give me some, he refused me directly. And look at you, you made it!” Xiao Yuzhen jumped for joy, he opened the box only to find twenty porcelain bottles in the box, “Heng, this is not enough!”

“Give them back to me if you don’t want them.”

“I didn’t say that, hehe.” Xiao Yuzhen replied.

“Who do you want to give them to?” Liu Heng cast a glimpse at Xiao Yuzhen.

“My fellow officers, schoolmates and friends, probably my second older brother too, he is in the arid border area, I want to send ten bottles to him so he won’t have dry skin.” Xiao Yuzhen murmured and calculated who else he wanted to give the present to, it took him a while before he realized he hadn’t asked Liu Heng about his family yet, “Heng, how about you… …”

“My family don’t need these, we are a family of scholars!” Liu Heng replied.

Xiao Yuzhen nodded, he had met Liu Heng’s family, he couldn’t imagine they would be interested in lube.

… …

In Liu Manor.

Liu Heng’s elder brother Liu Cong was glad to see Moshu came.

“Moshu, what are you doing here? Did my younger brother have something to tell me?” asked Liu Cong.

“My master asked me to hand this box to you in person, Your Lordship.” with that Moshu put a box on a table and produced a letter from his sleeve.

Liu Cong read the letter, “My dear brother, I recently got a novelty called lube, it’s rich of texture and fragrance, and it adds fun in the bedroom. Please pass on to Wang and other friends. This lube is hard to get, each bottle is worth twenty taels of silver, please cherish it.”