Chapter 181: Tangerines
Chapter 181: Tangerines
Both Chen Manor and Xiang Ling’s life became a lot more entertaining ever since Zhang Xuan became a part of the family. He was kind toward the servants and friendly with the students. He always accompanied Xiang Ling during her classes and even helped the students whenever they were having troubles understanding something.
Not only that but he was also filial to Hao Ran and Zuan Hu, which earned him their respect and trust. Within days of his arrival, he became everyone’s favorite. Every night after dinner, he spent some time telling weird stories to the servants of the Manor, and they all enjoyed it.
But those stories weren’t the only things the servants looked forward to every day. The one thing they anticipated the most was what kind of flower Young Master Zhang would gift their Lady.
Everyone was surprised when they got to know that Young Master Zhang gifted Xiang Ling a blue lotus that matched with the color of her dress perfectly. That excitement would have died down quickly if Zhang Xuan wouldn’t have appeared outside Xiang Ling’s room the very next morning while holding a bunch of yellow chrysanthemum flowers that once again matched with the beautiful yellow dress she was wearing that day.
Despite her several attempts at asking him how he knew what color of dress she was going to wear, the man didn’t reveal his secrets, and only left everyone speechless when he once again appeared in front of her the next morning with a small branch of cherry blossom flowers that again matched with the pink and white dress she was wearing that day.
Since then, everyone started anticipating the next flower that he would gift her, and so far, he had gifted her seven flowers - all matching the color of her dresses.
With this sweetness in the Chen Manor, the days started passing. In no time, the end of the month arrived and with it arrived the end of the rainy season as well. It rained continously for three days before the clouds finally dispersed. Looking at the sky and feeling the essence of the nature, Xiang Ling was able to predict that there was going to be no more rain for months.
The new month arrived with the new season of Autumn. It arrived gradually, with trees shedding their leaves, painting the landscape in hues of gold and crimson. The air turned crisper and carried the scent of fallen leaves and the promise of cozy evenings.
Daylight waned and the weather started cooling down slightly. It was the season for celebrations and for everyone to prepare themselves for the winter season that would be knocking on their doors soon enough.
It was the first day of the new month and Fu Xiao chose a coral color dress for Xiang Ling. It had beautiful embroidery and it looked really pretty on Xiang Ling.
"You have done a really great job in selecting all these dresses, Ah Xiao. I have loved every single one of them till now." Xiang Ling confessed as she watched Fu Xiao styling her hair and adding the golden hairpins that went perfectly with the color of her dress.
"Thank you, My Lady." Fu Xiao replied with a smile that spoke volumes of how grateful she was to hear the praise and appreciation for her hard work from Xiang Ling.
After getting dressed, Xiang Ling made her way toward the dining hall with Fu Xiao. The air was filled with the delicious aroma of delicacies that An Mei and the rest of the kitchen staff had prepared for the day. The room was filled with chatters as those present there waited for the rest of the family to assemble for the morning meal.
"First Brother. First sister-in-law." Xiang Ling greeted both Hao Ran and Zuan Hu before she settled down on her seat. Since she sat at the first seat on the right, there was only one empty seat beside her. Just like she expected, Zhang Xuan didn’t sit beside her when he arrived. He handed her a basket covered with red silk before he left to sit on the seventh seat, next to Zhe Yuan.
Despite his constant tries at irritating her other five husbands, Xiang Ling had noticed that he never disrespected any of them. He too had noticed the hierarchy system among her husbands and had accepted the reality that he was the last on the list because he was the last one to marry her among all six of them.
That’s why, the seat next to her had always belonged to Wei Guang, especially at family gatherings. And not even once did Zhang Xuan made the mistake of sitting in that seat. The only exception was the first day after their marriage when he sat next to her and it was only because the other five husbands weren’t there, and letting her sit alone didn’t seem fit.
"Are there flowers in that basket?" Zuan Hu’s question pulled Xiang Ling out of her thoughts and she realized that everyone was anticipating the reveal of the flower that Zhang Xuan had just handed her. He had done it differently this time as he went as far as to hide the flower in a basket.
Feeling curious herself, Xiang Ling removed the cloth from the face of the basket and was shocked to see tangerines inside instead of flowers.
"Tangerines?"
The one who asked first was surprisingly Li Xian. But he wasn’t the only one who wanted to know why the flowers had suddenly changed into Tangerines.
With a smile on his lips, Zhang Xuan answered from his seat. "Flowers will become boring if I keep gifting them every day. That’s why I decided to surprise her. I know that she loves Tangerines. That’s why they are my gift to her for the day."
"Ah Ran, why don’t you learn something from Young Master Zhang. Look how he pampers Xiang Mei Mei." Zuan Hu took the chance to tease her husbands, but the ones who actually felt sour at her words were Xiang Ling’s other five husbands.