Leaving

The novel described the original owner as beautiful too, but she was so timid and shrinking in manner, so petty and provincial in everything she said and did, that she kept her head down and her shoulders hunched all day. She also liked wearing drab colors to make herself less noticeable, reducing beauty that should have been an eight out of ten to a mere four.

Xu Xi's temperament was the exact opposite of the original owner's. She had been very attractive in her previous life too, and had excelled at her studies since childhood. Beauty and brains went hand in hand, and her family was well-off besides. All this had made her confident and free-spirited, cheerful and unrestrained, with a touch of pride and aloofness in her bones. Words like insecure, timid, and reserved had never been used to describe her.

Her temperament and her bright, striking looks complemented each other perfectly, making her eight-out-of-ten beauty a perfect ten.

Temperament could make or break a person.

Once she was dressed, Xu Xi followed Matron Ruan out of the room and back to the main hall.

"Oh!" Xu Xue cried, her almond-shaped eyes wide. "Sister, you're so beautiful."

Madam Xie wore a relieved, auntie-like smile.

Lady Zhu studied Xu Xi and nodded in satisfaction.

Back when the duke was still alive, the Duke of Sui's Residence had been able to move in the highest noble circles. Lady Zhu had met not only the capital's noble young ladies, but imperial princesses and commandery princesses as well. In her view, Xu Xi's looks were fairly outstanding among those noble young ladies of the capital, above average at the very least.

Seeing everyone's reactions, Matron Ruan smiled and broke the silence. "Beautiful, isn't she? Our Miss Xi really is a great beauty."

Xu Xi smiled. "You flatter me, Matron."

Lady Zhu seemed lost in thought for a moment. At those words, she came back to herself and nodded to Madam Xie. "In that case, I'll take Miss Xi back with me." With that, she stood.

Madam Xie stood as well, her eyes full of reluctance as she looked at Xu Xi.

"Auntie, take care." Xu Xi curtsied to Madam Xie. "I'll come back to see you when I have time."

"All right." Madam Xie managed to hold back her tears and forced a stiff smile for Xu Xi.

Xu Xue bit her lip, her eyes reddening.

As Lady Zhu and her party left the main hall, Xu Yongyi and Steward Liu came out of the east wing. Steward Liu beckoned Matron Ruan over and murmured a few words to her when she came close.

Matron Ruan hurried over to Lady Zhu and said in a low voice, "Madam, the Xu Family won't accept the silver offered in thanks."

The marquis's residence had originally intended to give the Xu Family a hundred taels of silver in thanks. But after her impression of Xu Xi had changed over the past two days, the old marchioness had raised the amount to two hundred taels and entrusted it to Steward Liu to give to Xu Yongyi. Xu Yongyi, however, had refused to accept the silver no matter what, saying only that if he took it, it would mean the marquis's residence looked down on the Xu Family.

With no other choice, Steward Liu had reported the matter to Lady Zhu.

Lady Zhu looked at Madam Xie and Xu Xue, who were saying a reluctant farewell to Xu Xi, and at Xu Yongyi and Xu Chongwen, who did not dare come close but were just as reluctant to see her go. She nodded slightly. "Since they won't take it, there's no need to force them. From now on, we'll visit each other as relatives and send someone with gifts on holidays and festivals."

As the mistress in charge of the marquis's residence, Lady Zhu was naturally not without shrewdness. She had spoken beautifully to Xu Xi just now, promising that she could visit the Xu Family often, and had also told Madam Xie that they would visit each other as relatives. But if the Xu Family had truly been people of poor character with bad family ways, she would never have allowed Xu Xi to keep in contact with them.

There were many ways to go about it. She could have the maids and matrons serving Xu Xi persuade her, or have the sisters in the residence introduce her to better friends. Once her attention was drawn to other people and things, her contact with the Xu Family would gradually diminish. Then Lady Zhu could find the Xu Family a livelihood to keep them busy and prevent them from disturbing Xu Xi too often, and the ties between them would slowly fade.

But now, Lady Zhu truly felt at ease letting Xu Xi associate with the Xu Family.

The party boarded the carriages.

They had come in three carriages. Now Lady Zhu and Xu Xi rode in the first, with only Matron Ruan remaining in the carriage to attend to them. The other matrons and maids rode in the middle carriage, while Steward Liu and the manservants rode in the last.

Xu Xi would be entering the academy with Xu Xue the next day, and she would still be able to see the Xu Family often. Besides, she had only been in ancient times for a few days, so she felt little sadness at parting. But seeing Madam Xie and Xu Xue in tears, and even the two grown men, Xu Yongyi and Xu Chongwen, with reddened eyes, she could hardly seem too heartless. She forced out a few tears of her own.

Once the carriage pulled away from the Xu home, Xu Xi truly breathed a sigh of relief.

During the past few days with the Xu Family, she had been very worried about breaking character and letting them notice something amiss. She had been on guard and careful at every turn, all while slowly guiding them to notice the changes in her. It had been exhausting.

"Haha, host, you're finally going back to the marquis's residence, haha..." The system had probably been worried that this host, who never played by the rules, would grow defiant and change her mind at the last moment, refusing to return to the marquis's residence. It had held itself back and dared not make a sound all this time.

Now that the carriage had started moving and Xu Xi could no longer go back on her decision, it could not help bouncing around happily in her head.

"Shut up and be quiet." The racket was giving Xu Xi a splitting headache. "If you keep making noise, I'll have the carriage stopped and walk back. Besides, you're interrupting our conversation."

The voice in her head cut off abruptly, as though someone had pressed pause.

Although Lady Zhu had shown no disdain for the Xu Family, she had refused to drink their tea. Now that she was in the carriage, she had Matron Ruan pour her some tea and slowly drank a cup before recovering.

She said to Xu Xi, "Let me tell you about the marquis's residence."