Early the next morning while the Lin family is drinking tea after their breakfast, steward Wu entered the dining hall to announce the arrival of the emperor's servant.
"Young miss Lin, people from the palace came to deliver the betrothal gifts. Please head to the main hall to receive them." Steward Wu then bowed respectfully towards Lin Xulian.
Hearing that the betrothal gifts are here, Xulian got excited. She remembered Feng Jun Yi mentioned that it would be a thousand better than the medical bills she asked before. She wonders how much would it be.
Lin Xulian immediately stood up to follow steward Wu. "Let's go then. We shouldn't let the emperor's people to wait long." Lin Xulian tried to act as composed as possible.
But steward Wu still managed to catch her excited expression. He can't help but be worried for the emperor and for the empire. Having such materialistic woman as an empress seems to be a bad choice. 'Does his majesty know about this young miss's nature? I have to report this. The future of the palace's treasury is at stake.'
******
When they arrived at the hall, everyone bowed and greet "Greetings young miss Lin!"
Lin Huang and Rui eventually followed and stood at Xulian's either side at the back. The Xiao sisters also followed, acting as a responsible servant girls. A eunuch, then stepped forward and presents two slave contract. Two older girls followed behind him. They are both about the age of 20. They are both beautiful in a different way.
One of them, named Yin Mei have a gentle beauty. She had a gentle and warm smile that could make you feel sisterly love. Compassionate peach blossom eyes with thick curled lashes, cute nose, thin peach colored lips and white jade skin. She looked at Lin Xulian with admiration and seemed determined for some reason.
While the other one Zie Xin, looked seductive. Phoenix eyes with thick lashes, high nose, plump red lips and also with jade white skin. But all throughout, she had a blank expressionless face. No one could tell what she's thinking. But when her sight landed on Lin Huang, her eyes widened a bit but quickly avert her gaze. This made Lin Huang's expression turn cold. He never liked this reaction of women at all.
"Young miss Lin, please accept this slave contracts. They are given by the emperor as part of the betrothal gifts. They have been trained in the palace and had need serving the emperor since he was fifteen. They would now serve you and also teach you about palace etiquettes." He then handed two scrolls. Xiao Tian received them for Xulian.
Knowing that these two women will be by his sister's side, Lin Huang gave them a penetrating gaze. Sensing his gaze, the two subconsciously faced him. Zie Xin felt a bit giddy and averted her gaze, lowering her head a bit. While Yin Mei gave him a warm smile and bowed respectfully. Seeing Yin Mei's reaction, he was a bit startled. He wasn't used to this actions, but he doesn't find it uncomfortable. In fact it was like a breath of fresh air for him.
The servants then carried a total of 120 chests of gold taels, gold and jade accessories with gemstones adorning them, there are also herbs both dried and fresh, but what attracted Xulian's attention the most are the rare medicinal ingredients and rare herbs planted in pots. Seeing these medicinal ingredients, Xulian's calm façade immediately shattered. Her lady like appearance was stripped off and was thrown away. She asked them to bring those if front and inspected them. Most of them she had only seen them on her books. Some she didn't know about but Feng Jun Yi is kind enough to include books that had information about them.
Seeing her like this, the members of the Lin family simultaneously sighed. They knew Lin Xulian entered her own world again and wouldn't be able to communicate. Xiao Tian wanted to take a look too but she knew she had to handle the recording of the other gifts on behalf of Xulian. The emperor's people was startled. Seeing Lin Xulian's obsessed look they wondered where the calm and elegant woman go. Zie Xin knitted her brows slightly while Yin Mei had a doting smile. She find this Lin Xulian's reaction adorable.
"Young miss, the emperor really cared about you! He even knew what you wanted the most!" Xiao Tianshi exclaimed. She is definitely satisfied that her boss is happy right now.
"Yep! He really had a good foresight. I definitely had to work hard as his wife in the future." This is the reason why Xulian wanted money. To buy rare medicinal ingredients. And now she had a lot of them.
The crowd's face turned red. They had a weird imagination in Lin Xulian's "work hard" statement. They are obviously in a different wavelength from Xulian.
Rui on the other hand, secretly clenched his fists behind his back. This kind of things, he knew that Xulian wanted them but he could only give her mediocre medicinal ingredients the most. All of his earnings went to medicinal herbs he brought back home after every mission. But these level of luxury, he can't achieve it.
******
At the imperial study.
Xu Yichen faced the emperor silently. But you could sense he had something to say.
"Adviser Xu, say it." Feng Jun Yi can't handle it anymore and gave him a chance to speak.
"Your majesty, I was just wondering why you gave young miss Lin a lot of medicinal ingredients? You only gave her a few thousands of taels of gold and some precious accessories. Back at the school, we saw her reaction when mentioning about money. She obviously love them." Xu Yichen imagined Lin Xulian's glittering eyes that seem to emit gold lights when mentioning about money.
"Zhen knows she would be satisfied with it. Zhen stayed in her clinic and saw how precious she treated her herbs and medicine. There are medicines I didn't know about. It seems she is also an apothecary. Those ingredients will surely be something she would want. And those medicines she will develop will be a good help for the empire."
'As expected, he has an ulterior motive again.'