“I thought it strange before. He Shuijin had always been capable of dealing with all the things. She even wouldn’t easily offend a servant if there was no reason. Besides, my mother is famous outside. She put her head in the noose at this critical moment. She not only implicated the whole backyard of Jiang Yadan, but even made the children of Jiang Yadan’s concubines hate her bitterly afterwards. What exactly does she want to do with those behaviors that totally go against her typical temperament?” Qiu Yelan rubbed her forehead with a grave look, “Now it seems that she is probably pregnant again!”
“Is the fourteenth madame pregnant?” Su He said in surprise, “Why haven’t any hints been leaked?”
“Think about the end of her first pregnancy. Does she dare to leak the news?” Qiu Yelan stroked her swollen belly and said with a terrible face, “That person is both her mother-in-law and her aunt. He Shuijin should consider it carefully even though she wants to ask her maiden family for help. She won’t let the news spread to her ears. Otherwise, maybe she will be blamed!”
Su He had helped run errands about that matter at that time so she knew it. She recalled it at the moment and drew a cold breath, “If I hadn’t participated in it personally, I couldn’t have believed that there was such a person like her in the world! In contrast, our Madame is so charitable!”
“The village where He Shuijin is going is far away from Jing City. The place is so remote that the road must be rough and bad.” Qiu Yelan recalled it. It was He Shuijin that juggled all aspects of the matter, but as the person raising An, she should have a fair idea about it. “She can plead illness there in due course, or just find some men to damage the road. Anyhow, she needs to find a way to cover the news for a few months. She can buy off Mistress Chi and intercede with my third uncle at the late-stage of her pregnancy. My third uncle will definitely allow her to stay there until she gives birth!”
“According to my understanding of He Shuijin, her plan is not just to avoid the mad behaviors of Madame He to harm her, so as to give birth safely. If she went to the village during the prenatal period, there must be someone to take over such a big Marquess’s mansion!”
Qiu Yelan sneered, “Madame Shi’s husband just died. She is still lying on the bed! Madame Zhang is incapable of running the big mansion alone. What else can Madame He do if she doesn’t come out again to shoulder the main responsibility by herself? As for He Shuijin’s finesse, it is a piece of cake to dig a huge pit for Madame He!”
Su He stuck her tongue out, “Anyway, the third madame is not a good person. This is tit-for-tat!”
“My mother-in-law and I have been used both this time!” Qiu Yelan understood He Shuijin’s plan and couldn’t help but curl her lips, “How could He Shuijin leave Jing City if my mother-in-law had failed to subdue Madame He? This time she could go out to the remote village because she had mentioned that I was pregnant. Madame He had to let her go out… But she is really pitiful to have such an elder who is just from the same family as her. He Shuijin is tied up by her maiden family. It’s not right either to deal with Madame He or to let her go unchecked… I don’t know what kind of pit she has dug for Madame He which can clean her up without implicating the He Family this time!”
Qiu Yelan sighed, “You prepare some medicinal materials for miscarriage prevention from my storehouse, and send a clever man from the Ruan Family to catch up with her and give the materials to her in the name of snacks. I don’t want to embarrass her, but she didn’t even tell me a hint of the matter this time. I need to warn her!”
She and Madame Zhuang were a little distracted by the matter of Madame Tao Junior and her son. During this period, the discussion on the marriage of Ling Zui in the mansion of Princess Royal Maode was coming to an end. Princess Royal Maode frowned and said to her daughter Ling Qu, “The Jiang Family has sent word to us for several days. We are the male side. We can’t delay too long. We must reply to them today or tomorrow!”
Ling Qu thought there was nothing to consider. She said, “I think it’s all right. Madame Zhuang loves her niece very much and treats her as her own daughter. Moreover, my little brother has saved Madame Zhuang’s own daughter before. Madame Zhuang doesn’t need to pit him. It must be a good intention of her to bring him and Zhuang Man together.”
“How could it be all right?” Princess Royal Maode said with annoyance, “How could I not know that she meant well? But think about Ling Zui’s reputation in Jing City! Madame Zhuang didn’t know because she had just come back. How could the Zhuang Family not know it? If we agree to the marriage gladly but her niece refuses it later, how can we back down with good grace? Anyhow, our family status is not low. No matter how incompetent Ling Zui is, he is not a person that a daughter of an education officer qualifies to look down on!”
… When the Jiang Family defeated Gu and began to share the benefits, Zhuang Mo, as an in-law of the fourth branch and a staunch follower of the Jiang Family, should have been promoted. But the Jiang Family fought inside and the fourth branch with weak power in the royal court was only willing to give him some dispensable positions. In a rage, Zhuang Mo simply refused to be promoted and continued to be an education officer!
The education officer of the Imperial Academy was just the lower fourth-grade official. Even if Zhuang Man was the trueborn daughter, it was absolutely unqualified to marry the trueborn young son of Princess Royal Maode and the Marquess under normal circumstances.
Even if the Jiang Family, the Zhuang Family’s in-law, was very powerful, Princess Royal Maode, an orthodox imperial daughter and the aunt of Emperor, needed to maintain her face absolutely.
So, she felt very embarrassed. After all, she knew her son well. If she hadn’t really found a suitable person, she would have already married a wife for the little son she loved so much!
Ling Qu reminded, “Since Madame Zhuang loves her niece so much, wouldn’t she ask her niece first?”
“Didn’t Mrs. Chang say that if we had the intention, Madame Zhuang would ask the Zhuang Family later?” Princess Royal Maode hesitated.
Ling Qu was a little embarrassed, “You just has said that we are the male side and the Zhuang Family is the female side! It was improper for Mrs. Chang to tell you that the Zhuang Family had agreed already and were waiting for us to reply.”
“Even so, Ling Zui hasn’t seen the shrewish Madame Zhuang before. Don’t you remember her when you were a child?” Princess Royal Maode frowned, “Her little niece is no quieter and gentler than her eldest niece! When I came to visit your cousins before, I heard your cousins mentioned that she was very obtrusive and had the style of Madame Zhuang… Before the trueborn daughters of the first branch and the third branch of the Jiang Family got married, they could do nothing about her! Especially she has the Jiang Family to support her. Maybe she will bully Ling Zui a lot! You know that. Though Ling Zui is thoughtless for spending much time on the tiles, he is good-natured and easy-going.”
Speaking of this, she frowned more tightly, “He joked with the lady of the Ou Family before and was beaten badly by her. He just ran away speedily and didn’t make a fuss with her.”
If it had not been Ling Zui’s fault, even if Ou Qinglan’s elders were not easy to be trifled with, considering Princess Royal Maode’s favor for her youngest son, she would have come to the Ou Family and asked for an explanation for her son!
Ling Qu hummed, “It’s better to be formidable! Didn’t you say before that my little brother should marry a formidable wife to control his lazy character?”
“But she can’t be too sharp!” Princess Royal Maode’s heart was obviously softened when she saw her son and she wanted to go back on what she had said. She argued, “If she were too sharp, she would discipline him not just control him.”
“Shouldn’t my little brother be disciplined?” Ling Qu had long felt that Ling Zui should be well-disciplined, or he had to rely on his parents to drift along aimlessly all his life. Ling Qu said disapprovingly, “He was actually good at studying earlier. Later when he was lazy, if you and my father had been willing to beat him up, maybe our family would have had a member of the Imperial Academy now.”
Princess Royal Maode rebuked, “Nonsense! Is it so easy to be enrolled in the Imperial Academy?”
Ling Qu knew that her mother always spoiled her younger brother, so she just curled her lips and said, “Well. Let me say if you refuse this marriage for him, is there another suitable person?” She threw up her hand, “If so, will you wait until today?”
She continued, “Besides, why do you worry that Miss Zhuang will bully my younger brother? The fourth branch of the Jiang Family is the anchor of Miss Zhuang. But you should think about who is the most valued descendant of the fourth branch of the Jiang Family. It is Jiang Yashuang! Commandery Princess Ningyi, Jiang Yashuang’s first wife, had been taken care of by my younger brother before she got married, not to mention the relationship between Ling Zui and Ruan Qingyan! As for the Western Army, the fourth branch of the Jiang Family now depends on Ruan Qingyan!”
“And I heard that Commandery Princess Ningyi had a good relationship with Miss Zhuang. Will Miss Zhuang bully my younger brother on account of Commandery Princess Ningyi?”
Ling Qu said disapprovingly, “To take a step back, Miss Zhuang is as feisty as Madame Zhuang. Madame Zhuang has had a reputation of being jealous for so many years, but when did she bring shame on Great General of North in front of outsiders? The aunt and niece of the Zhuang Family have clear minds, not like Princess Qi who is woolly-minded!”
Princess Royal Maode rubbed her forehead, “All right, call him over and ask him!”
… Ling Zui was called over. He heard that it was Zhuang Man. After thinking about it carefully, he hesitated, “I remembered that Miss Zhuang was very feisty, right?”
“You don’t like her, do you?” Princess Royal Maode breathed a sigh of relief.
Ling Qu couldn’t help humming coldly when she saw this. She thought that her mother always doted on her younger brother. She also wondered when her younger brother would be able to make some progress.
Unexpectedly, Ling Zui’s eyes lit up and said, “That’s great!”
“…” Princess Royal Maode and her daughter were stunned and hesitated to say after looking at each other for a long time, “Didn’t you keep away from Ou Qinglan when you saw her?”
“There’s no feisty woman in your backyard, right?” Ling Qu looked at him suspiciously, “Are you mad?”
Princess Royal Maode scolded her daughter, “What are you talking about?” And then she turned to Ling Zui and quickly changed to a kind face, “Zui, don’t be afraid of your sister. Just tell me your thoughts!”
Ling Zui rubbed his hands and said awkwardly, “Now… I just feel that a feisty woman has a real temperament and is easy to get along with!”
“Well… As for being easy to get along with, aren’t girls who are gentle and virtuous easy to get along with?” Princess Royal Maode lost for words and hesitated for a long time, “You… Do you like the feisty one or an easy-going one?”
Ling Qu also had some doubts and said, “I think Miss Zhuang can certainly prevent you from fooling around. As for being easy to get along with… It depends on your feeling of the first glance.” Anyway, in whole Jing City, in addition to Commandery Princess Ningyi, Ou Qinglan, and Chunfu Princess, probably only Zhuang Man’s sister thought that Zhuang Man was easy to get along with!
If she could be seen as an easy-going person, were there any people in the world difficult to deal with?
“I can’t tell them What Chunfu did. What else can I say besides praising Miss Zhuang’s true nature?” Ling Zui racked his brains to think about the reason and went crazy inwardly. “No matter how fierce and arrogant Miss Zhuang is, one advantage of her is that she expresses her joy and anger outwardly. If I offend her, we will quarrel openly. It’s safer than people like Chunfu!”
People like Princess Chunfu usually looked gentle and virtuous. However, if she didn’t want to be patient, there would be no sign at all. She could kill her two cousins decidedly and even didn’t tremble after killing them!
After witnessing the scene in Shazhou, Ling Zui couldn’t help but make up a scene in his mind when he heard that the daughter of a family was gentle and virtuous. This was another hidden version of Chunfu. And then he imagined that the woman who would marry him gently and generously took good care of him and inquired after his health considerately. Maybe she would give some beautiful concubines to him when she was free and raised all his children of concubines as her own children… Finally, one day, she finally couldn’t bear it and chopped him to pieces to make steamed stuffed buns with his meat…
It was so creepy to just imagine it!
“Anyway, I won’t get close to a girl with the same temperament as Chunfu!” Ling Zui thought with fear while coaxing his mother and sister, “Miss Zhuang’s feisty temper is good. She’s not good at disguise. She doesn’t hide matters secretly in her mind. If she is unhappy, she will beat me up at most! It’s better to have a jealous and cantankerous wife than to have a virtuous and generous wife who may kill me in secret!”
With the idea that it was now or never, Ling Zui made up his mind. There were few ladies with feisty reputations. Zhuang Man was the only one who had such a reputation and was introduced to Princess Royal Maode to be her daughter-in-law. Ling Zui intended to stick to marrying her!
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“I thought it strange before. He Shuijin had always been capable of dealing with all the things. She even wouldn’t easily offend a servant if there was no reason. Besides, my mother is famous outside. She put her head in the noose at this critical moment. She not only implicated the whole backyard of Jiang Yadan, but even made the children of Jiang Yadan’s concubines hate her bitterly afterwards. What exactly does she want to do with those behaviors that totally go against her typical temperament?” Qiu Yelan rubbed her forehead with a grave look, “Now it seems that she is probably pregnant again!”
“Is the fourteenth madame pregnant?” Su He said in surprise, “Why haven’t any hints been leaked?”
“Think about the end of her first pregnancy. Does she dare to leak the news?” Qiu Yelan stroked her swollen belly and said with a terrible face, “That person is both her mother-in-law and her aunt. He Shuijin should consider it carefully even though she wants to ask her maiden family for help. She won’t let the news spread to her ears. Otherwise, maybe she will be blamed!”
Su He had helped run errands about that matter at that time so she knew it. She recalled it at the moment and drew a cold breath, “If I hadn’t participated in it personally, I couldn’t have believed that there was such a person like her in the world! In contrast, our Madame is so charitable!”
“The village where He Shuijin is going is far away from Jing City. The place is so remote that the road must be rough and bad.” Qiu Yelan recalled it. It was He Shuijin that juggled all aspects of the matter, but as the person raising An, she should have a fair idea about it. “She can plead illness there in due course, or just find some men to damage the road. Anyhow, she needs to find a way to cover the news for a few months. She can buy off Mistress Chi and intercede with my third uncle at the late-stage of her pregnancy. My third uncle will definitely allow her to stay there until she gives birth!”
“According to my understanding of He Shuijin, her plan is not just to avoid the mad behaviors of Madame He to harm her, so as to give birth safely. If she went to the village during the prenatal period, there must be someone to take over such a big Marquess’s mansion!”
Qiu Yelan sneered, “Madame Shi’s husband just died. She is still lying on the bed! Madame Zhang is incapable of running the big mansion alone. What else can Madame He do if she doesn’t come out again to shoulder the main responsibility by herself? As for He Shuijin’s finesse, it is a piece of cake to dig a huge pit for Madame He!”
Su He stuck her tongue out, “Anyway, the third madame is not a good person. This is tit-for-tat!”
“My mother-in-law and I have been used both this time!” Qiu Yelan understood He Shuijin’s plan and couldn’t help but curl her lips, “How could He Shuijin leave Jing City if my mother-in-law had failed to subdue Madame He? This time she could go out to the remote village because she had mentioned that I was pregnant. Madame He had to let her go out… But she is really pitiful to have such an elder who is just from the same family as her. He Shuijin is tied up by her maiden family. It’s not right either to deal with Madame He or to let her go unchecked… I don’t know what kind of pit she has dug for Madame He which can clean her up without implicating the He Family this time!”
Qiu Yelan sighed, “You prepare some medicinal materials for miscarriage prevention from my storehouse, and send a clever man from the Ruan Family to catch up with her and give the materials to her in the name of snacks. I don’t want to embarrass her, but she didn’t even tell me a hint of the matter this time. I need to warn her!”
She and Madame Zhuang were a little distracted by the matter of Madame Tao Junior and her son. During this period, the discussion on the marriage of Ling Zui in the mansion of Princess Royal Maode was coming to an end. Princess Royal Maode frowned and said to her daughter Ling Qu, “The Jiang Family has sent word to us for several days. We are the male side. We can’t delay too long. We must reply to them today or tomorrow!”
Ling Qu thought there was nothing to consider. She said, “I think it’s all right. Madame Zhuang loves her niece very much and treats her as her own daughter. Moreover, my little brother has saved Madame Zhuang’s own daughter before. Madame Zhuang doesn’t need to pit him. It must be a good intention of her to bring him and Zhuang Man together.”
“How could it be all right?” Princess Royal Maode said with annoyance, “How could I not know that she meant well? But think about Ling Zui’s reputation in Jing City! Madame Zhuang didn’t know because she had just come back. How could the Zhuang Family not know it? If we agree to the marriage gladly but her niece refuses it later, how can we back down with good grace? Anyhow, our family status is not low. No matter how incompetent Ling Zui is, he is not a person that a daughter of an education officer qualifies to look down on!”
… When the Jiang Family defeated Gu and began to share the benefits, Zhuang Mo, as an in-law of the fourth branch and a staunch follower of the Jiang Family, should have been promoted. But the Jiang Family fought inside and the fourth branch with weak power in the royal court was only willing to give him some dispensable positions. In a rage, Zhuang Mo simply refused to be promoted and continued to be an education officer!
The education officer of the Imperial Academy was just the lower fourth-grade official. Even if Zhuang Man was the trueborn daughter, it was absolutely unqualified to marry the trueborn young son of Princess Royal Maode and the Marquess under normal circumstances.
Even if the Jiang Family, the Zhuang Family’s in-law, was very powerful, Princess Royal Maode, an orthodox imperial daughter and the aunt of Emperor, needed to maintain her face absolutely.
So, she felt very embarrassed. After all, she knew her son well. If she hadn’t really found a suitable person, she would have already married a wife for the little son she loved so much!
Ling Qu reminded, “Since Madame Zhuang loves her niece so much, wouldn’t she ask her niece first?”
“Didn’t Mrs. Chang say that if we had the intention, Madame Zhuang would ask the Zhuang Family later?” Princess Royal Maode hesitated.
Ling Qu was a little embarrassed, “You just has said that we are the male side and the Zhuang Family is the female side! It was improper for Mrs. Chang to tell you that the Zhuang Family had agreed already and were waiting for us to reply.”
“Even so, Ling Zui hasn’t seen the shrewish Madame Zhuang before. Don’t you remember her when you were a child?” Princess Royal Maode frowned, “Her little niece is no quieter and gentler than her eldest niece! When I came to visit your cousins before, I heard your cousins mentioned that she was very obtrusive and had the style of Madame Zhuang… Before the trueborn daughters of the first branch and the third branch of the Jiang Family got married, they could do nothing about her! Especially she has the Jiang Family to support her. Maybe she will bully Ling Zui a lot! You know that. Though Ling Zui is thoughtless for spending much time on the tiles, he is good-natured and easy-going.”
Speaking of this, she frowned more tightly, “He joked with the lady of the Ou Family before and was beaten badly by her. He just ran away speedily and didn’t make a fuss with her.”
If it had not been Ling Zui’s fault, even if Ou Qinglan’s elders were not easy to be trifled with, considering Princess Royal Maode’s favor for her youngest son, she would have come to the Ou Family and asked for an explanation for her son!
Ling Qu hummed, “It’s better to be formidable! Didn’t you say before that my little brother should marry a formidable wife to control his lazy character?”
“But she can’t be too sharp!” Princess Royal Maode’s heart was obviously softened when she saw her son and she wanted to go back on what she had said. She argued, “If she were too sharp, she would discipline him not just control him.”
“Shouldn’t my little brother be disciplined?” Ling Qu had long felt that Ling Zui should be well-disciplined, or he had to rely on his parents to drift along aimlessly all his life. Ling Qu said disapprovingly, “He was actually good at studying earlier. Later when he was lazy, if you and my father had been willing to beat him up, maybe our family would have had a member of the Imperial Academy now.”
Princess Royal Maode rebuked, “Nonsense! Is it so easy to be enrolled in the Imperial Academy?”
Ling Qu knew that her mother always spoiled her younger brother, so she just curled her lips and said, “Well. Let me say if you refuse this marriage for him, is there another suitable person?” She threw up her hand, “If so, will you wait until today?”
She continued, “Besides, why do you worry that Miss Zhuang will bully my younger brother? The fourth branch of the Jiang Family is the anchor of Miss Zhuang. But you should think about who is the most valued descendant of the fourth branch of the Jiang Family. It is Jiang Yashuang! Commandery Princess Ningyi, Jiang Yashuang’s first wife, had been taken care of by my younger brother before she got married, not to mention the relationship between Ling Zui and Ruan Qingyan! As for the Western Army, the fourth branch of the Jiang Family now depends on Ruan Qingyan!”
“And I heard that Commandery Princess Ningyi had a good relationship with Miss Zhuang. Will Miss Zhuang bully my younger brother on account of Commandery Princess Ningyi?”
Ling Qu said disapprovingly, “To take a step back, Miss Zhuang is as feisty as Madame Zhuang. Madame Zhuang has had a reputation of being jealous for so many years, but when did she bring shame on Great General of North in front of outsiders? The aunt and niece of the Zhuang Family have clear minds, not like Princess Qi who is woolly-minded!”
Princess Royal Maode rubbed her forehead, “All right, call him over and ask him!”
… Ling Zui was called over. He heard that it was Zhuang Man. After thinking about it carefully, he hesitated, “I remembered that Miss Zhuang was very feisty, right?”
“You don’t like her, do you?” Princess Royal Maode breathed a sigh of relief.
Ling Qu couldn’t help humming coldly when she saw this. She thought that her mother always doted on her younger brother. She also wondered when her younger brother would be able to make some progress.
Unexpectedly, Ling Zui’s eyes lit up and said, “That’s great!”
“…” Princess Royal Maode and her daughter were stunned and hesitated to say after looking at each other for a long time, “Didn’t you keep away from Ou Qinglan when you saw her?”
“There’s no feisty woman in your backyard, right?” Ling Qu looked at him suspiciously, “Are you mad?”
Princess Royal Maode scolded her daughter, “What are you talking about?” And then she turned to Ling Zui and quickly changed to a kind face, “Zui, don’t be afraid of your sister. Just tell me your thoughts!”
Ling Zui rubbed his hands and said awkwardly, “Now… I just feel that a feisty woman has a real temperament and is easy to get along with!”
“Well… As for being easy to get along with, aren’t girls who are gentle and virtuous easy to get along with?” Princess Royal Maode lost for words and hesitated for a long time, “You… Do you like the feisty one or an easy-going one?”
Ling Qu also had some doubts and said, “I think Miss Zhuang can certainly prevent you from fooling around. As for being easy to get along with… It depends on your feeling of the first glance.” Anyway, in whole Jing City, in addition to Commandery Princess Ningyi, Ou Qinglan, and Chunfu Princess, probably only Zhuang Man’s sister thought that Zhuang Man was easy to get along with!
If she could be seen as an easy-going person, were there any people in the world difficult to deal with?
“I can’t tell them What Chunfu did. What else can I say besides praising Miss Zhuang’s true nature?” Ling Zui racked his brains to think about the reason and went crazy inwardly. “No matter how fierce and arrogant Miss Zhuang is, one advantage of her is that she expresses her joy and anger outwardly. If I offend her, we will quarrel openly. It’s safer than people like Chunfu!”
People like Princess Chunfu usually looked gentle and virtuous. However, if she didn’t want to be patient, there would be no sign at all. She could kill her two cousins decidedly and even didn’t tremble after killing them!
After witnessing the scene in Shazhou, Ling Zui couldn’t help but make up a scene in his mind when he heard that the daughter of a family was gentle and virtuous. This was another hidden version of Chunfu. And then he imagined that the woman who would marry him gently and generously took good care of him and inquired after his health considerately. Maybe she would give some beautiful concubines to him when she was free and raised all his children of concubines as her own children… Finally, one day, she finally couldn’t bear it and chopped him to pieces to make steamed stuffed buns with his meat…
It was so creepy to just imagine it!
“Anyway, I won’t get close to a girl with the same temperament as Chunfu!” Ling Zui thought with fear while coaxing his mother and sister, “Miss Zhuang’s feisty temper is good. She’s not good at disguise. She doesn’t hide matters secretly in her mind. If she is unhappy, she will beat me up at most! It’s better to have a jealous and cantankerous wife than to have a virtuous and generous wife who may kill me in secret!”
With the idea that it was now or never, Ling Zui made up his mind. There were few ladies with feisty reputations. Zhuang Man was the only one who had such a reputation and was introduced to Princess Royal Maode to be her daughter-in-law. Ling Zui intended to stick to marrying her!
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