Chapter 426: My Life is So Miserable
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Mingzhu laughed heartily, “With such a spacious place, do you think I’ll be homeless? Don’t worry, I’m the demon king of the family. They wouldn’t dare to not let me stay wherever I want.” As she spoke, she hugged Madam Cui’s arm and leaned on her shoulder, teasingly saying, “Mom, isn’t that right?”
Madam Cui indulgently pinched her nose and said, “Indeed, you’re the demon king.” Then she smiled at Fu Zifei and said, “Don’t mind her. She’s already married, so why would she come back to her mother’s house for no reason? Just relax and stay here. If you need anything, just let us know. Your younger sisters are usually idle, so feel free to hang out with them.”
Fu Zifei politely greeted the other girls again.
There weren’t many girls in the Fu family. In Mingzhu’s generation, there was only her, and in the next generation, there were four. The first wife’s was Nini, who was still young, only five years old. The second branch only had one, Wenwen, who had almost been selected to enter the palace earlier. As for the third branch, there were two, but the oldest was only six or seven years old.
Except for Wenwen, the others were still children, full of childishness, curious about everything, and joking around with Fu Zifei. Wenwen was twelve years old this year and knew what was going on with Fu Zifei. She immediately stopped her younger sisters and said seriously and kindly to Fu Zifei, “Big sister, don’t bother with them. They’re still young and ignorant. If there’s anything, just tell me. I’ll take care of you.”
Fu Zifei knew that she was replacing Wenwen to enter the palace. She felt somewhat resentful but also vaguely felt the need to stand up for herself. So she acted even more mature and generous than Wenwen, politely joining the other girls.
Lady Qian and the others sighed. They were still so young, but they were already playing tricks and politics. It seemed that encountering problems would quickly mature the children.
Mingzhu quietly asked her second sister-in-law, Lady Su, “Has Wenwen’s marriage been settled?” She was afraid of night-time worries and sudden changes, which would result in Wenwen being affected. She remembered that Wenwen was supposed to be betrothed next year. It was agreed that she would marry Lady Su’s maternal cousin after she reached adulthood. However, this cousin of Lady Su’s suddenly fell ill and died a month before Wenwen was about to marry.
After that, Wenwen mourned for her fiancé, and her brother found another fiancé for her, the grandson of General Ding Guo, but before she could get married, something happened in the family, and the Ding Guo family withdrew the marriage proposal. Wenwen vowed not to marry, and finally, on the day the family changed, she committed suicide by throwing herself into a well.
Lady Su smiled and said, “We’re just discussing this matter. My maternal cousin’s wife really likes Wenwen. You’ve met their son, Jingxuan. He’s polite, diligent, cultured, and knows etiquette. Your second brother also likes him very much. He asked Wenwen, and she didn’t object.”
If it were before, Mingzhu would have openly opposed it. Now, however, she knew that openly opposing it wouldn’t have a decisive effect, and it would only make her second brother and sister-in-law resent her. She couldn’t say, “Oh, this marriage isn’t appropriate. That Su Jingxuan is a short-lived ghost!” Even if the family spoiled her, she would still be scolded.
So the fundamental solution to this matter was to find a more suitable family than the Su and Ding Guo families to propose marriage to Wenwen, and then start with her father and mother. Then her sister-in-law would have nothing to say.
Mingzhu made up her mind and didn’t mention Wenwen’s matter anymore. She turned to Madam Cui and coquettishly said, “I won’t go back tonight.”
Madam Cui was surprised. “Why?”
Mingzhu coquettishly replied, “Just because I miss you. It’s been a long time since our home was so lively. I want to enjoy the excitement with you.”
Madam Cui thought about how Mingzhu had returned to her mother’s house as soon as it was light out and subconsciously felt that something was wrong. Originally, according to their thoughts, when Mingzhu married into Ying Wang Mansion, it should have been noisy and chaotic every few days. But she had always been very close to Yuwen Chu and hadn’t caused any trouble. This was abnormal. Now it seemed that the trouble had finally started.
Young couples, their quarrels were inevitable.
Madam Cui found an excuse to bring Mingzhu to the inner room and asked her, “Speak up, what’s really going on? There are no outsiders here, just us mother and daughter. Whatever grievances you have, you can tell me. If I can help, I’ll help you. If I can’t, I can also console you. You’re pregnant, why are you being so stubborn? If you get angry and hurt yourself, it’s a loss for you and a gain for others!”
Mingzhu couldn’t help but smile when she heard Madam Cui’s last sentence. “Indeed, experience comes with age. How did mother know about my relationship with others?”
Madam Cui sighed, “How could I not know? I’ve been through the same thing. Even your father, who is good enough, also had your fourth brother. Men are like this. You can only believe half of what they say. Earlier, when I heard that you were pregnant and that you and your husband weren’t sleeping in separate rooms, I felt uneasy. I didn’t think he could endure it for so long. I wanted to advise you, but I felt that since nothing had happened yet, advising you would only cause trouble for you. Now that something has happened, you have to be open-minded, focus on nurturing your body and your baby, and safely give birth to the child. That’s the most important thing. Everything else is secondary. Tell me, who has he taken a liking to?”
Mingzhu said with a grievance, “He’s taken a liking to Jiang Shanshan and wants to take her as a concubine.”
Madam Cui was shocked at first, but then she firmly didn’t believe it. “I’ll believe anything you say, except for Jiang Shanshan. What kind of person is Ying Wang? If he really fancied Jiang Shanshan, he would have taken her long ago. Why wait until now to cause trouble? I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it!”
Mingzhu pouted. Clearly, it was because of Jiang Shanshan. Why didn’t she believe it? With Yuwen Chu being such a powerful person, wouldn’t he be able to control the people under him? Moreover, this matter was so confidential. She had been giving him opportunities all along, but he never mentioned it, even pretending that he hadn’t met Jiang Shanshan.
She had been angry for so long, and all she got from him was “he won’t.” Whatever he said was the truth, right? Why should she just believe him casually? She only believed it when she saw it with her own eyes.
This morning, he was locked in the room with Zhou Fuyan for so long, and even though he mentioned sending her back to her mother’s house, he didn’t send her, and it was already noon, but he didn’t even send someone to ask. Was he tired of her being willful? Fine, let her be willful. She was already generous and calm enough. What more did he want?
Mingzhu couldn’t explain these grievances to Madam Cui, let alone mention the matter of the gunpowder formula. She could only force a smile and say, “I was just teasing you. It’s actually because His Highness has something to attend to. We discussed it, and he allowed me to stay at home for two nights.”
“Can such things be joked about?” Madam Cui sighed, “As a mother, you’re still so childish. No wonder your father talked to me about you last night and was worried about you in every way. Go back! Don’t stay here. Otherwise, all sorts of rumors will spread by tomorrow morning.”
Mingzhu lay down on the couch. “I’m not going back, I’m not! Anyone who dares to drive me away doesn’t want me anymore! It’s true that a daughter married is like water poured out. I’m so unlucky! No one wants me!” Because she was really aggrieved, a few tears even squeezed out.
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