"Brother, are you feeling sorry for her?" Zheng Yuming sneered, his eyes narrowed, "You are about to get married to Sister Bai Xiao, but you are still thinking about Miss Li? Do you want to learn from Chen Chongan and take a concubine?"

Zheng Yuheng clenched his hands suddenly, and veins popped out on the back of his hands.

Seeing this, Zheng Wanqing quickly spoke up: "Second brother, be careful with your words! Big brother is good friends with Li Dajizi, so he naturally understands Miss Li's character. Since you slander me like this, big brother must refute it."

"Hmph," Zheng Yuming curled his lips in disdain, picked up the teacup and drank it all in one gulp, "Little Ji is so unruly, how can she be the mistress of the house? I saw clearly how she ordered the servants around at the tea party that day."

Although Chen admired the Li family background, she could only chime in at this moment: "That's right. I saw it clearly at the tea party that day. He is indeed not worthy of our Yu Ming."

She changed the subject, a hint of malice flashing in her eyes, "You should be careful, sister. If Qingyi offends the wife of the principal wife in the past... I heard that Madam Chen is famous for her fierceness. The previous one even beat a concubine half to death..."

When Zheng Qingyi heard this, her face turned pale.

"Puh, puh, puh!" Zhang spat three times, the powder on her face falling off with her excited expression, "What unlucky words! Our Qingyi is blessed with good fortune and a long life, and son-in-law Chen loves her so much..."

"Son-in-law?" Chen smiled softly, covering her mouth. "He hasn't even married yet, and he's already so affectionate. Sister, don't forget that Qingyi used to visit the wife of the first wife every morning and evening."

Zheng Wanqing saw that her mother Ye Qiulan's brows were getting more and more furrowed, and the handkerchief in her hand had been twisted out of shape.

She was about to speak to ease the atmosphere, but Chen suddenly turned to her, and the expression on her face instantly changed from sarcasm to sadness:

"Wanqing, why didn't you come with the young commander to the New Year's tea party?"

She took out a handkerchief embroidered with orchids and wiped away the nonexistent tears from her eyes, "Auntie treats you well on weekdays, and your brother Yuming loves you the most, so why are you so careless about his marriage? If the young marshal was there that day, would the Li family..."

Zheng Yuming immediately responded with obvious resentment in his voice: "Aunt, please stop crying. Sister Wanqing is now the wife of the young marshal, and her status is noble. How can she still remember me as her brother?"

Zheng Wanqing felt a tightness in her chest.

Xie Yun was busy with military duties that day, and it would have been inappropriate for her to attend alone...

"The young commander is very busy with his duties and cannot spare the time," she explained softly.

"That's enough!" Ye Qiulan suddenly slammed the table and stood up, making the dishes clank. "Ms. Chen, if you have any dissatisfaction, just tell me directly. Why are you making things difficult for Wanqing?"

Her meticulously done bun, at this moment, because of her excitement, a strand of hair fell down and swayed gently on her cheek.

Chen immediately fell silent and said awkwardly: "How dare I..."

Zhang saw this and immediately tried to smooth things over: "The daughters of our Zheng family are all blessed. Wanqing, when Qingyi gets married, you must ask the young marshal to give her a big red envelope, so that the Chen family will know who is backing us."

As she spoke, she patted Zheng Qingyi's hand affectionately, but she didn't see her daughter flinch even slightly.

Zheng Wanqing nodded reluctantly, her eyes still fixed on Zheng Qingyi.

In contrast to Zhang's joyful expression, the fourth sister's drooping eyelashes seemed to have tears glistening in them.

The dinner ended abruptly in silence.

When the maids cleared away the untouched dishes, Zheng Wanqing quietly pulled Zheng Qingyi, who was about to leave, and said, "Qingyi, can we go to your courtyard to talk later?"

Zheng Qingyi was stunned for a moment, her lips trembling slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just nodded slightly and left in a hurry.

Zheng Wanqing looked at her thin figure and felt a pang of sadness in her heart.

"Wanqing," Zheng Yuheng had quietly stood behind her without her noticing, his voice was very low, with a hint of guilt, "I'm sorry to have you run into all this trouble as soon as I came back."

Zheng Wanqing shook her head gently, with a faint smile on her lips: "The two aunts have always been like this. If you really take it to heart, you will be wasting the delicious food that mother specially prepared."

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand to help his brother straighten his crooked collar, "But you, brother, are about to become the most handsome groom in Tianjin, so you are not allowed to look sad."

When Zheng Yuheng heard this, the gloom in his eyes dissipated a little.

He straightened his back deliberately and made an exaggerated and proud expression: "Your brother's face, even when I'm crying, is still the most handsome in Tianjin." As he said this, he winked at her as he did when he was a teenager.

The two smiled at each other, as if they were back in their childhood days when they fought against the sarcasm of their aunts.

Zheng Yuheng took out his pocket watch and looked at it: "I have to go to the hospital. I have an operation this afternoon." He paused, and his voice suddenly became low, "Wanqing, Qingyi's... don't push yourself too hard."