Chapter 121: Beauty Fades and Love Fades
After Wen Chengyun and Cheng Weiyao left, the turmoil in the grandparents' compound did not end.
"What are you doing standing here? Are you trying to starve our family to death instead of cooking?"
The mistress glanced at her grandfather who was staring at her aunt in a daze and scolded him coldly.
The aunt was frightened back to her senses by the scolding. She trembled slightly, quickly spread out the clothes in her hands to hang them out to dry, then lowered her head and hurried into the kitchen.
The mistress took the opportunity to block my grandfather's view, took his arm and began to stir up trouble: "You're still looking at that bitch? Before, it was because her daughter was the Imperial Consort, but what is it for now? Don't forget that her unfilial grandson was the one who caused our exile! Don't think about favoring a concubine over your wife again!"
As the legal wife, the eldest wife had long disliked the concubine, especially after the concubine's daughter became the Imperial Noble Consort. In order to please the Imperial Noble Consort, my grandfather often showed favoritism to the concubine.
"I've been out all day and I'm tired. Call me when dinner is ready."
My grandfather was a little annoyed by the nagging, and he casually pushed away the mistress's arm. He used to be good to my aunt, but he never went to the extent of favoring his concubine over his wife. It was all because of the eldest wife's jealousy and lack of tolerance.
Thinking back, the colleagues around me all had three wives and four concubines, but I only had three wives, one wife and two concubines. The concubine of the second wife was brought in right after I married the first wife, and at that time the first wife reluctantly agreed in order to pretend to be a virtuous wife.
As for the third wife, after the daughter of the second wife's concubine became the Imperial Noble Consort, he accidentally touched a maid in the mansion after drinking with his colleagues. He originally did not plan to bring her into the mansion, but considering his career, he was afraid that it would have a bad impact if it were to be spread, so he finally took her in.
When the mistress saw her grandfather's cold look, her disgust towards her aunt and Wen Chengyun increased by three points.
At dinner time, the aunt set the table for the family and invited everyone to eat. When it was the old woman's turn, she knelt outside the door and knocked softly.
Although exile was not easy, the old woman insisted on worshiping Buddha, so the room originally reserved for the aunt was turned into a Buddhist temple. The aunt simply settled for the second best and chose to live in the place near the small kitchen that was originally intended to be a firewood room.
"How many times have I told you this! Don't come near me, you're polluting the pure land of the Buddha. If the Bodhisattva blames me for being insincere, you'll be the one to blame!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the door of the Buddhist hall opened. The old lady had a wrinkled face, holding Buddhist beads in her hand, her eyes were filled with cloudy shrewdness, and her expression was ferocious.
In this family, apart from the eldest wife, the one who hates the concubine the most is the old lady. She is indeed a jinx who gave birth to a disaster and caused her son and his family to be exiled!
"The old lady is teaching me that I know my sins."
The aunt had long been accustomed to the old lady's troublemaking, so she immediately folded her hands, knocked her head on the back of her hands, and responded in a nod.
He was so polite and had such a good attitude in admitting his fault that the old woman didn't want to pursue the matter too much. She just said coldly, "Don't eat your dinner. Kneel outside the door and apologize to the Buddha."
The aunt didn't say a word, but just listened quietly to the old woman's footsteps walking away. Then she slowly raised her head, looked around, and quietly gnawed a small sweet potato that she had secretly hidden in her sleeve. She had expected such an ending a long time ago, so she made preparations early.
At night, the door opened softly.
A ray of light shone in from the door, and the aunt woke up from her dream. Since her exile, she had developed the habit of light sleep. After all, both the old woman and the mistress had tormented her a lot at night.
She nervously sat up from the simple mat on the floor. Because the woodshed was small, the mistress didn't even make a bed for her concubine, but just gave her a quilt and let her fend for herself.
"I came to see if you were asleep..."
This was the first time my grandfather entered my aunt's room since he was exiled. He couldn't help but frown when he came in. He was a bit picky, and a place like this was too simple and could easily spoil people's fun.
"master……"
The aunt called out softly and remained motionless. She was a little nervous, afraid that she would wake up the mistress and be accused of seduction.
Although the master is the head of the family, he has been busy doing business during the day since he arrived at the place of exile to prevent himself from eating up all the money. Whether it is the old lady or the mistress of the mansion, they can beat and scold him at will...
As for the third wife, she was originally out of favor, cold, and had no say. With her own way to divert attention, she was even more happy to have some free time.
"I've neglected you these days..."
Perhaps because he hadn't looked at the person in front of him carefully for a long time, my grandfather still felt some pity in his heart, so he walked forward and planned to sit next to my aunt.
The concubine was flattered and wiped the bed with her sleeve. The woodshed was close to the kitchen and was full of smoke and dust. How could she dare let the master sit in such a dirty place?
As they were wiping, a pair of hands suddenly wrapped around their waists. My aunt was stunned, and my grandfather also paused. He was so thin, too thin...
I didn't notice it when I was wearing clothes during the day, but now that I'm wearing the undershirt, I realize what it means to be skinny. I'm so thin that it even makes my hands feel uncomfortable.
Men are all lustful animals. My grandfather obviously had no interest in the pork ribs. He said a few perfunctory words and left in a hurry, using the excuse that it was late at night.
The light disappeared from the room as the door closed. My aunt stood up and stood at the small window of the woodshed, watching from afar as my grandfather entered the mistress's room.
Generally speaking, those who use their beauty to please others will see their love waning as their beauty fades, and when love wanes, their affection will end. Today she finally understood this sentence. During her entire exile, her food was almost completely cut back. In comparison, the mistress was the best-fed, at least she was still graceful among the three wives.
Perhaps I should really consider what my granddaughter-in-law said about separation during the day. If I continue to waste time like this, I will probably starve to death even if I don't die from overwork.
The aunt gently lifted the hem of her middle garment, looked at the protruding ribs, and pursed her lips...
It wasn't just the aunt who didn't sleep at night. Cheng Weiyao was also racking her brains to save her from suffering.
Wen Liyu comforted the crying imperial concubine and fell asleep, while Cheng Weiyao sat alone in the yard, staring at the moon in a daze.
Although the government has regulations that concubines must be registered and considered legal members of the family, it is much easier to release a concubine.
There are three ways to release a concubine: sending her home, exchanging her for a gift, or expelling her.
Sending her back means sending her back to her natal family, but the imperial concubine is already so old, and the concubine's natal family has passed away long ago. The head of the family has changed for several generations, and the first generation is related to the second representative, so the third and fourth generations cannot recognize each other. This is obviously unrealistic.
There is a possibility of exchanging gifts, but it is not very likely...
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