Before Shi Mingjin could reply, the yamen runners maintaining order in the examination hall had already noticed them.
The two tacitly stopped talking and sat down in their respective exam seats. The room was so small that it was impossible to even stretch out completely.
When the time came, the examiner handed out the exam papers.
The students immediately looked at the questions, some excited, some worried, and some even started writing furiously on their draft paper.
At the entrance of the examination hall, Madam Shi stood obsequiously in front of Fang Ruotang's carriage, apologizing.
Fang Ruotang didn't want to pay any attention to this person at all, and replied irritably.
"Now that you know he's a scoundrel, why didn't you do this sooner?"
Shih Ming-che was merely her illegitimate son.
So what if he's a son born out of wedlock? The legal wife has an obligation to raise and educate him.
In a household, all children would respect the legitimate wife as their mother. It wasn't just those born from her womb who were her children; other children born out of wedlock also had to call her mother.
You're right.
The little mirror echoed Fang Ruotang's words, which calmed Fang Ruotang down somewhat.
"Alright, his behavior is unruly and has little to do with you. Besides, he's malicious and even tried to kill your own son."
Fang Ruotang was a little resentful, but not much.
"Get out of the way, I'm going home!"
Madam Shi dared not detain them any longer and immediately stepped aside.
As the carriages from the Prime Minister's residence departed one after another, Madam Shi, ignoring the stares from all around her, immediately turned back, got into the carriage, and urged the coachman to hurry back to the residence.
On the carriage of the Prime Minister's residence.
"Madam Shi is actually quite pitiful, having such a troublesome illegitimate son in her household."
"So I didn't blame her. Otherwise, why would I have just said one thing to her?"
"Yes, yes, our sixth child is the most reasonable."
"Of course." Fang Ruotang tilted her chin up, looking proud.
Regardless of whether Shih Ming-che is on good terms with his family, as long as he is not removed from the family genealogy, they are a whole.
No matter how serious the internal strife within the Shi family is, in the eyes of outsiders, they are just one Shi family, because you can't write two Shi families with the same pen.
They share both prosperity and adversity.
Therefore, Fang Ruotang's reprimand of Madam Shi earlier was entirely justified.
Even though Mrs. Shi was also a victim in this matter.
Madam Shi acted swiftly; upon returning home, she not only prepared an apology immediately but also sent servants to inform Lord Shi.
Therefore, Madam Shi's visit to apologize and Lord Shi's visit to the Prime Minister to apologize occurred almost simultaneously.
"Madam Shi has arrived. The First Madam sent me to ask Sixth Miss if she wishes to go to the main hall to receive guests?"
"They're gone, what's the point of seeing them? Let your aunt handle it!"
She had seen Madam Shi before, and she had overheard her apology.
Anyway, she has already conveyed her anger, so it seems Shih Ming-che won't have a good ending.
However, even if she didn't say anything, Shih Ming-che wouldn't have a good ending.
After all, Shi Mingzhe had murderous intentions towards Shi Mingjin.
Unless Madam Shi and her son have a brain disease, they would never allow such a venomous snake to remain in the Shi family, lurking in the shadows, ready to bite them at any moment.
Unlike the younger Fang Ruotang, Cui was not straightforward.
Even though they were both legal mothers, she could exchange a few words with Madam Shi.
When Mrs. Shi got emotional, she started to cry.
"Don't you think that child is heartless? All those years of looking after him have been for nothing. He's definitely not your own son; you just can't raise him properly."
"You can't tell what's going on in someone's heart. These things are hard to predict, so don't take it to heart. Anyway, your eldest son is a promising man, and he's doing well now."
"That's true, but I don't know if that broken rock will have any effect on my son's health, or whether it will affect his lifespan."
"Since it was discovered early, it should be nothing serious. If you are really worried, you can ask the imperial physician to come to the mansion to take a look."
"Sigh! That's all we can do now. I'm afraid I won't get a good night's sleep these next few days. I can only finally put my mind at ease when he comes out of the examination hall in nine days and the imperial physician examines him and says he's fine."
Cui said a few kind words in agreement.
Madam Shi thought of the miraculous elixir in the hands of the Imperial Preceptor and wanted to ask for one for her son, but she knew the timing was wrong, so she hesitated and did not speak.
She should take the next few days to inquire about the Grand Preceptor's preferences and see if there's any chance to get a magic pill for her son. After all, a magic pill would put her at ease more than a royal physician.
Watching Madam Shi leave with a heavy heart, Madam Cui told Fang Ruotang about her guess.
Fang Ruotang said nonchalantly, "Sure! As long as she can move me, giving her a Qi-Nourishing Pill is no big deal. Anyway, there are at least 99 to 100 people who try to get my help through connections and gifts, so one more won't make a difference."
Fang Ruotang is now very adept at handling such matters.
"By the way, your cousin Xian is getting married, are you going?"
"Go ahead! Is the object of your affections Kang Jinshi?"
"Yes."
"oh."
I really don't know how this Kang Jinshi suddenly became so popular. All my cousins seem to be bewitched by him; they've all fallen for him.
Not only did the fickle cousin Shao want to go back to her ex, but her cousin Xian also became convinced of this Kang Jinshi and insisted on a marriage exchange. The most outrageous thing was that the Shu family cousins also got involved.
Fortunately, the Shu sisters didn't do anything. Cousin Xian simply sent someone to tell her, and she didn't care. She immediately told her mother.
After her mother returned to the Shu family, she never heard her cousin Xian mention the Shu family cousins again. Every time she came to visit or wrote a letter, she would say that her cousin Shao was shameless.
[Maybe they're sisters from the same family, they all have similar tastes!]
The little mirror offered a random guess.
Hearing the conversation between the two, Cui looked helpless. What else could it be but a single sentence from Fang Ruotang?
Life is tough, and all these women want is to marry into a good family.
Even with Fang Ruotang as a role model, how many women are there like her?
Moreover, breaking free from preconceived notions and taking that first step is the most difficult part.
Even though those girls were all Fang Ruotang's cousins and naturally had an advantage, all they wanted was to marry a good man and live a good life dependent on him.
Alright! That's good enough! Fortunately, Kang Jinshi is a man of noble character, so it's fine if they like him. But it's not good that Cousin Shao is going back to compete for him.
Fang Ruotang was speechless.
Her cousin Shao was a month younger than her, but she treated her like an older cousin, always taking care of her. So at first, when she heard Shao's tearful complaints, she felt sorry for her and thought that she had no choice in the matter.
But some things can only be done once, not twice.
If the same mistake is made again, Fang Ruotang, who is protective of her own, cannot protect only one person. After all, the other party in this matter is her cousin, who has treated her very well, and is also her weakness.
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