Liang Shuyan felt a surge of unease. What was going on? Her right hand gently stroked her chest, as if she wanted to suppress her restless emotions.
Subconsciously, her eyes fell on the county magistrate standing to one side. Her lips parted slightly, and she shook her head heavily: "No, this matter cannot be decided by the children. I cannot become a laughingstock for them."
The magistrate immediately understood and explained, "How about we don't put you in a difficult position? No matter how much I insist, it will be wrong!"
Old Mrs. Zhao looked at Liang Shuyan and grabbed her hands: "What's wrong with you? You can't mess things up at a time like this, otherwise, where will the magistrate put his face?"
Liang Shuyan slowly pushed away Old Lady Zhao's hands and said, word by word, "Why do you have to do this in front of so many people? Although my children are all married, my affairs will still affect them, so it's better to think about it."
The magistrate turned around and left immediately. He didn't want to put Liang Shuyan in a difficult position, and he didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of everyone at this time.
Zhao Heng caught up and grabbed the magistrate's arm: "Father, how can you ignore us all like this? We've worked so hard just to bring you and Aunt together, haven't we? What, now that we've reached the most crucial moment, are you backing down?"
The magistrate, his face flushed, said, "This is not a matter of backing down. You saw how unwilling your aunt was. What else could I say? Forget it, let's not talk about it anymore. You don't need to say anything either. Go back, go back!"
Without a word, the magistrate left. Zhao Heng, fearing his father might do something rash, followed closely behind. Old Mrs. Zhao, behind him, said angrily, "What kind of thing is this? Hengheng, hurry up and follow your father. What about my poor son?"
Liang Shuyan said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I hesitated for a while. This matter still needs to be considered carefully. After all, I'm already quite old. If I do something like this again, it might be hard for others to understand. I hope everyone can understand my feelings."
Everyone fell into discussion. The plump aunt let out a sigh of relief: "If my husband weren't here, I might consider the magistrate. He's a good man, and he's been good to all of us. Don't you all think so?"
Aunt Liu, always quick to speak her mind, burst into laughter upon hearing this: "What are you saying? Are you kidding me? Do you think the magistrate would like you? His aunt is a Lady of the Ninth Palace, a title bestowed by the Emperor himself. What are you?"
The plump auntie immediately retorted, "What? What's it to you? Why are you saying that? How can you be so hurtful? When have I ever offended you?"
Aunt Liu raised her hand and said, "What are you saying? Don't think I'm being mean. I'm just telling the truth. Everyone agrees, right? Only Lady Cha is worthy of the magistrate!"
A commotion suddenly arose from the crowd, as if they were in favor of Aunt Liu's actions.
Liang Shuyan had no time to listen to what others were saying. She ran out with Old Lady Zhao and saw that Old Lady Zhao looked dejected. She went up to her and said, "Auntie, I just didn't want people to talk about this. After all, the county magistrate is the official in charge of all the people in the county. If I did something, wouldn't it affect his future?"
Liang Shuyan couldn't shake off her worry about Niu Niu, and then said something like, "I wonder if Old Lady Zhao can understand?"
Grandma Zhao waved her hand helplessly: "No need. Since you don't want to, there's nothing more to say. I'll just go back."
Liang Shuyan couldn't let Old Lady Zhao go back alone, so she called Dashan over and took the old lady back.
"Mother, why don't we go to town with them to see the adults? Zhao Heng went too, so we can come back together. Wouldn't that be great?"
Indeed, Zhao Heng has been living with the Jin family for so many years, and Jin Dashan is used to it. Liang Shuyan thought of Zhao Heng, then lifted her skirt and got into the carriage.
The carriage rumbled along, but Liang Shuyan was lost in thought, her hands clasped together in a puzzled manner: "I don't know if I did the right thing, but things have already come to this, what else can I do?"
Grandma Jin remained silent the entire way, seemingly preoccupied with something. Liang Shuyan didn't know how to comfort her, so she could only sit beside Grandma Zhao with a forced smile until the carriage arrived at the county magistrate's residence.
The gate was ajar. Old Mrs. Zhao jumped down from the carriage and rushed in, completely disregarding Jin Dashan and Liang Shuyan behind her.
Jin Dashan coughed and said, "Mother, you'd better go inside quickly and check on the adults' condition!"
Liang Shuyan suddenly thought that if she went in, would the adults think something? It would be better not to go in. Since she wanted to cut off his thoughts, she might as well cut them off completely at once.
"Dashan, I'm not going in to take a look. If Zhao Heng wants to come along, he can; if not, that's fine too."
Jin Dashan looked at Liang Shuyan: "Mother, are you sure you don't need to go in?"
Liang Shuyan nodded, and Jin Dashan didn't say anything either, then followed her inside.
When Old Lady Jin saw the county magistrate weeping with his hands in his hands, she angrily slammed her cane down and said, "How could I have given birth to such a good-for-nothing? Things have already come to this, what are you still crying about? Hurry up and pull yourself together! You are the county magistrate, won't people laugh at you if word gets out?"
The magistrate glanced at Old Lady Zhao standing before him before saying, "Mother, I'm not sad about anything else, I just feel that I'm too useless. Why can't I win your heart even after doing so much? I've only made a fool of myself. Today, with so many people around, I even ran away in front of everyone. What will others think of me now?"
"Good to know. From now on, don't think about anything else. Just stay here and do your job as county magistrate. As for Hengheng, if he still wants to go see that woman, let him go. In short, try not to contact that woman anymore, as if my son is marrying above his station."
The magistrate then raised his head and slowly said, "That's not how it is, Mother. I think it's mostly because Madam is thinking about the future of the children. Also, who knows what the Empress will bring to the Jin family? Let's not talk about it now."
Jin Dashan heard everything as he walked to the door, and then said with a smile, "It's nothing important. Since Zhao Heng is willing to stay, it's a good thing. Someone will take care of the adults. Well then, I'll be leaving."
The magistrate glanced at Dashan and said somewhat awkwardly, "Alright, let's pretend this never happened. Dashan, you can go back now. I'm fine here."
A shout came from outside the door: "Sir, something terrible has happened! Bandits have broken into our Jing'an County and have injured many people!"
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