Xu Yunrong also chimed in, "Zhaozhao, we're already family with the Shen family, so a marriage between relatives wouldn't be a bad idea. Qingze and Qingyu are so attached to you, what difference does it make whether you're the eldest sister-in-law or the second sister-in-law? Besides, Qinghe is steady and studious; his future is limitless. If you could marry him..."
Just as Meng Zhao was about to retort, she suddenly heard a rustling sound outside the door. She opened the door and saw two village children fighting over a piece of candy. Seeing this, Meng Zhao went back inside and grabbed a few more for them, telling them to go play somewhere else. Then, she said to her parents with a serious expression:
“Father, Mother, Qinghe has just passed the imperial examination and become a scholar. Everyone is watching him. If rumors spread that he has an improper relationship with my brother and sister-in-law, wouldn’t that ruin his future? We can’t do such a thing.”
Meng Dashan and Xu Yunrong looked at each other after hearing this. In their opinion, as long as their daughter was doing well, what did it matter to them what other people's future was like?
Meng Zhao's face darkened, and his tone became even more solemn, "Don't say such things again. I have absolutely no feelings for Shen Qinghe. In my eyes, he is just my younger brother."
Xu Yunrong genuinely thought Shen Qinghe was a good man. After all, Meng Zhao's requirement not to have children would be something no man would be happy to accept. But Shen Qinghe, having received a favor from her daughter, would be someone she could easily ask for help from in the future. Besides, he had a pair of younger siblings, so it would be good if one of them could be adopted into her daughter's family in the future.
Seeing Meng Zhao's resolute attitude, she couldn't say anything more and could only help Meng Dashan to bed.
Seeing that the two of them had stopped talking, Meng Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and left the room to continue greeting the guests.
Madam Gu brought a bowl of the hangover soup she had prepared to her eldest brother. There was no man in her family to entertain guests, so she was very grateful to her family and Zhao Zhao's parents for coming to help today, otherwise they would have been too busy.
After delivering the hangover soup, she returned to the kitchen, only to find Shen Qinghe still standing there, holding the bowl of hangover soup, looking somewhat dazed. "Qinghe, why are you back? Didn't I tell you to deliver the hangover soup?"
Shen Qinghe snapped back to reality, his eyes darting around, and said in a low voice, "Uncle Meng has already gone to sleep and hasn't had any. I'll bring it over when he wakes up."
Upon hearing this, Madam Gu didn't think much of it, nodded, and continued with her work.
Only Shen Qinghe remained standing in the kitchen, his expression still somewhat dazed. The scene from earlier kept replaying in his mind, leaving him in a state of turmoil.
He had just brought the hangover soup over when he heard his name called from inside. As a gentleman, he naturally couldn't eavesdrop, so he turned around and left to wait for them to finish talking before going in. But what he heard next left him frozen in place, unable to move.
The scholar's wife? Aphrodisiac powder? Poisoning?
He recognized every word, but didn't understand their meaning. Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming from inside, and hurriedly left.
Only now did he calm down a little and begin to think about what he had just heard.
In order to make money, he copied many storybooks. Even without having read those storybooks, one could guess the effects of the Hehuan Powder just from the names.
Uncle Meng said that his sister-in-law had once considered giving him this drug, but why? Did his sister-in-law like him?
The moment the thought popped into his head, he dismissed it. His sister-in-law had always liked her eldest brother. When she went out to do business, she often mentioned his bravery. She even found an apprentice who looked like her eldest brother.
However, Shen Qinghe had also observed carefully that his sister-in-law's eyes never followed that apprentice named Fang Muyun, which was completely unlike the covetous look she had when she looked at his elder brother.
On the contrary, there were a few times when he stared blankly at his own face, wondering if he thought he looked like his older brother?
Shen Qinghe became increasingly confused as he thought about it. The words Uncle Meng had just said kept replaying in his mind. Would his sister-in-law do that?
He had thought many times that it would be great if his sister-in-law could stay in their family. If it were really as Aunt Xu said, they would still be a family, raising two children together, which seemed nice.
His heart suddenly raced, and a smile involuntarily crept onto his lips, but the next second, his expression changed drastically, his face filled with shock.
How could he think like that? She's his elder brother's wife, his own sister-in-law! To covet his brother's wife—what a beastly act!
Moreover, his elder brother had been incredibly kind to him, having sacrificed so much for him since childhood.
Shen Qinghe's face turned ashen. He suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face.
The crisp sound echoed in the empty kitchen, and the pain on his face made him much more alert.
After finishing her errands, Meng Zhao turned and went into the kitchen, where she saw Shen Qing standing alone, seemingly preoccupied.
She took a few steps closer and asked softly, "Qinghe, you're back? Why aren't you going out to eat with everyone?"
Upon hearing the voice, Shen Qinghe snapped back to reality. "I...I already ate at the banquet in the county, so I'm not hungry right now."
Meng Zhao nodded and said gently, "Qinghe, I have some connection with the magistrate. Before, since you hadn't taken the county exam, I didn't want you to have much contact with him because he was the chief examiner. Now that you've finished the exam, and the magistrate has even named you the top scorer, we can hold a banquet and invite the magistrate to be our guest when we have time in the future."
Although there haven't been any major results yet regarding Feitian, Meng Zhao and Wang Xian have discussed it quite a bit because of it, and with Song Wanyin also involved, they still have a say in the matter.
Shen Qinghe lowered her head and said in a muffled voice, "I understand, sister-in-law."
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