Chapter 86 It turns out that it was not Rong who let the wolf into the house, but herself
Du Heng felt Su Ying's words like soft balls of cotton wool, falling on his ears and tangling in his heart. Every time she spoke, a ball of cotton wool would gently fall into his heart. By the time Su Ying finished speaking, he had already been confused by the quietly accumulated cotton wool and his gloomy thoughts.
This was the first time he heard Su Ying talk about her childhood, and also the first time he knew the ins and outs of her going to Beijing, but this did not mean that he knew nothing about her.
From his mother and second aunt, he knew early on that Su Ying came here to avoid marriage, and he also knew that her father was a businessman with a scholar's title.
Her grandparents were a family of good reputation with a clean and upright family tradition, as her grandmother described them. How could a girl who graduated from the Rong family academy be viewed with worldly eyes?
She broke off her relationship with him by saying that "gentlemen and commoners cannot marry each other". If someone else said this, he would have no objection, but since this came from Ying'er, who was not bound by the rules of a boudoir and disdained conventional etiquette, he would definitely not believe it.
He didn't understand. They clearly knew each other's feelings yesterday, but how could it become wrong overnight?
He called out "Ying'er", but Su Ying didn't give him a chance to speak. She turned around quickly, pushed open the lightly closed door, and quickly left the library.
He wanted to chase her, but just as he stepped out of the library, Qingquan came hurriedly: "Sir, the mistress invites you to have dinner with her."
His brows furrowed, and he turned to look at Su Ying's figure that seemed to be both fleeing and hiding. He could only suppress the urge to chase after her and turned to the East Courtyard.
Cheng Shi wasn't well-educated, but she was quite skilled in cooking. After entering the Du residence, the housewifely skills she'd learned in her mother's family proved useless in the vast courtyard. She started from scratch, learning from her mother-in-law how to manage the household and become a true mistress.
While other skills had long since faded with age, her culinary prowess remained undiminished. This was because her husband loved her cooking. While she might not have excelled in household management, she was well-versed in the art of marital relations. She knew her husband loved it, yet she didn't cook often. When she did, it was always because she faced a difficult situation or had a purpose in mind.
Now she went into the kitchen again just to have a meal that she had prepared herself so that she could have a detailed talk with her son. The topic of the conversation was naturally about Jinniang.
She actually understood what her mother-in-law said yesterday. Jinniang took the knife for her son, and the Du family must acknowledge this favor.
Cheng was never stupid, but rather narrow-minded. She only listened to what she liked and only saw the people she valued. She valued her son's future more than anything else, and naturally, she was more shrewd than anyone else.
The Xu family's affairs had just begun to unfold, so how could she easily let Jinniang ruin her son's bright future? Her mother-in-law thought she was ignorant and sighed as she asked Jinniang to move to the main courtyard, but she was happy to pass this hot potato to her mother-in-law.
That's right, she was the one who asked Jinniang to come. She wanted to use Jinniang to surpass Su Ying. But when Jinniang blocked the knife for Heng'er, she actually blocked all the women from entering the Du Mansion.
She deliberately ignored her mother-in-law's words, feigning ignorance. But after returning to the East Courtyard, she felt uneasy again. Parents' orders, matchmaker's words. She had thought that as long as she held her ground, her mother-in-law would be powerless.
However, she had forgotten that Heng'er was already a young man, and for the past three years, he had personally overseen all matters in the mansion. Heng'er was a man of rules and righteousness. If he truly felt he owed Jinniang a favor, all he needed was a word from his grandmother. Then, his marriage could be decided by his mother-in-law, bypassing her as a mother.
Early this morning, she had sent Songying to look for Heng'er, but he had already gone to the main courtyard to pay his respects to his mother-in-law with Jinniang. She estimated the time and sent Songying back, but Heng'er had already left the house without a second thought. When she finally waited for him to return, he had already taken the doctor to Jinniang's residence.
Heng'er spent the entire half day busy taking care of Jinniang, and he probably forgot where to open the study door!
Cheng was filled with regret. It was all because of that damned girl Xue Yuan. If she hadn't been the one to interfere, how could she have mistakenly believed that Su Ying had deliberately seduced Heng'er? Now, after comparing them, she realized how wrong she was. It turned out that it wasn't Rong who had let the wolf into the house, but herself!
When she saw Wanyi coming back with her school bag to greet her, she realized that Jinniang had finished her work, so she hurriedly urged Songying to call Heng'er.
As Songying left the East Courtyard, she saw Qingquan, who had just sent the doctor away. She extended her hand and beckoned him closer: "Where is the young master now?"
Qingquan would not say that the young master was most likely with his cousin Su Ying. Instead, he asked Songying, "Is the madam looking for the young master?"
Songying nodded. Since Qingquan was going to invite the young master on her behalf, why not do it? She then waited at the entrance of the east courtyard to avoid being nagged by the lady when she returned.
Qingquan was indeed reliable. In just half a cup of tea, he saw the young master coming from the direction of the garden.
Songying called out "Young Master" and led Du Heng to the side hall.
"Where have you been, busy and chattering all day? I asked Songying to look for you in the study, but Chunnuan said you were somewhere else!"
Cheng was finally expecting a son and was furious. However, Du Heng's call of "mother" made her unable to bring herself to criticize him.
"Okay, okay, no need to talk about it. You are older now and there is no need for me to know everything." Cheng said, and waved to the little maid waiting on the side. The little maid came forward with a tray of water and a towel for washing hands.
Seeing Du Heng washing his hands politely, a smile gradually appeared on Cheng's face. She pulled her son to sit down, uncovered the bamboo food cover, and said, "Look, what delicious food did your mother make for you today!"
When Du Heng saw the table full of dishes that his father had praised and loved in the past, he knew that his mother had something to say.
"Mother, do you have something to tell your son?"
This sentence touched Cheng's heart. Heng'er has always been so sensible. But everyone says he is the Star of Literature, but few people know that he is only gifted in poetry and prose, but he is too rigid and not smooth enough in dealing with human beings.
Cheng sighed and tried to point out, "You silly child, your grandmother has already taken Jinniang to her courtyard. Yesterday, she only gave you full responsibility for finding a doctor because of Jinniang. There are so many servants and stewards in the mansion, who can go out for you? Why do you insist on doing everything yourself? Look for yourself, have you spent any time in the study this past half day?"
"It's just a flesh wound. It won't heal for at least ten days or half a month. Do you plan to waste your time between Jinniang and the clinic?"
Cheng saw that Du Heng kept his head down and said nothing, obviously he did not take her words to heart.
Finally, he couldn't help but slap the edge of the table and raised his voice: "Your grandmother asked you to look after Jin Niang, so you listened. In the future, if she wanted to marry Jin Niang to make you repay her kindness, would you also agree to it?"
"If you keep going in and out of the clinic every day, serving Jinniang like this, this will get out sooner or later! If those wives of officials who are interested in your future hear about it, they will think that you already have someone in your heart. Who will be willing to marry a girl to you?"
"Think about it, you've studied so hard for over a decade, was it all just for that one chance to pass the Spring Examination? The road ahead is still long and difficult. Without the support of a good Yue family, who would pave the way for you?"
"Your father values your future the most. There's not much I can do to help him in this lifetime. If you're really stuck in this matter, your future career will be difficult. When he's gone, will I have the face to see your father?"
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