Chapter 7 Seeing is believing
As soon as Qi Shuo came in, he saw Princess Jing with a dark face.
"What happened to Mother?"
Princess Jing glanced at her son.
He has an upright figure and well-mannered manners, and is an impeccable son-in-law no matter how you look at him. However, Minister Wen doesn't like him!
Princess Jing had already identified those who were not satisfied with this marriage.
According to the report from the person she sent to test the intentions of the Wen family, when Mrs. Lin heard that Prince Jing's Mansion was interested in marrying her daughter, she was immediately overjoyed and couldn't suppress the upward smile on her lips. However, out of a woman's modesty, she said that she would discuss it with the master.
The result was a rejection.
Isn't this obvious?
"It's still the Wen family, a small minister's family, yet they are so picky——"
"The Wen family has no intention of forming a marriage?" Qi Shuo's expression remained calm, but his eyes were a little deeper.
Princess Jing was originally a little angry with her son for causing her to lose face, but when she heard him ask this, she couldn't help but feel distressed.
"Shuo'er, there are thousands of beautiful girls. Later, your mother will definitely pick one for you that is prettier than Miss Wen Er."
Qi Shuo smiled and said, "Thank you, mother, for making plans for me, but I'm not in a hurry to get married."
Not in a hurry anymore?
Princess Jing looked at her son with a thoughtful look in her eyes.
Qi Shuo smiled nonchalantly, "It was originally a way to remedy the situation because I was worried that Second Miss Wen would be implicated by my son, not because my son was anxious to get married."
"Is that so?" Princess Jing took a sip of her tea. "Mother knows about this. Shuo'er, don't take it to heart."
"Just don't be upset about this, mother."
"How could that be? Is mother the kind of person who would worry about such a small matter?"
When Prince Jing came over after noon, Princess Jing told him about the Wen family's refusal: "Regardless of family background, our Shuo'er is also first-class. How can a mere minister be so arrogant?"
"The princess is not angry, is she?"
"I'm not really angry, I just didn't eat breakfast and lunch."
"That's outrageous!" Seeing Princess Jing's eyelids raised, Prince Jing hurriedly explained, "I mean, Wen Rugui is unreasonable."
"It's better not to mention people who have no vision."
The next day, when the court was dismissed, Prince Jing squeezed into the crowd and walked out. He quietly approached Wen Rugui and kicked him from behind.
Wen Rugui stumbled and fell to the ground, landing at the feet of Minister Zhang of the Ministry of Rites. In panic, he grabbed the other's trouser leg.
Minister Zhang's expression was stiff: "Minister Wen, what are you doing?"
After falling flat on his face in front of everyone, the usually polite Wen Rugui blushed crimson and scrambled to his feet to apologize, "I'm sorry, I just slipped."
As he spoke, he looked back and saw several pairs of eyes watching the fun.
Wen Rugui's face turned even worse.
Someone had clearly kicked him just now, but it was not appropriate to shout out in such a situation, so he could only swallow it in silence.
"Minister Wen, please take care of your health." Minister Zhang didn't like Wen Rugui very much. Since it was rare for Wen Rugui to make a fool of himself, he naturally would not miss the opportunity to tease him.
"Thank you, Minister Zhang, for the reminder." Wen Rugui said a few polite words and walked quickly out of the hall.
Emperor Tai'an had not yet left, so he asked the eunuch beside him, "What's the commotion down there?"
The eunuch hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, it seems that Minister Wen fell."
Emperor Tai'an shook his head and went to the inner hall.
Wen Rugui was still in a gloomy mood when he left the yamen.
Because he came from a poor family, he had been particularly careful about his manners since entering officialdom, fearing that he would be laughed at for being vulgar. He didn't expect to make such a fool of himself today.
The spring chill was still there, and the carriage was a bit stuffy. The dull sound of the wheels turning was even more annoying.
Wen Rugui opened the carriage door curtain and told the driver, "Go to Yuelai Teahouse."
The driver responded and cracked his whip.
Not long after, the carriage stopped, Wen Rugui got out and walked towards the teahouse not far away.
In the elegant room of the restaurant across from Yuelai Teahouse, a man dressed as a servant whispered, "Miss, that looks like the master!"
Wen Chan leaned against the window, her expression changing instantly.
The third household in Mahua Hutong, Ruyifang, is owned by a wife with two children. The son is named Chang Hui and the daughter is named Chang Qing.
The information she had gathered in the past few days all matched what her sister had said, but she had not seen her father coming in and out of here with her own eyes, so she was unwilling to believe it.
"Xiao He, follow him immediately and see which house the master entered."
Xiao He responded yes and quickly left the restaurant.
Wen Chan picked up the teacup and took a big gulp.
The tea had already gone cold, and it made her heart feel even colder.
She stood up, paced back and forth a few steps, and then sat down again, her hand holding the teacup trembling slightly.
The mother and her two children were indeed their father's—
After an unknown amount of time, Xiao He finally came back.
"Which house did the master enter?" Wen Chan stood up and asked.
"The master went to the third house."
Wen Chan fell back into her chair, her face pale.
"Girl——" Xiao He looked worried.
Wen Chan stood up with her hands on the table and uttered two words with difficulty: "Go back home."
The master and servant, dressed in men's clothes, left the restaurant, changed into women's clothes, returned to the Wen Mansion and went directly to Luoyingju.
Seeing Wen Chan's expression, Wen Hao understood immediately. He motioned Baozhu to guard the door and whispered, "Did Big Sister see that?"
Wen Chan held Wen Hao's cold hand: "It's my fault, big sister. I should have discovered it earlier..."
She couldn't imagine how painful it must be for her sister, who couldn't speak a few days ago, to face all this.
"Father..." Wen Chan felt a little strange when she said these two words again, "Father will not let the mother and her two children stay outside forever."
Seeing Chang Hui, who was older than her, with her own eyes, she was not naive enough to think that her father showed so much respect to her mother.
If we really respect each other, there wouldn't be that mother and her two children.
And since the respect was mixed with water, how could the father bear to let his only son not be able to recognize his ancestors?
"Second sister, don't tell mother about this for now."
Wen Hao nodded: "I know. Big sister, do you have any ideas?"
"Chang Hui and Chang Qing are already so old, it's unlikely to stop them from entering the Wen Mansion. As for Chang, there's no reason for us, her daughters, to stop her. Mother has a quick temper, and if she confronts Father head-on, it might not end well. Let's find a suitable time to tell Grandmother about this. As an elder, Grandmother will pressure Father to send Chang away. At least there will be one less person to cause trouble for Mother."
Wen Hao listened silently and sighed in his heart.
The world values the inheritance of perfume above all else. If Chang Hui is not allowed to return to his ancestral home, his father will probably win a lot of sympathy. Even his sister thinks that getting rid of the Chang family is enough.
It’s a pity that my sister didn’t expect her father’s cruelty.
What he wants is not only for Chang Hui to recognize his ancestral roots, he also wants to give his beloved woman the position of legal wife, give his only son the status of legitimate son, and also give him the Lin family's immense wealth!
"I'll listen to my eldest sister. When my foot heals, let's go talk to grandma together."
There was still some time before the incident, and my father might not have confessed the two witnesses at this time. If they suddenly showed up and caught my father off guard, how could he reveal his true ugly face?
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