Chapter 289 The Wicked Mother-in-Law
After the banquet, the guests gradually left.
After bidding farewell to Princess Jingning, Meng Jinyao went to reunite with her family and prepare to return to the manor together.
Today, Lord Song is marrying off his daughter, and the Changxing Marquis's residence has also been invited. Apart from the reclusive Old Madam Gu, the pregnant Jiang Shi who is in poor health, and Gu Xiuwen who is studying at the academy and has not yet returned from his holiday, everyone else has come to drink the wedding wine.
Not only the Marquis of Changxing's family, but also Gu Xuanyi's husband's family, the Earl of Wu'an's family, were invited.
Seeing that the wife of the Marquis of Wu'an and her own daughter got along well outside, Zhang Shi had no chance to speak up for her daughter, unless she saw that the wife of the Marquis of Wu'an treated her daughter badly.
Seeing this, Zhang could only pretend not to know anything and exchange pleasantries with her in-laws. Before parting, she said to her in-laws, "In-laws, Xuanyi has been spoiled by me since she was a child. If she does anything wrong, you can tell me and I will definitely educate her properly."
Lady Wu'an understood Zhang's meaning. Even if Xuanyi was wrong, it was up to her mother to educate her. She glanced at her daughter-in-law, who was bowing her head slightly and looking meek. She smiled and replied, "What are you saying, in-law? Xuanyi is a filial and sensible child who has won my heart. I should thank you for raising such a good girl like Xuanyi, which has given me such a good daughter-in-law."
"That's good. I was just worried that she was being immature and would cause trouble for her in-laws." After saying that, Zhang looked at her daughter with heartache. Neither of her two sons had caused her so much worry, but her daughter was willful and had been stuck with such a family of in-laws, which made her very anxious and worried.
Gu Xuanyi felt a surge of anger as she watched her mother-in-law praise her. Just yesterday, her mother-in-law had criticized her temper, telling her to change it and that no daughter-in-law was as unfilial as her. What made her even more aggrieved was that when she told her husband about it, he simply said that juniors should be accommodating to their elders, and that a few words wouldn't hurt them. He told her to be tolerant and not to argue with her elders, otherwise she would truly be unfilial.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries with the wife of the Marquis of Wu'an, Zhang bid farewell and went to meet up with her two sisters-in-law.
After Zhang left, Lady Wu'an looked at her daughter-in-law beside her. This daughter-in-law was a second-best choice, and she was not very satisfied with her, but she had the advantage of being born into the Changxing Marquis's family and having an uncle like the Changxing Marquis.
Gu Xuanyi felt a chill run down her spine under her critical gaze, and said gently, "Mother, let's go back too. My husband and the others should be waiting for us at the door."
Lady Wu'an gave a faint "hmm".
Gu Xuanyi looked at her mother's indifferent attitude, which was completely different from the kind look she had given her mother earlier, and felt a little uneasy. She hadn't talked back yesterday, so why was she still angry?
Lady Wu'an said again, "Xuanyi, I have given you and your in-laws face in front of them and have not said anything about your disrespect for elders. I have even spoken well of you in front of my son. But you should really change your ways."
Gu Xuanyi didn't dare to refute, so she could only nod: "Yesterday was my fault, but Mother is very magnanimous and didn't hold it against me."
Seeing her obedient demeanor, Lady Wu'an finally smiled and said, "Let's go."
Gu Xuanyi responded and followed her steps, her anger rising again. Yesterday, she only didn't want to peel chestnuts because her hands hurt, but her mother-in-law said that she was disrespectful to her elders, had a bad temper, and was unwilling to help her elders peel chestnuts and even threw a tantrum.
As a junior, she dared not speak out in anger and could only endure the pain and continue peeling chestnuts. What junior would dare to be accused of being unfilial? If word got out that she was unfilial and unwilling to peel chestnuts for her mother-in-law, she would be drowned in spittle.
She was just unlucky to have encountered such a vicious mother-in-law.
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In the latter half of December, as the year draws to a close, the household becomes busy again with procurement, preparations for the New Year, and social interactions with various families.
Zhang was in charge of the household affairs, handling general matters with the head maid in the side hall, and was extremely busy. Chen only assisted her, so her job was much easier.
While her two sisters-in-law were busy, Meng Jinyao would brew tea and read books in Weirui Pavilion to pass the time, living a very pleasant life.
While Meng Jinyao was engrossed in reading, Qingqiu brought over a bowl of medicine and said gently, "Madam, you can drink your medicine now."
The smell of medicine wafted over, and Meng Jinyao subconsciously frowned, staring at the medicine in the bowl with a bitter expression. After a long while, she put down her book, resignedly took the bowl, and drank the medicine in one gulp. The urge to vomit surged up again.
Seeing this, Ningdong quickly fed her a small piece of candied fruit that she had prepared beforehand, urging her to eat it to suppress the bitterness and resist the urge to spit it out, otherwise the medicine would be wasted.
Qingqiu took the empty bowl from her hand, noticed her furrowed brows, and asked with concern, "Madam, are you alright?"
Meng Jinyao ate the candied fruit, and the sweetness washed away most of the bitterness. The medicinal taste that filled her taste buds dissipated a bit, and she felt much better instantly. She shook her head slightly and said, "I'm fine."
Seeing her like this, Ningdong felt heartbroken and said with relief, "It's fortunate that you didn't refuse and didn't take over the management of the household. Otherwise, you would be busy and exhausted, and taking medicine would be pointless since you're already in poor health. Now that you don't have any administrative duties to attend to, you only need to manage the Marquis's private property and your own dowry. You have more free time to take good care of your health."
Meng Jinyao laughed and said, "I didn't think that much at the time. I just thought that life was too stressful before, and I didn't want to work too hard. I wanted to relax. The life of a rich and idle person is quite nice."
At this moment, Xia Zhu came in and reported, "Madam, the Fourth Young Master has returned, and the Second Young Master Meng has also come over."
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao's eyes lit up, and joy instantly spread across her face. She knew the dates of the holiday at Lingshan Academy and guessed that he would return today or tomorrow. She didn't expect her second brother to arrive so quickly.
As soon as Meng Chengzhang arrived at Weirui Pavilion, he saw his elder sister preparing to leave. When she saw him, she quickly walked over and asked him what was wrong.
He replied, "Don't worry, big sister, I'm doing fine."
Meng Jinyao nodded: "That's good. It's cold outside, let's go inside and talk."
Meng Chengzhang noticed a faint medicinal smell on her, and his brows immediately furrowed. He asked anxiously, "Big sister, are you sick?"
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao paused, then replied evasively, "No, how can I have any energy when I'm sick? I've always been sensitive to cold, haven't I? The doctor said I have insufficient qi and blood, so I'm just taking some medicine to replenish qi and blood."
Meng Chengzhang was relieved. After entering the room, he took the initiative to say to his elder sister, "Elder sister, I got a first-class grade in this year's annual exam. The teacher said that my current level is good enough to participate in next year's academy exam."
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao beamed with joy: "Since you say so, let's give it a try next year. Maybe our Meng family can produce a top scholar next year."
Meng Chengzhang replied, "Elder sister, I'm afraid being the top scholar is not an option, but passing the county-level examination should be possible."
Meng Jinyao said, "My second brother will only be fourteen next year. It would be very good to pass the imperial examination at the age of fourteen."
During their conversation, Meng Jinyao learned that her younger brother had come to see her before returning home. She was touched and, thinking of her family, added, "By the way, Father is planning to remarry. He's currently looking for a stepmother for us, but we don't know whose daughter he'll end up marrying. You should be prepared."
Meng Chengzhang asked in surprise, "That incident happened not long ago, and Father is already preparing to find a new wife?"
Meng Jinyao nodded and said, "Madam Sun died in September, and he found a matchmaker in October."
After listening, Meng Chengzhang remained silent. His father and Sun had been married for more than ten years. They seemed to be loving on the surface, but in the end, there was no affection between them. This cold and selfish nature was completely contrary to his grandfather's.
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