Chapter 190 Yang's Setback
"you……"
Madam Yang's face turned pale and then red from the sarcasm. She glared at the girl angrily, unable to utter a rebuttal for a long time. Every time she came to the Earl's mansion, this girl was usually quite docile. When had she ever said such a thing to her? It seems she has really climbed the social ladder and become arrogant.
After a long while, she became furious and scolded, "How dare you! Is this how you treat your elders? Even if you marry into the Marquis's mansion and become a Marquis's wife, you cannot disregard filial piety and talk back to your elders. Even the current emperor and empress have to be respectful to their elders, let alone you? Today I will teach you an unfilial child on behalf of your mother."
"Aunt, you are mistaken?"
At this moment, a male voice came from behind Yang. Hearing that the voice sounded somewhat familiar, she suddenly turned around and saw Gu Jingxi and his son Gu Xiuming standing not far away. Gu Xiuming was expressionless, while Gu Jingxi had a cold and stern expression, his eyes fixed on her with a deep gaze, and an invisible pressure came over her.
She panicked instantly and didn't even dare to call him "nephew-in-law," stammering, "Lord Gu... Lord Gu."
Gu Jingxi asked calmly, "Ayao is right. There is something she hasn't done well enough. She has parents and a grandmother. It's not her place to overstep her bounds and educate her. To be honest, it's also disrespecting her elders."
Madam Yang smiled sheepishly and said, "Lord Gu is right. I was just worried that her mother was too busy to educate her today, so I meddled in her affairs."
Before she could finish speaking, Gu Xiuming interjected, "Grandma, I heard what my mother said just now. She was concerned about Grandma. How could she embarrass Grandma? Could it be that you've misunderstood something? Why don't we ask Grandma and the other guests to come and clarify things before the guests leave, so that we can clear up the misunderstanding and prevent you from continuing to misunderstand my mother?"
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao abruptly looked at her eldest son, feeling as if struck by lightning. Her rebellious son actually had the nerve to defend her? If she didn't know his intentions, she would have truly believed he had reformed. But she had to admit, her son had improved considerably, even knowing how to say such things.
However, perhaps he understood before. After all, he had been raised by Gu Jingxi as his heir for so many years, and his academic performance was decent enough to satisfy the old lady. He couldn't be too stupid. The series of foolish things he did before were probably because he was young and in love with a girl he loved to death. He was blinded by love and immediately came to his senses when he realized that his position might be in jeopardy.
Yang had previously wondered if the mother and son were truly loving and filial, but now it seems they are. Otherwise, Gu Xiuming would have simply stood by and not spoken up for Meng Jinyao. Now that Gu Xiuming's words had left her speechless and embarrassed, how could she possibly let Gu Xiuming invite the guests?
She quickly said, "I misunderstood. There's no need to invite guests."
After saying that, Madam Yang looked at Meng Jinyao and said gently, "Ayao, after thinking about what just happened, your aunt really misunderstood you. Don't blame your aunt. Your mother is your uncle's only sister, and I, as her sister-in-law, treat her like my own sister, so I was a little anxious."
Having said all that, Meng Jinyao didn't press the issue further. She said calmly, "They say an elder sister-in-law is like a mother. My aunt is my mother's elder sister-in-law, so it's normal for you to be concerned about my mother." Then she suddenly changed the subject, "However, Aunt, you can't be so reckless in your words and actions next time. This time we didn't hold it against you because you're all relatives, but next time you encounter outsiders, you probably won't let it go so easily."
After hearing this, Madam Yang smiled awkwardly and said, "Ayao is right."
Meng Jinyao didn't want to get entangled with her, and simply said, "Aunt, my grandmother should be awake by now. Let's go and pay our respects to her first. Please do as you please."
Yang replied, "Alright, go ahead."
After the family of three had walked away, Madam Yang snorted angrily and said disdainfully, "Pah! So what if she married into a good family? How dare she act so arrogantly in front of her elders!"
Mrs. Sun barely slept last night and hadn't been getting a good night's sleep lately. She had been busy dealing with guests all day and was exhausted and low on energy. She had just come out for some fresh air when she overheard this and quickly went up to ask, "Sister-in-law, what's wrong?"
Madam Yang said indignantly, "Sister, your stepdaughter is really lawless. She actually dares to act arrogantly in front of the elders just because she married into a good family."
Mrs. Sun was taken aback: "What has she done now?"
Madam Yang recounted what had just happened, and concluded by saying, "I'm so angry! Although we're not related by blood, I'm still her aunt. How could she talk to me like that?"
Upon hearing this, Madam Sun's gaze darkened. Originally, she had thought that once that little slut lost Gu Jingxi's favor and completely lost her backer, Gu Xiuming would also deal with Meng Jinyao. However, considering that Gu Xiuming and Meng Jinyao were a loving mother and son, this was something she had not anticipated.
Looking at her elder sister-in-law, who was still angry, she said gently, "Sister-in-law, why should we bother with her? This ungrateful wretch, Chengxing is her own brother. She refused to ask Lord Gu for help to get into Lingshan Academy. She has long forgotten who she is."
Madam Yang was filled with regret. She had originally thought that her niece had married into a good family and could help the Meng family. If the Meng family rose again, she could help the Sun family. She never expected her to be such an ingrate.
Sun asked, "By the way, sister-in-law, will Bojun participate in this year's autumn imperial examination?"
Bojun is the eldest son of Sun's elder brother and Yang's eldest daughter. His full name is Sun Bojun. He is eighteen years old this year and has already passed the imperial examination to become a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the lowest level of the imperial examinations).
Mentioning her son, Yang's anger subsided, and she replied with a smile, "He did participate. The teacher said that if Bojun performs well, he might pass the imperial examination in the autumn."
Upon hearing this, Madam Sun was greatly pleased. If her nephew from her maternal family passed the autumn imperial examination, he would also pass the metropolitan examination next year. Once he passed the metropolitan examination, he could enter officialdom and help her family, Chengxing, in the future.
Thinking of this, Madam Sun's tone became even gentler: "That's excellent. Although the teacher said Bojun is fine, we must not relax until the autumn examination is over."
“Bojun got married right after the autumn examination, and you know about the Sun family’s situation. Sister, what do you think?” As Yang spoke, she looked at Sun, hesitant to speak, but her meaning was very clear.
How could Madam Sun not understand what she meant?
Over the years, the Yongchang Earl's Mansion has at least had Zhou's dowry to help fill the gaps, but the Sun family has not had such a generous dowry to supplement their income, and their lives are far worse than those of the Yongchang Earl's Mansion.
In the past, she would secretly help her brother and nephew out of pity, but now her dowry was used to make up for the money that had been used up from Zhou's dowry. That was not enough to fill the gap, so she took some money from the Earl's mansion's public property to make up for it.
The Earl's mansion is now far less respectable than it was before Meng Jinyao got married. The current appearance of respectability is barely maintained. It is difficult for her to subsidize her family. Where can she squeeze out extra money?
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