Chapter 448 An Accidental Encounter with the Yang Family
Meanwhile, Meng Jinyao and Gu Jingxi left the Meng family and didn't rush home. Since they were out for a rare trip, they took the opportunity to stroll around the streets.
It's only four quarters past 5 pm, but it's already dark. The shops on both sides of the street have lit up, and the lanterns in front of the shops illuminate the whole street. Although there aren't as many pedestrians as during the day, it's still quite lively.
After strolling around for a while, Meng Jinyao ran into an acquaintance. It was none other than her ex-stepmother Sun's sister-in-law. Yang had a very good relationship with Sun, but when Sun was divorced, she and her husband Sun Zhiyong refused to let her in.
To say that Yang is bad is not true. She has not done anything heinous. However, she is selfish, opportunistic, and opportunistic. When you can give Yang benefits, she will do things that please you and be loyal to you.
For example, since Madam Sun disliked her and her second brother, Madam Yang would make things difficult for them to please Madam Sun. She would make things difficult for Madam Sun the most. Whenever Madam Sun smiled, she would turn around and coax her to get benefits. Over the years, because Madam Yang knew how to coax people, she had gotten a lot of benefits from Madam Sun. Madam Sun was also generous to her own family.
Originally, Meng Jinyao intended to ignore Madam Yang, but when their eyes met, Madam Yang only paused for a moment, as if the past grudges had never existed. With a smile on her lips, she stepped forward and gave a slight curtsy, saying, "Greetings, Lord Gu, greetings, Madam Gu."
Gu Jingxi was a third-rank official, and Meng Jinyao was a third-rank imperial consort. It was indeed appropriate for Madam Yang to pay her respects to them.
Meng Jinyao was slightly surprised and asked in a low voice, "Madam Sun, there's no need for such formalities. Today is my second sister's wedding day. Why haven't I seen you here for the wedding feast?"
Madam Yang sighed softly, feeling deeply guilty: "No matter how bad my sister-in-law is, no matter how angry I am as her sister-in-law, Ayu and Chengxing are innocent. But because of my sister-in-law's affair, our Sun family has no face to visit the Meng family. So today, Ayu is getting married, and I, as her aunt, am watching the wedding procession on the street, which can be considered as sending her off on her wedding day."
Upon hearing this, the maidservant beside Madam Yang glanced at her mistress in surprise. Her mistress had clearly made an appointment with a friend before going out today. When she got up this morning, she remembered that today was the day her cousin was getting married, and she even cursed her deceased great-aunt for being unlucky, saying that the daughter she had given birth to must not be a good person either.
Meng Jinyao smiled faintly: "Then Madam Sun is truly a good aunt."
“Our Sun family has failed in raising our daughters properly, producing someone like her… Never mind, let’s not talk about her anymore, it’s just annoying to mention her.” Yang shook her head slightly halfway through her sentence, then said apologetically, “Madam Gu, I had some misunderstandings and prejudices against you because of my sister-in-law’s gossip in the past, but that was my fault. I failed to distinguish whether what she said was true or false, and I am truly sorry. I hope you can forgive me, Madam Gu.”
Whether she was sincere or not, Meng Jinyao knew perfectly well. She smiled insincerely and said, "It's all in the past. If Madam Sun hadn't brought it up, I wouldn't have remembered this matter. Madam Sun also said that it was a wrong judgment made under the influence of others."
Madam Yang didn't care about her attitude, but her own attitude remained the same: "It's good that Madam Gu didn't hold it against me. No matter what, it's all the Sun family's fault. The Sun family failed to educate their daughter properly, resulting in such a scourge."
Meng Jinyao said calmly, "Madam Sun, you're overthinking it. That's all in the past. We have other matters to attend to, so we'll take our leave first."
Madam Yang said gently, "Please take care, Madam Gu. Please take care, Lord Gu."
Upon seeing Yang Shi, Meng Jinyao lost interest in continuing her stroll and got into a carriage with Gu Jingxi, heading straight back home.
On the carriage.
Meng Jinyao smiled slightly as she thought of Madam Yang, and asked the man beside her, "Husband, what do you think of Madam Yang?"
Gu Jingxi replied, "She is someone who can bend and stretch. When she is in a weak position, she can swallow her pride without hesitation or change her expression. If it were someone else doing this, they would probably feel awkward."
Meng Jinyao suddenly remembered something and laughed, "My second brother and I used to hate her. We would curse her behind her back, saying she was a 'whoever feeds her is her mother,' and Sun Shi was that mother. Because Sun Shi could give her benefits, she fawned over Sun Shi. Sun Shi didn't like me or my second brother. When she came to the Meng family, she would find opportunities to make things difficult for my second brother and me in order to win Sun Shi's favor and make Sun Shi willingly give to her family."
Gu Jingxi said, "The benefits she got from the Sun family have also been lost in another way."
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao recalled what her maid had told her last year: the marriage between Madam Yang and Sun Zhiyong's eldest son, Sun Bojun, had fallen through. The wedding date had already been set, but the engagement was called off because of Madam Sun's incident. The other party felt that a family that could raise such a daughter had an improper family style and was unwilling to marry their daughter into the Sun family.
After the engagement was broken off, the Sun family's situation, along with Sun Bojun's failure to pass the imperial examination, led others to believe that the Sun family was no good. For nearly a year, no one paid any attention to Sun Bojun. It is said that recently, another marriage was arranged, but this marriage is far less desirable than the one arranged before.
Back at the Marquis of Changxing's residence, as soon as they got off the carriage and were about to enter the house, the couple encountered Madam Chen. Madam Chen had gone to attend the baby shower banquet for Gu Xuanling and her second son-in-law's eldest daughter and had just arrived home.
The couple greeted Chen, and then Chen and Meng Jinyao started chatting. Gu Jingxi couldn't get a word in edgewise and followed behind her sister-in-law.
Seeing her illegitimate daughter doing well today, Madam Chen felt quite accomplished: "I carefully selected Xuanling's marriage. Although the Liu family is of low social standing, they have a small population, good family traditions, and good character. Facts have proven that I made a good choice back then. The Liu family now only has one son, the second son-in-law. Xuanling gave birth to a daughter. I thought they would look down on her, but I didn't expect that they not only didn't look down on her, but also liked her very much."
Meng Jinyao said, "That's good. Xuanling won't be under too much pressure."
Madam Chen nodded in agreement: "Isn't that right? Look at the fourth branch of the Lü family next door. They are of high social standing, but because they only have one son, and their daughter-in-law gave birth to a girl, they are not very happy. They feel that their daughter-in-law's womb is not good enough. Fortunately, the second child was a boy, otherwise they would be even more disgusted. Sigh, you probably haven't heard of this, Third Sister-in-law. That was a few years ago."
Meng Jinyao was surprised: "But I see that the fourth wife of the Lü family really likes her eldest granddaughter."
Mrs. Chen replied, "That's because that child is clever, adorable, and like a little fairy. Taking her out makes her proud. Otherwise, do you think she would still like her? She used to look down on her because she was a girl, but when she turned two or three, she discovered her granddaughter was clever and cute, and she treasured her granddaughter. Even her grandson isn't as clever as her granddaughter..."
Meng Jinyao listened to her incessant chatter, occasionally replying, but judging from her attitude, it seemed that she had had an unpleasant experience with the fourth wife of the Lü family. When the fourth wife of the Lü family was mentioned, she was full of disdain and contempt. However, the points of her disdain were quite normal, as some of the fourth wife of the Lü family's actions were indeed very distasteful.
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