Chapter 314 He only has himself to blame
It was a beautiful day with a gentle spring breeze and warm sunshine.
Princess Jingning and Song Xinning made an appointment to visit Meng Jinyao. After such a big incident in the Gu family, they had wanted to visit their friend for a long time, but Gu Jingxi was punished by being confined to his home to reflect on his mistakes, so they did not want to disturb him.
Now that Gu Jingxi's period of contemplation has ended, they sent out invitations and paid a visit.
Princess Jingning looked her over carefully and asked, "Ayao, are you alright?"
Before Meng Jinyao could reply, Song Xinning smiled and said, "I think she's doing well. She looks great and seems to be doing well lately. She hasn't been affected by that unfilial son's troubles."
Meng Jinyao replied with a smile, "I've been doing well these past few days, so you don't need to worry."
Princess Jingning smelled a medicinal scent and asked with concern, "Ayao, why do you smell faintly of medicine? Are you sick?"
Meng Jinyao was used to the smell and didn't feel anything. But when her friend mentioned it, she remembered that she had been marinated in medicine. She replied, "I'm fine. I just had a medicinal bath because I have poor blood circulation and feel cold. That's why I smell like medicine. I don't usually care about it when I don't go out. I only take a bath before going out."
Song Xinning said, "You really need to take better care of your health. Other people in their forties don't have such poor health as you."
“So we’ll listen to the imperial physician and take care of myself for a year or two first,” Meng Jinyao said, then invited her two friends to sit down and had the maid serve tea, fruit, and snacks.
Princess Jingning asked gently, "Ayao, what exactly happened half a month ago?"
Meng Jinyao replied, "The truth is just as everyone says: Consort Li's pregnancy was a false alarm. They wanted to use this to get rid of me, but the Marquis and I already knew that Consort Li was not pregnant, so we acted swiftly and decisively."
Upon hearing this, Princess Jingning looked relieved: "Luckily you were careful, otherwise you would have suffered an undeserved disaster if they had succeeded in their scheme."
Three close friends chatted about everyday things.
Seeing that Song Xinning looked well, Meng Jinyao assumed she was doing well lately, but she still asked with concern, wanting to confirm, "Is Aning doing well after marrying into the Shen family?"
Song Xinning replied, "Aside from being busy managing the household affairs, everything else is fine. My husband treats me very well, and my mother-in-law treated me like her own daughter before I married into the family, and that hasn't changed after I got married."
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao was also happy for her: "That's good."
At this moment, Princess Jingning suddenly asked, "How are Lord Shen and Madam Shen now?"
Since they were all trustworthy friends, Song Xinning didn't hide anything and told the truth: "Ever since my father-in-law suddenly brought back a pregnant mistress as a concubine last year, my mother-in-law's relationship with him has never improved. He did want to repair the relationship, but my mother-in-law acted as if he didn't exist. She only didn't quarrel with him because of the younger generation. Now that she has been recuperating for so long, my mother-in-law's health has almost recovered."
Princess Jingning rested her chin on her hand and sighed softly, "If you say he loves Madam Shen, he secretly kept a mistress and brought her home to take as a concubine when she was pregnant. If you say he doesn't love her, he wanted to repair their marital relationship. Men are so fickle. If only he had known this earlier, why did he do it in the first place?"
Song Xinning snorted and said disdainfully, "It's not because he loves my mother-in-law, it's because he's poor."
Princess Jingning was taken aback: "Poor?"
Song Xinning recounted the story in detail: "Ever since they had their falling out last year, my mother-in-law's dowry has stopped supplementing the family income. He only has a salary and no property, so he is short of money and struggling to support his family. His concubine is also having a hard time. Fortunately, most of the servants in the mansion are my mother-in-law's people, otherwise he would probably have to dismiss most of them."
"However, my husband, mother-in-law, and I continue to live as usual. They are the only ones who suffer. That concubine is probably regretting it now. She became the concubine of the Vice Minister of Works, but she has not been able to live a life of wealth and honor."
“My mother-in-law said that supporting the family is what he, as the head of the household, should do, and the household expenses should be covered by his salary. As for her dowry, it is her own, and it is shameful to use a woman's dowry. My father-in-law was too ashamed to ask, so he could only think about repairing the marital relationship and getting my mother-in-law to willingly subsidize the money.”
“But my mother-in-law is very clear-headed. When her husband became a high-ranking official and his heart changed, she was hysterical. She even had a sudden relapse of her old illness and almost died. After dying once, she became more open-minded. When the couple’s relationship was very close, she didn’t mind supporting her husband and giving him the best living conditions she could provide. Now that my father-in-law has betrayed her, she is unwilling to do so. She will only spend her dowry on herself and her children and will not give it to her husband.”
Upon hearing this, Princess Jingning and Meng Jinyao were both dumbfounded. At the same time, they admired Madam Shen's strong will, but she could only do so because her eldest son was on her side. An adult eldest son who had entered the court as an official, plus her own wealth, were both indispensable. With an excellent son, they could not live such a comfortable life without money.
Princess Jingning asked, "Is Lord Shen being isolated at home?"
Song Xinning replied, "On the surface, he is calm. My husband also respects my father on the surface, but he despises my father for breaking his vows once he has power. He has the talent to study, but without my mother-in-law, he would not have been able to afford to study, let alone take the imperial examinations and become an official. He could only struggle to make a living and his talent was eventually buried by life."
“That’s his own fault; he destroyed what was once a happy family,” Meng Jinyao said, then asked, “Then the concubine should have given birth by now, right?”
At this point, Song Xinning couldn't help but laugh out loud: "She was born a few days ago, a pair of twin daughters. My father-in-law thought they were twin sons or fraternal twins, but he was very disappointed."
Princess Jingning was astonished: "Lord Shen already has such an outstanding son as Young Master Shen, so why does he still care so much about whether the child born to his concubine is a son?"
Meng Jinyao said, "Most men are sexist and prefer sons to daughters. Who would complain about having too many sons? Sons can carry on the family line. The more sons there are, the more prosperous the family will be. Daughters are all married off to other families. There are not many daughters who are truly favored. Many daughters seem to be favored, but in reality, they are favored because their value is seen. This is because they are favored so that they can be used to consolidate the family's power and extract greater value in the future through marriage."
Song Xinning nodded and said, "That's right. I have a distant cousin who used to be very favored. But because the family went downhill, they married her off as a young woman to a man twenty years her senior as his second wife."
Princess Jingning remained silent after hearing this.
Seeing this, Meng Jinyao smiled and said, "Ayan, don't think too much. The prince definitely loves you very much. He is a prince, the emperor's younger brother from the same mother. He is extremely noble and doesn't need to use his daughter to consolidate his power."
Princess Jingning shook her head slightly: "I wasn't thinking about myself, but rather about the state of the world. It seems to be a universally acknowledged fact that women are inferior to men. Never mind, let's not think about this anymore. Anyway, we can't solve this problem."
“That’s right. Don’t make trouble for things you can’t solve.” Meng Jinyao said, pushing a plate of pastries in front of her. “Try these pastries. They were made by my maid. They taste pretty good.”
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