The next morning, Lord Xiao and his wife arrived at the door together.
Lord Xiao was entertained by the Duke of Ying in his study, while Madam Xiao came to stay with Old Madam Zhang.
Xu Rong was summoned to accompany him again.
That's good, it saves her the trouble of finding out later. She learned directly from Madam Xiao that she hadn't told Lord Xiao about Lady Wei and Lin Ding when she got back.
"How am I supposed to bring this up?" Madam Xiao complained. "Let Father talk to him. Mother told me not to interfere, so I'll just leave it at that and watch."
Madam Zhang nodded: "If you had thought of this earlier, you would have been much more at ease. Trying to grasp everything and being too assertive will ultimately lead to men not appreciating your efforts."
Madam Xiao also had some doubts, but she refused to admit it. She glanced at Xu Rong and said, "What's the use of me listening to you, Mother? We don't know what the Marquis will say. You know how angry he was earlier. He almost burned down the Li Courtyard and the North Courtyard."
Upon hearing this, Xu Rong felt concerned and quickly asked, "Madam, is my dowry intact?"
She didn't have time to take most of it with her.
Madam Xiao was speechless with annoyance: "--It's not really burning!"
For a Marquis of the Dynasty to set fire to his own home, he must have lost his mind. If he actually did it, Marquis Xiao might not be able to keep his official position. His concubine's "cheating" is just an internal scandal, but if he loses his mind because of it, he will be unable to perform his duties.
Xu Rongfang breathed a sigh of relief.
Madam Xiao was indignant and glared at her, ready to make sarcastic remarks, but Old Madam Zhang interrupted her in time: "Look at you, at your age, why are you still arguing with the child? Rong'er has had it no worse than you these past few years. She finally managed to overcome her difficulties with Xin'er, and then this happened. But look at her, doesn't she look a little dejected and blame anyone? In terms of willpower, you should learn from her."
Madam Xiao retorted, "What's so difficult about her? In the blink of an eye, she's caught that Lin Ding again and he's standing up for them. Even Mother and Father are biased towards them."
Madam Zhang put aside her anger: "If I really favored them, I would let them beat the petition drum right now and let the whole world judge who is shameful and who is in the wrong!"
Madam Xiao: "..."
Whether one is right or wrong, there may still be room for sophistry, but if we're talking about who is truly shameful, then it's undoubtedly Lord Xiao.
Although some pedantic scholars might criticize Lady Wei for being unchaste, Lady Wei, being a woman, could simply stay at home for a year or two, or even three or four years without any problem.
Lord Xiao couldn't do that; he had to go out and face the spittle of relatives, colleagues, friends, and even enemies.
"He probably can't get over the son-in-law thing," Old Madam Zhang said, taking a breath. "Then let's not worry about him. As long as we can all put on a good show, that's fine. But in my opinion, the children don't have that much of a grudge. Although Xin'er is no longer a member of the Xiao family, he still grew up with Lun'er. One is a scholar, the other a warrior. Wouldn't it be great if they could work together in the court in the future? This would also show that Lun'er is magnanimous and shut up those petty people. As his mother, you should set a good example first."
"Lun'er has me and the Yue family, why would he need that—" Madam Xiao glanced at Old Madam Zhang's face and swallowed back the unpleasant address, "He doesn't need someone who hasn't entered officialdom yet."
Old Madam Zhang couldn't persuade her, and was too lazy to bother anymore. But this brought up another concern: "By the way, how are Lun'er and his wife doing now? Are they still so distant? It's not normal for a couple to always be like this."
She should have kept quiet, because bringing it up only provoked another complaint from Madam Xiao: "Isn't that right? Lun'er has been so considerate of her, yet she still acts the same way. I wanted to raise my eldest son under my care back then, for the good of the couple, to prevent them from hurting their relationship. But Yinniang refused, going to great lengths to take him away. Fine, I granted her wish, and she's actually happy now, isn't she!"
Madam Zhang shook her head upon hearing this: "Lun'er was in the wrong first."
No matter what, having a son born out of wedlock is his weakness.
However, Madam Zhang was not fond of her granddaughter-in-law Chang Shuyin. Going back in time, she had never approved of the marriage: "The Duke of Zheng's family and we have never had any relationship. I don't know why you chose them back then."
If it were the eldest daughter, that would be fine, but she is still the second daughter. In her heart, Madam Zhang thought that the upbringing of the eldest daughter was different. Sometimes, the more a family fell into decline, the more the remaining integrity and character would be displayed in the eldest son (or daughter) who was responsible for upholding the family.
Thinking about it, Madam Zhang couldn't help but glance at Xu Rong, who was always listening with a smile below. For example, this one was about to escape, and before leaving, he made all the necessary arrangements without leaving anything behind, not even the servants. As a result, after the incident came to light, Lord Xiao couldn't even find anyone to vent his anger on, and could only swallow his pride and suffer in silence.
Chang Shuyin only learned the superficiality of the situation, realizing that it was not wrong to take the eldest son away, but this caused her to become estranged from Xiao Lun. Did she expect to rely on that eldest son to make a living from now on? That would be putting the cart before the horse.
This wasn't the first time Madam Zhang had expressed this sentiment. She had said it before when she opposed Xiao Lun's annulment of the engagement. Madam Xiao was used to hearing it, but for some reason, her expression changed slightly this time: "--That's all in the past. Yin Niang has already married into the family. Why should Mother bring it up again?"
Madam Zhang didn't take it to heart. It was normal that Madam Xiao wouldn't listen to her. She shook her head, picked up her teacup, and took a small sip.
Xu Rong's heart stirred.
In the past, she always thought that the Xiao family looked down on the Xu family because of their decline, but now that many things have become clear, looking back, the Zheng family may not have been chosen by Marquis Xiao and Xiao Lun solely because of their social standing.
When the Duke of Zheng was the heir apparent, he was very close to the Prince of Qing.
Master Chang is currently an official in Pingliang Prefecture and can find out about Xiao Shan's background for Chang Shuyin.
Madam Xiao had previously been unaware of the situation, which allowed her to act with self-righteousness and always be the first to speak out. Now that she knew, she was unable to answer and could not bear to listen.
"Grandma, Eldest Aunt, something terrible has happened! The Marquis and Lord Ding are fighting!"
A maidservant rushed in to report.
Madam Zhang was shocked, spilling two drops of water from her teacup onto her hand: "What? Wasn't my son-in-law talking to the Duke? How did Lin Ding get there? And how did the fight start?"
"It was Lord Ding who secretly went to the Duke's study and eavesdropped through the back window. The servants were all dismissed, and I don't know what they were saying. I only heard that they didn't talk for long before the Marquis stormed out, looking furious. Lord Ding, even more hot-tempered, stopped him and started fighting, hurling insults. Judging from Lord Ding's tone, it seemed the Marquis had said many unpleasant things about Lord Ding and his wife to the Duke—"
The maid paused to catch her breath after speaking at this point, "The Duke repeatedly shouted to stop them, but the two of them wouldn't listen. They smashed many things, and the commotion attracted people from all over to come and see. The Duke sent me to report this, asking the Old Madam to restrain the servants in the inner courtyard from running around recklessly."
With a stern face, Madam Zhang placed the teacup on the table and said, "I understand."
He then issued a series of orders, and the two head maids who were serving in the room each took the orders and left.
“Let’s go take a look,” said Madam Zhang, standing up.
Madam Xiao was also a little anxious. She nodded and quickly reached out to help her up.
Xu Rong followed silently. Whether Madam Zhang hadn't originally intended to chase her away or had simply forgotten, she let her follow.
As they hurried toward the study in the outer courtyard, they encountered Xiao Xin.
The guest quarters were located in the outer courtyard. It was because the host family received the news quickly that Madam Zhang was able to do so; otherwise, she probably wouldn't have been able to catch up with him.
Madam Zhang was taken aback, and tapped her cane on the ground: "Xin-ge'er, go back quickly."
Xiao Xin stood still.
He didn't want to back down or avoid the issue, but now that the Zhang family was stepping forward for his sake, he couldn't disobey Old Madam Zhang's words.
"Xuancheng, you should go back." Xu Rong also felt that it was too difficult for him to face such a situation, and advised him, "I will go and keep an eye on things for you. If you need anything, I will tell you later."
Xiao Xin looked at her, his eyes filled with nothing but stubbornness—he was unwilling to always hide behind others, and the more difficult the situation, the less willing he was to back down.
Xu Rong was helpless. At this moment, he realized that he and Lin Ding were father and son. They had different tempers on the surface, but no difference in their hearts.
“Then let’s watch from a distance.” She proposed a compromise. “The Marquis is probably in a bad mood right now. Even the Duke couldn’t persuade him. If you can avoid showing up, then you should.”
Xiao Xin hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly.
Seeing that he listened to her advice, Madam Zhang was relieved and helped Madam Xiao hurry forward.
Madam Xiao was momentarily stunned, and said, "You—"
But he had no time to say more and left with a complicated look in his eyes.
Xu Rong accompanied Xiao Xin, following behind at a slower pace.
After walking for a short while, we arrived at the study. Even before entering the courtyard, we could already hear the sounds coming from inside.
...To be honest, it wasn't quite what Xu Rong had imagined.
There were also loud bangs, but not as frightening as the maid's report; most were muffled sounds.
The man who looked like the head steward stood in front of the door, his face stern as he shooed away all the servants who tried to approach. Only when Madam Zhang was about to go in did he bow and step aside. When he saw Xu Rong and Xiao Xin behind him, he hesitated for a moment, unsure whether he should stop them.
Xu Rong shook his head at him, signaling them not to go in, and then peeked inside from his side.
Seeing the mess on the ground, but not seeing either Lord Xiao or Lin Ding, Xu Rong tried again and finally caught a glimpse of half of the Duke of Yingguo's back.
The Duke of England stood alone, making no move to break up the fight, but simply raised one hand to stop Madam Zhang and Madam Xiao from going any further.
Xu Rong pulled his head back, tugged at Xiao Xin, and offered his seat to Xiao Xin so he could also see.
As they approached, Xiao Xin hesitated for a moment. In that instant, Madam Xiao cried out in a shrill voice, "Father, tell that Lin something to stop! Is he trying to kill the Marquis?!"
The Duke of England said in a deep voice, "No. Ding'er knows what she's doing."
Xu Rong: "..."
By the way, Lin Ding had just returned from the battlefield, and he personally cut off the head of the traitor king.
As for Lord Xiao, a military meritorious official, he has enjoyed wealth and power in the capital for decades. Whether he can even draw a bow now is still a question.
Madam Xiao seemed taken aback for a moment before exclaiming, "—That doesn't mean he should hit people! Father, didn't you say you wanted to have a proper talk with the Marquis?"
“He’s unwilling to talk,” the Duke of England said calmly. “Since he won’t listen to me, his father-in-law, then I’ll have to let Ding’er talk to him directly.”
Xu Rongyou: "..."
Yes, the Duke of England is the current head coach, and his vigor is still strong. It's unrealistic to assume that he, like Madam Zhang, would patiently reason with people and then give up if things didn't work.
Inside, Lord Xiao seemed unable to withstand the beating and let out a muffled groan.
Xiao Xin's pupils contracted slightly, and then he walked inside.
Xu Rong hurriedly reached out to pull him, but felt that his palm was icy cold, so she paused. Xiao Xin had already gone inside.
Xu Rong hurriedly followed behind and finally saw the interior—it was indeed an overwhelming battle situation.
"Stop hitting him," Xiao Xin said in a hoarse voice, "Father."
Lin Ding, who was holding Lord Xiao's collar and raising his fist, froze.
"Oh, oh oh!"
After a while, he released Lord Xiao in a flustered manner. Seeing that Lord Xiao's clothes were all rumpled and messy, he even subconsciously smoothed them out before realizing what had happened and spitting as he stepped back.
"My lord, where are you hurt?" Madam Xiao rushed over.
Lord Xiao ignored her, his cold gaze sweeping over Lin Ding, Xiao Xin, and Xu Rong—his gaze turning even colder when he reached Xiao Xin—before walking away without a word.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
