Chapter 92: Apology is not about the prince being poisoned and not feeling well, she married into...
In Wutong Courtyard, Cui Lingyan was surprised to hear that Xue came to apologize and that Old Madam Dou asked her to come directly here. Thinking of the old madam's usual temper and her love for her grandson Lu Bingzhi, she knew that the old madam was really angry about Xue's actions. Since she came to apologize, she had to let her lose face in front of her junior and remember this lesson.
Thinking of this, she said to Birou, "Please ask Madam Xue and Miss Cousin to come in."
Birou nodded, turned and left the house, and soon led Xue and Cen Yuexi in.
When Xue saw that Cui Lingyan did not come out to greet her, she felt really uncomfortable and ashamed. She was an elder and Cen's sister-in-law, but now she had to be so humble and apologize in front of Cen's daughter-in-law. Even though she was ready to apologize, she felt very uncomfortable.
However, now that things have come to this, she can only suppress the frustration in her heart.
After a few polite words, Cui Lingyan asked the two to sit down. A maid brought tea, and then Xue spoke apologetically, "I came here today to apologize for the rumors about the Crown Prince in the capital. I was confused for a moment. Hearing that my son's engagement had been broken off by the Jiang family, I felt upset and lost my mind. I spoke those words without thinking, which damaged the Crown Prince's reputation and angered the Queen Mother, who sent people out of the palace to reprimand me."
As Xue spoke, she gestured to her trusted confidant, Nanny Gu, and continued, "Although the Cen family sent an apology yesterday, it was ultimately my daughter-in-law who caused the incident. I feel guilty, so I prepared this set of pink-glazed Ru kiln tea sets as an apology. I hope the young lady will consider the close relationship between our two families and not hold it against me and let this matter pass."
As she finished speaking, Nanny Gu came forward with a sandalwood box in her hands and opened it. Inside was indeed a blue and white underglaze red enamel Ru kiln nine peach tea cup. The glaze was fine and smooth, like jade but not jade, quiet and elegant.
Cui Lingyan smiled, motioned Birou to come forward and accept the apology, and said to Xue, "Madam, you are too polite. Since our two families are relatives, how can we let a single incident create a rift? This time, the mansion accepted the apology, but it is only because the old lady loves the prince and has to consider his reputation. Besides, we have to show some respect to the Empress Dowager in the palace, otherwise she will think that the mansion does not care about the prince's reputation."
"After all, the Crown Prince is the eldest princess of Shuning's family and the Empress Dowager's grandson. I think the Empress Dowager and the Emperor value the Crown Prince so much that they don't want to see his reputation damaged."
Xue was sitting down there, feeling extremely upset when she heard Cui Lingyan's words, but since she had come to apologize, she could only endure Cui's words.
After sitting for a while, Xue found an excuse to take her daughter Cen Yuexi to visit Cen's place, and then she stood up to say goodbye.
This time, Cui Lingyan stood up and personally sent the two of them out before returning to the house.
Birou looked at the pink-glazed Ru kiln teacup on the table and asked, "Young Madam, this tea set..."
Before she could finish, Cui Lingyan said, "Put it in the warehouse."
Birou nodded, thinking about Xue's expression just now, and said, "I don't know how aggrieved Xue must be. I think the Queen Mother sent someone to reprimand her, and Xue was so anxious that she came to apologize in person, hoping to put this matter behind her."
"The old lady didn't even give her the respect she deserved. She brought her here directly to apologize to you, young lady. It's obvious that the old lady is also angry with her."
"If the Mudan Court knew about this, I don't know how angry you would be."
Cui Lingyan nodded, thinking that the old lady clearly did not give her daughter-in-law Cen any face at all.
However, this time when Cen returned to her parents' home, she heard a lot of blame and anger from her sister-in-law Xue, and saw that Xue was humiliated, so she might have felt a little happy in her heart.
Even though she felt that her daughter-in-law had humiliated her sister-in-law, she was angry in her heart, but judging by Cen's behavior in recent days, she should not make things difficult for her openly.
After all, the Cen family is weak now, and the old lady is a little impatient with her. She should be able to feel that the old lady's attitude towards her has changed, and she should be able to be more obedient and patient.
Peony Courtyard
Cen also heard the news that her sister-in-law Xue had come to apologize. When she heard that her mother-in-law, Madam Dou, did not meet Xue in person, but ordered someone to take Xue to Wutong Courtyard, her face immediately became a little ugly.
"Father sent over so many gifts of apology yesterday. Since Mother accepted them, how could she embarrass the Cen family like this today? After all, Xue is still the daughter-in-law of the Cen family. How can she, as an elder, be asked to apologize to Cui and Lu Bingzhi, the younger generation?"
Nanny Qi was listening to her wife's words and felt very uncomfortable.
Although she was also angry with Xue on behalf of the Madam, Xue represented the reputation of the Cen family after all. How could the Madam, a married woman, feel happy when the old lady humiliated Xue in this way?
Moreover, with the old lady being like this, I wonder how the people in the mansion will look down on the lady as the second wife.
Madam Qi could only offer comfort, "The old lady has always valued the prince. This time, it's all Xue's fault for exploiting the prince's reputation and spreading the news. Even the Empress Dowager was furious and sent people out of the palace to reprimand her. The old lady was furious, so she acted like this. It's not necessarily that she didn't care about your dignity."
Cen naturally couldn't listen to what she said, but there was nothing she could do. Her words carried no weight. Now she finally knew that she had been married to the Duke's Mansion for so many years and gave birth to a daughter, Danruo, but she had not given birth to a son. She felt so insecure in the mansion and no one took her seriously.
Even in the eyes of her mother-in-law, Mrs. Dou, her importance was not as great as that of her granddaughter-in-law Cui Lingyan, who had just married into the family.
Cen felt extremely aggrieved and uncomfortable, but she could only watch Old Madam Dou humiliate her sister-in-law in this way.
She then thought, "Maybe Xue finally understood how difficult her life was in the Duke's Mansion. She had struggled to maintain her dignity for years, not only for herself and her daughter, but also to have someone to rely on from her family. Xue, her sister-in-law, not only didn't understand, but she also felt that her mother, Old Madam Mei, was only partial to her, a married woman."
This time, after being humiliated, Xue saw the situation clearly. Even though she was dissatisfied with the Duke's Mansion's use of power to bully others, she could understand how important it was to have her as a lady in the Duke's Mansion.
From now on, she won't have to listen to Xue's sarcastic words.
Cen ordered people to go to Wutong Courtyard to inquire, and soon they heard that Xue brought Cen Yuexi out of Wutong Courtyard and headed towards Mudan Courtyard.
She hesitated for a moment, but finally got off the couch, left the yard, and waited at the door.
After a while, I saw Xue and Cen Yuexi coming over here.
Xue had never expected that after she had been so sarcastic and accusatory towards her sister-in-law Cen, not only did Cen not bear any grudge against her as a sister-in-law, but she was even waiting for her here. Her eyes became red for a moment, as she recalled how she was reprimanded by the empress dowager and knelt on the ground to listen to the lecture. Her mother-in-law and father-in-law only blamed her without any sympathy for her. She had also just lost face by being humble in front of the junior Cui Lingyan. The grievance in her heart became deeper, and she couldn't help but burst into tears on the spot.
Cen was a little surprised and hurried forward to support Xue. She then led her back to the Peony Courtyard. After they were seated, she consoled her, "Sister-in-law, you should be more open-minded. This person has to bow his head under someone else's eaves. Our Cen family is not as prominent as the Duke's Mansion. If someone has done something wrong and someone has a handle on him, he naturally has to bow his head."
"I've gotten used to it over the years."
Xue glanced at Cen, wiped her tears, and sighed softly, "Now I understand how difficult it was for my aunt. Your mother-in-law keeps saying that our two families are in-laws, but her actions don't care at all about the relationship. Instead, she asked me, as the elder, to apologize to Cui. You have no idea how painful it was for me to say those soft words in front of Cui. I was completely embarrassed. Fortunately, Cui accepted the set of pink-glazed Ru kiln tea cups, which put the matter behind us. Otherwise, I would have been even more embarrassed."
"My aunt has been married into the Duke's Mansion for so many years, and she gave birth to Danruo for the Lu family. How could the old lady not care about my aunt's reputation at all? My reputation is not important, but I am still my aunt's sister-in-law after all. The old lady's order will make everyone in the Duke's Mansion look down on me. Isn't it looking down on my aunt and Danruo, the legitimate daughter?"
Mrs. Cen knew what her sister-in-law was thinking, and said bitterly, "So what if I gave birth to Danruo? Without a son, I have no weight in the eyes of the old lady. I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but in this mansion, a bastard is more respectable than my Danruo."
Xue naturally knew about Lu Cong'an, the illegitimate son. She also knew that some time ago, Cen wanted to register this illegitimate son under her name but was not allowed by the Duke. She lost face and even fell ill because of it.
Now, after hearing Cen's story, she sighed softly and said, "Everyone has their own difficulties. If my aunt could have given birth to a son, life would have been much easier. It's a pity that there has been no movement in these years."
She continued, "Just now I saw your daughter-in-law Cui in Wutong Courtyard. Isn't it said that Cui was sent to live with her maternal family, the Qi family, when she was young, and only just returned to the capital this year, so she hasn't seen much of the world? Why is she so arrogant? She didn't show any fear when talking to me. Even when I, as her elder, apologized to her, she accepted it calmly, without any discomfort, and even felt that it was her due. She doesn't look like someone who was raised outside. She is so arrogant. How can she be so confident? Isn't she afraid of offending you, her mother-in-law?"
Xue lowered her voice and continued, "Didn't they say that the prince was poisoned and in poor health, and she has remained a virgin since she married in? How could a nominal young lady be so arrogant and not take you, her mother-in-law, seriously?"
Mrs. Cen sighed, "The prince has been feeling much better these past few days, and they've already consummated their marriage. My mother-in-law was so happy she even had someone make a angelica and pigeon soup and sent it to Wutong Courtyard. When I first married into the family and consummated my marriage with the Duke, I didn't get treated this way."
Xue's eyes showed a hint of surprise. She didn't know what she was thinking about. She said to her daughter Cen Yuexi beside her, "Go and talk to your cousin. Mother and your aunt have something to discuss privately."
Cen Yuexi also wanted to talk to Lu Danruo about the confusion and grievances she had felt these days. After hearing her mother's instructions, she got up and went to the yard where Lu Danruo lived.
Seeing her daughter leave, Mrs. Xue hesitated for a moment before saying to Mrs. Cen, "I remember that Mrs. Cui has a brother who is a twin, a boy and a girl. I heard that they haven't arranged a marriage yet."
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