Chapter 34: Protecting "Cui is my grandson's wife who has not yet married, bullying her...
After hearing her daughter say this, Bi Tao's face looked better, but the fear and uneasiness in her heart still did not dissipate. She was just afraid that if she showed too much worry, it would make the girl lose her composure.
The world is the harshest to girls. Even if the girl and her cousin Qi Shaozhang are innocent, rumors can kill people. If the Duke of Weiguo dislikes the girl because of this and makes her lose the marriage, she dare not think about how she will deal with herself in the future and how she will gain a foothold in the Ningshou Marquis Mansion.
After all, unlike the eldest daughter, Cui Linghui, the young lady lacked a prominent maternal family to rely on, and her biological mother, Madam Qi, disliked her even more. A few days ago, they nearly had a falling out at Cuiwei Courtyard, where Third Young Master Cui Shenbo caught them red-handed. Although the young lady had visited Cuiwei Courtyard to pay her respects to Madam Qi in recent days, their private interactions were distant, hardly resembling a real mother and daughter.
All these made Bitao feel uneasy. The more she thought about it, the more frightened she felt. She even had difficulty breathing.
Cui Lingyan sat on the soft couch, holding a teacup in her hand. Although her face was calm, she was a little uneasy in her heart. Although she felt that the Weiguo Mansion and Lu Bingzhi could not afford to lose face than she, the legitimate daughter of the Ningshou Mansion who had just returned home, there are always unexpected things. If she lost this marriage because of these rumors, her future life would probably be difficult.
Thinking about the different attitudes of her grandmother, Mrs. Zhai, towards her elder sister Cui Linghui, one can imagine how her grandmother, who has been so kind to her these days, would vent her anger on her if the marriage fell through.
However, now that things have come to this, she has no choice but to take it one step at a time.
Faced with these criticisms, it is better to remain silent than to act. She is in a weak position and it all depends on what the Duke of Weiguo thinks.
......
Duke Wei's Mansion
Madam Dou's eyes were filled with worry. She glanced at her grandson, Lu Bingzhi, who was sitting below her, and sighed softly, saying, "Tell me what's going on. We're getting married on the 16th of next month, and yet all these rumors are spreading outside. I wonder how many people are criticizing and fabricating stories about us."
"Bingzhi, what do you think? Should we continue this marriage? Should we ask Miss Cui San to marry us? I've met that child. He's quite nice, polite and sensible, and behaves in a steady manner. He doesn't look like the type to be so tactless. But there are so many rumors, and it's hard for us to stop them from talking."
Lu Bingzhi took a sip of tea, his face still calm, not affected at all by the rumors outside.
His voice was cold and clear: "This marriage is an unexpected disaster for Cui. She doesn't care about my grandson's illness, but she doesn't care about these rumors. Doesn't my grandson have the tolerance to force Cui to death?"
Madam Dou was stunned for a moment, then clearly understood what Lu Bingzhi meant. She nodded and said, "That's right. If that's your opinion, Grandmother should have someone send some jewelry or something to Miss Cui San to comfort her and prevent her from getting scared."
"This world is inevitably harsh on girls. After something like this happened, with Madam Zhai's temper, she might vent her anger on Miss Cui San."
Lu Bingzhi thought for a moment and said, "There's no need to take it from Grandmother. Mother also has some jewelry in her dowry. I'll ask Guanyan to pick out a few and send them to the Ningshou Marquis's residence."
Old Madam Dou was a little surprised and was speechless for a long time.
His grandson has always been a cold-natured person and has never shown any affection towards any woman. Even though he had been engaged to Cui Linghui before, it was just the matchmaker's words and he had never taken the initiative to give Cui Linghui anything.
Why was he so different from Cui Lingyan? Old Madam Dou thought of Cui Lingyan's striking appearance and wondered if her grandson might have taken an interest in her because of her looks. But considering her grandson's personality, she felt that was unlikely. She refused to believe the claim that he was a womanizer.
Perhaps sensing the surprise in her eyes, Lu Bingzhi said, "Ms. Cui is my grandson's wife-to-be. Bullying her is bullying me."
"I will have someone investigate this matter thoroughly, so you don't have to worry."
Seeing Lu Bingzhi's decisiveness, Madam Dou gave a bitter laugh, thinking that her grandson didn't really like Cui Lingyan, but simply acted that way. As he had said, Cui was his future wife, so he wouldn't let her suffer any injustice or become anxious.
She couldn't help but think of Cui Linghui, thinking that if Cui Linghui had not been so clever, but had married into the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion and supported Bingzhi, according to Bingzhi's personality, he would definitely remember this kindness and respect Cui Linghui as his wife.
I wonder if Cui Linghui will regret canceling this marriage in the future.
Old Madam Dou wanted to ask again, "Do you really trust Miss Cui San?" Although she also thought Cui Lingyan was good, if a closer look revealed that Cui Lingyan and Qi Shaozhang had some affair, what would her grandson do then?
Mrs. Dou felt a little worried when she thought of this, but she couldn't ask. Just as she was thinking about it, she heard Lu Bingzhi say, "Grandmother, don't worry too much. Cui is a smart person, and smart people don't dig their own graves."
"Grandson has some things to do, so I won't be with grandma."
After Lu Bingzhi said this, he stood up and left.
Even after he left, Madam Dou was still in shock. After a while, she finally spoke, "What kind of smart guy is that? Has Bingzhi ever met Cui Lingyan? Or is there something about her that even I, her grandmother, don't know?"
Nanny Sun looked at her old lady's puzzled expression and said soothingly, "Old lady, since the prince has made arrangements, you don't have to worry. Although I have only seen Miss Cui San a few times, I can see that she is a very thoughtful person. Think about it, she was sent to her maternal family by her biological mother Qi when she was six years old, but when she came back, she didn't have any of the petty airs of a small family. She even received a reward from the Queen Mother when she went to the palace to pay homage to her. Although this reward was partly due to Miss Cui Da, If the Queen Mother looked down on Miss Cui San, why would she have given her any rewards or such respect? It's clear that Miss Cui San has a certain level of understanding and open-mindedness. If her experience had been replaced by that of a girl from another wealthy family, she might have been swayed, filled with jealousy and resentment. But I haven't seen any of these emotions in her. Instead, she seems quite understanding and open-minded. Such an intelligent person, as the Crown Prince said, would never dig her own grave by privately giving things away and ruining her reputation.
"If I were to say so, someone must be displeased with her and wants to ruin her reputation, forcing her to lose this marriage. Even if she were to marry into the Duke of Wei's mansion, she would still be tortured because of the damage to her reputation."
Nanny Sun thought about it, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Who knows, it might be one of the girls from the Ningshou Marquis's Mansion who did it."
Old Madam Dou was stunned for a moment, then she understood who Nanny Sun was referring to.
The two families knew each other well because of their marriage affairs, so Old Lady Dou knew that there were three girls in the Ningshou Marquis's Mansion, Cui Linghui and Cui Lingyan, the legitimate daughters of the eldest house, and Cui Lingyin, the concubine's daughter of the second house.
Madam Dou's face darkened. "Could it be that concubine's daughter from the second house?"
"She's a bastard, so how could she possibly dream of marrying into our Duke Wei's mansion and becoming Bingzhi's wife? I don't completely look down on bastards, but with Bingzhi's status, it's obvious he won't marry her."
Nanny Sun said, "Some people are just too ambitious. Perhaps they think that compared to Miss Cui San, who was raised in a foreign family and just returned home, she, a concubine's daughter who grew up in the Marquis's mansion, is more qualified to be the Crown Prince's wife."
"She didn't dare to compete with Cui Linghui before, but that might not be the case now. Perhaps she feels that Cui Lingyan stole the marriage that should have been hers, so she started these rumors to ruin Cui Lingyan's reputation."
"To be honest, our Crown Prince is a little different from ordinary men. Perhaps he doesn't take people seriously, and doesn't care about these matters between men and women. That's why he can be so decisive and unaffected by these rumors. Furthermore, the Crown Prince is of noble status, and his biological mother is the late Princess. He has the final say in the mansion. But if it were someone else, regardless of whether these rumors are true or false, Miss Cui San would not be able to change the damage to her reputation no matter how she defends herself. I'm afraid she will be driven to death."
Madam Dou's eyes showed a hint of coldness: "If it really is Cui Lingyin, I really underestimated this concubine's daughter from the Ningshou Marquis's mansion."
Madam Dou rubbed her brows, sighed softly, and said, "Forget it, let Bingzhi handle it. But if it really is Cui Lingyin, the Marquis' Mansion will definitely give our Duke's Mansion an explanation."
......
Peony Courtyard
Lu Danruo's eyes were filled with sarcasm, and she smiled at her mother, Cen, and said, "You don't know what those people outside are saying about Cui Lingyan and Qi Shaozhang. They're making up such ugly stories. It's really ridiculous. First, Cui Linghui deliberately fell into the water, then caught a cold and called off the marriage. Now it's Cui Lingyan's turn, and she's also stirring up trouble with her cousin in her mother's family. I don't know how people will laugh at him, laughing at him for having two marriages gone wrong in a row."
"Do you think Cui Lingyan will marry into our Duke of Wei's mansion?"
Cen glanced at her and shook her head. "It's hard to say. I don't know what your grandmother thinks. She's always been kind to the younger generation and not too harsh on women. Whether it's genuine kindness or just a pretense to gain a reputation for leniency, she wouldn't just assume Cui Lingyan and Qi Shaozhang are having an affair. But she loves her grandson Lu Bingzhi the most. When it comes to Lu Bingzhi, I don't know what your grandmother thinks."
Cen thought for a moment and spoke her mind: "If you ask me, it's a good thing that Cui Lingyan married into the family despite her bad reputation, so she won't act like a Crown Prince's wife. If she were to marry someone from a wealthy family, it wouldn't necessarily be a good thing for you and Mother."
Lu Danruo curled her lips when she heard what Cen said, and said disdainfully, "That being said, if Cui Lingyan were to become my sister-in-law, I, as her younger sister-in-law, wouldn't know how much I'd be laughed at. It would also be embarrassing to attend banquets in the future. I don't want her to be my sister-in-law."
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