Chapter 7 I Treat Her as My Sister
"She's also stupid and shameless. She insisted on marrying Qiao Jingchuan and even used what happened to my parents as an excuse."
"My cousin is so good, she excels in all six arts and eight refinements. Why would Qiao Jingchuan look down on her? He just wants to use my third sister as a raft to climb up to our family. My third sister even thinks he is a good man."
Ming Zhouhe's eyes darkened as he spoke. "I was impulsive in wanting to beat him up, but I won't let anyone gossip about it. I'll just go in front of his door and tell them I saw him being too intimate with another woman. That way, they'll know why his engagement was broken off, and it won't affect my cousin's reputation."
"We threatened him again not to reveal his relationship with the third sister, otherwise his career would be cut short. He kept silent because of his future, so as to preserve the reputation of the family."
"But after being kicked out, his reputation will be bad, and it will be difficult for him to marry a higher-ranking woman."
Ming Zhouqing looked at him frequently and said, "I didn't expect you to think so much. You're quite thoughtful. I thought you were always so cheerful and unreliable."
"Second brother, you and I are the same. Who is the one who laughs with me on weekdays?" Ming Zhouhe sneered.
Receiving his elder brother's gaze, Ming Zhou cleared his throat and said, "You really do love your cousin."
"If I don't love my cousin, who will? She's the only relative my mother has." Ming Zhouhe sighed, "She should have been as cheerful and lively as my second sister, but now she's so well-behaved. It's really heartbreaking to see her like this."
His maternal grandfather was a minor official of the fifth rank. He and his maternal grandmother were deeply in love, but they only had two daughters, his mother and his aunt, who both passed away a few years ago.
"You..." Ming Zhouqing nudged his waist with his elbow, glanced around, and seeing that there were only three of them, he felt relieved and asked suspiciously, "Could it be that he likes your cousin?"
Every time I go out with him, I take a copy of everything I see back to my cousin Shi.
Mingzhao also looked at him inquiringly.
Ming Zhouhe glared at Ming Zhouqing and said, "Don't talk nonsense. I treat her as my own sister, just like you and your elder brother treat your second sister. Cousins cannot marry each other."
"Who told you it's impossible? How many cousins have married in the past and present dynasties?"
"I said so." Ming Zhouhe frowned, "My father has a farm in the north of the city. There is a family named Zhao there. The couple are cousins, so they are blood relatives and have three children."
"The eldest son's arms are shriveled, only half the length of a normal person's, and his fingers are fused together. The second son has three legs and a large, drooping tumor on his face. The youngest daughter has all her limbs intact, but she's a moron."
"A few years ago, I went to the Grange with my cousin and was shocked when we saw that family."
"Later, we inquired about other families where cousins had married. If they were cousins, they all had more or less deformed children. The lucky ones were healthy, but most of them died young or were weak."
Ming Zhouhe lowered his voice again and whispered, "To be disrespectful, the current emperor and the imperial concubine are cousins. The fourth prince was born weak, and I think this is related to it."
Ming Zhouqing's eyes widened. "My mother still wants me to marry my cousin. I have to persuade her to give up this idea."
Ming Zhouqing didn't really have a crush on his cousin from the Yuan family. It was just his parents' wishes and the matchmaker's words. He didn't have any other women he liked, so marrying his cousin was fine. Fulfilling his mother's wish was considered filial piety.
But after hearing what his third brother said, Ming Zhouqing felt that he was no longer capable. He could be filial to his mother in other places and just marry his cousin.
After listening to Ming Zhouhe's long speech, Ming Zhao said, "There is a high probability that a deformed child will be born when cousins marry. I even saw a deformed child drowned at the border."
In aristocratic families, there are many marriages between cousins, but the children you see are all healthy. This is because the indecent ones are dealt with early on, and if they have many children, there will always be a healthy one.
Seeing that his two brothers had serious expressions, Ming Zhouhe stretched his waist and said softly, "It's not that we can't get married, as long as we don't have children."
"How can a family like ours be allowed to not have children?"
His father loved his mother so much that he was willing to risk his life to marry her as his principal wife in his early years, but that did not stop him from taking in several concubines to give birth to his children, because his father felt that having only one son was too few.
Since ancient times, men have attached great importance to reproducing offspring and spreading the family line.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. I'm hungry too. I'll go to the kitchen and get two plates of pastries to fill my stomach." Ming Zhouhe raised his chin, "Brothers, are you guys going?"
"Let's go. I'll go with you to beat people up tomorrow. Does he think he can bully our girl?" Ming Zhouqing put his arm around Ming Zhouhe's shoulders, and anger appeared between their similar brows.
Mingzhao was still following behind them, and his eyes were taken away from Mingzhouhe.
His third brother is much more reliable than his second brother.
The next day, the brothers Ming Zhouhe and Ming Zhouqing followed Nanny Fang to Qiao's house to ask for the engagement letter. When Ming Yuelin pulled them, he saw Li following behind them.
When they arrived at the Qiao family, Nanny Fang and a few other martial artists were standing in front of the Qiao family's gate. She said with a cold face, "I am Nanny Fang from the Second Madam of the Duke of Anguo's Mansion. Go and call out the Sixth Young Master of the Qiao family and the two heads of the Qiao family."
Ming Zhou and Ming Zhouqing stood beside Nanny Fang with expressionless faces.
Shi Jianli and Mingyuelin were sitting in a carriage at the corner of the alley, lifting a corner of the curtain to watch.
Seeing that they were coming in a threatening manner, the doorman did not dare to delay and ran in to invite someone.
Qiao Jingchuan was worried whether the relationship between him and Ming Yueshu was over. When he heard that someone was coming from the Duke of Anguo's Mansion, he gritted his teeth and followed Qiao's father and mother out.
Mother Qiao looked at Nanny Fang fearfully, then calmed herself down and asked hurriedly, "Nanny Fang, what are you doing?"
"Why are you pretending to be stupid?" Nanny Fang gave them a sharp look and took out the man's engagement letter. "Sixth son of the Qiao family, you were engaged to our cousin last year, but two days ago, our Second Madam discovered that you were being too intimate with another woman. You are shameless. Today, I come here on behalf of the Second Madam to cancel the engagement and return the engagement letter!"
Mother Qiao glanced at her son and saw that he looked panicked for a moment, and she knew that things were not good for her family, but he was his son after all, so she could only cover for him.
"Madam Fang, is there some misunderstanding? My son has always been respectful, frugal and polite, how could he do such a thing?" Mother Qiao glanced at the onlookers and asked in a gentle voice.
"Hmph! My Anguo Mansion is a kind and brave family, and we don't even bother to wrongly accuse you." Nanny Fang took two steps forward and stood in front of Qiao's mother with her strong and powerful body, full of oppression.
She leaned over and whispered in Qiao's mother's ear, "Qiao Zhang, if you don't return the engagement letter, Qiao Liulang's career will be difficult."
Mother Qiao shuddered, took two steps back, and asked the maid to get the engagement letter. "Return it, return it right away!"
Qiao Jingchuan still stood straight, his eyes slightly red, with an unyielding look. While doing this, he was thinking about how to maximize his own interests.
Ming Zhouhe glanced at him and said, "Just pretend. Let's see if he can still pretend later."
After receiving the engagement letter, Nanny Fang threw the Qiao family's engagement letter at Qiao Jingchuan, "What a fickle bastard! He's still engaged to our cousin, yet he's flirting with other women and having affairs with them privately!"
Qiao Jingchuan raised his head and rolled his eyes, "Madam Fang, I know I was wrong. It's my fault, but Shu..."
“Mmmmm—”
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