Xu Quan said with a smile, "Our third sister-in-law, apart from all those medical books and herbs, have you ever seen her interested in anything? She found a daughter-in-law for herself early on, and I know exactly what she's up to. She wants to cultivate a daughter-in-law who can take over the household affairs as soon as she marries in."
Xu Qu said, "Third Sister-in-law is quite upright in her actions. Many people would do their best to manage a household, but she is different. Not only does she avoid managing our household, but she also avoids managing her own household whenever possible."
Xu Quan sighed and said, "Third Sister-in-law also needs to have something to push away to get out of this situation."
Xu Qu said, "Yes, Third Brother and Third Sister-in-law are both very capable people. Otherwise, Granny Lu would not have followed their family from the bustling capital to this remote border region. There are quite a few families in the capital who are waiting to hire Granny Lu to be their daughters' governess."
Xu Quan said, "Grandmother was truly amazing to my third brother and sister-in-law. She always put them first. I'm not saying Grandmother was biased, but my third brother was the only son born out of wedlock in our family. His aunt never cared about him, and my mother cared even less. I used to think that Grandmother pitied him, but later I found out that Grandmother knew very early on that our third brother was a great talent. Don't be fooled by how quiet he was from a young age. We studied together from childhood, and we even took the imperial examinations together. No matter what he took, even if he didn't rank high, he would pass on his first try. From the preliminary examination to the county, provincial, and metropolitan examinations, he was sometimes even ranked a few places lower."
Xu Qu held his wine cup, pondered for a long time, and said, "Hey, that really is the case. What, Fourth Brother, have you made some discovery?"
Xu Quan said, "Last year, when Di Ge'er got married, my uncle came over and met my uncle who was a third-ranked scholar. I think that compared to my eldest brother, my third brother is more like my third-ranked scholar's nephew."
After Xu Quan finished speaking, he seemed to remember something and looked up at Xu Qu, who was also looking at him with a look of shock.
Xu Quan didn't continue, because after meeting his uncle, he discovered that his half-brother actually looked a lot like his uncle.
Xu Qu, on the other hand, never expected that his simple outing with Xu Quan for a drink to relax would lead to a conversation about what he believed to be the truth. After all, the only concubine in the household, Concubine Zhu, had died under mysterious circumstances. Both the old lady and the Marquis had been incredibly kind to Xu Rao's family. Most importantly, he had heard from the elders that the Marquis's eldest daughter and the only illegitimate son in the household, Xu Rao, were born on the same day.
Xu Qu had met this uncle of the Wu family before. Although many years had passed, Wu Tanhua's demeanor was still as dazzling and dashing as ever. Compared to this uncle, Xu Rao was simply more low-key and lacked the flamboyance of Wu Tanhua. As for their appearances, the two of them really did look seven or eight parts alike when they stood together.
Xu Rao actually looks more like Wu's maternal uncle. He doesn't look much like the Marquis. Wu's maternal uncle left home to travel far away many years ago. Xu Qu and the others only met him once when they were young, so they didn't really have any impression of what Wu's maternal uncle looked like. As for Xu Wei, it's probably because Wu's maternal uncle was his mentor at the time and was always very strict with him. Xu Wei naturally only cared about whether his uncle was kind to him. As for his uncle's appearance, he no longer had the energy to pay attention to it.
In the capital, many noble families had their share of troubles. Although Xu Qu didn't have any concubines in his own household, he was quite open-minded about men having multiple wives and concubines. So he couldn't understand why Lady Wu, the Marquis's wife, was so concerned about the existence of this concubine. She was just a concubine, and it was said that after entering the mansion, this Concubine Zhu had always lived in seclusion in the backyard and never interacted with others. Many people in the mansion had never even seen her face.
Xu Qu didn't say anything in front of Xu Quan, after all, she was his biological mother. Such a big mistake had occurred, and it seemed that Wu Shi, the mother of the switched children, still didn't know the truth. Xu Qu really didn't know what to say. Some people in the mansion said that Lady Wu Shi had no demeanor as the head of the household. This was not just a casual remark. Wu Shi really hadn't taken on her responsibilities.
After a few bites of food, the two hurriedly returned to the post station. Xu Quan had many questions for Xu Rao, but he was also worried and even afraid. If the truth was as he suspected, how would he face himself in the future? And how would his mother face herself? Although his mother had never framed or suppressed this illegitimate son, and had even followed the arrangements of the Marquis and the Old Madam to let Xu Rao study and take the imperial examinations, Wu Shi had never made things difficult for Xu Rao's marriage, but she had never directly opposed it either, and had simply followed the arrangements of the Old Madam and the Marquis.
Xu Quan and Xu Qu didn't sleep well all night, and when they woke up in the morning, both of their eyes were red.
The steward got up early to pack the luggage. The Marquis's family was not only coming with people this time, but also with a lot of things. Some things were for Xu Zhi's dowry, and some were dowry from relatives. There were more than a dozen supply wagons, as well as carriages for the children.
After eating breakfast in silence, Xu Quan and Xu Xuqu continued their journey westward under the steward's arrangement.
They had a quick lunch on the way and then continued their journey. If it were Xu Quan's personality, now that they had reached Ganzhou, he would definitely want to take a good look around. However, he had something on his mind and had no interest in sightseeing. He only wanted to get to Ganzhou as soon as possible and ask Xu Rao for the truth.
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