Chapter 33 Hidden Story (First published on Jinjiang Literature City)
Seeing that Fu Mingzi really didn't know anything, Madam Wen sighed regretfully, "He's just a child after all. What could he possibly know? I'd better go ask your brother."
Fu Mingzi chuckled inwardly and thought to herself, "Hurry up and ask, and try to get as much detail as possible."
Just then, Fu Yunjia, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up: "Fifth Uncle, will Grandma bring Aunt along?"
Fu Mingzi was taken aback and looked at Fu Yunjia. The little child was no longer as pale as he had seen her before. Instead, she had returned to normal, with a faint smile on her face, but the smile seemed to not reach her eyes.
“Of course.” Fu Mingzi suddenly found her grandniece quite interesting, and a smile appeared on her face: “Since I’m here for the talent show, I naturally have to bring my niece.”
When talking about her niece, Madam Wen became enthusiastic: "Mingzhu's daughter is called Xi Jie'er, right? Xue Xi. She seems to be a good girl. I wonder what her future holds in this talent show."
Fu Mingzi chuckled lightly: "The eldest daughter of the Duke of Qian's family, would His Majesty dare to arbitrarily arrange a marriage for her? She must have declared her intention to marry on her own."
“That’s true.” Madam Wen nodded. “I’m afraid Xi’er will be given to the local chieftain’s family.” Madam Wen sighed. “It’s such a pity.”
In Wen's eyes, those chieftains were all barbarians, the worst kind of people, how could they be worthy of the Duke's daughter? But this was a custom of the Duke of Qian's mansion for many years, and it was also to win over the local chieftains. As the Duke's legitimate daughter, Mu Xuexi had no choice.
Upon hearing this, Fu Yunjia asked weakly, "Is this the only cousin in my great-aunt's family?"
Ms. Wen was taken aback, but then she realized what was happening.
"It seems..." she hesitated, "It seems there's another illegitimate daughter, is her name Qing'er or something? She's a bit older than Xi'er." At this point, Madam Wen suddenly realized, "Then this time, I'm afraid this Qing'er will also come along."
At this point, Madam Wen patted Fu Yunjia's hand with a look of relief: "You're quick-witted and reminded me. If I had forgotten this and prepared the wrong room, I'm afraid I would have been embarrassed."
Fu Yunjia's expression stiffened for a moment, then she smiled again: "Aunt Xi has a bright future in the talent show, I wonder what will happen to Aunt Qing." Her smile was innocent, as if it were just a child's fantasy.
Madam Wen frowned slightly, while Fu Mingzi looked at Fu Yunjia with great interest, realizing that she had overlooked this grandniece before, and now she found her quite amusing.
“That Qing’er seems to have some issues with her background,” Madam Wen said, forcing herself to speak. “Our Jia’er can just spend more time with your cousin Xi.”
Fu Yunjia was taken aback at first, then immediately lowered her eyes and gave a soft "hmm," but her eyes reddened where no one else could see.
She originally wanted to warn her family to be careful of that vicious woman, but she didn't expect that they were already on guard. Her grandmother seemed to have said the same thing to her in her previous life, but she didn't take it to heart at the time. In the end, she was deceived by that woman and ended up like that. In retrospect, she really deserved it!
Seeing Fu Yunjia lower her head, Madam Wen thought she didn't understand her meaning. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Grandmother won't harm you. You'll understand when your great-aunt comes. Jia'er, you must be obedient." As she spoke, she gently patted her back.
Fu Yunjia gritted her teeth to keep from crying out loud. She pinched her thumb and forcibly held back her tears. Having lived a second life, she finally understood who truly cared for her. The phrase "Jia-jie, be good" was something she had never heard anyone say since her falling out with her family in her previous life. Hearing it now was particularly heartbreaking.
“Grandmother, I understand.” She carefully moved closer to Madam Wen’s embrace and murmured softly.
Ms. Wen smiled and stroked her hair: "Good girl."
Fu Mingzi watched this scene and felt a pang of emotion, but...
Fu Mingzi glanced at Fu Yunjia, who was leaning against Wen Shi's chest. His grandniece was indeed acting strangely.
Fu Mingzi kept the matter of the Mu sisters in mind, thinking that she would definitely have to observe them carefully later.
Having finished discussing Fu Mingzhu's matter, Fu Mingzi didn't linger and prepared to leave. However, seeing that he was about to leave, Madam Wen asked again, "Is the young master coming?"
Fu Mingzi was stunned for a long time before saying, "Since eldest sister has come, the young master probably won't be coming."
After he finished speaking, he subconsciously looked at Fu Yunjia for some reason. Fu Yunjia just raised her head at that moment, looking somewhat surprised, and her eyes met Fu Mingzi's.
Perhaps Fu Mingzi's gaze was a little too intense, because Fu Yunjia turned her face away the next moment, then paused and said in a low voice, "Maybe my cousin will come back too."
Madam Wen took it as childish talk and smiled as she stroked Fu Yunjia's hair: "Yes, maybe he'll come back. Yun-ge'er is smart, and our Yunjia will be able to meet her uncle."
Wen said this only to tease Fu Yunjia, but she was certain in her heart that Mu Zhenyun would not come. After all, he was the heir apparent, and it was simply too outrageous for the heir apparent and the Duchess to both leave Yun'an.
However, Fu Mingzi frowned. For some reason, judging from Fu Yunjia's reaction, he felt that Mu Zhenyun would definitely come.
Thinking this, Fu Mingzi added a few more words: "If Yun-ge'er really comes, I'm afraid something big has happened in Yun'an. I'll go and ask my elder brother right away."
When Fu Mingzi said this, her eyes were fixed on Fu Yunjia.
Fu Yunjia was a young lady from a sheltered family and had no idea about these inside stories. Even in her previous life, when she was older, she had never thought about them carefully. But now that her fifth great-uncle had said these words, she suddenly realized.
If Yun'an hadn't had that incident, why would my great-aunt have brought her children back to the capital? She even stayed at the mansion for a long time, until several months after the imperial concubine selection was over, before finally returning to Yun'an.
Fu Yunjia felt a pang of panic at the thought. She suddenly realized that although she knew a lot about her past life, she was still completely blind to it.
The thought of this made Fu Yunjia panic. She had forgotten whether the person who later inherited the Duke of Qian's mansion was actually her maternal cousin.
"Maybe they'll come." In her panic, Fu Yunjia forgot to cover up and blurted out to Fu Mingzi, "We can't say for sure whether they'll come or not, so it's always good to be prepared." Fu Yunjia realized her slip of the tongue and quickly added.
After a moment's hesitation, Madam Wen agreed with Fu Yunjia's assessment and nodded, "Jia'er is right. It's better to be well-prepared to avoid being caught off guard."
Fu Mingzi's gaze darkened. His grandniece must know something, but... how could that be? How could a young lady from a sheltered family know more than him?
Fu Mingzi wanted to ask more, but looking at Fu Yunjia's surprised and uncertain eyes, she softened. After all, she was still a child, and she couldn't push her too hard. She should take it slowly.
"That's true." Fu Mingzi said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, you can take your time making arrangements. I'll be going now."
Wen nodded casually, but Fu Yunjia breathed a sigh of relief. Her fifth great-uncle's gaze always put a lot of pressure on her.
Fu Mingzi hurriedly left the inner courtyard, intending to return to her own courtyard, but then her mind changed, and she headed towards Fu Mingsong's courtyard instead.
By this time, Fu Mingsong should have already returned from the old man's place.
Fu Mingsong did indeed return, and he was quite leisurely painting.
"Big brother!" Fu Mingzi was furious to see him so relaxed.
Fu Mingsong didn't even look up: "What are you shouting about? Sit down and talk." His tone was very calm, as if he had expected this.
Seeing his reaction, Fu Mingzi hesitated for a moment, but still sat down. After watching Fu Mingsong finish drawing a clump of bamboo, she raised her head and slowly wiped her hands with a handkerchief.
"You may leave." Fu Mingsong tossed the handkerchief to the servant beside him.
The servant took the handkerchief, nodded slightly, and left, closing the door behind him.
Fu Mingzi frowned, feeling that her current situation was somewhat passive.
"You're back from your sister-in-law's?" Fu Mingsong sat down and asked unhurriedly.
Fu Mingzi didn't expect to be able to hide it from Fu Mingsong, so she nodded readily.
"So what did you find out?" Fu Mingsong asked him with a smile.
"My sister-in-law doesn't know either," Fu Mingzi answered honestly. "But I do have a guess."
Fu Mingsong raised an eyebrow: "Tell me about it."
"Is Eldest Sister's trip to the capital this time related to the succession of the Duke's title?" This conclusion is not hard to guess. If someone as cautious as Fu Mingzhu can make such a decision, it must be something big. And what is considered a big deal, apart from the Duke of Qian's rebellion, is nothing more than a problem arising in the Duke's mansion.
The issue that Fu Mingzhu was concerned about was the succession of the title.
“You’re right.” Fu Mingsong readily admitted, “I told my father long ago that if you hadn’t guessed this, you didn’t need to know about it. But now that you’ve guessed it, it won’t hurt to tell you.”
Fu Mingzi curled her lips into a smile: "This is exactly the kind of thing only the eldest brother would do."
Fu Mingzi always felt that the most cunning and scheming person in the entire Fu family was not the old master, nor him, but his eldest brother.
He appears mild-mannered and gentle, but how gentle could someone who could give birth to a shrewd person like Fu Zechen be?
“You don’t need to tease me.” Fu Mingsong said calmly, “The Duke of Qian has become confused. It was one thing to favor his concubines when he was young, but now that he’s old, he’s even thinking about deposing the emperor. You should know that the Duke of Qian’s mansion is different from other duke’s mansions. Deposing the emperor is just a matter of the duke’s word. Even if the emperor really hardened his heart to do it, I’m afraid it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Mingzhu has always been strong-willed, and she can’t tolerate this kind of thing.”
Upon hearing this, Fu Mingzi's anger flared up instantly.
He has always been protective of his own. Even though he wasn't very familiar with this older sister, she was still a member of the Fu family. How could she be bullied like this?
Fu Mingzi suddenly stood up, his eyes filled with anger: "The Duke of Qian has quite the nerve!"
"What are you doing!" Fu Mingsong said sternly. "Sit down right now! You think you can beat him to death?!"
Fu Mingzi dared not disobey Fu Mingsong's words and could only sit down angrily.
After holding his breath for a while, he finally asked, "Why did you suddenly have this idea now?"
Fu Mingsong's eyes were cold, and a mocking smile played on his lips: "What else could it be for? His beloved concubine, whom he cherished, finally gave birth to a son for him. The child had just turned one month old when Yun-ge fell off his horse while hunting. Fortunately, the guards around him were capable, otherwise he would have died without a chance to cry out for justice. It was after this incident that Mingzhu realized something was wrong, and that's when she made up her mind to take Yun-ge and Xi-jie to the capital under the pretext of the imperial concubine selection."
Upon hearing this, Fu Mingzi was so angry that he wanted to tear the Duke of Qian apart with his bare hands. However, the more he hated him, the calmer he became on the surface. He even laughed in anger: "Good, good, you really don't take our Duke of Jing's mansion seriously."
"The Duke of Jingguo's mansion is far away in the capital, so how could the Duke of Qianguo possibly take it seriously?" Fu Mingzi said calmly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
