Although the Dragon Boat Festival is a holiday, there is no official day off. Even Lingzhu, a fourth-rank official, is required to serve in the palace. However, today, out of consideration for the emperor, most civil officials only served half a day and were allowed to return home.
As soon as he entered the gate, the old man at the gate naturally told him about Lanqin's return to her parents' home.
Lingzhu glanced in the direction of the main house, hesitated for a moment, and then walked over there.
After having lunch with Lady Anjia, Lanqin went to her original room for a nap. At that moment, Lady Anjia was instructing the servants to clean the room.
"Madam, Lan'er is back?" Lingzhu asked as he entered the room and saw Anjia sitting on the couch drinking tea.
"Master, Lan'er is back and resting in her room." Seeing Lingzhu enter, Madam Anjia didn't go to greet him, but simply said indifferently. Anyway, this old man now favored Madam Yang and rarely came to her place anymore; the affection between the couple from their early years had slowly faded. Their eldest son was now in the Imperial Academy, his future was assured. Madam Anjia's heart had also grown indifferent; at her age, what was the point of vying for favor? Her son and daughter were settled, and her status as the principal wife remained unchanged—that was enough for her.
"How is she doing at the Fourth Prince's residence?" Lingzhu asked, still showing concern. Last time, Lady Anjia asked him to plead with the Fourth Prince, but he hadn't gone. He didn't interact much with the Fourth Prince, as Lingzhu was a member of the Eighth Prince's faction. Therefore, when Lanqin was betrothed to the Fourth Prince's residence as a princess, he had already given up on this legitimate daughter.
"She's perfectly fine. When she had her accident, you didn't care at all. Why are you asking now?" Anjia's feelings for Lingzhu had gradually cooled, so she no longer cared much about the things in the house. A woman like her, raised from birth to be a virtuous wife and loving mother, tidying herself and the house—everything was to please that man. Now that her heart was empty, she naturally didn't need to please anyone anymore; she could do whatever she liked.
“She’s come back to visit, which proves she’s doing well at the Fourth Prince’s residence. Why are you making a fuss with me?” Lingzhu knew that Anjia was unhappy with him, but that woman Yang was indeed a vixen. She was younger than Anjia and knew how to coax people.
"Why bother coming over, sir? We, mother and daughter, are no longer in your eyes anyway." After being persuaded by Lanqin for a while, Anjia realized that she had lived to this age and her son and daughter had a promising future. There was no need to endure it any longer. Enduring it would only make things worse.
"This is utterly absurd!!" Lingzhu suddenly realized that Anjia was not so easy to manipulate, but he was used to acting like an unapproachable man in front of Anjia, so he turned and left.
"Madam, why are you doing this to yourself?" Granny Wang advised. She had watched Anjia and Lingzhu's relationship deteriorate to this point. To be honest, Anjia had been too weak and cowardly in the past. If she had put in more effort earlier, things wouldn't have turned out this way.
“I know he thinks I’m too old and that I don’t know how to please him. Fine, I’m already this old, why would I learn those seductive tricks? Or should I just send my maids to his bed?” Anjia said defiantly.
Alas, Lingzhu is only just over forty years old, and his needs in that area are still quite strong. Anjia is three years older than him, and she has aged and lost her beauty.
As for Lanqin, she woke up after sleeping for an hour. She saw Anjia Shi quietly sitting to one side.
"Mother, why didn't you go to rest for the afternoon? Why are you watching Lan'er like this?" Lanqin felt a warmth in her heart and smiled as she looked at Anjia.
"You've finally come back, so naturally your mother wants to see you to her heart's content. Who knows when the next time will be?" Anjia began to shed tears again.
Well, were women in ancient times made of water? Why do they always seem to...
Lin Mengyao was already in her early thirties, while An Jia was only about ten years older than her.
"Mother, Father should be back this afternoon, right? Does he still go to Aunt Yang's place often?" Lanqin didn't want to ask, but when she saw Anjia's face, she knew that she had something on her mind.
"That shameless woman, now that she's old, she keeps sending people to your father's room." Madam Anjia didn't even want to mention Madam Yang's surname, feeling that this woman was simply her nemesis.
“Mother, you are the head of the household. You can’t interfere in such matters?” Lanqin said.
“My son, you don’t know your father. He’s not on my side at all right now! I punished those wretches, but I can’t just beat them to death with a few sticks. Your father is protecting them, what can I do?” As Anjia spoke, tears streamed down her face again.
Sigh. Lanqin knew that Anjia's personality had never been assertive, and coupled with Lingzhu's neglect, it was natural that Yang wouldn't take her seriously. Now, by sending a young concubine to Lingzhu, she was treating Anjia like a mere decoration. No wonder her room was covered in dust!
“Mother, let’s have dinner together tonight. Let Father, and my brothers, invite that Yang woman to come too,” Lanqin said.
“Why would you want to see her? I don’t want to see her at all!” Anjia asked, puzzled.
“Of course I’ll stand up for my mother. What does she have to be proud of? She’s just a concubine in the palace because my second sister is a noblewoman,” Lanqin said.
"Lan'er, she doesn't even respect us mother and daughter anymore. When I heard you were confined by the Fourth Prince a while ago, she became even more arrogant. Your father refuses to plead with the Fourth Prince, it's really driving me crazy!" Madam Anjia finally couldn't help but start complaining. Now that her daughter had finally returned, the mother and daughter naturally had to have some private words.
"Mother, just do as I say," Lanqin advised.
Anjia didn't know what she was planning to do. She only felt that Lanqin seemed to have changed after getting married. She was no longer the little girl who would only act coquettishly in her arms.
Meanwhile, Lingzhu was lying on the chaise longue in Yang's room, eyes closed, while Yang massaged his arms.
"Master, what's wrong with you?" Madam Yang was in her late thirties, but she was well-maintained and still looked delicate and charming.
"It's alright, Lanqin is back. She's angry that I didn't speak up for Lan'er last time," Lingzhu said, annoyed.
Actually, he hadn't been in a good mood lately. He was stuck in a sinecure as a fourth-rank official, spending his days studying those tedious rituals and rules, which he didn't necessarily agree with. He had hoped his two daughters could get close to powerful figures and help him advance in his own career, but one had married the emperor, leaving him with no say; the other had married the Fourth Prince, whom he didn't get along with, leaving him powerless. He had hoped that at least one of his daughters could bring him some benefit, but now, aside from being related to the imperial family by marriage, he was still just a fourth-rank official.
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