When the two arrived, Shumulu had only just gotten up. She was a little tired yesterday, and thinking about her son's wedding last night, she couldn't help but think about it a bit more, so she went to bed a little late and got up a little later than usual.
When the maidservant reported that the two had arrived so early, Shumulu was quite surprised. Usually, in order to let Cheng'er sleep a little longer, their family would pay their respects to the emperor later in the morning, and she had told Fucha that she didn't need to come so early.
Shumulu was quite unaccustomed to the early arrival of the meal.
Shumulu quickly let them in, and when she saw the two of them coming together, she couldn't help but smile.
Tong Xuewen and Shu Yu said in unison, "Son and daughter-in-law greet Mother."
Shumulu quickly said, "Get up quickly, sit down and talk."
"Thank you, Mother."
After the two sat down, Shumulu said, "I forgot to tell you that you didn't need to come so early. You were busy all day yesterday, so you should get some rest."
Shu Yu didn't know how to respond to this, so Tong Xuewen spoke up: "We appreciate Mother's kindness, but we just wanted to see Mother as soon as possible."
Shumulu laughed from ear to ear: "Alright, you're so good with your words."
“My son isn’t just being cheeky; he’s telling the truth.”
Shumulu exchanged a few words with the two of them, and when she felt it was about time, she ordered the kitchen to start preparing breakfast.
During this time, Madam Fucha and her husband Tong Xuewu arrived, followed by Tong Xuean. As for Tong Cheng'er, she felt she had exhausted herself yesterday, so she indulged herself this morning and came over just before mealtime.
When she arrived, she saw that everyone was already there and couldn't help but say, "Why is everyone here so early today?"
Shumulu couldn't help but say to her, "It's clearly you who arrived too late, but you insist that others arrived too early. There's no reasoning with you like that."
Tong Cheng'er: "I misspoke, Mother, please forgive me!" Please stop talking. Today is a new day in the family, and Tong Cheng'er wants to leave a good impression on her second sister-in-law!
Shumulu gave her a reproachful look, but decided to save face for her today and said nothing more.
Everyone had arrived, and breakfast was almost ready. Taking advantage of this time, Tong Xuewen and Shu Yu served tea together.
After serving tea, Shumulu gave Shuyu a bracelet of excellent quality made of mutton fat jade, which was about the same value as Fucha's bracelet. Shumulu treated her two daughters-in-law equally.
Shu Yu then presented the gifts she had prepared to everyone one by one, and that was the end of the greetings.
The family had breakfast together, and then everyone went about their own business.
While others were busy, Tong Cheng'er had nothing to do. Shu Mulu Shi, now free, decided to take care of her daughter.
So Tong Cheng'er was kept behind.
"Mother won't let me leave, but does she have something to tell me, or something for me to do?"
Shumulu deliberately said, "How could I possibly order you to do things for me?"
Tong Cheng'er's eyes widened, feeling that her mother was going back on her word: "Mother, I did everything you asked me to do yesterday, you can't be so disrespectful to your own daughter."
Shumulu laughed at her: "You're quite something to make a point of mentioning what little thing you did."
Tong Cheng'er thought she was quite capable.
She felt that she was extremely busy and extremely tired yesterday!
"Let's not talk about that anymore. Mother, what do you want to say to me? Please tell me quickly, I have things to do when I get back."
Shumulu felt a pang of sadness, knowing it must be because of her cat again: "Why are you in such a hurry? There are people looking after her, and she won't go hungry. You treat this little kitten more than your own mother, don't you care about hurting my feelings?"
Tong Cheng'er: ...
Tong Cheng'er: "If I'm around you every day, you'll get annoyed with me to death. I'm doing this for your own good. Otherwise, I'll move in with you tomorrow and live with you. I'll even warm your bed for you every day."
Shumulu shook her head and refused: "Never mind." She couldn't stand this lazy nature. She wanted to say something but couldn't bear to. Getting too close would only make her suffer.
After some small talk, Shumulu finally got to the main topic.
"The reason I've kept you here today is to ask you what your thoughts are on Liu Shaoyi?"
Tong Cheng'er understood what she meant, but she felt she didn't want to think about it yet, so she pretended to be clueless and said, "What do you mean by that? Mother, what you're saying is a bit confusing to me."
Shumulu: "Don't play dumb with me. I'm asking what you think if Liu Shaoyi were to become your husband?"
Tong Cheng'er quickly shook her head: "Not good."
Shumulu was puzzled, and thought the rejection was a bit too quick: "Your mother thinks he's quite good. He's good-looking, and I've asked your brothers about their education. They all said he's good. He's lived in the house for so long, so he can tell what kind of person he is. Even though you've lost your parents, no one will control you after you marry into the family. You can be as lazy as you want. Why can't that be?"
Although what Shumulu said was tempting, Tong Cheng'er was still not very willing. After all, even a rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its burrow! She couldn't be even less than a rabbit!
Tong Cheng'er said helplessly, "Mother, I'm still young. It's not too late to decide on my marriage after the talent show."
Shumulu gave him a "you don't understand" look: "If you wait until after the selection to make a decision, it will be too late. Liu Shaoyi will be out of mourning next year. He is not young anymore. His parents are not around. If you don't have any ideas, I will have to start arranging his marriage. You are not old enough to wait, but he can't."
Tong Cheng'er said indifferently, "He can just arrange the marriage directly after he takes off his mourning clothes, which will save him the trouble. I have no feelings for Brother Liu, so please don't bring it up again, Mother."
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com