Xu Wen had no idea how successful her younger brother was, and dared to covet Princess Jinyi. The two were of different generations, and Xu Wen thought
Dare to think in that direction. As soon as she returned to the mansion after leaving the palace, Xu Wen asked Qiu Ling to grind ink, sat down and started writing a letter.
After the letter was taken down and mailed, Xu Wen wrote another letter back to Jinling. Sheng Huairen came to the main courtyard again with an apologetic smile. Xu Wen had no time to deal with him and sent Qiu Ling away, saying that she was not feeling well.
Ever since Xu Lin came, Sheng Huairen's former aura as the head of the family had waned. Later, Xu Wen returned to Nanjing and brought two ships of return gifts to Beijing. Sheng Huairen suddenly returned to the way he was when he first got married.
Men are always so realistic. If a woman's family isn't close, he'll disregard marital affection and favor his concubine over his wife. Seeing that Xu Wen's family, with its strong connections, hasn't truly severed ties and is even defending her, his back suddenly buckles. What's the point of love? As long as the family has a strong background, men won't dare to go too far.
Sheng Shu and Xu Jiang got along very well in Jinling, and the two cousins even agreed to meet in the capital in a few years. When he heard that Xu Wen was going to send a letter to Jinling, he also wrote a letter to Xu Jiang.
She had dinner with Li Yuxin, her mother, and her daughter. Sheng Shu had stopped eating in the backyard. Once a boy had playmates his own age, his mother wouldn't see him often.
Seeing Sheng Hong, only in her early teens but already growing more and more graceful, Xu Wen also began to consider arranging a marriage for her. Good men were often betrothed early, so she couldn't wait until she reached the age of marriage to find a husband for Sheng Hong. Although the Sheng family had originally been a merchant family, Sheng Huairen had changed their fortunes, and Sheng Wei later became a scholar. After two generations of hard work, the Sheng family could be said to have inherited a legacy of poetry and literature. If Sheng Hong married into the capital, she could marry the legitimate son of a fourth or fifth rank official. Besides, Sheng Hong's gentle personality, without being weak, made her more than qualified to be the mistress of a household.
After dinner, Xu Wen sat aside, sorting through the sons of her acquaintances. Her thoughts drifted back to the Yu family. Yu Jiaxing had watched him grow up; the child was impeccable and his age was right for him. Although he hadn't taken the imperial examinations yet, his talent was only slightly inferior to Sheng Shu's.
After thinking it over, Xu Wen remembered that Li Yuxin and her daughter had been here for so long, yet they hadn't attended a banquet yet. She asked Qiu Ling to bring over the recent posts. After flipping through them, she saw a post about a flower viewing banquet being held at the Xiangyang Marquis's residence. Xu Wen decided to attend the banquet in three days. She asked Qiu Ling to reply to the post, intending to tell Li Yuxin about the banquet tomorrow.
"Marquis of Xiangyang Mansion?" The next day, Li Yuxin was a little surprised to learn that Xu Wen wanted to take her and her daughter to attend a banquet at Marquis of Xiangyang Mansion.
Recalling a past life in which the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Xiangyang was adopted by the Empress Dowager as her own daughter, bestowed upon her the titular title of Princess Pingning. Princess Pingning married into the Duke of Qi's mansion and gave birth to the renowned Young Master Qi. Li Yuxin recalled that in her past life, Xu Wen had said that Young Master Qi wanted to marry Minglan, but that the marriage was ultimately unsuccessful despite numerous setbacks. Could this Marquis of Xiangyang be Princess Pingning's maiden home?
Seeing Li Yuxin's surprise, Xu Wen told her about the Xiangyang Marquisate. When she mentioned that the Xiangyang Crown Prince only had one daughter, Li Yuxin confirmed her answer. She heard that Princess Pingning was arrogant, relying on her free access to the palace and acting with arrogance. Li Yuxin was curious about what Princess Pingning looked like before she was even granted the title of Princess.
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