Chapter 035: Rumors that shocked the world
The next day, Qin Xue got up early as usual, read for half an hour, washed up and had breakfast, and then dressed up to prepare to welcome Cheng Jingshuang and her sister.
She wore a goose yellow satin cross-collared shirt, paired with a dark-patterned pea-green horse-faced skirt, and a beige bodice. Her hair was styled in a bun, adorned with small beads and a dewy jasmine flower in the center. She wore small pearl earrings, no necklace, but a pair of fine jade bracelets on her hands, and her face was lightly made up.
The whole person is refreshing, light and elegant, both graceful and comfortable, and is very suitable for entertaining sisters at home in summer.
After finishing her makeup, seeing that it was almost time for Cheng Jingshuang and the others to come, she took her maid and strolled from the corridor to the outer courtyard.
Her father has been very busy recently, both with her marriage and business matters, and he goes out early and comes back late every day.
When Qin Xue walked to the outer courtyard, Qin Laicai had already left. The entire outer courtyard was quiet and there was no sound.
Ever since Liu Zhiyan started coming to the Qin family every day, the outer courtyard has rarely been so deserted. Qin Xue was a little uncomfortable with it for a while.
His eyes swept across the yard that Qin Laicai had asked someone to clean up for Liu Zhiyan. Seeing that the gate was closed and there was no one inside who had been with him almost every day in recent days, he suddenly felt a sense of emptiness in his heart.
Only then did she realize that she had unknowingly gotten used to seeing him every day.
So much so that if I don’t see you today, I feel something is wrong.
Su Shan, who was following behind her, saw her staring at her future son-in-law's study and thought she had forgotten that Liu Zhiyan wouldn't come to visit today, so he said to her, "Miss, have you forgotten what Master Liu said last night about not coming to visit today?"
"Remember, I'm just not used to not seeing him."
Su Shan and Tang Shuang were both maids who grew up with Qin Xue. Generally, families would choose maids two or three years older than their mistresses, and Su Shan and Tang Shuang were no exception. One was three years Qin Xue's senior, and the other was two years her senior. Furthermore, maids often interacted with a wider variety of people than their mistresses.
Therefore, Sushan and Tangshuang know more about the world than Qin Xue, who has only known how to eat, drink and have fun.
After seeing their young lady's changes in living habits and attitude towards marriage after meeting Mr. Liu, the two men were sincerely happy for her.
Because when the young lady was carried on her back, the nanny was worried and sighed more than once, fearing that she would not learn any skills and would one day be left without support and unable to survive.
She was even more afraid that after she got married, she wouldn't be able to get along well with her brother-in-law.
After the young lady met Mr. Liu, the two problems that the nanny was worried about were solved.
Neither the master nor the young lady knew that secretly, the nanny was hoping that the young lady would quickly marry her son-in-law Liu Zhiyan, so that the young lady's future would have an extra layer of security.
She and Frosting had similar ideas to Mammy.
So, when Qin Xue said she wasn't used to Liu Zhiyan not coming over, Su Shan couldn't help but presumptuously say, "Then let the master quickly negotiate a wedding date with the Liu family. That way, the young lady can legitimately be with Master Liu every day."
The Qin family was a small family, and the master-servant relationship was relatively relaxed. Qin Xue didn't think Su Shan's words were inappropriate. "I do want to, but Zhiyan's father wrote to say he can't spare the time to come to Yangzhou right now. Grandma Liu will discuss the engagement with Dad, and he's already had someone calculate the wedding date. But Sister Ye won't be free until August, and Zhiyan has to take part in this year's provincial examination, so the earliest date will be after Mid-Autumn Festival."
Hearing the disappointment in Qin Xue's words, Su Shan quickly comforted her, "I heard from others that June and July are too hot and not suitable for marriage. August is the best time of the year with its clear and cool weather. It's just the right time for marriage."
Knowing that she was trying to comfort herself, Qin Xue said unhappily, "Alright, alright. I know you have a clever tongue. You can turn anything into a beautiful flower."
It made her seem like she hated getting married.
She was just doing it out of habit.
She wasn't so impatient to get married. "My father always wanted to wait until I was 18 to arrange a marriage, and he hadn't even prepared the things I needed to get married. If we start preparing now, it will take several months to finish."
There are a lot of things that need to be prepared for a wedding these days. Not to mention other things, just preparing furniture is not that easy.
Her father only had her as his precious daughter, so naturally he wanted to give her the best. That was why he had been busy looking for wood for furniture. Once the wood was ready, he had to find a carpenter to build it, and then dry it in the sun. It was uncertain whether it would be ready by August.
"The master is really amazing. He is fully focused on this right now. He will definitely be able to solve the problem quickly."
Qin Xue thought to herself, of course, her father told her that Liu Zhiyan had uncles who specialized in construction, and that Liu Zhiyan could handle the wood. "I think I hear the sound of horse hooves. Let's go."
As the master and servant walked to the gate, they saw Cheng Jingshuang's carriage just stopped.
After the two sides greeted each other, Qin Xue asked the doorman to let them pass, and then the carriage drove directly to the second gate.
After Cheng Jingshuang and her sister got off the carriage, Qin Xue also arrived at the second gate. The three hosts and guests happily walked through the hanging flower gate and entered the backyard.
This was not the first time that Cheng Jingshuang and her sister came to the Qin family, but in the past there were other people besides them.
This was the first time the two sisters came to the Qin family alone.
Both sisters are low-key. In the past, when they came with others, they rarely disturbed Qin Xue because she had to entertain so many people.
It was a rare occasion that Qin Xue entertained the two sisters. Cheng Jingshuang and her sister did not rush to sit in the flower hall, but instead pulled Qin Xue and asked her to introduce the various small things displayed in the corridor.
Qin Xue was a child at heart, which was why she placed all kinds of gadgets on the corridor. Seeing that the two sisters were interested, she immediately started talking to them nonstop.
The Cheng family has a strict family tradition. The two sisters Cheng Jingshuang have to read the Four Books for Women and the Book of Filial Piety for Women, learn needlework, and also learn musical instruments, chess, calligraphy and painting. It can be said that they don't have much time to play.
Logically speaking, a child raised like this should not be able to communicate with someone like Qin Xue who only knows how to eat, drink and have fun.
But Cheng Jingshuang just likes Qin Xue, who is completely different from her, and Cheng Jingrou also likes her, this woman who lives freely and without constraints.
So, over the past ten years, these three girls who should have had no connection with each other strangely developed some friendship.
"Sister Jingshuang, if you like these little gadgets, I'll give you some later." There is someone in their family who specializes in making these little things.
Cheng Jingshuang waved her hand to refuse, "It's enough for me to just feast my eyes on it here, and then I can take it home."
Things only look good when they are placed in the right place.
If I bring it back to the Cheng family, there's no place for it except to put it in the closet. Why waste it?
Hearing her say this, Qin Xue did not force her, "Sister, if you want to enjoy the sight, just come over."
He led the group to the flower hall, greeted Cheng Jingshuang and her sister, and washed their hands in the copper basin brought by the little maid. Then he took everyone to sit at the table and said, "Let's have some dessert and tea first."
Cheng Jingshuang and her sister didn't know about Fang's Dessert Shop before, but after hearing that Qin Xue was getting engaged to the owner, they naturally found out. As for the eclairs and macarons on the table, Qin Xue had frequently sent them to the Cheng family, so they knew all about it. "Don't tell me these were made by your soon-to-be-engaged fiancé."
Qin Xue shook her head, "He's busy now, and the dessert shop business has been handed over to someone else."
"Tell me how your father chose him?"
"Actually, he was the one who chose me first." Qin Xue said shyly.
"He's so old, has he really never been engaged?" Cheng Jingrou couldn't help but ask the question that concerned her most.
She truly felt that if a man wasn't married by the age of 25, there was either something wrong with him, or his words were just empty talk. "Uncle, have you asked someone to check his past? I hope he doesn't get scammed."
Qin Xue knew Cheng Jingrou meant no harm and was not offended by her questioning. "Thank you for your concern, Sister Rou. My father has been to his hometown. He is indeed unmarried and has never been engaged. The reason is exactly as it is rumored."
In contrast to Cheng Jingrou's worries, Cheng Jingshuang was extremely certain that things must not be that simple. "Uncle must not have agreed to this marriage rashly just because he liked you. There must be other reasons, right?!"
Facing Cheng Jingshuang's affirmative eyes, Qin Xue subconsciously asked, "Sister Jingshuang, why do you trust my father so much?"
"Because he is the best person to children I have ever met."
When others raise children, they expect to get something in return from their children, but Qin Laicai only wants Qin Xue to be happy and never asks for anything else.
Qin Laicai's kindness to children was the purest and most innocent she had ever seen.
She didn't believe that such a person would irresponsibly arrange a marriage for Qin Xue.
Qin Xue didn't expect Cheng Jingshuang to speak so highly of her father. She couldn't help but nod, "Dad is indeed better than anyone else's father."
"He did reject Zhiyan. Later, Zhiyan said that he would study hard and strive to win a place in the imperial examination, so my father agreed." Qin Xue did not mention that Liu Zhiyan was very talented in studying. She gradually understood that some things are better not to be said before the results are out, so as not to create invisible pressure on the parties involved.
"Scholars are the most aloof and most of them look down on people like us who come from a business family. He wouldn't say that just to win financial support from his uncle, right?" Cheng Jingrou said with some concern.
It's not that she has a dark heart, but she has encountered this kind of thing many times when she was looking for a partner.
Whether it's the business the Cheng family is engaged in or their financial resources, they are better than the Qin family. She has experienced those bad things.
She was afraid that Qin Xue, who came from a lower background than her, would also suffer the same fate.
This time, without waiting for Qin Xue to speak, Cheng Jingshuang directly said to her sister, "Rou'er, both your and my fiancés were carefully selected by our parents after thorough investigation. They all look good now, but can you guarantee that they are really good?"
"Whether this person is a human or a ghost, we have to live with him to find out."
"I do this, Sister Xue'er does this, and you do this too."
"So your question is meaningless."
On the second day after Cheng Jingshuang and her sister visited the Qin family, the entire Yangzhou city was suddenly shrouded in a rumor.
This rumor was nothing else but was related to the Wang family's concubine who had just returned to his ancestral home not long ago.
Rumor has it that this concubine's son wasn't actually of the Wang family, but rather the son of a Japanese merchant who had come to Zhao State to sell goods. It was also said that the Japanese merchant had been struggling in business in recent years and was heavily in debt. Upon learning that the salt merchants of the Wang family didn't even have a son, he decided to have his son recognize him as his father so he could inherit the Wang family business.
Hence, Wang Xingsheng's journey of tracing his ancestral roots came about.
As soon as the rumor came out, everyone said that a family like the Wang family, who were rich but unkind, should have no descendants to inherit the family business and should be extinct.
Those families whose daughters had been persecuted by the Wang family set off firecrackers to celebrate the fate of the head of the Wang family.
The head of the Wang family wanted to deal with these families, but there were too many women who had been abused by their family over the years, and he simply couldn't deal with them all.
In addition, his wife and eldest daughter, who had long been dissatisfied with him bringing Wang Xingsheng home, took advantage of the fact that he was too busy with Wang Xingsheng's affairs to take care of him and began to seize the power in his hands step by step. He needed to deal with them carefully, so he could not care about so many things and could only let those people laugh at him.
There are two most important things for him right now.
One thing is to find out whether he really was a cuckold father.
Another thing is to prevent the power in his hands from being usurped by his wife and daughter who have been eyeing it for a long time.
Therefore, while the head of the Wang family was on guard against his wife and daughter fighting for power, he sent a large number of people to investigate the affairs between Wang Xingsheng and him.
He eventually found out that the woman had indeed been with a Japanese man. That Japanese man was not a simple merchant, but had some connections with the Japanese royal family. Not only that, after being with him, the woman did not break off contact with the Japanese man. Whenever the Japanese man came to Zhaoguo, the two of them would be together.
Thinking about the so-called son who looked nothing like him, he had originally thought it was because Wang Xingsheng looked more like his mother. Now that he thought about it carefully, he really found that his outline had a faint Japanese look.
Especially his medium to low nose bridge and the round nose tip that is exactly the same as that of the Japanese.
After realizing he had been deceived, the head of the Wang family was filled with unprecedented anger. He dragged Wang Xingsheng, who had become unusually low-key due to the rumors, to his side and asked him gloomily, "Tell me the truth, have you ever met that Tsuda Muneki?"
Wang Xingsheng had indeed seen it, but if he admitted it at this point, he'd probably die on the spot. So he simply shook his head and said, "I've never seen any Japanese, and I've never seen my mother see any Japanese. Dad, those rumors out there might have been fabricated by my mother to get rid of me, a thorn in her side, and at the same time, to make you lose power. You'd better not fall for them."
Growing up as a concubine's son, Wang Xingsheng could never really grow up to be a gentleman.
The elegant gentleman is just an illusion he shows to outsiders. In reality, his heart is even darker than that of the head of the Wang family.
As soon as rumors about his background started to spread, he smelled a conspiracy.
Unfortunately, because of the rumors, the head of the Wang family transferred all the people who originally served him and restricted his actions. He had no chance to personally investigate what the rumors were about.
But these days he has been wondering who in this world hates him the most and who wishes he would disappear the most.
The mistress of the Wang family and her three daughters are definitely the most desired.
But what he could think of, the head of the Wang family had already thought of. "The four of them, mother and son, did make a lot of moves, but that was all in the business. Even if they wanted to make a move on the matter between your mother and that Japanese man, they didn't have the ability to do so."
"Don't forget, your mother is no pushover." Wang Xingsheng's mother, who had thrived in the brothel, must be a person of great ability that should not be underestimated. "Don't worry, I'm not someone who can be easily fooled."
"Earlier, I thought your mother had only had me as her man, and I never doubted your blood relationship with me. Now, from the information I've found, your mother has been flirting with several men. Even if you're not the child of Tsuda Muneki, you could be the child of some unknown person."
"So, to confirm whether there is a father-son relationship between us, I will arrange for a coroner I am familiar with to perform a blood test to verify our relationship and see if there is any problem." Fearing that he still doubted the reliability of this matter, the head of the Wang family said, "I will arrange this privately and will not allow anyone to tamper with it."
He thought of what his mother had told him before he returned to the Wang family, asking him to seize the management of the Wang family as soon as possible so that he could use the existing resources of the Wang family to do business with the Japanese in the future, and slowly take over the entire Wang family.
Wang Xingsheng felt that maybe he really was not the child of the head of the Wang family.
Thinking of the cruel and bloody head of the Wang family whom he had seen, Wang Xingsheng felt that if the test results were bad, his life would be in danger.
His life has just begun and he doesn't want to die.
This was the cry from the bottom of his heart, but he didn't dare to show it on his face, for fear that if he didn't pay attention, the man in front of him would discover what he was afraid of. "Okay, when you have made the arrangements, you can call me over anytime."
"Remember to stay at home these days and don't run around." The head of the Wang family told him with a slight warning.
"Even if you don't tell me, I don't want to go out at this time. You know, I hate being pointed at the most."
Because his biological mother came from a brothel, even after he was born, his mother became a good woman.
But those who knew his mother's background liked to talk about him and his mother behind their backs.
He is really annoying. He looks at you weirdly in front of you, and then communicates with you using those uncomfortable eye contact.
Whenever he heard this in the past, the head of the Wang family felt sorry for him, but this time, he didn't feel anything.
I even thought that since your mother is so indecent, you deserve to be criticized by others.
Of course, she was still his favorite. He disdained to talk about her behind her back, but that didn't mean that after finding out about those things, he would still regard her as his favorite. "This is the best."
After coming out of the Wang family's yard, Wang Xingsheng walked towards his own yard with a heavy heart.
The Wang family is very big. Outside the courtyard where the head of the Wang family lives is a large garden. Wang Xingsheng needs to pass through this garden to return to his own courtyard.
Normally he would look at the various flowers in the garden, but today he was not in the mood at all.
Just as he was about to quicken his pace, he heard the voices of Wang Zhaodi and her two sisters chatting. He stopped in his tracks and hid behind a large pillar in the corridor.
He doesn't even know why he did this?!
You know, in the past, he really liked to go against these three sisters.
But today, he did this action subconsciously without even thinking about it.
Then, he heard Wang Zhaodi say in a nasty tone, as if she was laughing at a joke, "Dad has made many people play the role of turtles, and now it's his turn to be the turtle. I really want to ask him how he feels right now."
"Third sister, no matter what he says, he is still our father. If he loses face, we will lose face too. Why are you doing this?"
Wang Zhaodi sneered, "You're saying it as if he wouldn't embarrass us if I didn't say it."
Don't be fooled by their wealth and status, as if no one dares to bully them.
In fact, the three sisters were often laughed at behind their backs when they attended some banquets.
The reasons are similar, it's all about their father who has no restraint at all when it comes to matters between men and women.
When the eldest sister was being trained as the heir, even if someone laughed at them behind their backs, they didn't dare to do anything too much.
Ever since Wang Xingsheng was recognized, everyone thought that her eldest sister was no longer qualified to inherit the Wang family. The previous taboos in their hearts were gone, and they were not so polite to them anymore.
So, Wang Zhaodi is really super super annoying, as she stole her sister's inheritance, Wang Xingsheng.
Thinking of the recent rumors, Wang Zhaodi felt happy. "Given Dad's personality, he will definitely arrange for someone to verify whether Wang Xingsheng is related to him by blood. If he is, it's fine. If not, Wang Xingsheng will definitely die unless he runs to Japan to find his biological father."
Seeing her younger sister eager to try, Wang Sidi, the eldest sister, was afraid that she would lose control of her temper and do something wrong, so she quickly reminded her, "Mom has told us about him. Let's not do anything. Just wait and see the result."
Her mother said that even if the final result was that Wang Xingsheng was her father's child, after experiencing this incident, Wang Xingsheng's mother was no longer the superior person in his father's mind.
Given his father's personality, he would definitely not be so nice to Wang Xingsheng again.
As long as his father is not wholeheartedly good to Wang Xingsheng, with Wang Xingsheng's current foundation in the Wang family, he will not be able to defeat the four of them, mother and son.
Wang Zhaodi wanted to give the fallen dog a good beating, but her mother and elder sister wouldn't let her do anything. "Every time I think of him being favored, that smug look on his face, I want to laugh at him, but you won't let me."
"Third sister, a desperate dog will jump over the wall. You're just thinking about laughing at him, but haven't you ever thought about what you'd do if he bites you?"
"You are the only ones who can keep calm, but I can't. To prevent me from doing anything inappropriate, I'll lock myself in the yard recently." After saying that, he left angrily.
Second sister Wang Lai Di was worried that something might happen to her, so she said, "I'll go look after third sister. Big sister, you go take care of your business."
Only after the three sisters had left the garden did Wang Xingsheng come out from behind the big pillar.
Thinking of what Wang Sidi had said just now, Wang Xingsheng regretted that after returning to the Wang family, he was so focused on bringing his own mother back home that he didn't try to build good relationships with the Wang family mistress and the three sisters. Otherwise, he wouldn't be in such a passive position now.
However, when he thought of what Wang Zhaodi had said, if the test results were bad, given his father's temper, he would definitely not let him live.
Wang Xingsheng felt that he could not just sit there and wait for death. He had to find a way to meet with his mother and ask her whether he was the biological son of the head of the Wang family.
Yes, that’s all.
If not, he would have to run away as soon as possible.
Otherwise, your life will be in danger.
Thinking of this, Wang Xingsheng couldn't stay any longer and hurried back to his yard...
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