Chapter 117 Second Cousin
The master and his servants returned to Jiyunzhai and had just sat down when they heard Madam Zheng say, "The second young lady is back. Do you want to set up dinner now?"
Xu Shuyao frowned and asked the nanny, "Is my second brother-in-law coming with us?"
Madam Zheng thought for a moment and said, "I haven't heard about it, but I don't know if he will come to pick me up in the evening."
Xu Shuyao said nothing more, but asked them to bring the food boxes and put them on the table.
There was a small plate of steamed fresh shad, watercress mixed with dried tofu, a bowl of yam and poria soup, a plate of crystal dumplings, and half a bowl of rice.
This is already considered a hearty dish.
Now Xu Shuyao follows the housekeeper Wang, and since she is good at cooking, those people dare not be careless about the food.
Xu Shuyao ate half a bowl of rice with the dishes on the table and also picked up two crystal dumplings.
Then she hurried to Jinhua Hall and met Liu Qingwan outside.
Although both of them disliked each other in their hearts, they still maintained superficial courtesy in front of others.
"Second cousin!"
"Cousin Xu!"
The maids lifted the curtain for them, and the two of them went to the outer room together, but they heard low sobbing and talking coming from inside.
Seeing Liu Qingwan's composure, Xu Shuyao said to the maid at the door, "Go in and tell your aunt that we are here."
In this embarrassing situation, I believe the two people inside do not want to be seen, not to mention that my aunt and Liu Qingwan are at odds with each other.
After a long while, Xu Shuyao and Liu Qingwan were finally invited in by the maid.
The mother and daughter had already packed up, but Xiao Jinyi's eyes still had a little redness, and Chen also seemed to be in low spirits.
Now that they were here, the two of them couldn't continue their conversation.
Talking about daily life, not only Xiao Jinyi was not in the mood, but Chen also looked tired.
Xu Shuyao was also in a bad mood when she thought about her situation.
Only Liu Qingwan calmly tried to find topics to talk about with her sister-in-law who was not in the mood.
Xu Shuyao felt puzzled.
I didn't see how good the relationship between this cousin Liu and second cousin was before in the mansion. Is she now wholeheartedly playing the role of the sister-in-law from her natal family?
Xu Shuyao was not in the mood to talk, but when she was leaving, Xiao Jinyi suggested that they go out for a walk together.
Liu Qingwan accompanied them all the way and returned to her own yard halfway.
Although the garden of Duke Chengguo's Mansion is large, Xu Shuyao and Xiao Jinyi are both living in the mansion for three years, and the other grew up here since childhood, so there are not many new places for them to go.
Later, Xu Shuyao invited the guests to Jiyunzhai and asked the maids to make tea for them.
The two of them exchanged pleasantries casually, but Xiao Jinyi took her hand and talked about the situation at the Li Mansion: "Cousin! You may not know, but the concubine in your second brother-in-law's courtyard is pregnant. They all say that the child came easily and they don't want to abort it... They say that I was injured before, and I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to have children."
It turns out that she was crying because of this matter!
But Xu Shuyao had never experienced this, so how could she know what advice to give?
"Has my second cousin consulted a doctor? How can we say for sure about something that has not been determined yet? My cousin has been married for less than a year. It's probably too early to say that she will have difficulty in having children." Xu Shuyao replied tentatively.
Xiao Jinyi looked at her with a look of emotion. "Mother always said you were smart and asked me to learn from you. I'm a year older than you for nothing. The doctor said it would be difficult to have children. Not to mention the Li family, I'm worried about myself too. What if I don't take care of the child and kill him, and then I can't have another child, I'm afraid I'll be hated by everyone in the Li family."
Xu Shuyao said calmly, "They took a concubine less than half a year after getting married, and got her pregnant less than a year later. Is this another fault of my cousin?"
Thinking of the few times she had met her second cousin's husband, Xu Shuyao couldn't help but frown.
I heard that he is the top scholar in the imperial examination, but is he a fake one?
Is there nothing in him that is moral and ethical as a man?
Xiao Jinyi obviously didn't expect that this cousin who usually looked well-behaved would say this, and was a little choked for a moment.
She looked at her cousin in front of her. She was wearing a simple lake green jacket and a moon-white embroidered skirt. She had no makeup on, but she looked the cleanest and clearest.
Thinking of what her husband had said to her unintentionally, "Is the one I saw today your cousin? Which family is she from?"
What she said at the time was: "My cousin's parents are both gone, and now she is staying with her younger brother at the Duke of Cheng's mansion."
In Xiao Jinyi's memory, his mother once thought of letting Xu Shuyao be her daughter-in-law.
Unfortunately, my second brother looked down on it, and the matter was left unresolved.
My cousin is seventeen years old and still hasn't found a marriage.
The only thing that is superior to her is her good looks.
I didn't expect that my own husband would miss me.
Did he fall in love with Qiu Yuyan just because of her appearance?
But compared with Xu Shuyao in front of him, Qiu Yuyan is far inferior, no wonder he asks again and again.
Xu Shuyao was a little surprised to see her second cousin suddenly staring at her without saying anything for a long time, when she heard her say, "My cousin is not married yet, so it's easy for her to say these things. But my cousin is beautiful and will surely be loved by her husband in the future, and will not end up like me."
After hearing this, Xu Shuyao felt uncomfortable and fell silent.
She had experienced many such things since she came to Beijing, so she didn't think much of it.
But the rare sympathy I had for this second cousin has completely disappeared.
After seeing Xiao Jinyi off, Xu Shuyao began to feel annoyed.
Being targeted by Xiao Mo, it might be difficult to get married!
She is now seventeen years old.
Thinking about my interactions with the prince after I came to Beijing.
Each one of them has traces to follow.
On that day at the top of the mountain, the other party overstepped the line, but she pretended to be stupid and got away with it.
But what happened last night made Xu Shuyao no longer able to hold on to any hope.
Xu Shuyao, lying on the couch, wanted to take a rest, but she couldn't fall asleep, so she simply took her maid to Songhe Hall.
These days, she went to Chunhui Hall in the morning and Songhe Hall in the afternoon every day without fail.
If her aunt called her for something, she would have to go to Jinhua Hall.
As she kept turning back and forth like this, Xu Shuyao felt that her legs had become much stronger.
When she arrived at Songhe Hall today, Old Madam Xiao had just finished her lunch break.
When he saw her, he talked about Xiao Jinyi, "Your second cousin came to sit with me for a while and then left. Is she facing any difficulties right now?"
Since the old lady asked, she told her second cousin what she had just said truthfully.
Madam Xiao remained silent for a long while after hearing this. Xu Shuyao hurriedly patted her back and said, "Don't be angry. Who will be blamed if you get sick? Yaoyao really shouldn't have kept this a secret from you. Perhaps my second cousin and aunt also thought the same thing."
After a pause, she continued, "It seems that as long as Second Cousin takes care of herself, she'll be fine. She's just a concubine. As the mistress of the house, Second Cousin can manipulate her as she pleases, even if the concubine has given birth to a child..."
However, when Xu Shuyao looked up and saw Xiao Mo, she stopped talking.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
