Chapter 103 What about me? What am I?
"Sister, Mingzhu pays her respects to you and asks you to allow Mingzhu and the child to stay in the Pei family. Mingzhu promises to abide by her duties." Mingzhu came to Ruan Xiaoyue's side reasonably and wanted to show her goodwill, not wanting to be pushed aside by her.
Mrs. Pei was shocked when she saw this, but fortunately the maid held her back. She immediately flew into a rage and slammed her chopsticks, "Mingzhu is pregnant with a child from our Pei family. Do you really want to harm her?"
"What mother said is so unreasonable. She is a member of the Pei family. What about me? What am I?"
"You are naturally the mistress of the Pei Mansion. No one wants to take your position as mistress." Madam Pei asked Mingzhu to be sent back to her room before continuing, "It is common for a man to have three wives and four concubines. As the mistress of the house, you should be more generous."
"Is this taking a concubine? I just married into the mansion, and the baby in her belly is about to be born." In a normal noble family, it is impossible for a concubine to be pregnant before the wife enters the house. Mrs. Pei must know this.
The Pei family did have some faults in this matter, but to Mrs. Pei, nothing was more important than her grandson: "This was an accident. There is nothing we can do about the child. If you really wanted to, you should have thought of a way to get pregnant earlier. Why waste your energy on something you can't change?"
What kind of bullshit is this?
Ruan Xiaoyue looked at Pei Chong, who didn't say a word but was still eating calmly, and the disappointment in her heart surged like a tide.
If he really cared about her, he would not have turned a blind eye to the situation and not even apologized.
Ruan Xiaoyue turned around angrily. Seeing her leave, Mrs. Pei glared at her son and said, "Your attitude just now was a bit too much. We still have to rely on her for now."
Pei Chong didn't say anything. He was troubled by many things, so how could he have the energy to coax Ruan Xiaoyue?
Pei Wen fanned the flames: "Look, this is the girl from the Shangjia family. She is narrow-minded and doesn't know etiquette. Even if she married into our family, she should put her brother first in everything. That's the duty of a wife. Look at her now?"
Then he brought up the matter of attending the engagement banquet: "I want to attend the engagement banquet of the Qi and Jiang families, isn't it for my brother? Lord Jiang is a new noble in the court, and Miss Qi and I are familiar with each other. If our family does not bring out some decent gifts, it is a small matter to be laughed at. In the future, my brother will meet Lord Jiang every day. Wouldn't it be embarrassing?"
When mentioning Dali Temple Minister Jiang Jie, Pei Chong thought of the two thousand taels of silver he had given him. He spent such a huge amount of money but got nothing out of it. He felt upset at the thought.
Not only was there no news to be gained from him, but even when he met him at work, he treated him no differently than before, and did not act at all as if he had ever accepted two thousand taels of silver from him.
In a few days, he is getting engaged again, and the issue of gifts is indeed a bit tricky.
If they send too much, the Pei family doesn't have the strength now. If they send too little, considering Jiang Jie's appetite, it would be better not to send anything.
**
After returning to the room, Ruan Xiaoyue packed her things. She didn't want to stay in the Pei family for even another day.
"Young Madam, if you leave now, it will give the master and Mingzhu an opportunity. Besides, it will not sound good if you go back to your parents' home right after your wedding."
"Who said I went back to my parents' home out of spite? I just wanted to go back and see my parents and stay for a few days."
This is the only excuse Ruan Xiaoyue can find at the moment.
She was very sincere to Pei Chong. On the second day after she got married, she gave him a dowry of 2,000 taels to improve his relationship with her. But he was so good that he didn't tell her the truth. Now he even brought her a pregnant concubine...
Her eyes were blurred with tears. She suddenly snatched up the bag in her hand and threw it to the ground, then threw herself on the bed and started crying.
She couldn't understand how things turned out like this. The man she loved so much turned out to be a complete bastard.
After crying enough, she asked Xiaoqing to put the bag in the cabinet. She really wanted to go back to the Ruan family, but she couldn't take the bag with her. She couldn't let people know that she was living such a miserable life in the Pei family.
It’s not that I’m afraid of worrying my parents, but I don’t want the eldest wife to be laughed at.
Thinking back to her grandmother's words when she opposed her marrying Pei Chong, they now seemed like thorns piercing her heart. To this day, it really felt like she had brought it upon herself.
But she would never admit it.
**
Nguyen
"Aunt, this is the fan painting of mountains and rivers that I embroidered for you, and this one is a painting of happiness and longevity for your grandmother. Do you like them?" Wei Mingxi came to give gifts today, which surprised Zhou Yunzhi.
Ever since Wei Mingxi started working in the Ruan family's shop, he would often follow the shopkeeper when he came to report business, and every time he would find an opportunity to chat with Zhou Yunzhi.
After looking at the exquisite fan for a while, he sincerely praised: "These two fans have their own merits. The picture of mountains and rivers is magnificent and majestic, and the picture of happiness and longevity is exquisite and beautiful. The old lady will definitely like it."
Wei Mingxi was delighted when she heard this: "Is it as beautiful as my sister-in-law's embroidery?"
Earlier, her cousin said that the things she embroidered were inferior to those of her sister-in-law. She felt dissatisfied at the time, which led to her asking this question today.
But this question stumped Zhou Yunzhi. She smiled and raised her head: "Mingxi, you don't know that Qinghuan has never liked these things since she was a child. Not to mention comparing them with your embroidery, she has never even touched a needle and thread."
Wei Mingxi frowned upon hearing this and blurted out, "But my cousin clearly said that my embroidery skills are much worse than my sister-in-law's."
Zhou Yunzhi didn't know the inside story, so she couldn't explain anything.
Wei Mingxi figured it out herself. She thought her cousin lied because he didn't want to take her money.
Zhou Yunzhi knew what this girl was thinking. Ever since she started working in Ruan's shop, her son had been hiding all day. It wasn't all because of her. No one knows a son better than his mother. Qingzhou's mind was not on the family business.
But coming back to the point, Zhou Yunzhi really likes Wei Mingxi. She used to think that this girl had a bad temper, but she was very frank in what she said and did.
But my son has a perverse temper and is undisciplined. He doesn't care about the family business. If I force him in the marriage, he might run away to the south of the Yangtze River in anger.
Even so, she couldn't bear to see Wei Mingxi's enthusiasm being dampened: "Qingzhou has seldom come home recently. When Zimo came a few days ago, he said that he and General Ji went to the camp outside Beijing. I haven't verified what the child said, but it is true that Qingzhou likes to play."
"Aunt, I came here today specifically to see you and grandma. I have no other intentions." Although she said this, her face turned red unconsciously.
Zhou Yunzhi smiled: "Aunt didn't mean anything else, she just mentioned it casually."
As they were talking, Mrs. Liu came in and said, "Madam, Miss Xiaoyue is back."
Zhou Yunzhi was a little surprised. The second wife had already moved out and established her own household. Even if Xiaoyue went back to visit her parents, she should have gone back to the new house. "She came back alone?"
"Yes, she looked unwell, as if she had been crying. She went to the west courtyard as soon as she entered the house. The servants tried to stop her but failed."
"Don't worry, she is the old lady's granddaughter, maybe she is here to visit the old lady."
Although she said so, Zhou Xiaoyue went to the west courtyard as soon as she entered the house. It seemed that she didn't know that the family property had been divided yet.