Chapter 74: Chen Shuwei and Chu Xinrou want to marry into the Li family together
Shen Heng also disagreed, but he did not "take the lead" like Shen Zhang. Instead, he analyzed the pros and cons and the risks to Shen Shuwei and let Shen Shuwei make his own decision.
"Providing porridge to the victims is a good deed that will accumulate virtue." Chen Heng said slowly, "If you really want to go, your second brother will be patrolling the city gates during those days and will definitely not let you get into any trouble."
Chen Zhang was unhappy when he heard this, "Brother——"
Why did he encourage the third sister? He knew how serious the plague was. Many people had died. Why did he let the third sister go out to distribute porridge?
Chen Heng looked at him and said, "Third sister is not Ayang. She can make her own decisions. As her brothers, what we should do is support her instead of restricting her blindly."
They had no involvement in Shen Shuwei's first sixteen years, so they had no right to dictate her decisions now.
In the end, Shen Shuwei still went to distribute porridge outside the city gate, but before going, she and Shen Zhang repeatedly assured her that she would go home if she had a headache or fever and would not force herself.
To be honest, with the experience of his previous life and the help of Doctor Yun who was temporarily staying in the Shen family because of the plague, Shen Shuwei was not afraid of contracting the plague.
She was just afraid that in this life, like in the previous life, she would not be able to control the disaster in advance, causing the disaster to happen again.
In her previous life, she had consciously stockpiled food, profited from selling it, and even helped some of the victims. However, her power was limited, leading to the tragedy. The bloodstains outside Luojing City could not be washed away even after three days and three nights of washing.
Chen Shuwei distributed porridge at the city gate for two days in a row. Although there were kind-hearted officials in Luojing who could not bear to see the victims starving and also followed suit, their preparations were not as thorough as Chen Shuwei's, so the porridge was a little thin.
On the contrary, Shen Shuwei's stall not only had rice porridge, but also whole grain steamed buns. Soon, a long line formed in front of the stall, and words praising the Shen family's benevolence spread throughout most of Luojing.
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This matter naturally reached the ears of Marquis Jingning, and he immediately called Ji Jinglan over.
Because Chu Yunlan broke his leg and was kicked out of Bailu Academy, Ji Jinglan had been staying by his bedside day and night to take care of him. He looked ten years older and even had white hair on his temples.
When she was called by Marquis Jingning, her hands were still stained with the smell of ointment, which was pungent and unpleasant.
Marquis Jingning's face fell immediately. "That rebellious son brought this upon himself! Don't waste your time on him anymore. When you have time, go out more often and visit Shu Wei—"
"My Lord, what are you talking about! Yunlan is a piece of flesh and blood that fell from my body. As a father, you don't love him after you have that bastard in Concubine Liu's belly. I love him!" Before Marquis Jingning could finish his words, Ji Jinglan interrupted him with a scream, with a faint scarlet color in her eyes.
"How dare you! That's the child of Ruoshuang and me. No matter how crazy you are, you can't curse him!" Hearing the word "bastard", Marquis Jingning also got angry and swept all the teacups on the table to the ground with a flick of his sleeves.
When the servant serving at the door heard the couple arguing, he tactfully left and closed the door, lest he hear anything he shouldn't and risk his life.
Ji Jinglan stood in the hall, raised her lifeless and numb eyes to look at him, and raised the corners of her lips sarcastically.
He was so protective of the child born by that bitch Liu Ruoshuang, afraid that even a hair would be hurt. Yun Lan was injured like this, and as a father, had he ever visited him in the past few days?
Marquis Jingning saw the sarcasm in Ji Jinglan's eyes, closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't call her here to quarrel.
Shen Shuwei has been giving out porridge recently and has become famous. It's time for him to win her back, if not for anything else, just to coax her for the food in her hands.
"Go to the storehouse and order some gifts. Then change your clothes and go to the city gate to see Shu Wei. Ask her if she can give half of her grain to the Marquis' Mansion."
Ji Jinglan continued to look at him sarcastically, remaining silent.
Marquis Jingning was a little annoyed, and said in a heavier voice, "Who do you think I asked you to do this for?"
"The Third Prince made a mistake in Yuzhou. Now is the time for him to establish merits and gain His Majesty's respect. If Shu Wei can give the grain to the Marquisate, we will send it to Yuzhou for the Third Prince. After the Third Prince has made merits, will he forget our Marquisate?!"
"Do you know that Chu Yunlan has offended Prince Jing? I am doing all this for his own good."
"And your adopted daughter." Marquis Jingning didn't even want to mention Chu Xinrou's name now. If she hadn't offered a great contribution in flood control, he would have sent her to the ancestral temple long ago.
"I've had the imperial physician examine her hands. While the broken bones can be reattached, they're definitely not as dexterous as before, and there's a good chance they'll have sequelae." Marquis Jingning said with a headache, "The Li family has also learned of this. They agreed to marry Xinrou, but they want Shuwei to be Li Jue's concubine."
"What!" Ji Jinglan finally reacted. "Are they going to let Xinrou and Shuwei in at the same time? The Li family is going too far!"
She didn't care about Shen Shuwei, after all, Shen Shuwei was no longer a family member. But Chu Xinrou was her daughter after all, and if she took a concubine on the same day as marrying a wife, where would Xinrou put her face?
Marquis Jingning was also disgusted. "Do you think I agree? It was the young master of the Li family who proposed it himself."
"Your daughter has been involved in so many scandals lately, and now her hand has been cut off by the Prince of Jing's men. Apart from the Li family, which other wealthy family in Luojing would be willing to marry her? The Li family is lucky enough to accept her."
"Shu Wei has been raised in our mansion for more than ten years and has called you mother for sixteen years. You should talk to her about these two things. It is not an insult to her to be a concubine of the Li family, not to mention that the legal wife is her sister."
After saying this, Marquis Jingning walked away, leaving Ji Jinglan standing there in a daze.
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Shen Shuwei distributed porridge for several days in a row, and stayed at that station for a whole day. Shen Zhang looked at her several times, wanting to say something but still said nothing.
Chen Shuwei's eyelids twitched several times when she went out today, and Yun Ling joked that she might be getting rich soon.
After being busy for half a day, when Shen Shuwei took a break at noon and saw Ji Jinglan getting off the carriage and walking straight towards him, he realized that this was not a blessing of wealth, but a blessing of disaster.
Because it was lunchtime, there weren't many refugees near the porridge stall. Even so, Ji Jinglan covered her mouth and nose with disgust, and walked quickly with the help of her maid.
The first thing she said when she saw Chen Shuwei was, "You kid, instead of staying at home and learning how to take care of the inner house and do needlework, you come here to show yourself in public, aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"
"If your in-laws find out that you, an unmarried girl, are hanging out with this bunch of people, I wonder how they will dislike you." Facing the unfriendly gazes of the refugees around her, Ji Jinglan swallowed the word "untouchable" back into her stomach.
Shen Shuwei looked at her calmly, "It's not Madam's turn to discipline me for what I do. Madam, if you have nothing to do, please leave and don't block others' way."
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