Chapter 75: The Li Family's Concubine is Really Valuable
After Shen Shuwei finished speaking, a refugee bumped into Ji Jinglan. Shen Shuwei served him a bowl of porridge and took out a steamed bun.
The other party was delighted and bowed repeatedly to express his gratitude.
Ji Jinglan staggered and screamed when she was bumped by him. The maid beside her quickly took a handkerchief to wipe the clothes that were hit.
"Are you going to waste food on these people?!" Ji Jinglan asked in disbelief.
Shen Shuwei's eyebrows knitted together. What on earth was she doing here? Did Chu Yunlan come here to go crazy because of his lame leg? But she didn't interrupt him.
The next moment, she heard Ji Jinglan say confidently, "It just so happens that the Marquis's Mansion is short of food recently. If you have too much food, why not give it to the Marquis' Mansion instead of distributing it to these disaster victims?"
"Your father and I will always remember your kindness."
Father? Shen Shuwei couldn't help but curl her lips and sneer. When asking for favors from her, she treated herself as a relative. Was she planning to suck her blood for the rest of her life?
"Shuwei, mother is talking to you, can you hear me?" Thinking that these grains can help the third prince, and the third prince will also promote Yunlan for this merit, Ji Jinglan looked at Shen Shuwei with eager eyes.
"In my opinion, those bags of grain in the corner are good. Move them to the Marquis' Mansion first, and then have someone send the rest there. We are all one family—"
"Madam, are you finished?" Chen Shuwei interrupted her impatiently, "I use this food to help the refugees. If the Marquis's family is too poor to afford food, they can come here and line up like them with their bowls."
Chu Yunlan broke his leg. As a mother, could she not bear the shock and become hysterical?
Ji Jinglan's expression changed. "Shuwei, what do you mean? The Marquis' Mansion has raised you for so many years, and you won't even give me some food when I ask you for it?"
"Or would you rather give these grains to those dirty refugees to buy yourself a good reputation, without even caring about your own family!"
"Relatives?" Shen Shuwei chuckled and raised his eyes to look at Ji Jinglan, "Madam, have you forgotten that I have no relationship with your Marquis Mansion a long time ago? My surname is Shen, and my relatives are in the Shen family."
"Madam and the people from the Marquis of Jingning's residence intend to kidnap me by using my family and the kindness I have shown you in raising me."
"Do you want me to go to the government office and ask the county magistrate to write a personal letter about Zhang Duan and post it in the streets and alleys of Luojing to let everyone know?"
Ji Jinglan's face turned pale and red at what she said, not to mention the mocking laughter from the refugees behind her, which made her feel utterly ashamed. She was tongue-tied to begin with, and only dared to argue with Shen Shuwei for Yunlan's sake. Now, she was hesitant to answer Shen Shuwei's words, and after a long pause, she managed to say, "This is what your father meant. Think about it carefully. The Shen family is not as powerful as the Jingning Marquisate. What's the point of you recognizing those relatives of the Shen family? How can they help you?"
“Even though your last name is Shen now, the Jingning Marquis Mansion is still your home. You can come back anytime you want.”
Chen Shu narrowed her eyes and looked at Ji Jinglan. She knew Ji Jinglan's personality well and knew she would not say such flattering words to her for no reason.
Seeing that she was looking at him without saying anything, Ji Jinglan thought that she was moved by his tender words, so he took the opportunity to mention that the Li family wanted her to be a concubine.
"Shuwei, the Li family is a wealthy and powerful family. You won't suffer any loss if you marry into the family. You can also help Xinrou."
"My greatest wish in this life is to see you and Xinrou get married. Although you have left the Marquis' Mansion, you are still my child in my heart. If you two sisters marry together, you can help each other with anything. Isn't it better than marrying alone into another family?"
Ji Jinglan was so dry-mouthed when she spoke. She racked her brains to come up with these words and didn't notice the coldness in Chen Shuwei's eyes at all.
"Xinrou is kind and gentle, but she won't win people over. After you marry into the Li family, remember to help Xinrou run the business and don't let the Li family look down on her."
"I know that the young master of the Li family likes you. It was he who proposed the matter of being a concubine. But your status is not as good as Xinrou's after all. It was only with the help of the Jingning Marquis' Mansion that you could become a concubine. You must remember this favor. After you marry in, you must abide by the abilities of a concubine and don't compete with Xinrou for anything." Ji Jinglan added dryly.
Chen Shuwei sneered, "Such a good thing is really hard to come by. It's hard for Madam to be thinking about me all the time."
Ji Jinglan was delighted when she heard the words, not being able to tell whether they were good or bad. "Shuwei, do you agree?! Mother said this is a good marriage. Even though she's just a concubine, the concubines of the Li family are more precious than the wives of ordinary families."
"Since you have agreed, I will go back and ask the Li family to carry your share of the betrothal gifts to the Marquis' Mansion. You don't have to give the dowry."
Ji Jinglan was thinking of leaving both the betrothal gifts from Chen Shuwei and Chu Xinrou to Chu Yunlan. As for the dowry, what kind of dowry would a concubine need?
Ji Jinglan felt that this was a good idea more and more. Chen Shuwei was able to become a concubine of the Li family thanks to their Marquis' Mansion, and she was still not grateful to her.
Chen Shuwei looked at Ji Jinglan, the corners of his lips slightly raised, his voice gentle, "Why didn't Madam tell Chu Mingyi about such a precious marriage in the Li family? She and Chu Xinrou are sisters. It would be really harmonious if they married into the family with one wife and one concubine."
Ji Jinglan was like a chicken with its neck pinched, her joy frozen on her face, and she complained: "What are you talking about? The Li family wants you, but they don't like Mingyi."
Even if he liked her, he would not let Chu Mingyi, the bastard who crawled out of the bitch Liu Ruoshuang's belly, marry her.
"Puchi." A sneer suddenly came from the side.
Chen Shuwei looked back and found that it was an acquaintance, the wife of the Minister of War, Wang Peilan, who had smashed a lot of treasures in the Jingning Marquis's Mansion that day and scolded the old lady until she had a severe attack.
She served porridge next to Shen Shuwei and prayed for her youngest son.
When Ji Jinglan saw her, her face looked unhappy.
Wang Peilan walked over slowly, her voice loud enough for everyone around to hear. "The Li family is such a good family, yet they value even a concubine. Why doesn't Madam Ji divorce the Marquis of Jingning and marry into the family so that she can help your daughter?"
Some of the people around were dignitaries from Luojing who were distributing porridge here, and some were refugees. When they heard Wang Peilan's words about not discriminating between meat and vegetables, they couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Ji Jinglan's face suddenly turned pale and blue.
"The Li family looked down on the daughter of your Jingning Marquisate, so they wanted to take Miss Shen with them. And you're really rushing to persuade her to become a concubine. Bah!"
"What sin has Chen Shuwei committed? She has toiled in your Jingning Marquis Mansion for more than ten years, and finally escaped from the hellish pit a few days ago, and you want her to sacrifice the rest of her life for your worthless daughter."
"Ji Jinglan, do you have any shame in the Jingning Marquis Mansion?"
"This is my family affair, what does it have to do with you?" Ji Jinglan's face flushed with embarrassment, and she gritted her teeth and argued.
"Shuwei, why don't you go home with your mother! What's the point of showing up here? All the food has been moved to the Marquis' Mansion, and your father will keep it for you." She turned and scolded Shen Shuwei, trying to save some face here.
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