Matchmaker's Happy Event 1
After she and Lingwan had their heart-to-heart talk that day, Tao went to Rong'an Hall early the next morning with a sad look on her face.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law closed the door and talked about something. When Mrs. Tao came out, her eyes were red. Mother Fan personally sent her back to the pomegranate garden.
Not long after that, Old Lady Shen called Sixth Master Shen again. As soon as Sixth Master Shen came out of Rong'an Hall, he went back and moved Concubine Fang to another courtyard, only instructing the maids to take good care of her.
Chen Yuanyuan couldn't tell whether this outcome was good or bad. She had previously visited the pomegranate garden and had met Concubine Fang several times. She looked like a very gentle, submissive, and honest woman.
Chen Yuanyuan was filled with mixed emotions. Seeing that Mr. Shen Liu and Mrs. Tao had reconciled, she was happy for Mrs. Tao, but at the same time, she felt a surge of deep sorrow.
Throughout history, it was clearly men who made the mistakes, but in the end it was women who had to pay the price.
"Second sister-in-law, speaking of this, Miss Zhu is related to your maternal family. She is a distant cousin of your third cousin-in-law from the Lu family." Mrs. Tao nudged her with her elbow, her beautiful apricot eyes bright and lively.
Ling Wan let out a confused "Ah" and came to her senses.
A few days ago, Mrs. Tao went back to her parents' home. When her fourth aunt, Mrs. Kuang, heard about it, she specially brought a lot of rare seafood to visit her.
Kuang was always outspoken, and Tao had always been close to her, so after a few pleasantries, Kuang went straight to the point and said that her niece from her mother's side wanted to propose marriage to the Shen family, and she wanted to ask Tao to go home and test Madam Lu's opinion.
Tao didn't understand what was going on at the time and just thought that the relative from her aunt's family who was unaware of the inside story had taken a fancy to Shen Huaijin.
After all, many wives of officials who were moving to Kyoto with their husbands for the first time wanted to make Shen Tanlang their son-in-law as soon as they saw him.
So he immediately waved his hand and sighed, "Alas, it seems that there is one more sad person in the capital. I didn't know that my fourth nephew had already been engaged."
"Doesn't your fourth aunt know that Shen Silang is engaged?" Lady Liao raised her hand and patted her little daughter gently, her tone full of love and pity, "Your fourth aunt is talking about Shen Sanlang, your eldest sister-in-law's family, Lin Ge'er."
Although her daughter, who had returned home this time, was as cheerful and playful as ever, her mother could always sense a subtle difference in her child. So, while Mrs. Tao was visiting her newborn nephew, she dismissed everyone and summoned Mother Lin to inquire personally.
Before returning to the uncle's house, Mother Lin had been ordered by Mrs. Tao not to tell anyone about her experience in the Shen family. However, which mother could bear to see her young lady being wronged? So when Mrs. Liao asked, Mother Lin immediately knelt down and told her everything.
Finally, she couldn't help crying, "If Sixth Master hadn't sworn to heaven in front of Lord Bo and you that he was devoted to Miss Seven and would marry no one else in his lifetime, no matter how powerful the Shen family was, our Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion would never agree to marry a legitimate daughter to a bastard's son!"
"It's only been a few years, and I've already forgotten what I said. Sixth Master argued with my sister over a mere concubine, saying she was jealous and unreasonable."
"My sister is extremely sad and disheartened. She has been locking herself in the room all day without eating or drinking. If Madam Shen Er hadn't come over that day, I, my sister, would have been afraid of what would happen to her..."
"What?! The daughter of the Tao family is too cowardly to think about making a living just for such a thing!" Before she could finish her words, Liao slammed her hand on the coffee table beside her, and her apricot eyes, which were exactly the same as Tao's, were filled with anger.
Mother Lin's sobs stopped in fear. The mother beside Liao gave her a cold look and stepped forward to offer the mistress some water.
She didn't know how long it had passed, and before she could figure out what she had said wrong, she heard Liao, who was sitting at the head of the group, say coldly, "You've worked so hard for Sister Zhang over the years, and you've devoted all your attention to her. You've inevitably neglected your own family."
"It just so happened that your eldest daughter-in-law gave you a little grandson a while ago. Go pack up and go home tomorrow to enjoy your family time."
Mother Lin couldn't tell whether this was a favor or a punishment. She was stunned for a moment and said, "But Miss Seven..."
Liao stood up and glanced at her: "Don't worry, Sister Zhang, I will send a reliable mother to accompany her."
After saying this, he didn't even look at Mother Lin again and walked out of the inner room without looking back.
When Mrs. Tao heard her mother say that Mother Lin went home to enjoy her grandchildren and then Mother Tan was with her, she was stunned for a long time.
Liao thought her little daughter would be angry and make a fuss, and was ready to scold her, but after a long time, she only saw her little daughter droop her eyelashes and whispered "okay".
Looking at her daughter's pretty face but with a hint of fatigue between her brows, Liao couldn't tell for a moment whether she was relieved or sad.
After hearing her mother say it was "Chen Sanlang", Mrs. Tao was shocked for a while, and then she couldn't help but feel puzzled: "Fourth aunt, this is not a matter of niece shirking responsibility. I think you know Lin'er, and his eldest sister-in-law has her own ideas about his marriage."
Mrs. Lu is too picky.
Shen Huailin was now nearly 18, but he still hadn't proposed marriage. Not knowing Lu's character before, Tao knew that her eldest sister-in-law wasn't as devoted to this illegitimate son as the outside world had rumored.
But after a few years of getting along, I realized that the eldest sister-in-law was not not caring about this illegitimate son whom she raised, but caring too much about him.
Shen Huailin is good-looking and capable. He was selected into the Jinwu Guard when he was less than 18 years old. He is a person who has been favored by the emperor.
Although some of the aristocratic families in Kyoto were reluctant to marry off their legitimate daughters due to Shen Huailin's status as a bastard, every family had a large number of bastard daughters. However, even some declining nobles or officials from outside the capital who wanted to marry off their legitimate daughters were rejected by the eldest sister-in-law with various excuses.
Over time, people in the capital no longer mentioned this matter in front of Lu.
Liao and Kuang looked at each other and smiled, but each of them was 70% sure in their eyes. They just told her to go home and talk to her sister-in-law before giving her a reply.
Tao was puzzled, and started asking as soon as Kuang left.
Liao looked at her with a sigh and said, "You just think your sister-in-law is picky, but you don't know what your sister-in-law is picky about."
"Your husband's family is very popular in the court now, and your sisters-in-law all come from distinguished families. Given the Shen family's strictness, the remaining descendants will definitely avoid choosing wives from prominent families."
"Your fourth aunt's niece, Yu Jie'er, is from the Ningyang Zhu family. Although not as prominent as the Shen family, her father holds real power in Jiangxi. Her eldest brother also passed the imperial examination last year and is currently studying at the Imperial College."
"Mrs. Lu now has a daughter-in-law who comes from a prominent family and can support the family. Although Shen Silang was raised by Mrs. Lu since childhood, and she treated him as her own son and had deep affection for him, no matter how good she was to him, he was not her own son after all. Therefore, when faced with the temptations of some of the high-ranking families in the capital, Mrs. Lu felt that none of them were suitable."
"Now that you have a relative with a good family background and a powerful Yue family, but who is still no match for your eldest son, you can go back and talk to your eldest sister-in-law. She will most likely agree."
After Tao returned home and thought about it carefully, she also felt that it made sense. Moreover, if this marriage went through, it would be a boost for both the Tao and Liao families.
But she has always been a little afraid of this serious elder sister-in-law. Fortunately, she was able to get connected with the Jiangnan Lu family through various connections, so she was able to bring Ling Wan along openly.
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