Shen's Tanlang
Because we had to decorate Huaiyin's residence together in the afternoon, I went to my eldest sister-in-law's place a little late today.
Mrs. Lu was teasing Huai Cheng. When she saw Ling Wan rushing in, she turned to Mrs. Tao and said with a smile, "Sixth sister-in-law is right. Ling Wan doesn't look like your second sister-in-law at all. She looks more like your most mischievous little sister."
The tone was teasing yet affectionate, making Chen Yuanyuan blush.
Tao also looked over with a smile, and saw that Ling Wan had her hair in a round bun and was wearing a bean green jacket with cloud patterns. Although her face was pretty and beautiful, she still looked childish.
She suddenly remembered what her mother had said to her. Her mother said, "If a woman gets married and becomes younger and younger as she grows older, with a naive look on her face from time to time, then she must have married a very good man and a very good family."
Tao also had these expressions when she first married into the Shen family, but as Mr. Shen Liu's career went more and more smoothly, she felt that her state of mind had changed, and such expressions became less and less common.
"Sister-in-law, please stop teasing sister-in-law. Look, her face is red." Tao suppressed her confusion and called Ling Wan to come and sit down.
She was curious, why had Ling Wan never worried about Second Master Shen, who was so powerful? Wasn't she afraid that Second Master would bring back a few beautiful women after a casual flirtation?
Lately, the sisters-in-law have been talking about nothing more than Tang Jie'er's marriage, the developments of Di's son-in-law's family, and the inner court gossip of various mansions in the capital.
When talking about Di's son-in-law's parents having clearly written to inform them that Chen Tang would get married in Beijing and would follow her husband to take up his post after the wedding, Tao nudged Ling Wan's hand with her elbow and blinked.
That look was saying: See, I was right before.
The eldest sister-in-law Su Lai is a steady person, but she still looks happy about the decision of the Di couple.
She also had a daughter, and knew how lucky it was for her daughter to marry into a family so valued by her in-laws. So she smiled and said, "Ling Wan was thinking of converting those few acres of orchard in the suburbs of Beijing into cash as a dowry for Tang Jie'er. Now, it'll save us a lot of trouble."
Tao's heart trembled.
Because Old Madam Shen is still alive, the four brothers have not yet separated from the Shen family, and the eldest sister-in-law is in charge of the household affairs.
Since ancient times, when large families marry off their daughters, there have been clear regulations on money within the family. For example, as Tang Jie'er is the concubine's daughter of the second wife, the bulk of the dowry will naturally come from the father-in-law.
The smaller portion comes from the mother's extra allowance from her dowry and the contributions from other uncles and aunts in the family.
Logically speaking, as her second sister-in-law's second wife, she only needs to give a symbolic amount.
However, Mrs. Tao had not expected that Ling Wan, who had been married for less than a year, would be so generous to this stepdaughter and give her the deed to the land outside the capital.
Although the suburbs of Beijing are not as valuable as the capital, gardens there are still hard to come by at a high price, let alone an orchard that offers long-term returns.
Tao looked at Ling Wan who was tasting the osmanthus cake calmly. She asked herself, if Mr. Shen Liu had illegitimate children in the future, she would never be able to do this.
"When I went to pay my respects to mother this morning, I heard that you let Huai Yin live with you?" After Ling Wan finished eating, Mrs. Lu tidied the hair around her ears.
The fact that she was not picky about food reminded Mrs. Lu of her own daughter, Chen Fu, who had married far away. Her eyes softened and she laughed secretly in her heart. This girl even had the same taste as Sister Fu, and she also loved the osmanthus cake made by Mother Wu.
"Yeah." Ling Wan wiped her mouth lightly. She didn't care what others thought of her after what happened last night.
But Ling Wan didn't want her eldest sister-in-law and Mrs. Tao to misunderstand her, so she didn't intend to hide it from them, so she told them everything.
During this time, the eldest sister-in-law's brows became more and more furrowed. She even asked all the maids in the room to leave, leaving only Mrs. Wu, Lu's personal maid, to accompany her.
When the two heard Ling Wan talk about the injuries on Huai Yin's body and how she had slapped Huai Min a few times, they both showed surprised expressions. However, besides being surprised, Tao also felt a sense of pleasure in her heart.
Last year, Huaimin and Huaicheng were playing together. Because Huaicheng was young and ignorant, he grabbed his cousin's marbles, and Huaimin almost blinded Huaicheng's eyes.
If Sixth Master hadn't tried his best to stop her at that time, she would have rushed up and taught the bastard a lesson.
After Ling Wan finished speaking, Madam Lu took her hand and solemnly warned her, "Ling Wan, even I only know that you took Huai Yin to the Second House. We don't know anything else, such as the fact that you took Huai An to the Fifth House and beat Huai Yin. Do you understand?"
What does it have to do with what I want to understand? Chen Yuanyuan opened her eyes wide.
"Oh, Second Sister-in-law." Mrs. Tao, who was standing beside her, could no longer sit still. Her tone was quite disappointing. "The eldest sister-in-law is in charge of the family, but even the eldest sister-in-law doesn't know about this. Why do you think this is happening?"
Why? Chen Yuanyuan also had the same question.
"It was Second Uncle who suppressed this matter." Looking at the confused Ling Wan, Mrs. Tao stamped her feet anxiously.
"If you don't suppress this, and this matter gets out, your reputation as someone who bullies the weak and takes advantage of their power will be solidified. Besides, Yao... Fifth Sister-in-law has always acted weak and vulnerable in public. Anyone who hears this will say that you are wrong."
Tao raised a thick smile of sarcasm at the last sentence "weak and easily bullied". When she first got married, she had suffered many losses at the hands of Yao's "weakness".
"I don't care." Ling Wan blurted out, "Let alone seeing Huai Yin like that, even if Huai Min pushed Huai An into the lotus pond, I couldn't stand it."
Several young masters in the mansion were playing together. If Huai Min was not used to being strong, the maids around Huai An and Huai Yin would never allow their young masters to get into trouble.
The servants are used to changing their attitudes according to the situation. If she doesn't support Huai'an, she might do something even more terrible in the future.
"Second sister-in-law, you...you want to raise Huai'an under your own name?" Tao was quite surprised.
If she didn't want to raise him under her own name, why would Second Sister-in-law, a newlywed who had been married into the Shen family for less than a year, disregard her own reputation and take action for a bastard?
"Although I like Huai'an, I don't have this idea." Ling Wan shook her head.
Huai'an has his own biological mother, Aunt Zhao. Even though she is Huai'an's legal mother in name, she cannot do anything to separate the mother and son.
"Wang Xi suppressed this matter, and you will keep it deep in your heart from now on."
"Those maids and servants who know about this must also be disciplined and not allowed to say a word." Seeing that Ling Wan didn't understand that this matter concerned her reputation, Mrs. Lu sighed and had to teach her what to do.
Then he thought again, since this matter was already under great pressure, then the aftermath could naturally be handled properly. There was really no need for Ling Wan to worry about it anymore.
Thinking of this, she sighed for her own overthinking: "But since Wang Xi has taken action on this matter, there will naturally be no consequences. It's me who is worrying too much."
When Ling Wan heard this, she rarely acted like a spoiled child to her elder sister-in-law. Instead, she nodded seriously and said, "Yes, sister-in-law, you are right."
This is truly the case of the emperor being less anxious than the eunuch. His ignorant and fearless appearance made the two sisters-in-law laugh helplessly.
"Mid-Autumn Festival is just a few days away, and Huaijin will be back in a day or two." Madam Lu nodded at the little girl's head and asked worriedly, "Is the Zhuoying Courtyard ready?"
"It's packed, it's packed." Ling Wan nodded hurriedly.
A month ago, her sister-in-law had told her about the eldest son's habits. Knowing that he was always clean and didn't like others touching his things, she only sent someone to clean the Zhuoying Courtyard every day.
"Yeah, and Huai Jin doesn't like being served by maids."
"Don't worry, sister-in-law. I only dare to call the maids and old servants to clean the Zhuoying Courtyard. I guarantee that even the mosquitoes in the Zhuoying Courtyard don't have ulterior motives." Seeing that her sister-in-law raised her eyebrows slightly, Ling Wan quickly added.
This made Mrs. Lu and Mrs. Tao burst out laughing.
Shen Cong, the eldest son known as "Shen's Tanlang", is a man of talent, self-discipline, and aloof from women. This makes Ling Wan quite curious.
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