Year-ago turmoil 2
At the beginning of the You hour, Shen Huaijin, who had just returned today, sent someone to pass on the message. Only then did Mr. Shen know that Ling Wan was punished by Old Madam Shen to kneel in the ancestral hall.
He hurried back home and headed towards the ancestral hall, but when he was almost there, he turned around and went to pay his respects to Old Madam Shen first.
Old Madam Shen looked at her second son, whose hair had turned white at an early age, and felt a pang of sadness in her heart. She spoke calmly, "Are you here for your wife?"
Chen Cong lowered his head: "Ling Wan has always been sensible, but she is young and there are always things she does not do well. It is her mother's responsibility to teach her."
Her own son actually spoke to him in an official tone. Old Madam Shen snorted coldly and said indifferently, "There's nothing wrong with it. I just gave you a hat today."
A hat? A hint of surprise flashed across Chen Cong's eyes, but by the time he understood what was happening, the rare hint of liveliness on his face had already turned into calmness.
Old Madam Shen knew that the calmer her son's face was, the more turbulent his heart was. She sipped her tea and looked at him calmly. After the calmness in his eyes turned into indifference, she kindly added, "It's not Ling Wan, it's Ding."
Oh. Mr. Shen's fingers, clenched until they turned white, loosened in vain.
"I had to avoid everyone in the Ding Mansion and quietly send my cousin Ding from Qingzhou to the capital. I also took advantage of the New Year's holiday to enter the Shen Mansion with the Ding family's old servant."
"After entering the Chen residence, because of Ling Wan's late rise, he dared to go see Ding without permission. And when he met Ding, he happened to be seen by Qiu. He took advantage of Qiu's jealousy and made the whole residence know about it."
"Erlang, what happened to the Second House? If I don't punish Ling Wan, who should I punish?"
Old Madam Shen's face turned serious, and she changed the subject, speaking sternly: "I know you love Ling Wan deeply, and I like this child too."
"But now the Shen family has two ministers, and they are in the limelight. Many eyes are watching you, both openly and covertly. Although Ling Wan is young, if she marries you, she will be your wife. You must know that a husband and wife share the same prosperity and the same adversity."
"This past year, I've watched her manage the harem and the chores. She's virtuous, capable, clear-headed, and neither arrogant nor impetuous. She's a wonderful, intelligent child, but she's a bit too lenient!"
"Qiu and Zhao, relying on their own children, dared to contradict the mistress and deceive the superiors and the subordinates; Ding, relying on the mistress's good nature, dared to fight in front of me under the banner of standing up for her!"
"Erlang, rather than me punishing Ling Wan again, I'd rather say that as a mother, I'm using this incident to teach you, a senior official of the imperial court, a lesson!"
"If you had clearly distinguished between legitimate and illegitimate children, and had an orderly hierarchy, why would Ling Wan not dare to let go and manage the inner house? If you hadn't paid too much attention to Tang Jie'er and Huai'an, why would she allow a few concubines to act so presumptuously in front of her?!"
This statement was actually an injustice to Master Shen. The reason why Chen Yuanyuan was so lenient towards her concubines and illegitimate children was simply because she regarded being the "legal wife" as a job, and her job was just a job.
But after hearing this, Second Master Shen felt a sudden enlightenment. Xu Lingwan had found a reason for her tolerance and generosity towards his family: she cared about him and didn't want him to be sad. She loved him and loved his family, and she was also trying to please him.
Chen Yuanyuan on the other side sneezed.
"Mother Yu, what time is it now?" Although Old Madam Shen had asked her to kneel in the ancestral hall, the charcoal fire in the house was still burning. When the winter sun came over in the afternoon, she knelt on the futon and even fell asleep in a slumber.
Mother Yu looked at her and didn't know whether to feel pity or anger for a moment. She just hoped that the ancestors of the Shen family would forgive this careless second daughter-in-law.
"It should be three quarters past midnight. I don't know when the second master will be back today." Mother Yu glanced at the sky and was worried.
"The Ministry of Personnel is very busy at the end of the year, and he probably won't be back until the end of the night." Ling Wan stretched her legs. She had been kneeling for more than three hours, and her knees were already bruised and swollen.
And even worse: "I want to eat. Mother Yu, I'm hungry. Please ask my mother if I can eat while I'm being punished by kneeling."
She hadn't eaten a single grain of rice since she woke up this morning. This was the first time in ancient times that she felt so hungry that her chest was sticking to her back.
In fact, she had told Mother Yu about this once at noon, but the loyal half-mother told her with tears in her eyes: The old lady is still angry, you have to correct your attitude.
Attitude. What attitude? Man is iron, rice is steel. To think about mistakes, you must have energy.
As for what she had done wrong, Chen Yuanyuan figured it out after she took a nap in front of the ancestral hall in the afternoon.
She is the mistress of the second house. If there are any problems in the second house, it is naturally because she, as the mistress, has failed to manage it well. It is her fault.
Although she felt sorry for Ding, she felt that Ding would not cheat on Shen Cong, and she did not have the courage to do so. But now that Aunt Ding had admitted it, it was set in stone. If it got out, the Shen family's reputation would be ruined for generations.
What's more——
Ling Wan narrowed her eyes. If, as Aunt Ding said, Ding's father was such a man who despised the poor and loved the rich, selling his daughter for fame, why would he allow Ding's cousin, who had been betrothed since childhood, to come to Kyoto? And the old servant from the Ding family who came to visit Ding also brought a letter from his cousin's servant?
This is not the modern world where "if you can't be lovers, you can still be friends." Although Chen Yuanyuan shed tears for this love, she at least had some brains.
"No need to ask mother, let's go back to the house to eat." The door was pushed open with a "creak", and the cold wind blowing in her face made Chen Yuanyuan's neck shrink.
"Second Master, why are you back?" Ling Wan rubbed her eyes and confirmed that it was Chen Cong without a doubt.
"If I don't come back, where else can I go?" Chen Cong squatted down, and just as his hand touched Ling Wan's knee, he heard her hissing in a breath of cold air.
Seeing Chen Cong frown, Ling Wan didn't know why she thought that Chen Cong would quarrel with Old Madam Shen on her behalf. She quickly grabbed Chen Cong's hand and said sincerely, "I made a mistake today. Mother punished me for my own good. Please don't stand up for me, and don't take it to heart."
Chen Cong:······
Uh. In ancient times, filial piety was the way to rule the world, and she didn't want to offend her mother-in-law for something she could handle.
"You...you go home first." Ling Wan said, pushing his hand away. "Mother always loves me. I'll be back soon."
"Oh, by the way. When you get back, tell the kitchen that I want warm mutton soup tonight, cooked until it's soft and melts in your mouth."
Chen Congben's face was cold. He listened to her rambling until the end. He didn't cry or make a fuss. He was thinking about food. He laughed angrily: "Ling Wan, do you know that you have been kneeling in the ancestral hall for a long time today?"
Xu Lingwan choked, glanced out the window eagerly, and whispered, "I know, I haven't eaten all day."
"It wasn't that my mother didn't let me eat, but I thought that admitting one's mistakes should always be done with the right attitude."
"But I'm so hungry, Chen Cong. The ancestors in the ancestral hall would probably feel sorry for me if they saw me so hungry."
Chen Cong:·······
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