Now that he had been selected as an official, he naturally could not stay at home. Gaoping was located in Anzhou, and the journey to Beijing required both land and water transport. As the mistress of the house, Yu was very busy packing her luggage, but fortunately she had everything in order.

Prior to this, Yu had brought Yao Niang to meet the people from the second branch of the Luo family. The two branches of the Luo family had already separated their property and lived separately. A small door was opened in the middle of the two mansions as a passage, and they often went back and forth here on weekdays.

Yu held Yao Niang's hand and carefully reminded her: "Your great-aunt is now the most senior member of our Luo family. You should call her old lady, and your two aunts..."

Old Lady Dou was already in her sixties, but her skin was rosy and her face was smooth and wrinkle-free. She looked like an old lady who took good care of herself. When she saw Yao Niang, she hugged her and said earnestly, "This child will have good fortune in the future. You must take good care of her in the future."

Seeing such a kind great-aunt caressing her face, Yao Niang was somewhat touched, but she also knew that the two branches of the Luo family had a very good relationship, and that Old Lady Dou was very kind to the younger generations, especially to Luo Jingrou.

I heard that it was she who helped arrange the marriage for my father's first wife, Ms. Wang, and that Ms. Wang treated her aunt closer than her own mother-in-law.

The two ladies sitting below Old Lady Dou, the one sitting in the first seat stood up and said, "Child, I am your aunt. Come here and let me see you."

Yao Niang quickly called out, "Aunt."

The eldest aunt Ren was wearing a crimson half-sleeve. She was over 40 years old, with no flesh on her cheeks and a deep vertical line between her eyebrows. When she married, the eldest uncle Luo Zhixiao was a handsome man, but now he was over 40 years old and still just a student at the Imperial College. Therefore, Ren was very dissatisfied with her husband when her cousin Luo Zhizheng and Luo Zhixiao's younger brother both passed the imperial examination.

I heard from Yinrong that the eldest lady was a sarcastic and stingy person, and she didn't treat her daughter-in-law and grandson very well. My uncle was easily influenced and often agreed to things for his mother, Old Lady Dou, in front of him. But as long as Ren spoke, he would immediately change his attitude.

At this time, Ren touched her forehead and said to Yu, "The child is not suffering from fever, just a little thinner. I think you should give her more liquid food to avoid hurting her spleen and stomach." She said so, but seeing this dark and thin girl wearing a scarlet rose flower jacket and a white jade necklace around her neck, and even the bun on her head was made of Sichuan brocade, she thought it was a waste of God's gifts.

However, there was no conflict of interest between the eldest branch and their second branch, so Ren did not hesitate to show some concern.

Yu smiled and said, "What my sister-in-law said is true. Now we only feed her some longevity porridge, fish porridge and bird's nest porridge because we are afraid that it will hurt her spleen and stomach."

Then the woman who served below Ren stood up. She had an elegant appearance, with a few fine lines at the corners of her eyes, but her grace was not diminished at all. This woman was the second wife, Jiang.

Jiang came from a famous family and was very virtuous after she married. She was completely different from Ren. She even took the initiative to let her husband take a concubine. She gave birth to a son and a daughter. The eldest son had already married his niece, Xiao Jiang, and the daughter was Luo Shilan, who was mentioned earlier and married to the second son of Prince Fenyang, Duke Cheng.

In addition, there are Sun's daughter-in-law, Ren's daughter-in-law Zhou, who is the daughter of this government's teacher Yu, and Jiang's daughter-in-law Xiao Jiang. The second house is now managed by Xiao Jiang. Although she is young, she has great prestige and a good family background. Not to mention that Zhou and Fan of the same generation are not as impressive as her, even if Yu is here, she is also very stylish, with a vague sense of dominance.

In fact, in her previous life, Jiang had really bullied Yu, but Yao Niang didn't remember why at the time. She was still very young at that time. Because Yu wouldn't let anyone give her snacks, she was so angry that she pounded on the door every day. She was so hungry in the middle of the night, and she didn't dare to go out during the day because of her inferiority complex. Therefore, she didn't ask about it, she just knew that it happened.

Now that I think about it, although Luo Jingrou also had the problem of alienation and flattery, she also had big problems of her own. If she was not disturbed by others, who would do anything to her?

Now little Jiang was very enthusiastic. She took Yao Niang's hand and said, "Now that fifth sister is well again, please come and talk to us often." She also took off a pair of jade bracelets from her hands and diligently put them on Yao Niang.

Yao Niang tried to decline, but Xiao Jiang said, "Why do you have to do this? We are all family."

Jiang also smiled and said, "Fifth girl, just accept it."

However, Zhou, who was also the grandson's daughter-in-law, lowered her eyes and said nothing when she saw how generous Jiang was. Ren, on the other hand, gave her daughter-in-law a silent look.

Compared to Jiang's family, Zhou's father was also a Jinshi and a famous scholar in Gaoping, but his family was poor, so her dowry was very meager, which made Jiang, who entered the family at the same time as her, inferior. Although she later gave birth to a son, she was superior to Jiang, but since Jiang's husband Luo Jingfa was a provincial scholar, Zhou's husband was only a scholar, so she did not dare to compare with Jiang.

Although Zhou believed that Luo Jingfa did not pass the examination, he used the money to make friends with people in the government and pretend to be a Confucian scholar to participate in the provincial examination, which was considered a backdoor. But no matter what, Luo Jingfa passed the examination.

A scholar and a judge are completely different.

Those who have failed in the examinations for a long time can report to the Ministry of Personnel and be selected for official positions, but scholars cannot do so.

Yao Niang naturally would not pay much attention to the eye contact between Zhou and Xiao Jiang. After all, she was just a six-year-old girl and should act like a naive girl.

After meeting the adults, Old Lady Dou called out, "Let Shi Zhen and Shi Fang come over."

After a while, two girls came in from the door. Yao Niang recognized the first girl. She was Shi Zhen, the concubine's daughter of the Jiang family. She was thirteen years old and the second child in the clan.

After receiving Jiang's instructions, she hurried forward and took Yao Niang's hand, saying, "We have been looking forward to your coming for a long time. Now it's great that we can play together as sisters in the future."

"Thank you, second sister." Yao Niang pursed her lips and smiled.

The second sister is a gentle person with a strong character. She looks quiet and gentle, but in fact she is very opinionated and selfish. She has been married three times, and each time she squeezed the wealth of the other family. But later she went too far, and the three families joined together to embroil her in a lawsuit.

She remembered that in her previous life, when she went to the capital to celebrate the emperor's birthday, she passed by the place where her second sister married for the third time. She heard that she was using her son's flag to extort money from others, and she only stopped after being warned by Yao Niang.

Looking at Shi Fang who was standing behind Shi Zhen, she was in the process of changing her teeth. She giggled twice, and when her gums with missing front teeth were exposed, she quickly covered her mouth again.

At this time Fang was one year older than Yao Niang. She was as cute as a pink dumpling and had crooked eyes when she smiled. She was the eldest daughter of Ren. Ren was harsh to her son and daughter-in-law, but doted on her daughter like a treasure.

Shi Fang took out a piece of silk candy from her purse and handed it to Yao Niang: "Here, it's for you, fifth sister." She spoke in a baby voice, and everyone couldn't help but hold her in their arms and rub her.

In fact, Shi Fang was indeed very lucky. Among all the sisters, she was the most likable one. Although she had no interest in needlework, she was accepted as an apprentice by a needlework master by chance. There was also the famous story of two men competing for one woman. Even after she got married, she gave birth to twin sons. She was spoiled and gentle all her life and did not have to worry about anything at home.

Yao Niang took the silk candy and tilted her head to say thank you.

Everyone is still very friendly to Yao Niang, but Yao Niang knows in her heart that this is because of Luo Zhizheng's face.

Seeing that the sisters were getting along well, Old Lady Dou was very happy and said to Yu: "Let them stay together. When they go to the capital, it will be lively."

Yu kept saying yes. Ren looked at the dark-skinned girl standing with her own Shi Fang and couldn't help feeling a little proud. This girl was no match for her daughter. She raised her lips and was seen by Jiang.

Little Jiang secretly thought that Ren was really short-sighted. The eldest uncle was now a Langzhong in the Ministry of Personnel, the highest official in the Luo family. Although Yao Niang was ugly now and could not compare with Shi Fang, since ancient times, the status of the father and brother was still considered when marrying into a wealthy family.

After meeting with everyone, the housekeeper of the eldest house came over. Old Madam Dou knew that Yu was busy, so she didn't keep her.

It was not until two days later that the journey was set off. Everyone gathered in their carriages and horses, and after bidding farewell to their clansmen, they set off for the capital.

At this time, Yao Niang met Luo Jingrou and her concubine sister Luo Shiyu again.

Luo Jingrou was no longer wearing the simple clothes she wore during the mourning period. This time she wore a pomegranate red skirt with brocade flowers, and a milky white light cloud gauze on the outside. She looked like peonies shrouded in smoke, like clouds and mist, and was very beautiful. Her words and actions showed the temperament of a lady from a noble family.

Luo Shiyu dressed differently. Although she was born out of wedlock, the share given to several girls by Yu Shi was the same. Therefore, Luo Shiyu wore a lake blue dress with silver rice beads and bamboo leaves. The color was not bright, but it was quite expensive. Luo Shiyu was also very good-looking. Even though she was still very young, her hair was as black as black and her eyes were as bright as waves. Yao Niang knew that when she grew up, she would be known as the most beautiful woman not only in the Luo family and Gaoping, but also in the capital.

If Jingrou is as graceful as a peony, then Shiyu is as elegant as a solitary orchid in a valley.

However, these are only on the surface. These two people are not easy to deal with. First of all, before Luo Jingrou died, Yao Niang had actually started to reduce her food intake and get thinner. She also mentioned to Yu that she would find someone to marry after she lost weight.

Yu had secretly told her that as long as she lost weight, her father would agree to choose a young man with both talent and virtue from among her nephews and nieces of the same age. Yao Niang was secretly looking forward to it.

Who would have known that when Luo Jingrou was bedridden, she suddenly put her hand into Lin Weinan's hand. Even if Yao Niang pulled it out, she had to marry into the Zhongjing Marquis's Mansion in front of everyone.

Lin Weinan missed his deceased wife and treated her normally, but she was not an ordinary person. She slowly learned how to manage the mansion and even prepared to lose weight so that she could live a good life in the future.

But Lin Weinan sent a message from the battlefield saying that he was dead. Since he was dead, she was forced to marry here, so she wanted to return home and marry again. But Mrs. Lin disagreed and asked her to remain faithful and raise Lin Chaoxu.

But Yao Niang's mother was once a stepmother. She knew very well that her eldest brother Luo Jingxi was born to the original wife. She only pretended to be a stepmother and didn't take the Yu family seriously. Even her cousin was almost molested by Luo Jingxi. Yao Niang absolutely refused. She didn't know that she had fallen into Lin Chaoyan's trap. Such a young child knew how to trap and kill others without shedding blood.

When she saw Lin Chaoyan bringing her some snacks, she did not suspect anything, after all, she was her niece. As a result, she ate the snacks and passed out.

When I woke up again, I was lying in bed with a strange man.

As for Luo Shiyu, she had an ordinary relationship with her in her previous life, but Yao Niang had to admit that she was a person who was very good at planning for herself. When the other sisters were still ignorant, Luo Shiyu knew how to find opportunities to go out with Yu to meet guests, and was even chosen to be the princess's companion. Although the princess died young later, there was no doubt that she did plan every step carefully.

As Yao Niang was obese for many years, she never left the palace and seldom communicated with her. Luo Shiyu, who prided himself on being an ambitious person, also looked down on her. The two of them had nothing in common.

Later, Yao Niang followed King Zhou to his fiefdom. A year after she left, Yu died of depression and she never inquired about the news of many people in the family again.

Except for people like her second sister Shi Zhen whom she met by chance, she would not take the initiative to ask about other people.

At this time, the three of them were getting along well. Fan came to the carriage specially to look after the three sisters. She was afraid that they were hungry, so she served them some snacks. Yao Niang would not eat a bite unless she was hungry.

Suddenly, she no longer resented anyone. The scheming Luo Jingrou was also a short-lived ghost in her previous life. Her daughter framed her, but she got her revenge and lived a more prosperous life. She even got a secret from heaven and was able to be reborn.

If someone offers you food, you can refuse it, can you not eat it? If someone encourages you and you slack off, it means you are not self-disciplined. If you don't have the willpower to control yourself, it's because you are lazy.

Although everything is said to be destiny, it is not unmanly.

Mrs. Fan was observing her fifth sister. Although she was young, she was quite opinionated.

Just like now, Luo Jingrou ate two snacks and saw that there were still four on the plate. Luo Jingrou whispered to Yao Niang: "Fifth sister, it's very hot today. I'm afraid the white jade milk puffs can't be stored. Sister-in-law finally prepared a plate for us. If you don't eat it, it will all be thrown away. It will be a waste. Sister-in-law will think you don't like it."

After she finished speaking, she still looked heartbroken.

Normally, most people would obey such persuasion, after all, children are innocent and afraid of what others say about them. But Yao Niang was not really a six-year-old girl. She grinned, and her teeth looked exceptionally white against her dark face.

Just when Luo Jingrou thought she would eat the snack with a smile, she said, "I'm sorry, Third Sister. If you're afraid of wasting it, then you can eat it all. I won't compete with you for it."