Old Lady Du only had people from both Residences search everywhere, unfortunately, since Hai Tang was always so thorough and decisive in her actions, naturally, they found nothing at all.
Just as Old Lady Du was getting anxious, the Duke of Pingxi and his wife came to the Hou Mansion and said that the coachman who had taken Du Sihui back to the residence and had likewise disappeared for three days had suddenly returned, bringing with him a letter from Du Sihui. The Duke of Pingxi handed the letter over to Old Lady Du.
Old Lady Du hurriedly read the letter and immediately cursed in disappointment, "That girl is simply the height of foolish stupidity!"
She had never expected that, ever since Du Sihui was a child, she had been by her side, being educated and raised by her, trying every means to facilitate a match between Du Sihui and her eldest son. Even though her eldest son repeatedly refused, she did not give up, nor did she agree to let her other sons marry Du Sihui, always wholeheartedly scheming for a good marriage for Du Sihui. ƒreewebɳovel.com
Who knew that Du Sihui had long been having a private affair with a guard of the residence, keeping it a secret from her all the while, and now she had even eloped with that guard to another place in secrecy—this was truly too big a disappointment for her.
Yesterday, she had people check Du Sihui’s room; it was in complete disarray, with all the gold and valuables missing. At that moment, she had vaguely suspected something, but never thought it would actually be the case.
Of course, Old Lady Du didn’t know that these were entanglements intentionally set up by Hai Tang.
Old Lady Du had gone to great lengths for Du Sihui’s sake. Du Sihui’s elopement made her lose face, naturally leaving her extremely disappointed in Du Sihui, as well as furious at her failure to live up to expectations. However, having raised her for so many years, she still had some affection, so she tried everything she could to keep the news under wraps and sent people to find out Du Sihui’s whereabouts.
Since Du Sihui’s parents died when she was very young, and she was raised in the Mansion of Marquis Guangping, she had no feelings for the people from the Duke Pingxi Mansion at all. Furthermore, the people from the Duke Pingxi Mansion were selfish and incompetent, naturally, no one made a sincere effort to find Du Sihui. As time passed, Old Lady Du gave up as well, and Du Sihui’s disappearance became an unsolved case.
Because of Du Sihui, Old Lady Du was bedridden. She directly requested Min Luo Zhan to invite Yang Mengchen for a consultation. Min Luo Zhan strictly refused, and in the end, an Imperial Physician was called. After careful nursing for half a year, she gradually got better, but her health was evidently weaker.
Old Lady Du had always been in charge of the inner power of the Hou Mansion. Now that her health was getting worse, she had no choice but to hand over the butler’s authority to the legitimate second daughter-in-law, the wife of the Hereditary Son of Marquis Guangping. However, the Prince’s wife had to report everything back to her, and behind the scenes, she incited several legitimate and illegitimate daughters-in-law to confront the Prince’s wife, leading to unrest in the inner court of the Hou Mansion.
Seeing Du Sihui’s testimony, Min Luozhan was both disappointed and angry with Old Lady Du, but since she was his biological mother, he could not come out and scold her. However, using the excuse that Long Jingxi had been wounded during childbirth and needed to recuperate, he did not allow Long Jingxi to visit the Hou Mansion, and he only took the child there on the first and fifteenth of every month.
Regarding the Duke Pingxi Mansion, Min Luo Zhan had completely severed ties and even strictly forbade people from the Duke Pingxi Mansion to visit the Princess Mansion and Xinwu Marquis Mansion.
Of course, these were all later developments.
For Min Ruoyang’s ’hair-washing’ ceremony, the Empress, knowing that the Guangping Marquis Mansion was in chaos, asked Princess Ning and Long Yingtong to take charge of organizing the event.
The maids and nannies around Long Jingxi were very capable and helped Princess Ning and Long Yingtong arrange everything inside and outside the Princess Mansion in an orderly manner.
Yang Mengchen went directly to the bedroom to see Long Jingxi and the child. The child had grown well, bearing a resemblance to Long Xuanmo, with a particularly endearing chubby pinkness. Yang Mengchen held the child and wouldn’t let go. Min Ruoyang also behaved very well, not crying or fussing, even beaming a cheeky smile at Yang Mengchen, who was overjoyed.
Long Jingxi and Min Luo Zhan didn’t make a big show of it, naturally inviting only those families with whom they had a good relationship. The surrounding women all praised the couple for being fated for each other.
Old Lady Du was ill, so in attendance this time were the Marquis Guangping and his two legitimate sons and daughters-in-law.
The two daughters-in-law had not been involved in organizing the ’hair-washing’ ceremony and missed out on reaping benefits from it, leaving them quite discontented. Now, seeing Yang Mengchen and the child getting along and receiving generous gifts, the Prince’s wife was somewhat restrained, while the younger legitimate daughter-in-law stared covetously at the gifts, her eyes filled with envy and jealousy.
Noticing the expressions of the two, Yang Mengchen shook his head inwardly. If his two brothers and sisters-in-law hadn’t been so out of line, he was sure the Imperial Older Sister would have supported and helped them. Unfortunately, both couples had learned their shortsightedness and spitefulness from Old Lady Du, making them utterly worthless.
With Old Lady Du not interfering, the ’hair-washing’ ceremony was held with great fanfare, and both hosts and guests were delighted.
Before leaving, Yang Mengchen carefully examined Long Jingxi and the child’s health. Despite the incident, fortunately, Doctor Luo and others had provided appropriate medical care, so no lingering ailments were left. After giving some instructions, Yang Mengchen and Long Xuanmo returned home.
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