Chapter 31, Chapter 9: The Heir Apparent's Wife
Marquis Chengqing walked in from outside with his hands behind his back.
Lady Hou paused for a moment, then stood up and went to greet her.
"Why has the Marquis come here?"
Marquis Chengqing offered a helping hand to his wife.
"I heard from the servants that this boy came here. Come and see him."
Lady Hou smiled and subtly explained on Xu Qingzhou's behalf.
"I hadn't seen Zhou'er for a while, so I called him over."
Marquis Chengqing patted her hand.
He should come and visit you more often.
The moment Xu Qingzhou heard Marquis Chengqing's voice, he had already stood up straight.
He dared to say those words to the Lady of the Marquis, but he dared not say them to the Marquis of Chengqing.
Lady Hou might be soft-hearted, but Marquis Chengqing would not.
As Marquis Chengqing approached, Xu Qingzhou and Yu Wanwan bowed together.
"Father."
"Father."
Marquis Chengqing nodded, lifted his robe, and sat down.
"What teachings were you just giving us?"
Lady Hou herself hadn't even asked the question yet, so she couldn't answer it and couldn't even smooth things over for him.
Yu Wanwan stood smiling beside Xu Qingzhou, with no intention of explaining, nor any way to explain.
Xu Qingzhou touched his nose, inwardly cursing his cheap father for coming at such an inopportune time, but he couldn't hide it, so he had to tell him the whole story in frustration.
Marquis Chengqing and his wife exchanged a glance, both somewhat surprised.
They knew that the Changrong Marquis's family was a true scholarly family, and that was why they chose to marry into the Changrong Marquis's family in the first place.
But they never expected that this young woman also possessed such profound knowledge.
This was a huge surprise for Marquis Chengqing.
This daughter-in-law is definitely the right choice!
Seeing that Marquis Chengqing's eyes were shining, it was probably clear that there was no room for maneuver in this matter.
Xu Qingzhou felt bitter inside, but still wanted to struggle a little longer.
“Father, A-Yao is my wife, Xu… Che-ge’er is not yet married, this is inappropriate…”
Marquis Chengqing glared and slammed his hand on the table.
"Why is it inappropriate? It's not like we're a man and a woman alone in a room. Aren't you A Yao's husband and Che Ge'er's elder brother here?"
He got angrier and angrier as he talked, and he wanted to hit someone again.
"Now you know to keep your wife away from other men, but when you were doing those shameful things, you didn't think about your wife at all!"
"..."
Xu Qingzhou was heartbroken.
Why bring this up again? He hasn't even left the Marquis's residence lately!
Can't we just let this go?
Marquis Chengqing said he couldn't get over it; just thinking about the outrageous things he had done made him want to beat him to death.
Just like before when he made Xu Qingzhou copy books behind closed doors, this time Marquis Chengqing did not give Xu Qingzhou a chance to object. He made the decision with a slap of his hand.
"Alright, it's settled then!"
Xu Qingzhou stood there dejectedly, without saying a word.
They lost all their strength and means.
Lady Hou couldn't bear to see her son, whose relationship with her had just improved, acting like this, so she took the initiative to speak up for him.
"Shouldn't Your Excellency also ask Yao Yao what she thinks?"
Xu Qingzhou's eyes lit up, and he came back to life, staring pitifully at Yu Wanwan, hoping she would refuse.
It wasn't that he was stingy or unwilling to let Yu Wanwan teach Xu Mingche.
Rather, it is Xu Mingche who is not yet showing his true colors, but given his talent, even if he cannot inherit the Marquis's mansion, his future achievements will not be low.
On the other hand, Xu Qingzhou himself still carries the burden of the original owner's bad deeds, with a long list of misdeeds that haven't been completely cleared up. Compared to Xu Mingche, he has no competitive edge whatsoever.
He was genuinely afraid that one day Xu Mingche would steal this woman away.
Although he shouldn't think of her that way, considering her usual behavior, which is completely different from her character in the story, he couldn't muster any trust in her at all.
His intuition told him that this woman was truly capable of doing such a thing!
Marquis Chengqing remained silent for a few seconds before finally looking at Yu Wanwan.
Yu Wanwan noticed Xu Qingzhou's gaze and a smile played on her lips.
Xu Qingzhou's brow twitched, and the next moment, Yu Wanwan's smiling voice rang in his ears.
"I'm naturally happy to be able to help Che-ge'er."
Xu Qingzhou gritted his teeth and quietly tugged at her sleeve.
"Aren't you still preparing for Che-ge's coming-of-age ceremony?"
Yu Wanwan smiled brightly.
“Teaching one is teaching, teaching two is also teaching, it doesn’t matter.”
He's unhappy, and she's happy.
【Wanwan...why are you always so keen on making things difficult for the male lead?】
He has the protagonist's halo, I don't.
I don't like him.
[...] Okay, an irrefutable reason.
"..."
She's deliberately going against him!
She made no attempt to hide these emotions; they were laid bare, as if she was certain that no matter what she did, he wouldn't do anything to her.
I don't know where she gets this confidence from!
Unfortunately, Xu Qingzhou really couldn't do anything to her; in fact, he had to coax and pamper her.
It's so frustrating!
This was the first time Lady Hou had witnessed the two of them interacting, and she was quite surprised.
She didn't think there was anything wrong with it; she just found it quite novel to see her son so embarrassed.
Marquis Chengqing, however, was completely oblivious to this, and laughed heartily, extremely satisfied with his daughter-in-law.
"good!"
However, he also overheard Xu Qingzhou and Yu Wanwan's conversation.
"Should we let Yao Jie handle Che Ge'er's coming-of-age ceremony?"
Lady Hou did not let the younger generation answer; she nodded herself.
"She will be in charge of the Marquis's mansion in the future, so it's time for her to start training. What do you think, Marquis?"
"It's up to you to decide."
Marquis Chengqing never interfered too much in matters concerning the inner quarters, giving his wife the greatest authority and respect in managing the household.
This is also the main reason why Lady Hou was able to treat her concubines so peacefully, without mistreating her illegitimate sons and daughters, and without clinging tightly to the power in her hands.
Moreover, as long as Xu Qingzhou behaves himself and stops doing those outrageous things, and as long as Yu Wanwan remains in the Marquis's mansion, Xu Qingzhou's position as the heir apparent will not be lost.
The future mistress of the Marquis's mansion can only be her, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Changrong.
Lady Hou smiled, knowing that the matter was settled.
However, when this was mentioned, Marquis Chengqing thought of something else.
"I've heard that the Crown Princess has some ideas about Che-ge'er's courtesy name. I wonder if she has thought of any good ones?"
Yu Wanwan and Xu Qingzhou were both taken aback.
They didn't talk in their own courtyard that day. As the master of the Marquis's mansion, it's not surprising that Marquis Chengqing knew about this.
What they didn't expect was that Marquis Chengqing would bring this up on his own initiative.
Moreover, she seemed to be in a good mood and did not feel that she had overstepped her bounds or offended anyone.
Yu Wanwan only knew that Xu Qingzhou's persona was that he couldn't stand his half-brother Xu Mingche, so she deliberately said that to annoy him.
I never thought I would actually give Xu Mingche a courtesy name; it's against the rules.
Therefore, she never took it to heart and remained silent for a moment.
Xu Qingzhou was also getting a little anxious.
It's one thing to let Xu Mingche come to class openly and legitimately, but how can you let your own wife give him a nickname?!
"Father?! I disagree!"
"What good is it if you disagree! I'm not dead yet, and I'm still the one who calls the shots in this Marquis's mansion!"
Xu Qingzhou felt aggrieved.
Unfortunately, he has his father, his mother, and an ancestor he can't control here, so he has nowhere to vent his anger.
All her resentment could only be directed at Xu Mingche, who knew nothing about it.
Seeing his furious expression, Yu Wanwan hesitated before she could say anything, then changed her mind.
"Father, you're being too kind to your daughter-in-law. It was just a joke earlier. How could you take it so seriously and overstep your bounds?"
Marquis Chengqing shook his head.
"It's alright, just say it!"
Previously, Marquis Chengqing would never have thought of asking Yu Wanwan.
However, after what had just happened and learning about Yu Wanwan's knowledge, Marquis Chengqing changed his mind.
He was already having a headache over this matter, and had previously considered asking his civil officials for advice, but nowadays the relationship between civil and military officials is not very harmonious.
He was unwilling to bow down to a civil official for the sake of a son born of a concubine unless absolutely necessary.
Even though he was quite satisfied with Xu Mingche in his heart.
If Yu Wanwan could come up with any good ideas, it would solve his immediate problem.
"Then... I, your daughter-in-law, will make a fool of myself."
Yu Wanwan lowered her head shyly, quickly thinking in her mind.
"What does Father think of the characters 'Yan' and 'He'?"
"Yanhe?"
Marquis Chengqing frowned in thought, chewing over the two words.
Yu Wanwan smiled gently and began to weave as if nothing had happened.
"The inkstone is an important tool in the scholar's study, holding ink and brushes; harmony is the way of the world."
Lady Hou also pondered the matter carefully.
Xu Mingche may not have any outstanding qualities in other aspects, but he exudes a scholarly air and you can tell at a glance that he is a literary person.
In the past, no matter how sarcastic or sarcastic Xu Qingzhou was to him, he could just laugh it off, at most avoiding him and not arguing with him, which perfectly matched the word "harmony".
The characters "砚" and "和" are quite fitting for him.
"These are truly exquisite characters!"
Marquis Chengqing clearly thought the same thing, and his gaze toward Yu Wanwan was filled with admiration.
"Okay! Okay! This is it!"
That's the final decision; there's no possibility of changing it.
In this invisible battle, Xu Qingzhou suffered a crushing defeat because he failed to win the favor of his wife.
In the days that followed, Xu Mingche entered and exited Chengruixuan with even more confidence.
Every day at dawn, he would appear precisely at Chengruixuan Study to wake Xu Qingzhou from his sleep, rain or shine.
This metaphor describes Wanwan arriving early and precisely on time!
Xu Qingzhou already harbored resentment towards Xu Mingche because of what happened before, and now he couldn't even sleep in. It felt like he was back to the days before the college entrance exam, those miserable days of studying late into the night.
Even without deliberately maintaining a persona, his attitude towards Xu Mingche is never good; he's always rude and unreasonable.
Although she wouldn't do anything to him, she would often find fault with him before Yu Wanwan arrived.
Xu Mingche was unaware of the matter of the title, and Xu Qingzhou was unlikely to tell him.
He assumed that Xu Qingzhou was unhappy that he was interfering with their time together, and he felt guilty. Under Xu Qingzhou's resentment, he wanted to leave countless times.
But his deep admiration for Yu Wanwan made him hold back.
Especially after listening to Yu Wanwan's lecture, he became even more hardworking and dutiful, and was constantly being ordered around by Xu Qingzhou.
Anyway, no matter how much trouble this guy causes, he can only be asked to serve tea and water. He's a bit difficult to please and incredibly childish.
Yu Wanwan saw through Xu Qingzhou's little tricks, but she didn't deliberately speak up for Xu Mingche, pretending not to see them.
Anyway, as long as Xu Mingche is standing here, he'll be in a bad mood, so she doesn't need to do anything more.
Xu Mingche was a smart man to begin with, and with Yu Wanwan's guidance, his knowledge increased rapidly.
Many questions that he had only a vague understanding of before, Yu Wanwan was able to answer for him in just a few words, clearing away the fog of confusion.
Xu Mingche's admiration for his sister-in-law deepened day by day, and he wished he could kowtow and become her disciple on the spot.
With someone else standing beside him as a competitor, Xu Qingzhou felt a strong sense of urgency and stopped slacking off, devoting all his energy to studying.
He was unwilling to become a comparison group of other men in front of the mission objective.
Have some shame!
Compared to Xu Mingche's enthusiasm, Xu Qingzhou was much more listless.
In just half a month, the resentment was heavier than that of ghosts.
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