During the New Year, Xichun was in her postpartum confinement period, so her sister-in-law was even busier. One day, while her sister-in-law and Xichun were talking, Xiaoyue brought over some freshly made fish soup from the kitchen.
"Miss, please drink this while it's hot. This is fresh crucian carp that the kitchen bought from the market this morning." Just as Xiaoyue was about to hand it to Xichun, she heard Lu Qiuqin gagging beside her.
"Xichun, is this fish soup not cooked properly? Why does it smell so fishy?" She covered her mouth with a handkerchief, looking quite uncomfortable.
“This tastes just like before, sister-in-law, you wouldn’t happen to be pregnant, would you?” Xichun suddenly realized and looked at her with a smile.
"You know what, I've been wondering about it too. My period is half a month late this month, but it's happened occasionally before, so I'm not sure what's going on. We couldn't see a doctor during the Chinese New Year, and I was planning to go in a couple of days." Lu Qiuqin also revealed this information.
"Then you must be careful and not be careless. You can also go see a doctor in the next few days. If you are really pregnant, then our family will have double happiness." Xichun was genuinely happy for her. Although Lu Qiuqin was the daughter of the county magistrate, in this family, she took on the responsibility of the eldest daughter-in-law, whether it was towards her parents-in-law or her, and they had no complaints.
"I hope so too." A smile appeared on her lips, and the two smiled at each other.
A few days later, Xichun heard from her mother-in-law that her sister-in-law was indeed pregnant, and now both her parents-in-law were beaming with joy.
Every day, Master Fu would have Fu Changfeng bring the baby out so he could see him. He would never enter Xichun's room without permission. On the day of the baby's full moon, many guests came to celebrate the birth of the Fu family's eldest grandson.
Xichun was still in the house, she still had two months of confinement left. Wang Shi and Aunt Zhang were sitting in the house, and when they heard others praising the baby's good looks, they couldn't stop smiling. Just when everyone was happy, someone had to stand up and try to spoil the mood.
"I've noticed that other kids are ugly when they're young but grow up to be good-looking. This child is so good-looking at such a young age. Will he grow up to be as ugly as a country bumpkin?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room fell silent, wondering who was so oblivious.
After taking a quick peek, I realized, oh, it's from the county magistrate's family. Could it be that the county magistrate's family is upset because Xichun gave birth to their eldest grandson, so they sent this thing to deliberately ruin the atmosphere?
Xi Chun naturally heard these words as well. Although she was also unhappy, she was the hostess today. If she embarrassed the girl in such a setting, it would be to embarrass the magistrate and his sister-in-law, and would only make them more of a laughingstock.
"Whether he is beautiful or ugly, as long as he grows up healthy and safe, my heart as a mother will be at ease. I never understood the feelings of being a parent before, but now that I have a child of my own, I know the good intentions of parents."
"Exactly, exactly. You only understand the love of your parents when you raise children yourself. That's the truth. When we were young girls, how could we understand such feelings? It's only when we become parents that we understand."
Just when things were getting awkward, Xichun changed the subject, and since no one wanted to openly criticize the county magistrate's family, they quickly moved on.
Lu Qiuqin was greeting relatives and friends outside the courtyard when she heard the maid's report. Her face darkened for a moment: "Go and invite Miss Biao to my mother's place. Don't let her say anything more out of line."
"Yes." This maid was Lu Qiuqin's dowry maid, and she knew what kind of person the young lady was, so she quickly made up an excuse to take her away.
When Xichun saw that the girl had left, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was afraid that the girl would say something surprising again, which would easily cause a rift between the two families.
After seeing off her relatives and friends, Lu Qiuqin finally found Xichun, her face full of apology.
"Xichun, I'm really sorry about what happened today. She's my stepmother's niece. She used to rely on my stepmother and always tried to compete with me. I never thought she would try to embarrass you in front of everyone. If I had known, I wouldn't have let her into this room."
Lu Qiuqin was also annoyed with this so-called cousin. In the past, she had acted recklessly in her own home because of her stepmother. Who would have thought that she would be so presumptuous in front of others now? Just now, when she took her stepmother home, she spoke even more harshly. She didn't know if her stepmother would listen.
“Sister-in-law, I know what kind of person you are. How could I mind? I was just worried that people around us might misunderstand the county magistrate if they heard this, so I sent someone to inform you.”
"Yes, that's true. I'm scared too. My dad finally got to be the county magistrate, and now that the county is making some progress, it would be such a loss if her words affected him. I'll go to her house in person another day and talk to her about this so she can go back home."
Lu Qiuqin was also a person with some political foresight. The reason she raised such a girl in their family was to use her as a bargaining chip for marriage in the future. Her stepmother had no daughter, so she took in her niece. The niece had lived in their house since she was a child. The cousin was treated better than her. If it weren't for her father always thinking about her, her life would probably be even worse.
Xi Chun nodded, but she didn't expect that her sister-in-law's visit to her parents' home would bring her such surprising news.
"Sister-in-law, why are you back so early? Didn't you have a meal at the county office before coming back?" Xi Chun was playing with A Zhao when she suddenly heard that her sister-in-law had returned and came straight to her, which surprised her.
"Oh dear, it's a good thing I went back today, otherwise I wouldn't know why she would cause such a mess." Lu Qiuqin didn't even eat dinner; she came back as soon as she heard about their plans.
"What's going on?" Xi Chun was also a little confused.
However, after she finished telling her story, Xichun suddenly realized what had happened.
It turned out that Lu Qiuqin had just arrived home with her husband and maid when she heard her cousin snuggling up to her stepmother and acting coquettishly. She thought her stepmother had punished her, but to her surprise, her cousin was shameless and brought up something with her.
“Cousin, I saw that the second young master of the Fu family is really handsome and so young. How come he married a peasant? I wonder what method she used to get him to marry her. I happen to have a favor to ask of you. I want to become the second young mistress of the Fu family.”
"From now on, we'll be sisters-in-law. Although the eldest young master hasn't passed the imperial examination yet, I think it's not that difficult, and he'll definitely pass it eventually. However, the second young master is probably destined to be an official. Once we're married, I'll have him help his brother out, so that our lives will both be easier."
"You want to be a stepmother too?" Lu Qiuqin hadn't told her family about her pregnancy yet, but she was still amused and annoyed by these words. This woman dared to say anything, and even dared to say it in front of her. Could it be that the stepmother had planned this all in advance?
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