Jiang Ruoya is just gentle, not stupid. She's not so bad that she can't even handle something like this.
He still had a smile on his face, took a sip of soup, and continued, "Besides, the Lu family has already split up. The children only live together now because they have a good relationship. If we make Jiu'er play the villain at this time, wouldn't that be a sin against heaven?"
Madam Hu: "Of course I understand your concerns, but didn't I say that the Lu family are all from the countryside and don't understand the intricacies of this situation? You have to give them some pointers. Your two families are related by marriage, so if something happens to the Lu family in the future, your family will also be implicated. I'm doing this for your own good!"
Jiang Ruoya didn't speak, but just listened quietly to what she had to say.
Madam Hu continued, "There are so many fine women in the capital, yet they've already arranged marriages. In my opinion, it must be that little vixen's scheme. She's afraid she won't be as good as others after arriving in the capital, so she's tying them up beforehand! Isn't that harming people?"
She kept talking, but thankfully she knew to keep her voice down, otherwise how could she explain it to the Lu family if someone heard her?
"This is ultimately a matter for the Lu family, let's change the subject."
Jiang Ruoya maintained her smile, while Jiang Ying, watching from a distance, kept talking to Lu Baichuan: "My mother must have been a leading figure among the noble ladies of the capital when she was young. Look at her social skills, how amazing they are!"
Lu Baichuan said, "Indeed, but if you don't like her, you can just ask her to leave. Why keep her here?"
"Because she had improper thoughts about Lei Zi, I was worried that she would use underhanded methods, so I kept an eye on her openly."
Lu Baichuan nodded and said, "None of her younger family members are successful. I thought she came for her son, but I didn't expect it was for her daughter."
Logically speaking, it's normal to find a job for one's child. As long as it's a job with minimal impact, it's fine to just put someone in. So Lu Baichuan originally thought that if it was really his mother-in-law's best friend, he would definitely help her.
Looking at the situation now, it seems he was just being presumptuous.
Or perhaps, some people simply don't deserve our pity.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ruoya tried to persuade Madam Hu to talk about other things, thinking she wouldn't have to listen to those offensive things. But Madam Hu suddenly changed the subject from the Lu family to Jiang Ruoya.
"How have you been living all these years? How could you have married a merchant? In the social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, merchants are ranked last. If the old general knew this in the afterlife, he would be heartbroken!"
Mingze's true identity was not to be exposed, so he told others that he was a businessman. Naturally, he would be looked down upon by the powerful and wealthy in the capital.
If it were anything else, it would be fine, but Madam Hu became increasingly unreasonable and even started to slander Mingze. Jiang Ruoya's face immediately darkened, and she said, "If there were no merchants in this world, how would this family of old and young solve their problems of eating, drinking, and relieving themselves? Madam Chang'an is really interesting today. One minute she's talking about my daughter's husband's family, and the next she's slandering my husband. I don't think I've offended you, so why do you have to provoke me on this joyous day?"
“My health has always been poor, and now I am pregnant. I advise my wife to be more virtuous and not to cause herself any trouble.”
Having been the mistress of the pavilion master for so many years, she is naturally gentle when she is gentle, but when she gets angry, she also has some of Mingze's traits.
Mrs. Hu was startled by her sudden change of attitude, and immediately felt aggrieved after realizing what had happened.
"Ruoya, how could you say that to me? I was just concerned about you. You've suffered so much all these years. Just thinking about it breaks my heart!"
I thought this would soften Jiang Ruoya's heart, but she still had a stern face, and her expression became more and more unpleasant: "Today is my and Jiu'er's family recognition banquet, a joyous day. Madam either says something offensive at the banquet or bursts into tears. What, do you think that what happened to my Jiang family more than 20 years ago was unlucky enough?"
Ms. Hu immediately denied it: "I...I didn't! That's not what I meant..."
"So what do you mean?"
Jiang Ruoya's aggressive manner put Hu Shi in an awkward position.
Everyone around was watching, occasionally exchanging a few words of laughter with the person next to them, but they were mostly talking about Hu Shi, who quickly became the laughing stock at the table.
Ms. Hu felt that Jiang Ruoya had gone too far. After all, they were friends of many years, yet Jiang Ruoya had shown her no respect. She felt that Jiang Ruoya looked down on her and embarrassed her, so she made an excuse and left early.
Jiang Ruoya instructed the maid beside her, "Send someone to follow her and see what she's up to."
"yes."
That night, Lu Baichuan and his family of three stayed overnight at the Jiang family's house. After the guests left, Gou'er also went to sleep.
The brothers sat together chatting and the topic of the succession to the Jiang family's Marquisate came up.
"Jiu'er, you and Bai Chuan are still young. If you have any more children in the future, how about letting them inherit the Marquis's mansion?"
Jiang Ruoya pondered for a moment before speaking. Although she knew it was somewhat unethical of her to want the Lu family's child to be included in the Jiang family's genealogy, there was really no other way. She couldn't guarantee that her baby would definitely be a boy.
Besides, she was getting old and couldn't keep having children indefinitely, so this burden had to be borne by Jiang Ying.
Jiang Ying refused almost without thinking, saying, "It's not feasible. The Lu family's status is already enviable, and there will be even more opportunities in the future. If my child were to inherit my family's title, wouldn't people be incredibly jealous?"
"A tall tree catches the wind. Although the emperor trusts us now, the emperor's heart is unpredictable. Who can guarantee that he will always be like this? Or that the next emperor will be the same?"
Although she is a bit carefree, she is still very clear-headed when it comes to matters of principle.
Lu Baichuan echoed, "Mother, that's true. You don't need to worry too much. The title given by the Emperor doesn't have to be inherited right now. It can be inherited in twenty or thirty years. As long as the title isn't taken away, it can be passed down from generation to generation."
Jiang Ruoya didn't say anything, but she was still a little worried.
The world changes too fast. The title I finally earned can't just remain vacant.
Mingze patted her hand and said, "Don't worry, our children, whether they are boys or girls, will take your surname. If it's a boy, he will inherit the title directly. If it's a girl, we'll wait until she grows up and find a husband for her. We won't leave the house empty forever."
Jiang Ruoya felt a little uncomfortable and asked, "What about you over there..."
"My situation is nothing. I've been an orphan since I was little, and nobody knows my real name. I chose this name myself, so it's not really my surname. It's more orthodox to have your surname. Anyway, no matter what the surname is, aren't we still each other's children?"
Mingze didn't ask for much. He had originally prepared himself not to have children, but now that he has children, he has no regrets.
"As for my family property, it will naturally go to the boy or the girl, so there's no need to worry about it so much."
At this point, this is the only way.
Jiang Ruoya nodded.
At this moment, the people sent out to follow Hu and gather information returned.
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