Seeing that Qin Shi had become much braver, Jiang Jiuniang was genuinely happy for her. Only if she stood up for herself would their branch of the family not be looked down upon, and they wouldn't have to resort to using a son born out of wedlock to appease them.
"Anyway, take this as a lesson. If anyone comes to propose marriage again, we should find out more about them. Although we come from the countryside, it doesn't mean we're easy to bully. If we encounter such shameless people again, we'll just kick them out."
Jiang Jiuniang gave her instructions very seriously, and the group led by Sun nodded repeatedly, promising that such a thing would never happen again.
"This family is unbelievable. They clearly despise our family and always speak ill of us, so why do they come to our door time and time again, insisting that they have their eyes on our You'er? Isn't that a contradiction?"
Sun rolled her eyes. She had originally intended to tear off Liu's hair ornament herself, but Qin had pulled it off. The old lady hadn't been able to vent her anger, and she was still a little irritated.
Madam Yu and Madam Qin couldn't understand it either. If it were them, and they particularly disliked a family, they would never want to become in-laws, otherwise they would feel disgusted.
Jiang Jiuniang blurted out, "Because we're rich, what else could it be?"
"On the one hand, they covet Bai Chuan's power in the court, on the other hand, they are eyeing our family's business, and more importantly, they are interested in You'er's ability to manage the business. Marrying You'er into the family is killing three birds with one stone, and they will not suffer any losses. They will only lose the position of a concubine's son's legal wife, which is insignificant."
"The fifth young master of the Ningyuan Marquis's mansion may not be a very good person, but he already has a large number of concubines. He was raised badly by that Liu family since he was a child. It's no wonder he can't be a good son."
The group stared wide-eyed. Why was this happening?
Seeing their equally bewildered expressions, Jiang Jiuniang continued, "No one is willing to raise a concubine's child. In previous years, Liu Shi couldn't have a son, so she had no choice but to register two illegitimate sons under her own name. However, she had no intention of teaching them properly, and even worried that if she raised the concubine's children well, she would lose her position. So she spared no effort to raise the two illegitimate sons into spoiled brats, but she still acted like a loving mother, so that others couldn't find any fault with her."
"Third sister-in-law, how do you know so much?"
Yu was amazed. Jiang Jiuniang had been away for more than two years, how come she still knew more about the capital than they did when she came back?
This inevitably raises the question: who exactly is the person who has been traveling for two years?
“When I first came to the capital, I didn’t know anyone. To avoid making a fool of myself, I had someone compile information on all the noble families in the country. I memorized it all, so naturally I know more about them than you do.”
Jiang Jiuniang raised her chin, looking quite smug.
"Third sister-in-law, that's not very kind of you! You have such a good thing but you won't show it to us!"
Yu reached out her hand, and Qin followed suit.
"Okay, okay, I'll get it for you in a bit. That was so many years ago, I forgot about it, otherwise you wouldn't have almost been tricked."
Jiang Jiuniang smiled and coaxed them, while Sun Shi clenched her fist and said, "Quickly bring it over so we can all take a look. Our children are almost of marriageable age. If we don't know these families well, we'll be taken advantage of! Marriage is a serious matter, and we can't let this happen again!"
Their family is indeed wealthy now. All the properties that Jiang Jiuniang acquired during the two years she was away are under everyone's name. If calculated separately, each person has a considerable share. Moreover, the Lu family's business dealings are all public, and outsiders have always known that the Lu family has many properties, so it's inevitable that they would be interested.
There are many nobles in the capital, and there are countless impoverished noble families like the Ningyuan Earl's Mansion. They only have one family to rely on now, so they need people like the Lu family, who don't have a deep foundation but are favored in the court and have a lot of money, to come in and support them.
Therefore, the Lu family's daughter instantly became a hot commodity.
Thinking of certain situations, Jiang Jiuniang added, "From now on, when the girls in the family go out, they must take more people with them. Those people have dirty minds, and who knows what kind of ways they will come up with to disgust people. If we make full preparations, we can deal with any situation that comes our way. We must not be careless."
Her words reminded everyone, and Madam Yu and Madam Qin immediately went to arrange for someone to help their daughters. Madam Sun was left sitting and sighed, "Luckily you came, otherwise I wouldn't know how to get rid of them. This is the first time I've seen such shameless people, as if they can't understand human language."
As she spoke, she breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, she hadn't gone to offer incense and meet that person that day. Otherwise, even if she had left a handle on him, she didn't know how that family would have manipulated her.
"It's okay, you'll get used to it. There will be more of these kinds of things in the future, and the real headaches are yet to come."
Jiang Jiuniang stepped forward and pulled the person up, laughing, "Come on, you're just idling around anyway, go help me take care of the baby."
Sun was naturally happy to go see her granddaughter. She got up and followed Jiang Jiuniang, but when they got outside the courtyard, they heard a deafening cry coming from inside.
The two quickened their pace and went inside, where they saw Xiangxiang riding on Peng Ke's back and crying, while Peng Ke, who had been scolded for being forced to lie on the ground like a horse, was also crying with his mouth wide open.
Jiang Jiuniang stepped forward and picked up her daughter, while Sun Shi helped Peng Ke, who was lying on the ground, up, coaxing him, "Don't cry, don't cry. You're still young. If you can't carry your sister, then don't. Why are you crying?"
While trying to persuade her, Madam Sun laughed, feeling like she was laughing away all her good deeds.
After calming her daughter down, Jiang Jiuniang called over a maid and asked, "Why didn't you help them up when they were like this? The child is still so young; how could I explain to Yuanyuan if she got hurt?"
The maid felt very guilty, but still said, "Madam, we immediately went to separate the two young masters, but they refused. They cried when we approached and even told us to stay away..."
Jiang Jiuniang couldn't understand what the two children were trying to do. Her daughter couldn't speak very clearly yet, so she could only ask Peng Ke, "Ke'er, tell your aunt, why are you carrying your sister and crying together?"
Peng Ke, held in Sun's arms, had wiped away his tears, but was still sobbing. He said, "My little sister wanted her brother to ride her like a horse. Since I'm not here, I'll be her brother. I'll let her ride me, but I can't carry her, sob sob sob..."
The child's speech wasn't very clear, but Jiang Jiuniang still understood. It turned out that the boy had volunteered to be Xiangxiang's horse, but he didn't have the ability to do so. However, he didn't want to give up, so the two of them cried together.
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Sun and Jiang Jiuniang couldn't help but laugh out loud, but they didn't laugh for long. They quickly stopped and said to Peng Ke, "Let's not force ourselves to do things we can't do in the future, okay? No one will blame you or laugh at you. If you can't do it, you can't do it. It's not a big deal. Don't hurt yourself because of a fit of pique. Your health is always the most important thing, understand?"
The little guy was very stubborn: "If my brother can do it, so can I!"
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