Chapter 816, Scandal
Xiao Yeyang took over the task of monitoring the Weiguo Mansion from Sun Changze.
However, perhaps because the Duke of Wei knew that someone was watching them, they were extremely quiet and low-key when they went out. The secret guards who were secretly following them did not find anything unusual and did not find those Western Liao people.
Seeing this, Xiao Yeyang had no choice but to send someone to keep an eye on it temporarily.
Sun Changze couldn't bear to see his cousin and several of his men die in a foreign land, so he and Dong Yuanyao carried their coffins back home.
Daohua and Xiao Yeyang saw the two off. Before leaving, Xiao Yeyang told them that as soon as there was any progress in the Weiguo Mansion, he would send someone to notify them.
In February, the emperor announced at a grand court meeting that he wanted to expand the navy. As soon as the news came out, the court, which had been somewhat depressed due to Jiang Jinghui's death, became excited again.
The early stage of the naval expansion was a great opportunity to make achievements. All factions in the court showed off their skills and wanted to place their own people in to share a piece of the pie.
At this time, Yan Wenkai also told the elders of the Yan family that he wanted to join the Nanyang Navy.
Madam Li looked worried and disapproving. "Son, I know you want to achieve great things, but the Japanese pirates have been causing trouble along the coast these past two years. It's too dangerous. Wouldn't it be better for you to stay in the capital?"
Yan Wenkai smiled and said, "It is precisely because the Japanese pirates are rampant that my son should go." Then he looked at Yan Zhigao and said, "Dad, I want to go and fight for my future. Please support me."
Yan Zhigao was silent for a moment. "There are many people watching the navy right now. Are you sure you can get in?"
Yan Wenkai smiled confidently: "Ye Yang took me to meet the Admiral before. The Admiral had a good impression of me. Moreover, Commander Wu also recommended me to the Admiral."
When Yan Zhigao heard that Xiao Yeyang had offered his help, he knew that the matter was almost certain to end: "There are swords flashing and sabers flying on the battlefield, you must pay more attention to your own safety."
Yan Wenkai knew that his father did not object to him going to Southeast Asia, and immediately smiled and nodded.
Seeing that her son was determined to leave, Madam Li looked at her daughter-in-law and frowned, "You and Shiyu have only been married for a short time. Now you want to leave home. What will happen to Shiyu?"
Yan Wenkai blurted out, "Shiyu naturally went with her son."
Madam Li glared at her son. "It's hot in the south, and you still want to bring Shiyu over there to suffer?"
Hearing this, Su Shiyu quickly said, "Mother, your daughter-in-law also wants to accompany your husband. Although I can't help him with other things, I can still take care of his food, clothing, housing and transportation."
Madam Li said, "Good boy, I know you are sensible." She glanced at Yan Wenkai and said, "I just feel sorry for you, and I want you to suffer with me."
Su Shiyu lowered her head slightly and replied somewhat embarrassedly: "Mother, as long as I can be with my husband, I don't feel it's a punishment."
Madam Li glanced at Yan Wenkai with a smile and said, "You are so carefree, but you have good taste. You married such a good wife." She paused and said, "When are you leaving?"
Yan Wenkai smiled and said, "The number of places hasn't been decided yet. I estimate that it will be mid-month or end-month at the latest."
Madam Li nodded and looked at Su Shiyu: "Let's pack up the gifts first, so as not to be in a hurry later."
Su Shiyu nodded: "Yes, mother."
Because Xiao Yeyang was more informed, Daohua knew the list of people going to the Nanyang Navy earlier than her family.
"Wen Kai has been promoted slightly. He went to Yuezhou and was directly appointed as a guerrilla general of the fourth rank. Although he has been promoted, the burden on his shoulders is not light. He may have to fight against Japanese pirates as soon as he arrives."
Daohua looked worried: "Fourth brother has never led an army before, can he do it?"
Xiao Yeyang glanced at Daohua with a smile and said, "Don't underestimate your fourth brother. When we were fighting the Tatars, he led the soldiers into battle many times. The commander of the Xia Teng Army said that your fourth brother is a good leader in battle. He asked me for help many times."
Seeing that Daohua still had worry on her face, she continued.
"Don't worry, your fourth brother is quite capable. After hearing from me the news about the navy expansion, he's been busy on his own. He's also aware of his impulsive and impatient shortcomings, so he shamelessly dragged Wu Dingbai along and visited him three times to find himself a powerful advisor at the Five Armies Commandery."
Daohua felt relieved after hearing this, especially when she thought about the second master of the Zhou family who was also an official in Yuezhou. If her fourth brother encountered any problems there, he would have someone to take care of him. Her worries gradually subsided.
In mid-February, the list of expansion members of the Nanyang Navy was announced.
When seeing the list, some people are naturally happy and some are sad.
Four Seasons Villa.
When Xiao Yeyang and his two brothers went to the northern border, Daohua knew that the soldiers were in urgent need of anti-inflammatory drugs, so in order to make medicines, she intentionally trained a group of child doctors.
Afterwards, Doctor Ge returned from the northern border with Xiao Yeyang and the others, and was called by Daohua to teach these medical children. When Gu Jian was not busy, he would also give them some guidance.
After two years of study, I have almost mastered the techniques for treating common headaches, fevers, and bandaging knife wounds.
This time Yan Wenkai was going to the Nanyang Navy. Neither the Yan family nor Xiao Yeyang could provide much help. Daohua thought of selecting a few of these medical boys and letting them follow him to serve as accompanying military doctors.
Daohua was busy selecting people when Wang Maner came over to report, "Miss, Miss Kang and Miss Five are here."
Daohua knew that there were many flower-viewing banquets at Tangyu Mountain during this period, so she was not surprised by the two people's arrival. She dismissed the medical boy and said, "Please come in."
After a while, Daohua saw Kang Naixin and Wu Xirong coming together.
Daohua smiled and led the two into the house, enthusiastically serving them tea, snacks and fruits.
The three of them exchanged pleasantries for a while, and Daohua saw Kang Naixin looking at her hesitantly, thinking she wanted to ask for her help, so she smiled and asked, "Miss Kang, is there something wrong?"
Kang Naixin looked a little hesitant and awkward. After a moment's hesitation, she said, "County Lady, Xirong and I heard something and we think we should tell you."
The smile on Daohua's face faded a little: "What's the matter?"
Kang Naixin: "Well, this matter concerns the fourth daughter of the Yan family."
The smile on Daohua's face disappeared. Looking at the expressions of Kang Naixin and Wu Xirong, her intuition told her that Yan Yile must have caused trouble: "Yile? What's wrong with Yile?"
Kang Naixin glanced at Wu Xirong.
Wu Xirong was more forthright than Kang Naixin and said directly, "Yesterday, the Yongqing Marquis's Mansion held a flower viewing banquet. Your sister-in-law brought her three younger sisters to the banquet. Among the male relatives who attended that day was the second son of the Fang family."
"Your fourth sister and this Mr. Fang seem to be very familiar with each other. I don't know how they got together alone and were spotted by someone."
Daohua was stunned for a long time before she forced a smile: "Miss Wu, this concerns my sister's reputation. You can't say such things carelessly."
Kang Naixin: "We are not talking nonsense. Among those who went to Yongqing Bo's mansion to appreciate the flowers yesterday was a sister we are close to. She saw it with her own eyes."
Seeing Daohua's face darken, he added, "Don't worry too much. The Yongqing Marquis' Mansion suppressed this matter in time, and it hasn't spread outside. Xirong and I just felt that as friends, we should come and tell you. Otherwise, we wouldn't tell anyone."
Daohua thought to herself, if this was really going to happen, how would Kang Naixin and Wu Xirong know about it? However, she still thanked them, "Thank you for telling me this."
Kang Naixin and Wu Xirong knew that Daohua was not in the mood to accompany them at the moment, so they took the initiative to say goodbye.
After seeing the two off, Daohua went to say something to Gu Jian, and then took a carriage back to the city.
At the same time, in the Earl of Zhaode's Mansion.
Han Xinran looked at Han Xinman with anger on her face: "Big sister, how did I offend you that you want to hurt me like this?"
Han Xinman retorted, "How did I harm you? Second sister, you hurriedly called me back home, weren't you just going to slander me in front of mother?"
Han Xinran looked at Han Xinman resentfully, "You and I both know the twists and turns of the backyard. Han Xinman, let me ask you, Yile came to visit you and couldn't find the way. How could she have ended up in the most secluded rockery in the backyard without someone to lead her?"
"Also! Please tell me why my second cousin is there? Don't say it's all coincidence!"
Han Xinman snorted: "How should I know this? If you want to know what happened, you should ask your sister-in-law. Why are you asking me?"
Seeing her perfunctory treatment, Han Xinran became even angrier, and her voice suddenly rose: "Han Xinman, don't go too far!"
Seeing her two daughters getting more and more excited, Mrs. Han had to step forward to stop them. "Alright, both of you, keep your words to yourself." Then she looked at Han Xinran and said, "If you have anything to say, can't you just say it nicely? You are sisters from the same mother."
Han Xinran looked at Han Xinman with indifference: "I don't have a sister like her."
Mrs. Han looked at Han Xinran unhappily: "That's enough, you're getting more and more excited. She's your biological sister, how could you say such words just now? It's so hurtful!"
Han Xinran looked at Madam Han in disbelief. "Mother, even now, you're still on her side? Have you ever considered my situation? I took my younger sister to a banquet, and my sister-in-law got into a scandal of having a tryst with a man from outside her family."
"That's not all. My ex-husband is my cousin, and the accident happened in my sister's house. What do you think my in-laws will think of me? Do you still want me to live a good life in my in-laws' house?"
Mrs. Han was speechless after being asked this question.
Han Xinman said nonchalantly, "Second sister, stop yelling at mother. It takes two to tango. If the fourth daughter of the Yan family didn't want to, how could she throw herself into her cousin's arms?"
Han Xinran slowly calmed down and looked at Han Xinman with a cold expression: "Did you arrange what happened last night?"
Han Xinman quickly retorted, "I don't have the ability to make Fourth Miss Yan listen to me. After all, she has a crush on my cousin and is trying to seduce him."
Han Xinran: "The matter between Fourth Sister and Second Cousin may not have been instigated by you, but you must have been fanning the flames behind the scenes. I just want to ask you, why? Is it because you are jealous that my life in my husband's family is better than yours?"
Han Xinman opened her mouth to refute, but Han Xinran didn't give her a chance: "You are jealous of me. It's not enough to stir up trouble in front of Grandmother and Mother, but you even involve my uncle's family."
"Don't you know how much your uncle values his reputation? How dare you scheme against your second cousin like this!"
Han Xinman stood up in a flash. "I told you, this has nothing to do with me. I'm also surprised that my cousin would go to the rockery and not reject Fourth Miss Yan's advances."
"As for the two of them being seen later, it was too late for me to stop them. I could only ask my mother-in-law to come out and use her prestige to suppress the matter."
"Speaking of this, I'm still furious. It's clearly your sister-in-law who's shameless, and you've made me embarrassed along with her. And now you're the first to complain in front of Mother!"
Han Xinran looked at Han Xinman coldly, not even thinking of arguing with her.
Whenever her elder sister did something wrong, she would say some high-sounding words that confused right and wrong to defend herself.
Mrs. Han noticed the coldness in her youngest daughter's eyes and worried that the sisterly relationship would be damaged, so she quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "Okay, what's the point in pursuing this now? Let's talk about how to resolve this matter."
Han Xinran sneered, "How do you want to solve this? Mother, how do you want to solve this? Can we just discuss this privately? Do you really think your daughter can just say whatever she wants in the Yan family?"
Han Xinman said, "How else can we resolve this? Things have come to this. For the sake of the Yan family's female members' reputation, we have to put my cousin in a difficult position and let him marry the fourth Miss Yan."
Mrs. Han nodded, agreeing: "This is the only way."
Han Xinran couldn't help but reveal a look of sarcasm on his face. He sneered, "Since you despise the Yan family's daughter so much, why are you still rushing to plot against her?"
After calming down, she began to understand why her second cousin did not reject Yile's advances.
My eldest uncle Qinggui is noble and has high prestige among scholars, but he does not have much power.
My second cousin is neither the eldest nor the heir to the family business, nor is he the favored youngest son, so he has to find a capable in-law.
The Yan family had a daughter who married into the royal palace, and their sons were all successful, so they caught the eye of my second cousin.
But, has he forgotten that the fourth sister is not the daughter of the eldest wife?
Moreover, in recent times, my father-in-law and husband have obviously reduced their contact with my second cousin. Can't he see that the Yan family does not want to marry into the Fang family?
How much benefit can such a planned marriage bring?
Han Xinman naturally saw through the Second Master Fang's plan, so she chose to help him.
Of course, she really couldn't bear to see her second sister living better than herself, especially since her second sister relied on the power of her husband's family to embarrass her several times. Naturally, she would not let go if she could make her unhappy.
However, this time, her second sister, who was always superior to her, really scared her.
Perhaps it was because he had seen too many powerful people in the Yan family, so the angry aura just now was really frightening.
Thinking of this, Han Xinman felt unhappy again.
The Yan family was only a third-rank official family, but because one of their daughters married into a prince's mansion, their status became more prestigious than that of an earl's mansion.
As far as she knew, even Prime Minister Yang and Governor Wu had visited the Yan family during the Chinese New Year.
Both chapters are posted together!
(End of this chapter)
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