Chapter 6 Let Her Marry My Fu Niang
Madam Xiahou collapsed in her husband's arms, tears streaming down her face in pain. Shen Wangshu knelt on the ground, bowed his head and said nothing. The old man sighed heavily when he saw her bitten bloody lips and trembling body.
Xia Houfu was already terrified.
She didn't know that her fate had reached an important turning point. She looked at her mother who was blaming Shen Wangshu blankly, slowly moved over, and whispered, "Mother, what's wrong?"
Is it a bad thing to marry her to that general?
Looking at her daughter who knew nothing, Madam Xiahou's tears flowed even more fiercely. She stared at Shen Wangshu almost resentfully, but because of the presence of the old man, she said nothing more.
The servants were silent, and finally the old man waved his hand. When he stood up, he was hunched over, as if he had aged ten years in an instant.
He asked everyone else to leave, including Shen Wangshu and Xia Houfu, leaving only the couple from the first house to discuss matters in the study.
"I will never marry my daughter to that general!" In the study, Madam Xiahou shouted fiercely, her voice choking with sobs: "She is only sixteen years old, so young... How can I watch her die... That's my flesh and blood!"
Xiahou Jin hugged Madam Xiahou, who could barely stand, and whispered, "That's enough, Yuanniang. You were too out of control just now... Besides, disobeying the emperor's order is a capital crime!"
The old man put his hands behind his back for a long while before speaking hoarsely, "But Nian Nian is also her mother's baby. Stepmother entrusted the child to me, and I promised to take good care of her."
Madam Xiahou was furious: "Father-in-law, I know you love your granddaughter, and I love her too because she lost her parents, but she is the daughter of a criminal. Do you dare to say that the emperor didn't try to test her by granting her this marriage?"
“If it weren’t for Shen Wangshu, the emperor wouldn’t even have looked at our family. She is the one who brought disaster!”
"Fu Niang is also your granddaughter. Don't you feel sorry for her at all? Which of the girls who married Chen Ting had a good ending? Why should my Fu Niang suffer this? She knows nothing. What did she do wrong?"
Madam Xiahou's questioning left the old man speechless. She was right. Shen Wangshu's existence was always a variable. If Xiahou Mansion sheltered her, they had to be prepared to be implicated. They just didn't expect that this day would come so soon...
Afu did nothing wrong, but did Nian Nian do anything wrong?
The old man closed his eyes in pain.
"It's all because of Shen Wangshu, so she should marry!" Madam Xiahou's eyes lit up: "Yes, the imperial edict only mentioned the daughter of Xiahou, but did not specify that Fu Niang should go. Anyway, Shen Wangshu is now the daughter of our Xiahou family, so why not let her marry!"
The old man's face darkened, and he said in a deep voice: "You want Nian Nian to marry for Afu?!"
Madam Xiahou shrank back, looked at her father-in-law's intimidating face, and couldn't bring herself to say it the second time.
"There is still a month left. I will see if there is any chance to turn this around." The old man gave Madam Xiahou a warning look: "Before that, if I know that anyone in the mansion dares to do or say anything reckless..."
Xiahou Jin quickly pulled Madam Xiahou to kneel down and whispered, "Don't worry, Dad. We know what to do."
After all, the old prefect still has the final say in Xiahou Mansion. When the old man got angry, Mrs. Xiahou didn't dare to act rashly. She could only swallow her anger and lower her head, whispering that her daughter-in-law understood.
*
After the imperial edict arrived at Xiahou Mansion that day, Shen Wangshu did not leave Luoying Courtyard for several days. First, she wanted to avoid showing up in front of others, and second, with her acting skills, she could not maintain a pitiful look for too long. It was enough to show her attitude once, otherwise it would be easy to be exposed.
After that day, there was a subtle change in the way everyone in Xiahou Mansion looked at her.
Perhaps Madam Xiahou's misconduct made everyone realize something, only Taohong continued to serve her as usual, with no change in her attitude.
Xia Houfu, who was very clingy to Shen Wangshu on the night of the Dragon Boat Festival, never came to Luoying Courtyard again. For a while, this small courtyard seemed to be forgotten by everyone.
Shen Wangshu lived her life leisurely and contentedly. No matter how much Madam Xiahou hated her, she would not do anything excessive in public because the old man was keeping pressure on her.
After being so cold for a while, Xia Houfu finally couldn't help it and came to the door on her own initiative.
She was still followed by the calm Nanny Jiang. When she walked into the courtyard, she saw Shen Wangshu decocting medicine for her. The beauty was wearing a plain white silk dress, with her long hair scattered behind her head. She didn't wear any complicated hairpins on her head, nor did she put on any makeup. Her slender waist was so thin that it couldn't be grasped.
Xia Houfu suddenly stopped talking about the questions she had prepared. She ran to her and squatted down, saying sullenly, "Why don't you let the servants help you fry it? If anyone gets to know about this, it will be my Xia Hou Mansion that treats my master harshly."
Shen Wangshu watched the fire and fanned himself occasionally, and said calmly after hearing this: “I have nothing to do, so I will watch it myself.”
Xia Houfu stared at her for a moment and said, "My mother said that the emperor wanted me to marry the old general in the Duke's Mansion who killed seven brides."
Shen Wangshu couldn't help laughing at the three words "old general".
Although Chen Ting is no longer young at the age of twenty-eight, he is not that "old". The original owner's body is now seventeen years old, but she was actually twenty-four or twenty-five when she came here. Twenty-eight in modern times is the prime of life, so she naturally did not think that the old general mentioned by Xiahou Fu was very old.
"What are you laughing at? Are you gloating?" Xia Houfu rubbed her face in frustration: "Why am I so unlucky? I haven't lived enough."
Shen Wangshu stopped laughing and shook his head: “How could I gloat over someone else’s misfortune?”
She looked at the little girl tenderly and whispered, "You won't die, I promise."
"What guarantee do you have? Everyone who married him died."
"I originally thought that my ideal husband would be a handsome young man, or a graceful gentleman, but I didn't expect..." Xia Houfu muttered. She still had a lot to say in her heart, but looking at Shen Wangshu's calm eyes, she finally didn't say these words.
He just stayed with her until she finished boiling the pot of medicine, and then left with his people.
Before leaving, that Madam Jiang took a deep look at Shen Wangshu, but did not stay to say anything.
Shen Wangshu looked at their backs and was somewhat surprised - whether it was Xia Houfu or Nanny Jiang, she thought at least one of them would say something to her, after all, Madam Xia Hou cried so hard that day.
Moreover, their moods were very calm, and Shen Wangshu did not hear any excited voices scolding her.
After taking a deep breath and drinking the bitter medicine, she patted her skirt and stood up: "Taohong, take me to find my grandfather."
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