Chapter 100 Proposal

The family had a rare reunion dinner in the evening. After dinner, it was getting late, so Jiang Yanyi and his sister stayed at the Chu family.

The next day, Jiang Yanyi remembered to pay respects to Old Madam Chu, so he got up half an hour earlier and tidied himself up before going. The three sisters of the Chu family had not come yet, but Liu's daughter-in-law Xue was already in the old lady's room with her child.

Xue's appearance was not outstanding, but she was well-mannered. She was originally the concubine daughter of the former Jingzhao Yin. She was able to marry into the Chu family because Chu Changping was the general of Yunzhou at that time. Old Madam Chu was very satisfied with this eldest grandson's daughter-in-law

. She knew the importance of everything and had a way to discipline servants.

"Look, Nian'an is smiling at grandma." Old Madam Chu hugged her great-grandson and smiled until the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were stretched out. She wore a round flowered satin blouse with the pattern of fortune, wealth, longevity and happiness, and a headband inlaid with emerald gemstones, with a kind face.

Great-grandson's generation happened to be the "Nian" generation, so Old Madam Chu named him "Nian'an" in the hope that the Xuan Dynasty would be stable and peaceful as soon as possible.

Xue was wearing a Ruan Luo shirt of the color of Qiuxiang. This dress, which was neither too gorgeous nor too plain, suited her better. She smiled and said, "Nian'an always cried when she was with me, but she stopped crying when she came to you, grandmother. I guess she was looking forward to being held by you."

This made Mrs. Chu happy. "Your mouth is like honey." Mrs.

Chu was old, and her hands were sore from holding the child for a long time. Jiang Yanyi took the child and helped hold it for a while.

The children of the Chu family were all good-looking. Even Chu Chengbai, who looked chubby on weekdays, had a handsome face. Otherwise, Xue would not have married him like this.

Although this child was only a little over a month old, he looked cute.

Xue seemed to want to get closer to Jiang Yanyi, and said with a smile: "I heard that the second sister bought a teahouse to do business. She is really a hero among women."

Jiang Yanyi said: "It's just a minor matter, not worthy of being shown in public."

This was naturally a self-deprecating remark.

The old lady asked Chu Chengbai: "I heard that Bo Ge'er drank too much yesterday. Did he get up this morning?"

Xue said: "He drank a bowl of sobering soup, and now he is still complaining of a headache. He hasn't gotten up yet."

Old lady Chu held Xue's hand and sighed: "Good child, you have suffered. Yue Niang is a maid who has been with Bo Ge'er since childhood. He has a deep affection for her. Yue Niang died to give birth to Nian'an for him. He must be feeling bad recently..."

Xue smiled generously: "Grandmother, what are you talking about? There is no such thing as suffering. My husband is loyal and righteous."

She said this without any jealousy. Jiang Yanyi looked at Xue in surprise.

Xue found that Jiang Yanyi was looking at her, and smiled back at Jiang Yanyi gently and generously, which made Jiang Yanyi feel a little embarrassed.

When Chu Shubao and her two sisters came, the old lady's yard became lively. Chu Shubao was very good at coaxing children. She used a rattle to make the baby grin.

Seeing this, Chu Huibao also wanted to use the rattle to tease the baby. The wet nurse and the nanny were watching over him, fearing that something might happen.

Xue said, "I'll trouble you sisters to help look after Nian'an. I've made soup for grandma on the stove. Go over and check the heat."

"Sister-in-law, you go. We're here." Chu Shubao agreed readily.

Xue then left the yard with her personal maid.

She filled a bowl of soup and asked the maid to take it to Chu Chengbai. The maid couldn't help but speak up for her: "When Aunt Yue left, the eldest young master's soul was lost with her. You had to take care of the young master Nian'an personally at night, get up before dawn to make soup, feed the eldest young master sobering soup and have to endure his drunkenness. Even in this situation, you still remembered to bring him soup..."

Xue stirred the ginseng chicken soup in the casserole with a spoon, with a faint smile on her face: "I don't do this to please him."

The maid looked puzzled, but Xue didn't elaborate and just asked her to take the soup to Chu Chengbai. The maid thought that

Xue was just being stubborn and refusing to admit it, so she said with red eyes: "That vixen Aunt Yue, no matter how favored she was, she is dead now! The young master will forget about her one day!" Xue glanced at the maid: "Why did you mention her?" The maid slapped herself: "I deserve to die." Xue glanced out the door, a faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, and she said: "Okay, if I really want to talk about it, I have to thank her." She poured the remaining soup into another soup cup, moving slowly: "She risked her life to help me give birth to a son. After giving birth to this gate of hell, I won't have to leave again in this life." The maid was so shocked that she was speechless: "You... don't hit me Do you want a child of your own?" Xue said, "Nian'an is my son." At this moment, Madam Yang, who was beside Old Madam Chu, came in from outside the kitchen. She came late and only heard the last two sentences said by the master and servant of Xue. She sighed and said, "Madam, your love for the young master is known to everyone in the Chu family. Just now I saw the attendant beside the eldest young master at the door. If the eldest young master knew how much you loved the young master Nian'an, he would also think well of you." Xue pretended to be surprised: "The attendant beside my husband came over? I think my husband is hungry, Shiya, you should quickly send the soup to my husband." Her maid obviously didn't understand what was going on, and she just went out with the soup bowl in a daze. At this time every day, Mother Yang would come to the kitchen to check on the medicine that was being boiled for Old Madam Chu. The medicine on the stove would still be boiled for a while. Mother Yang was waiting in the kitchen. After Xue put the chicken soup into the lunch box, she returned to Old Madam Chu's yard in advance. Xue came over with the freshly cooked soup, and the girls of the Chu family took a small bowl of it as breakfast. When Mother Yang, who was beside Old Madam Chu, came in from outside, she glanced at Xue and whispered something to Old Madam Chu. Jiang Yanyi sat close and heard the words "Young Master", "broken", and "divorce". Mrs. Chu's kind face was instantly filled with anger, "He is becoming more and more unruly! What kind of trouble is he going to make for a concubine? He should be content to marry a daughter-in-law like Awen!" Mrs. Chu's voice was a little loud, and Chu Shubao and her sisters who were still teasing Chu Nian'an all looked over. Mrs. Chu asked them to leave, leaving only Xue in the room to talk. Soon, Xue's crying and Mrs. Chu scolding Chu Chengbai could be heard from the room. The servants also reported what happened in Chu Chengbai's yard, saying that Xue stewed chicken soup and asked the maid to bring it to Chu Chengbai. Unexpectedly, Chu Chengbai suddenly went crazy and smashed the soup pot, and scolded Xue and said he wanted to divorce her. As Chu Chengbai's biological sister, Chu Shubao naturally knew what kind of person her brother was. Yue Niang was charming and had always been favored by Chu Chengbai. On the other hand, Xue was plain-looking and Chu Chengbai had almost no feelings for her. But his sister-in-law was extremely kind to both Chu Chengbai and the whole family.

Chu Shubao said angrily: "Brother, have you been blinded by greed? I must go and scold him!"

She turned around and ran to Chu Chengbai's yard like a powder keg.

Chu Huibao looked at Jiang Yanyi and Chu Jiabao, then at Chu Shubao, not knowing which one to follow.

Jiang Yanyi said: "Huibao, go find your mother."

It is better for Liu, the mother, to take care of the affairs of the eldest wife herself.

Chu Huibao nodded and ran to Liu's yard.

Chu Jiabao glanced at Jiang Yanyi and said: "Our eldest sister-in-law is very smart."

Jiang Yanyi had some doubts about Xue's attitude before, and now that Chu Jiabao said this, she knew that her guess should be correct.

Xue was not as affectionate to Chu Chengbai as she showed, and it was even possible that she had no feelings at all.

Chu Jiabao and Xue were of the same kind. She knew Xue's situation, so she understood her motives for doing all this.

Soon, Chu Chengbai was brought to the old lady's yard. Except for the second master Chu who was still drunk last night, the first master Chu and the third master Chu were also there.

Chu Chengbai pointed at Xue and cursed, "You vicious woman, I'm going to divorce you!"

Old Madam Chu was so angry that she threw all the pillows at Chu Chengbai, "You ungrateful man, what's wrong with you today?"

Chu Chengbai knelt in front of Old Madam Chu and said, "Grandma, this vicious woman is two-faced and has a heart of a snake!"

Xue burst into tears and said, "Tell me, how am I vicious?"

Chu Chengbai was so angry that he was shaking all over, "Si'er heard everything you said to your maid in the kitchen! Do you still want to make excuses?"

Si'er was the boy who always followed him.

Xue said, "What did I say? You asked him to come and confront me!"

Chu Chengbai said angrily, "You said that thanks to Yue Niang who risked her life to give birth to a son for you, you don't have to go through this gate of hell again!"

Xue burst into tears and pulled Mrs. Chu's sleeve and cried, "Grandma, it's unjust. What I said originally was that Yue Niang had a miserable life and died after giving birth to a child. You gave Nian'an to me to take care of, but my husband was always worried about me and was afraid that I would treat Nian'an harshly. I told the maid that I would rather not give birth to children in my life and just take good care of Nian'an."

Mother Yang was the person Mrs. Chu trusted the most. When Mother Yang entered the kitchen, she did hear the last two sentences, so Mrs. Chu did not think that Xue's words were false.

When examining Xue's maid Shi Ya alone, Shi Ya's mind was not very fast, but Xue did tell her that she did not want to have another child.

For a while, everyone in the Chu family thought that Chu Chengbai was ungrateful. His wife was willing to raise the son of the concubine, and was afraid that her husband would think that she treated the child badly, so she did not plan to have another child. Chu Chengbai even had the nerve to yell that he wanted to divorce his wife.

Mrs. Chu was about to beat Chu Chengbai. Seeing her son's half-human appearance, Mrs. Liu hurriedly pleaded for her son.

Mrs. Chu pointed at her nose and scolded: "Look at him yourself, what kind of person is he!"

Mrs. Liu was scolded so hard that she could not raise her face.

Old Madam Chu said to Chu Changping again: "Changping, give me a few good beatings on this bastard. You must have earned so much luck to marry a daughter-in-law like Awen!"

Xue covered her face and cried uncontrollably: "Grandmother, please let him divorce me. I just said that I treat Nian'an as my own son, but he slandered me like this..."

Old Madam Chu shouted: "Give his attendant Si'er 20 strokes of the cane and drive him out of the house! These stubborn servants are getting more and more... This is outrageous."

Chu Chengbai gritted his teeth and said, "Xue Wen! You can hide for a while, but not forever! Go back to your room and I will beat you to death! Nian'an is the child of me and Yue Niang. I will not give you the child to raise even if I pick up a concubine!"

Seeing that he was getting more and more outrageous, Chu Changping slapped him in the face: "There is no man in the Chu family who beats women. You are really good at it!"

Chu Chengbai has been with him in Yongzhou for several years, and he also treats Chu Chengbai as a half-son.

Xue has always been dignified and decent, but his concubine has been making trouble every other day. Chu Changping learned from Chu Chengmao that they were captured by the imperial army because of his concubine. Chu Changping didn't have a good face for his concubine, but since she was dead, he didn't want to pursue it.

Today, Chu Chengbai was messing around, so he took action to teach him a lesson.

Xue cried, "Grandma, please let him divorce me. He will beat me again when I go back to my room..."

Madam Chu was so angry that she trembled, "This rebellious son! Good child, from now on, you will live with grandma with Nian'an, and don't go back to his yard. I want to see if he will beat me as well!"

Xue cried bitterly.

Jiang Yanyi was afraid that Madam Chu would get angry, so he supported Madam Chu with one hand and patted her back with the other hand to calm her down.

She never thought that Chu Chengbai, who looked well-dressed and weak, was actually a domestic violence man. No wonder she always felt that Xue didn't seem to have any feelings for Chu Chengbai.

Even if things have developed to this point today, there is indeed a suspicion that Xue deliberately designed it, but it is also a fact that Chu Chengbai himself is a scum.

Chu Chengbai's attendant had been dragged away to be beaten with a stick, and Chu Chengbai was slapped by Chu Changping so that the corner of his mouth was bleeding. Liu felt sorry for her son. She just called her mother and wanted to plead for her son, but she heard Mrs. Chu say:

"Since you are all here today, I will make it clear. Awen is the eldest grandson's wife of my Chu family. From now on, Awen will be in charge of the family's feeding."

Liu's face turned pale, and she directly bypassed her and let the grandson's wife take charge of the family's feeding. This slap on her face must have hurt.

She had been troubled by Xue's daughter-in-law for many years but had no children, and her son didn't like Xue. Now the daughter-in-law has climbed directly above her head, and Liu still couldn't accept it.

But no matter what she thought, Mrs. Chu had made a decision, and the other rooms had no objections, so the matter was settled.

After this incident, Chu Shubao was the saddest. She cried and apologized to Xue for the mess her brother had done.

Xue said it was nothing, and several people went to Xue's residence to help pack up.

Chu Shubao was so sad that she ran out and cried loudly. Chu Huibao and Chu Jiabao went out to comfort her.

Jiang Yanyi glanced out the window. Xue asked with a self-deprecating look on her lips: "Second sister, do you think I'm despicable?"

She knew that Mother Yang would go to the kitchen at that time to check the medicine for the old lady. When she left the old lady's yard, she also received the news that the attendant beside Chu Chengbai was going to the kitchen. She deliberately rushed there before that and said those words to anger Chu Chengbai, but when Mother Yang arrived, she said that Nian An was her son.

Jiang Yanyi said, "It's not the eldest sister-in-law's fault that she met the wrong person."

Hearing this, Mrs. Xue curled her lips and said, "Thank you."

She was a smart person, and she saw the current situation of the Chu family more clearly than anyone else. The

reason why she tried her best to please the old lady instead of Mrs. Liu was because she knew that Mrs. Chu was the one with the most say in the family, and Mrs. Liu and Mr. Chu were nothing.

In addition, she must establish a good relationship with the people in the third room.

She didn't care who that waste Chu Chengbai liked, who he thought about, or who he lost his soul for. The only use of that person was probably to leave a seed. Someone had already risked his life to give birth to a son for her. Now she just needed to raise the child well so that she would have someone to rely on in the future.

Xue had just arrived in Xizhou, and there were not many things in the room, so the servants only needed to move a few boxes.

Jiang Yanyi and Chu Shubao had just accompanied Xue to the old lady's yard when a servant suddenly ran in in a panic: "Old lady! Old lady!"

Old lady Chu was so angry at Chu Chengbai that her heart ached. She was lying on the bed, and when someone else made such a fuss, Mother Yang said unhappily: "What are you panicking about? Is the sky going to fall?"

The servant was reprimanded and breathed a sigh of relief, but because he was too frightened, he still stuttered when he spoke: "Liao... Liaonan King is here to propose marriage!"

Jiang Yanyi was playing with a wave drum to tease little Nian'an, and when he heard this, his hand trembled and the wave drum fell to the ground.

There were too many shocks that day, and Mrs. Chu suspected that she had heard wrongly. She asked, "Tell me again, who is proposing marriage?"

"Liao... Liaonan King!"

This title was so scary that the servant almost bit his tongue.

Several young girls looked at each other. Except for Jiang Yanyi, everyone else looked like they had seen a ghost.

Mrs. Chu was a person who had experienced many ups and downs. After a pause, she asked, "Which girl are you proposing marriage to?"

"The second girl."

In an instant, the eyes of the whole room fell on Jiang Yanyi.

At this time, the four Chu family members, father and son, who were sitting in the front hall of the Chu family to receive the matchmaker, also looked confused.

Feng Mansion prepared a lot of gifts for the marriage proposal. There was not only a live sheep tied with red silk, a white deer, a pair of geese, two fish, two wild geese, but also ten jars of wine and ten buckets of rice.

The matchmaker was the old lady of the Han family. Han Tuo was a powerful general under Feng Shuo and was highly valued. The Han family was also a well-known family in Xizhou. The higher the status of the matchmaker, the more they valued the woman. It goes without saying that the old lady Han was sincere in her matchmaking.

Old Madam Han's smile was so big that she couldn't stop. She said, "General Chu, the prince wants to marry your daughter. At this juncture, the prince has specifically told me that I must follow the three matchmakers and six betrothals, and I must not let Miss Chu down. Look, the live animals and poultry for the betrothal were all caught by the prince himself. It's not easy to catch a white deer in the ice and snow."

Usually, a pair of live geese is enough for the betrothal, but Feng Shuo directly caught all the animals and poultry that have been used in the etiquette of the past dynasties.

Chu Changping just heard Feng Shuo say "How can you start a family if you haven't accomplished your great cause" at the banquet yesterday. Today, the matchmaker came to his door. Even if he had prepared himself mentally, he still felt that he was dreaming.

He said, "This... is really too sudden."

Perhaps Feng Shuo had explained the situation of the Chu family before coming, and Madam Han said, "General Chu, don't worry. The prince is accepting the marriage proposal now. What he meant is that we should settle the marriage first, and it won't be too late to get married next year." This