Chapter 130 Finale

Yingniang sniffed and rubbed her eyes with a handkerchief. She had never expected that her brother had become a nun and her mother had fallen ill, and Xu Sijia would not even come back to care for her. It could not be said that Xu Sijia was not good to her, but she would tell him everything before he would do anything. If she did not tell him, he would not take the initiative to care for her.

This was really tiring. She also felt that her father was partial to her, giving the good Shen Linfeng to her third sister, and she could only marry Xu Sijia. Even though she was the daughter of a prime minister, she couldn't really let a man completely submit to her.

She once thought that what her mother said was right, that power and glory were better than anything else. Later, she thought that what Xie did was right, that she should be a confidant of her husband and treat him with gentleness. Later, she felt that it was all wrong.

She wanted company and needed it. Without her husband, she would feel empty and lonely. But she was also a person with self-esteem. She would not always ask her husband to pay special attention to her. In fact, if she was more docile, Xu Sijia and the Xu family would really treat her as an old mother. This really pissed her off, and she stopped pretending from then on.

She originally felt that she was treated unfairly at her parents' home because her father favored the third wife. But now it seems that her parents' home is like a honey pot compared to her husband's home.

She could eat whatever she wanted. If she wanted to enjoy the fresh air, she could take a boat ride at home. In the summer, she could go to the farm. On weekdays, she could ask for whatever she wanted. Although the third sister would argue with her, she could go to the third sister's room to play with dolls and listen to her playing the piano. The second mother would prepare delicious food for her.

When I can’t sleep, my mother will coax me to sleep.

She felt that her life was ruined by her mother. If she didn't fight for her mother's reputation and let her father find a man with good character and appearance, she would have lived a very comfortable life.

In fact, wealth and glory are not absolutely important to everyone. It is best to live a comfortable and happy life without any worries. But it is too late for her to know this.

Xu Sijia had just come back from outside, and saw that the maid outside had hinted to him that Yingniang was in a bad mood. He thought to himself that he might not be able to talk about his own affairs today. His relationship with Yingniang was ordinary, very ordinary, but the two of them were running a family together, so there were always things that needed her consent.

After thinking about it, he stepped in.

It was the first time he saw Yingniang crying, and he felt a little troubled. He couldn't help but sit down and ask, "What's wrong with you? Are you worried about something?"

He had no idea why he was troubled.

Ying Niang said in despair, "My business is fine, but you don't come to me for no reason. Tell me, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Xu Sijia was a scholar, and Yingniang knew that he took his reputation very seriously, and he would not bring back a woman to affect his mood. Therefore, Yingniang was not worried about what happened to him outside, because these officials took their reputation as more important than anything else.

He was afraid that there was something else that required her to ask for help, otherwise he would not have come on his own initiative.

After he said that, Xu Sijia felt embarrassed: "I just came to see you, you are so suspicious, what can I do?"

"Sir, please tell me what you want to do while my father is still in office. It will be hard to say what will happen in the future." Ying Niang said unhappily.

When Xu Sijia heard this, she said, "Why should we bother Old Taishan to intervene in this matter? He is a respected official and has many people watching over him. I want to talk about your third brother-in-law. I heard that he and Qin Shubai were in the same list and they are close friends. Qin Shubai was promoted to the prefect of Yaozhou because of his work on the river. It just so happens that a relative of mine has been defrauded in Yaozhou, so I want to ask for your help."

It turned out that she was looking for Shen Linfeng, and Yingniang said, "Then you shouldn't have looked for me. My relationship with my third sister has always been bad, and you know that. You might as well talk to my third brother-in-law directly about this matter. My third brother-in-law is as cheerful as the breeze and the bright moon, and he is usually a warm-hearted person."

"Your third brother-in-law is good in every way except one thing: he's henpecked." Xu Sijia looked down on men who were afraid of their wives. However, Shen Linfeng was good in every way except that he listened too much to her. He was completely obedient.

Yingniang looked at him and compromised. When she arrived, Yaoniang had just finished her housework. She was dedicated to handling things every morning and made decisions on everything in a moment.

Hearing that Ying Niang was coming, she raised her eyebrows: "Is this person a rare guest? Let her come over."

Now Ruofu is seven years old. Her original teacher has resigned. Yaoniang specially invited a talented female private school teacher from Jiangnan to teach her daughter. Her son is five years old and has been in elementary school for two years. She doesn't need to worry about Zhige'er anymore. Yaoniang thinks that she will start to take care of her body in the near future, and it would be great if she could have another child.

Now that both children have gone to school, the house is empty. Besides, Shen Linfeng is the eldest son, so having one more child will provide more security. Seeing that the second wife has lost her position and Shen Bangyan is said to be not very ambitious, I am afraid that the second wife's property will be eaten up by the whales in the family in the future.

Thinking of this, she raised her eyes again and saw Yingniang coming over. Yaoniang stood up and said, "I met you at Yan's house yesterday. If you had something to say, why didn't you tell me then and come to my house to tell me?"

After Yingniang sat down, because it was the first time for her to ask Yaoniang for help, she said hesitantly, "It's about my husband's family. I heard that my third brother-in-law has a fellow student who is the prefect of Yaozhou. Isn't that why I came to ask if I can help?"

Yao Niang glanced at her and said, "You have to tell me what it is first. If it is illegal to ask for a favor, we won't do it."

"No, he was deceived and wronged." Ying Niang said quickly.

Yao Niang nodded: "If it is a fraud, then I will ask your brother-in-law to write a letter, but you don't need to worry, the Qin Mansion has a good reputation."

I didn't expect her to agree so readily. Yingniang's thank you sounded awkward, but she still said, "Thank you so much, Third Sister."

"It's nothing." Yao Niang was not the kind of person who would take credit for herself. The eldest wife was about to fall from grace, and she did not have the habit of kicking the man when he was down.

Yingniang added, "My husband asked me to come."

Yao Niang was not surprised at all: "You have always been very good to him, but has he given you any benefit by helping him like this?"

Ying Niang didn't understand: "Does a family have to talk about this?"

"Look at what you said, why did you run errands for nothing? I think you are just a hero in words, and you offend everyone around you with your mouth, but in the end you have no ability at all. I think you are not capable of doing bad things. Now that your father is here and so many people are around, you still do this and that for others. Be careful to be bullied even more in the future." Yao Niang said.

Yingniang was also a stubborn girl, and her temper was not very good to begin with, but now that Yaoniang said that, she actually listened to her.

Usually, Xu Sijia felt that Yingniang was afraid of him, and she felt quite proud of it. After all, women always rely on their husbands.

But when Yingniang came back, she saw that Yaoniang was living such a comfortable life, and she thought to herself, why should she be so servile every day? Is Xu Sijia worthy of her?

Xu Sijia hadn't realized the change in Yingniang yet. After a month, seeing that Yingniang hadn't looked for him, he came over to take a look. However, he saw Yingniang glancing at him sideways: "You still remember to come over?"

"What?" Xu Sijia asked.

Ying Niang snorted coldly: "I have been living with you like a widow. I shouldn't have found you in the first place. You enjoy whores outside and maids at home. Who do you think you are?"

Xu Sijia was stunned for a moment, but thinking that her father was the prime minister, she had to endure it and worked very hard at night.

Yingniang thought to herself, "I don't care whether you like me or not. You have to serve me comfortably anyway. If you don't, then I will hate you."

Of course, it was unclear how Yingniang changed Yaoniang. On the Shen family's side, Lu Shan'er was pregnant again. Originally, she was the same age as herself and was also a beauty, but now her appearance began to become haggard.

However, she is now really living a different kind of enjoyable life. The household is handed over to Grandma Qingda to take care of. Because of the matter of introducing businessmen, Grandma Qingda was stripped of the housekeeper's power by Mr. Shen. Shao and Han Ruohua are now the housekeepers together, but they don't really manage the affairs.

Shen Linfeng understood: "It's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it's hard to go from luxury to frugality. She doesn't think she can deceive people with this trick, maybe she has trapped herself. Besides, we can't predict what will happen in the future. Don't think about the past anymore, okay?"

"I won't let my guard down. I'm best at drawing people, and I can see their desires. The more someone pretends to be a pig to eat a tiger, the deeper his thoughts are, and the bigger his ambitions are." Yao Niang knew this very well.

In fact, Lu Shaner can only choose to be patient now. Apart from being patient, there is nothing else she can do.

The Yan family is powerful, and Yan Yingqi is now the second assistant, a perennial figure in the political arena. Yan Mai is so old, and he has repeatedly asked for leave, but the emperor has not allowed it, not to mention Yan Jingzhao, who is now a third-rank councilor.

There was nothing she could do, and she had no evidence...

"Why are these grapes sour?" Lu Shaner frowned.

The servant said quickly, "Madam, these are the best mare's milk grapes, and they were sent by the eldest lady of the main house."

Lu Shan'er is now very picky. She must eat peaches from Wuxi, grapes from the Western Regions, and even fish she must eat is sea bass or shad. She won't eat anything else.

"Forget it, get some more sugar and mix it." Lu Shan'er didn't make things difficult for her and continued to enjoy herself. Then she felt that the mat she was sleeping on was uncomfortable, so she asked someone to change it.

…

Yao Niang also went to the Dagu Temple to pray, and took the children out to play, because she was afraid that if she was really pregnant, it would be inconvenient to go out. Shen Linfeng walked very fast in front. Others came to the Dagu Temple to worship Buddha, but Shen Linfeng claimed that he was tired, so he lit a stick of incense and found a guest room to sleep.

Yao Niang took the children to visit the Dagu Temple and happened to meet the nun she had met before on the road. It was said that she was the former wife of the prince of the Lan family. She also seemed to recognize her and nodded and smiled.

"You are so lucky to have both a son and a daughter." Rong Fanyin said with a smile.

Yao Niang nodded: "Yes."

Rong Fanyin said again: "Then you must cherish your blessings." She finally remembered who this person was. The woman who married Master Kongjian was Madam Gu in her previous life. Madam Gu seemed to be on an official post outside the capital at that time. They met briefly. She seemed to be complaining about her husband's low official position and advised him to be careful with his words and actions. Little did she know that Mr. Gu seemed to want to make a trouble and was dragged in by Madam Gu's men. It was said that he was beaten. I don't know whether it is true or not.

Thinking of this, she shook her head and left again.

After returning from the Dagu Temple, Yao Niang was found to be pregnant. This time she was carrying her third child. The pregnancy reaction was a bit strong and the child was very noisy in her belly. When she was born, she turned out to be a very naughty boy. When he was only two or three years old, he was causing chaos in the house.

Yao Niang was a strict mother, and Ruo Fu was a very good elder sister. With the two of them in charge, the child did not dare to show any evil behavior. Yan Yingqi treated the little Yang Ge'er differently, saying that the child was very smart and would achieve great things in the future.

"Dad, even though you are the prime minister, don't you also know how to read faces?" Yao Niang said with a smile.

Yan Yingqi took a sip of wine and said, "Just wait and see. By the way, your father may be promoted to Prime Minister soon. I only told you, so keep it a secret."

"Really?" Yao Niang asked happily.

Yan Yingqi said, "It's almost certain, but how can I put it? Everything has its limits. It all depends on whether the emperor is willing or not. I am not an old minister who supports the emperor, nor am I the emperor's teacher. I am afraid that even if I am the chief minister, I will not be able to last long. However, for me, being the highest official is already very good. We old people will have to retire."

Yao Niang said, "An old horse still has ambitions to run a thousand miles. Besides, you are not old in your daughter's eyes."

"You are already twenty-seven or twenty-eight, and your mother is fifty. As for me, I am almost sixty, but I am not old yet. I have achieved success at a young age and my career is going smoothly. It is time for me to retire. Otherwise, if I don't die when I am old, I will be a thief." Yan Yingqi shook his head.

Fortunately, my son Jing Zhao has now become the Governor of Fujian, and my son-in-law has become the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Everything is developing in the right direction.

Her father, who always made her feel that he was invincible, now began to talk about being old. Yao Niang couldn't help crying: "Father, it would be great if you were both in Beijing, so you could always be by your daughter's side."

"Silly child, it's still early now. Besides, even if we are not by your side, you have both a son and a daughter now. What's wrong with that? When you were a child, the fortune teller said that you were blessed with both wisdom and fortune. Look, you really are like that." Yan Yingqi wanted to say something else, but stopped in the end.

Zhen was in good health, and after her son became a monk, she lived well with strong faith, because she knew very well that as soon as she died, Xie would take her place, there was no doubt about that.

Therefore, she must stay alive. As long as she is alive, the Xie family will have to be inferior to others.

Unfortunately, she was wrong. After Yan Yingqi became the Prime Minister, the Emperor specially bestowed the title of First-Rank Lady on Yan Yingqi's wife, Xie, the mother of the Fujian Provincial Governor.

Before this, only Yao Niang had requested the sixth-rank imperial decree for Xie. Yan Jingzhao was interested, but he was an official from another province and had no chance to meet the emperor. He just didn't expect Yan Yingqi to request the title for his mother so immediately.

Zhen was incredulous. She said to Wei's mother, "Then Xie is against the law. How can she be conferred the title at the same time?"

Mother Wei thought to herself that the so-called rules were made by people, and no one could interfere if the emperor wished. But she did not dare to tell Zhen this, for fear that she would be angry and do something bad.

This was the first time that Xie's status was so legitimate, and she herself seemed a little unbelievable. Yan Yingqi held her hand and said, "It's all my fault. I was always selfish and didn't think about you. I was always afraid that my petition would fail and it would drag me down in the future. Now everything has been settled. I'm sorry that it took so long for you to be like this."

Xie shook her head: "If I wasn't in this situation, Yao Niang and Jing Zhao wouldn't work so hard. Life is like this. If things go too smoothly, the children may not become successful. In fact, I am already satisfied that you gave me these children. Besides, you are also very good to me."

She is such a soft-hearted person, Yan Yingqi thought. He helped her sit down and comforted her softly, "Don't worry about it anymore, okay?"

"Okay." Xie finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This incident made Yao Niang the happiest. She said to Shen Linfeng, "I have been looking forward to it for a long time, and it finally happened. I thought I had to wait for my brother, but I didn't expect my father to do it privately."

Shen Linfeng was happy to see Yao Niang happy, and he was also happy: "Nothing is difficult in the world if one sets his mind to it."

"Yes." Yao Niang smiled.

Three years later, Yan Yingqi retired due to illness, and the emperor granted him a postal carriage to return home. Yao Niang and Shen Linfeng went to see them off to Nanjing. Xie Shi didn't know if this was the last time she saw her daughter, because she didn't come back to Nanjing this time. She was always introverted, but she touched her daughter's face at the end: "Yao Niang..."

"Mother, I can't bear to leave you. But I know that father has been exhausted by his official career for so many years, and you have also been living in Beijing for many years. You must stay well with father. I may go home in a few years. When the time comes, I will stay in Jinling for a few days, and Wu Xing for a few days. You and father should not abandon us." Yao Niang knew that Xie was reluctant to leave.

Xie burst into tears. She was no longer young and always preferred to be together rather than to be apart.

Seeing her daughter saying that she would accompany her in the future, she couldn't help but laugh. Yan Yingqi glanced at her and said, "She's really easy to coax..."

The women were crying and sobbing, but the men were much more calm. Yan Yingqi even pointed Yao Niang and her daughter to Shen Linfeng and said, "Women are troublesome. They cry and whine and are inseparable."

Shen Linfeng smiled and said, "The son-in-law dare not say anything about them."

Yan Yingqi joked with him for a few words before saying, "You have now been promoted from the Minister of Personnel to the Left Minister of Rites. You will enter the cabinet sooner or later. I usually treat you as my own son and teach you almost everything I know. My son and daughter will be entrusted to you in the future."

"Father-in-law, you are too kind." Shen Linfeng bowed.

Yan Yingqi waved his hand and said to Xie: "Xie Lanyou, if you don't leave now, the boat will leave soon and you won't be able to leave, right?"

It was the first time that Shen Linfeng heard an old couple calling each other by their names. Yao Niang wiped her tears and said, "Mom, be careful. We can just write to each other in the future."

Xie hurriedly followed Yan Yingqi onto the boat, turning back to look at her daughter, who was waving her hands vigorously.

…

On the way back, Shen Linfeng said, "My uncle is also going to retire and return home, and it will be in the next few days."

Lu Shan'er had to follow him back again. Once she went back, it would be difficult for her to come back in the future. Her third uncle was old and it was impossible for him to rise again. Lu Shan'er's son also learned from her to enjoy himself whenever he could and did not seem to be a good student. It would be difficult for him to leave Wu Xing's hometown in the future.

Yao Niang was relieved: "Let's go, let's go home. Many people sent me invitations today."

"What post?" Shen Linfeng was puzzled.

Yao Niang laughed and said, "You are silly. Your daughter is already fourteen years old. Aren't there too many people who want to propose marriage to her? Let's go home and choose a son-in-law."

Shen Linfeng staggered when she pulled him, but he couldn't help laughing and shaking his head. He looked up at the red sun in the east and thought to himself, how wonderful it was.

——The Ending