Chapter 423: Misunderstanding
Editor: Atlas Studios
No matter how unwilling Madam Wu was, she could not stop Qi Haoran and the others from going to the small ancestral hall to kneel before and pay their respects to Zhu Wan. She could only use the excuse that she was not feeling well to avoid going with them.
Even though she had already been made the legitimate wife, she still had to pay her respects as a concubine before Zhu Wan’s memorial tablet.
Qi Haoran didn’t want her to be an eyesore either, so he only brought his sister-in-law and Mu Yangling along. He quietly chatted with his mother for a while before bringing them out.
Qi Haoran said, “Since His Majesty hasn’t summoned me yet, I’ll accompany you to meet the elders in the family today and go to the Fan Residence to visit Aunt in the afternoon.”
Before they returned, Qi Xiuyuan had specially instructed them to visit the elders of the clan when they returned. It was important to leave a good impression on them to make things easier for them in the family in the future. The gifts for the elders of the clan had been prepared long ago.
Yesterday, Qi Feng interrogated Qi Haoran for a long time but could not find out much about Qi Xiuyuan. It was unknown if he was impatient or if he felt that Qi Haoran really did not know. Anyway, he pretty much left Qi Haoran alone and did not restrict him from going out.
As for Madam Wu, it was even more impossible for her to interfere. In the past, when Qi Haoran was young, he didn’t listen to her and contradicted her without qualms all the time. Yesterday, the facts proved that his temper had also gotten worse as he got older. Therefore, Madam Wu used the same strategy as before, which was to ignore him usually and to trample on him when the opportunity arose.
As for Li Jinghua and Mu Yangling, she really wanted to put on airs as a mother-in-law. However, looking at the situation yesterday, she knew that they were not easy to bully either. Besides, Qi Haoran was still following them all day long. When Qi Haoran returned to his previous state of being away from home for three to four days at a time, she would find an opportunity to deal with them.
Therefore, Madam Wu also let them do whatever they wanted. If Madam Wu didn’t care, it was even more impossible for Madam Xu and Little Madam Wu to provoke Qi Haoran.
Therefore, the Qi Residence was strangely divided into two sides. One side was Zhaode Hall and Zhaohua Courtyard. Other than a few servants from the Qi Residence in Zhaohua Courtyard, all the servants in these two residences were people they had brought from the Jingzhao Prefecture. The other side was the main residence where Qi Feng and Madam Wu lived, as well as the residences of their two sons and daughters-in-law. The two sides almost didn’t interfere with each other. If someone who didn’t know better came in to take a look, they would think that it was two different families sharing a house.
Zhu Wan and Xia Tong were cousins, but they were no different from biological sisters. The Zhu family was originally a martial arts family. From Zhu Wan’s great-grandfather’s generation to her father’s generation, they had accumulated significant military merits, solidly establishing themselves among the martial arts officials.
The Xia family, on the other hand, struggled their way to the top from the bottom ranks of the army. However, the Xia family had been in the military a generation earlier than the Zhu family. In Zhu Wan’s great-grandfather’s generation, the men in the two families had gone through life-and-death situations together. Later on, Zhu Wan’s grandfather was even a subordinate of the Xia family. Having saved each other’s lives on countless occasions, it was impossible to say who owed whom.
The two families had an excellent relationship, so in her grandfather’s generation, they had made a verbal agreement to become in-laws. Raised together since young, the children of the two families had always been close. Therefore, as soon as Grandpa Zhu became an adult, he married Madam Xia as expected. However, when Madam Xia was about to get married, there was a storm because Little Sister Zhu and Little Brother Xia were opposed to that.
The two of them also had feelings for each other. If their sibling got married, they would not have a chance.
The family fell into chaos. In the end, it was an elder in the Zhu family who waved his hand and said, “Since the two families have always been very close, there’s no need to worry about the aftereffects. Since the children are fond of each other, just let both couples get married.”
In the end, Grandpa Zhu married the daughter of the Xia family, and the son of the Xia family married the daughter of the Zhu family. The relationship between the two families deepened.
Of course, because Little Brother Xia and Little Sister Zhu were still young, by the time they got married, Madam Xia had already given birth to two sons for the Zhu family in three years.
After Little Brother Xia and Little Sister Zhu got married, Little Sister Zhu became pregnant less than half a year later. However, they were unlucky and happened to encounter the intrusion of the Jin soldiers. Little Brother Xia had no choice but to go to the battlefield. Unexpectedly, he encountered an ambush and died on the battlefield.
No one dared to tell the pregnant Little Sister Zhu and had been hiding it from her despite the difficulties. However, there was no such thing as a secret kept forever under wraps. Little Sister Zhu still found out and gave birth on the spot. When the child was born, she was on the verge of death. She only had time to take a look at Xia Tong before she died.
The two elders of the Xia family suffered a huge blow, but they had no choice but to focus on taking care of little Xia Tong. However, the Xia family’s grandfather was also a general and had to go to war. His wife was not in good health, so Xia Tong could only be placed in the care of the Zhu family.
In the end, when the Xia family got an adoptive heir, Xia Tong was able to take away most of the Xia family’s assets when she got married because of the support of the two cousins of the Zhu family. All these years, even though Fan Siwen had doted on his concubine, he didn’t dare to go overboard with Xia Tong outside because of the Zhu family.
This was also why Fan Zijin resented his mother.
In his opinion, his two uncles had high statuses. As long as his mother said a word, they could force his father to lower his head and respect his legitimate wife and son. However, his mother was concerned about not embarrassing his father, making him push his luck.
Fan Zijin did not forget that when his father had wanted to promote Madam Liu to a noble concubine back then, he had a huge argument with her mother. His mother had only returned to his uncle’s house once, and his two fourth-grade official uncles had already cornered his father in the alley and had him beaten up. They had even suppressed him in his career. In the end, he had no choice but to go to the Zhu family and beg his mother to return home. To be honest, that was the most comfortable year in Fan Zijin’s memory.
That was because no slave dared to show him attitude behind others’ backs or say that he would be chased out one day because he was not favored by his father…
Also, no slave dared to steal his and Haoran’s food, nor did any slave dare to openly anger his mother to tears.
Of course, no one dared to do this now. However, that was because her mother had gone through a bloodbath for ten years before she took control of the power in the residence. However, Fan Zijin was still angry. His mother could clearly do better, but she had let him and herself suffer so much because she was worried about humiliating his father.
Fan Zijin didn’t know if his heart ached for himself or her mother. Anyway, when Qi Haoran and the rest came, he specially introduced Mu Yangling to his mother and said, “Mother, you’ll definitely like Haoran’s wife. Her temper is similar to yours, but it’s also different in a way.”
Madam Xia did not understand her son’s deeper meaning. She only smiled at the delicate and cute Mu Yangling below and nodded with a smile. “Haoran’s wife is quite beautiful. Haoran is blessed.”
“Then Mother, if you have nothing to do, look for her more often to talk to her in the residence. Perhaps you can learn her strengths after spending more time with her.” If Mu Yangling met a man like his father, with Mu Yangling’s personality, she would probably not simply whip the floor twice like his mother. Instead, she would directly kick the man and spare no effort to destroy what he cared about, right?
Fan Zijin sneered.
Madam Xia was suspicious and looked at her son worriedly. Zijin had always liked to snatch Haoran’s things. Could it be that this child wanted to snatch her too?
Madam Xia perked up and took a few closer looks at Mu Yangling. She realized that she was really beautiful. At a rough glance, she didn’t think so, but her face was simple and elegant. There was even some baby fat on her oval face. One couldn’t help but be attracted to her large and lively eyes. When she didn’t smile, one would merely feel that she had delicate looks. However, if she pursed her lips and smiled, it would make one’s heart palpitate. Moreover, the more one looked at her, the more attractive she became.
Madam Xia became even more worried. She couldn’t help but steal a few glances at her son, planning to start paying attention to his marriage tomorrow. It would be best if it could be settled by the beginning of spring next year…
Not knowing that his mother had misunderstood, Fan Zijin was still hoping his mother could be more enlightened by spending more time with Mu Yangling.