Chapter 40: A Small Test of Feng's Clan

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  Li Changshu went out to meet the people from Qingzhou, while his wife, Chen Shi, sat in a daze on the Luohan bed in the main room with a thoughtful expression. To be honest, she had only met her late sister-in-law's biological daughter three or four times and had a very vague impression of her. She vaguely remembered hearing old friends from the capital mention that this Seventh Lady Wang was weak-willed and unremarkable in appearance, and if it weren't for her identity as the eldest daughter of the Taoyuan Wang family, she would never have married into the wealthy Zhao family.

  Timidity and mediocrity are not necessarily a problem for women, but if they marry into a prominent family, it's not very suitable. Alas, in a family like the Zhaos, which is closely tied to merchants and profits, a woman without a strong backing from her own family and with a weak personality will find it difficult to enjoy wealth and glory; even living a peaceful life would be a luxury.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, Wang Qiuniang had been married to the Zhao family for less than two years when rumors began circulating in the capital that her husband, Zhao's second young master, was "favoring his concubine and neglecting his wife". Moreover, some people with noses and eyes were saying that Qiuniang lacked the demeanor of a lady and the presence of a mistress.

  Hmmm, she didn't quite believe it before. After all, Wang Qiuniang was the only daughter of Eldest Auntie, and thinking back to how capable and clever Eldest Auntie used to be, how could she possibly have given birth to an ordinary and unremarkable daughter?!

  When the master of the house heard these rumors, he was so angry that he wanted to go to Beijing immediately to question the Zhao family as to why they had treated his late sister's only daughter in such a manner. It was she who managed to persuade him not to go that day. If it weren't for her, this aunt would have been too heartless and cold-blooded. But the thing is, none of the masters of the house had ever asked their eldest uncle for help, so how could these elders listen to some rumors and then go find the Zhao family to settle accounts?

  Besides, Eldest Uncle is in the capital, if things were really as bad as the rumors say, how could he just stand by and do nothing?

  Of course, perhaps compared to the elder brother who has been studying abroad for many years, the relationship with his wife and father is better. In any case, Eldest Uncle is still Seventh Mother's own uncle, and there is no reason why she wouldn't look for him for help after suffering grievances.

  Could it be that this Wang Qiuniang, apart from being weak and mediocre, also has a muddled brain and can't distinguish between kinship? Even if her biological mother is dead, she still has maternal uncles, doesn't she? When in trouble, couldn't she open her mouth to ask for help from her maternal uncles? Could it be that these uncles would just sit back and ignore her? Or did this Qiuniang simply forget that she has two uncles to rely on?

  However, today's events made Chen look at Wang Qiuniang in a new light.

  A blank letter, a pearl from the deceased mother, and an awkward servant who doesn't know how to express himself in four-character or six-character phrases. Even if Seventh Sister didn't say anything, just seeing these fragments would allow people to make endless connections. Especially for Li Sanlao, who had the deepest feelings for his deceased sister and felt guilty for not being able to take care of her children, seeing, hearing, and thinking about his niece's miserable situation, how could he stand by idly and ignore it?!

  As expected, she was pondering what the servant who delivered the message would say to her master, when a hurried footsteps were heard outside the door.

  "Bang!"

  It was the sound of Master Chen slamming the door. Madame Chen opened her half-closed eyes, and a faint smile played on her lips as she silently counted "one, two, three!"

  "You're really going too far, are you trying to bully me because there's no one in the Li family?! This is really going too far!"

  "Old master, what's going on? Could something serious have happened at your nephew's place?"

  Madam Chen heard her husband's furious growl, and her heart skipped a beat. It seemed that things were more serious than she had imagined. She quickly got up, tidied up her clothes and hair, and came out with a worried face.

  Li Changshu's originally pale face was filled with a dark, ashen color. Upon hearing his wife's gentle voice, he forcefully suppressed the anger burning within him and gritted his teeth, saying: "The Wangs and Zhaos have bullied me for far too long! Autumn Girl, do you know how Qīniáng has been living these past few years? Do you know that the illustrious Zhao family, who claim to uphold the traditions of poetry and propriety, actually favored their concubine over their wife? Do you know where Qīniáng is now?... You don't know, I don't know either... Sister, I have failed to live up to Elder Sister's dying wish, I have betrayed Elder Sister's trust, I... I..."

  Thinking of the will left by his deceased sister, Li Changshu's iron face showed immense guilt and pain - thinking that in the past, his elder sister had taken care of him like a mother, but now he couldn't even fulfill his sister's last entrustment. It was really, really unforgivable to his sister; how could he still lecture his own children about "loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and faithfulness" every day?!

  "Master, what's wrong?" Chen saw her husband's eyes were bloodshot and he looked furious. She quickly went forward, grabbed his arm, pushed him into a chair, personally handed him a cup of hot tea, and gently comforted him: "Is there something you want to tell me? Has your niece been bullied in her husband's family?"

  "Ah, where's the grievance?" Facing his wife's gentle gaze, Li Changshu let out a long sigh, put down his teacup and said with a hint of coldness in his eyes: "It's simply abuse!"

  "What? Abuse? The Zhao family is also a big family, although not as prestigious as our five surnames and seven honors, they have been prosperous for over a hundred years. They are not those nouveau riche, how can they be so disregarding of rules and etiquette?"

  Chen was taken aback and asked somewhat disbelievingly.

  "Hmph, nouveau riche, he's not even as good as a nouveau riche. Even the most vulgar and coarse people in the streets know to respect their wives and concubines, but him? What about the Zhao family? Lee Changshu's suppressed anger suddenly flared up again, squeezing out a few words from between his teeth: "Do you know where Seventh Lady is now? In a small mountain villa in Qingzhou, Qingyang County, 'resting'! Bah, what a load of nonsense, it's clearly exile, driving the legitimate wife out of the house!"

  "Is this, is all of this true?"

  Mr. Chen originally thought that his niece was pretending to be distressed in order to get her uncle's attention, so he made a gesture of sending over this letter for help. He didn't expect things to have really reached such a difficult point. Seeing his husband nodding painfully, he said somewhat urgently: "Then let's hurry up and bring our niece over to live with us. Ah, no wonder this child has used up all of her dowry from the eldest aunt, it's clear that she had nowhere else to turn but to us. Poor child, who knows how much suffering she's endured, how much injustice she's suffered. Old master?"

  "Ah, it's settled then," Li Changshu was very pleased with his wife's reaction. After all, bringing their niece over and settling her in would require his wife's full support and cooperation as the mistress of the house. Now that he saw she had a sympathetic expression, like an elder who doted on children, he could rest assured leaving Qīniáng in her care.

  "However, I need to send a message to the Zhao family first and properly apologize to Old Master Zhao. Although I don't know what 'seven-out' rule Seventh Sister has broken, as her uncle and Zhao Wangshi's brother, I, Li Changshu, bear some responsibility for not teaching my niece well!"

  "......Oh, okay, also give it to the old master to seal the letter, he is in Beijing, some words can also be personally asked to Director Zhao!"

  As for the series of chain reactions brought about by her own distress signal, Wang Qifang was unaware. At this moment, she was wearing a conical hat, accompanied by Zhao Ayi, and together with Qian Niang, sending Feng Tiezhu into the capital. Of course, following Feng Tiezhu into the capital were also Xiao Yatou Ziyan, as well as the gifts that Wang Qifang had personally prepared for Zhao TaiTai and Xiao Yatou.

  "Let's go back, madam!"

  As she watched the carriage drive away from the villa and disappear into the lush green fields, Qian Niang let out a silent sigh and turned to face Wang Qie Fang.

  "Feng Dashi, do you know why I asked Feng Guan Shi to send Zi Yuan back to the capital?"

  Across the white gauze floating in the wind, Wang Qifang asked faintly.

  "Old Madame Hui, didn't you instruct Tiezhu to bring some things for the young ladies and madams in the mansion? Is there something important that requires Tiezhu's attention?"

  When Wang Qifang asked the question, Qiangniang's eyebrows jumped slightly, and she suppressed her inner unease, probing softly.

  "Heh heh, that's right, I'm asking Feng Guan to help send some things back," Wang Qifang said, her eyes following the horse carriage until it became a small black dot in the distance before turning around, her voice seeming somewhat hollow through the cone-shaped hat. "However, while sending things, can you also ask Feng Guan to deliver a message to the mansion?"

  "What news?"

  Qian Niang had a premonition that Wang Qifang's next words would definitely not be good. For some reason, since yesterday when this young lady called her husband into the yard and ordered him to do something, Qian Niang and Feng Tiejun had a bad feeling of being plotted against. Even though they analyzed every word the young lady said, they still couldn't find any problem.

  So Feng Tiezhu listened to Wang Qifang's words and personally escorted Zi Yun'er into the capital.

  "There's nothing, I just wanted to let the authorities know," Wang Qifang felt a bit uncomfortable talking through the white gauze, she reached out and lifted her hat, revealing a faint smile, saying word by word: "I'm pregnant!"

  P.S: Hehe, yesterday was the first day of the holiday, and someone overslept, a broken update bird! I'll make up for it tomorrow, someone covers their face...

  Again PS: About Wang Yi's calculation against the Wang Liyang family, let me explain. In fact, it can't be considered a calculation or revenge, but rather Wang Yi's desperate move to end everything together. On that day in the hotel, Wang Yi and Wang Liyang failed to negotiate, she was worried that Wang Liyang would stop at nothing to deal with her for that heart. To prevent any accidents, Wang Yi specially prepared a medicine, when the car accident really happened, Wang Yi injected the medicine into her body before losing consciousness, just to end everything together with Wang Ailin.

  After Wang Liyang designed a car accident to kill Wang Yi, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the heart, he hastily arranged for Wang Ailin to have a heart transplant. However, Wang Yi's heart had been injected with toxic drugs, which was equivalent to giving Wang Ailin a timed bomb.

  If Wang Ailin hadn't used Wang Yi's heart, she might have lived for another two years, during which time a suitable heart might have been found. Unfortunately, due to Wang Liyang's ruthlessness, he insisted on using Wang Yi's life to exchange for Wang Ailin's life, resulting in Wang Ailin receiving a poisonous heart and only living for one week before dying.

  It's a bit cheesy, but it's also setting the stage for what's to come, hehe, and that is...