Chapter 100 It's not that I dare not, it's that I can't
Xia Houshu looked at the room full of people with different expressions and suddenly felt a little dazed.
Whether it is mother, aunt, or aunt, they are all the mistresses of their respective families, but when faced with Cousin Ruolan's weird in-laws, they all seemed to have their lives taken away, and they all lost their minds. The Zhong sisters
She has not yet left the cabinet, she has never encountered such a bad thing, and she does not dare to speak out when she sounds angry. As for cousin Ruolan, she is a sufferer herself, trapped in it, and unable to extricate herself.
How can this continue?
Xia Houshu was anxious, so he looked at Xu Ruolan and asked: "Cousin, can you advise my brother-in-law to take the children and live separately? I heard that King Zhao has several small houses in Beijing, and they usually rent them.
The rent for living with others is high. You are direct descendants. When the family is divided, you will definitely get more than other concubines. When the time comes, you and Prince Zhao will share a courtyard. Although those courtyards are not one-tenth of the size of Prince Zhao's mansion.
It’s big, but it’s more than enough to accommodate your family of four and a dozen servants. The most important thing is that you can stay away from these nasty things and live more comfortably.”
Thinking of her husband, Xu Ruolan couldn't help but burst into tears, and she cried out of grievance.
Xiahou Mei also sighed beside him.
In a big family, if the parents are still alive, they will generally not separate. And in some families, even if the parents are gone, several brothers will live together. Just like the Duke of Yue's Mansion, although the old Duke and his wife have been dead for many years
, each of them has made great achievements, but they have never thought about dividing the family. However, in recent years, Xiahoutan's family has not lived in Beijing, and except for the property left by his ancestors, it has not been divided, but it seems that the family has been divided.
However, the strength of a family is different between being together and running separately. This is why some big families can be passed down for hundreds of years, while small families may not be traced for a few generations.
reason.
Xia Houshu thought he had said something wrong and quickly hugged Xu Ruolan to comfort her.
Princess Gong and the Zhong sisters were neither the victims nor serious relatives, so it was difficult to interrupt at this time, so they could only watch from the sidelines with great sadness.
Zhong Yuqing is a close relative of the Xu family. She even thinks that splitting up the family is a good choice. At least it can pull Xu Ruolan out of the quagmire of Prince Zhao's Mansion. In the future, no matter how much support and financial help the two families provide, they will not be afraid that they will not survive.
A happy and satisfying day.
However, the reaction of the Xu family's mother and daughter made Zhong Yuqing and Xia Houshu suspect that there was something hidden in it.
Xia Houshu wanted to ask more clearly, but when he saw Xu Ruolan crying so sadly, he swallowed the words that came to his lips and had to continue to comfort her.
Xu Ruolan cried for a while, and finally vented some of her grievances, and felt better. Fang sobbed softly and said: "Husband, there are only three of us, mother and son, and there are five concubines who have passed the paperwork."
Six of them live in the yard next door. Their daily expenses for food and clothing are also included in my account, otherwise my dowry would not be used up so quickly."
Now it's clear. In this big house, it's not only the Zhao Wang couple who shamelessly spent Xu Ruolan's dowry, but also Dugu Xian's whole house of concubines.
But since ancient times, no concubine should be supported by the head wife!
Before taking a concubine, a man should not only obtain the consent of his wife, but also evaluate his ability to support the concubine. He should even consider in advance how he will raise a concubine if he gives birth to a concubine. Without a wealthy family,
Stop your unrealistic thoughts as soon as possible to avoid overestimating your own capabilities and causing others to suffer.
Dugu Xian has not yet established himself, and Xu Ruolan has given birth to two sons in succession since he entered the house. He has also done his best for his parents-in-law and husband. What else is he dissatisfied with, why should he take in five or six concubines early?
It was simply humiliating Xu Ruolan!
Xia Houshu was so angry that he stamped his feet and cursed: "Like father, like son, my brother-in-law is really a bastard!"
Everyone was still silent.
If it were normal, Zhong Yuqing would have taught her a lesson, which shows that Zhong Yuqing also agrees with her daughter's statement.
Seeing that no one stopped her, Xia Houshu thought of another question and asked, "My brother-in-law has so many concubines, does he have any other children besides Xuan'er and Yuan'er?"
The last thing Xu Ruolan wanted to mention was her concubine, so except for her own family, she had no shame to talk about it. Now that Xia Houshu asked, she couldn't hide it, so she replied: "There are also Zhuo family and
Mrs. Wu gave birth to two daughters, one is five years old and the other is two years old. I can't take care of them and I don't want to care about them. They are both raised in their own house."
Xu Ruolan has been married for seven years. The eldest son is just over five years old, and the daughter of a concubine is also five years old. It can be seen that the child was conceived during Xu Ruolan's pregnancy. Therefore, extrapolating back, Duguxian was pregnant at least one year after they were married.
Taking a concubine. Isn't this an insult?
Xia Houshu was very shocked, but now that the concubine's children are so old, nothing she said would help. And now she wanted to find ways to solve the problem, not create it.
She took a breath and said, "Since you already have children, why does your brother-in-law take so many concubines? It's not like you are sterile, so why do you agree to let him take concubines?"
Xu Ruolan lowered her head in shame and said: "My father-in-law said that many children bring blessings, and I hope that my husband can have more children so that he can flourish. My mother-in-law also said that a woman giving birth to a child is like going to the gate of hell. If you have a few more children, you will be blessed."
If my concubine comes to give birth, I won’t have to work so hard. I can’t refuse, so I can only agree.”
Xia Houshu thought that it was not surprising that King Zhao had such an idea. After all, he had a courtyard full of concubines and children, and he did not need to give birth to the children himself, or even raise them now. He only had to work for
Under the guise of family prosperity, he can get a crowd of grandchildren to surround him and call him "grandfather" by just talking and pretending to be majestic. Why wouldn't he do it?
But Princess Zhao is a woman, and she is also the head wife herself, but she is a little bit psychopathic when she persuades her newly married daughter-in-law to take a concubine for her son.
Of course, in the end, it was Duguxian who had the final say whether to accept a concubine or not, otherwise he could have refused. However, instead of showing any affection for his wife, he was content to spend his wife's money, maintain five or six concubines, and enjoy
It’s a fairy life where there are many concubines. So the most bastard is Dugu Xian!
The more Xiahou Shu thought about it, the angrier he became. He turned to stare at Xiahou Mei and said angrily: "Aunt, you used to say that cousin Ruolan married well, and that you had good vision, strong skills, and showed off everywhere. This is how you replaced cousin Qian Qian.
Are you looking for a good husband?"
"Shur!" Zhong Yuqing stopped her, "How can you talk to your aunt like this?"
"Did I make a mistake?" Xia Houshu asked in surprise, "Who in the capital doesn't know that my aunt used her own ability to marry cousin Ruolan to the legitimate son of Prince Zhao's palace? Now it seems that she is just a bastard with a good appearance and a bad appearance.
!What’s there to be proud of?”
Xiahou Mei covered her face and cried, saying: "This is all my fault, I hurt Ruolan..."
Xiahou Mei finally admitted that he was wrong, which was a good sign.
Xia Houshu was very pleased.
Zhong Yuqing didn't want to see her daughter continue to misbehave, so she said: "No matter how unkind and unjust King Zhao is, he is still your Majesty's biological uncle. No matter how bastard Ruolan's husband is, he is also your Majesty's cousin. We are all royal clansmen, and we
Besides trying to reason with them, can you really use force?"
The face of Prince Zhao's Mansion is also the face of the clan. Perhaps, this is the crux of the matter, it's not that you don't dare, but that you can't.
The whole room fell into silence again, and you could hear a pin drop.
But the silence was soon broken by the noise coming from the yard.
Xu Ruolan thought it was the concubines living in the next yard who heard the commotion and wanted to come over to watch the fun. She wiped her face carefully, then went into the inner room and looked in the mirror, confirming that except for some redness and swelling under her eyes, there was nothing wrong with it.
After finding something suspicious, he opened the door and saw a group of people coming into the courtyard. The leader was Princess Zhao's biological daughter Dugutan, who was titled Princess Changning.
If Xu Ruolan had been a few steps later, she might have pushed the door open and entered.
Qiao'er couldn't stop him and didn't dare to stop her too much, so she could only shake her head at Xu Ruolan and express her apology.
Dugutan ranks second among the many daughters of King Zhao. She is younger than the eldest son and second son born to Princess Zhao, but is more than one year older than Duguxian. Because she is the only legitimate daughter of King Zhao, and Zhao
Protected by the princess, she has lived a better life than the other sisters since she was a child. Moreover, among the ten sisters, she is the only one with a title bestowed by the late emperor, which makes her even more arrogant. Even though she has been married for nearly ten years, she is still
From time to time, she would go back to her parents' house to show off her power.
Xu Ruolan saluted Dugutan and said with a smile, "Why are you here, sister?"
Dugutan sneered, looked inside the house again, and said harshly: "Today is my mother's sixtieth birthday. The three younger siblings are not waiting for their mother, nor are they helping the sister-in-law entertain the guests, but they are hiding in the house with a group of relatives.
Qingxian, can’t I come and take a look?”
Xia Houmei couldn't bear this anger and immediately stood at the door and said: "Princess Changning is so powerful that she has come to the yard of her sister-in-law. If Ruolan wants to be filial to her mother-in-law, can't she be filial to me?
Is this a mother? Besides, we also have her aunt and cousin here, as well as Princess Gong and her daughter. She entertains us wholeheartedly, so why is she hiding out? "
Dugu Tan turned a deaf ear and rolled his eyes, saying: "Since we are guests, we can just entertain them in the garden. Why hide in the Lihua Garden and talk secretly? We even sent a maid to guard the door. Could it be that we are discussing something?
Is it something shameful?"
Xu Ruolan said angrily: "Sister, be careful! My mother and aunt want to come and see Xuan'er and Yuan'er. If I don't take them to the yard to see them, should I be allowed to take the child out? If the child is frightened by people outside,
If it catches me, or disturbs other guests, sister will say that I don’t know how to do things, right?"
Dugutan is determined to find trouble, so she won't let go easily. Moreover, she also wants to kill Xu Ruolan's arrogance and teach her not to stick her tail up too high just because she has the support of her family. She has many ways and means to deal with her.
After making plans, Dugutan said: "It depends on when the child can't be seen, but today is the day. Everyone is busy outside, there are so many people, and no one is looking at the yard. If something is lost in the house, who cares?
of?"
Xiahou Mei was so angry that she immediately replied: "Did Princess Changning treat us as thieves?"