This is to congratulate my eldest cousin Xu Ruoyu on his daughter. Is it a bit too exaggerated to go at this time just to find out the gossip about Prince Zhao’s house from Xu Ruolan?
Zhong Qingkui looked at her cousin eagerly.
Xia Houshu smiled, reached out and scratched the tip of Zhong Qingkui's small and delicate nose, and said in surprise, "Why didn't I realize that you like gossip so much before? Just hearing it is not enough, you have to go and ask in person, so you are not afraid that your aunt will know.
To punish you?"
"I'm living in your house now. If you don't tell me, if I don't tell you, how will my mother know?" Zhong Qingkui took the opportunity to grab her hand and said with a smile, "Just give me a nice word, do you want to go or not?"
"Go, why don't you go?" Xia Houshu said, stood up, and said to Yun Xi, "Hurry up and get someone to prepare the car. Go to the kitchen yourself to see if there is anything suitable for the children to eat, and bring more.
By the way, let's ask a few more attentive people to come in and put these beads away. The half-strung bracelets we just strung will be left for now. We'll continue stringing them later, but don't let them fall apart."
Yun Xi agreed with a smile, and then called a little maid to come and pack the beads, and at the same time asked someone to prepare the carriage and horses, while she went to the kitchen to pick out some portable food for the children.
Xia Houshu and Zhong Qingkui went back to their rooms to change into clothes for going out, then hurried to Rong'an Hou's Mansion in a carriage.
After entering the Marquis of Rongan's Mansion, the two sisters first went to see Xiahou Mei. After hearing their intention, Xiahou Mei was very moved, and pulled the two girls with red eyes, saying that they had not loved Xiahou Shu in vain all these years.
Then he quickly asked someone to take them to the courtyard where Xu Ruolan lived.
As Zhong Qingkui had guessed, Xu Ruolan had already known about the separation of Dugu Huang and Huang's family from Prince Zhao's Mansion. However, she did not seem to be affected at all. She took good care of her two children and her own account books as always.
She was a little surprised to see them come to her door in person.
Xu Ruolan's two children were chasing each other in the yard. Xia Houshu and Zhong Qingkui found it interesting, so they stopped to tease them for a while and gave them the snacks they brought with them.
Xuan'er and Yuan'er didn't admit they were strangers, and soon got along with them, pulling them and calling them "cousin" sweetly, which made the two girls' hearts melt.
Several people chased each other and played in the yard for a while, laughing and laughing. Qian, who was planning to come in to say hello, turned around and went back.
People in the yard did not notice that Qian had come and continued to amuse Xuan'er and Yuan'er. The two children were too young and soon got tired of playing, so Xu Ruolan asked the wet nurse to take them back to the room to wash their hands and take a nap.
Then he took the two girls to the living room to talk.
Xia Houshu and Zhong Qingkui talked to Xu Ruolan for a long time, and they just advised her to strike while the iron is hot and take advantage of the opportunity of the separation of the second house of Prince Zhao's house to go and discuss the separation with Prince Zhao.
Although Xu Ruolan had been listening carefully, she had no interest. When the two girls finished talking, she said: "I know you are doing it for my own good, but I haven't decided whether to divorce yet."
Xia Houshu thought about her words carefully and asked, "What do cousins think now?"
Xu Ruolan thought for a while and said: "At first, I also thought about dividing the family, but with such a big family in Prince Zhao's house, no one mentioned it, and I didn't dare to be the leader, so my life was in a haze.
It's been so many years. On the day of the birthday party, my mother found that I was still wearing last year's clothes, so she asked me a few more questions. I couldn't help but tell all my grievances. Later, the matter became so big that my mother actually
When I say that I can reconcile, I feel that I can actually think more about myself."
Xia Houshu and Zhong Qingkui looked at each other, which meant that breaking up with Prince Zhao's family was already an option for Xu Ruolan. What she was mainly thinking about now was reconciling with Duguxian?
Xia Houshu couldn't figure it out and asked directly: "So, my cousin has already made a plan in her heart, but she just hasn't decided which way to take it yet?"
Xu Ruolan nodded and said seriously: "I have actually thought a lot in the days since I came back. Although my father and mother don't mind me bringing two children and more than a dozen mouths here to eat and live for free, I am married after all.
There is a sister-in-law taking care of the house. There are so many of us. We are just guests for a few days. After all, it is not good to stay for a long time. But you have also seen my current situation. I am not allowed to be willful. And I have already missed it once.
I can no longer make the wrong decision. So I will take this time to think carefully about what to do next, which is best for me and my two children."
Indeed, the more times this happens, the more we need to take a longer-term view and pursue maximizing interests.
Both girls agreed with this.
"Did the eldest cousin say anything unpleasant?" Xia Houshu asked again. The person she has the most contact with the Xu family is her aunt Xiahou Mei. Her other cousins used to have little contact because of the big age difference, and they only got to know Xu Ruolan recently.
I have made contact with her, so I don’t know Qian’s cousin’s character.
"She hasn't said anything in front of me so far, but..." Xu Ruolan thought about her words carefully before continuing, "Sister-in-law is not a bad person, but we are already married, and she doesn't want me to trouble her too much.
. She was polite to me on the surface and asked me to tell her everything I needed, but secretly she still kept an account. I had just come back before and didn’t think so much about it. Seeing that the weather was hot, I asked her to help change the baby.
She had two thinner quilts and asked the kitchen to prepare more cheese for the children every day. When she found out, she became unhappy and scolded the cooks for not being able to live a good life. She later wanted to vent her anger on her eldest brother. The eldest brother didn't like to argue with her.
Because of my temper, I can only let her talk and scold me. If things go on like this, I'm afraid it will cause disharmony between them as husband and wife, and I won't be able to feel at ease."
The Rong'an Hou Mansion is now Xu Ruolan's last resort. Although Xu Shangyu and Xiahou Mei are still there, the power of the housekeeper has been handed over to the Qian family after all. If the Qian family has any objections to Xu Ruolan's permanent residence in her natal family, given Xu Ruolan's character, she will
I won't live there shamelessly. The Duke of Yue's mansion is quite large and has many houses. It can accommodate Xu Ruolan, mother and son, and a large group of servants, but there is no real reason.
This is really a problem.
Xia Houshu originally wanted to comfort her, but she was also a guest in the Rong'an Marquis Mansion and didn't know how to comfort her, so he simply stopped worrying about this issue and returned to the topic: "Cousin, what are you thinking about now?
You have to give us a thorough explanation, right? It also makes us feel at ease."
Xu Ruolan sighed and said: "Yesterday my husband came here in person, and I saw that he had reduced his income a lot. He told me that my second brother and my sister-in-law's family are now living separately, and asked me if I would like to live separately with him. He also said
If I am willing, he will go back immediately to discuss the separation of the family with his father-in-law and mother-in-law."
Unexpectedly, Duguxian, who usually ignored everything, finally became wise and realized that his family's problems were huge. He knew how to follow the others' example and safeguard the interests of his wife and children.
This is a good sign!
Xia Houshu thought this was a joke and hurriedly asked: "Then how did you answer him?"
Xu Ruolan waved her hand and said, "I didn't say anything and let him go back first."
The two girls looked at each other, what kind of answer was this?
If Dugu Xian was not smart, he would probably think that Xu Ruolan was rejecting him.
If Xu Ruolan must reconcile, they may have to think of a more appropriate solution regarding the ownership of their children. But this seems to be beyond the scope of their concern.
Xu Ruolan saw that each of their faces looked more solemn than the other, and she covered half of her face with a fan and laughed.
The two girls couldn't understand, exchanged looks with each other, and finally shook their heads. Zhong Qingkui asked: "Cousin Xu, if you are sad, just say it and we will find a solution for you together. Or we will find a solution. Or
Cry and vent. But why are you laughing like this all the time?"
After hearing her words, Xu Ruolan burst out laughing.
The two girls were even more confused. They thought that she had been hit too hard and had some mental problems. This was no small matter!
Xu Ruolan looked at the two girls and laughed for a long time, until she couldn't catch her breath, coughed a few times, and then said: "You two are still young girls who have not left the court, why do you treat me, a married woman?"
Are you so concerned about the trivial matters of your husband's family? Could it be that you are in love with a young man from a certain family?"
Xia Houshu's face darkened, and he pretended to be angry: "We were thinking about my cousin, and we were worried that you would not be able to think about it after knowing those things, so we came here to see you. It's just that you don't appreciate it, and you even used words to tease us. If we had known, we wouldn't have done it.
Here we come." After saying that, she pulled Zhong Qingkui and said deliberately, "Qingkui, cousin, we are not welcome here, let's go."
Zhong Qingkui belatedly stood up and acted as if she was hurt.
Xu Ruolan quickly threw away the fan, holding one in each hand, and said with a smile: "Good sister, I'm just joking with you, do you still take it seriously?"
Zhong Qingkui couldn't hold back her laughter and said mischievously: "Cousin Xu, can't you see that we are also joking with you?"
Xu Ruolan knew that she had been cheated, so she knocked on them one by one and cursed with a smile: "You two, you are so cunning at such a young age, I don't know what kind of son-in-law can control you!"
Xia Houshu did not agree with her words and said with a smile: "Cousin, we are living a good life now, why do we want to find an unrelated person to subjugate ourselves?"
Zhong Qingkui nodded and echoed: "That's right! That's right! In a family like ours, unless the parents are displeased and the siblings are at odds, it's not like they can't live without getting married. Why do we need to find a living ancestor for ourselves?" She said.
After thinking for a while, he added, "No, he is the living ancestor of the whole family! When I think about getting married, I have to work hard to maintain the relationship between my parents-in-law and my sister-in-law. It gives me a headache!"
Xu Ruolan was stunned for a moment. Wasn't she the one he was talking about? In Prince Zhao's palace, there were parents-in-law who liked to pretend to be confused, brothers and sisters-in-law who secretly competed with each other, and a difficult sister-in-law and sister-in-law. However, she also had a husband who was in charge of the shopkeeper...
These people, to put it nicely, are relatives of her husband’s family; to put it worse, they are the living ancestors of the whole family! No one is easy to mess with!
Xu Ruolan looked at the two girls thoughtfully and said, "I didn't expect that I am more than ten years older than you, but I don't see things as clearly as you two little girls."
Xia Houshu and Zhong Qingkui looked at each other, worried that what they said would touch upon Xu Ruolan's sad past, so they quickly said: "Let's just say it casually, cousin, don't overthink it."
Xu Ruolan didn't mind what they said, but shook her head and said, "I know you said it unintentionally, but it's also the truth. When I was your age, if someone could tell me these truths, I wouldn't
As for where we are today."
Zhong Qingkui said disapprovingly: "That's how people are. They regret the past and worry about the future, but they forget what they have now. Cousin Xu only thinks about all the bad things in Prince Zhao's house and all the bad things about her cousin-in-law. If she regrets it, doesn't she think about it?