"This...how is this so embarrassing?" Xu Ruolan was flattered, holding two gold bracelets in her hands.
When Xu Ruolan got married, Xia Houshu was still cultivating in Boyunguan, so there was no deep friendship between the two, and they had never even met each other. Later, Xu Ruolan only heard her mother mention this cousin, and said that she wanted to marry her.
She wanted to marry her as her daughter-in-law, and she was so confident that she wanted to propose marriage. Later, she heard Xu Ruoqian say that her aunt and her family didn't agree, so the matter was dropped. But she didn't expect that she didn't come and go often. According to rumors,
A cousin with a bad personality would be so generous in taking action.
But when she mentioned her two sons, Xu Ruolan's heart immediately softened. She smiled knowingly and said softly: "Yuan'er was born before the Dragon Boat Festival. She just turned three this year, which is a time when she talks a lot. But
There are many guests today, and I am afraid that their brothers will run around and disturb the guests. I am also worried that they will be frightened by strangers, so I let the wet nurse take them to play in my room."
Xia Houshu understood the idea and nodded: "In that case, I'll see them again when I have time."
Although Xia Houshu's last sentence was a casual remark and might not be taken to heart in the future, Xu Ruolan still felt warm in her heart. She thanked her and put the gift away.
Zhong Qingkui lowered her head and took out a small gold lock from her purse and handed it over. She excitedly said to Xu Ruolan: "Three or four-year-old dolls are the most fun, and I'll be included in the meeting gift!"
Xu Ruolan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Xia Houshu and she were uncles and cousins, so she could reluctantly accept a gift for her nephew. But the Zhong family, the Xu family, and even the Zhao family, they could only be regarded as distant in-laws, so they accepted it rashly.
A gift from a girl from the Zhong family would not be appropriate.
Zhong Qingkui is a straightforward person. Seeing Xu Ruolan's hesitation, she directly put the small golden lock into her hand, pouted and said: "I saw this small golden lock when I was shopping for jewelry a few days ago. I bought it if I thought it was unique.
I didn’t know what to do with it after I took it down, it just happened to be for the little baby to wear and play with. If cousin Xu insists on refusing to accept it, then she looks down on me! I won’t obey this!”
When she said this, Xu Ruolan dared to refuse again. She thanked her again and again before accepting the small golden lock.
Zhong Lufu on the side looked very embarrassed when she saw that both sisters had given gifts. It wasn't that she was stingy, but that she only had a few pieces of jewelry and really didn't bring anything that could be given to the little baby.
She hesitated for a while, then took off a silver bracelet engraved with cloud patterns from her wrist. Qi Qiran handed it over and said cowardly: "I didn't know before that the young master of Cousin Xu's family had just celebrated his birthday, so I didn't prepare anything.
Gift, if you don’t mind it..."
"That's not okay!" Zhong Qingkui interrupted Zhong Lufu first, stopped her hand, and pushed the silver bracelet back, "This bracelet is Aunt Zhu's dowry, and you have been wearing it since you were five years old.
"In the past, I asked you to borrow it and you refused to wear it, but you can't just give it away to others."
Then she said to Xu Ruolan: "Cousin Xu, please don't mind. In fact, this silver bracelet is not worth much. It's not that we don't want to part with it. It's just that my third sister has worn it for many years and it means a lot. The little gold lock just now is from me and
The third sister gave it to the young master together."
Xu Ruolan accepted two gifts in a row and was extremely grateful. She would never dare to ask for the silver bracelet with special meaning on Zhong Lufu's hand. If such a thing were not given by her brothers and sisters and was also a meeting gift for her children, she would
I would never dare to accept it. At this moment, I felt that the gift weighed a thousand catties.
Xu Ruolan pursed her lips and said quickly: "Yuan'er is only a three-year-old child. He has been lucky enough to be loved by several cousins for three lifetimes. How dare he take away people's love at will? Sister Zhong should put away the bracelet quickly!
"Then he bowed to several young girls and said, "I'm here to thank some of my cousins on behalf of Yuan'er!"
Seeing that the matter was discussed, Zhong Qingkui said: "Cousin Xu is a cheerful person, so just don't mind! We will have to come and go often in the future."
After Zhong Qingkui finished speaking, she helped her sister put the silver bracelet back on her wrist, then admired it with satisfaction for a while, and then carefully covered it with her sleeves.
Zhong Lufu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but she couldn't hide her embarrassment on her face. It was obviously a small gold lock given by her sister, but she said it was given by them together, but it seemed that she was stingy and wanted to take advantage of her sister.
Xu Ruolan didn't notice the flash of dissatisfaction on Zhong Lufu's face. She looked at Zhong Qingkui with burning eyes and secretly praised her for being such an upright and innocent little girl.
After the gift-giving incident was over, Xia Houshu took Xu Ruolan to sit down together, turned to discuss the recent fashionable clothes in Beijing, and arranged to find a time to go shopping together.
Xu Ruolan usually has to take care of two children and rarely has time to go out. The clothes she wears all year round follow the rules of Prince Zhao's palace. The colors and styles are always the same. She really doesn't know the fashion in Beijing. She listened with great interest.
I even feel a little envious of my cousins who are young and have no worries.
The sisters were immersed in the warmth when they suddenly heard Xia Houmei's angry and tooth-itching complaints coming from the elders: "Princess Zhao is also sixty years old and has no ability to distinguish right from wrong. She is under the knee of King Zhao."
Ten sons and ten daughters, as many children as there are, there are as many in-laws as possible. If there are too many children, it is inevitable that we will not be able to take care of them. I can understand this. I don’t ask her to treat my family Ruoland with a lot of affection, but I ask her to be able to drink a bowl of water evenly.
, Don’t put all the good deeds and credit on the face of the eldest son and eldest daughter-in-law. The difficulties and mistakes should be shouldered by my family Ruolan. This is so unfair!"
Xu Ruolan's face instantly turned pale when she heard this, and she didn't want to listen to the little girls anymore. She quickly stood up and walked over to pull Xiahou Mei, and tried her best to persuade her: "Mother, in public, please say less. Be careful that walls have ears."
!”
Xiahou Mei was still angry and didn't want to complain, so he took his daughter's hand and held it in his own. He felt distressed and angry, and said unwillingly: "I have to be strong all my life, but how can I expect that the children I want to have will be more temperamental than the others?"
Well, I’m bullied everywhere and I don’t dare to speak out.”
Xu Ruolan begged: "Mom, can you please stop talking? There are people everywhere here!"
Xiahou Mei didn't listen to her, and took her hand and continued: "It's better to have more people! Let everyone see what kind of face they have as elders!"
Xu Ruolan's face became even more ugly: "Mother, I beg you, stop talking."
Xia Houmei was not willing to listen to his daughter's advice. He took a breath and said, "Everyone only saw that the hall was full of guests today, and thousands of people came to congratulate them. It was extremely festive, but they didn't know the dirty things behind it. Everyone said it was their family.
My eldest son and eldest daughter-in-law are respectful, filial, and considerate. But I don’t know that the money for the birthday banquet was all raised by asking several daughters-in-law to bring dowries! As a result, the person who paid for it did not get even half of the money back, and was still blamed.
But she has both fame and fortune! I don’t believe that Princess Zhao can feel at ease!"
Zhong Qingkui secretly poked Xia Houshu and whispered in her ear: "Mrs. Ronganhou dared to accuse Princess Zhao in front of so many people. She is indeed a hero among women!"
Xia Houshu quickly nodded in agreement.
Xiahou Mei has a bad temper, but she is not stupid. It is not a big deal for her to be domineering in her parents' and husband's families. After all, everyone lives behind closed doors. They know what her temperament is, and considering her identity, they will not talk nonsense everywhere. But
If you are scolding and thanking someone by name at the birthday banquet of a distinguished in-law, it really requires a certain amount of courage. You can indeed be considered a hero among women.
Although Zhong Lufu didn't hear clearly what Zhong Qingkui and Xia Houshu said, she was still excited when she saw Xia Houmei guarding her married daughter like an old hen. She thought if she also had such a biological mother who was not afraid of power.
, how great that would be!
Zhong Yuqing also noticed that something was wrong, so she stretched out her hand to pull Xiahou Mei and comforted: "They are all people with daughters. I understand how eldest sister feels sorry for Ruolan. But today is Princess Zhao's birthday banquet, and everyone is invited
You are a noble family member in the capital, and even the palace has sent people to congratulate you. If your impulsiveness caused the matter to get bigger and spread to the palace, don't you know what kind of reputation it will be? By then, it will not only be Ruolan who is in trouble.
As a human being, even if you are like water, I'm afraid you will be ridiculed by your husband's family."
Xu Ruolan is the best-married among Xiahou Mei's four children, and even though her life is so unsatisfactory, Xu Ruoshui's husband's family status is not as good as that of Prince Zhao's family, and her private life is even more difficult to say. Xiahou Mei just thinks of her two daughters and is looking for her
The words I complained about made me so sad that I had to hold my breath.
Xiahou Mei said sadly: "I didn't know the seriousness of this. I have always tolerated it just to take care of everyone's face and reputation. My family, Ruolan, has only been married for seven years. In order to supplement their family, the dowry has almost been spent.
They often come back to me to borrow money. I heard that the other daughter-in-laws of Prince Zhao's Mansion are like this too. What kind of family do you think this is? On the surface, they are royal relatives, but behind the scenes they are all money wolves! How can they spend their daughter-in-law's dowry?
Spending money so naturally? I am also a mother-in-law. Since my daughter-in-law married into my family, I have never thought about her dowry. I often pay for it out of my own pocket. She just hopes that I will be very good to her.
Then he will be very kind to my son."
The three girls listened with great interest and exchanged glances with each other from time to time. It's true that people cannot be judged by their appearance. It turns out that the respected King Zhao and Princess Zhao are actually such people!
Zhong Yuqing originally only knew that from top to bottom in Prince Zhao's palace, from senior to young, they were all people with no enterprising spirit, and everyone had their own way of eating, drinking and having fun. She treated them like the emperor and gave them a lot of money and property for them to spend their money.
, she didn’t expect that there were so many hidden things in it. She glanced at the guests around her and found that no one else was looking at them, and then asked Xu Ruolan: "Is what your mother said just now true? Princess Zhao really misappropriated your
Is there a dowry?”
Xu Ruolan was so anxious that she burst into tears, and nodded with red eyes.
Zhong Yuqing slapped the armrest of the chair and cursed angrily: "How could it be so excessive?"
When Xiahou Mei heard that her sister-in-law, whom she had known for many years, said such words of praise for her, she immediately felt as if she had received great support, her spirits became high, and she said angrily: "Really, you think it's too much, don't you? But my family
This is how Ruolan has been here all these years. If I, a mother, don't say a few words to her, I'm afraid she won't be able to live her life any longer!"