Qi's guilt has basically been determined. Whether to implicate Chen Tingshi and his son is the Chen family's business. After saying goodbye to her parents-in-law, Huayang is about to return to Siyi Hall.
As she stepped out of the door, Chen Jingzong came over, looked at the water in the yard, and asked her, "Can I carry you back?"
With her slow pace just now, it would take her at least a quarter of an hour to walk back to Siyi Hall, and the main house and the west courtyard were actually separated by only a corridor.
Huayang glared at him.
The mountain and muddy roads were difficult to walk on, so she had let Chen Jingzong carry her on his back before. Now that she was back, the yard was paved with stone slabs. Since she was wearing rain clogs, how could she climb onto Chen Jingzong's back again under the gaze of the whole family, sticking out her buttocks for people to see
In broad daylight, it is disrespectful whether you carry someone on your back or hug them.
She handed her hand to Chaoyun as usual.
Chaoyun and Chaoyue came to help their master with a smile.
Most of the bottom of the foot-high rain clogs were submerged in the water. The princess paid attention to her manners. The white pearl pendant on her ear was hanging without shaking, and the paddling sound of her feet was quite pleasant to hear.
Chen Jingzong smiled, and when Huayang walked away, he turned sideways and looked at his family members in the ancestral hall.
But at this moment, the smile on his face had disappeared, and his gloomy eyes fell on Chen Tingshi's face.
The swollen half of Chen Tingshi's face began to hurt again, and he didn't dare to look at his nephew.
Chen Tingjian glanced at the princess' daughter-in-law's receding back, his face serious, and whispered to the fourth brother: "All of this is the fault of the Qi family. Your second uncle has been kept in the dark. Why don't you come and apologize?"
What would it look like if a nephew beat his uncle? The son was stubborn and refused to kneel, so he could not avoid making a verbal apology.
Chen Jingzong: "What am I apologizing for? I wanted to confront Qi, but he insisted on stopping me. He was so eager to protect his wife that he bumped into me. What does it have to do with me?"
Now the whole family knows that Qi was closely related to the old lady's death. It is really ironic to apply the phrase "eager to protect his wife" to Chen Tingshi.
Chen Tingshi's face suddenly turned red and white, and he knelt down in front of his brother again in shame.
Chen Tingjian's eyes were red and he picked the man up!
Before he could speak, Sun said, "Take care of my second brother. We'll leave first."
Chen Tingjian looked at the four sons angrily.
Chen Jingzong sneered and walked away.
Sun shook her head and motioned for the others to follow her.
Chen Bochong had gone to interrogate the servants in the East Courtyard early. Yu Xiu was alone. She wanted to help support the pregnant Luo Yuyan, but she was a little concerned about Luo Yuyan's attitude.
Chen Xiaozong looked over and said in a gentle voice, "Sister-in-law, I'm going to take my mother back to her room. Please take care of Yuyan."
Yu Xiu quickly agreed.
.
Chen Jingzong caught up with Huayang in the courtyard in front of the ancestral hall. At that time, Huayang was still two meters away from the moon gate leading to the west courtyard.
"You really don't need my help?" Chen Jingzong asked as he passed by her.
Huayang glanced at the servants who were busy draining water everywhere and shook his head.
Chen Jingzong just walked away, with one step taking Huayang three or four steps, and in the blink of an eye he disappeared behind the Moon Gate.
Huayang: …
Is there such a consort? Can't he accompany her? What would the servants who saw this scene think? In her previous life, she disliked Chen Jingzong so much that she would pretend to be nice outside and never give people the opportunity to speculate about their married life.
"Princess, don't be angry. The prince consort may be in a hurry to go back and clean up the yard." Chao Yun saw her master's face change and tried to find excuses for the prince consort.
A friend in need is a friend indeed. These past two days, whether going up or down the mountain, the prince consort has been very attentive to the princess. Chaoyun and Chaoyue have seen it, and their attitude towards the prince consort has obviously improved.
Huayang has recovered as normal. Why is she angry? Her Qi-nourishing skills were learned from Chen Jingzong and she had practiced them in her previous life!
The master and his two servants continued to walk slowly forward. When they finally passed the moon gate, Huayang looked up and saw a man leaning against the wall in a lazy posture. Who else could it be but Chen Jingzong
Chaoyun and Chaoyue looked at each other and smiled.
It turned out that the prince consort did not leave, he was just joking with the princess.
At this time, Chen Jingzong walked towards Huayang.
Huayang thought he was coming to support him, and Chaoyun thought so too, so they tactfully stepped back.
Chen Jingzong suddenly put his arms around Huayang's waist and lifted him up sideways!
The white skirt fluttered in the air, and the two rain clogs fell off the owner's feet one after another and fell into the water with a splash.
Huayang grabbed his collar in annoyance.
Chen Jingzong lowered his eyes to look at her: "You have been on the mountain for two nights, aren't you tired?"
Having said that, he left the two maids behind and strode forward.
At this point, Huayang stopped struggling, nor did she hide in Chen Jingzong's arms. She hooked her arms around his neck openly, as if she had instructed her husband to serve her in this way.
How could the servants dare to look around? Wherever the couple passed, they either lowered their heads or turned sideways.
Zhen'er and Zhu'er had already tidied up the upper room of Siyi Hall, re-made the bed, and wiped the tables and chairs spotlessly clean.
Chen Jingzong directly carried Huayang into the bed.
When he lay back on the bed, his cheeks and palms once again touched the smooth and soft Shu brocade satin, and Huayang let out a low moan of comfort.
For two whole days and nights, she either stood or sat on a hard wooden bench. It would have been hard for even a strong body to endure, let alone her pampered and delicate body.
She was too tired and didn't care that Chen Jingzong was watching her. She just lay there in the most relaxed position, wishing she could sleep forever.
The bed sank and Chen Jingzong sat down.
Huayang turned his head lazily and saw the dark linen clothes on him.
After all, he was the son of a minister and a princess consort, so of course he had a lot of silks and satins. But ever since he returned to his ancestral home, he had either gone up the mountain to hunt or built a garden, doing rough work. He only wore rough cloth to avoid wasting good things.
This morning, Chen Jingzong carried her down the mountain, seized the account book, and went to confront Qi. He walked on the muddy road so many times that his trouser legs and clothes were covered with mud.
Huayang didn't have the energy to scold him. He was already tired, and now all he wanted to do was sleep after solving the Chen family's corruption problem.
"Let me massage your shoulders."
Chen Jingzong also sat in the shed for two nights. He put himself in Princess Jiao's shoes and knew what was wrong with her.
Huayang closed his eyes and hummed indifferently.
Chen Jingzong moved inside.
Chen Jingzong knew that she loved cleanliness, so he stood beside her, looked at her while taking off her clothes, and asked, "Have you washed?"
Huayang shook his head.
Chen Jingzong sneered: "Before, you wouldn't let me sleep in the bed if I didn't take a shower, how come you can do it yourself?"
Huayang had no choice. In order to wait for her father-in-law to come back and deal with Qi, and to be able to go there in time to listen, how could she have time? Moreover, the courtyard was in a mess. The maids were busy cleaning up the upper room. The water room and kitchen were not ready yet.
"When I wake up, everything on the bed will be changed."
Chen Jingzong threw his outer robe off the bed and asked casually, "Since you want to change, why do you want me to take off my clothes?"
Huayang: “It’s too dirty.”
She was reluctant to let the Shu brocade get stained with mud. During this special period, she could still tolerate a little bit of sweat.
Chen Jingzong sat on the bed again. Huayang opened his eyes slightly and saw that he was only wearing a pair of white shorts that were not even knee-length.
This made her raise her head in alertness.
Chen Jingzong pressed her head down: "Don't worry, I'm not interested in women who haven't taken a bath."
Huayang: …
Even so, when Chen Jingzong picked up Huayang and helped her untie her skirt, he still took advantage of her intentionally or unintentionally.
Huayang glared at him with a red face.
Chen Jingzong threw away his dress, pushed her down again, picked up her left arm and started pinching it.
Huayang cried out in pain.
Chen Jingzong adjusted his strength in time and said disdainfully: "Don't yell, it will cause misunderstanding if it gets out."
Huayang closed his mouth angrily.
He pinched her arms and shoulders, first the left side and then the right side. Huayang was about to fall asleep. After Chen Jingzong pinched her back, he touched her waist.
Huayang immediately shrank into a shrimp: "No need for waist!"
Chen Jingzong started pinching her legs instead.
Huayang was on guard for a while, and when he was sure that he would not do anything wrong, he fell asleep.
The weather was slightly chilly after the rain. Chen Jingzong covered her with a thin quilt. He lay down beside her, looking at her sleeping face, his eyes gradually darkening.
Main house.
Mrs. Sun is old and has suffered a lot in the past two nights, but she is the mistress of the house and has a lot of things to take care of. She can't just lie down whenever she wants.
After finally assigning all the tasks one by one, Sun had just laid down on the bed and asked the maid to help massage her shoulders when Chen Tingjian walked in with a stern face.
With such a big thing happening at home, the couple must have a talk. Sun reluctantly sent the maid away.
Chen Tingjian was sitting beside the bed. Seeing that she was about to get up, he relaxed a little and said, "Just lie down. You're not feeling well to begin with."
Mrs. Sun didn't have any serious illness, but she was almost fifty years old and had given birth to four children. Once she was overworked, all kinds of small problems would arise.
Sun changed to lying on her side. Looking at her husband with bloodshot eyes, she felt sad and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. "If you blame yourself for mother's affairs, then I, the eldest daughter-in-law, am also to blame. Mother couldn't stand the climate in the capital back then, so I should have come back with her and fulfilled my filial duty to her on your behalf."
Chen Tingjian frowned, held her hand and said, "Why are you saying these things? The children and I are all in the capital. Even if you want to come back, mother won't agree."
After a moment of silence, Chen Tingjian lowered his eyes and said, "I just regret that I shouldn't have handed over the affairs of the ancestral home to my second brother."
Sun sat up and hugged half of his shoulders: "You have your own difficulties. Since you have to rely on my second brother's family to take care of my mother, if you as a brother still send a maid to take care of things and control everything, it is obvious that you don't trust my second brother's family. You didn't do this because you were afraid that my second brother would feel uncomfortable. In the officialdom, you have to guess people's hearts, and you have to take care of your family's emotions. You are not wrong."
Chen Tingjian sat there stiffly.
He did take his second brother's feelings into consideration, but it was his mother who suffered.
He thought that Qi chose his second brother just because she wanted to live a good life with the Chen family, and it was harmless for Qi to accept some small tributes privately. However, he did not expect that Qi's ambition was no less than that of some local corrupt officials, and he did not expect that Qi dared to plot against his mother.
Something dripped onto the back of Sun's hand. She looked at it and handed her handkerchief to her husband.
Chen Tingjian raised his head and covered his face with the handkerchief.
Sun gently stroked his back.
Chen Tingjian did not lose his composure for too long. He took off the half-wet handkerchief and folded it unconsciously.
Sun changed the subject: "How is my second brother?"
Chen Tingjian looked annoyed: "I can only cry and cry."
He felt pity for his younger brother's weakness, but also hated him for not fighting back. He talked a lot about reason, but the old man just kept crying and it was unclear whether he listened or not.
Sometimes, Chen Tingjian would rather his younger brother bump into him like the fourth brother did than to see his younger brother cry.
Sun didn't have such deep feelings for her brother-in-law, and she couldn't hide her resentment and said, "He listens to Qi in everything else, which is fine, but if he had paid more attention to prescribing medicine for his mother's illness, he wouldn't have let Qi successfully fool her with the rhubarb root..."
Chen Tingjian interrupted her: "Forget it, stop talking."
He didn't want to hear that, and Sun also got angry. She pushed his arm away and glared at him, saying, "You only care about your brothers, but what's your attitude towards the fourth brother? If it weren't for the fourth brother, who knows how long this matter would have been kept secret!"
Chen Tingjian rubbed his forehead and tried to reason: "After all, he is still a junior..."
Sun said with a spit: "Don't talk nonsense to me. You just want to be a good elder brother in front of your brothers. You want the outside world to know that you, the elder, have never looked down on your younger brother from your hometown. You only care about your reputation. It's none of your business whether your son is in pain or not!"
Chen Tingjian: "He was unreasonable and beat up his uncle. He is in the wrong no matter where he is!"
Sun: "Okay, my son is in the wrong. Your brother treats his wife who harmed his mother as his own child. That's what a real man should do, right?"
Chen Tingjian: …
(End of this chapter)