Mingyu had guessed early on that Madam Xu would come to persuade her. She was reluctant to let her marry so far away and was afraid that she would be alone and suffer grievances without even any family members to complain to.
However, since Sima Hong left, Mrs. Xu had never mentioned the matter, as if she knew nothing about it until she brought it up in a roundabout way at this meeting.
Mingyu looked at her mother and felt a pang of sadness in her heart. If she left the Xu family, the person she would be most reluctant to part with would be Madam Xu. In her previous life, she had lost her biological mother very early on, and she had completely regarded Madam Xu as her own biological mother. If possible, she would not want to leave her mother.
"Mother..." Mingyu smiled, held Madam Xu's hand, and whispered, "When you are older, you can live with me. I will take care of you and Dad in your old age, okay?"
Mrs. Xu could not hide the disappointment in her eyes, and tears welled up in her eyes almost instantly. Her daughter had made up her mind to follow Lord Sima. The family had been reunited for only a few years, and now they had to separate again. She didn't want her daughter to marry so far away, but she also wanted to follow her daughter's wishes. Mrs. Xu turned her head and hugged Mingyu, not wanting Mingyu to see her crying and sad, which would make her daughter worried and uneasy about getting married.
"It's enough that you have this intention." Madam Xu smiled and said, "With your brother here, there's no need for you to take care of us in our old age. Girl, when you get married, you'll be someone else's daughter-in-law, so you have to serve your mother-in-law well..." At this point, Madam Xu changed her mind. If Mingyu married to the northwest, the wife of the Marquis would still be in the capital. There would be thousands of mountains and rivers between them, so she probably wouldn't have to serve her mother-in-law, nor would she be subject to her mother-in-law's anger. When Da Chu recovered the lost territory, Sima Hong rebuilt the Marquis of Anxi Mansion and took the wife back to Tianshui. Who knows when that would happen.
For this reason, Madam Xu secretly did not want Da Chu to recover the lost territory so quickly. It would be much better for the couple to live together.
Mingyu hugged Madam Xu and laughed, but her eyes were red, and she nodded. She had been living in the Anxi Marquis' Mansion since she opened her eyes in this world. From the bottom of her heart, she had always resisted this mansion and didn't want to continue living like this. Come to think of it, she was spoiled by her father in her previous life, and suddenly she became a little wife who was bullied and stepped on everywhere when she closed her eyes and opened them again. No one could stand it. Besides, Sima Hong was still a naive dandy at that time. Young girls had plenty of time to imagine the appearance and temperament of their future half, but for Mingyu, no matter what type of prince charming she liked, he would never have anything in common with the Tyrant Bao who threw toads on her skirt on rainy days.
During her days in Tianshui, all she thought about was how to leave. She never thought about living with such a family for a long time. Life is unpredictable, and now she is going to become a member of the Sima family. How to live in peace with the Miao family has become a big problem.
Sima Hong couldn't let his mother live alone in the capital forever. Sooner or later, he would bring Miao to his side. Then... Mingyu let out a light breath and patted her head. She thought to herself, why think so much? It won't be too late to talk about it later. Anyway, Miao is not the same Miao as before, and she is no longer the timid and cautious girl she used to be.
The Xu family stayed in Lu'an for only two days, and took advantage of the weather before it got cold, and set off on the road back to Beijing. This time, the Xu family took the land route, and because they were in a hurry to catch up, the hired carriage ran very fast. Mingyu was in the carriage for more than ten days, and felt that half of her life was about to be given up by the wheels, and then she returned to the capital.
Mingyu returned to the familiar Xu family courtyard and lay down on her bed. She felt particularly at ease. After living in the capital for a long time and getting familiar with it, she felt that the capital was her home, and Lu'an became a place in her memory.
After a good sleep, Mingyu got up early the next morning and prepared to go to the store with Fu Lemei after dinner. She had been away from the capital during this period, and the store's accounts had been squeezed a lot and it was time to sort them out.
However, just after the family had finished breakfast, someone knocked on the door. Li Xiang went to open the door, and when she came back, she had a very strange expression on her face. She said to Mrs. Xu, "Madam, the lady outside the door claims to be Mrs. Hong, the mother of Miss Hong Fang'er."
Mrs. Xu was stunned for a moment before she remembered who Hong Fang'er was. The family was having a happy meal, but the atmosphere suddenly became cold. Mrs. Xu became furious and said in a cold voice, "What is she doing here? Send her back to where she came from! Go and discipline their daughter if you have nothing to do. She is so mean and mean at such a young age. What else can she do except hurting others!"
Lixiang looked at Mingyu awkwardly and stood there at a loss as to what to do. She was too shy to tell the man to get out in front of her.
"Okay, mother." Mingyu patted the back of Madam Xu's hand with a smile and said, "It's all in the past, why bother about it so much? Besides, if it weren't for Hong Fang'er, you wouldn't have gotten such a good wife so quickly!"
Fu Lemei glanced at Xu Mingye, who looked calm and composed, and two blushes appeared on her face. To be honest, if it weren't for Hong Fanger, there was no way she would have been able to marry her brother Xu!
Mrs. Xu could not help laughing. She was naturally pleased that her son could marry Fu Lemei, but that could not offset her anger towards Hong Fang'er. If Fu Lemei had not come forward at that time and risked her reputation to testify for Xu Mingye, her son might have faced imprisonment, and his future would have been ruined by Hong Fang'er.
"If you really don't want to see her, send her back. You just returned to the capital yesterday and you must be tired from the journey. Just say that you are not feeling well." Xu Changqian said in a gentle voice after finishing his meal.
Mrs. Xu nodded. "Why go see her? What a waste of time!" She was also confused. Logically, since Ming Yu and Lu Hao's marriage proposal failed, the Xu family and the Lu family should have no contact anymore. Mrs. Xu racked her brains but couldn't figure out why Mrs. Hong, Lu Hao's aunt, came to their place.
Li Xiang got Xu Changqian's order and ran back quickly, but came back soon after and whispered, "Master and Madam, Madam Hong said that it doesn't matter if you don't want to see her, she just wants to see our young lady."
"To see me?" Mingyu looked at Lixiang in surprise, "Why does she want to see me? I don't know her."
Having said that, no matter how unhappy Mingyu was, she still walked to the gate of the yard. It was clear from Mrs. Hong's attitude that she would not leave until she saw her, and it would be a bad influence to stand at the gate.
There was a small blue cloth carriage parked at the door. It looked like an ordinary carriage hired on the street to carry passengers. It was not the large carriage with the Lu Mansion logo engraved on it that Mingyu had seen before. A middle-aged woman was standing at the door of the Xu family, looking around.
When Mingyu saw the carriage, she had an idea in her mind. Mrs. Hong did not come here in the Lu Mansion's carriage. Could it be that she came here without telling the people in the Lu Mansion
Hong Fang'er was no more than fourteen or fifteen years old. Logically, Madam Hong should be at most thirty-four or thirty-five. However, Mingyu took a quick look and found that Madam Hong had a yellow and dark complexion with many wrinkles. Like Madam Lu in her impression, they were probably people who had done heavy work and suffered hardships when they were young. Now that they were old, even with the best clothes and maintenance, it would be difficult for them to be as young and elegant as those noble ladies.
Fu Lemei was afraid that Mingyu would suffer alone, so she followed along.
Mrs. Hong looked at the two girls. Seeing that Fu Lemei had her hair done in a woman's bun, she looked at Mingyu and smiled a little stiffly, "You are Miss Mingyu, right?"
Mingyu nodded and asked, "I wonder what Mrs. Hong wants to talk to me about?"
Mrs. Hong glanced at Fu Lemei and spoke hesitantly, "I wonder if Miss Xu would be willing to talk further?"
Mingyu frowned. "Is there anything that can't be said here? If you find it inconvenient, forget it."
"Oh, it's convenient!" Mrs. Hong was anxious and smiled apologetically. She gathered her hair and spoke after a while, "It's like this, I know you are all angry with Fang'er..."
Mingyu curled her lips. Mrs. Hong was being too nonchalant. It was more than just being angry.
"Fang'er is young and did something wrong. Her cousin and aunt have taught her a lesson. Fang'er is a kind child by nature. She has been very sensible since she was a child and has never caused trouble for me and her aunt..." Mrs. Hong said naggingly.
Mingyu was a little impatient and interrupted Mrs. Hong, "Mrs. Hong, what happened to Miss Hong has nothing to do with us, right? What do you want to say?" The Xu family really hated Hong Fang'er. Because of her, Xu Mingye almost had to go to jail. For this reason, Mingyu would never forgive her. However, there was a second-rank official Lu Hao there. Even if the Xu family hated Hong Fang'er, they were unlikely to cause trouble for her.
Mrs. Hong smiled awkwardly, glanced around, and lowered her voice a little, "Fang'er grew up with her cousin and has liked him since she was a child... Seeing that the master has a crush on you, she was confused for a moment and did something ridiculous. You can only blame me as a mother for my incompetence. I can't let her live a hard life like other rich girls since childhood, so she is so depressed... Don't worry, Fang'er won't snatch the master's position from you. You talk to the master and Fang'er will be obedient in the future. You are her mistress, just give her a yard and reward her with a bowl of rice!"
Fu Lemei was so shocked that she gasped and started yelling, "What nonsense are you talking about! My Mingyu hasn't been betrothed yet, what are you talking about mistress or not? If you keep talking nonsense, I'll kick you out!"
Mingyu held down the furious Fu Lemei and said to Madam Hong with a cold face, "Madam, please stop joking. I have never had anything with Lord Lu. Not before, not now, and not in the future. No matter what you want to say today, please go back."
Mrs. Hong was anxious. She grabbed Mingyu who was about to leave, tears welling up in her eyes. "Miss Xu, you can't just ignore her! Because of you, the adults are angry with Fang'er and have ignored her for a month. How can our Fang'er live like this?"