Sima Hong was a second-time married man with a lot of experience. If he still couldn't understand what Miao meant at this moment, he would have lived in vain for so many years. He smiled and held his mother's hand, "I don't need anyone to serve me. I run back and forth between government offices, military camps, and marquisates every day, and I'm so busy. You don't know that some time ago, those civil servants were restless. I was..."
Miao was even more unhappy, and waved her hand to interrupt Sima Hong, "What a fool! My son works so hard, doesn't he deserve a personal servant? Stop talking nonsense to me, let me ask you, is she trying to stop you from having a servant?"
It is obvious who she is referring to.
Sima Hong immediately became serious, "Mother, what you said is wrong. How can I let a woman control me as a man? If this gets out, the Sima family will lose face! She is my wife now, Sima Hong. She must obey her husband and listen to me in everything."
Miao still frowned, "Well, she's so obedient as you said. Tomorrow, after your grandmother, father and elder brother are buried, I will find a few girls for you to serve in your study. If you get pregnant, they will be your concubines. You drove Yingqin and the others away before, that was a special case, I won't say anything, but now you are a marquis, and your mistress is pregnant, but there is no one to serve in the room. It's a mess, it's a joke."
What a joke! Sima Hong just wanted to curse. He has the final say in the entire northwest now. Who dares to laugh at his family? He doesn't want his head anymore.
When Miao saw Sima Hong didn't respond, she angrily slapped her son on the head and scolded him, "What do you mean by keeping silent? Do you think I am willing to be a wicked mother-in-law and cause trouble for you and your wife? Who am I doing this for as soon as I come back? Isn't it for the whole Sima family? Now you are the only male left in the family, it is right to find a few more people to have children and grandchildren, only with more children and grandchildren can you be blessed and have a big family and a prosperous business!"
Sima Hong smiled. He remembered that when he was in Xi'an Prefecture, he went to Lord Li's house to ask him to let Mingyu get married in his house. Lord Li had a long talk with him, "Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are born enemies. I have never seen a good mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Even if there is, they only look harmonious on the surface, but behind closed doors, they curse each other's mothers! As a man, it is inevitable to be caught in the middle. If you want to avoid being caught in the middle, the key is one word, coax. No matter what method you think of, if you can coax both the mother and the daughter-in-law, everything will be fine. Even if they are only harmonious on the surface, that's enough."
"I have thought about this." Sima Hong said sincerely, looking directly at his mother with bright eyes, "But you also know Mingyu's temper. She has a bad temper and will never stop."
Miao tried hard to hold back the words that were about to come out of her mouth. You know she has a bad temper and is hard to please, but you still cry and insist on marrying her
"Now that she's pregnant, her temper has gotten even worse!" Sima Hong had a face full of bitterness and hatred, "Today she was quite restrained in front of mother, but you don't know what happened in the past... Hey, just a few days ago, we had a few arguments and she chased me with her belly bulging and grabbed the corner of my clothes. I wasn't paying attention and knocked her down, forcing her to kneel on the ground!"
Miao was shocked. This was about her little grandson. "How is it? Have you called a doctor? What did the doctor say?"
"What else can I do?" Sima Hong was furious and boasted without thinking. "I found three doctors to see her. It took a lot of effort. Mingyu herself was bedridden for many days and didn't dare to get out of bed. The whole family was in a mess and finally the child was saved. Mother, you tell me, she made a fuss just because a few words didn't suit her. If there were a few more people in the room, the child would definitely be killed by her! After all, the child is our family's eldest son, and we can't be careless at all."
The eldest son is so important, he will inherit his title and property in the future. Why did the old lady He of the Marquisate attach so much importance to Sima Xi and devote all her efforts to him? It was because she hoped that he would become a talent and support the Marquisate and carry it forward.
Miao was silent for a long while before she sighed, "Mingyu is already a mother, but she is still so ignorant... Now that she is pregnant, I can't say anything to her, it's really worrying."
Sima Hong felt a little guilty. If this word got to the girl's ears, his ears would probably be twisted into a knot. Seeing that Miao's mood had eased, he struck while the iron was hot and said, "I have thought about this matter. The heir is the most important thing. We must not be careless. We can't let her, a woman, make trouble. But now she is pregnant, and the eldest son is very important. For long-term considerations, the matter of taking a concubine should wait until Mingyu gives birth to the child."
Miao was helpless and unwilling, but she had no other choice for the time being. If she arranged for her son to have a new companion as soon as she came back, and caused something to happen to her daughter-in-law, it would be a serious sin.
"This is all we can do for now." Miao sighed, "However, you must talk to her properly when you go back. She is already the mistress of a mansion, and there is no way she can be so ignorant and childish. This is not a game of house."
After Sima Hong coaxed his mother, he was so happy that he nodded like a chick pecking at rice. He also reminded her, "Mother, you can't say this to Mingyu in person. She has a strange temper now. She will step on anyone's head if she is not satisfied. You are the elder, and as your son, I would like to apologize first. Don't take her ignorance to heart." After saying this, he bowed respectfully.
Miao quickly pulled her son up, feeling distressed, "Oh, my son, you have worked so hard. It is really hard for you. For you, it is nothing for your mother to endure a little anger from your daughter-in-law!"
Sima Hong also looked extremely moved. The two of them looked like a mother and son who were so bullied by their evil daughter-in-law that they couldn't bear to live and were crying.
"Oh, right." Miao remembered something, "There is something I forgot to tell you. When I came back this time, I also brought your sister-in-law back with me."
Sima Hong was stunned for a moment, then hesitantly said, "Mother, isn't my sister-in-law a nun in the Huang'en Temple in the capital? Why did you bring her back?"
Miao sneered, "Your elder brother's coffin and incense are all here. If she doesn't chant sutras and pray for your elder brother in the family temple of Sima Hou Mansion, how can we let her stay in the capital alone?"
Thinking of the bright and generous girl in his boyhood memory, Sima Hong didn't know what to feel in his heart, and said tactfully: "Mother, my eldest brother has been gone for so long, and he and my eldest sister-in-law... are not destined to be husband and wife. It's better to let my eldest sister-in-law return to the Luo family."
"You have a kind heart!" Miao was so angry that she even mocked her son, "She? Is she worthy of my kindness?" Seeing that Sima Hong wanted to say something, Miao raised her hand to stop her son, "Don't say anything. I have the final say in this matter. I am already merciful enough by not giving her ten feet of white silk!"
Sima Hong was somewhat helpless. His mother really hated his sister-in-law, so he could not say anything more. However, since his mother had brought his sister-in-law back and he had not seen her just now, he asked, "Where does mother plan to let her live? She must still be in the carriage now. I will ask the maid to clean up a room for her."
"Let her sleep in the carriage. I'd rather ask her to get off than to dirty the Sima Marquis's mansion!" Miao snorted coldly.
Sima Hong was anxious. "Mother, it's already the twelfth lunar month. It snowed all day. The clouds are so thick tonight, maybe there will be a heavy snow. You know how cold it is at night. Letting my sister-in-law sleep in the carriage will freeze to death. Then..." Our reputation would be ruined. If the widowed grandmother who had become a vegetarian and chanted Buddhist scriptures froze to death in the Anxi Marquis's mansion, this would really become... a joke that would be passed down through the ages.
Miao was a little hesitant, and was afraid that she would freeze Luo Lingxiu to death in her anger, but she refused to give in. "Then give her a few more quilts. The carriage is stuffy, and it's not like she's starving. She won't freeze to death that easily."
Mingyu walked to her own yard with the help of Mrs. Liu. A maid was holding an umbrella for Mingyu. Mrs. Liu smiled and said, "Madam, I see that the old lady is very happy about the baby in your belly."
Mingyu smiled and touched her belly, but she was roaring in her heart, "I beg you not to be happy. If it's a girl, I'm afraid your hope will be as great as your disappointment. If she can't bear the blow and gets sick, she will be guilty of a great sin."
When the group was about to reach the gate of the courtyard, the maid guarding the outer courtyard came trotting over. Under the candlelight of the lantern, the maid had a look of embarrassment on her face. She bent over and said to Mingyu, "Madam, we shouldn't trouble you so late, but the marquis is talking to the old lady, and it's not convenient for us to go into the old lady's yard. We have no choice but to trouble you." In fact, Mingyu, her master, has always been good-tempered and easy to talk to. Miao is a difficult master to serve at first glance. They are not familiar with Miao, and no one wants to contact Miao. Subconsciously, Mingyu is the only master they have. Whenever there is something, they still come to Mingyu.
"What's the matter?" Mingyu stopped and asked. It was so late, and these maids had been trained for so long, they were not unruly people, I'm afraid there was really some trouble.
The maid looked at Mingyu cautiously, gritted her teeth and knelt in the snow, "Madam, you are pregnant, I shouldn't say anything to dirty your ears, but... there was someone in the carriage parked next to the coffins of the masters brought back by the old lady... We all heard it, a woman crying, in the dead of night, it was really... too creepy."
Oh my god! Mingyu almost fell down. What on earth did her mother-in-law bring back
"Let's go and take a look." Mingyu said.
Mrs. Liu disagreed, but Mingyu insisted on going. She didn't believe in such weird things. Besides, the person in the coffin had been very nice to her when he was alive. She believed that even if he became a ghost, he would not harm her and her child.
At Mingyu's signal, a maid held a wooden pole and lifted the carriage curtain. Immediately, another maid held a lantern and shone it over. A pale, trembling face came into Mingyu's sight.