The next morning, the sun was shining brightly. It was a long-awaited sunny day in winter. Xie Nanjia took care of the affairs of the hospital and went to Qingfeng Courtyard with the expectations of the whole hospital.
Ever since the Fourth Aunt moved into Qingfeng Courtyard, due to the Marquis's favor, this originally remote and dilapidated courtyard has not only regained its vitality, but has become even more comfortable and luxurious than before.
Xie Nanjia is now the person that Fourth Aunt trusts the most. She doesn't need to be informed whenever she comes. The maid opens the door and lets her go to the upper room by herself.
There was nothing to do in winter, so Fourth Aunt and Qinghong sat around a charcoal fire pot covered with bamboo strips, cutting paper-cuts. When they saw Xie Nanjia coming in, they smiled and greeted her, "Come in by yourself. I'm busy, so I won't greet you."
"I don't want to trouble you, Auntie." Xie Nanjia walked in with a smile, stopped Qinghong from getting up to give her a seat, and moved an embroidery stool over, sat down next to the brazier, took a paper-cut window paper that Fourth Auntie had cut, and praised it, "This plum blossom is so lifelike, Auntie has such a skillful hand."
"I'm bored all day, just killing time." Fourth Aunt held her waist and turned her neck, "The New Year is coming soon, I'll practice first, and then cut a few good ones to paste up. If you want them, I'll cut some more and give them to you."
"That's great, thank you, Auntie." Xie Nanjia followed her words and said, "It's rude not to reciprocate. I'll give Auntie a gift too!"
"What gift?" Fourth Aunt became interested.
Xie Nanjia didn't say it directly, but said implicitly: "I came here today to pay my respects to Auntie on the orders of the Fourth Miss."
The Fourth Aunt's hand holding the scissors trembled, and the window paper-cut was cut into pieces, but she didn't care at all. She blinked and said in a trembling voice, "Did the Fourth Miss ask you to come?"
"Yeah." Xie Nanjia smiled and nodded. "It's been a long day, and Auntie wants to talk to someone, right?"
"Yes, yes, yes..." Fourth Auntie responded repeatedly, feeling a little overwhelmed for a moment, "Well, what should I do?"
"Look how happy our aunt is." Qinghong said, and she was happy too. "Thank God, our aunt finally has a wish."
The fourth aunt put the things in her hand into the sewing basket, stood up excitedly and walked back and forth in the room several times, with tears in the corners of her eyes.
She has been with the Marquis for more than ten years and has received the most favors among all the concubines. However, while other concubines have had children one after another, her belly has not shown any movement.
At first, she relied on her youth and thought that it would happen sooner or later, but year after year, the years passed by and the Goddess of Fertility never favored her.
In this deep mansion, a childless aunt is like a rootless duckweed. When she is young, she can still live a glorious life for a few days relying on her beauty, but once she is old and frail, she has no other hope except a miserable death.
Therefore, the Fourth Aunt was usually arrogant and domineering, and when she was proud, she even looked down on the Madam. But in fact, she was the most confused and anxious among the concubines, and she dreamed of having a child.
Ever since Xie Nanjia mentioned the Fourth Young Miss in front of her intentionally or unintentionally, she has been particularly concerned about it. Not only did she look for opportunities to approach the Fourth Young Miss from time to time to express her concern, she also followed Xie Nanjia's advice and took the initiative to go to the old lady to win her favor, hoping that this would succeed so that she would have someone to rely on in her later years.
Hard work pays off. After so much hard work, the clouds have finally cleared and the moon is visible. How could she not cry with joy
"Tell me quickly, what should I do now?" The fourth aunt finally stopped turning around, and a girlish look appeared in her eyes.
Xie Nanjia said, "Auntie, you don't need to do anything. Go to the Marquis in the evening and ask him and Madam to tell them. Madam will naturally take care of the remaining procedures."
The fourth concubine laughed so hard that her eyes disappeared: "We have to trouble Madam to take care of things for us. How embarrassing."
Xie Nanjia also laughed: "As the mistress of the house, you have to worry about the whole family!"
"Yes, yes, you are right." The Fourth Aunt nodded repeatedly.
Anyway, as long as she can make her wife angry, she will be happy.
Xie Nanjia delivered the message, gave some instructions on some details, and then stood up to say goodbye.
The Fourth Aunt personally saw her off to the door, expressing her endless gratitude.
After Xie Nanjia left, the fourth aunt returned to the room and told Qinghong to heat up some good wine for lunch so that she could celebrate by herself first.
Qinghong agreed, rolled her eyes and thought for a while, then hesitantly said to Fourth Auntie, "Auntie, at this critical moment, Fourth Miss suddenly loosened her grip. Could it be that she wants you to take care of Young Master Zhou's affairs on her behalf?"
The fourth aunt was stunned for a moment and glanced at her sideways: "So what, do you think I should reject her?"
"My aunt has misunderstood." Qinghong said hurriedly, "I am afraid that my aunt's true love will be misplaced."
"There's nothing wrong with that." Fourth Aunt said indifferently, "She needs a mother, and I need a child. To put it bluntly, it's a mutual benefit. Whether it's true or false is secondary. Besides, people are made of flesh and blood. As long as we protect them well, they will warm up one day."
So that's why people say that those who can survive in a big house are not fools. Qinghong thought to herself, bowed and smiled, "Auntie is really a perceptive person, so I would like to congratulate Auntie in advance that her wish has come true!"
…
That night, the fourth concubine dressed up beautifully and went to the front yard to talk to Marquis Dingyuan about recognizing her daughter.
Unfortunately, when he went there excitedly, he was stopped outside by the guards, who told him that no one was allowed to enter without the Marquis's permission.
The fourth concubine said that she had urgent business to see the marquis and asked the guard to pass the message on to her. However, the guard said that unless the marquis specifically asked to see a concubine, the concubines were not allowed to disturb the marquis for any reason.
This rule was indeed set by the Marquis himself. No matter how angry the Fourth Aunt was, there was nothing she could do. She was getting anxious and jumping up and down when Hualou came with some midnight snacks.
When the guard saw her coming, he opened the door without even asking.
The Fourth Aunt couldn't help but feel jealous and secretly cursed the guard for being a lapdog who flattered the powerful and looked down on the weak.
Hualou walked past her without looking at her sideways, stepped into the door, and suddenly turned back to the guard and said, "I hurt my hand while cooking. Let Fourth Aunt come in and serve the Marquis for me!"
“…” Fourth Aunt wanted to refuse instinctively, but changed her mind and quickly shut her mouth.
The guard hesitated and did not agree immediately.
Hualou said with a wooden face: "I will tell the Marquis, don't worry."
The guard didn't say anything else and stepped aside to let the Fourth Aunt in.
The fourth concubine followed behind the painting building with a bit of grievance. When they were a little further away, she asked angrily, "Why did you help me?"
Hualou said woodenly, "Xiu'er asked me to help."
"..." Fourth Aunt suddenly realized. No wonder Hualou, this wooden man, suddenly wanted to lend her a helping hand. After all the fuss, it was Xiu'er who helped her secretly.
But then again, why would Hualou obey Xiu'er's orders? What is the relationship between them
Was it premeditated that Xiu'er suddenly gave the job of making midnight snacks for the Marquis to Hualou
Hualou won the favor of the Marquis in a short time. Is it possible that Xiu'er taught her
No wonder she told Xiu'er many times to remind Hualou to be more restrained. Not only did Hualou not restrain himself, but he became even worse, and bewitched the Marquis so much that he didn't even enter the backyard.
If you think about it carefully, the Marquis controls the Marquis' Mansion, Hualou controls the Marquis, and Xiu'er controls Hualou... Oh my God! The Fourth Aunt covered her mouth in shock. If this is the case, then the entire Marquis' Mansion is under Xiu'er's control
There was also the Fourth Young Lady, the Old Lady, even the Second Young Master, including myself, all of whom seemed to have been subjugated by Xiu'er without realizing it. The only group that was not subjugated by her was the Madam's group, and that group had not had a comfortable life since Xiu'er entered the mansion...
Oh my God! What on earth does Xiu'er want to do
Does she want to make the entire Marquisate her puppet
This is horrible, this is horrible!
What's even more terrifying is that even though she had clearly realized that something was wrong, she still had to follow Xiu'er's plan, because Xiu'er had already seen through her desire to have a child.
Yes, that's right. Xiu'er knows everyone's weaknesses clearly. Whenever she makes a move, she will always hit the target and no one can escape.
This girl is so scary!
"Auntie, be careful with the threshold!" Hualou reminded her from the side.
The Fourth Aunt suddenly came to her senses and realized that they had already arrived at the Marquis's study, and Jiuan was opening the thick curtain to invite them in.
After entering the house, the Fourth Aunt saw Marquis Dingyuan sitting behind the desk reviewing official documents. She was so excited that she almost burst into tears. She felt that she had not seen the Marquis for eight hundred years.
"My concubine greets the Marquis and pays her respects to him!" She walked over and choked up as she paid her respects to Marquis Dingyuan.
Dingyuan Hou was startled, put down the pen in his hand, pinched his eyebrows and asked: "Manluo, why are you here?"
Fourth Aunt couldn't control her tears all of a sudden.
"I missed you, my Lord, so I risked being punished by you to come and visit you."
"Oh." Dingyuan Hou smiled gently, "I heard my mother talk about you last time. I originally planned to go to Qingfengyuan to see you, but later I was entangled in official duties and forgot about it. Now that you are here, please accompany me for a midnight snack!"
The fourth concubine said with tears in her eyes: "I dare not. It is a great blessing for me to serve the marquis at meals."
"Look at you, there's no one else here, so there's no need to be so polite." Marquis Dingyuan stood up, walked around the desk, and personally helped her up.
The fourth concubine wanted to burst into tears.
The servant brought in hot water, and the two washed their hands, then sat opposite each other in front of the table. Hualou placed the food on the table one by one and served them silently, without showing any emotion.
The Fourth Aunt ate two bites of food and drank a bowl of soup, and finally understood why the Marquis was so fond of Hualou.
Hualou's cooking skills are not worse than Xiu'er's, and even have more homely flavor.
Moreover, this girl's personality is really to the Marquis's liking, she is quiet, neither arrogant nor impatient, neither fawning nor humble, just like her face, simple and honest, but makes men feel comfortable.
"Manluo, did you come here just to see me? Is there something else?" Seeing that she was absent-minded, Marquis Dingyuan took the initiative to ask.
The fourth concubine hesitated for a moment, put down her chopsticks, knelt down, and said respectfully: "My Lord, I do have something I want to discuss with you."
"You say." Marquis Dingyuan raised his hand.
The fourth concubine then told her that she wanted to take the fourth young lady as her daughter, and then added: "The fourth young lady herself agreed. Last time I asked the old lady, she also said that this is a good idea. We both have someone to rely on. What do you think, Lord Marquis?"
Dingyuan Hou had heard the old lady mention this before, so he didn't think it was strange. He hesitated for a moment and said, "I think it's good too. As long as you all agree, I have no objection."
"Thank you, my Lord!" Fourth Aunt kowtowed to Marquis Dingyuan happily. "Since my Lord has agreed, I'd like to trouble you to inform Madam. I'm afraid that my influence will be ignored and Madam will think I'm meddling."
"Yes." Dingyuan Hou nodded and said, "It's too late today. Tomorrow is the fifteenth day of the lunar month. When I go to Yixin Courtyard to rest, I will tell Madam about it. As for what to do next, you just listen to Madam's arrangements."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty!" The Fourth Aunt was finally completely relieved and kowtowed several times to Marquis Dingyuan.
"That's enough. If you kowtow again, your hair will fall apart." Dingyuan Hou joked.
The fourth concubine blushed slightly, showing a charming look, and looked at Marquis Dingyuan with a faint gaze.
Marquis Dingyuan did not respond to her, but stopped smiling and said, "Since you have adopted the fourth girl as your daughter, you will inevitably have to worry about her regarding the affairs of the Princess's Mansion. I want to take care of her, but the cause of this matter is not very glorious. Yuncheng's father is working in Jiangzhou, and as a man, it is not easy for me to negotiate directly with the Princess. Madam has been confused about her own affairs recently, and you know this."
The fourth concubine said hurriedly: "I understand. As long as the Marquis thinks this marriage can be concluded, I will do my best to fight for the fourth girl."
Dingyuan Hou said: "Although it is a bit high for the fourth girl to marry Yuncheng, parents are selfish. From my heart, of course I want her to have her wish come true."
"My Lord, I understand what you said now." Fourth Aunt said, "But if this matter is to be accomplished, it cannot be done in the usual way. My Lord, you must have a plan in mind, so that no one can use this as a handle to accuse me of something."
"You can find another way, but Qin Wanru's way is definitely not acceptable." Marquis Dingyuan said seriously.
"Don't worry, my lord. Our daughter will never do anything dirty." said the fourth concubine.
Dingyuan Hou was very pleased: "The old lady said that you are very different from before. After seeing you today, I can see that you are indeed much more mature and stable. Very good, very good."
The Fourth Aunt was delighted with the compliment and hoped that the Marquis would let her stay in the front yard for a night. However, the Marquis did not mention it until the midnight snack was over. She had to take her leave in disappointment and left with Hualou.
Hualou had the same expression from beginning to end, and did not say a single extra word to Marquis Dingyuan. The Fourth Aunt thought that she must be playing hard to get, because men just fall for that.
Thinking of this, she secretly examined herself, wondering if she had talked too much. But after thinking about it, she realized that those words were what she had to say, and not a single word less would do.
"You haven't said a word for such a long time. Aren't you feeling suffocated?" She couldn't help but ask Hualou.
Hualou said with a wooden face: "I like to listen, not to talk."
The fourth aunt was stunned, and had to admit that listening was much better than speaking.
Xiu'er seemed to have taught her before not to talk too much, especially not to complain to men. It seems that Hualou has learned a lot from Xiu'er.
What on earth does this Xiu'er do
…
The next day, Marquis Dingyuan went to Yixin Courtyard to rest. He told Qin about the fourth concubine's plan to adopt the fourth young lady and asked Qin to arrange everything for them.
Qin was so busy with the lawsuit that she had no time to care about their trivial matters. Marquis Dingyuan had finally come, and she wanted to take the opportunity to seek some benefits for herself!
In order to avoid letting messy things take up this precious time, she didn't even have the interest to discuss it, and she agreed directly: "It's not a difficult matter. Tomorrow I will ask their opinions, and we will go to the old lady and tell her to register the fourth girl under the name of the fourth concubine. If you want to make it more solemn, invite the two houses to have a meal as a witness. But there are many things to do before the New Year, I am afraid that no one can spare the time, so it is better to talk about it during the New Year's Eve dinner."
Seeing that she readily agreed, Marquis Dingyuan felt very relieved and nodded, "We can talk about it on New Year's Eve, but the book needs to be published first."
"I don't need to." Qin said, "Leave it to me."
Dingyuan Hou was really surprised that she suddenly became so virtuous. Thinking about how he had been mad at Qin Wanru a few days ago because of her ridiculous behavior, he felt a little sorry for her and said in a slower tone, "Don't spoil the children anymore. Teach them right from wrong. You will get old sooner or later and you can't take care of them forever."
Qin wanted to calm him down, so she quickly said gently, "I understand. We will teach them well in the future. Wanru has been crying in her room these days, fearing that you would be unhappy and send her back to her parents' home. The poor child is so scared that she has lost her appetite and has become extremely thin."
Dingyuan Hou knew that her words were exaggerated, and sighed: "I was just angry at the moment, how could I really send her away? As long as she is fine in the future, I won't bother with a child."
Qin was relieved and pretended to wipe away her tears: "Thank you for your generosity, my Lord. I will ask Wanru to kowtow to you and apologize in person some other day."
"Forget it. If she goes to see me, I will feel uncomfortable, and she will feel uncomfortable too. So just let her stay well!" said Dingyuan Hou.
Qin readily agreed and tenderly helped Marquis Dingyuan to undress.
The couple finally reconciled, both in appearance and in heart, and slept peacefully in the same bed for the whole night.
The next day, at dawn, Qin got up quickly to help Marquis Dingyuan change his clothes and go to court.
After busily seeing off Marquis Dingyuan, she finally had time to calm down and think, and suddenly realized that adoption was not that simple.
The fourth girl refused to acknowledge her mother early or late, but she insisted on acknowledging her mother because she had an entanglement with the eldest master Zhou. Could it be that she saw through that I, her stepmother, had no intention of making plans for her, so she wanted to find another helper
The Fourth Aunt is used to using some seductive tricks. If she really lends a hand, maybe she can accomplish the task.
If she succeeds, what will happen to my Lan Ya
Lan Ya was obsessed with Young Master Zhou. If he was really snatched away by her half-sister, wouldn't she be furious given her strong personality
No, no, these two people absolutely cannot be mother and daughter.
But I have to do it. I have already promised the Marquis in person, how can I go back on my word? I am afraid that the Marquis will get angry and do it for them himself, and even turn against me because of it.
What should I do
Qin was worried until dawn, but she couldn't think of a perfect plan. Madam Cao came to urge her to wash up, saying that the concubines and children would come to pay their respects soon. She had to put the matter aside for the time being and go to change her clothes and put on her makeup.
When the time for paying respects came, the Crown Prince's wife, all the concubines and young ladies came. Qin noticed with her sharp eyes that the Fourth Young Lady and the Fourth Concubine came together, and she couldn't help feeling annoyed again.
Although she was upset, she still had to talk about it. She suppressed her anger and spoke to the two parties about the adoption in a friendly manner, repeating what she had discussed with the Marquis last night.
When the other aunts and young ladies heard this, they were all confused.
Qin Wanru's mind was full of thoughts on how to deal with Lvliu, and she didn't react at all.
The Fourth Aunt was overjoyed and pulled the Fourth Miss to her knees and kowtow to thank the Madam for her help.
Qin said, "You two have each other to rely on. I am happy for you. After breakfast, let's go to the old lady and tell her about it."
The fourth concubine and the fourth young lady responded in unison, and Qin Shi instructed Zhao Lanya, "When you go to the academy later, ask for leave from the teacher on behalf of your fourth sister. I'm afraid she won't be able to go today."
Zhao Lanya was very smart and immediately thought of what happened to Mr. Zhou. She was so angry that her face turned green.
She thought her mother hadn't figured out the whole thing, so after everyone who came to pay their respects had left, she followed her mother into the inner room alone, intending to analyze the matter carefully with her mother.
Qin Shi didn't wait for her to speak, and said first: "I understand what you want to say, but Fourth Aunt didn't tell me about this matter at all, but went directly to your father. Your father came to tell me in person last night. Can I go against his wishes?"
"Bitch is cunning, she will do evil when you are not careful." Zhao Lanya gritted her teeth in hatred when she heard that it was her father who gave the order, "But mother, don't you have any other solution?"
"What can I do? What can I do?" Qin said depressedly, "Nothing has made me feel comfortable recently."
Zhao Lanya said angrily: "I don't care, if I can't marry Mr. Zhou, I will cut off my hair and become a nun!"
"You..." Qin was so angry that she raised her hand high, but she couldn't bear to slap him. She said weakly, "You two are trying to force me to death!"
Zhao Lanya clenched her fists and said grimly, "Aren't they the ones who deserve to die?"
Qin didn't hear clearly, so she tilted her ear and asked, "What did you say?"
Zhao Lanya simply gave up, closed the doors and windows, walked back and whispered: "Since mother can give Fourth Aunt a sterilization drug, why can't she give her something else?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Qin was horrified, and the slap that she had not been willing to give Zhao Lanya just now landed on Zhao Lanya's face with a "pa".
"I'm not talking nonsense." Zhao Lanya covered her face and said, "I know everything my mother did, not only the Fourth Aunt, but also the Third Aunt's male fetus, and Sister-in-law Nan Jia..."
"Shut up!" Qin was in a terrible state. She rushed over like a madman and grabbed Zhao Lanya's neck. "Are you my daughter? Are you my daughter? You are not, you are not, you are not my Lanya, you are a devil..."
(End of this chapter)