From the beginning, Su Jincheng had no feelings for Princess Jinping, his sister. Later, when his mother said that she had made a mistake, he immediately suggested that his mother announce the truth to the public, give Princess Jinping a sum of money, and let her go back to where she came from.
But her mother said that Xiu'er was unwilling to marry the prince. If Jinping was sent away, Xiu'er would be forced to enter the palace. Since Jinping was willing, it would be better to let her stay and marry in place of Xiu'er.
He admitted that he had some selfish motives and acquiesced to his mother's actions in order to save his sister from being sent to the palace. However, just because he could allow a girl who was mistakenly identified to enjoy wealth and glory under the name of his sister did not mean that he could tolerate a liar who played their entire family around, especially when the liar was working in collusion with his own family members. He could not tolerate it even more.
He had blamed himself for twelve years because he lost his sister when he was young. If the accident was caused deliberately by someone, let alone that person might be his second aunt, he would not show mercy even if that person was his biological second uncle.
He couldn't imagine that during the twelve years when he and his parents were frowning, there was someone hiding behind them and laughing secretly. This feeling was too maddening.
With rage burning in his chest, he strode out the door with a grim face.
"Brother!" Xie Nanjia called out to him, "Brother, don't be busy yet. I have something to say."
Su Jincheng stopped and looked back at her: "Go ahead."
Xie Nanjia said, "It's not the time to break this window paper yet. Brother, calm down first and wait a while. It won't be too late to talk to the man after I've made the promise. I really don't want to marry the prince."
She talked about her marriage so generously that Su Jincheng didn't find it funny at all. Instead, he felt sad and helpless. No matter how big the Su family was, it was ultimately not bigger than the imperial power. In order not to be manipulated by the Queen, his sister had put a lot of thought into it and even had to quickly promise herself off to stop the Queen and her son from coveting her.
"But, is engagement really useful?" He was skeptical about this. In the previous dynasty, the crown prince executed a minister on a trumped-up charge in order to compete with him for a woman. Although Song Jingxing would not be so cruel, it would still be easy for him to prevent other families from marrying into the Duke's Mansion.
"So, it would be safer to find a family with a background strong enough to make the Eastern Palace wary." Xie Nanjia took the opportunity to persuade him.
"It's not easy to find such a family." Sheng Qingyun said, "Several princes live in their fiefdoms, the children of the eldest princess and the county lady have all been engaged, and the remaining dukes and marquises are all on the side of the queen, not to mention the earl's mansion. No one dares to go against the queen. After all, only the Dingyuan Marquis's mansion and the Wu'an General's mansion in the whole capital are qualified, but the Dingyuan Marquis's son has killed two wives, and I will never let you be his concubine. The only one left is your cousin Nanfeng. Are you going to marry him?"
Xie Nanjia: “…”
How could she marry her own brother? She originally wanted to divert everyone's attention to Zhao Jingyu, but she didn't expect that Zhao Jingyu was directly ignored by her aunt. It can be seen that illegitimate sons are not within the consideration of her aunt at all.
Su Xian mentioned it, "Doesn't Marquis Dingyuan have two sons?"
"No, no, how can our Xiu'er marry a bastard?" Sheng Qingyun rejected it without even thinking.
"..." Xie Nanjia said weakly, "But I am only an adopted daughter. Isn't it appropriate to marry a concubine's son?"
Sheng Qingyun was stunned, then she remembered that her daughter was still an adopted daughter, and she couldn't help but complain to her husband again, "It's all your fault. You caused a liar to take over my daughter's identity, and she can't even find a suitable one to marry."
Su Xian helplessly spread his hands: "… Why are you going back to the same path again?"
Su Jincheng looked at Xie Nanjia silently, and suddenly remembered that when they were playing pot-to-pot in Xishan Paddock, Song Jingxing won her away from Zhao Jingyu, but she was unwilling to play with Song Jingxing, saying that she was Zhao Jingyu's person and wanted to win her back for Zhao Jingyu herself.
So, could it be that she had already had... physical contact with Zhao Jingyu
Thinking that his sister might have been taken advantage of by Zhao Jingyu, Su Jincheng felt as if he had swallowed pig iron, and felt uncomfortable from throat to heart.
"Has sister already chosen Zhao Jingyu in her heart?" he asked gloomily.
Xie Nanjia didn't expect that he would see through her thoughts. She panicked at first, but then she simply admitted it and nodded, "I think the second young master is quite suitable. He has the support of Marquis Dingyuan and is deeply loved by the emperor. Not only is he not afraid of the crown prince, he even dares to beat the crown prince. Moreover, I have lived in Marquis Dingyuan's mansion for more than half a year. I am very familiar with it. I get along very well with everyone from top to bottom, just like my own home..."
"But Zhao Jingyu is not worthy of you at all!" Sheng Qingyun interrupted her before she finished speaking, and said firmly, "I don't agree. Marriage is a lifelong thing. You can't just marry someone just to avoid entering the palace. Although the intrigues in the palace are too stressful, being a crown princess is better than marrying a bastard with no achievements."
"I don't agree either." Su Xian said, "It is precisely because Zhao Jingyu dared to hit the prince that it is even more unsafe for you to marry him. The prince will ascend the throne sooner or later, and the first person to be killed at that time will probably be him."
"Father is right. I don't agree either." Su Jincheng agreed.
Xie Nanjia: “…”
Zhao Agou, I have really tried my best. Whether it will succeed or not depends on you.
Second Madam Zheng was worried the whole night, but there was still no news from the guards she sent out. Her anxiety was growing like a snowball, but she was worried that someone was secretly monitoring her, so she didn't dare to send anyone out to inquire.
She calmed down and thought about it, deeply regretting her impulsive behavior. She shouldn't have lost her mind as soon as she saw the letter and directly sent someone to contact the other party. Why didn't she think about it? The person hadn't appeared for twelve years, so how could he suddenly come to her again
Jinping was right. She was smart all her life but confused for a moment. She never thought that someone was deliberately testing her.
But how could the person who tested her know that the man had a black birthmark on his hand
Since she even knows about the birthmark, what's the point of testing her? Why not just expose her
Jinping said that the person who tested her should be Xiu'er. She questioned this. Xiu'er had only been back for a few days and no one in the mansion had recognized her yet. How could they have targeted her so quickly
Sheng Qingyun hadn't had any doubts about her for twelve years, which was enough to show that she had hidden her identity very successfully. There was no reason why Xiu'er would discover her flaw as soon as she came back.
But if it wasn’t Xiu’er, who else could it be
Who was so clever that he could use a little trick to change her from a favorable situation where the enemy was in the light and she was in the dark to a passive situation where the enemy was in the dark and she was in the light
How should she deal with it next
The second day was the Little New Year. People cleaned the house and offered sacrifices to the Kitchen God, sending him to heaven. The whole family spent the day in a lively and bustling atmosphere.
As for Princess Jinping who was imprisoned in the Buddhist temple, no one tacitly mentioned her. Only the brothers of the Su family secretly ran to see her after the Kitchen God worship was over and gave her a lot of candies for the worship to cheer her up.
Su Jincheng did not go. After finishing his work, he stayed in Qionghua Courtyard to talk with his mother and sister. Xie Nanjia asked him why he didn't go to see his sister, and he said expressionlessly that he only had one sister.
Xie Nanjia teased him: "I'm back now, why do you still have a stern face all day long? If you continue like this, which girl will like you? Do you want to be single forever?"
Su Jincheng never joked with girls. When he was suddenly teased by his sister, his face immediately turned red. He pretended to be angry and said, "Little kid, don't talk nonsense."
"What nonsense is that? I think your sister is right." Sheng Qingyun said, "If you don't get married, people will always call me Young Madam. When can I, your mother, remove the word "Young"? It all depends on you."
Su Jincheng: “…” If I had known this, I would have gone to the Buddhist temple too.
"Your sister and I are going to the general's mansion tomorrow. Do you want to go?" Sheng Qingyun asked.
"I'm afraid I can't go. The New Year is almost here, and His Majesty is traveling everywhere frequently. I have to follow him." Su Jincheng said.
"Forget it, let's go first, and then we can go together to pay New Year's greetings during the New Year." Sheng Qingyun said.
On the next day, the mother and daughter got up early, dressed up, and brought gifts to visit the general's mansion.
When they passed the famous Wuweizhai on the way, Xie Nanjia asked the driver to stop the car and went in personally to buy a few pieces of his father's favorite braised pork.
Sheng Qingyun was very surprised and asked her, "How do you know that your uncle likes his braised pork?"
Xie Nanjia said, "When I was in the Marquis's Mansion, I occasionally heard Marquis Dingyuan mention it."
"You have a good memory." Sheng Qingyun believed it and didn't ask any more questions.
When they arrived at the general's mansion, Sheng Qingluan received the letter and waited at the door with Xie Nanfeng.
They had already recognized each other last time, and this time, as soon as Xie Nanjia got out of the car, she called her mother affectionately, which made Sheng Qingluan's eyes well up with tears.
In the past, every time Xiu'er went back to her parents' home, she would jump out of the car in a hurry and call her mother without waiting for it to stop. She always blamed her for not being stable after getting married. Now, she can't hear or see her anymore.
Xie Nanfeng watched as a girl in colorful clothes jumped out of the car with her jewelry jingling. She looked exactly like her sister, but she was not her sister. She couldn't help feeling lost and sad.
His mother once sent a letter to inform him and his father that Xiu'er was his aunt's biological daughter. After reading his mother's letter, he and his father were in the same tent but did not say a word the whole night.
He understood his father's feelings. His father had always been looking forward to returning home after the war to go to the marquis's mansion to recognize his relatives and bring his sister home. However, his hopes were shattered before the war was over, and his daughter became a niece. How disappointed his father must have been.
He himself was disappointed. Although it was a happy thing that his aunt found her daughter, he could not be happy at all because the sister he missed so much suddenly became his cousin.
No matter how close the cousin is, she is not as close as his own sister. His cousin can be found after being lost for twelve years, but his sister will never come back.
"Nanfeng, why are you in a daze? Come and greet your aunt!" Sheng Qingluan pushed him.
Xie Nanfeng came back to his senses and bowed to Sheng Qingyun: "My aunt is well."
"Good, good, good boy." Sheng Qingyun held his arm affectionately and looked him up and down carefully. "You've become taller, thinner, and darker. You look like an adult now."
Xie Nanfeng smiled embarrassedly: "I am an adult."
"How can seventeen years old be considered an adult?" Xie Nanjia couldn't help but say something from the side, feeling bitter in her heart. She really wanted to rub his head like she used to and call him a silly boy.
Xie Nanfeng looked over vaguely, not daring to meet Xie Nanjia's gaze. He could still chat and laugh with her before going to Northern Frontier, but now he felt restrained for some reason.
Sheng Qingyun introduced the two of them, "This is your sister, and this is your brother," and urged them to greet each other.
Xie Nanjia couldn't call her brother, and Xie Nanfeng didn't want to call her sister, so the two of them just stared at each other awkwardly.
Finally, it was Xie Nanjia who took the initiative to pull up his sleeve and showed him the braised pork bag she had been holding in her hand: "I bought Wuweizhai's braised pork for Dad. Let Mom and the others walk slowly behind us, and we will go see Dad first!"
"Oh." Xie Nanfeng responded awkwardly and walked towards the mansion with her side by side.
Sheng Qingluan followed the braised pork buns in Xie Nanjia's hand and her eyes became red unconsciously.
(End of this chapter)