"Get up." Although Mrs. Ji was angry in her heart, she couldn't get angry with her always well-behaved granddaughter. Seeing a slight sweat on her forehead, she asked the maid to get a veil.
Xie Ruzhuo thanked Ji, and then asked in surprise, "Why are everyone's faces so ugly? What happened?"
Mrs. Lu was worried that no one could bring up this topic. When she heard Xie Ruzhuo take the initiative to talk about it, she immediately said, "Zhuo'er, you are a girl who has not yet left the court. Logically speaking, you can't listen to this matter. Yes. But look at what your eldest sister has done. She actually robbed someone and killed her own sister!" After saying that, Mrs. Lu pretended to wipe away her tears again and said in a tearful voice, "After all these years, I don’t think I have ever wronged anyone in our third room, but why is it that only our room is bullied like this!"
Seeing Mrs. Lu showing signs of crying, Mrs. Ji immediately stopped her and said, "That's enough! Third daughter-in-law, it's simply inappropriate for you to say this in front of a junior! Besides, Ruyun has already explained that it's just a Misunderstanding, as an aunt, is it okay for you to push a little girl like this?"
"Old lady, do you think I'm forcing her?" Mrs. Lu stretched out her slightly bloated finger towards Xie Ruyun, almost yelling, "If I really wronged her, then why would my future mother-in-law talk to her?" My son said that he would put down his marriage to Rulan and propose marriage to Xie Ruyun instead!"
As soon as these words came out, a thunderous thunder suddenly hit the room, and everyone was a little stunned by this turn of events. It was Xie Ruyun who reacted first and murmured, "Impossible!"
In the past few days, she had been very respectful and courteous when talking to Mrs. Xu, and she had not gone out of her way at all. How could Mrs. Xu have such an idea? But she didn't know that it was her obedient and kind nature that made Mrs. Xu more and more satisfied and wanted to marry her home as a wife regardless of etiquette.
Hearing this, Ms. Lu sneered, "Impossible? You know best whether it's possible or not!" After saying that, she shouted outside again, "Liu Lu, come in!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a maid with a good-looking face came in, knelt on the ground, and saluted, "My slave, please give your regards to the old lady and the three ladies, and please give your regards to the young lady."
"Liu Lu, you are the personal maid serving Mrs. Xu. Now tell everyone, what did Mrs. Xu say to Xu Wenyuan last night?!"
Mrs. Lu looked at everyone in the room angrily, but deep in her eyes, there was a sense of complacency that could not be hidden. She really wanted to make a lot of money out of this incident, but she didn't expect that the Xu family would actually have such an idea, and they would bring that information to their doorstep!
"Back to Madam, last night, my servant went to deliver tea to Madam Xu, but she didn't expect to see the door closed. Just as she was about to knock on the door, she heard someone's voice coming from inside. A single word frightened her, so she hurriedly I went to the third lady's yard to report back." Liu Lu's face was full of panic, but there was a look of loyalty on her face.
Ji's body straightened up, she clutched the crutch in her hand tightly, and asked, "What did the Xu family say?"
"Go back to the old lady." Liu Lu was so nervous that she stumbled over her words, and finally managed to finish her sentence. "Mrs. Xu said that the third young lady is too delicate, so the eldest lady is better. She looks pleasing to the eye and looks like a daughter-in-law. . He also said that he wanted to cancel the engagement with the third young lady and instead ask to marry the eldest lady of our family!"
"Nonsense!"
As soon as Liu Lu finished speaking, Mrs. Ji stood up and said angrily, "Are my daughters from the Xie family allowed to do this to them? If they say they want to marry, they will ask for marriage; if they say they cancel the engagement, they will cancel the marriage!"
"Grandma, calm down, you haven't been feeling well these past few days. Take care of yourself." Xie Ruzhuo was angry at Liulu's nonsense and hurriedly comforted Ji. She rolled her eyebrows and continued, "Hey, although the third sister did say some things that shouldn't be said in front of her future husband's family, the Xu family is not like this."
Who is Ji, a woman who has been immersed in the back house all her life? After listening to Xie Ruzhuo's words, she immediately grasped the key point, squeezed Xie Ruzhuo's hand, and asked, "What shouldn't be said, Zhuo'er, what do you know?" ?”
"Ah? I, I don't know anything." Xie Ruzhuo waved her hands hurriedly, smiled dryly, and said, "Grandma, I was just talking casually." However, her eyes couldn't help but look at Mr. Lu , looking guilty.
The more she behaved like this, the more Ji felt that something was going on, so she immediately said, "Zhuo'er, if you know something, just tell us, lest we wrongly accuse this distinguished guest from afar!"
After hearing this, Xie Ruzhuo's eyes flickered, as if he was struggling in his heart. Ji didn't force her, she just scanned the whole place silently with her eyes, and said angrily, "I will definitely find out what is going on. The daughter of the Xie family will not call anyone casually. Zuojian, but the daughter of the Xie family is absolutely not allowed to do anything she shouldn’t!”
Xie Ruzhuo seemed to be aroused by Ji's words, and suddenly knelt down and said, "Grandma, there is something I have to say!"
As she said that, she took another deep breath and said, "Actually, when Mrs. Xu fell that day, I just came out of my mother's room and happened to pass by the small garden. At that time, I was not far away, but I called that The vines blocked it, so the third sister didn't see me. I didn't intend to eavesdrop, but I heard a few words to the effect that Mrs. Xu couldn't give birth to a son because she didn't eat meat. Moreover, and the third sister They also forced Mrs. Xu to eat meat. When Mrs. Xu refused to eat, the third sister got angry and spoke very aggressively. I didn't dare to listen at the time, so I ran back to Tingfeng Courtyard and didn't dare to come out again for the past few days. "
As soon as she finished speaking, Qian Bi beside her suddenly realized, "I asked why the lady looked so panicked when she came back that day. It turns out that was the case."
The master and servant asked and answered questions. In fact, there was no such thing, but when they said it like this, it seemed as if they had really experienced it. Xie Ruzhuo snickered in his heart, this girl Qianbi is very clever. In fact, the person who passed by the small garden that day was not herself, but Qian Bi. After coming back, Qianbi told herself the matter, and she knew that Xu would definitely break off the engagement. She originally wanted to use some means to get Xie Rulan to marry off. But she didn't expect that what Xie Ruyun said later made her change her mind.
"What?!" After hearing this, Ji became furious and asked, "Rulan, let me ask you, have you ever done this?"
"I, I didn't! Xie Ruzhuo, please stop slandering me!" Xie Rulan glared at Xie Ruzhuo angrily, and then said aggrievedly, "Grandma, I definitely never said such a thing. Xie Ruzhuo is lying to you!"
"Really?" Mrs. Ji saw Xie Rulan's panic and had the answer in her heart. She closed her eyes and said, "Since you said your fourth sister was lying, then I will ask Mrs. Xu to come over and confront her on the spot. Just a moment!"
"Grandma, don't do it!" Xie Rulan's original anger disappeared immediately, and his face changed immediately, and he sobbed, "Grandma, if you do this, aren't you disgracing me? It's because I didn't do this. , then Mrs. Xu’s family originally wanted to cancel the engagement, but now she has even more excuses to do so.”
Ji knew that she had always been high-minded, but she didn't expect that Xie Rulan could do this. She sat in her seat and thought for a long time, then said, "Well, this is a shameful thing after all!"
Seeing that Mrs. Ji did not intend to let the Xu family come over, Xie Rulan breathed a sigh of relief, and then winked at Mr. Lu.
When Mrs. Lu received it, she immediately started to cry, "Mom, are you so partial, helping a concubine to bully a legitimate daughter! It's just a pity that my Rulan family doesn't have an official father, so she is bullied all the time. ah!"
Seeing that Mrs. Lu started to behave and wallow again, Mrs. Ji's anger was further aroused. She snorted and said, "You still have the nerve to cry? It's a good marriage, but it has reached this point. Third daughter-in-law, you should ask yourself , don’t you have any responsibility at all?”
"Yes! I have a responsibility, of course I have a responsibility!" Mrs. Lu knelt on the ground with a bang and cried, "My biggest responsibility is not to take a good look at my daughter's future husband's family, and let them take a fancy to a second wife right under their noses. My concubine would rather marry a concubine than my family Rulan! In the final analysis, it’s just because she, Xie Ruyun, has a father who is an official; she is more well-matched than a small businessman like us!"
"Ms. Lu, you are so arrogant!" Ji felt her chest was beating fast. She hurriedly held on to the table, took a breath, and then continued, "You always talk about the third child. Without being an official, do you really think that I don’t know your thoughts? But you don’t even look at how the third brother is qualified to be an official! Besides, in these years, whenever there are good things, I have never followed the third brother. ? Ask yourself, have the Xie family ever treated you or Rulan badly?!"
"No?" When Mrs. Lu saw that her words had reached this point, she simply stood up, took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears on her face, and said with an expression as if she was calculating a general ledger, "Old lady, think about it for yourself. In recent years, for food and clothing, among the three sons, which family has received the most money! In the early years, when my uncle had to take care of things, it was our third bedroom that paid for it; when Zhuoer’s mother went there, it was our third bedroom that paid for it. I bought a golden nanmu coffin; when it comes to affairs, my third bedroom always contributes money and effort, but what? But all the benefits are shared by the other two bedrooms, and all the bad things are shared by our third bedroom! Why is this?!"
After saying that, she smiled coldly and said, "Let me tell you, it's because our third brother is a businessman, and the second brother of our eldest brother is an official! I used to think that these three sons were all born to you, so there can't be any Are you biased? But now I understand that everyone will be biased, and you are the same!"
"You—" Mrs. Ji was aroused by the resentment in her words, and she felt a little breathless at the moment. She pointed at Lu, but couldn't say a word.
Seeing this, Xie Ruzhuo was so busy that he stepped forward to help her calm down. He turned around and said, "Third Aunt, are you going too far? Since you mentioned my mother, I will do the math for you. Jin The nanmu coffin was transported by the Jiang family, and the third uncle just did his best to transport it back. Moreover, the Jiang family also paid a lot of money that time, and it was the third family's private account, if I remember correctly. , it’s three thousand taels. Later, I was young and Mrs. Fu didn’t know how to take care of the house. You took advantage of your close relationship with me. In these years, you took away more than 3,760 taels from the account of my mother’s shop alone every year. . This doesn’t include the small odds and ends you usually use in those shops. Third Aunt, am I right? "
Mrs. Lu didn't expect that she knew all these things very well, and was stunned by what she said.