"My sister is pregnant. Does Mrs. Luo know?" Qin Zhixing asked directly.
Xu Shichu blurted out: "The child is not mine!" Only after she said it did she realize that she had spoken too quickly. Alas, it was all because she had too many weird things in her mind.
Qin Zhixing's face darkened when he heard her words. He said, "I didn't say it was Madam's. I just wanted to mention it to you, Madam Luo. Since my sister is pregnant with the next generation of the Luo family, you can be more tolerant of her."
"Oh, don't worry, as long as she doesn't appear in front of me, I won't remember her at all." Xu Shichu was very frank.
Qin Zhixing's face darkened. He could tell that this was not meant to praise her sister, but he could only pretend he didn't hear it and said, "Then the lady will surely not interfere in her room's affairs. Will she send a maid to her brother-in-law?"
Xu Shichu's beautiful eyes widened: "Why do you think I'm so free that I would do such a thankless job?"
Qin Zhixing choked. Xu Shichu looked so disgusted that he must have not taken his sister seriously at all. If that was the case, why should he talk about taking revenge on his sister
Seeing her like this, Qin Zhixing felt relieved, but he was still holding his breath in his heart, always feeling that Xu Shichu looked down on his sister.
"Is this what you're looking for me for?" Xu Shichu wasn't interested in wasting time with him here.
Seeing her impatient look, Qin Zhixing nodded.
"I'm not interested in her affairs. You just need to take care of your sister and don't let her cause trouble to me. Goodbye!" Xu Shichu said, turned back to his carriage, and left without hesitation.
Qin Zhixing thought about it and felt that it would be better for him to go to his sister in person to talk to her not to offend her step-mother-in-law, so he followed Xu Shichu to the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Xu Shichu didn't know what the Qin brother and sister talked about when they met. She planned to find another piece of land in the capital to build a house.
With the birth of the next generation of the Luo family, the prime minister's mansion will become more and more lively. With more people, there will be more troubles. What's more, the next generation mistress of the Luo family can't stand her, so the children born by the mistress will naturally dislike her and will only think that she is an outsider who has occupied the magpie's nest.
In order to avoid being driven out of the Prime Minister's Mansion in the future - of course, this possibility is very small, unless Luo Changqing and Luo Rui are no longer alive, and the Luo family is run by their descendants.
But people always have to have a sense of crisis, and Du Zhao will grow up in more than ten years. He is not a member of the Luo family, so it will be inconvenient for him to live in the Prime Minister's Mansion after he grows up. It will be even more impossible for him to live in the Prime Minister's Mansion when he gets married. Therefore, even if it is for Du Zhao to have a legitimate home, Xu Shichu has to build a house of his own.
It’s her own house, she can build it any way she wants. Xu Shichu doesn’t intend to settle for anything less, after all, it’s where she’s going to live for the rest of her life.
Xu Shichu decided to build a house in the capital, of course, not close to where the dignitaries in the inner city lived. Those who were not powerful could not afford to live in those places. Xu Shichu was just a prime minister's wife in name only. If she moved out of the prime minister's mansion in the future, then she would really only be a title. What would happen next would depend on whether Du Zhao could live up to his expectations. If he did, then he would be able to afford to live in the inner city. If he did not, then he would not be qualified to live there.
Therefore, Xu Shichu felt that it would be more appropriate to build her house in a place where wealthy businessmen and minor officials gathered. After all, the land price there would not be too expensive and she could afford it. The public security was also much better than in the slums and the environment was more suitable.
…
Time passed quickly, and five years had passed in the blink of an eye. Xu Shichu's own house had been basically completed. To be more precise, the house looked more like a manor than a house. Xu Shichu simply called it "Xu Garden".
Xu Garden covers a vast area - after all, it has to plant all kinds of flowers, plants and trees; it is magnificent - it has carved beams and painted buildings, pavilions, towers, rockery and pools.
Xu Shichu was a person who loved to enjoy life. She used her own money to build her own garden, so of course she had to build it to her own standards. After the construction of Xu Garden, Xu Shichu only brought Du Zhao to see it. Although the people in the Xiangfu knew that she had been building her own house, they had not heard of its completion for so many years, so they gradually forgot about it.
"Aunt, are we going to transplant the flowers and trees in the Prime Minister's Mansion to Xu Garden?" Du Zhao, who was already twelve years old and had grown into a young boy, asked as he looked at the manor in front of him, which was exquisite and beautiful but bare everywhere.
Xu Shichu looked at the house she had built with satisfaction. Although it was still empty, she was still very happy and said, "Of course! But there is no rush. There are too many flowers and plants in the Xiangfu Mansion. We have to transplant them little by little. Of course, it depends on your ability. When you pass the imperial examination and can leave the Xiangfu Mansion and be independent, then I can transplant all the flowers and plants."
Du Zhao nodded, his childish but already very handsome face showing a serious expression: "I understand, aunt, I can take the exam for the scholar this year, and I can take the exam for the Jinshi in three years. By then I will be fifteen years old and can leave the Xiangfu and be independent."
Seeing his serious look, Xu Shichu couldn't help but laugh and said, "There's no need to be so anxious. Take your time. After all, the people in the Xiangfu didn't chase us away."
Du Zhao looked disappointed and shook his head and said, "Aunt, although the Prime Minister and Cousin Luo never meant to drive us away, Luo Yan and his mother don't think so."
Luo Yan is the son of Luo Rui and the eldest grandson of Luo Changqing. He is five years old now, but he has not inherited any of his grandfather and father's intelligence and cleverness. Instead, his personality is more like Qin Mei. He is willful, stupid, arrogant and conceited. No matter how he is taught, he will not change his bad habits.
Xu Shichu and Du Zhao seldom saw him, but when he was a child, Luo Changqing would occasionally take him to Xu Shichu's garden to play, and they had played together a few times. But at that time, with Luo Changqing watching, Xu Shichu did not see his true nature and thought he was quite well-behaved.
Unfortunately, when he was able to walk and run and started running around the prime minister's residence, Xu Shichu knew that he was a devil.
Three days ago, he wanted to break into Xu Shichu's garden, but Xu Shichu refused to let him in when he saw that there was no adult accompanying him. Unexpectedly, Luo Yan started to make a fuss.
Not only did he order the servants to knock on the door, he also stood with his hands on his waist and raised his head arrogantly, cursing Xu Shichu at the door, calling her a vixen, a bitch who occupied the toilet without doing anything, and said that her garden belonged to the prime minister's mansion, not hers at all, and she had no right to occupy it... He said that when he grew up, he would definitely drive this shameless woman away...
The child, who was only five years old, cursed with such disgusting words. Not only Xu Shichu, but even the maids around Luo Yan were stunned. They never expected that their little master would curse with such vulgar words.