Xie Xiaoyu's image has always been good in the minds of Yun Fenghuang and the Cui family.
Even though Cui Wan recruited him as his son-in-law because of Yun Fenghuang, to be honest, before Xie Xiaoyu's true identity was exposed, he and his wife thought that the concubine's marriage was a good one.
Although he was married, his first wife was not lucky, and neither he nor his first wife's eldest son could stay.
Except for asking the daughter to pay homage to a memorial tablet during the New Year and holidays, it is no different from the first wife.
Besides, Xie Xiaoyu is young, has outstanding appearance, and is gentle and considerate towards Xiao Cui... Not to mention Cui Wan and his wife, even Xiao Cui herself is very happy and feels that she has met her husband.
As a result, something unexpected happened!
Not to mention Xie Xiaoyu’s reputation was ruined, but now it’s gone!
You know, although Xiao Cui has already given birth to a child, she is a girl.
With Cui's family background and the concubine's powerful position, it is absolutely impossible for little Cui to remarry.
If only in the past, when the Xie family's descendants were prosperous, they could still adopt their nephews to continue their legacy.
But now, the main branch of the Xie family is in decline, how can they take care of it
Especially if Xie Xiaoyu died in Weihe and died gloriously for the country, he would still be able to enjoy certain preferential treatment.
But now that he was ruined and his concubine and consort were involved in a lot of discussions and troubles, how could he specifically solve the problem of his heir
To be honest, Cui Wan is impatient to care about the affairs behind this cool son-in-law, but he is a mature minister. Of course, he understands that whether Xie Xiaoyu is good or bad has nothing to do with the overall situation. The most important thing is the imperial concubine.
As long as the imperial concubine does not fall, it will ultimately be beneficial for him to marry a concubine into the Xie family.
Otherwise, I would not have tried so hard to speak to Xie Xiaoyu in Chaoshang.
For this reason, the imperial concubine's attitude towards Cui and his daughter has softened a lot now. She specially expressed her gratitude to Cui Lianye who came to visit her, and then sighed: "I, Mrs. If my cousin doesn’t tell me, it will also affect the current eighteenth sister-in-law.”
Because Cui Lianye's relationship with Xiao Cui was not very deep, he was surprised at the exposure of Xie Xiaoyu's true identity. To say that he was not angry at all.
After all, when she entered the palace, the concubine was just a little older, and she had a different mother, so how close could she be? That is to say, there is no grudge.
At this moment, he quickly reassured the imperial concubine and expressed that he didn't mind: "The empress doesn't know either. This is my little sister's fate. Besides, after my little sister came out of the cabinet, she has always said that the 18th Young Master treated her very well."
"After all, I and Mrs. Xie can't stand up to the Cui family." Yun Fenghuang's face was not very good. She said she was sick now, half of which was pretending, and half of which was because she was really hurt.
The sibling brother with whom she had the best relationship since childhood, the closest blood relative who survived after Xie's death... She was somewhat wary of Xie Wuzheng, but for Xie Xiaoyu, she really never thought that he would cheat her like this.
Although Yun Fenghuang knew in his heart that Xie Xiaoyu's original intention was definitely not to cause trouble to his sister. He might think that he could hide it
After all, even my sister Min Guifei has never had any doubts about the death of Xie Jiang's mother and son, right
In other words, Yun Fenghuang had suspicions, but the suspicions were all outsiders. He never thought that Xie Xiaoyu could do such a thing!
... This made the imperial concubine even feel a little dazed.
She originally felt that she had grown up with Xie Xiaoyu's mother, and she knew this brother very well.
But now she discovered that she didn't actually understand Xie Xiaoyu that well.
Back when the emperor was choosing husbands for Xiaozong's three biological daughters, both Yun Fenghuang and his attendants, including Jiang, privately regretted Xie Xiaoyu's recent marriage.
Because if Xie Xiaoyu had not married Xie Jiang, even if they had been engaged for many years, the mother and daughter would have had many ways to persuade the Jiang family to break off the engagement and let Xie Xiaoyu seize this opportunity...
But it’s just a matter of regret.
The mother and daughter never thought about doing anything to Xie Jiang, let alone angering her.
In Yun Fenghuang's heart, he felt that his youngest brother might also be a little regretful, but the opportunity had been missed. Xie Jiang was also his childhood sweetheart and his wife, so he was secretly depressed, that's all. .
Is there any way to make up for it
As a result, Xie Xiaoyu was not able to marry her, but she still found a way to marry a noble girl...
Yun Fenghuang is not unaware that his brothers basically have ambitions.
In terms of ability, apart from Xie Wuzheng, only Xie Heng and Xie Fu had some abilities... but they were still far from being able to plan in the temple.
But even so, who would have thought that after some people harmed their own wives and cousins, they would not even let go of their eldest son
"I am short of energy now, so I won't talk to you any more." Yun Fenghuang still feels unspeakably sad when he thinks about it.
After regaining her composure, she whispered to Cui Lianye, "Please discuss with your father-in-law and see what requirements the eighteenth sister-in-law and her daughter have? If I can do it, I will never shirk the responsibility."
After a pause, "It's fine if Eighteenth Sister wants to remarry. But after all, the girl is Brother Eighteen's only flesh and blood. Please stay with the Xie family. If Eighteenth Sister is worried, I will report to His Majesty and take her into my lap." Raise me like a few fierce children, I will not treat you badly!"
Cui Lianye kept saying he didn't dare. Seeing her firm attitude, he agreed and left.
She returned to Chengyue Palace and immediately sent someone to deliver the news to Cui Wan.
Cui Wan had expected this, but he had prepared a message early in the morning to convey it: "The master of the family said that a woman who marries outside the house throws water outside the house. Since she has become the Xie family's wife, it doesn't matter who the eighteenth son of the Xie family is. No matter what, I have to keep my integrity after all. In the five generations of my Cui family, no woman has ever remarried. Please, my dear concubine, don’t mention the word of remarriage again in the future."
"As for the future of mother and daughter..."
"The imperial concubine has always been kind to her blood relatives, so I will definitely not wrong them."
"In short, please don't worry about your pregnancy, please put your jade body first."
Cui Lianye raised his eyebrows slightly after listening to these words, and said: "Dad said a lot to Xie Xiaoyu when he was in court, and it was rare for the imperial concubine to let go. If father didn't say anything, the imperial concubine is indeed a little tired now. What if you take it seriously and don’t give me anything?”
"Mother, the master said, no matter what, the eighteenth son of the Xie family is gone, and the only biological blood is the one born by our young lady. For this reason, how can the imperial concubine not care about the young lady and her daughter?" The servant who delivered the message He whispered, "In this case, why bother to rush for the moment? Why don't you give help in the snow and sympathize with the imperial concubine's current mental and physical exhaustion and the uncomfortable feeling in her heart. After the imperial concubine recovers, why not take the initiative to repay the favor? Although the imperial concubine's methods are ruthless, she said in a low voice. , but he has never been a master who can only get in but not get out."
This is true.
Cui Lianye sighed: "My little sister is also wronged."
But I also think that Xiao Cui said, "Fortunately, she has a biological daughter, otherwise, her life would be miserable."
After suffering in the palace for many years, although Cui Lianye was not a widow, she was still a widow. She knew very well the importance of a child, especially her own flesh and blood, in this situation.
She felt lifeless before, but since she adopted the second prince, she feels much calmer.
Although the second prince's performance was mediocre, Cui Lianye didn't care.
It's impossible to fight for that position anyway, so being mediocre is a good thing.
So she personally went to Xuanqing Palace and told Cui Wan's attitude face to face, which also represented the attitude of the Cui family.
Yun Fenghuang knew very well that an old fox like Cui Wan was the best at assessing the situation.
But after all, he had some good feelings, and sighed: "I am exhausted now, so I won't say any more unnecessary words. There is only one thing: I am here to protect you, my eighteenth sister-in-law, mother and daughter!"
Her brother didn't live up to expectations, but after Xiao Cui came in, she was quite satisfied.
Now that her mother-in-law is so good at life, Yun Fenghuang can only pay the debt between brother and sister.
After Cui Lianye left, the Qing people came in to serve. The master and servant looked at each other with sadness.
The evil deed that Xie Xiaoyu concealed was not only a huge blow to Yun Fenghuang, but also extremely malicious to all the servants of Huanhua Palace.
Qingren was particularly sad. In her impression, Xie Xiaoyu was really not such a vicious person.
Even because Yun Fenghuang was more domineering and dignified when he was a child, in comparison, Xie Xiaoyu was kind-hearted.
She still remembered that when Yun Fenghuang was mean to Xie Fenghuan, although Xie Xiaoyu helped her biological sister to deflect, she would occasionally try to persuade Yun Fenghuang if he went too far.
In her opinion, even though Xie Xiaoyu has some thoughts, overall, he has a kind heart.
Why is this the case
The people of the Qing Dynasty still can't believe it, so at this moment, Yun Fenghuang looked at him with a stupefied face, hesitated for a while, and couldn't help but said: "Madam, just now Chen Jing said that he went to check on the 18th Young Master after he came to the imperial capital. Judging from the interactions between outsiders, there are quite a few people who are trying to seduce the Eighteenth Young Master! The Eighteenth Young Master must have been deceived by them!"
Therefore, it was not the eighteenth young master she saw growing up who was wrong, but the outsider!
But Yun Fenghuang, who has always been partial to blood relatives, did not agree, and only said lightly: "No matter how clever an outsider may be, it is impossible for him to grab his hand to kill his cousin and his mother, nor to put a knife on his neck and let him kill his wife and son... It is true that outsiders are not a good thing, but Brother Eighteen, he is not a good thing!"
When the Qing people saw this, they didn't dare to speak.
Yun Fenghuang was silent for a moment, and then suddenly said: "Are you really an outsider?"
Seeing that Qingren was stunned, she sighed softly and said with a complicated expression, "Brother Shiba... I dare not say now that I understand him. However, although he is not very shrewd, he is not a three-year-old child. At the time, When he came, both I and my mother warned him privately. Many people in the imperial capital wanted to get hold of me from him. You said, we all warned him like that, and those people encouraged him to do it. Didn't he hesitate at all to do such a vicious thing? Didn't he ever think about whether he would fall into someone else's trap and cause trouble to me? "
"You said that if outsiders hadn't convinced him, then..."
"Is it possible that he is one of our own?"
"...Empress?" Qing Ren was startled. For a moment, her whole body trembled a little. She said subconsciously, "If so, then... but... but... But he is already the prince-in-law! How can he still be jealous of the 18th Young Master? ?"
She could tell that Yun Fenghuang was doubting Xie Wuzheng!
However, although Xie Wuzheng was separated from Yun Fenghuang by one level and was not as close to Xie Xiaoyu, he was lucky enough to marry Princess Sui'an.
As a consort, his status is fundamentally different from that of Xie Xiaoyu.
In addition, Xie Wuzheng was born in the imperial examination, and his foundation was much stronger than Xie Xiaoyu.
The Qingren thought quickly and said slowly: "Is it possible that your Majesty is overthinking? The Eighteenth Young Master... At least in recent years, he is determined not to threaten the Prince Consort. Even if things in the future are unpredictable, no matter how powerful the Prince Consort is, how can he still be able to do so? Do you want to fight alone? Without the wings of brothers like the Eighteenth Young Master, even if you are in a high position, it will be difficult not to be constrained."
Yun Fenghuang was silent for a moment and said: "If it is just for power and the support of this palace, the consort really has no reason to touch Brother Eighteen."
"But don't forget..."
"Although Brother Eighteen is proud of his official career, he still has no children."
The imperial concubine said slowly, "The Xie family was killed before, and the population suddenly became thin. Even if the tenth brother was lucky enough to find Fu Wang, the other brothers would hardly have any heirs to inherit the bloodline. Now the eighteenth brother has no male heir to carry on the bloodline... You Say, even if I can’t think of it right now, in the future, can I not think about letting him take in more concubines and expand his business?”
After all, the only surviving male heirs in the fourth house are Xie Fuwang and Xie Li.
But Yun Fenghuang has four brothers.
With how much she values bloodlines, she would definitely not consider adopting someone from a distant branch unless absolutely necessary.
Well, when it comes to blood ties, feelings, status, qualifications... Is there any brother more suitable than Xie Wuzheng
Qingren didn't know what to say for a moment. She was actually not very close to Xie Wuzheng. After all, as Jiang's arm, Qingren had helped Jiang to take care of Xie Wuzheng's mother.
Of course their relationship is not getting better.
The main reason why he has repeatedly rejected Yun Fenghuang's speculations now is because he feels sorry for the imperial concubine.
In the past, although the imperial concubine was a little wary of her cousins, she still generally trusted them.
After all, they are related by blood, and both will be prosperous and harmed. This binding of interests is enough to surpass the foundation of many relationships.
Besides, their relationship is pretty good, which can be said to be double insurance.
But now, before the imperial concubine recovered from her illness, she began to suspect Xie Wuzheng... This...
"The empress must not mess up her position." The Qing man calmed down and reminded the concubine, "Perhaps Gu's exposure of the eighteenth son was just to sow trust between the empress and the consort? After all, after Xie's death, the people who are still alive today How many talents are there? Among them, the ones who are closest to the Empress and who are most trusted, relied upon and have high hopes by the Empress are none other than the Eighteenth Young Master and the Consort."
"Now the eighteenth young master died tragically in prison."
"The empress is suspicious of the consort again... So, what should we do?"
"..." Yun Fenghuang didn't say anything for a long time. He slowly exhaled and whispered, "That's right. Then don't do anything. The Eighteenth Brother left just now. At this time, things are not settled, so it is not appropriate to consider him. The matter of the heir. Let’s wait until later!”
She thought to herself that if Xie Wuzheng was serious and serious and tried to frame Xie Xiaoyu in order to achieve the goal of inheriting his children in an honest and fair manner, and that she would only be able to support him with all her strength in the future...
That…
Yun Fenghuang would make this cousin understand that since the Xie family had declined to this point, it wouldn't matter if they didn't want any of them.
"I hope I am overthinking it." The imperial concubine thought with a heavy heart, "I was too confident in the past. Who can see through the complexity of people's hearts at a glance?"
She will never forget this profound lesson in her life.