Chapter 52: The Human Heart (Part 2)

  Her sister Liao was previously engaged, still her father's master Jiangsu candidate Dao Shu Jiangnan salt inspection Dao Sun family's second son, the engagement had just been decided, and Sun Yan Dao's first wife passed away. According to the rules, Sun's second son is not borrowing filial piety or guarding filial piety for three years. The two children are still young, so the two families discussed it and decided to guard filial piety for three years. After three years, they finally set a auspicious day, but unexpectedly, Liao had not yet entered the door, Sun's family was confiscated due to corruption, and Liao's family retreated from this engagement.

  The second son of the Sun family was also a rascal, who came to the door several times to ask for money, and outside he would casually speak ill of Liao's reputation, ruining her chances of marriage. As time passed, Liao became an old maid at the age of 28.

  She easily married into the Tao family, who would have thought that again because of her, she miscarried.

  Lady An Guo let out a sigh, tossing and turning on the bed, finally enduring until dawn. She got up to wash her face, and Lady Wang had the maidservant by Lady An Guo's side found and brought over to attend to her. She also said: "News from outside says that all the rebels have been captured. The Duke has sent a carriage to take you back to the manor."

  Madam An Guo Gong thanked Madam Zhang again. The two of them walked out while chatting, and soon they saw Madam Cai walking towards them with a young lady, which made Madam An Guo Gong feel surprised that Madam Cai was also there.

  Madam Cai walked over, and Madam Anguo's eyes widened slightly, with a hint of surprise and delight on her face, "I didn't expect to see Mrs. Zhao here too."

  Mrs. Cai smiled warmly and kindly, "I heard that Mrs. Xue arrived last night, I didn't dare disturb her, so I thought of coming over to see you today."

  The wife of Duke An smiled, "I didn't sleep all night either. If I had known, it would have been better to chat with you." As she spoke, she looked at the young lady behind Mrs. Cai, who was wearing a yellow jacket and an autumn-colored long skirt. The young lady's appearance was elegant and beautiful, and she walked over to curtsy to the wife of Duke An, her eyes seeming to hold a layer of mist, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, and her lips pale but with an added touch of tenderness.

  The lady smiled and said, "This is Second Miss Yao Hua."

  The lady of Duke An was suddenly surprised, "I see that they look like fairies, the young ladies of the Tao family are indeed beautiful."

  Mrs. Cai's eyes sparkled, "I'm the same." She said, pulling Yao Hua over, "Especially the second miss of the Tao family, I liked her at first sight."

  The wife of Duke An Guo looked at Yao Hua with a profound meaning and smiled: "At first glance, I can tell that she is a knowledgeable and reasonable child."

  The lady was overjoyed again, everything is developing in an orderly manner, just waiting for the right moment to come naturally.

  The two ladies walked out while talking, and the elder lady gradually couldn't get a word in edgewise.

  Madam Cai furrowed her brow, seemingly sighing at the situation, "How did another former prince come out of nowhere? It's not the first time these remnants of the previous dynasty have gathered to cause trouble. This time it's so urgent, but there were no rumors beforehand. I was originally visiting my relative's wife when I received the news and rushed back to the mansion, only to find that the roads were filled with rebels, forcing me to retreat again."

  Madam Anguo said, "I also need to return to the mansion, just like Madam Zhao, I too encountered the rebels. Thanks to Eldest Madam sending someone to escort me, I was able to escape."

  Mrs. Cai cut in before Mrs. Dai could intervene, "It's said that this time is different from the past, and it has something to do with the arrest of Governor Su Xiyao of Sichuan and Shaanxi? This case is said to be difficult to handle, as Su Xiyao has been stationed in Sichuan and Shaanxi for many years, and there are not a few officials who have received his favors. It's not easy to deal with him alone, but if we investigate further, it will involve more than one or two people. To be honest with Mrs. Xue, my uncle's brother also worked under General Jianwei in the past, although he is no longer involved now, but I don't know what the top says."

  It turned out that it was going to be said on this, Mrs. Dai looked at Cai Furen's appearance, did Su Xiyu's case involve the Hou Mansion or the Cai Family?

  The lady of the An Guo Gong mansion had a difficult expression, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "We've known each other for some time now, you also know me. The affairs of our household have never been helped by anyone, I've always been shouldering everything alone, so I don't ask about outside matters either. Rui'er is a child who doesn't like to talk, everyone in the mansion is afraid of him, and I only heard him mention a few words about this case. It's being handled by Prince Zhuang, he just took on a supporting role, whatever needs to be done will follow orders from above. Prince Zhuang is a gentle prince, everyone knows that, so I think this case shouldn't involve too many people either... Besides, they're all officials of the imperial court, even if someone has served under another person before, it's still serving the imperial court, not some private appointment... No matter who comes to investigate, this point should be clear."

  Mrs. Cai paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "What Mrs. Xue said makes sense, I was worried for some time, but I don't know what will happen this time. The capital is considered peaceful, but I don't know how to deal with the outside world. After all, they are people who bring troops and fight wars, and it's hard to take them down in a short time."

  Madam Anguo said: "Yes, we just hope these things can pass as soon as possible."

  The two of them exchanged a smile.

  After leaving the Weeping Flower Gate, they again showed their hospitality. Madame Wang and Lady Xue helped Mrs. An into her carriage.

  Before long, the carriage of the Marquis of Yi Cheng also arrived. The curtains were lifted and Shu Hua slowly got out of the carriage.

  Mrs. Cai and the elder lady were both shocked, "You child, why didn't you stay at home to be raised, but instead ran out, what a mess."

  ……

  Madam Xue got into the carriage, and her maid, Mrs. Gu, hastily came over with tears in her eyes, "From now on, you must take me with you whenever you go out, I heard that something happened to you outside, and my heart is worried sick." She then hurriedly checked if Madam Xue was injured.

  Madam Xue hastily patted her hand to comfort her, "If it weren't for the need to take care of things in the mansion, I would have naturally brought you along. But this is also good, let you escape a calamity. As for Ruan Xuan, who was injured, you must take good care of her. Usually, she's just considered a quiet and taciturn maid, but it turns out that at critical moments, she can be relied upon."

  Gu's mother nodded, she had long seen that Ruxuan was a lucky one, and indeed, due to misfortune, she gained good fortune. In the future, when Madam takes charge, her face will be lifted, and becoming a madam herself is also within sight.

  "Where is Lord Hou?" asked Lady Xue again.

  "Master Hou was summoned into the palace early this morning," said Mrs. Gu.

  Madam Xue's heart skipped a beat, unsure whether it was good or bad news. As for the current political situation, Rui'er never discussed his thoughts with her in detail. She saw that the old lady's attitude had already leaned towards Prince Zhuang, but Rui'er still seemed oblivious, refusing to take a stance several times when he was with the old lady, which made the old lady extremely dissatisfied.

  The second house has recently become close to the old lady... Although they have now inherited the title of Wang, it is difficult to guarantee that in the future, if Rui'er makes a mistake, this title will also... It's all about timing, and if we don't take a stand now, it will be hard to protect ourselves in the future.

  Madam Gu saw Madame Xue's worry and hastily said, "I heard that the capture of Qi Taizi was a great achievement for Master Hou. Today, before the court session, there is already an imperial edict summoning him to the palace, it must be good news." After a pause, she continued, "It's just that the second house sent someone to inquire about it, they probably don't have any good intentions. They even mentioned Old Madam, saying that she also went to the palace today."

  Xue old lady and the empress dowager had always been on good terms, visiting the palace to pay respects was a regular occurrence. Not to mention that the young men of the clan were all vying for this opportunity, often gathering around the old lady trying to curry favor, let alone outsiders who also wanted to come and form an alliance with their family.

  Previously, Rui'er had settled the marriage with the Dongchang Sun family, but the old lady didn't intervene, yet she was also very displeased. This time when she went to see the old lady and mentioned Rui'er's engagement again, the old lady only said, "I'm old, I can no longer manage these things. As long as it's a good family's daughter, with a good body, upbringing, and knowledge of books and reason, that's enough." She was even more indifferent than before.

  The old lady doted on her grandson's son as if he were the apple of her eye, sticking to him every day and calling out "Good great-grandson".

  Relying on the old lady's favor, the second house's arrogance grew higher and higher. The old lady's private savings had long been taken out and used to open shop after shop in Kyoto. As for the silver money from the public funds, the second house would embezzle it at will, using any excuse she could find. If not for her noble birth, perhaps she wouldn't have been tolerated as a widow. Rui'er was an intelligent child from a young age, but with no one to guide him, if he were to stumble on his official career path, what would become of this household? The eldest son's wife, although the old lady had already lost regard for her, was still very cautious, knowing that this household would need someone to help bear its future burdens.

  If we choose the wrong person, this family will be even more restless.

  Mrs. Xue closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. Recently, strange things had been happening to her too. She had been having terrifying dreams that felt like they were really happening. In her dream, Rui'er was blamed by the emperor and stripped of his title. The second house took advantage of the situation and became even more arrogant. Soon, the old lady took charge and divided the family property. The first house only got a small portion of the land, barely enough to sustain the household. Rui'er was repeatedly appointed and dismissed from office, and the Liao family was also implicated. The relatives just stood by and watched, no one lending a helping hand.

  Rui'er and her daughter-in-law were even more estranged, the daughter-in-law's family couldn't make use of them, and they didn't care about each other in daily life. The daughter-in-law also looked down on this declining maternal family more and more, how could Rui'er tolerate such a temper? She wrote a divorce letter and from then on, the two had nothing to do with each other... It was indeed a case of everyone pushing when the wall falls.

  She woke up from her dream as if she had already experienced all these things, and she always thought it was just a dream, she didn't need to worry, but somehow she couldn't let go in her heart.

  Rui'er's errands were originally not very important, even if there was a mistake, it wouldn't have been blamed on her by the higher-ups. Who knew that soon after, an edict came down ordering Rui'er to assist in handling General Su Xi-yao's case... She had been worried all along, thinking of going back to the Liao family to discuss with her father, and on the way back, she encountered rebels again.