Chapter 83: The Unexpected Turn of Events (Part 2)
Before long, Chen's mother arrived with Yao Hua and Rong Hua.
Mrs. Xue repeated what she had just said.
Ronghua took a look at the second wife. Why would Xue's second wife suddenly ask them to write lantern riddles? If she had this idea earlier, there were many ladies and young misses in the Xue household yesterday, why didn't they do it then, why come again today?
Mrs. Xue told the maid to lay out red paper on the desk outside.
Yao Hua and Rong Hua walked up to the desk, followed by Mrs. Xue.
The maids ground the ink, and Yaohua and Ronghua each picked up their brushes. Yaohua was the first to start writing, and Madame Xue immediately bowed her head to examine it carefully.
It was the first time I saw someone staring at others writing, especially after Yao Hua wrote a few words, Mrs. Xue's face lost its enthusiastic expression, but when her gaze turned to her, that strange expression reappeared. Yao Hua's poem wasn't even finished yet, and Mrs. Xue had already lost interest, it was clear that what she wanted to see wasn't the poetry itself, but their handwriting. Rong Hua picked up her pen and wrote a line of words, and when she looked up again, Mrs. Xue's gaze was no longer there.
It seems that Mrs. Xue did not achieve her goal with either Yaohua or herself.
The poem riddle was finished, and the maid presented it to Madame Xue. Madame Xue looked at it carefully again, "The handwriting of the two young ladies is different, but both are exceptionally good."
Upon hearing the praise, Yao Hua and Rong Hua both curtsied, and the elder lady smiled, saying: "They had never written any poem riddles before, yet they made the madam laugh."
Mrs. Xue said: "Such a good riddle poem, I guarantee that it will be difficult for people to guess correctly, and I need to add some more tricks on top of it."
Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Xue laughed again. Mrs. Wang invited Mrs. Xue to stay for dinner, but Mrs. Xue declined, saying she had something else to do. The two of them chatted for a while longer before parting ways.
See off Xue's second wife, the big wife called Chen Mama, "Let someone go and ask what's going on? Don't use others, just let Cui's family go." After finishing, she asked again Yao Hua and Rong Hua, "Yesterday at Hou Fu, did you write anything?"
Yao Hua and Rong Hua both shook their heads, "Never had."
The lady nodded slightly and let Yao Hua and Rong Hua go back.
The lady returned to the warm pavilion, and Chen Mama arranged everything properly before coming back to attend to her. The lady said, "Now that the young ladies are growing up, they will have to worry about their marriages, and there are many things that I only trust you with, it's too much hard work for you."
Madam Chen's face showed some emotion, "Where are these words from, madam? Over the years as master and servant, you haven't taken care of me less. Just take my family members who don't have a good future, which one wasn't found by you?"
The old lady said: "I heard your second grandson is clever and quick-witted."
Old Mrs. Chen's face showed a faint glimmer of delight, but it immediately vanished into thin air, "What's the use of that? People from our kind of family background... aren't qualified to be scholars."
Mrs. Tai interrupted Chen Ma, "That's not necessarily true, your son hasn't become a citizen yet. Whatever book your grandson likes, you can buy it for him, don't delay the child's education, I'll help you think of a way later."
Madam Chen suddenly knelt down with a look of surprise and kowtowed solemnly to the lady.
"Hey, what are you doing? We don't need this between us."
Madam Chen's eyes turned red, "If it weren't for the mistress, our whole family might not have made it, how dare we think of these things, this slave is truly unable to repay."
The big wife helped Chen's mother up, "At the critical moment, you can make me more comfortable than anyone else. Just for this point, I will naturally lend a hand to help. Don't do this again in the future, it will ruin our many years of relationship."
Mrs. Chen nodded.
The lady lay on the soft couch and let out a long sigh, "I'm also very conflicted in my heart now. The several young ladies in the mansion, Yao Hua doesn't need to be said, her marriage is already half settled, Yan Hua old madam has also intervened, I don't dare say anything else. Only Rong Hua, I originally wanted to marry her off to the Zhao family, who knew so many things would happen in between."
Madam Chen said on the side: "Miss Ba is very good, with a good temperament and doing things properly."
The old lady closed her eyes, "I've always known she's much better than Yanhua. But now, there's this tricky matter at hand, and there's no one else in the house who can handle it. Yanhua's side has already sent someone to propose... If Master can resolve this matter properly, that would be best; but if he can't, and we really have to let him marry our young lady, then so be it."
"That man's impudent appearance you saw last night, he has again tightly grasped our Tao family. The old master said that this person, can't be killed, can't be provoked, and can't be intimidated. If we don't temporarily stabilize him, it's likely to ruin everything. If it were before, it would have been fine, even if he went to report it, not everyone would believe him. But now the situation is tense, and every faction wants to find an excuse to eliminate dissenters. Now he has pressed us tightly."
"Isn't it just going to have to be agreed to?" said Chen's mother.
The old lady sighed, "I don't want to agree either, agreeing will also be troublesome in the future. We can only take a look and make the worst plan. If Yanhua marries into that family, I won't feel at ease, who knows what might happen one day, that person might lose face and do something else, Ronghua is different, she's timid and gentle, we usually remind her often, even if she suffers injustice, she'll endure it, waiting for this matter to be resolved, then we can bring her back. We will always support her."
Even if it's another day to pick up, I'm afraid only half of my life is left. Chen Mama seized the opportunity to ask, "Madam, why not reconsider? After all, there are still eligible young ladies in the family."
The lady opened her eyes and looked at Chen's mother, "How can that be, although we are relatives, who doesn't envy us, what if we hear something from that person again, how can we bear it. Besides, that person may not agree."
"What about Miss's side?" Chen's mother asked cautiously.
The lady's face showed a look of difficulty, "I'm most worried about this matter. It's a waste of a good candidate, what a pity. But Shu Hua won't let Rong Hua enter the house, I don't dare mention it again, afraid of angering her."
It's always like this for a daughter-in-law, the lifelong destination is feared to be angry with her own birth mother, and even mentioning it once is no longer mentioned. She can only try her best, saying anything more is useless. Chen Mama changed the subject: "The house in Sanmiao Hutong has been cleaned up."
The madam nodded, "After this month, I'll let the third house move over."
Mrs. Chen came out of the warm pavilion and happened to see the old master entering the door. Mrs. Chen hurried forward to pay her respects, and the old master responded absent-mindedly before walking past her side.
Old Mrs. Chen stood there for a while longer, only to hear the old master say from inside, "No matter what you say, it's no use; tomorrow we'll have someone come and propose the marriage."
Will he be able to marry Rong Hua?...
An unfortunate person is not necessarily useless.
Update completed, throw flowers.