Chapter 125: Yesterday's Oath (Middle)

  The horse carriage stopped in front of the Xue residence, where Xue Chongyi, Mrs. Xue, and the second wife were already waiting outside.

  Rong Hua got off the carriage first, then helped down Old Mrs. Xue. Xue Chongyi immediately stepped forward and naturally took over from Rong Hua, chatting happily with Old Mrs. Xue.

  The second lady was also smiling on the side, "The mother has just entered the palace, and there are already people at home who can't sit still, wishing they could go to the palace gate to pick her up. The mother entering the palace is not a one or two-time thing, yet there are still people worrying...". She said, taking out a handkerchief to cover her mouth while laughing, "I knew it earlier, the mother should have brought him together, our home would be more peaceful."

  The old lady looked at Xue Chongyi with a kind smile and said, "I think the noisiest one here is you."

  The second wife laughed even more happily, "Look, look, I said what was coming, how it's all for the sake of our sons. We women who are married into this family are just born to suffer."

  Mrs. Xue couldn't get a word in edgewise and fell behind, just as she was about to lift her head to look elsewhere, Rong Hua stopped in his tracks and walked up beside her.

  Mrs. Xue's face stiffened for a moment, and seeing the smile on Rong Hua's face, Mrs. Xue also felt some warmth in her heart.

  "Just now I passed by an old shop and bought a hairpin for Mother," Rong Hua said in a low voice.

  The old lady and Ronghua took a horse-drawn carriage together. Ronghua wouldn't dare to stop the carriage on her own initiative to buy things, it was clear that she had the old lady's consent first.

  "What's the point of buying me those things?"

  Rong Hua smiled and said: "Mother is very beautiful."

  Mrs. Xue smiled slightly, "You child, dressed like this, how can you go shopping?"

  Ronghua said, "The old lady had been to that shop before, and she went with the carriage driver's wife to take a look. It just so happened that there was no one inside, and the shopkeeper brought out the goods and sent them over to the horse-drawn carriage for us to see."

  Mrs. Xue listened in front, her face somewhat gloomy.

  Several people arrived at Mrs. Lao's house and had dinner together. Xue Chongyi ordered someone to make a carp soup to pay respects to Mrs. Lao.

  The old lady ate and smiled: "Although it's not in season, but it tastes fresh."

  Ronghua glanced at the smiling second madam, and it was really not easy for the second house these two days. Only Xue Ming'ai didn't show up to fawn on Old Lady, while Xue Mingbai sent a cook, and Second Uncle Xue Chongyi presented fresh bass. The eyes of the whole family were all fixed on Old Lady, afraid that they wouldn't get what they wanted.

  After dinner, the old lady was tired and wanted to rest, so everyone dispersed.

  Mrs. Xue took Youhua and left first, and the second wife also found an excuse to take a step ahead. Xue Chongyi waited for Old Mrs. to enter the inner room to rest.

  The old lady lay on the soft couch, Xue Chongyi took a cup of tea and placed it on the low table, accompanying the old lady to talk, "Mother, did the Empress Dowager say anything this time she entered the palace?"

  The old lady closed her eyes to rest and didn't open them again until after a good while, letting out a sigh. "The Imperial Noble Consort has been here all along; we haven't had time to say anything else."

  Xue Chongyi suddenly felt a few points of disappointment. In recent years, if it weren't for the old lady's grasp of the wind direction through the palace, his official career wouldn't have been so smooth sailing.

  The Empress Dowager is the birth mother of the Emperor and knows his temperament best. Generally, what the Empress Dowager says is not wrong.

  The old lady said: "None of the civil and military officials can arbitrarily discuss the establishment of a crown prince, this is something that the emperor has rebuked before."

  Xue Chongyi said, "Although it can be said that way, the emperor says it's a rumor. Moreover, this has been said for several years now, and the current situation is different from before... recently, the emperor had Taoist priests concoct golden elixirs... it's easy to guess..."

  The old lady's face sank, "These words are just heard outside, but it's not good to say them from your mouth. You should know the principle that trouble comes from the mouth."

  Xue Chongyi hastily said: "Mother is right." This was not his first time hitting a nail on this topic.

  "Did Empress Dowager say which prince would stay behind to oversee the country while the Emperor went on his trip?"

  The old lady sighed, "The Empress Dowager did say that Prince An's body is not suitable, it's unknown whether he can follow the Emperor or not."

  Xue Chongyi was delighted upon hearing this and said, "My son has also heard about it and is preparing a big gift to be sent to Anqin Wang."

  The old lady glanced at Xue Chongyi and said, "It doesn't matter whether the gift is heavy or light, as long as the thought is there."

  Xue Chongyi smiled and said, "Mother doesn't know that the Anqing Wangfu has been bustling with people these past few days. I've seen that there aren't many ordinary gifts, most of them are heavy gifts. If we don't make a move now, it might be too late in the future..."

  The old lady said: "I don't quite understand these things either, you just handle it yourself"

  Xue Chongyi happily agreed and then backed down.

  Xue Er's wife had been waiting impatiently in the house, and after dismissing the maid, she kept asking, "What did he say? Tell me quickly."

  Xue Chongyi then told the old lady's words exactly as they were.

  Mrs. Xue laughed and said, "I knew Ming Bai's information was correct, otherwise why would he rush you to ask? Now it's all set, the first wife is lukewarm with Prince An due to Su Xi Yao's affair, we'll find a way to rely on this big tree, and in the future, we won't have to worry about having no shade?"

  Xue Chongyi looked at his wife and smiled with an open mouth.

  "Also, there's another piece of good news I want to share with you."

  Xue Chongyi leaned over to listen carefully.

  Madam Xue sat triumphantly in her chair, while Xue Chongyi hurriedly went to pour tea and handed it over to the second wife.

  The second lady smiled with satisfaction and said, "I told you, I invited Bao Shan to Changning Bo's house again. This time, Mrs. Changning Bo did not immediately refuse."

  Xue Chongyi said: "So, can this marriage be settled?" As he spoke, he rubbed his hands together in front of his chest, and his smile extended all the way to the bottom of his eyes. "One happy event after another in our family!"

  The second lady picked up her tea cup, and her long fingernails trembled slightly. "You also want to bring me a good reputation back, but you haven't even shed your yellow beak yet, and you dare to wear such fine clothes and show off on the streets. Don't you know that those clothes are not suitable for everyone?"

  Xue Chongyi hastily smiled and apologized beside him.

  ……

  Ronghua put the new hairpin on Mrs. Xue, and beside her, Gu's mother smiled and said: "The young lady is really good at buying things, and the madam looks beautiful with this hairpin."

  Madam Xue had a faint smile on her face.

  "Have all the people in the house withdraw. Madame Xue turned her face and asked Ronghua, 'Whose silver was used to buy hairpins?'"

  Ronghua bowed down and smiled from the mirror: "Mother rest assured, it was the daughter-in-law who took the silver money."

  Madam Xue nodded, thinking about today's events. "You have a few words of reason," she said, not wanting to say too much about the second wife's behavior today. "However, since ancient times, there has been an order between old and young, and the inheritance of titles has always been passed down to the eldest son of the main house. Even if the second house is cunning, they cannot break the rules. We can't lose our dignity just because of them, nor should we learn from their wicked ways."

  Ronghua nodded and said, "Mother is right, I dare not have so many ideas," then she looked straight into Madame Xue's eyes, "I just want our family to live in harmony and happiness, other things are not that important."

  Madam Xue smiled again, her eyes curved into a line, "You child, you're also kind-hearted."

  What she said is also the truth. She really only wants a happy and harmonious family life, and having been reborn once more makes her even more aware of the preciousness of life. Having already had two lifetimes, why can't she hope for even more happiness? However, this doesn't mean that she's a weak person; since she yearns to obtain it, she must also be brave enough to take on the responsibility, or else she wouldn't have made it to where she is today.

  The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law chatted for a while, and the atmosphere was much more harmonious than usual.

  Before leaving, Mrs. Xue specially asked her how Madame Tao was doing with her illness.

  Rong Hua smiled and said, "It's much better now."

  Mrs. Duan's illness may not attract much attention from others, but I'm afraid if Gu Ying and Shun Tian Fu investigate and find out the truth, it will also affect her.

  There's such a thing as a woman's reputation being tarnished.

  Mrs. Xue asked Mrs. Gu to take out the jewelry box and also picked a hairpin from it for Ronghua.

  Rong Hua gave to Xue's wife the same emerald hairpins made of jade. Rong Hua wore it on her head, with a touch of green in her black hair, looking exceptionally gentle and beautiful.

  Mrs. Xue also praised, "Really beautiful."

  Rong Hua couldn't help but smile and said: "My wife also matched a pair of earrings for Yishuang, I'll send them over in a moment."

  Mrs. Xue said: "It's hard for you to think of her in everything," and sighed, "Yi Shuang is a child who takes things too seriously and has a small heart, she doesn't like to talk."

  Ronghua smiled, "I've visited my sister a few times and think she's clever. Why doesn't Mother ask Miss Xue to teach her how to read?" Last time she mentioned to Miss Xue that Seventh Master was reading books, she also brought up the fact that she had given Seventh Master a set of books, at which point she thought Fifth Miss seemed very interested in books.

  Mrs. Xue's eyes flashed slightly, "Yi Shuang didn't mention it either, and besides, there isn't a suitable lady like that."

  It seems that it's not that Fifth Miss doesn't want to read books, Rong Hua tried saying: "My wife has studied some, otherwise let my wife teach your younger sister and see if she is willing to learn."

  Madam Xue looked at Rong Hua and smiled again, "Since that's the case, you can teach Yishuang first."

  Ronghua came out of Mrs. Xue's house and went straight to Xue Yishuang's boudoir, presenting her with a pair of earrings and bringing up the topic of studying again. Xue Yishuang, who had been hanging her head, suddenly lifted it, and some delight appeared in her eyes.

  Rong Hua was also afraid that she would be timid and awkward when together with her, so he said softly: "If Sixth Miss is willing to listen, you can also call her to accompany you."

  Xue Yishuang's face broke into a smile, "Thank you, sister-in-law."

  This was the first time Xue Yi Shuang had proactively called her "sister-in-law" when Sixth Miss wasn't around, which counted as a big step forward. Rong Hua curved up the corners of his lips and smiled.

  Back in her own room, Rong Hua hastily called Chun Yao over.

  As soon as the words were spoken, Chun Yao stepped forward and said in a low voice, "The people from Shun Tian Fu seem to have found one of Fifth Miss's seals, so they are certain that the corpse is Fifth Miss."

  Seal? The thing she had been unable to put down in her heart finally had an answer.

  The Tao family cannot bring the seal to be buried with her.

  Either someone stole her seal and threw it in the chaotic burial ground, or that seal is fake.

  If neither of these is... Rong Hua only felt that all the blood in her body suddenly surged into her heart, and she also dropped a seal.

  That seal accidentally fell to the ground and was damaged at one corner. Zhao Xuanhuan picked it up but said that the seal was carved exquisitely, and he refused to return it to her. She didn't dare to argue with him anymore, so she quickly left.

  The seal fell into his hands.

  Today I drove for a whole day and finally returned to my hometown in Hebei. Tomorrow at 5 pm, I have to take another train back to Northeast China to look at houses. Both adults and children are exhausted and all of us caught a cold.