Chapter 59 Regaining Attention
"Do you think I did something wrong at that time?" Wang said this without any reason while lying there with her eyes closed, but Mother Guo understood it.
"Ma'am, it's not your fault...it's just that no one expected..."
Wang raised her hand to stop Mother Guo from continuing, "After Sister Wan passed away, I felt like I was going to follow her. It was Sister Min who came and held my hand and told me to live well, to give birth to another daughter, and to give her all my guilt and love for Sister Wan, so that Sister Wan would have an easier time in heaven.
"I listened to her and endured my annoyance towards the prince. Finally, God had mercy on me and I became pregnant with Sister Qi. Sister Min was very happy to hear the news. She came to see me and stroked my belly. She said that if the baby was a girl, she would be her daughter-in-law, and if it was a boy, she would adopt him as her adopted son. She also said this in front of the prince and the marquis. It was only after the prince nodded that the marquis and the prince's attitude towards me changed so much. What a pity! What a pity! Sister Min was such a good person, but she died without even seeing her daughter-in-law."
"You just gave birth to the fourth daughter, and the Prince's Mansion sent a token of love. How could you refuse? Even if you refused, the Marquis and his wife would not let you do as you wish."
"Yes, I was actually very hesitant at the time. If Mr. Zhou Er had grown up under Sister Min's guidance, why would I not agree? But Sister Min left in such a hurry, and the rumors were so widespread that year, how could I feel at ease?"
Mother Guo thought about Mrs. Hu's mask-like face, and about the performance of the second master of the Zhou family that she had heard about today, and she felt even more depressed.
"Madam, don't think about it anymore. You just told the Third Master that the Second Master of the Zhou family is still young. Maybe things will be fine after they get married?"
"You can tell a person's future from the time he was three years old. He has already been led astray by Mrs. Hu, and Sister Qi has such a temper. How can the two of them get along? Tell me, if I go to ask the Marquis and his wife now, will they..."
"No, Madam, at this point, they won't agree to cancel the engagement. You analyzed the situation in the Marquis' Mansion with me last time. Especially after what happened to our Wang family, it is even more impossible for the Huainan Marquis' Mansion to give up the marriage with the Shenjun Prince's Mansion. Besides, you also said that if you proposed to cancel the engagement for the Fourth Miss, they would stop you with just one word."
Wang nodded. Yes, they would say that it was you who arranged the marriage. Yes, this marriage was arranged between her and Sister Min, but at that time, she had no idea that Sister Min would die so soon. She had no idea that the prince would remarry so soon and raise such a good child astray.
Over the years, everything that Zhou Erye had done had been passed down to her one by one. It's not that she hadn't mentioned it. She knew that Mrs. Hu would definitely not teach the former princess's son well, but she didn't expect that Zhou Erye would be raised like that by her.
But it was useless. Every time she opened her mouth, the Marquis would scold her for disregarding the family, Song would advise her to look at the long-term, and Meng Yuan would point at her nose and tell her not to have such an idea again.
Therefore, Meng Qi's marriage must go on.
Mother Guo looked at Wang's sallow face and told her what happened today when Su Qing went to coax the child.
Sure enough, Wang's face looked much better. "I didn't expect that she actually had such a skill. Those young masters and young ladies all listened to her? Didn't they make a fuss?"
"Yes, she told a story and sang a song. What's rare is that the story and the song are the same. It is said that at the end of the song, the young masters and young ladies raised their hands and clapped their hands with her. They were so happy playing together."
"It seems that it was right to promote her to be a third-class maid."
"Yes, I think so too. I heard from Liu Yongjia that she is not competitive in Qin Garden, she is diligent, and most importantly, she knows her duty and never takes the initiative to get close to the Fourth Young Lady."
Wang nodded. "The most important thing for a servant is to know the limits. It seems that she is someone who can be trained. I remember that she is Qingrui's sister, right?"
"Yes, she is Aunt Qingrui's goddaughter. You know, Aunt Qingrui is the same as her own mother in her eyes."
"Okay, you go to Qin Garden later and reward her in front of those who serve Sister Qi. Reward her... You decide. And Qingrui, when will she leave?"
"At least she has to prepare for the wedding half a year in advance. She even came to me the other day to ask for help, saying that she wanted her aunt to go to the tea shop in advance. The owner of your shop in the south of the city is her cousin, Gu Hai. Last time, her wife, Zhong, came to pay her respects to you, and you let Qingrui meet her politely and praised her for being smart."
"Oh, yes, I remember now. She is a very neat and tidy person. In that case, let's go. Does her aunt have any work in the West House that she can't get away from?"
"No, she takes care of the vegetable garden and the fish pond, and she has no work to do in the winter."
"Okay, in that case, tell Qingrui to just ask her aunt to come, and anyone else in the family to come as well, and let them stay in the teahouse. You can wait until Qingrui gets married and spring comes before going back. Ask Dongmei to go and see if there's anything she needs to buy, and remember to give her the dowry I gave Qingrui."
Madam Guo stood up and bowed to Wang, "I, the old servant, would like to thank you on behalf of Qingrui. There is no one in the world as kind as you."
"If I do more good deeds, my sister Wan will suffer less over there. If I do more good deeds for her, she will be able to marry into a good family." Wang said sadly.
Seeing that Wang was thinking about the deceased Second Miss again, Mother Guo said quickly, "I think the Second Miss has been reincarnated a long time ago, and she may be in some wealthy family being pampered and loved by everyone."
"Yes, you are right. My sister Wan is so smart and will definitely marry into a good family."
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"Why is he like this? He really doesn't take our Huainan Marquis Mansion seriously. Since he's here, can't we ask him to behave well? Can't he just pretend?" Meng Qi walked into the east room angrily, and Mother Liu hurriedly followed behind.
"It's a piece of clothing I just put on today. Anyone would feel bad about it."
"Do you believe what you said? We are not a small family. A prince's mansion would care about that dress. It's because he looks down on our family. If he looks down on our family, he looks down on me, as if no one can look down on him. I will go to my mother and ask her to cancel this marriage. I don't want to marry him. He makes me so angry."
Madam Liu stepped forward and untied Meng Qi's belt while coaxing her, "Fourth Miss is talking nonsense again. The six ceremonies should be celebrated by this time next year. There is no way you can cancel it. Besides, your marriage was arranged by the former princess of the Prince's Mansion. Even if we want to cancel it, the Prince's Mansion cannot cancel it."
"But I don't want to marry him. Every time he sees me, he doesn't even look at me. Last time when I went to Pingxi Marquis's Mansion, he even talked to Meng Juan without telling me, which made me feel so embarrassed in front of Meng Juan."
"Oh, my dear lady, you are an engaged couple. It is a great opportunity for you to see each other like this. There is no need to talk too much. If I were to ask you, this is how Mr. Zhou respects you, isn't it?"
Meng Qi twisted her body and let Mama Liu take off her coat, then sat on the kang. "Anyway, I just don't like him. I get annoyed when I hear his name."
After Jiaohong put Meng Qi's clothes away, she stepped forward with a smile and said, "I heard something today, which really brought honor to our Qin Garden."
"What's the matter?" Meng Qi's attention was successfully diverted by Jiaohong.
Jiaohong told the story of Su Qing telling stories to the children at Canglang Courtyard today, and added at the end, "After the young masters and young ladies were taken back by their respective families, they learned that it was the maids in the Fourth Miss's courtyard who told them stories. They were extremely envious and praised the Fourth Miss for her teaching skills. They said that they would bring the young masters to listen to Su Qing's stories when they had the chance in the future."
"Really? They envy me?"
"Not only do I envy you, I also admire you."
Meng Qi stood up happily, "Tell the girl next to Meng Juan later, and make sure she knows about this. If it weren't for her big mouth, so many people wouldn't have known about the last incident. It caused me to have people asking about it whenever I went out. It was so boring."
Seeing that Meng Qi no longer mentioned the matter of the second master of the Zhou family, Mother Liu breathed a sigh of relief and left the house.
As soon as I went down the stairs, I saw Hua Rui coming into the courtyard. After asking, I found out that the prince's wife wanted to reward Su Qing.
Wanxiang looked at Chuan'er fiddling with the two twisted silver bracelets that Wang had just awarded her with an envious look on her face. Thinking about how she had become so popular in Canglang Courtyard today, her thoughts, which had been quiet for a while, began to become restless again.