Lihoumen

Chapter 6 She Should Have Been Our Wife
Seeing her son speak, the old lady frowned, but finally reached out to take the teacup.

When the two of them stood up, Qingqing looked up at Shen Han with gratitude, then sat down with him.

"A few days ago, Aunt Yu got a heat stroke. Yesterday, she told me that she is fine now. In the next two days, she will continue to teach you the rules and etiquette. You should learn them well."

The old lady said this to Qingqing, but while she was saying this she was slowly stirring the tea with the tea lid and didn't even look at Qingqing.

Qingqing replied yes.

After explaining this, the old lady stopped talking to her and just started chattering to Shen Han beside her.

"You have made great contributions in pacifying the Three Feudatories. I heard that the higher-ups are going to promote you again. Is there any news yet?"

Shen Han replied: "The situation in the court is unstable now, and my son does not want to be greedy for merit. If you want to reward me with some money and property, that's fine, but as for promotion, I don't want it."

"You are a military general, different from your elder brother and other civil servants. These things happening in the court will not affect you." said the old lady.

The old lady has three biological sons, the eldest son Shen Feng, the second son Shen Yu, the third son Shen Han, and a concubine's son, the fourth son Shen Ning.

Shen Feng won the first place in the imperial examination at the age of twenty, and married Li, the daughter of a prince. Now he is thirty-two years old and has entered the cabinet. Shen Yu was a Jinshi, but he is not good at official career and now only holds an easy job in the Ministry of Personnel.

The ancestors of the Shen family established the family through military means, but the eldest son and the second son both chose the path of literature. Only the third son, Shen Han, inherited the family tradition. Therefore, when the old marquis was alive, he liked Shen Han the most, and the old lady favored the youngest son even more.

Speaking of career matters, the old lady couldn't help but feel sorry for Shen Han and said, "The children of our Xuanping Marquis' Mansion have always held important positions in the court. They are well-established. Your elder brother and second brother both have their wives' families to help them, so their careers are even more powerful. Only you, alas."

Among the brothers, only Shen Han married a commoner girl and could not rely on his wife's family at all.

After hearing what the old lady said, Qingqing frowned slightly and subconsciously looked up at Shen Han beside her.

Shen Han was sitting upright drinking tea. After hearing what the old lady said, he raised his eyes and replied, "If a man wants to achieve success, he must rely on his own real ability. The situation in the court is complicated at this time. It is important to achieve success, but we must also see the situation clearly. If we act too hastily, we will end up losing more than we gain."

Although the youngest son was a military commander, he was the wisest of the brothers.

The old lady knew that her son was a man of great ambition. After hearing what her son said, she showed a hint of pride at the corner of her mouth. She finally stopped talking about the previous topic and just smiled and said, "You really have the same personality as your father."

The mother and son were talking here when the first wife, Mrs. Li, the second wife, Mrs. Liu, and the fourth wife, Mrs. Wang, were led into the main hall by a maid.

Li knew that if Shen Han brought his new wife over to serve tea, he would be deliberately harassed by his mother-in-law. In order to avoid the embarrassing situation, she came at a precise time with her two children and two sisters-in-law.

After everyone sat down, Li glanced at her mother-in-law's face and said with a smile, "Mother has been feeling unwell for a while, but now that my third brother has returned, she has recovered. It's obvious that mother's illness is all due to missing my third brother."

As soon as Li's half-joking words came out, the atmosphere in the room became much more lively. The old lady smiled and replied, "Qingning is saying that I am biased as a mother."

Li was a princess, and her title was Qingning.

The fourth lady, Xiao Wang, was the illegitimate niece of the old lady. Seeing this, she immediately followed suit and said, "You need the eldest sister-in-law to say this. Everyone in the capital knows that the famous old lady of the Xuanping Marquis Mansion likes the third brother the most."

The old lady laughed when she heard her niece's words and said angrily, "You are becoming more and more unruly. You even make fun of your own aunt."

Little Wang walked forward with a smile, sat on a small stool beside her and gently massaged the old lady's legs, saying with a smile: "Aunt is well now, we are happy, all to make you happy." "I know your filial piety." The old lady said, smiling to the grandchildren below: "Come to grandma quickly, grandma has been ill for so many days, and I haven't seen you properly for a while."

Li's eldest son, Liu's second sister, and Wang's second son all came forward, and the children surrounded the old lady and started chattering and laughing.

The old lady looked at her grandchildren with a smile on her face. She praised this one and then that one. She was surprised for a long time, then raised her eyes to look at Shen Han and asked, "I heard that Hao'er is sick, is that right?"

As soon as the old lady said this, everyone in the room, except for a few ignorant children, shut their mouths at the same time and focused their eyes on Shen Han.

Shen Han put down the teacup and replied, "It's just that he got a little bit of heatstroke on the way. Ruoqing just took him to see a doctor, and he said it's not serious. He just needs to take some medicine and rest for a few days and he'll be fine."

"Poor child."

The old lady muttered something, then hugged Erlang, who was as strong as a calf, and sighed, "Hao'er and Erlang were born in the same year. Look how well-fed Erlang is. Poor Hao'er, he has been wandering around with Ruoqing and has never had a peaceful life."

As she spoke, the corners of the old lady's eyes began to turn red.

Her emotion was not pretended, but a real feeling of heartache.

He felt sorry for Lin Ruoqing's child just as he felt sorry for his own grandchild.

Qingqing looked at Shen Han standing beside her, feeling as if her heart was blocked by a ball of cotton.

Li, who was always perceptive, naturally saw through the trick. She looked at her mother-in-law who suddenly looked sad, then turned to look at Shen Han and Qingqing, then sighed calmly.

Liu had been good friends with Lin Ruoqing since she was a boudoir girl. When she heard the old lady mention this, she, who had been silent all this time, also started to cry. She said with a hint of sadness, "Fortunately, she is now in our family and has the protection of the Marquis' Mansion. I believe that Ruoqing's husband's family, who is not clear about the situation, will not make things difficult for her anymore."

After hearing this, the always outspoken Xiao Wang stopped massaging the old lady's legs and asked in surprise, "Does the Lin cousin have to live in our house forever?"

Upon hearing this, the old lady rolled her eyes at her niece and said unhappily, "Is it not possible?"

Seeing her mother-in-law was angry, Xiao Wang hesitated and said, "If my aunt insists on doing this, it's not a big deal. But if she lives here with her child without any status, it might not be appropriate if it gets out."

"What's wrong with that?" The old lady pushed away her niece's hand that was resting on her knee and said angrily, "Ruoqing was supposed to be our daughter-in-law. Now that her husband is dead, she has come back to our family after many twists and turns. This is also fate destined by God."

When Xiao Wang saw her mother-in-law getting angry, she was so scared that she dared not say anything.

Liu was sincerely pleased that her mother-in-law could support Lin Ruoqing, and her originally sad face immediately showed a smile.

Li sighed slightly and glanced at Shen Han and Qingqing subconsciously.

When Lin Ruoqing was mentioned, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became awkward and subtle.

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(End of this chapter)