Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 156 - 155: Mother Embarrassed You

Chapter 156: Chapter 155: Mother Embarrassed You

Zhui Feng and Wang Cai howled at Junior Officer Zhao after their master’s command, waking him up.

Seeing the face that resembled Chen Shiying by eighty percent, he could guess what was going on. He thought, if this is the case, he must see Wang Juanniang. If she listens to the advice, each party returns to its own path, his elderly clanswoman will give their family a chance to live.

If she doesn’t listen to advice... Wang Juanniang’s daughter’s status does present some complications. He’ll have to go back and explain to his elder clanswoman and abide by her decision.

How clever his elder clanswoman is! How could Chen Shiying and Wang Juanniang have managed to carry on an affair—leading to a daughter—under her watch? Wang Juanniang seemed innocent and unassuming, but deeper down, she was promiscuous.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead. No wonder Chen Shiying was furious back then, to the point where he never wanted to see him or the Hus involved in that incident again.

If Chen Shiying knew about this daughter, wouldn’t he hate him even more? He couldn’t do anything to his mother, so wouldn’t all his anger end up directed at himself...

Seeing the similarity in appearance, Junior Officer Zhao was unsettled and dared not act tough. He bowed and said, "You are Wang Juanniang’s daughter, right? I am from The Zhaos’ Village. Even when she was young, she used to call me Uncle. Let me go home. Mr. Zhao should pay a visit to your mother," his voice lowered, "It’s serious. It’ll make things better for your family in the future."

Chen Afu, in a cold voice, said, "I am the decision maker in my family. If there is something important, tell me."

As they were talking, the door opened, and Mrs. Wang walked out and said, "What’s going on? Zhui Feng and Wang Cai are making a lot of noise." Seeing Chen Afu’s back, she said, "Afu, why haven’t you gone to Tang Garden yet?"

Junior Officer Zhao stepped forward with a grin and said, "Oh, Juanniang, do you still remember me?" As an afterthought, he chuckled, "Look at me, I’m getting old and muddled. Now that you’re married with children, it’s not right to call you by your nickname, is it?"

He emphasized the phrase "with children" particularly heavily.

It’s been over a decade since Mrs. Wang last saw him. No matter what, she will never forget how this man and that woman pressured her.

With a pale face, she demanded sharply, "What are you doing here? Leave, I don’t want to see you, and I don’t want you to pester my daughter."

Junior Officer Zhao was afraid of Chen Afu’s resemblance to Chen Shiying, but not of the weak Mrs. Wang. But considering his mission for the day, he replied amicably, "Mrs. Wang, I’m here because a certain noble has entrusted me with a mission. If you don’t want me in your house, let’s talk in the carriage, how about that? Just a few words, and then I’ll leave."

Mrs. Wang saw some people fixing the houses in Fu Garden and that Chen Ming was still there, she didn’t want to make a fuss and get noticed. So she said to Chen Afu, "Afu, return home first. I’ll be back after a brief conversation."

Chen Afu shook her head, "I’m not going home. I will be here, waiting for my mother."

Not wanting to step into the carriage, Mrs. Wang quickly walked to the other side of a large tree. She felt that if she whispered here, Chen Afu couldn’t hear her. She said, "Say what you have to say. Leave as soon as you are done."

Junior Officer Zhao followed and said softly, "Mrs. Wang, Mrs. Chen is kind. Upon hearing that your daughter needs to work as a needlework master to make a living, her heart aches. She sent me to give you a message out of her good will. Your daughter is not young anymore. Why do you make her work so publicly, risking her reputation? What good family would want her if her reputation is tarnished? Quit the needlework job quickly and focus on marrying her off and having children." As he spoke, he took out three silver ingots of ten taels each from his coat and another two from his bosom. The last two were initially reserved for his private stash, but, having rumbled Chen Afu’s background, he was more eager to get Chen Afu out of Tang Garden and thus gritted his teeth, offering all. He continued, "Mrs. Chen is kind-hearted. She can’t bear to see your family suffer. She gives you fifty taels of silver, with which you can buy ten acres of top-quality land. Then your family will have no need to worry about food and clothing anymore."

Mrs. Wang didn’t accept the money and said coldly, "My daughter hasn’t disgraced herself. She’s teaching a four-year-old girl. It will not ruin her reputation. I don’t need her money either. My daughter has already enabled our family to lead a good life, free from worries about livelihood."

Junior Officer Zhao’s face darkened as he threatened, "Mrs. Wang, Chen Shiying, ah, forgive me, I mean Mr. Chen... Now, Mr. Chen is the governor of Dingzhou. Even the chief lord of our Sanqing County is under his authority. Mrs. Chen’s opinion represents Mr. Chen’s opinion. If you resist Mrs. Chen’s words, it means resisting the governor. Aren’t you afraid of going to jail? Mrs. Chen practices carrot and stick approach. If she becomes furious, you’ll have to pay..."

Chen Afu had quietly moved to the other side of the tree by then. In a cold voice, she said, "Mr. Zhao, stop frightening my mother. This is the first time I heard that when Mr. Chen became governor, his mother also became governor. If we disobey his mother, we will go to jail."

Junior Officer Zhao choked a bit, snarled fiercely, "You damned..." Seeing her features again, he got scared again and didn’t dare to continue his slandering. After a moment’s pause, he said, "I didn’t say that."

Chen Afu didn’t want to waste words on him. She said, "You go back and tell Mrs. Chen, she is the mother of the governor, we are scared. But my master is a lieutenant general, and our house owner is an old marquis in the Capital City, we are even more scared. If Mrs. Chen has the ability to convince the lieutenant general or the old marquis to dismiss me, I won’t be able to teach even if I wanted to." She glanced scornfully at the silver in his hand and said, "As for the silver, it’s not even enough to catch our eyes." After saying that, she went to stand by Mrs. Wang and said, "Mother, let’s go home."

They had taken a few steps, when they heard Junior Officer Zhao’s voice from behind, "Mrs. Wang, you better be smart. Some things shouldn’t be said carelessly. As for your daughter, her matters should certainly not be taken out and discussed randomly."

Zhui Feng and Wang Cai detected the old man was threatening their master and barked fiercely at him, scaring Junior Officer Zhao into hurrying towards the carriage.

Mrs. Wang quickly walked back to the courtyard with Chen Afu. After Zhui Feng and Wang Cai had entered and the door was closed, she listened to the carriage rolling away. Only then was she at ease.

She disregarded Mrs. Gao coming out to ask her with a sewing kit in her hands and pulled Chen Afu directly into the West Wing.

Mrs. Wang’s hands were tightly clasped on her chest, her veins protruding and her hands shaking violently. She felt guilty and her face turned red with embarrassment, her eyes filled with tears, and she didn’t dare to look at her daughter directly. She guessed that her daughter must know something, but because they had never openly discussed it, she deluded herself into believing her daughter knew nothing. But now, some things must be said. Telling her herself would be better than others telling her.

She began haltingly with her head bowed, "Afu, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’ve made you lose face... When I was young, I was a child bride... Your appearance, your appearance..." Unable to say the rest, she held her mouth with her hand and began to sob softly.