Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 412 - 407: Evil Woman

Chapter 412: Chapter 407: Evil Woman

Mrs. Wang sighed again, saying, "This time, your nanny, your eldest uncle, aunt, and Agui must go to the wedding, and they intend to take Aju and Dahu along to see the world. A couple of days ago, your eldest uncle and aunt came over for a visit, and they insinuated that Aju is of age now and doesn’t have a decent piece of jewelry, and that she would embarrass Aman in the Capital City." Her voice went up, "No decent jewelry? They should go to Silver Tower and buy some, shouldn’t they? Why come over here and talk about it? I know what’s on their minds. Even though I have a few nice pieces of jewelry, those were gifts from my daughter, and I am not willing to pass them on to a niece who I’m not particularly fond of, so I pretended not to catch their drift. After they left, your father asked me if I should give Aju twenty taels of silver to purchase jewelry. I did not agree with him. Although your father was not very pleased, he didn’t say much. Yesterday, I heard from your third aunt, they had also tried to plead poverty with the third household. Mrs. Hu’s idea was that their household should buy a piece of jewelry for Aju. After all, if Aju loses face, it’s also a loss for Aman. Your third aunt was so frustrated that she even had a few words with Mrs. Hu... Despite spending so much, I might still end up being criticized."

Chen Afu had quite a few things on her mind recently, and the matter concerning the eldest household only added to her frustration. She huffed, "People’s minds are fickle, desires are cultivated, and greed is let out. If my father and third uncle keep on giving, not only will they find it increasingly difficult, but the appetite of the eldest household will also grow. Just like my other father, he still protects that wicked old witch right to her core. This is not filial piety, but leniency to crime, it is blind obedience."

Seeing that her daughter was upset, Mrs. Wang regretted her loose tongue again. She said, "Alright, I’ve put my foot in my mouth again. Don’t be angry, my dear. This time your father did take advice and didn’t give any money. Your third uncle didn’t give any either..."

Chen Afu has too many concerns at present and she really didn’t want to dwell anymore on the petty matters of the Chens.

Looking at the warm sunlight streaming in through the west window, Mrs. Wang murmured, "It’s almost the twelfth lunar month and the weather is still so warm."

Chen Afu replied, "This weather is very unusual, mom. You should store more grain in the mansion just in case. Also let my eldest uncle and third uncle store more grain."

Chen Afu has reminded her many times about this matter. Fearing that her mother may not take it seriously, she reiterated it again.

Mrs. Wang always obeyed her daughter. She laughed and said, "Dear, don’t worry, I have already prepared and I have also told them. Your eldest uncle is very receptive to advice this time. He also says that this climate is not good and there might be a disaster."

In the evening, Mrs. Wang personally cooked a table of rural flavors. The taste of nostalgia made Chen Afu and Dabao eat with satisfaction.

After dinner, Chen Afu led a few children back to the mansion.

In the Chen’s Mansion, Mrs. Jiang, along with Chen Yulan, Chen Yuqing, and Chen Yuxia, finished dinner and sent them away.

Chen Yulan, being the last to leave, pulled Mrs. Jiang’s sleeve and said, "Mom, don’t worry too much. If elder sister says that father will be fine, he will be. If father comes home and sees that mother is sick, he will be sad."

Mrs. Jiang nodded and said, "Good child, mom knows."

She and Chen Yulan left the main room together, watching as her son left the courtyard. Her son was growing up, his figure had thinned somewhat, but was looking more and more like the man she married nearly two decades ago.

She crossed through the Moon Gate, arrived at the West Cross Courtyard, and went to check on Chen Yuchao. The baby had just been fed and was placed on a small bed by the wet nurse. He was listening to the wind bell. This wind bell was also a gift from Chen Afu, a few thin copper tubes and iron pieces painted with color. When the wind blew, it would make a "ding-dong ding-dong" sound, which was very pleasant.

Mrs. Jiang picked up the child, played with him for a while, and kissed him. The child seemed to like her very much, a smile curled up at the corner of his mouth, and he called out a few "wah wah" sounds.

After playing with the child for a while, she went back to the main courtyard.

Just as she was coming out of the Moon Gate, one of Aunt Yu’s maids came to report, "Madam, Aunt Yu has been crying for half the day, she misses her child very much and wants to see her son."

The maid’s voice became lower and lower.

Mrs. Jiang replied, "The child is small, and cannot be exposed to the wind. You go back and persuade her that one should not cry so much during confinement, it may affect her eyesight. If she wants to see her son, it’s easy. After her confinement is over, she can come to the main court to see him."

It was decided that the child should be raised in the main court after discussing it with Chen Shiying before he left for the Capital City. Having already raised Chen Yuhui in a spoiled manner, Chen Shiying feared that the other children would end up the same way.

Deep down, Mrs. Jiang was not willing to raise the children of the concubine around her, but once her husband had spoken, she agreed. Especially since baby Yuchao looked like a carbon copy of her husband and son, she loved him like her own child.

She returned to her side room and was sitting on the bed lost in her thoughts when a servant came to report that the second young lady was crying in the old lady’s room and the old lady wanted to see Mrs. Jiang.

Mrs. Jiang snorted silently. Yuhui didn’t come to the main court for dinner in the evening on the pretext that she was not feeling well. It must be Yuhui who had heard rumors about Chen Shiying getting into trouble somewhere and blabbed to the old lady.

Mrs. Jiang went to An Hall and saw that Chen Yuhui’s eyes were red and swollen from crying.

The old lady was also tearful, and asked Mrs. Jiang, "Why didn’t you tell me when my son was in trouble?"

Mrs. Jiang responded coldly, "If I told you, would you be able to go to the Capital City and confess that all those iniquities were committed by you and not by your son?"

The old lady was so angry that she wanted to curse, but thinking about her son not being home and not knowing what would happen in the future, she decided not to offend Mrs. Jiang. She rarely swallowed her pride and said through gritted teeth, "It’s all because of that shallow woman, Mrs. Ding. I clearly told her to sell Wang Juanniang to the mountains, but for a few taels of silver, she sold Wang to that cripple. If Wang Juanniang was sold into the mountains, the happenings from years ago wouldn’t have been resurfaced to be the talk of the town."

Mrs. Jiang looked at this selfish, ugly, and vicious old lady and wondered how her husband, a man with such good character and charm, could have been born from her.

Mrs. Jiang shook her head and said, "Old lady, you commit evil deeds without a hint of remorse. You can say these things with a straight face and even blame it on the victim who didn’t die at once. Heavens, how could there be such a wicked woman as you in this world? Wang Juanniang served you and your husband for so many years, even observing mourning after your husband’s passing, and raised your son so well. Don’t you have any affection for her? Don’t you have any compassion?"

The old lady was angered by Mrs. Jiang’s words and cursed, "Fie, you stinking woman, your words sound so righteous. You benefited from everything, you don’t know how to be grateful to me, and you still say these rebellious things. If I hadn’t driven Wang Juanniang away, could my son have married a young lady from an official family? Could he have taken advantage of the Tangs’ wealth to make good connections and lobby for a good position? Could a scholar from a humble background become a fourth-rank official in his early thirties? And what about you, if I hadn’t driven Wang Juanniang away, could you have married my son? With your plain appearance, you would have been lucky to marry an old man as his second wife. To marry a handsome young man like my son, you are ungrateful to me and have the audacity to say I shouldn’t have driven Wang Juanniang away. You’re really an ungrateful wretch!"