Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 415 - 410 Arrangements

Chapter 415: Chapter 410 Arrangements

Chen Afu had just walked out of the main court when she bumped into Chen Yuhui and her two younger sisters.

Chen Yuqing and Chen Yuxia both had red eyes. They approached Afu, each clutching an arm, and asked, "Eldest sister, will our father be alright?"

Chen Afu vaguely replied, "Father is a good official, he should be fine." She then advised, "Mother is not feeling well, you need to be more considerate towards her."

The two sisters nodded in agreement.

Chen Yuhui then stepped forward and asked, "Eldest sister, will father get promoted? I heard rumors that he would be promoted to Minister, but it seems impossible now, right? At the very least, will he be able to maintain his current position?"

Chen Afu was annoyed. She frowned and said coldly, "Who told you father would be promoted to the Ministry? That’s just a rumor. Don’t spread false information that may harm father." She added, "Regardless of his official position, he is still our father, whom we should respect."

Chen Yuhui complained, "Easy for you to say! You’re already married into a good family. Have you thought about us, your sisters? If father loses his official status, we..."

"Yuhui," Mrs. Jiang walked out and said in a cold voice, "Is this the kind of language a young lady should use? Go copy the ’Lessons for Women’ fifty more times."

Chen Yuhui stomped her foot in frustration. Seeing Mrs. Jiang’s indifferent gaze, she wiped her tears and went back to her own courtyard.

This unruly girl, like that wicked old woman, is so malicious and selfish. Their own father is having a hard time, but instead of thinking about how to ease his pain, they’re worried about how his potential demotion might affect their future marriages.

Chen Afu rushed home. Before she even stepped through the door, she could already hear mingming and Yu Yu’s cries.

Chu Hanyan was standing at the door wiping her tears. Seeing that Chen Afu had come back, she came forward and sobbed, "Mother, the two younger brothers are hungry and crying."

The little girl deeply loved her brothers and cried every time they did.

Chen Afu led her into the room and fed the two young boys. The two boys, full and satisfied, lay on the bed making contented "ahh" sounds.

Chen Afu also hugged Chu Hanyan into her lap, wiped her little floral face, and smiled, "Yan’er really is such a good sister."

Chu Hanyan’s little mouth pouted and she spoke in a sticky voice, "I feel so bad whenever I hear the brothers crying, and I feel like crying too."

Chen Afu laughed and lowered her head to kiss Hanyan’s little face.

At midday, Alu told Chen Afu that he had taken a fifteen-day vacation and would be going to the Capital City with his parents to attend his cousin Aman’s wedding the next day.

Chen Dabao, looking unhappy, asked Chen Afu, "Mother, I am Aman auntie’s nephew, we’re family. Why can’t I go to the Capital City for my aunt Aman’s wedding?"

Just as Chen Afu was about to explain, Chu Lingzhi spoke, "Next month we’ll be heading back to Capital City for Lunar New Year. Let brother Alu have fun in the city for a while. When we return to the Marquis’ Mansion, we’ll invite him over."

Upon hearing this, Chen Dabao broke out in a bright smile and readily agreed, "Okay, okay, did you hear that uncle? You have to wait in Capital City for us. Uncle Five said the Marquis’ Mansion is much bigger than the Senator’s Mansion. When the time comes, we’ll invite you, grandpa, and grandma to play."

Looking at the young man who was laughing so happily, Chen Afu felt helpless. Not to mention Capital City, Chen Afu wouldn’t even dare to let him go outside Dingzhou’s north gate. The heightened security measures at the Chu’s were all because of him.

Entering the twelfth lunar month, the temperature was already quite cold, bone-chilling wind, and even snow began to fall. It didn’t seem to be much, but the climate abruptly transitioned from autumn to harsh winter. Many elderly people or children with weak health in various families fell ill, some even died.

A sinister thought occurred to Chen Afu, it would be good if that old Mrs. Chen died now. It would be a decent time for Chen Shiying to mourn, without revealing whether he had been demoted or not, and save face. Three years later, when the unfavorable talk wasn’t as intense as now, it would be a good time for him to return to the official stage.

As the saying goes, evil can live for a thousand years. Despite the dreadful weather, it was said that the old hag’s health remained robust, she could eat, sleep, and still curse at people.

On the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, all of the Chens’ third branch family members returned. On the eleventh, Chen Ming’s family hosted a banquet and invited the third branch, as well as extended an invitation to Chen Afu.

Because they have to discuss matters today, Chen Afu didn’t take Chen Dabao and Chu Lingzhi along with him. He brought a few children to Chen Ming’s house.

As soon as they entered the gate, Mrs. Wang came to greet them, extended her hands to take Ming into her arms and beamed, saying, "My dear grandson, Grandma missed you very much."

After coming into the main room, all the men were sitting in the living room while the women and children are in the east room.

Mrs. Chen waved her hand and laughed, "Afu, bring the kids up to the bed. It is warm on the bed."

Chen Afu listened to them talking about the grandeur of the wedding, how rich the Yangs are, how fortunate Chen Aman is...

Mrs. Hu further said to Chen Afu, "Afu, you and Aju have been playing together since childhood. Your relationship with her is much better than with Aman. You should also help your sister to find a good husband. It doesn’t have to be as prosperous as Uncle Yang, one or two wine-shops would suffice."

Such nonsense. Chen Afu replied, "Aunt, you are over-estimating me. I don’t have that capability." Then he asked with a smile, "Where is my third aunt?"

Mrs. Wang laughed and said, "Your third uncle said that your third aunt was sick from fatigue."

Mrs. Wang led Chen Afu and the children into the east room, which was also their bedroom. Shuting the door behind, muffling the noise from the outside.

In a low voice, Mrs. Wang said to Chen Afu, "Your grandmother mentioned that your aunt is being unreasonable. She thought about having Aju move to the third branch to be guided by your third aunt. But your third aunt declined, saying she was feeling unwell from the busyness involved in Aman’s affairs." She continued, "If it were before, although Mrs. Hu’s behavior was bit inappropriate, your grandmother was somewhat fair and your uncle wouldn’t compare everything like he does now. Maybe your third aunt would have been willing to help guide Aju. But now she wouldn’t want to interfere more in the family affairs. Your grandmother hinted at this to me again today, I pretended not to understand her. Every time I remember how you were often beaten and scolded by Aju and Hu Cuicui when you were a child, I feel very uncomfortable..."

The mother and daughter chatted for a while, and then Chen Afu told Mrs. Wang about their plans to start the journey on the fifteenth and they had already prepared a courtyard for Chen Ming’s family. They will move in on the fourteenth...

Originally, they planned to leave a few days later, but looking at the current weather, they were worried that it would become colder, the snow would fall harder, and it wouldn’t be easy for them, with their young children and elderly, to embark the journey.

After returning home, Chen Afu called Chief Steward Yang and Zeng Shuang to make careful arrangements again. Previously, Chen Afu had ordered a sufficient amount of firewood to be prepared. The grain in their large warehouses was also sufficient for the people in the mansion to survive. The Fuyunlai Trading Company had also stored a large amount of grain. Chen Afu instructed Zeng Shuang not to sell the grain at high prices at any time, but must sell a fixed amount every day. At specific times, additional conditions must also be met...

A while ago, Wang Laowu has officially been promoted to Dabao’s chief attendant under the pretext that there’s no farming to do in winter, and Wang Laowu would be idle otherwise. If he got along well, he would continue to follow Dabao later. Since entering the mansion, Wang Laowu looked cleaner, except for his thinning hair, he seemed to be a decent young man.

Chen Afu was busy packing things and also sent New Year gifts to Chen’s Mansion, Fu’s Mansion, Qin’s Mansion, Liu’s Mansion and some other families.

On the 13th day, Mrs. Jiang arrived at the Senator’s Mansion, bringing many things for Chen Shiying as New Year’s gifts. There were clothes of all kinds, various supplements, and also Chen Shiying’s favorite foods. Because Chen Shiying had an incident, their family couldn’t leave anywhere, including Capital City.