Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 417 - 412: Face

Chapter 417: Chapter 412: Face

What Chen Afu really wanted right now was to quickly take a hot bath, then sit on the warm bed and eat mutton soup, and finally sleep soundly.

But Princess Rui was here, so she had to deal with their matters first.

As she carried Li Xuan towards the upper room, she said, "Xuan’er, your mother has come to take you home. She has been missing you so much she cries every day. You need to behave..."and go home with her.

Princess Rui stepped out of the door of the upper room, extending her hand, choked with emotion, "Xuan’er, Xuan’er..."

Li Xuan had memories of his birth parents, and during his time at the Chus’, his nanny, Mrs. Wei, told him every day how much his mother missed him and about life at the Royal Mansion in Capital City. Chen Afu had also done a lot of work before she returned to Capital City, telling him that he would return to his own home once they were in the city.

Li Xuan let Princess Rui hold him and kiss him, but he refused to go with her back to the Royal Mansion. He cried uncontrollably when his nanny forcibly took him away.

Chen Afu would also miss him, but she couldn’t keep someone else’s son, could she? She stroked his head and said, "Xuan’er, don’t cry. If you miss auntie, you can come and visit me."

Li Xuan, sobbing, said, "Auntie, remember to take Xuan Xuan with you when you return to the house in Dingzhou. Xuan’xuan loves auntie, brother, sister and younger brother."

Chen Afu didn’t know how to answer this question and gave an awkward laugh.

Princess Rui had often been told by her husband how clever their son is, and indeed she found him not only clever but also articulate, and she didn’t expect him to make such a request. He was more clever than she could ever imagine. She was not angry at all, but rather, she was overjoyed and wept.

She held Chen Afu’s hand and said, "Madam Chu, I cannot express my gratitude for your great kindness. My husband and I will remember your favor our entire lives."

Chen Afu was amused, "Your Highness, you’re too kind. I also like Xuan’er very much and will often bring him to play."

After they left, Mrs. Yu pointed to a pile of colorful gold and silver jewelry on the table and said, "This is what Princess Rui brought."

After Chen Afu and her son took a bath and changed into clean clothes, Mrs. Chu’s maid came over.

She smiled and said, "Madam Chu said that it is now late, and the Duchess is tired from the journey, so there is no need to go and greet the elders..."

Chen Afu stood up and thanked her, and then gave the maid a wallet.

Chen Afu sat on the bed, fed the two children, and put them to play on the bed. Meanwhile, she listened to Mrs. Yu’s report while having her soup.

Mrs. Yu reported that everything in the Marquis’ Mansion was calm and under control. With Madam Chu managing, Second Madam couldn’t play tricks. However, there was a quarrel during the children’s one-month-old birthday celebration.

Madam Chu wanted Mr. Chu’s second son or third son to attend the birthday party with the second Miss on behalf of the Marquis’ Mansion, but the second mistress kept making excuses for the second and third masters not to go. She argued that when the third master got married, Old Marquis Chu, Marquis Chu, and the elder master and elder mistress didn’t return to the mansion. The Chu’s didn’t give face to their house, so why should her house give face to the Chu’s.

Madam Chu was so angry that she ridiculed her, saying, "Your face isn’t much bigger than a sparrow on a tree, and you have the nerve to talk about it. If it was not for the Chu’s, what would you be?"

Second Madam was reduced to tears from the argument...

The heir of the second house, Chu Ling’an, got married on the eighth day of September. It was the busiest time for Chu Lingxuan. Old Marquis Chu was pretending to be sick, and Marquis Chu was in the Lingyin Temple. There’s no way they could come back for the wedding. And there was no way pregnant Chen Afu could return, even if she wasn’t pregnant, she wouldn’t come back.

Chen Afu understood that what truly angered Mrs. Li was not face, but rather, her inefficiency in bearing sons. Chen Afu chuckled for a while and said, "Everyone knows how much face Mrs. Li has, except for herself. She daydreams about getting things she can’t have. In the future, she will lose even more face."

The day after breakfast, Chen Afu brought her sons and the gifts for the third house to Anrong Hall. She also instructed her servant to deliver the gifts for the second house.

Chen Afu felt that she had already torn apart her face with Mrs. Li, and didn’t want to hypocritically pretend as if nothing had happened.

Madam Chu, who was holding Chu Lingzhi and chatting, heard that Chen Afu had come with the kids and laughed loudly, saying, "Hurry, hurry, let me look at the two little brothers."

Chen Afu gave Madam Chu her respects and then let someone put the children on the bed.

Madam Chu kissed one, then the other, overflowing with joy. She laughed, "What a beautiful boy. If only he were a girl, it would have been even better."

She also gave the two brothers Yingluo Rings made of seven precious jewels as a gift.

Chu Lingzhi then went out with Sasa’s family to show off at other people’s houses.

Before long, Chu Zhen arrived. She had to come to Madam Chu every day for two hours of training, learning how to interact with people and manage household duties.

Chu Zhen curtsied to Madam Chu, curtsied to Chen Afu, and said, "Older sister-in-law."

Although her smile was forced, she did manage to smile and greet people, and her temperament had improved a lot compared to before. This was no small improvement.

Chen Afu also smiled and said, "Little sister-in-law."

Chu Zhen took out two small jade pendants and said, "This is a gift I’m giving to my two nephews. I hope older sister-in-law won’t mind."

Chen Afu knew this must’ve been Mrs. Qian’s advice, but she also didn’t make it easy. Smiling, Chen Afu said, "Oh, I’ll thank second sister-in-law for them."

The two nannies also held the two children to give their respects to Chu Zhen.

Seeing the near identical twins, Chu Zhen found it very amusing and her smile became genuinely joyful. She went forward to tease the children.

Madam Chu wanted to have a private talk with Chen Afu and said, "Zhen, I’m busy today, why don’t you go ahead and leave." Seeing that she had performed well today, Madam Chu pulled off a solid gold butterfly hairpin adorned with a ruby from her own head, and smiling, she said, "Good children are always endearing. This was bestowed upon me by the empress dowager, you can wear it."

This was the second time that Madam Chu had given her something, and moreover, it was bestowed by the empress dowager. Chu Zhen happily accepted it, bid farewell to Chen Afu, and then left.

Chen Afu smiled and said, "Third Aunt really knows how to discipline people. In less than a year, the second sister-in-law has changed a lot."

Madam Chu smiled and looked out the window at the flurry of snow, her face becoming solemn. She then whispered to Chen Afu, "They say that Master Wu Zhi possesses superb foresight. Now that the end of the year is approaching, I wonder if we really will encounter a snow disaster..."

She mentioned that ever since receiving the brocade bag, Marquis Chu and Mr. Chu hadn’t travelled north. Even if they had work there that they couldn’t avoid, they found reasons to push it back. She only didn’t know how long this situation would last, or if they could avoid the disaster...

"It really distresses me." Madam Chu sighed, and then changing the subject, she said, "You gave me two jars of soaking wine last time, I gave one to the empress dowager, and she was pleased. She drinks a cup every night, saying it’s delicious and invigorating."

Chen Afu laughed, "I brought two more jars with me this time." She also whispered, "To be honest with my third aunt, some rare medicinal ingredients were added to the mother and son mixture used for preparing this wine. Those were given to me by Master Wu Zhi, so it’s nutritious."

It wouldn’t be good for the royal family to know she had such a good thing, so she shifted the blame to Master Wu Zhi.