Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 488 - 479: Fence-Sitter

Chapter 488: Chapter 479: Fence-Sitter

Chu Hua laughed, "If Yan’er grows up to look like her father, that would be disastrous for her prospects of marriage."

Everyone burst into laughter at his comment.

Mrs. Chu chuckled, "We can’t necessarily say that. Mrs. Xie from the Xie family resembles her father, the Duke, and she still found a good husband."

Chu Hua’s cousin, Chu’s second daughter, wasn’t particularly attractive - she had dark skin and sharp features - yet she was outgoing and sociable, and she married into the prestigious An Nan Marquis Residence. She’s loved dearly by her husband and in-laws.

Chu Hua teased little Yu’er in his arms, "Our dear Yu’er here is even more charming. She is set to be the first beauty of Capital City when she grows up."

Mrs. Chu burst into laughter as if her own daughter was being complimented. She replied, "I hope so. Both Yu’er’s father and mother are incredibly attractive. I’m hoping they’ll have another daughter for me to raise."

After a round of laughter and light-hearted chat, Mrs. Li arrived, leading the women from the second household. Chu Zhen’s engagement had been arranged by the end of last year. Her fiancé is Mr. Liu, the fourth son of a local official, who serves in the Five Cities Military Department.

Mrs. Li wasn’t quite satisfied with this match. She thought the Liu family had relatively low social status in Capital City and that Mr. Liu, not being the eldest son and just a minor official in the Five Cities Military Department, wasn’t good enough for the legitimate daughter of Yong’an Marquis Manor.

However, Mrs. Chu approved of the match, believing that Mr. Liu was intelligent and capable, and his family background was acceptable. She envisioned that they could have a promising future. Moreover, the Liu family’s liking for Chu Zhen was largely due to Mrs. Chu’s upbringing. They believed that Chu Zhen would have a good relationship with Mrs. Chu, which would provide a strong support network for their son. If not for this, considering Mr. Chu’s incompetence and Mrs. Li’s ill-repute in Capital City, they wouldn’t have chosen Chu Zhen.

As a result, after discussing it with Marquis Yong’an and Mr. Chu, Mrs. Chu finalized the match. Mrs. Li was so upset that she cried for days, but was unable to stop the engagement.

Chu Zhen, who now behaved with more modesty and propriety than before, was still terrified of Mrs. Chu.

Seeing such a Chu Zhen, Chen Afu thought of Chen Yuqing. Chen Yuqing’s parents and Chen Yuqing herself were a hundred times better than Chu Zhen’s parents and Chu Zhen, yet because of Mrs. Zhao and Chen Yuhui, they still hadn’t found a satisfactory match till now.

Chen Afu whispered to Chu Hua, "Big Brother, how’s the thing I asked you to do before?"

Chu Hua had a cousin in the Xie family, Xie Feng, who was close in age and yet to be engaged. Although he originated from a martial family, Xie Feng liked reading. Having passed the scholar’s examination two years ago, he would be sitting for the imperial examination this autumn.

The Xie family hadn’t separated their households yet. Xie Feng is the eldest son of Master Xie, who is a second-ranked military officer. Even without considering the prestigious status of the Guardian Duke Mansion, Chen Yuqing wouldn’t be marrying above her status if she married Xie Feng. Although Chen Shiying is a fourth-ranked governor, he, being a civil official, holds a position and power no less than a second-ranked military official. Additionally, his future promises more career advancements. Once the Xie family separated their households, the third house would merely be a minor branch of the Guardian Duke Mansion.

It is mainly due to the Xie family’s upright family values that Chen Afu is interested in Xie Feng. According to Chu Hua, Xie Feng is diligent and pragmatic.

If it were in the past, Chen Afu wouldn’t have dared to contemplate such a match. But now, with her family’s prospects improved and Chen Shiying’s rise in status as part of the Chu family, an arrangement with the Xie family was feasible.

Having interacted with Chen Yuqing a few times and hearing Chen Afu describe her, Chu Hua grew fond of the girl.

She whispered, "I mentioned this to my grandmother a few days ago. She likes the idea and thinks that Mrs. Chen is virtuous and respectful, with a favorable reputation. If Chen Yuqing is raised by Mrs. Chen, then she certainly must be good. However, my uncle and his wife hesitated a bit, as they think the Chen family doesn’t have a good reputation..."

Chen Afu felt very disappointed. The reputation of the Chen family had been completely ruined by those two women.

Before long, the Marquis and the men from the Chu family arrived, including Marquis Chu himself.

Marquis Chu was delighted to see Chu Hua. Seeing that his daughter was sulking and didn’t want to entertain him, he turned to Heng and beckoned, "Heng, come to grandpa."

Although Chu Hua learned of some of the inner workings later on and realized that many things couldn’t be blamed on her father, the thought of the hardships her mother experienced made her reluctant to interact with him. However, she did instruct Heng to spend time with his grandfather.

Heng happily ran over and climbed onto Marquis Chu’s knee.

Seeing that their grandfather was occupied by their cousin, Yu and Ming weren’t happy. They staggered and ran over, shouting, "Grandpa, our grandpa." Then, they tried to pull Heng off their grandfather.

Heng didn’t appreciate this, he gripped onto his grandpa’s clothes and kicked at his little cousins. The two brothers didn’t back down and began to hit Heng. And while hitting him they shouted, "hit you, hit you, for taking grandpa." As they opened their mouths to shout, drool flowed down their chins.

Marquis Chu, who hadn’t been favored for many years, seeing himself so popular, laughed so much that his beard trembled. He tried to mediate, "Don’t fight, don’t fight, he is your cousin."

Chen Afu got up and pulled the two brothers back, chastising, "Your cousin is our guest, you cannot fight."

The two brothers kept shouting defiantly, "Hit him, hit him, hit him."

The old Marquis laughed heartily, "Good, good, brothers fight at home, but when they go into battle, they fight as father and son."

At dinner, Mrs. Li finally found an opportunity to speak to Chen Afu. She raised her voice and laughed, "Xuan’er, when you were at the palace, we had two guests who wanted to meet you. They said they came to take Yan’er home with them."

Mrs. Chu sternly retorted, "That family is not welcome here, they are not regarded as guests."

Chen Afu understood. The only people who would want to see her and could also come pick up Yan’er are from Yan’er’s maternal family - the Ma family. She had considered before what she would do if the Ma family came to pick up Yan’er.

She was deeply unwilling to let Yan’er become close to the Ma family. Not because she wanted to monopolize the little girl, but because she despised the ruthlessness and heartlessness of the Ma family. They had cruelly discarded Mrs. Ma and allowed Rong Zhao to torment Yan’er. Now that they see the second prince and Rong Zhao losing their power, they wanted to get close to Yan’er. She did not believe they could have their way so easily.

She glanced at the oblivious little girl and thought to herself, it’s best to explain her background to her. Growing up in Capital City, it’s inevitable that she would hear certain things.

Chen Afu’s heart ached. Coming to Capital City, these children faced many unpleasant, yet unavoidable circumstances.

Seeing Mrs. Li eagerly watching her and looking at Yan’er sympathetically, Chen Afu felt a surge of irritation. She responded, "Oh, so that family came. I see."

She neither said Yan’er could go nor that she could not.

Disappointed, Mrs. Li lowered her head and continued eating.

After dinner, Marquis Chu held each of his grandsons and gave them each a kiss. He then looked at little Yu’er several times, touching her little face. Only then did he say to Chen Afu, "If someone comes to pick up Yan’er, don’t let her go with them." With a cold sneer, he added, "That family, they didn’t care about Yan’er or her mother’s life or death, and now they want to cozy up to us. I loathe such fair-weather friends..." As he spoke, a hint of anger rose in his voice.