Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty -
Chapter 533 - 524: Union and Separation
Chapter 533: Chapter 524: Union and Separation
The next day, the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, was also Yu’er’s first birthday. Now that the Emperor was seriously ill, The Chus did not dare to hold a large celebration and only invited a few relatives, including The Xies, The Jiangs, The Yangs, and the closely related Princess Rui.
Today the men were at court, so only women and children came. There weren’t many guests, so they entertained them in the Bamboo Pavilion.
Early in the morning, Chen Afu started dressing up Yu’er. The little girl wore a bright red brocade jacket with a long skirt, with a gold double swallow disk button. Two small pigtails were combed atop her head, making her as pretty as a doll from a New Year picture.
As soon as she finished dressing her, Chu Hanyan put on a red dragonfly bracelet she had handmade for Yu’er. This was her birthday gift for Yu’er. She said, "When sister learns how to embroider, she will make an even more beautiful handkerchief for you."
The little girl’s fingers were not very flexible yet, she had not started learning needlework. Chen Afu planned to let her start learning when she was ten.
The two little brothers also gave gifts, which were identical small jade rabbits.
Speaking of this, everyone marveled at the coincidence. Yesterday, their mother reminded them that their little sister’s birthday was coming up and that they should give her a gift. The boys each had their own treasures, so they each went to their box to find something, and they both happened to find a jade rabbit.
The little girl was delighted with the bracelet and the little white rabbits. She thanked everyone with a big smile on her face, saying, "Thank, thank, thank."
Then, Marquis Chu, the old Marquis, and the Second Master also sent gifts one after another.
Although the Second Master was somewhat fishy, he still understood social conventions. Knowing that Chen Afu would not invite Mrs. Li, and Mrs. Li would not send a gift, and further knowing that his family could not leave Marquis’ Mansion, he sent a gift. The gift was not about the value, but the sentiment.
Yesterday, when the two concubine-born daughters, Chu Lin and Chu Bi, went to visit Mrs. Chu at the Minghe Residence, they quietly brought two sets of clothes they had made for Yu’er and asked Mrs. Chu to deliver them. They were afraid that Mrs. Li would not dare to come, so Chen Afu accepted their kind gesture.
Mrs. Chu and Mrs. Shen arrived next, and they not only brought gifts, but would also stay to serve the guests. Even though Mrs. Shen was Mrs. Li’s daughter-in-law, when Chu Lingqi and Chu Ling’an invited her to come, Mrs. Li did not interfere.
From The Jiangs, Grandma Jiang and her elder daughter Jiang Xiuqiu came. Mrs. Jiang had gone to visit Chen Yuhui at The Hes early that morning. If Mr. Jiang’s complaint went well today, Mrs. Jiang would directly take Chen Yuhui to Chen Shiying’s residence in Capital City to recuperate.
As soon as Princess Rui arrived, she laughed and said, "Xuan’er knew that today is Yu’er’s birthday, and insisted on not going to school, and wanted to attend Yu’er’s birthday banquet. It wasn’t until his father kicked him a couple of times that he finally went to Court crying." She took out a ten-centimeter-long agate deer ornament and added, "This was given to him by the Empress Dowager when he was born. It’s his treasured possession, but today he insisted that I gift it to our little birthday girl."
The little deer was crystal-clear and shiny. It was obviously a fine piece.
Chen Afu quickly declined, "This is too extravagant, and it was a gift from the Empress Dowager. It would be better if Xuan’er keeps it to bring him prosperity and longevity. My little Yu’er cannot accept such a gift."
Princess Rui stuffed the little deer into Chen Afu’s hand and laughed, "How can she not accept? Without you, he would not have his good fortune today."
After that, Chu Hua came with her pair of children, and Chen Aman came with Yang Qian.
They were all relatives and familiar with each other, and the Bamboo Pavilion was filled with laughter and joy.
At dawn, Shiyi sent Mrs. Luo again to deliver the birthday gift for Yu’er, a set of jewelry inlaid with cat’s eyes from the Imperial Household Department, and a box of longevity peaches.
Just after lunch, Chen Afu received a message from Mrs. Jiang. The Crown Prince, having heard about the mistreatment Chen Yuhui suffered at The Hes, was furious. He reprimanded He Linsheng for being unworthy of his obligations and directly granted a divorce. Mrs. Jiang had already taken Chen Yuhui to The Chens, prepared to pull back her dowry.
Chen Afu sneered to herself, Chen Yuhui may be a disgrace, but she was lucky to have a father like Chen Shiying. However, even though she had been freed from suffering, the rest of her life would undoubtedly not be as wonderful as she once imagined, probably a form of divine punishment.
Luckily, the divorce was decreed by the Crown Prince himself, officially blaming He Linsheng for the failed marriage, so it shouldn’t affect Chen Yuqing’s marriage.
Chen Afu explained to Chu Hua about Chen Yuhui’s divorce. Of course, she didn’t dare mention that Chen Yuhui had beaten a servant girl, but instead claimed that He Linsheng had assaulted the domestic help, causing her to hang herself.
She didn’t feel guilty at all for telling this lie about He Linsheng. He deserved to die. But she felt somewhat sorry for Huang Ju, the innocent and pitiful maid who had died. To safeguard The Chens sisters’ reputation, she had to spin this story. She made a mental note to compensate Huang Ju’s family with silver once The Chens relocated to the Capital City, both to atone for Chen Yuhui’s sins and to ease her own conscience.
Upon hearing about He Linsheng’s deeds, all the women condemned him as "worse than a beast," and expressed sympathy for Chen Yuhui.
Chu Hua quietly told Chen Afu, "The senior members of my husband’s family have discussed and agreed. When The Chens come to the Capital City for the Lunar New Year, they will send a matchmaker to The Chens to propose marriage."
In the late afternoon, just as they had finished seeing off the guests, they received birthday gifts sent by Chu Lingqi, including gifts from Liao Chen, Chen Ming, Wang Cheng, and Chen Shi.
Before dinner, they even received gifts and a letter sent by Chu Lingxuan. Not only did he send Yu’er a large jade ornament, but he also wrote her a letter expressing his longing for his daughter.
With tears in her eyes, Chen Afu read the letter out to Yu’er, letting her know that these were words from her father.
Yu’er had no memory of her father at all. Even though her mother and sister often taught her this term of address, she still didn’t understand what "daddy" meant. She opened her innocent eyes wide and called out several times, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy?"
From the letters of the two lords and Chu Lingxuan, it could be inferred that the victory was now overwhelming. All of the tribal groups in the Southern Province stood with the court. The war should end by the start of next year if all went well.
Hearing this good news, Mrs. Chu and Chen Afu were beyond excited. The old Marquis and Marquis Chu were also delighted and came over to the Bamboo Pavilion for a drink.
This good news filled The Chu household with joy for several days.
The next day, Chen Afu took some supplements and went to The Chens to visit Chen Yuhui.
Lying on the bed, she looked pale, her eyes lackluster, and her body thin to the point where she was almost unrecognizable, making her face look even longer. When she saw Chen Afu enter, her tears fell. She said, "Are you happy now? If you hadn’t stolen everything from me, I wouldn’t have ended up marrying that human trash, falling to the state I am now in..."
Looking down at her, Chen Afu replied, "I have nothing to be happy about because, good or bad, your condition doesn’t affect my mood. The reason I came to see you is both at father’s request and to show others that we sisters have strong bonds, all considering our sister’s future." She shook her head and sighed, "I stole everything from you? What a joke..."
Fearing that her words might agitate Chen Yuhui, she swallowed what she intended to say. She didn’t pay any further attention to Chen Yuhui, merely instructing the matron and maidservant taking care of her, then left.
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