Springtime Affairs in a Noble Family

When Cui Lingrong first married into the family in Bianjing, she would regret that her family wasn't in Bianjing, so that she would have somewhere to go when she was feeling down.

Now she is only grateful that the Cui family is not in Bianjing, otherwise, given her father and stepmother's personalities, there would be a lot of headaches.

She didn't reply, so the Cui family couldn't do anything to her. Even if the Cui family came to Bianjing, she wasn't afraid.

The Cui family has no residence in Bianjing, and they all have to rely on her when they come to Bianjing. Now that she is in charge of the Jiangyuan Marquis's residence, if she is unhappy, she can arrange a place to stay at will, which can make the Cui family suffer in silence.

This is the benefit of having a housekeeper/manager.

"Alright, don't feel bad for me. You can't have everything in life. I don't have parents who love me, but I have my aunt's upbringing. Isn't that a kind of luck?" Cui Lingrong never suffered any grievances at her aunt's house. Her aunt was strict with her subordinates, and there wasn't even anyone to gossip about.

Song Yu admired her mother's mindset. No matter what, she remained calm and composed. "You still have me, and you have Xuan-ge'er and Jin-ge'er. When Xuan-ge'er passes the imperial examination, you can hold your head high in the Marquis's mansion."

Cui Lingrong smiled and said yes.

The waiting period was long, but Cui Lingrong still hoped that Xuan Ge'er would pass the county and provincial examinations smoothly. It would be very impressive for him to become a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examinations) at such a young age, which would show that he had a talent for studying.

She took out a piece of paper and said that tracing patterns would make the time go by faster when she had something to do.

Until the county examination ended, Cui Lingrong prepared meals at home early on. However, the old lady felt sorry for Xuan-ge'er and suggested that everyone eat at Shou'an Hall. So she picked out a few dishes that Xuan-ge'er liked and took them to Shou'an Hall.

After returning home, Song Mingxuan first went to see his father, and then they went to Shou'an Hall together.

"Greetings to my grandmother and mother, and to my second uncle and aunt, and to my third uncle and aunt." Song Mingxuan was not eating or sleeping well in the examination room and was very tired.

Grandma Song pulled her eldest grandson aside and spoke at length with heartache, "You've really suffered. You're still so young, you must take good care of yourself to recover. Can you answer all the questions your grandmother has to say?"

Song Mingxuan said it was fine, "The county examination is relatively basic, testing essays like the eight-legged essay. My grandson has a solid foundation in his studies, so there shouldn't be any problem."

Before putting pen to paper, Song Mingxuan thought of Zhao Xu's threatening words and felt even more eager to stand out, so he studied the questions more carefully each time.

"That's good." Grandma Song nodded in satisfaction, holding her grandson's hand without letting go.

Cui Lingrong noticed that her son looked tired, so she went over to remind the old lady to start the meal.

Grandma Song gave Cui Lingrong a cold look, glancing at her expressionlessly. Just then, her second son said he was hungry, so she told Xu's mother to start the meal.

Grandma Song showed special favor to Song Mingxuan today, and had him sit next to her.

Song Mingjin snorted and pouted, "Grandmother is biased. You only care about my eldest brother. I also want to be close to you."

"You little rascal, you'll see how hard your brother has worked these past few days. You'll understand when you take the county exam." Old Madam Song did indeed dote on Xuan-ge'er more. The eldest grandson was the hope of the Marquis's family, and she placed high hopes on Xuan-ge'er.

Of course, she also doted on Jin Ge'er. Jin Ge'er was fair-skinned and chubby, and he loved to eat whatever she fed him, which made people happy.

However, his attitude towards his two grandsons was completely different.

As for the two grandsons of the third wife, she never inquired about them.

Li and her eldest son sat opposite Old Mrs. Song, farthest away from her. Both of them remained silent and quiet.

Jiang then served food to Jin-ge'er. She had a good impression of the simple-minded Jin-ge'er. Since she didn't have any children of her own, she always felt a bit more fond of fair-skinned children. "Jin-ge'er, eat too. Your second aunt will serve you some food."

"Thank you, Auntie, I'll finish it!" Song Mingjin looked at the food in her bowl with great joy, and didn't forget to call her mother and sister to eat too.

The meal passed peacefully.

After dinner, Old Madam Song wanted to keep Jin-ge'er to talk, but Cui Lingrong couldn't bear to see it and said, "Old Madam, Jin-ge'er must not have slept well in the examination room. Look at his face. Let him go back and rest first, and we'll have him keep you company again tomorrow morning."

Grandma Song snorted, "Look at what you're saying, making it sound like I don't care about people. Fine, since you've said that, how could I dare to keep them? I'm old and useless, even my daughter-in-law dares to give me attitude."

In front of the whole family, Old Mrs. Song didn't give them any face at all.

Song Mingxuan was afraid that his mother and grandmother would argue about him, so he could only say that he wasn't tired.

Cui Lingrong told Qiu Mama to take Xuan Ge'er back. She didn't pay attention to what the old lady said, bowed, and left with Yu Jie'er and Jin Ge'er.

Old Mrs. Song felt like she'd punched cotton; her chest tightened. "Look at her! What kind of daughter-in-law is she? If either of you acts like this, you'd better go back to your parents' home!"

Li lowered her head and said she dared not. Whenever the old lady was unhappy, she would listen silently.

Jiang smiled and went over to pour tea for the old lady. "Please don't lump us together with my sister-in-law. You're the only one in my heart. Now that my sister-in-law has passed away, I'll take care of you today."

During this period, the relationship between Jiang and Song Shucheng fluctuated. Every time she tried to please Song Shucheng by being humble and subservient, the two would be affectionate for a while, but as soon as He Pingping was involved, Jiang would immediately explode, and the two would start arguing again.

She couldn't rely on Princess Rongjia now, and she knew that her love with Song Shucheng wouldn't last a lifetime. As for her relationship with Cui Lingrong, they weren't true friends either. After thinking it over, the only thing she could do was to please the old lady so that she could have a better life in the Marquis's mansion.

As Jiang spoke, she massaged the old lady's shoulders.

Old Mrs. Song was quite pleased, but when she saw the wooden-like Li Shi again, she impatiently chased her away. Then she looked at Jiang Shi and said, "You, you've been married into the Marquis's mansion for several years, and there's not a single sign of pregnancy. Don't say I don't value you; He Shi's child is Shucheng's only hope. A man only matures when he has a son, and only then can you enjoy happiness, understand?"

Jiang gritted her teeth and said yes.

"Don't just say it's good. When He's child is born, which will be your son, you have to treat the child well so that the second wife can prosper." Old Mrs. Song always felt that Jiang didn't understand. So what if it's not her own child? Even a concubine's child has to be filial to the first wife.

Jiang was seething with anger at Old Madam Song, and by the time she left, her wrists were aching from squeezing so hard.

Just as she left Shou'an Hall, a maid from Wutong Garden called her over and asked her to go to Wutong Garden.

Upon entering the Wutong Garden and seeing Princess Rongjia reclining on a chair in the long corridor, Jiang immediately put on a smiling face. "Greetings, Princess. Is there anything you wish to instruct me on?"

"Why are you so nervous?" Princess Rongjia opened her eyes for a while, then closed them again. "Seeing that you haven't come for so long, and I'm worried about your health, let the imperial physician take my pulse tomorrow and have him check on you too."

This means that she was unhappy because Jiang Shi hadn't visited her even once since she was placed under house arrest.

As for the imperial physician treating Jiang, it was merely to do her a favor, as he didn't want her to be won over by Cui Lingrong, so he gave her a small benefit.

Fortunately, Jiang had already understood Princess Rongjia. She muttered to herself, but on the surface she was very happy. "Thank you for remembering me, Princess. I will come and wait for you first thing tomorrow morning. As for why I didn't come before, I really didn't know whether I should have come or not. After all, the palace maids are watching over you, and I thought you wouldn't lack people to talk to here."

"They can't compare to you," said Princess Rongjia. "Alright, that's all for now. You can go back."

She waved her hand, and Jiang left with a sigh of relief.

After Jiang left, Princess Rongjia's face darkened as she looked at Chen De's wife. "I listened to your attempt to win over Jiang, but is this kind of opportunist really useful?"

"Your Highness, Second Madam certainly won't be loyal to one person. There are advantages to being a fence-sitter, it's better than her always helping First Madam." Chen De's wife was very careful with her words now, afraid of displeasing the county magistrate again, otherwise she wouldn't be able to stay in the Jiangyuan Marquis's mansion.

"Indeed, that bitch Cui Lingrong is the most cunning. She must be really looking forward to her son taking the county exam, right?" Princess Rongjia chuckled. "Fortunately, Xu-ge'er is thinking of me. With his help, I don't believe Song Mingxuan can do well!"

There was no witness or physical evidence of the private threats. As long as Zhao Xu himself did not admit it, no one could prove that Zhao Xu had threatened Song Mingxuan.

Even if Song Mingxuan continues to take the exam, he is still young, and his mentality will definitely be affected. Princess Rongjia is waiting to see Song Mingxuan fail the exam.