Chapter Fifty-Six

  Perhaps it was the Heng City Jin family who couldn't wait any longer, or perhaps they were afraid that the downfall of the Beijing Jin family would affect the future of Jin Fenghua. Just after Jin Fenghua and Xian Yi had a heart-to-heart talk, the Heng City Jin family came knocking on their door. One was around thirty years old, and the other was over forty years old. The one in his forties was the only legitimate son of the main house of the Heng City Jin family, while the one in his thirties was the eldest legitimate son of the third house of the Jin family. Jin Fenghua had met both men before in Fucheng and naturally wouldn't be strangers to them. This time they came not only with a letter from the Third Elder Master but also with Jin Fenghua's adoption papers. All that was left for Jin Fenghua to do was to go with them to Heng City, complete the formalities at the government office, pay respects to his ancestors, and he would officially become the legitimate grandson of the second house of the Heng City Jin family. From then on, he would have to serve the Second Elder Master as his grandfather, attend to incense and paper money during festivals, and any children he had in the future would not belong to the Linqing Jin family. It could be said that he would completely sever ties with the Linqing Jin family, and in the eyes of the law, they wouldn't even have a normal familial relationship anymore.

  The two people from the Golden City thought that Jinfenghua was adopted by his father and were in a bad mood, so they didn't mention the annoying things about that family again. However, in private, they still tactfully mentioned that Xianyi was a maid's daughter of the Golden Family, worrying that Jinfenghua had suffered injustice, and even intentionally wanted to let Jinfenghua divorce and remarry. But Jinfenghua directly denied it, informing them that Xianyi was hired by his own mother, and the two were also childhood sweethearts with deep feelings. Helplessly, the two could only put down their thoughts and temporarily acknowledged Xianyi as their niece-in-law. However, they eventually used the excuse of being busy with ancestral worship to suggest that Jinfenghua go alone. This coincided with Jinfenghua's intentions, and even if he had planned more beforehand, he knew that the Golden City was not peaceful, and he hadn't been there before, so he thought about going this time to explore the situation, and then bring Xianyi next time, so she wouldn't suffer.

  It doesn't matter about the immortal clothes anymore, as long as Jin Fenghua doesn't let her leave, she has nothing to worry about. Moreover, staying in Linqing is more comfortable and saves her from having to deal with those annoying people in Heng City.

  To prevent any further trouble, Jin Fenghua set off to Heng City on the second day by horse-drawn carriage. Before leaving, he summoned several guards to specifically protect the Jin residence and warned the people in the mansion that from now on, anyone from the Qing family would be chased away and not allowed to enter the house.

  Jinfenghua left Linqing, and Xianyi also sent a servant to the study to explain the situation to Mrs. Jiang. After all, men are not at home, and ordinary women cannot go out without any scruples, and will eventually be gossiped about. Moreover, even if Xianyi doesn't go to the study, there is still Mrs. Jiang's nanny who comes to inspect the results. As long as Xianyi stays at home to take care of Yu Ge'er and handle some trivial matters in the house, she can live a fulfilling life every day.

  Xian Yi stopped attending small gatherings, but that didn't mean the familiar ladies wouldn't come to find her. Sometimes, they would even come to her mansion specifically to take care of her, chatting and admiring flowers together, their feelings deeper than usual.

  Just five days after Jin Fenghua left, Liang rushed to the door and grabbed Xianyi's hand, saying: "It's terrible! Your old lady has gone to the library entrance to make trouble."

  "Old lady, what old lady?" Xian Yi asked blankly, not reacting for a moment.

  "What's with the old lady, your husband's grandmother!" Liang Shi took a deep breath and saw Xian Yi in this state, hesitantly saying: "You can't really not know, wasn't she here at your estate first?"

  Xian Yi shook her head, not to mention that she hadn't heard anyone responding from outside, even if someone really came, they would probably be driven away by the doorman. She couldn't forget that Jin Fenghua had given a strict order at that time, and everyone in this mansion was his person, it was impossible to secretly disobey him.

  "Goodness gracious! She ran to the entrance of the study and said that your husband is unfilial, that you are not virtuous, and made a big fuss." Liang Shi took a sip of tea and patted her chest.

  "Did she go alone?" Xian Yi knew that the old lady would absolutely not show her face, and the old master was a man who cared about his reputation. Even if he had fallen on hard times, he wouldn't lose face by coming here. As for the old lady, at her age, even when she was young, she didn't have much refinement. Although she hadn't been unreasonable or made a scene in recent years, that didn't mean she couldn't do so.

  "It was your aunt who took it away." Liang said, covering her mouth with her hand and leaning in.

  This is a good explanation, Auntie is the younger sister of Old Mrs., and she's also someone who likes to take advantage of others, so it's impossible for her to side with Jinfenghua.

  "Just let them make a fuss." Xian Yi would rather die than show her face, because no matter what she said or did, it was all wrong in the eyes of the world.

  "How can you just go and cause trouble?" Liang said with a scowl: "In these times, filial piety is the most important thing. Your husband may be a child prodigy, but he still needs to take the imperial exam to become a scholar-official. If his reputation is ruined because of this, then all his efforts will be for nothing."

  Xian Yi twirled the agate bead bracelet on her wrist and said indifferently, "If this matter gets out of hand, who knows who will end up losing face."

  "What's going on?" As soon as Liang heard the scent of gossip, he immediately became spirited.

  "You also know that the Chen family in Beijing is finished, and the Jin family is also ruined. Otherwise, they wouldn't have returned to Linqing." Xian Yizhuang sighed with a hint of difficulty: "I've come to realize what it means to be ruthless. Previously, it was said that the Jin family was originally going to be exiled, but the Jin family from Hengcheng intervened and begged for mercy, so they were only demoted and had their property confiscated. But why did the Jin family from Hengcheng help? It's because our family's old master had his own son adopted by them as a grandson!"

  "What? Can't be true!" Although the Pei country is strict with children born out of wedlock, generally large families would never give their children away for adoption or have them marry into another family. This would represent shame and decline for the family, and some people believe it would also divide the ancestral blessings and future fortunes among different families. Therefore, many families would rather sell their daughters or property than give away a son, as this is seen as a loss of family assets - the fewer sons, the thinner the foundation. Adoption is not just about sending a child to another household; at least in law, they are still considered part of one's own family. If they become successful, they can still elevate their original family, and if they die unfortunately, there is no loss for the family. However, adoption means completely belonging to another family, cutting ties with one's blood relatives not only legally but also emotionally. If an adopted child becomes successful, they will inevitably pull up the new family that adopted them, rather than their own blood relatives. As for filial piety, of course, it can only be shown to the new family.

  "It's true, I'll be honest with you, my husband didn't go out to enjoy the breeze, but went to Heng City. By now, he should have arrived and is preparing to pay respects at the ancestral temple." Xian Yi sat at home, not wanting to meet those old masters, but that didn't mean she would let them tarnish Jin Fenghua's reputation. She believed Liang Shi was a clever person, and by tomorrow, the people in the academy would understand the whole story.

  Li's family was shocked and covered her mouth, her eyes wide open, and she gasped: "How dare they show up at the door?"

  "But they're just thinking that my husband is a concubine's son and doesn't have a powerful maternal family, so they think this matter is unknown to anyone else. They're thinking of taking advantage or are simply jealous, not wanting my husband to have a good future. After all, their eldest young master is dead, the second young master can never serve as an official again, and only my husband, because he has to be adopted out, still has his reputation intact." Xian Yi raised her eyelids, hinting at this.

  Liáng nodded and patted the back of Xiānyī's hand, saying: "Don't worry, these people in the book hall aren't fools. Once the truth comes to light, they won't be able to stir up trouble either."

  Xian Yi's lips curled up, and she pulled Liang Shi along, saying sincerely: "Good sister is really considerate, with just one sentence, I'm now at ease."

  After Liang left, several days passed before Xian Yi sent a servant to inquire about the news of the book house. She learned that the rumors of Jin Fenghua's adoption were spreading wildly, while Old Lady Jin returned to the Jin family ancestral home with a gloomy face and secretly let out a sigh of relief. Although the imperial family had confiscated the property of the Jin family in the capital, the emperor was kind and did not take away the ancestral home and good fields in Linqing Village. After all, Old Master Jin was a landlord back then, even if he gave a small part to his aunt, the main part remained. As long as the old master could put his mind at ease, whether farming or doing business, Second Young Master would be fine, and in the future, he could marry a daughter from a local gentry family, and life would not be difficult. Moreover, the emperor only stripped Second Young Master of his official title but did not say that his son could not take the imperial examination. It was just a matter of cultivating the next generation well. People who do wrong must make amends, and Old Master Jin was not an innocent bystander. Since he had already benefited from using Jin Fenghua as a substitute, what face did he have to let this adopted-out son continue to bear the burden for their family?

  I thought this matter was over and I could finally relax, but unexpectedly, the Jin family from Heng City had a relative passing through Linqing on their way to visit relatives. Moreover, this relative even came to our door with an invitation card, wanting to pay a visit. If it were a young girl coming, I could have made excuses, but the person who came was the daughter-in-law of the third elder, in her thirties, whose natal family is in Hekou, near Linqing, and indeed needs to pass through Linqing on her way back to Heng City. It's not like we can say she's intentionally coming to our door. Furthermore, the Jin family in Linqing can be stopped at the gate because we've already fallen out with them and don't need to maintain any relationship. However, it's hard to say whether this second wife of the third branch will frequently come and go in the future, being an elder after all. Helplessly, I got dressed up and brought my maid to wait for this second wife at the second gate.

  Mrs. Zhu, whose surname was Zhu, had a son and a daughter with the second master. This time, she returned home to visit her relatives because her son was going to school, so she only brought her ten-year-old daughter. The two of them arrived at the second gate under the escort of the servant girl. Mrs. Zhu was entrusted by her husband to take a look at the second old master's successor's daughter-in-law and see what kind of woman she was. If she really couldn't hold up, they would think of another way, and they couldn't let the Jin family lose face. However, what Mrs. Zhu didn't expect was that there was a young woman standing at the gate, with white skin, rosy cheeks, a slender waist, and a plump buttocks, just like a ripe peach, emitting an enticing sweet fragrance. When she saw her come forward to pay respects, she was orderly and not different from the girls of official families. She couldn't help but wonder in her heart, wasn't this supposed to be a woman born into slavery?