Chapter 69

  Jinfenghua was pulled into the main house by Master Zhang, and he knew there was something fishy going on. Xianyi had told him earlier that the main house was hosting a garden party, and relatives from both the main house and the third house would be attending to enjoy the scenery. Jinfenghua had seen this kind of situation many times before in his past life - when there were too many women involved, it was bound to be troublesome.

  Firstly, Master Zhang was using the excuse of meeting relatives to get everyone together, so they could all keep in touch and not lose face in the future. Secondly, he was worried that the women from his own household would be taken advantage of. He wasn't afraid of being plotted against or openly schemed against, and he wanted to personally go and protect them.

  Moreover, he was genuinely interested in seeing how shameless these women could be. On the way there, Master Zhang enthusiastically explained the relationships between the main house and the third house's relatives. The third house was easy to understand - they were all direct relatives. However, the main house wasn't just the Zhang family; there were also several other families related through marriage.

  Jinfenghua had investigated beforehand and understood that most of the relatives attending today were from families that had already declined and were in urgent need of clinging to the main house's door for support.

  "Come, come, take a look, don't be too formal, we're all family." Old Lady Zhang was delighted to see Jin Fenghua enter the garden and eagerly introduced her to the female relatives around her who were considered Jin Fenghua's elders. Although the girls who came to visit the garden today couldn't gather around, they also took a good look from afar at the pavilion. Of course, Li Yuanniang was an exception, as she remained by Old Lady Zhang's side as the girl who currently caught her eye.

  Needless to say, the stunning beauty of the Wind and Flower generation made a big splash as soon as she appeared, and Xian Yi was already used to the dejected look on her husband's face when he was being devoured by a group of hungry women with their eyes. She had Bi Xi tidy up her clothes and then walked over to Jin Fenghua's side on her own initiative. After all, it was her husband who had come, not some other man. If she had stayed in her original seat, that would have been a sign of stupidity, and she would have deserved to be replaced by someone else.

  "Look at this." He patted his chest, with a feeling that his eyes were about to be blinded.

  Zhou pulled Zhu's hand and smiled humbly: "If we were a few years younger, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to hold on either."

  Old Mrs. Jiang had been out of sorts with Jin Fenghua from the moment she entered the garden, and apart from Xian Yi, she was probably the most displeased person at the garden party today.

  Li Wan Niang was stunned for a while before she turned her face away, her face burning fiercely, her heart racing as if it was going to jump out. She couldn't say a word now, afraid of making a mistake and causing Jin Feng Hua to have a prejudice against her.

  Xian Yi couldn't help but secretly glance around, and silently sighed, "Indeed, beauty can be misleading."

  "You're really busy, and you won't be able to take a break until next year. Don't push yourself too hard, especially in this hot weather. Take care of your body, or you'll regret it later." Old Lady Zhang looked at Jinfenghua with kindness, ignoring Xianyi but not scolding her either. After all, it was a fact that Jinfenghua liked Xianyi, and they were already a married couple. Old Lady Zhang wasn't even their real mother-in-law, so she couldn't interfere in their personal affairs.

  "My fellow students in the academy are all working hard, and I don't want to be left behind. Besides, there's still a lot I don't understand that I need to ask Master for guidance. If I still don't get it by next year, I'll be in trouble." Jin Fenghua bowed and said, "Thank you, Great Grandmother, for your concern."

  The ladies beside her quickly gathered in front of Mrs. Zhang and said good things about Jin Fenghua, saying so much that even Xianyi felt embarrassed, only to hear Mrs. Zhang introduce Jin Fenghua to the relatives of each family, and finally pulled out Li Yuanniang and said intimately: "This is your cousin from the Li family, with a temperament as gentle as possible, in the future, Brother Huaguo's wife will also get along with her more."

  Li Wan suppressed her excitement and didn't faint, trembling as she took small steps forward, shyly giving Jin Fenghua a bow and saying: "Brother-in-law is so polite."

  Jin Fenghua just politely nodded, without even giving her a glance, which made her and Old Lady Zhang very disappointed.

  She said a few more dry words, and after all, Jin Fenghua was a man who couldn't stay in the garden forever. So, Old Lady Zhang had Master take Jin Fenghua to the front courtyard to wait for dinner, while secretly wanting Xian Yi and Li Wan Niang to get closer. There were some things that Old Lady Zhang didn't want to say out loud, but as long as Li Wan Niang became close friends with Xian Yi, she wouldn't have to worry about not being able to enter the second house. With this going back and forth a few times, how could Jin Fenghua's heart not be moved?

  Xian Yi couldn't refuse on the spot, and kept a distance from Li Yuanni, but even she had to admit that Li Yuanni had a clever mind. No matter how polite or distant Xian Yi was, Li Yuanni could still make the conversation very enjoyable, and even flattered her at just the right moment. Whether it was poetry, music, chess, calligraphy, or painting, Li Yuanni seemed to have some knowledge of everything, including strange tales and geographical records. She even had insights into these topics, but she never asked about Jin Fenghua, as if she wasn't interested in him at all. In fact, she even subtly mentioned to Xian Yi that her mother was recently arranging a marriage for her, and that she would rather be the wife of a poor man than the concubine of a rich one.

  Xian Yi couldn't help but sigh. If Li Yuanni were just an ordinary servant girl without the guidance of Jiang Taishi, in this environment where everyone was isolated, it would be difficult not to develop good feelings towards her. After all, women were taught to follow the three obediences and four virtues, and if they were to marry a man who already had a wife, it would be better to choose someone with whom they shared a deep emotional connection and similar values.

  This Li Yuanni was truly flawless, considerate, and subtle in her actions.

  Actually, Xian Yi had always been gentle and reserved, and Li Wan Niang was getting a bit impatient. Not to mention others, but even in her own family, from the eldest sister to the mother-in-law, who wasn't a cunning person? Yet, whoever it was, she could coax them into submission with ease. When she saw Xian Yi's age, she thought that Xian Yi would be an easy target to deceive. However, no matter how much effort she put in, Xian Yi remained unmoved, with only a polite smile on her face. Not a single word about the second house was revealed, but instead, Li Wan Niang ended up revealing many secrets about the Li family. This made her feel extremely uncomfortable, but she couldn't vent out her frustration and could only muster up her spirits to continue putting on a show in front of Xian Yi.

  Golden breeze came, ruffled the hearts of many young girls, until noon when Mrs. Zhang came to call them in for dinner, all the girls still had a faint blush on their faces, as if they were thinking about something. Xian Yi couldn't care less about so many things, she sat next to Jiang Shi at the younger generation's table, even if Li Yuanni squeezed in beside her, it didn't affect Xian Yi's appetite for dinner.

  The lady sat next to Mrs. Zhang, not only to show her close relationship with her mother-in-law but also to find out which family's daughter her mother-in-law had chosen.

  At the banquet, Mrs. Li looked at Yu Niang several times and saw that Yu Niang was enthusiastic about Xian Yi's clothes. She felt a little uncomfortable in her heart, thinking that it was unnecessary to find a concubine for Jin Fenghua, and it would be better to divorce Xian Yi directly and let Jin Fenghua marry the girl they found. Why bother flattering Xian Yi and letting her be the first wife while making their own daughters be concubines? However, she also knew that she couldn't win against her mother-in-law, who always had the final say in this household. So even if she was dissatisfied with Yu Niang, she could only endure it. But when she thought about it again, she realized that there might be a good show to watch in the second house, and her dissatisfaction immediately disappeared. She turned to recall what leverage Yu Niang had when she was at the Li's house, otherwise, if Yu Niang gained favor and secretly embezzled the silver from the second house, it wouldn't be good.

  Mrs. Zhang put down her chopsticks, and everyone else picked up their teacups. The table was cleared, and the ladies started chatting again. Somehow, they brought up the topic of children and grandchildren. Those who had them immediately began to show off, even Mrs. Zhang mentioned a few interesting stories about her grandson's childhood. Suddenly, the eldest lady, as if she had lost her mind, took a sip of tea and glanced at Xianyi with a hint of disdain: "I'm a person with a bitter fate, I still don't have any grandchildren, and my second son refuses to come back and get married. It's worrying me to death, my hair is turning white. You can't even mention someone like my eldest daughter-in-law. Some daughters-in-law rely on the fact that they don't have a mother-in-law, they'd rather adopt a child than raise their own, I don't know if it's because they're infertile or not. Poor Uncle had to adopt a grandson, and later generations won't even carry the surname Jin, it's truly a sin."

  Xian Yi was listening to Li Yuanni's nonsense when she felt that the old lady's words were piercing her ears, and then the hall fell silent. Many people looked at her. She glanced at Zhang Lao Fu Ren, who didn't speak, and knew that this must have been instructed by the old lady. After all, it was well-known that the old lady spoke without thinking, and it wouldn't be good for a junior to retort back to a senior. However, she didn't speak up, which seemed to admit that she was guilty of not being able to bear children. If this were to spread, even if no one else found out, the old master of the third house would definitely arrange for Jin Fenghua to take in a concubine and adopt one, as Jin Fenghua was still a member of the Jin family by blood. But Yu Ge Er was adopted, who knew whose child he was? This old master would definitely not be pleased.

  "Auntie's heart was put at ease, I see that Third Young Mistress is in good health, although she looks a bit frail, but it's likely that she'll be able to bear children in the future." Li Yuanni added, seeing that everyone else was silent.

  Xian Yi found it amusing, as both of them were crowding around her. Did they really think she had no temper? Li Yuanni seemed to be speaking on her behalf, but the tone was like trying to cover up the fact that she couldn't give birth. What softness? She, a former slave who had experienced hardships, wasn't weak at all.

  "It's really troubling you seniors to care about this." Xian Yi said indifferently: "We're still young, and we haven't been married for long, so let's just go with the flow. Besides, my body is fine, and my husband's master's wife, Jiang Tai Tai, has specially taken care of me. I won't compare myself to you seniors, but having a child shouldn't be a problem. It's just that my husband is busy with his career, and as his wife, it wouldn't be good for me to distract him. After all, his official career is the priority."

  Xian Yi ignored Jiang Shi's pale face beside her. Since the eldest lady was willing to distort facts and humiliate her own daughter-in-law, why should she still show courtesy to Jiang Shi? This woman had been married for so long without any news, while Xian Yi had just gotten married recently. If they suspected that there was a problem with her body, couldn't they ask Lady Jiang? After all, Lady Jiang was the mother of Xian Yi's husband and would surely know whether his wife could get pregnant or not. Moreover, people with some status knew that the wet nurse by Lady Jiang's side was an expert from the palace who had been teaching Xian Yi for a long time, so it was impossible for her body to be unprepared. If these old folks continued to pick on her, they would appear unreasonable and might even offend Lady Jiang. Furthermore, the most important point was that her husband, Jin Fenghua, wasn't worried at all, so why were these relatives who came out of nowhere being so overly concerned?

  Everyone parted ways unhappily, and Jin Fenghua had been waiting at the door for Xianyi. After saying goodbye to Er Taizi, Xianyi took Bi Xi with her and followed Jin Fenghua back home.

  Unfortunately, there are always some people who don't know the score, and it's unclear whether this Li girl was intentionally let out by Old Lady Zhang. She chased after Xianyi for a few steps before blocking them at the inner courtyard gate, where there were very few passersby. Xianyi suspected that this Li girl might be trying to get close to Jinfenghua on purpose, but unfortunately, Jinfenghua was never one to drag things out. He turned around with a cold face and said to Li, who still had her mind on how to make an appointment with Xianyi in the second house: "Ugly girl, scram!"

  Xianyi silently watched as Li guniang covered her face and ran away crying. She shrugged, with this little mental endurance, she still wants to be with Jin Dabianpian? If she saw Jin Dabianpian tearing people apart with his bare hands, Li guniang would probably hang herself with a belt.