The news of Cheng Yuanz's return to the capital somehow reached the Duke House of Chang. A few days later, Great Aunt Cheng Min returned with her children.
Marquis Cheng had three sons and one daughter. His eldest son, second son, and eldest daughter were all given birth to by Old Lady Cheng. Marquis Cheng did not treat his two sons well, but he doted on his only daughter very much.
Cheng Min grew up in luxury. She was like the other Cheng Family members. Her appearance was not bad, so she was betrothed to the Duke House of Chang when she reached the age of majority. They were both nobles, but the difference between the Marquis Household and the Duke House was too great. Marquises were everywhere in the capital, but the Duke House only had a few famous families.
The Duke House of Chang was also very wealthy. It had been rich for several generations. The family was mighty and had countless branches. Cheng Min married the Duke House of Chang's second son, who was now Duke Chang's younger brother. With the Marquis of Yichun's family background, she could be considered to have married into a higher social class.
Therefore, it was very lively when Great-aunt returned to the fu. Old Madame Cheng had been talking about it for a long time. Princess Qingfu was always on edge, afraid that she would do something wrong. If she offended Great Aunt, she would offend her mother-in-law.
Early in the morning, Cheng Yujin changed into her new clothes for meeting guests. She wore a jade red jacket with four horse-faced skirts. Because she was not married yet, her hair was not too gorgeous. She wore a pair of silver gilt lace hairpins. The top of the hairpins was inlaid with white and red jade to form the shape of butterflies playing with flowers. A sparkling and translucent ruby was embedded in the flower stem. A hairpin was inserted into the top of her hair. It was the same style, but the red and white colors were switched. When Cheng Yujin changed into this outfit, she really looked like a beauty from a painting.
Cheng Yujin went to pay her respects to her aunt. When Cheng Min returned to her mother's home this time, she brought back all the children from her room. The thirteen to fourteen year old girls and boys gathered together. Even from afar, one could hear the joyous sounds. The maidservant at the door reported, "Eldest Miss is here." Cheng Min turned around and saw the girl walking in through the door. Her eyes brightened.
Cheng Yujin came in to greet Cheng Min. Her voice was neither fast nor slow, and her salutation was very standard. When she squatted down, the corners of her skirt and the hairpin on her head did not sway at all. Cheng Min clicked her tongue in wonder. She turned to Princess Qingfu and said, "How did sister-in-law teach this girl? I'm so envious. If the one in our family could be half as sensible as Sister Jin, I would be happy even if I had to shorten my life by a few years. "
Princess Qingfu declined with a smile. Xu Nianchun, who was in the comparison group that Cheng Min mentioned, snorted unhappily and pouted. "Mother, you're always mocking me. If you like Eldest Cousin so much, you might as well take her back to be your daughter. "
Old Lady Cheng laughed when she heard this. She pointed at Xu Nianchun and said to the others, "Look, this is a jealous person."
Cheng Min unhappily pinched Xu Nianchun and pretended to scold him. "You talk too much. If you don't talk, no one will think you're mute. I want to take your Eldest Cousin back to be my daughter, but I'm afraid your Eldest Aunt won't be willing. "
Qingfu smiled and said, "It's her good fortune to be valued by this great aunt. In my opinion, Nianchun is lively and delicate. I'm very willing to have a daughter like her."
Xu Nianchun immediately ran to Princess Qingfu's side and acted spoiled. Old Lady Cheng was so amused that she could not close her mouth. The other ladies also covered their handkerchiefs and laughed. For a moment, Shou 'an Hall was filled with joy.
Cheng Yujin also laughed along. But when she saw this scene, her heart couldn't help but ache. Xu Nianchun could unscrupulously quarrel with her aunt and run to Princess Qingfu's side to act spoiled. Cheng Yumo could also fall into the arms of the Nguyễn Clan and laugh.
Then what about her?
The entire hall was lively, but it had nothing to do with her.
But even so, Cheng Yujin could not show the slightest bit of disappointment. She still had to laugh and tease everyone, trying to please Old Lady Cheng. Cheng Min laughed for a while before casually turning her head. She was surprised to see Cheng Yujin standing in the warm room, gently looking at everyone and laughing.
Cheng Min didn't know why her heart was moved. She carefully looked at Cheng Yujin and found that her niece's appearance was surprisingly good. The clothes were red and the jewelry was gold and rubies. If it was someone else, it would be tacky. But when Cheng Yujin wore it, it was bright and beautiful. It was as if the world's most precious jewels and gems were meant to be matched with Cheng Yujin.
The only regret was that Cheng Yujin was still young, and this outfit looked very formal on her. In a few more years, when Cheng Yujin grew to seventeen or eighteen, her eyebrows and eyes would blossom, and her figure would become more slender. How radiant and beautiful would she be, a peerless beauty?
After Cheng Min finished looking, she couldn't help but ask Princess Qingfu, "Da sao, da guniang's dress is beautiful. I've never seen the gold and jade jewelry on her head before. Did da sao give it to you?"
Qingfu looked at it and replied, "It's the dowry that mufei prepared for me when I got married. I'm old and don't need it, so I gave it to the girls to wear. "
Cheng Min let out an "aiyo" sound and said with envy, "Da sao is so kind to the children. Da guniang was reincarnated as your daughter. Da guniang must have accumulated several lifetimes' worth of good fortune."
In fact, when Cheng Yujin entered the Nguyễn Clan, she had noticed her headwear. Now that Cheng Min had started, she could openly look at it. After carefully looking at it, the Nguyễn Clan's mood became even more complicated.
The entire necklace was made of solid gold. Not to mention the large pieces of jade and gems inlaid on it, even the Nguyễn Clan didn't have such expensive jewelry. But Cheng Yujin, an unmarried girl, was wearing three or four of them. Looking at the style, she should have a complete set.
The Nguyễn Clan felt a little jealous. She was obviously her daughter, but because of money, she called someone else her mother. Sure enough, the one with milk was the mother. When the other girls saw this, they were also envious and jealous.
To be able to recognize Princess Qingfu as her mother, Cheng Yujin had really profited greatly.
During this process, Cheng Yujin smiled and didn't move, allowing everyone to look at her. She clearly saw the expressions in everyone's eyes, but her heart didn't waver. Everyone said that she had gained a big advantage, but Cheng Yujin would rather have never been adopted.
This was indeed given to her by Princess Qingfu. Princess Qingfu had always cared about these face projects. If a biological mother prepared jewelry for her daughter, would she specially put it on display and loudly announce it to the world?
Of course not.
So she had to be tactful and wear Princess Qingfu's kindness to her, so that others would praise Princess Qingfu's kindness. At the same time, it was a blunt cut on Cheng Yujin's self-esteem.
Cheng Yujin couldn't help but laugh at herself. She had a lot of beautiful and expensive headwear, bracelets, and so on, but after so many years, she almost didn't have any ready-made money on hand. She was just a beautiful signboard. She looked good on the outside, but in fact, she couldn't even turn her own life around.
The adults were full of praise for Cheng Yujin, but in the ears of the young girls in the room, it was a completely different matter.
The young girls' expressions weren't very good. Xu Nianchun looked at Cheng Yujin and secretly curled his lips. Cheng Yujin just pretended not to see. When she was very young, she knew that her female cousins, and even her male cousins, didn't like her.
Since she was young, her parents had always called her a child of another family. After a long time, it would be strange if her popularity was good.
But so what? Cheng Yujin silently thought in her heart. As long as the elders liked her, that was enough.
Cheng Min rarely returned to her maternal home, so she had a lot to say to Old Lady Cheng. Soon, the children were sent to the Bao Mansion to play by the adults.
Without the elders watching, the group of boys and girls immediately became lively. The young girls sat in groups of twos and threes. Cheng Yumo had just sat down when a young man in red jumped in front of her. "Younger Sister Mo, have you recovered from your illness?"
The Langjun who spoke had a jade-like face and bright black eyes. Even when he didn't smile, he still had a bit of affection. He was Cheng Min's only son, the second young master of the Duke House of Chang, Xu Zhixian.
Xu Nianchun saw him and scolded jokingly. "Second Brother, there are so many of us. Why are you only asking about Younger Sister Mo?"
Xu Zhixian said, "Younger Sister Mo is sick. Of course it's different."
Xu Nianchun laughed mockingly. Cheng Yumo covered her mouth with a handkerchief and laughed. "I'm much better. Thank you for your concern."
Xu Nianchun wanted to see the world in chaos. "Fortunately, Older Sister Mo has recovered. My Second Brother didn't ask in vain."
The building was full of young girls. When they heard this, they all laughed. Xu Zhixian didn't feel uncomfortable in the group of sisters. He laughed and played with the sisters.
In the midst of the laughter, a group of servant girls came in. Cheng Yujin walked in the center and ordered the servant girls. "Bring another charcoal brazier. Make sure it's silver. Open the window on the east side to ventilate the room. It's hot and dry. "
"Yes."
The servant girls walked in in a single file, and under Cheng Yujin's command, they quickly rearranged the entire building. Cheng Yujin stood on the ground and commanded calmly. The aura she exuded immediately distinguished her from the girls who were playing around.
The girls were a bit uncomfortable. Cheng Yujin's presence made them look like children. Xu Zhixian said with a smile, "Sister Jin is really amazing. She's commanding so many servant girls and is still calm."
Cheng Yujin nodded and smiled at Xu Zhixian. Xu Nianchun made a sound and deliberately said, "Eldest Older Sister and Second Older Sister are the same age. Why does Second Brother call Second Older Sister Mo Younger Sister, but call Eldest Older Sister Sister Jin?"
Xu Zhixian scratched his head. He was really stumped by the question. "I don't know. Sister Jin … should be called Sister Jin."
Could it be that he should call her Younger Sister Jin? Xu Zhixian felt that something was wrong just thinking about it.
Cheng Yujin said with a smile, "It's fine. We're all siblings. Second Young Master can call her whatever you want."
As Cheng Yujin said this, she carefully looked at Xu Zhixian in front of her.
She didn't care about it before, but now it seemed that Xu Zhixian was an easy choice for a husband.
Although no one from the Duke House of Chang held an important position in the imperial court and was inevitably going downhill, they were also good-for-nothings. How could the Marquis of Yichun have the face to be picky? At the very least, the Xu Family was still a duke's household. Moreover, Cheng Min was her aunt. It was better for her to be a daughter-in-law than a stranger. She heard that the Duke House of Chang was controlled by the eldest branch's daughter-in-law. Presumably, Cheng Min was very willing to have another person to help her. Finally, Xu Zhixian grew up with a pile of daughters. When he was young, he was raised by his elder sister who was more than ten years older than him. Later on, he had many female cousins. A man who grew up like this wasn't very promising and lacked a bit of manliness. However, his personality was really gentle and easy to control.
The more Cheng Yujin looked at him, the more satisfied she was. She used to look down on the Duke House of Chang. She didn't even consider a rich playboy like Xu Zhixian. However, now that she had broken off the engagement, it was time for her to make a new plan. Cheng Yujin loved money and power. It was impossible for her to accompany a man through thick and thin. Looking at it this way, Xu Zhixian was just right.
Cheng Yujin made up her mind and smiled at Xu Zhixian very gently.
Xu Zhixian inexplicably felt a chill on his back. He turned around and thought that the cold wind might have come in because the window was opened too wide.
After that, Cheng Yujin took care of Xu Zhixian. After lunch, Old Lady Cheng wanted to take an afternoon nap. The younger generation didn't have anyone to look after them, so they mingled and played together. Cheng Yujin thought that this was a heaven-sent opportunity. She didn't know when she would see Xu Zhixian again. She had to take advantage of this period of time to settle this gentle and affectionate man.
Cheng Yuanz came in from outside. When he entered, he happened to see Cheng Yujin looking at a man with a thoughtful expression.
Cheng Yuanz's eyebrows twitched slightly. It was really a pleasant surprise. Every time he saw Cheng Yujin, he had a new discovery.
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