If not abolished

Hu Shanji was dragged to his own courtyard by Aunt Liu. Although he was angry with his wife, he could not vent his anger to his mother.

After the two of them sat down, Aunt Liu held her daughter's hand and looked left and right, not willing to blink.

When Hu Shanji saw his mother like this, he couldn't hold back his tears.

"Good child, why are you crying? If someone sees you, you will become a laughing stock. Stop crying." As he spoke, he wiped her tears with a handkerchief.

"My daughter hasn't seen her mother for a long time, and she couldn't help herself." Hu Shanji also knew that this was against the rules, and tried hard to control her emotions.

Aunt Liu felt distressed and sighed when she saw her daughter like this: "Mother, I understand. You will have to meet people later. It will be bad if your eyes are swollen from crying."

Hu Shanji wiped his tears and smiled at Aunt Liu: "Yeah. Are you used to living in the capital?"

"I'm fine, don't worry, Madam is not a cruel person, just do your duty."

"That was quite impressive just now."

"Don't blame the madam. This is what the old lady and your father wanted. There is nothing to be afraid of. My daughter is lucky to marry a good son-in-law. She will just live outside for a while. Wait until her son-in-law passes the imperial examination. Who in the family will not look down on us?" Aunt Liu encouraged her daughter.

Hu Shanji couldn't hide her smile when she thought of her husband: "Of course, my husband has always studied hard. Although this is his first time on stage, he is not stage-shy at all."

"That's good, that's good. Your life will be better in the future, and I will be relieved. Your sister's marriage will also be smoother in the future."

"My daughter understands and will not bring shame to her mother, so that others will not only know about my elder sister when talking about our family. She is just the eldest daughter. If I had entered the palace back then, I would not be much worse than her..."

When Aunt Liu heard this, she immediately stopped him in a stern voice: "What nonsense are you talking about? How dare you say such a thing? With your little cleverness, if you really enter the palace, you will survive. Entering the palace is just a superficial glory. Look at your elder sister, it is still unknown whether she can leave the palace in this life."

"I'm just talking. I'm angry because they all say how great the legitimate daughters of the Hu family are." Hu Shanji muttered.

Aunt Liu sighed, "What's the big deal? The third young lady is just taking advantage of your eldest sister. During this period, most of the capital has been saying that the third young lady of the Hu family is a sickly girl. Which noble family's son would marry such a girl in the future? The only difference between my daughter and them is that she is a concubine's daughter. When the son-in-law passes the exam this time, they will talk about you in the future. People have always been like this."

"My daughter knows."

"Don't say what you just said again. Our family has always been against any rift between you brothers and sisters. No matter how much you quarrel at home, it's just over trivial matters. When you are outside, you must stick together and act in unison."

"I understand. If my daughter does well, her life at home will be easier."

Aunt Liu was still very moved when she heard this: "My daughter is ambitious."

"Okay, then you won't say anything. What about you? You are alone in Jining. Your in-laws haven't treated you badly, right? Is your son-in-law good to you?" The mother didn't care about her child, but she still asked a series of questions as soon as they met.

Hu Shanji smiled and said, "Don't worry, mother. I'm fine. Although my family has returned to Beijing and I'm a little lonely, my parents-in-law are very nice people. They don't have a lot of rules. They've never made me break any rules. My husband is very nice to me."

Aunt Liu knew that her daughter only reported good news and not bad news, but seeing her like this, she thought she had not suffered any injustice. Since her daughter did not want to talk about it, she did not dare to ask any more questions. She only said, "This is the best. If you have been wronged, you must tell us, and do not bear it yourself."

"Uh-huh."

"By the way, it's been so long, why is there no movement in your belly?" Aunt Liu asked about the issue of fertility again.

Hearing this, Hu Shanji blushed and said shyly: "Mom, this... this is not just my business?"

"What? Could it be my uncle?"

Hu Shanji was afraid that she would think too much, so he quickly explained: "No, no, it's just that my husband has been preparing for the imperial examination, and I can't disturb him, so it's not very frequent."

"That's right, you are still young. Once you get married, you should prepare to start a career, but you can't delay it for too long." Aunt Liu still reminded.

"It's better for my daughter." Hu Shanji really wanted to end this topic quickly.

The mother and daughter chatted for a while. The fifth girl, Hu Shanhui, heard that her sister was coming, so she ran over to see her.

The mother, daughter and three of them had a good chat again.

"Okay, it's almost time. Your father should be back soon. Get ready and go have dinner." Aunt Liu urged Hu Shanji as it was getting late. The time they spent together was always short and Hu Shanji's eyes were filled with reluctance.

Aunt Liu asked someone to wash her daughter's hair and put on powder again, as her makeup was a little smudged.

"Go ahead, don't keep people waiting." Aunt Liu took her little daughter by the hand and walked her to the door.

Hu Shanji couldn't bear it, so he said, "Mom, why don't you come with us? Father won't say anything. You haven't even seen your own son-in-law properly."

Aunt Liu looked at her daughter holding her hand and refused to let go, so she said, "I won't go. This is against the rules. If the son-in-law sees us, he will say we don't know etiquette."

"Mom~" Hu Shanji's hand was pulled away by Aunt Liu.

"Okay," Aunt Liu said sternly, and then softly, "When my son becomes an official's wife, bring your son-in-law with you. Be good and go. They have been waiting for a long time."

Hu Shanji left, looking back every few steps. Aunt Liu smiled and waved every time she looked back. It was not until Hu Shanji turned the corner and could no longer be seen that she stopped smiling and turned away dejectedly.

After her sister left, Hu Shanhui asked, "Mom, can my second sister come home more often in the future?"

Aunt Liu felt even sadder when she heard her little daughter's words: "Maybe."

The servant at the side spoke cautiously: "Aunt, don't be sad. The second girl has already come to the capital. Are you afraid that you won't have the chance to meet her in the future?"

"That's not that easy. Even if you're lucky enough to pass the exam, you may not be an official in the capital. If you go to work in a local area, we don't know when we'll see each other again." Aunt Liu was almost persuaded by her daughter to go to dinner together. The worst that could happen was that she would be criticized afterwards, but she still held back.

"Mom, don't cry. Xiaowu will accompany you for dinner." Hu Shanhui saw her mother suddenly burst into tears. She didn't know why, so she comforted her mother while reaching out to wipe her tears with her sleeve.

"Well, mother didn't cry, it was just that the wind was strong and she cried." Aunt Liu tried to find an excuse to cover it up, but she couldn't help it, so she squatted down and hugged her little daughter to calm down. After a while, she spoke, "Let's go, let's go eat."

"Ah."