If not abolished

"Mother, you won't support my naive idea, right?" Hu Rong looked at his mother's expression and asked about a possibility he had never expected.

The old lady sighed, "Whether you believe it or not, I really don't support Xi'er entering the palace. You know what the palace is. Let's not talk about whether Xi'er has the cunning to survive in the palace. Besides, Xi'er is in poor health and may not be able to survive in the future. This will not benefit the family much. If you are not careful, if Xi'er gets into trouble in the palace, it will affect the family. You can't just see the benefits of this. There are dangers under the overwhelming wealth. I don't think Xi'er has the ability."

Hu Rong listened to the old lady's words and thought about it. It made sense, but it would be a pity to give up such a good opportunity. "Son knows that mother has always loved her son very much, but you also have to think about your family and your grandchildren."

"What you said, if I don't agree, it means I don't care about my family and my grandson?"

"That's not what my son meant."

"What do you mean by 'not this'?" The old lady was so angry at her son's words that she was out of breath and her chest heaved even more violently.

Hu Rong was also emotional after hearing what his mother said, "What do you think, mother? This matter is basically a foregone conclusion. What can we change?"

The old lady had a headache the whole night yesterday, and now she put forward her own idea: "However, Xu'er has reached the age for marriage, so why not arrange a marriage for her first? If she is arranged first, she can wait two years before getting married. With the engagement, even if the palace wants to do something, it won't matter..."

"Mother, do you know what you are saying? If the palace knew about this, it would be a serious crime of deceiving the emperor and destroying the family!" Hu Rong said loudly.

Of course the old lady knew that the current situation was a stupid move, but she still wondered if there might be a glimmer of hope. Now that she was awakened by her son, she clearly realized that this was no longer possible.

"I really don't understand why mother rejected such a good thing so strongly. How can you conclude that it would be bad for my son to enter the palace? What if this is a chance for my Hu family to rise? Mother, do you still remember the auspicious sign when my son was born? It has always been said that my son will have great fortune in the future. Now it seems that this great fortune is about to come. Why is mother saying this? I don't understand. Please tell me."

"I know that with such huge interests at stake, you won't believe anything I say now. I only ask one thing of you." The old lady saw that her son was not convinced, so she didn't waste any more words.

Hu Rong asked, "Mother, please speak."

"Since this matter has already been settled, you should stop interfering in it. Do you promise?"

Hu Rong thought that as long as nothing unexpected happened to Si'er, the matter was basically a foregone conclusion, so he naturally would not intervene, lest he make things worse. "Son listens to mother, but mother also doesn't want to..."

"I, the old woman, have no other options. Even if I intervene, I can't change the outcome."

A few days later, Mrs. Hu, who had been pretending to be sick, really became so sick that she couldn't get up. Her condition became more severe and she consulted many doctors but her condition did not improve. They only said that the old lady was depressed and needed to think it through.

"Grandma, are you worrying too much about your granddaughter?" Hu Shanxiang asked when she saw that no one was around. Although her grandmother didn't say anything, even her father came to talk to her but didn't say anything to her. She was also uneasy during this period, always feeling that something was about to happen.

"I'm afraid that your grandmother deceived the gods before, and now it has come true. What does it have to do with Xu'er?" The old lady comforted her.

Hu Shanxiang still felt that her grandmother was not telling the truth, and thought about asking her second brother to find out.

"Grandma, please don't worry about us. Children and grandchildren will have their own blessings. Grandma, take a good rest and get well soon. You will accompany your granddaughter to appreciate the flowers next month."

"Okay, grandma promises you, get well soon and go with Si'er." The old lady finally smiled, but she was in great pain. Her poor Si'er, if she knew that the straw she thought was a life-saving straw was actually the abyss she wanted to escape from, how uncomfortable would she be? If I told her the truth, would she be able to bear it? It's better to wait for her to think about whether there is any other way. Even if it can't change Si'er's entry into the palace, if it can be postponed for a few years... in case there are other variables, who knows.

Hu Shanxiang came out from Old Madam Hu's place and went straight to Hu Xuan.

Hu Xuan saw his sister coming from a distance and was about to run away first. However, he trembled in his heart when he saw Hu Shanxiang, and always felt that something bad was going to happen.

"Second brother, why did you run when you saw me?" Hu Shanxiang also saw her brother early in the morning and ran over to call him.

Seeing that he couldn't escape, Hu Xuan said, "Of course not. I just remembered that my eldest brother wants to talk to me about something, so I have to go over right away. You can talk to me later if you have anything to say. I'm leaving first." After saying that, Hu Xuan was ready to run, but he didn't expect that Hu Shanxiang was faster than him. She held him back desperately, and he couldn't break free for a while.

"Third sister, what are you doing? How can you behave like this? If mother finds out, she will punish you again. Let your brother go." Hu Xuan couldn't break free and began to reason.

"Then answer my question first, second brother? If you answer, I'll let you go."

Hu Xuan also had a headache when he saw her leaning on him, "Okay, okay, what do you want to ask? I'll tell you."

Hu Shanxiang still didn't dare to let him go, and just kept holding him and asked, "What is the identity of Second Brother's colleague? Why did Grandmother seem to be hiding something from me after talking to you?"

When Hu Xuan heard about this, alarm bells immediately went off in his mind. Sure enough, it was no good that his third sister came to see him. Since his grandmother hadn't said anything, if he told the story, then if something went wrong, he would be doomed. What should he do? "I only agree to answer one of your two questions. Think about it, which one do you want me to tell you?"

"I..." Hu Shanxiang thought for a moment, "The first one."

Hu Xuan thought to herself, he is doomed, why is his life so miserable? It seems he cannot stay at home for a while, for fear of being beaten. “Why are you so curious about him? Wait until you see him next time and ask him in person if there is really something wrong with your brother.” Hu Xuan broke free from his restraints and ran away while she was not paying attention.

"Second brother." Hu Shanxiang stamped her feet in anger when she saw him running away.

For several days, her second brother didn't come back. It seemed that he was trying to avoid her. Hu Shanxiang didn't know who to ask about this.

Just at this moment, He Yunyue handed in a letter and asked her about her recent situation. Eh, isn't this the person who can get information?