The wind is gentle and the fun is endless

Madam Xie exchanged a few more polite words with Duke Dingguo and his wife in Jing Garden. She estimated that everything had been almost arranged with Nanny Zhang, so she sent someone to send Duke Dingguo and her aunt back.

After entering the courtyard, Duke Dingguo arranged for the others to wait in the courtyard, and only he and his aunt entered the house. As soon as he entered the house, Duke Dingguo mentioned the matter of returning to Beijing: "I see that you have been living here for quite a while, it's time to go back. What's it like to always live in your mother's house?"

The eldest aunt snorted coldly and said, "If you want me to go back, then show some sincerity. Do you want me to go back just by saying something casually?"

Duke Dingguo also snorted coldly, "I came here out of sincerity, to give you face. But you, just now, opposed me in front of so many people and ignored my face. What do you mean by that?"

The eldest aunt pretended to be surprised and asked, "What do you mean? Think about the good things you have done. Have you ever considered my face? You still have the nerve to ask me what I mean."

Duke Dingguo was speechless for a moment. The eldest aunt glanced at him with disdain and said, "I'm telling you, if I don't make things clear, don't even think about asking me to go back until I've dealt with that little bitch."

Duke Dingguo sneered at this time and said, "I'm telling you, if your eldest cousin hadn't asked me repeatedly, I wouldn't have come to see you. I even had to bring my own cups and bowls when I came here. I don't want to stay in this shabby place for a moment. Don't be ungrateful when I give you a way out."

The eldest aunt sneered, "What kind of flattery? Don't think I don't know what you are planning. Don't you just want me to agree to take that little bitch as a concubine, and then register the bastard child she gives birth to under my name, and let that bastard inherit the title?"

The eldest uncle said angrily: "What a bastard! Watch your words! I tell you! Bin'er will definitely be the future Duke of Dingguo, but you may not be the Duke's wife any more soon!

This shocked my aunt. She looked at my uncle with an unreasonable expression and said, "What do you mean by that? I have been married to your Cheng family for so many years. I have worked hard for you and your extravagant family. Now you want to repay kindness with hatred?"

Duke Dingguo flicked his sleeves, raised his head proudly, put his hands behind his back, and said, "I'm doing you a favor? You are a merchant's daughter, and you can become the wife of a duke. It's our Cheng family that has done you a favor!"

The eldest aunt held the handkerchief tightly in her hand, patted her chest excitedly and said: "I am the cousin of the current emperor! My grandfather was a fourth-rank official! My eldest cousin is now a second-rank official, and my two cousins are both officials in the court. If my brother who was so talented had not died suddenly from poisoning, he would have been an official by now! My family members are all successful because of their talents. Any one of them is better than those playboys in your family who spend their days in debauchery and indulge in debauchery! I am absolutely worthy of being the wife of a duke! But you! Don't forget how you became the Duke of Dingguo!"

Duke Dingguo burst out laughing. He said with undisguised sneer, "I've really learned something new. There are still people who flatter me like this! She's the emperor's cousin, is she within the five degrees of mourning? How dare you bring this up all day long? I can become Duke Dingguo because of my ancestors' blessing and my outstanding talent. I can stand out among so many brothers..."

"Bah! You can only compete with your group of unlearned brothers. If I hadn't helped you to behave in front of your parents-in-law, with your dandy habits and those messy romantic affairs, how could you have won the favor of your parents-in-law?" The eldest aunt interrupted her uncle mercilessly.

"You..." Duke Dingguo pointed at his aunt angrily and said, "You are so capable, why can't you give birth to a son?"

The eldest aunt retorted without losing any momentum: "You have been a noble concubine, a good concubine, and a lowly concubine, but you still haven't given birth to a son? Didn't you end up having an illegitimate child with a maid? Besides, if I had given birth to a son, would you not have been having an affair with that little bitch? You think too highly of yourself!"

The eldest uncle shouted unyieldingly, "You are the one who thinks highly of yourself now! Do you think the Duke's Mansion can't do without you? I'm telling you, Hongwen, who you forced to stay to help you, is much more capable than you in managing the Duke's Mansion! And you are already a superfluous old woman! If you go back today and recognize Bin'er and Hongwen, I can still give you a status based on our years of love as husband and wife. Otherwise, don't blame me for being heartless and kicking you out!"

The Duke of Dingguo's last words sounded extremely resolute. The eldest aunt shuddered, took a half step back, and said angrily, "You divorced your wife for a lowly maid who was in collusion with you. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"

Duke Dingguo glared and said, "It's ridiculous to have no son to inherit the title!"

Afterwards, the eldest aunt and Duke Dingguo fell into silence, each with their own thoughts.

The silence lasted for some time, and finally Duke Dingguo broke it, looking at his aunt with contempt and saying, "Pack up and follow me back to the capital tomorrow."

The expressionless eldest aunt glanced at Duke Dingguo and said firmly, "No! I have something to do."

Upon hearing this, Duke Dingguo's face turned livid. He gritted his teeth and said, "If you don't go back with me this time, I will never come back to pick you up a second time. I ask you again, will you go back?"

The eldest aunt raised her head and said firmly: "No!"

Duke Dingguo glared, then suddenly opened the door and shouted to the servants waiting outside: "Go home!"

The servants outside the door were busy moving the luggage. When they heard this, they stopped and looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Duke Dingguo said angrily: "Didn't you hear me? I said go back home!"

The servants were in a panic, some almost dropped the cups they had brought, some hurriedly repacked the luggage they had just opened, and some hurried out of the yard to the stable to get the horses and the carriage.

Duke Dingguo turned around but kept opening the door. He gritted his teeth and looked at his aunt fiercely. He snorted coldly before stepping out of the door, slamming the door shut and walking away.

There was a loud bang of the door closing, but the aunt in the room was not moved at all. She still maintained the same sitting posture, but there was a hint of fierceness in her eyes.

Madam Xie was entertaining Manager Cao and his wife in the main hall when she suddenly saw Duke Dingguo come in. She quickly stood up with a smile on her face. Manager Cao and his wife also stood up upon seeing this.

Duke Dingguo glanced at the unfamiliar Cao and his wife, who were smiling like businessmen who make money through kindness. Madam Xie introduced them, "Brother-in-law, this is Cao and his wife, who are visiting us. They have come all the way from Lingnan."

After hearing this, Duke Dingguo just glanced at Manager Cao and his wife from top to bottom with a cold look, and then looked away, making Manager Cao, who was already preparing to bow and was about to speak, feel very embarrassed.

Duke Dingguo said to Madam Xie in a calm tone, "Sister-in-law, we have important matters to attend to in the Duke's Mansion, so we have to go back now."

The Cao couple, who were already angry and ready to lose their temper, froze in place when they heard the word "Duke", their eyes widened in surprise.

Madam Xie was very surprised by this sudden news. She was stunned for a moment and said, "Isn't this... just arrived? I have already arranged to treat you to a feast at noon. Why are you and my sister leaving so suddenly?"

Duke Dingguo replied, "Your sister is reluctant to leave her parents' home and wants to stay longer, so we will go back first. The servants have already prepared everything, and I will say goodbye to you now." After saying this, he turned around and left.

Madam Xie hurriedly chased after him, and casually sent a few servants to each courtyard to inform Xu Qu, Xiangyue and others to go to the main gate to see Duke Dingguo off. She and Manager Cao and others followed Duke Dingguo's footsteps all the way to the outside of the mansion.

Since Duke Dingguo and his entourage had just arrived, the things they brought were basically the same and well prepared. When Madam Xie and the others arrived at the door, the servants had already parked the carriages at the door. Moreover, the eldest aunt had also stood at the door before them, watching the servants of the Xu Mansion and the Duke's Mansion loading the things for the journey onto the carriages one by one.

Duke Dingguo stopped in front of the carriage and looked at the eldest aunt with a cold face. The eldest aunt looked back at Duke Dingguo calmly, and neither of them spoke. When Madam Xie and Shopkeeper Cao and his wife who followed them also stood beside them, the eldest aunt saw Xu Qu and Huanhuan were still a dozen steps away. She smiled and said to Duke Dingguo: "I checked, the things they brought are enough for you to use on the road, you have to go slowly on the road when your horses are tired."

There was a hint of sneer in Duke Dingguo's eyes, but he still responded, "Okay." Although he didn't even force a smile, his tone was still kind.

When Duke Dingguo finished speaking, Huanhuan and Xu Qu just came up to them. At this time, a servant who looked like a supervisor of the Duke's Mansion reported to Duke Dingguo, "Master, everything is ready."

Duke Dingguo then turned around and said to Madam Xie and her group, "Sister-in-law, we'll go back now." As he was speaking, Xiangyue and Xie Jin came quickly. Duke Dingguo was stunned when he saw Xie Jin. He thought he had seen it wrong, so he blinked and looked over again. When he confirmed that it was Xie Jin, he couldn't help but frown, his eyes full of confusion.

After Xie Jin stood still, Duke Dingguo took the initiative to bow to her and asked, "Is Consort Xie here too?"

Xie Jin bowed in return, and then replied: "Hello, Duke Dingguo. I came to visit my aunt."

Duke Dingguo nodded and was about to say something when his aunt interrupted him with a smile, "It's a long journey, get in the carriage quickly."

Duke Dingguo glanced at his aunt, turned around and got on the carriage. Before lowering the curtain, he looked at his aunt meaningfully and said to her in a calm tone, "If Madam has lived long enough at her parents' home, she can return home on her own."

My aunt smiled and nodded in response.

Then, the carriages and horses from the Duke's Mansion left in a hurry amid the dust, just as they had arrived so suddenly and hurriedly.

As the carriages of the Duke's Mansion disappeared from sight, the fierce and sharp look in the aunt's narrowed eyes gradually calmed down. She turned around and smiled at Madam Xie and others who were seeing her off, saying, "Okay, let's go back quickly."

Mrs. Xie asked her aunt cautiously, "Sister, the last few times my brother-in-law came, he stayed overnight. This time, he came from such a long distance, but he only stayed for less than half a day before leaving. I wonder if we didn't treat him well enough."

The eldest aunt took Madam Xie's hand and said with a smile, "No, of course not. He had something else to do so he was in a hurry to go back. Besides, how far is the journey? It's not a long journey, nor is it rugged and dangerous. If he wants to go back, let him go back. Don't worry about him. Let's go about our business."

At this time, Shopkeeper Cao stepped forward and said to the aunt with a big smile on his face: "Cao and my wife came to Shanghuai this time and not only met the Crown Prince's Consort, but also met dignitaries like the Duke Dingguo and his wife. It was really worth the trip."

The eldest aunt smiled at Shopkeeper Cao and said, "Shopkeeper Cao, you are so polite. It is fate that we meet. I heard that you and your wife are leaving. We must plan carefully for the remaining days and settle all the things that need to be settled."

Manager Cao's expression froze for a moment, but he quickly gave a dry laugh and replied, "Yes, yes. But I have to go to the governor's house this afternoon, so why not come back and discuss it later."

At this time, Mrs. Xie said, "No problem, it's almost time, let's go back and have lunch first." So the group entered Xu's house and walked towards Jingyuan.