The wind is gentle and the fun is endless

After much persuasion, the aunt reluctantly agreed to change the time for standing slowly to one hour.

Although it is already autumn, the sun is still very hot in the afternoon. Standing slowly in the courtyard of Jingyuan, I frowned in the sun, but my heart was chilled.

From being dragged to Jingyuan to standing in this yard, everything seemed like a dream. Huanhuan just realized what had happened: because he slapped a mosquito on Xu Qu's face, he was punished by his aunt and had to stand in the yard for an hour.

Occasionally, servants would come and go in the yard, and they would secretly glance at the young lady, then shake their heads and sigh.

Occasionally, whispers drifted into Huanhuan's ears:

"This aunt is showing off her power again!"

"That's right. This time he's not going to take it out on us, but is going to punish the young lady."

"This is to show off your power to the new daughter-in-law!"

"Oh, keep your voice down. If our aunt hears us, we'll be in trouble."

"Yes, yes, let's go quickly."

Huanhuan stood there alone. It would be a lie to say she wasn't embarrassed. She thought to herself: Did I really make a big mistake? The answer was of course no. Anyone could see that this was just her aunt making a fuss.

Needless to say, Huanhuan had never been treated like this at her own home, let alone since she married into the Xu family. This only confirmed Huanhuan's worry: her aunt didn't like her as her niece-in-law.

Thinking of this, Huanhuan felt depressed and a little at a loss. Of course, she hoped to get along well with the elders of the Xu family, but what should she do now that her aunt was like this?

Huanhuan was standing in the yard, worrying. In the main room, her aunt was sitting leisurely, drinking tea and chatting with Madam Xie.

She held the small tea tray in one hand and opened the cup lid with the other. She blew gently along the edge of the cup twice with her mouth, took two sips of tea, and then placed the cup on the square table beside her. She picked up a handkerchief and gently wiped the corners of her mouth, exclaiming: "This tea is so fragrant, is it the tea from Qingcha Garden?"

Mrs. Xie smiled and replied, "That's right, Sister has good taste."

The eldest aunt added, "The Duke's Mansion has everything, but when it comes to tea, the tea from Qingcha Garden is better. I often think of the taste when I'm at the Duke's Mansion."

Madam Xie said quickly, "Sister, you should have told me earlier. Bihua sends someone to deliver tea every year. When the new tea comes out next year, I'll ask her to send some to you as well."

"Bihua thinks of you every year. This child is really thoughtful and considerate!" The eldest aunt sighed, and then sighed and said, "Alas, it's a pity that our Qu'er doesn't have this blessing."

After the eldest aunt finished speaking, she stopped talking and fell into deep thought. Mrs. Xie became a little restless after hearing what the eldest aunt said. She only made a "hmm" sound from her mouth, not knowing how to respond.

After a short silence, the eldest aunt looked up and saw Mrs. Xie's slightly embarrassed expression. She suddenly reacted, pounded the hand holding the handkerchief on the other hand, and said, "Look at me, I really said the wrong thing. I don't mean to blame you. It's just..." The eldest aunt pointed to the yard with the handkerchief, but her eyes did not look there. She only shook her head and continued, "Alas, it's just that the one outside now, except for her appearance, is not worthy of being the daughter-in-law of our Xu family in any other way."

"This... Sister, you have heard of Qu'er's marriages over the years. I have been busy with countless of them. Either we don't like the couple, or they don't like the couple. In short, they all failed for various reasons. Only the Feng family is going relatively smoothly."

Seeing that her aunt seemed to have listened to her words, Madam Xie continued, "Furthermore, I specially asked Mr. Du from the Imperial Observatory to compare their horoscopes. You know Mr. Du, he is very trustworthy. He said that Qu'er and Huanhuan's horoscopes are very compatible, and it is a match made in heaven."

Hearing this, the eldest aunt frowned and asked, "Mr. Du said that Qu'er and a girl like this are destined to be together?"

Mrs. Xie seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw, and said confidently: "Sister, it is absolutely true! And..." Mrs. Xie hesitated for a moment, and then said: "After all, she is Qu'er's daughter-in-law. Qu'er likes her, so I can't say anything."

"You said it was what Qu'er liked?" After hearing this, the aunt frowned even more tightly.

"Yes, Qu'er said that he met her at the outing party, and he personally picked out Huanhuan's invitation from among many girls' invitations and gave it to me." Mrs. Xie's words gave her some more confidence.

The eldest aunt felt a little awkward, lowered her eyes and turned to the side. After a moment of silence, she said, "Well, as a stepmother, it's inconvenient for you to say or do more. I can understand that."

When Mrs. Xie heard what her aunt said, she hurried down the stairs and said, "Yes, yes, thank you for your understanding, sister."

Soon, the eldest aunt turned around and said to Mrs. Xie, "In this case, I'm afraid you, as the mother-in-law, will have to endure some hardship."

Mrs. Xie continued, "What do you mean, sister?"

The eldest aunt snorted and said, "Since my daughter-in-law comes from a small family, she must not know many rules. I'm afraid you will need to teach her many things."

Mrs. Xie replied: "Huanhuan is a well-educated and sensible child."

Obviously, the eldest aunt did not agree with this. She waved her handkerchief in front of her and said to Mrs. Xie: "You are too kind and lenient in managing the family. How can such a huge family business run without rules?"

"This... Sister, is there anything I did wrong?" Mrs. Xie also had to be humble.

"That's not the case. It's just that in my opinion, you need to be stricter with this daughter-in-law from a small family. You need to let her know that this big family has rules and that you, as a mother-in-law, have authority."

"Well, Sister, Huanhuan is a very generous and well-behaved child. I can't go too far in correcting her."

The eldest aunt took a sip of tea, put down the cup and said, "Sometimes when managing the household, it's okay to be picky. You have to make her feel a little worried, so that she doesn't do anything against the rules. Then you, as the mother-in-law, will be embarrassed."

Madam Xie hesitated and said, "It's just that few people can do what my sister does. My sister, let me say something that I shouldn't say. It's true that it's true that you can be strict in managing the household, but if the water is too clear, there will be no fish. Since we are at home, can you lower your standards sometimes?"

After hearing this, my aunt didn't say anything. She lowered her eyes and drank two sips of tea in silence.

Mrs. Xie took this opportunity to quickly say, "Sister, I know you love Qu'er the most. For Qu'er's sake, please let Huanhuan go back as a token of your appreciation."

Without even raising her head, the eldest aunt said firmly: "No!"

So Huanhuan really stood there for a whole hour, and when the time was up, the aunt called Huanhuan into the house again.

I slowly walked into the house from the yard where everything was brightly lit by the sun. I was not used to it for a while, and everything in the house seemed dim to me.

She couldn't see her aunt's expression, but she could hear her aunt speaking to her calmly, "No matter what you think, you must remember that today's punishment is a warning to you. From now on, you must respect your husband from the heart to the actions, and think carefully about everything, and never act rashly. Do you remember?"

Huanhuan was a little dizzy from the sun, and answered groggily: "Aunt, I remember."