Noble Lady

"Fool."

Du Jingyuan sighed helplessly, "Let's wash up and clean up first. We also need to go serve tea to the Duke and his wife. We can talk about anything else when we get back."

On the first day of her wedding, if she missed the time to serve tea to her uncle and aunt, she would be the one to be criticized.

Chen Mingxuan nodded first, then said: "...Actually, it doesn't matter if you don't go."

Du Jingyuan: She almost forgot that this Duke's Mansion is not important to Chen Mingxuan.

Instead, it was the people in the Duke's Mansion who wanted to beg him to keep up appearances.

"It's better to go, lest people say that I, the legitimate daughter of the general's mansion, gave my uncle and aunt a hard time on my first day."

Chen Mingxuan thought the same thing and said, "Then go and take a look. If you are not happy, come back immediately."

Du Jingyuan agreed with a smile.

After that, they naturally dressed up, and the newlyweds looked very bright and beautiful, and then went to the Zhengyi Hall.

What happened afterwards was what Chen Lizhu and Du Jingyuan told Xue Chenyu at once—

In the Zhengyi Hall, the old lady who was said to be in poor health was full of energy now; the wife of the Duke looked at Chen Mingxuan's high-spirited look with hatred, but she could only suppress her anger and accept the tea from her daughter-in-law.

Of course, he deliberately made things difficult for the new daughter-in-law, Du Jingyuan, by asking her to serve tea made with freshly boiled hot water.

But Miss Du was not a pushover either. She spilled the tea in front of her, then leaned against Chen Mingxuan and sobbed weakly and pitifully.

Chen Mingxuan had always been at odds with the family, and when he saw his newly married sweetheart suffering such an injustice, he almost started a fight.

It was Chen Lizhu who acted as a go-between and temporarily eased the atmosphere, preventing everyone from leaving in a bad mood.

Later, during the gift-giving session, the Duke's wife was stingy and tried to fool Du Jingyuan with an old hairpin that she didn't know about. Du Jingyuan then gave the Duke's wife the soles of her shoes that she had asked Du Juan to sew for her, which almost made her angry again.

As for the Duke's brothers and sisters, as well as the legitimate sons and illegitimate sons, legitimate daughters and illegitimate daughters of the Duke's generation, plus some of them who have already started families and have children, there are a crowd of about 20 to 30 people.

Du Jingyuan couldn't remember it at all, and of course, Chen Mingxuan himself couldn't remember it either, so he just followed Chen Lizhu and returned the gift in the same way as others gave him.

Therefore, in the end, the only one who was criticized was the Duke's wife.

Duke Chen scolded her face to face: "You have been the Duke's wife for decades, yet you are so narrow-minded. If you can't manage this family well, then step down and let the eldest daughter-in-law take charge."

When Du Jingyuan said this, she also looked at Chen Lizhu's reaction. After all, she was her biological mother, and it was not appropriate to say anything in front of others.

Chen Lizhu smiled bitterly. "Sister-in-law, don't worry about me. Mother has done more than just this one wrong thing. As her daughter, I can't say she deserves it, but I also feel sorry that she is trapped in her own web."

"Besides, the family is so focused on Fifth Brother's marriage, yet Mother still insists on making things difficult for him. She's simply confused."

Du Jingyuan sighed and said with emotion, "Although I don't know much about what happened back then, I have heard some of it. It all comes down to the men, and in the end it's the women who suffer."

As soon as these words were spoken, the three people present fell silent.

Who said no?

If the man hadn't insisted on hugging her left and right, it wouldn't have come to this.

Chen Lizhu rubbed her face and said, "I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but there's an old story that I just heard recently..."

"When my maternal grandparents found out that my father favored Concubine Liu, they asked my mother to divorce him. But it was my mother who didn't want to."

What follows is self-evident.

His family was willing to let him divorce, but he himself was unwilling and he was the one who created Liu's tragedy.

"It's not a good idea to force a man who doesn't have his heart in her." Xue Chenyu didn't want to comment on her, but she felt sorry for them.

The wife of a Duke would marry a man who treats her well, and she would not live half her life in resentment and unrequited love.

If Chen Mingxuan's biological mother, Aunt Liu, had been able to let go of that man, she would not have died at such a young age.

But there is no "if" in this world, and everyone has to pay the corresponding price for their choices.

Chen Lizhu felt something and nodded, then picked up the silver chopsticks and picked up a piece of dessert.

Du Jingyuan, the bride, had already stuffed her mouth full, fearing that she would miss out if she ate too slowly.

This was all because, when they first arrived, Xue Chenyu said, "The dim sum at Xunwei Lou is so rare. If you hadn't come today, the door to Xunwei Lou wouldn't have been open."

Xue Chenyu held her forehead: She was really afraid that this guy would choke to death.

"Logically, today is your first day of marriage, and you should be spending time with your husband. But you called me out, and I thought you did that on your first day of marriage."

The word "divorce" is indeed not pleasant to hear and is not auspicious, so Xue Chenyu chose not to say it.

"I was thinking that too."

Du Jingyuan was indeed choked. She quickly took a sip of tea before saying, "But think about it, we slept separately on our wedding night, and he was called away just after we had served tea to the elders in the morning and before we could go back."

"We didn't even hold hands, how can there be such deep affection?"

Xue Chenyu paused, "Was he called away? Who is so tactless? Not to mention that it's already a year off, His Majesty has already stopped writing. But to call him away on the first day of his wedding is really a lack of judgment."

Du Jingyuan shook her head. "I don't know. He didn't tell me. He left mysteriously without even changing his clothes."

Xue Chenyu thought for a moment. They all saw Chen Mingxuan's feelings for Du Jingyuan, and he didn't seem like the kind of person who would reveal his true colors after tricking a girl into his arms.

Who on earth has such great appeal that he calls out the man who should have been at home being affectionate with his new wife on the first day of their wedding?

After thinking about it, she only thought of one person.

The Crown Prince of King Cheng, Situ Zhen.

He should have returned to Beijing secretly.

But Xue Chenyu didn't say anything about this.

"It's better that he is busy with official business, so you don't have to make up stories to lie to him." Xue Chenyu said jokingly.

Du Jingyuan immediately became unhappy: "What do you mean by lying? When have I ever lied to him?" It was obvious that his family had arranged the marriage for him, but they didn't even look at the engagement letter, otherwise how could they not know his name.

"Also, Xue Xiaoyu, don't think you can get out of the bet this way."

Xue Chenyu rolled her eyes. "Don't judge me with your petty mind. When did I ever say I wanted to break the bet? Once I say something, I can't go back on it."

Chen Lizhu also said: "Don't worry, sister-in-law, you are now my fifth sister-in-law, and I can't deny it anymore."

Du Jingyuan snorted, took a sip of tea, but tears accidentally fell.

"Thank you for the dowry. I..." Before she could finish her words, she couldn't help but burst into tears.

Xue Chenyu took out a handkerchief and pressed the corners of her eyes. "Why are you crying for no reason? If someone didn't know, they would think we were bullying you."

Du Jingyuan pouted. It would have been fine if she didn't say anything, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she felt aggrieved. She was obviously very happy, but she wanted to cry as soon as she spoke.

"Okay, why do you say these things to your own sister? If I get married again in the future, just prepare a generous dowry for me." Xue Chenyu never stops talking until she shocks the audience.

Du Jingyuan was startled when she heard this, then said, "That's right. You can't lose confidence in the future just because of a useless thing. But you have to choose carefully. There are not many men in the world who are worthy of you."

Xue Chenyu: What misunderstanding do you have about me?

There are many men in the world who have noble character and noble status.

But on second thought, women are inherently noble, so there is nothing wrong with saying this in a sense.

They ate, drank and chatted for a while, and the event ended with Chen Mingxuan coming to Xunweilou to pick someone up.

Xue Chenyu also said goodbye tactfully and left.

But when she got on the carriage, she felt inexplicably nervous and had a feeling that something was going to happen.