Arrogant and domineering because of his good looks: His Majesty always pretends to be righteous

The couple were chased out by Old Lady Xia, and Lin could only sigh, her expression gloomy.

Xia Linyuan gently put her arm around her shoulder and whispered, "Don't worry, Mother is all bark and no bite. She's already figured it out, she's just too proud to admit it."

Lin looked worried. "I hope so."

The couple returned to the east room, and Xiao Lü didn't dare to come over. Instead, she carried Xia Rongliu to the west room, and the room fell silent for a moment.

After a long while, Xia Zhishu said guiltily, "It was all my fault today. Yue'er, I promise you, this will never happen again!"

Madam Lin wasn't one to hold a grudge. She was gentle by nature and knew that Xia Zhishu was just a bit too kind-hearted. His mother had doted on him since he was little, making him quite naive. If he truly had feelings for Wang Jiaying, he wouldn't have gone on a hunger strike to beg for her hand in marriage. So she softened her voice and said, "I know your heart."

Xia Zhishu felt a pang of sorrow in his heart, lowered his head, and hugged Lin Shi in his arms, whispering, "I will never let you down."

Having witnessed such a farce, Aunt Zhao sighed as she led Brother Rang back into the house. Leaning against the old woman beside her, she said, "If you ask me, Zhishu has truly married a good wife."

The old woman nodded in deep agreement: "That's right. Even those well-educated ladies from prominent families might not be so understanding and capable of letting go. Madam, you won't have to worry about your family anymore. With such a clever and insightful sister-in-law, you'll have no trouble making a good life!"

The younger sister-in-law also said, "Sister-in-law Lin is such a good person. If it were me who had just happened, I'm afraid I would have been too angry to say a word. But she was able to think things through clearly, acted decisively, and always came out on the right side. Everyone who heard her was convinced."

Aunt Zhao sighed softly, "It would be best if you could learn more from them, so that you'll have some direction when you get married in the future. Right now, I just hope they can live happily together. I won't be staying here many times anyway, and ultimately, they'll have to live their own lives."

The younger sister-in-law always respected her as her sister-in-law, and quickly agreed.

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

When Wang Jiaying and her aunt returned home, Wang Runfa was shocked to see the mother and daughter return, one with tears streaming down her face and the other looking ashen. He exclaimed, "What happened?! Did something bad happen on the way?"

Aunt Wang glared at her and snapped, "Pah! Stop talking such discouraging things!"

Relieved by the rebuke, Wang Runfa thought that since the person was still able to get angry, it must be nothing serious. He smiled apologetically and said, "My dear aunt, then tell me, what exactly happened?"

Aunt Wang sat down in her chair resentfully: "What could possibly happen? She was just trying so hard to curry favor, and in the end, she was rejected!"

After saying that, he glanced angrily at Wang Jiaying, who was crying her eyes out, and then, with a long face, told her the whole story.

This left not only Aunt Wang speechless, but even Wang Runfa, who had traveled all over the country and prided himself on his thick skin, feeling a little embarrassed: "Oh dear... what have you done! You two are such a perfect couple, sister-in-law and in-laws... sigh!"

"You're being foolish! Ying'er is so young, how could you encourage her to do such a thing! If a young woman's chastity is ruined like this, how will she ever get married!"

Aunt Wang exploded upon hearing this: "Me, instigating? You ask who instigated it! I already said, Xia Zhishu can only write two characters, why bother!"

"Putting aside our family a few years ago, who in the whole town can compare to us these past few years? Instead of paying a poor scholar a pittance, we might as well spend a little more money to find a proper scholar!"

"But they wouldn't listen. They stubbornly insisted on catching Xia Zhishu, that straight-headed, poor bastard, and even secretly followed him into the house, putting on this wonderful show of catching him in bed with someone else!"

Wang Jiaying's eyes were swollen from crying, but she still stubbornly insisted, "I just love Brother Zhishu!"

"You like it?" These words instantly ignited all of Aunt Wang's anger. "If you like it, you should see if they like you or not! Do they even respect you? Not only did you offer yourself up, but you didn't even succeed! If it weren't for the fact that the Xia and Lin families are well-known to you, you should have already jumped into the well and committed suicide. How dare you stand here crying and spouting nonsense! Bah!"

"Alright!" Seeing the mother and daughter arguing more and more uncontrollably, Wang Runfa frowned deeply. "This matter ends here. Don't mention it again. As for Ying'er's marriage, I've already made plans for it. I tolerated you before, but I never expected you to do something so foolish. Don't even think about it anymore. I will find you a suitable husband!"

Before Wang Jiaying could say anything more, Wang Runfa's cold glare silenced her. She could only look at her aunt with a wronged expression, but her aunt was also angry and turned her head away, refusing to look at her.

Wang Jiaying was at a loss and burst into tears.

Unfortunately, no one was willing to comfort her anymore.

……

In the evening, Xiao Lü came over to scout out the situation. Shen Shi looked at the sneaky Xiao Lü, chuckled, and beckoned her over: "Is Yin Yin awake?"

Seeing that the atmosphere inside the room was quite pleasant, Xiao Lü mustered her courage and said with a grin, "The young lady woke up a long time ago, and quietly got dressed. She's playing with her little tiger."

The couple couldn't help but smile, and Xia Zhishu asked, "Have you had any steamed egg custard?"

After Xia Rongliu turned six months old, she refused to breastfeed, leaving Madam Shen quite helpless. When she was pregnant, she often heard people say that it was difficult to wean a child, and that children from wealthy families breastfed until they were six or seven years old. She also had plenty of breast milk, but she did not expect that her child would beg for milk. Helpless, she could only make some egg custard mixed with minced fish to coax her to eat.

"No, the young lady said she wanted to use it with her father and mother."

Xia Rongliu's obedient and adorable nature truly won over her parents' hearts. Madam Lin's heart melted completely. She quickly went to the west room, picked up Xia Rongliu, and tapped her little nose: "From now on, don't worry about your father and mother. You have to eat your fill first, understand?"

Xia Rongliu nodded obediently, but she was very calm. It was just one less meal. She only hoped that her parents would not quarrel in this lifetime.

In her previous life, Xia Rongliu had no worries about food and drink, but her family was a mess. Her father married seven or eight concubines, and although her mother was the legal wife, she was angered by those concubines and her health deteriorated, resulting in her being born with health problems. She grew up in a medicine pot, and neither her mood nor her body was as happy as in this life.

Therefore, Xia Rongliu was genuinely happy to see the couple reconcile.

As they were talking, Xiao Lü brought out the dishes: simple white porridge, a few side dishes, and some pickled vegetables from last year. The Xia family didn't have many hands; besides Xiao Lü, who came with Lin Shi, there was only an old woman in the kitchen. Fortunately, the Xia family wasn't one to cause trouble and didn't try to put on a show, so they lived a contented life.

These pickled vegetables were one of Lin's specialties. The most ordinary vegetables became salty, fragrant, and crisp in Lin's hands, and they were perfect with white porridge. The couple had dinner with their daughter and then went to bed.