After marriage (2)

  The child is only four or five years old, exquisitely beautiful, with shiny black eyes and a tender yet angular face.

  Huh, why does he look so much like someone...

  Who?

  Yang Guofeng!!!

  It really looks like it!

  Jiuer couldn't help but stare blankly, her eyes fixed on the boy's face.

  Could it be...

  But...

  When she looked at the child, everyone in the house also looked at her, with suspicious, indifferent, worried and gloating gazes.

  It should be!

  Wow, she really didn't expect another surprise waiting for her here...

  Old Lady Meng's gaze, however, only swept across Ninth Sister before moving to Yang Hui'er, her face full of kindness as she scolded, "What are you shouting about? So unruly!"

  "Grandma!" Yang Hui'er immediately leaned against Empress Meng's side and coquettishly said.

  "Go and pay your respects to all the elders!" Old Lady Meng said again.

  Yang Hui'er pouted upon hearing this, seemingly quite unwilling, but in the end still followed instructions and went to pay her respects one by one to those elders.

  "Come here, Cheng Er!" Meng Taifei beckoned to the boy who had been quietly standing with his head down since entering the door.

  The boy immediately walked over obediently.

  Old Lady Meng grasped the child's hand and looked at Ninth Sister, "This is Feng Er's adopted son from last year on the western battlefield!"

  Adopted son... What kind of adopted son is this? Heh...

  "Oh!" She sneered in her heart, but Jiūjiě's face remained expressionless, smiling faintly as she responded softly.

  "Go see your mother!" Seeing her so calm, Old Lady Meng's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, then she instructed the child to take her.

  The child looked at her and then bowed to her, but remained silent.

  "The child's throat is not good and doesn't like to talk!" The Empress Meng looked at the child for a moment, cleared her throat lightly, and said indifferently.

  "Oh, I see." Jiujie smiled and nodded, then handed him a jade lock that she had prepared beforehand.

  The tone of her voice implied that she could naturally hear the rhythm of having done something wrong.

  It's just a pity that she has nothing to worry about anymore, because she has already been disappointed to the bottom!

  Her calm demeanor drew everyone's gaze once again.

  Jiujie's face was even more calm and composed, her back straight as a pen, letting everyone size her up.

  Inner strength is truly invincible!

  Madam Meng couldn't help but reveal a hint of satisfaction in her gaze.

  The ninth sister looked at it and couldn't help but secretly sneer in her heart again.

  She must think she's a very tolerant wife

  At this time, Yang Hui'er on the other end had also finished paying her respects to all the relatives.

  "What's wrong? Just now you were shouting that you wanted to pay respects to your Fourth Aunt, why are you dawdling now?" said Old Lady Meng to Yang Hui'er.

  Yang Hui'er was no longer as enthusiastic as she had been earlier, and now she was talking to a girl of similar age among her relatives. When she heard her grandmother's words, a look of impatience immediately appeared on her face.

  "Long time no see, Fourth Aunt!" Yang Hui'er was taken aback for a moment, but still walked over and gave her a courtesy.

  But obviously, the action was perfunctory and the attitude was cold. After taking the white jade bangle she gave him as a gift, he turned around and went to talk to Little Yang, who was eating hazelnuts peeled by the maid, without even giving her another glance.

  As for the unfriendliness of this little girl, Jiu Jie didn't mind it much.

  This was within her expectations, after all, a niece with an uncle complex, how could she possibly be good to her aunt...

  Yang Guofeng walked into the house at this time, accompanied by Yang Jiaolao Wu Yang Guoqing, Yang Jiasan Yang Guoshou, and Yang Guoshou's eight-year-old son Yang Kun, as well as several close male relatives.

  As soon as he entered the house, Yang Guofeng's black eyes fell on Xiao Yangcheng in the corner of the room. His face couldn't help but stiffen slightly, and immediately turned to look at Jiu Sier.

  This subtle detail had naturally been taken in by Jiu Jie, she couldn't help but lower her head and chuckle.

  What's wrong, illegitimate child exposed in front of her, feeling embarrassed?

  But what's the difference, one more or one less is all the same, anyway there's already a big belly.

  At this moment, she really despised the king who had absolute power, yet couldn't even give his own son a formal name...

  "Long time no see, sister-in-law!" At this moment, Yang Guoqing had already come over to pay his respects.

  Yang Guoqing was twenty-one years old, with a face very similar to Yang Guofeng's, bright and shiny eyes, angular face, but more gentle than Yang Guofeng, with a hint of flying smile between his eyebrows, looking very sunny and handsome.

  The ninth sister hurriedly returned the gift and then took out the needlework she had made for him.

  Then the young Yang Kun paid his respects to Jiu Jie, and Jiu Jie also paid her respects to Yang Guoshou and several senior male relatives. Later, the young Yan Shi and Qin Shi, the widow of Yang's second son, invited several close relatives from their hometown to come over, and Jiu Jie was naturally busy again.

  At the age of twenty-six or seven, Qin's figure was moderate, with a beautiful face and simple black hair coiled into a round bun on her head. She wore a dark blue cloud-patterned embroidered jacket, dressed in a plain and elegant manner, very suitable for a widow.

  Moreover, he is very steady in his actions, not speaking much, but being considerate everywhere, making Jiu Si Er feel a good impression at first sight.

  No wonder she was in charge of the main housekeeper of the palace as a widow, indeed very extraordinary.

  Unfortunately, however, Qin seemed to have no intention of getting along with her, smiling faintly at her and speaking in a faint tone.

  Is it also like Xiao Yan's family, stepping on the low and bullying the weak?

  Many people are quite disdainful of her origins as a new daughter-in-law, but it's clear that Xiao Yan's family is the most severe.

  Xiao Yan was like Jiang Yuxing's mother, Da Yan, a lively and vibrant person, but her liveliness did not extend to Jiu Si'er.

  Apart from last night when Yang Guofeng entrusted her to take care of her and said a few more words, this Xiao Yan still treated her with the same indifference as their first meeting, exchanging only a few polite phrases before ignoring her, even though she was today's protagonist - the bride.

  Watching her make a joke on the left and laugh on the right, with an expression as if she was in her element, Jiuniang couldn't help but smile secretly.

  Originally, like the Yan family, they were merchant women, but later on, due to a disaster year, they donated a large batch of grain to the imperial court and their father and brother both received official titles. This naturally cannot compare with those families who relied on reading books and achieving honors to rise to officialdom, and can only be classified as nouveau riche.

  In the past, she was definitely the most unbearable person here, but now that I, a fallen daughter of a noble family, have arrived, she must think that someone has finally become her stepping stone, and how can she not be delighted.

  But how can you not think about your own poor situation, also being a royal gift, and also being the wife of Weiyuan Wang...

  Uh, but she suddenly understood quickly, wasn't the previous Xia also a princess, she thought she finally understood the attitude of these people, including Yang Guofeng's concubines.

  In their eyes, she should be the second Xia Shi...

  "Is it getting worse and worse? Why didn't you go see a doctor?"

  "What's the use of seeing a doctor, the illness is in her heart. Her husband doesn't care, and her brothers-in-law are so discouraging. As the wife of the eldest son and the wife of the Duke, she was actually oppressed to death by the second wife. How could her mother-in-law feel relieved? Moreover, her brothers-in-law would create some trouble every day."

  "Oh, I see... At that time, we sworn sisters all thought she had married well..."

  Suddenly a low murmur of conversation entered Jiuniang's ears.

  The ninth sister couldn't help but turn her head, only to find that it was actually Qin Shi and one of the older women in the group talking about something.

  Qin's mother looked at her with concern, her beautiful eyebrows deeply furrowed.

  Jiuer's heart skipped a beat, Qin... Qin, surname Qin...

  Could it be... Ah, she thought she finally understood why the Qin family treated her this way. The mother of Yuan Shi Huan, Madame Yuan of Jingguo Gong's household, had a sister who married into a family with the surname Qin, didn't she?

  The Bianzhou Qin family was granted the title of Duke of Dingguo by the emperor, and she was the second daughter of Duke Dingguo.

  Never thought that this vendetta would be waiting for her here...

  It was also her intention, even if Qin Shi was deeply hidden and extremely low-key due to her widowhood, she should have heard about this relationship long ago.

  Alas, but having heard this again, can she really not get married?

  But soon she was calm again.

  She married this man with a horse's temperament, didn't she know that from the very beginning? But she still came to marry him, didn't she?

  Just as things were getting lively, a young servant came running in, and it turned out that an imperial edict had arrived.

  A crowd of people naturally followed, and in a flurry, they rushed to the front hall to receive the imperial edict.

  The contents of the imperial edict were within Jiuniang's expectations. First, it praised her merits and virtues, then came a reward for her and Yang Guofeng.

  Listening to that eunuch's nasal voice, feeling the envious or jealous glances around her, Jiu Si Er couldn't help but smile to herself.

  It's really about time!

  It's all thanks to her own efforts in risking her life to prepare the dowry last time, and Empress Yang is indeed a woman of her word, fully supporting herself.

  After sending away the palace maid, many people's gazes towards her had changed in some way, although not to the point of suddenly showing respect, but rather with a hint of curiosity, probably also wondering about a question that many people had been curious about before -

  How did this ordinary and plain little commoner girl suddenly catch the eye of the empress dowager?

  "Look... these are all rare and precious things, fourth brother and sister are really lucky."

  At this time, Xiao Yan's eyes were fixed on the jade utensils and ornaments scattered all over the ground, and she smiled as she spoke.

  "Everywhere... is the heavenly blessing of Tianjia's honor." She hastily said.

  What else can be said? She could only humble herself like this, and found that Xiao Yan was not as good as Da Yan, with a style of doing things similar to that of the declining Zhen family at home.

  But unexpectedly her humble words won over the hearts of those in power—

  Meng Taifei's gaze, which had been watching her, couldn't help but carry a hint of admiration. Yang Guofeng, who was directing several servants to arrange these gifts, also turned his head to look at her.

  Uh... Although there was no obvious emotion in her eyes, Jiujie understood that she must be satisfied.

  How come he's not frowning anymore? It's all because his mother is being catered to, huh...

  Jiuer couldn't help but purse her lips in her heart.

  "Yes, what Fourth Brother and Sister said is indeed true. Another joyful event will occur next month, it's truly a great blessing and honor."

  But walking among the gods, that small Yan family on the other end was sulking for a moment before smiling and opening her mouth again, while saying it, she also glanced at Empress Meng.

  Jiuer was taken aback after hearing this, it seemed that she had underestimated the combat power of Xiao Yan. This Xiao Yan was indeed much stronger than Zhen Shi.

  These few sentences should be loved by not only Old Lady Meng, but also Yang Guo Feng. The only one who shouldn't love to hear them is her.

  Think about it, marrying that Korean girl a month later should be more glorious than marrying her, so why wouldn't Old Lady Meng be happy; and that kind of horse temperament Yang Guofeng should be even more expected, after all, that Korean girl is much more beautiful than her.

  Unfortunately, this has no impact on her now.

  If she had previously held onto the idea of finding a place to settle down and had some hope for this marriage, then at this moment, after such an extraordinary morning, she was already heartbroken and prepared to put herself outside of these women, making the worst assumptions.

  So after hearing what Xiao Yan said, she just smiled calmly and looked at Meng Lao Tai Fei, then looked at Yang Guo Feng.

  But then she couldn't help but be greatly astonished, because after hearing this, the old lady Meng's face stiffened for a moment, although it was only for an instant, but she still caught it keenly.

  Yang Guofeng's expression was even more unexpected, and he actually furrowed his brow directly.

  Uh...

  What's wrong?

  Her gaze fell on Yang Guofeng's face again.

  The little wife's fixed gaze made Yang Guofeng's face suddenly hot, and for some reason he thought of last night... Ah, she was looking at him like that too, causing his usual self-proclaimed strong self-control to collapse, and then he lost himself...

  "Mother, it's time to serve the meal, we still need to go to the palace to express our gratitude later." Suddenly, Yang Guofeng cleared his throat twice and turned towards Empress Meng.

  "Hmm!" Then, Old Lady Meng nodded and said to Qin Shi, who was standing aside with a cold expression, "Second sister-in-law, please invite the relatives to have dinner in the flower hall."

  Qin immediately nodded and agreed, then went to the hall to invite all relatives to have dinner.

  "Fourth sister-in-law, come and help me up!" The old lady Meng beckoned to Ninth Sister.

  Jiuer was taken aback for a moment, her face full of surprise and delight, but soon she quickly stepped forward and helped the old lady up with Luo Mama.

  "Little brother, keep an eye on things here!"

  Look at Old Lady Meng and Ninth Sister leaving, Yang Guofeng immediately pointed to the rewards on the ground for Yang Guoqing.

  "Uh..." Yang Guoqing was taken aback.

  "After dinner I still have to go to the palace!" Yang Guofeng said, then turned and left.

  "Huh?" Yang Guoqing was stunned.

  Is this cold-faced and taciturn brother explaining to him? But he didn't explain, and he also understood that he wasn't leaving because of the little sister-in-law's departure.

  Could it be... could it really be that he won't leave until that little sister-in-law leaves?

  Yang Guoqing couldn't help but touch his nose, then turned around and went to make arrangements.

  In an instant, only Xiaoyan was left on the spot, but she couldn't smile anymore, her face gloomy and dejected...

  Then everyone had dinner in the flower hall. After finishing dinner, those relatives also returned one after another. Jiuniang and Yang Guofeng took a carriage to the palace.

  This is the third time that Jiujie has shared a ride with Yang Guofeng, but in the previous two times, she was constrained by feudal etiquette.

  She originally thought that being a formal couple would be enough, but when she was really with the man who nominally was her husband in that enclosed space, she realized she was wrong.

  She became even more tense and restrained, her mind filled with last night... the scenes of last night, as well as the faces of those beautiful concubines this morning, and also Xiao Yangcheng's face.

  She quickly closed her eyes and tried to empty herself.

  She still can't take that crucial step forward, because blazing a new trail in the midst of no road requires not only courage but also timing and strength...

  "What's wrong, tired?"

  Yang Guofeng's gaze fell on his young wife's tender face like a flower, and he asked anxiously.

  Jiuer was taken aback for a moment after hearing this, but soon reacted and nodded hastily.

  The silly and stupid look of his little wife in front of him made Yang Guofeng take a few more glances, then handed her an autumn-colored soft cushion. "Lean on it for a while, I'll call you later!"

  Jiuer couldn't help but stare blankly again, looking at the man in front of her with a mixture of shock and amazement.

  Looking at her silly little face, Yang Guofeng couldn't help but curl up the corner of his mouth, then stretched out his big hand to put the cushion behind her.

  But what he didn't expect was that his little wife, who had just been dazed like a small silly cat, suddenly bounced up because of this one action. "Bang" - her head hit the car compartment.

  Yang Guofeng's face sank for a moment, but looking at his little wife's battered appearance, he couldn't help asking, "Was the collision very severe? Are you okay?"

  The ninth sister tightly covered her sore forehead with her hand, nodded first and then shook her head.

  "How careless can you be? Let me see..." Looking at her pitiful appearance, covering her head with her hands, Yang Guofeng couldn't help but frown, and subconsciously wanted to reach out, but stopped in his tracks when he saw Jiu's suddenly stiffened face.

  "I... I'm fine..." Jiuniang hastily said after glancing at him.

  After all, it was someone else's kindness, so she couldn't be too ungrateful.

  Isn't this man very unromantic? Why does he care about her so much? Does he treat all his women like this?

  Thinking of this, although her forehead was still aching badly, she still let go of the hand covering her forehead and sat up straight.

  Yang Guofeng's gaze fell on her slightly red and swollen forehead, feeling somewhat depressed.

  If he could help massage and push it a bit, he guaranteed that it would be fine in a while.

  But...

  Forget it, don't blame her, she must have thought last night was bad enough, after all, she's still a bit too young...

  The man's eyes in front of her changed and became more profound, making Jiujiu suddenly vigilant again, staring tightly at him with a tense body.

  Does it matter?

  Yang Guofeng felt embarrassed and suffocated, his face also looked ugly.

  "How old is Xiao Yang now?" Jiujie'er, who had always been sharp-witted, naturally saw the man's displeasure and asked after a slight turn of her gaze.

  As expected, this topic immediately dissolved the subtle tension between the two people earlier. Yang Guofeng's face turned serious as he stared at her for a long time before saying, "Four years old."

  "Oh..."

  At that time, this man should have already married Xia Shi, but he still went to pick wild flowers, and Jiu Si'er couldn't help but curl her lip in disdain.

  "Compared to Wu Di, you are eighteen years younger." But suddenly Yang Guofeng looked at her and said another sentence.

  "Uh..." She couldn't help but pause for a moment...

  ……

  Digression

  I hope you're all satisfied, oh...