Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Qian Family Is Up to No Good
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The gatehouse servant opened the door and, seeing an ordinary-looking couple outside, asked, “Who are you? Do you really think you can knock on the gates of the General’s Residence whenever you please?”
With a severed arm hanging across his chest, Qian Kun stepped forward with a smile. “Young man, please go in and announce that the parents of the eldest daughter of the Chu family have come. Old Madam Mo will certainly let us in.”
“Old Madam Mo? Who do you think you are, speaking so disrespectfully of our old madam?”
Madam Xu smiled. “Young man, there is something you do not know. We used to be neighbors of Old Madam Mo, living right next door. Our two families even had a marriage arrangement between them.”
The servant remained skeptical. “Then wait here while I go and announce you.” With that, he closed the gate again.
Madam Xu could not help raising a hand to support her waist. The five strokes she had received a few days ago had not been enough to take her life, but the injury to her backside still caused sudden pain from time to time, leaving her drenched in cold sweat.
Frowning, Qian Kun asked, “What if Old Madam Mo truly refuses to see us? What will we do then? She is now the old madam of the General’s Residence, and her son is a third-rank Tiger Fang General. It would not be surprising if she looked down on us.”
Madam Xu shook her head. “She won’t. Chu Xi is living in this General’s Residence now, so Old Madam Mo must know that we have not come today to curry favor or take advantage of her.”
Qian Kun was still somewhat uneasy. “Not necessarily.”
The moment he finished speaking, they heard the creak of the gate behind them. It opened once more.
The same servant called out to them, “The two of you may come in.”
Qian Kun and Madam Xu hurriedly nodded in delight. “Yes, yes.”
Then, supporting each other, they struggled to step over the high threshold.
In the main reception hall of the General’s Residence, Old Madam Mo was already seated.
When she saw the two members of the Qian family enter with smiles plastered across their faces, she could not help letting out a mocking laugh.
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“Oh my, it has been such a long time. What happened to the two of you?”
In truth, she had already heard from her son, Mo Zixiao, that one of them had had an arm twisted off and the other had been beaten with five strokes.
Madam Xu took a few awkward steps forward and smiled. “Elder Sister, it is truly embarrassing to come before you looking like this.”
Old Madam Mo had no intention of reminiscing with them. “You two have come today because Chu Xi has moved into this General’s Residence, have you not?” she asked bluntly.
Qian Kun reminded her, “Elder Sister, have you forgotten? Our families were once related by marriage.”
“Was the engagement between our Xiao’er and Chu Xi not annulled long ago?” Old Madam Mo was a woman of considerable cunning. It had been her idea for Mo Zixiao to use his engagement to Chu Xi to force Marquis Chu to recommend him for military service.
Thus, the moment Qian Kun mentioned the engagement, she already understood the purpose of their visit.
Because the injury to her backside had not yet healed, Madam Xu could only remain standing as she spoke.
“Elder Sister, that is not quite fair. After Chu Xi was reclaimed by the marquis’s household, did your son not take that very engagement and pursue the marquis, insisting that he marry our Mengyun? If we are to speak plainly, Chu Xi is not our biological daughter. Mengyun is. Therefore, the engagement originally arranged between our two families was truly meant for Zixiao and Mengyun. That is only right.”
Old Madam Mo laughed twice upon hearing this. “But you yourself said that when our Zixiao wanted to marry Mengyun, you could not flee from him fast enough. Now that Zixiao has become a third-rank Tiger Fang General, you suddenly remember this marriage arrangement? How utterly laughable.”
Qian Kun and Madam Xu exchanged a glance.
Madam Xu continued, “Elder Sister, we are all parents. We too hope that Mengyun can marry someone reliable, a man of good character whom she has known since childhood and whose family background is familiar to us. That is why we have come today to raise this marriage with you once more, to see whether the wedding might be arranged for the two of them next spring.”
Old Madam Mo laughed again. “My, how eager you are. If things go according to your wishes, what will become of Chu Xi? She is still living here in my residence.”
Qian Kun immediately smiled. “That is easily settled. Let the two sisters serve Zixiao together. A third-rank Tiger Fang General is perfectly entitled to have one wife and one concubine. Marquis Chu is willing as well, which is why we have come today to discuss the matter with you.”
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Old Madam Mo deliberately asked, “And between the two sisters, which one is to be the wife and which the concubine?”
“Naturally, our Mengyun will be the wife. Chu Xi has already been married once, and she is a widow at that. A few days ago she even entered the Grand Chancellor’s Residence. However one puts it, she is no longer pure. If the General’s Residence is still willing to take her as a concubine, that would already be a stroke of fortune for her,” Madam Xu said without hesitation.
Qian Kun continued, “Elder Sister, surely you do not truly intend to indulge Zixiao’s wishes and bring a widow into the General’s Residence? Though you once cherished that girl Chu Xi, that was then. How can the past be compared with the present?”
“Exactly,” Madam Xu said, covering her backside.
Old Madam Mo had never liked the Qian family. She felt even less affection for Mengyun, who was single-mindedly bent on climbing the social ladder. Even so, Mengyun was still far superior to Chu Xi, the widow who had once married the Duke of State-Protecting.
Her son was now in the emperor’s good graces, with his official career flourishing. How could she allow him to stumble over a marriage and become the object of ridicule?
Yet her son had fallen in love with Chu Xi alone. For the moment, she could only borrow the Qian family’s hand to make Chu Xi withdraw of her own accord, then discard the Qian family afterward.
With that thought, she said, “For the sake of Zixiao’s future and his dignity, let me think it over.”
At that moment, Chu Xi had heard that the Qian family had once again come to the General’s Residence. Despite being seriously ill, she had come intending to stop them from causing trouble. Unexpectedly, she overheard this entire conversation, and the foot she had already raised slowly withdrew.
Standing outside the door, she leaned against the wall as tears streamed down her face.
Beside her, Cai Ping protectively supported her. “Miss…”
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