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Upon witnessing this scene, Eldest Sister Shou Hua couldn't help but lightly chuckle, then she met her mother, Lady Li Niang's, gaze. There's no helping it! These three unmarried younger sisters of mine are just so naive and adorable! A tiny bit of good will satisfy them immediately!But that's good too! This way, Mother and I, two women, won't be overwhelmed by these three noisy girls!
Lady Li Niang secretly breathed a sigh of relief after seeing her eldest daughter Shou Hua's eyes. At the same time, she thought, Thankfully my eldest daughter can be a helper; if I had to deal with these little demons alone, it would truly be the end of me! However, her heart was also filled with emotion. Her eldest daughter Shou Hua was beautiful and possessed a fine temperament; she was a renowned virtuous wife in the surrounding ten li and eight villages! Yet, her fate was unlucky! She had just married, and her husband had passed away before they even had their wedding night! Leaving Shou Hua a widow, she stayed at her maternal home for a while longer, but eventually, unable to bear the cold glares and ridicule, she returned to her side.
"Hmph! Those insensitive good-for-nothings!" Lady Li Niang's anger flared up whenever she thought of the faces of her eldest daughter's in-laws! Putting everything else aside, just based on Shou Hua's character and appearance, even in the capital, she would be a rare and excellent woman! What if she had been married once? What if she was a widow now? "I don't believe that in this grand capital, there isn't a single man with discerning eyes who can see that Shou Hua is a treasure, a virtuous wife!"
Third Sister Kang Ning, seeing that her fourth and fifth sisters were finally quiet, turned and lifted the curtain, secretly peeking outside. Looking at the bustling streets, the endless stream of pedestrians and carriages, she couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. "No wonder everyone says Bianjing is unrivaled in its splendor!"
"And look, there are even specially decorated colorful arches in front of the shops along the street!"
"There are also several ladies with flowers in their hair standing on the pavilions!"
... Hearing Third Sister Kang Ning's words, the fourth and fifth sisters immediately couldn't sit still and eagerly crowded around. Three beautiful and youthful faces squeezed together in front of the narrow window curtain, looking out together. Eldest Sister Shou Hua, though also somewhat curious, merely stretched her graceful neck to glance twice, maintaining her dignified posture throughout.
"Third Sister, look, there's a person dressed so magnificently over there!" Fifth Sister Le Shan pointed excitedly into the distance and exclaimed.
"Isn't it novel!" Third Sister Kang Ning said happily to her fifth sister, fanning herself. Being intelligent, she naturally understood that with dukes and marquises everywhere in the capital, it wasn't strange to see high officials and dignitaries on the streets.
"Mmm!" Fifth Sister Le Shan, being the youngest, was already overjoyed at the sight of this new world, nodding repeatedly and saying, "Can we also wear clothes like that in the future?"
"Then ask Mother!" Kang Ning, of course, couldn't agree so simply. Instead, she subtly winked at her fifth sister and said.
"Once we settle down in the capital, I'll arrange good marriages for each of you!" Lady Li Niang looked at her beautiful daughters, who were like blooming flowers, and nodded with a smile, "Then I'll have no regrets!" Shou Hua, her eldest daughter sitting beside her, also pursed her lips and smiled sweetly. For she knew all too well what worries had plagued her mother's heart all these years... And the three younger sisters, Kang Ning, Hao De, and Le Shan, felt a little embarrassed upon hearing their mother's words and seeing their eldest sister's expression! After all, in their eyes at this moment, being able to move to the capital and marry was hundreds, even thousands of times better than getting married in their small hometown!
But what kind of men would they meet in this capital? What kind of auspicious marriage would they have? At this, the three girls also felt quite apprehensive, for they had no idea whether the Old Man Under the Moon would be kind to them before that man appeared! Eldest Daughter Shou Hua saw the expressions of her three younger sisters, knew what they were thinking, and couldn't help but feel a little melancholy. Hadn't she been the same back then? Yet, things went against her wishes; she had wholeheartedly wanted to be a virtuous wife and loving mother, but she didn't even get the chance! Now that she was a widow, what hope did she have for the rest of her life? At this moment, Shou Hua's only thought was to help her mother marry off her three younger sisters well, and find them future happiness. Only then would she be content!
Inside Wei Tingyu's carriage, he was currently casually meditating, his arm around Dou Zhao's fragrant shoulder. Wang Yingxue and Dou Ming, mother and daughter, were leaning by the window, eagerly peering outside through the lifted curtain.
"Mother! It's so lively today! There are so many people on the street!" Dou Ming had been educated from a young age to be a good girl who stayed within the residence, so she rarely had the opportunity to go out. Now, seeing so many people and such a bustling scene, her face was filled with excitement!
"Indeed!" Wang Yingxue looked at her daughter's perfectly genuine expression of happiness, and a hint of bitterness welled up in her heart. What was I thinking back then? To literally keep such a vibrant young girl confined in the courtyard for so many years! Looking back now, I truly was a failed mother! However, thankfully, now that Dou Ming would enter the Marquis's Residence, Wei Tingyu's strictness with his wives and concubines wasn't as severe. She would be able to go out shopping and sightseeing with her other sisters anytime! In that sense, Wei Tingyu was also helping her atone for her years of being an incompetent mother!
"Mother! There's also an ox-cart!" At this moment, Dou Ming, whose bright eyes were keenly observing the world outside, suddenly pointed excitedly into the distance as if she had discovered a new continent, saying, "I thought there were only horse-drawn carriages and donkey-carts!"
"How can there be so many horses in the countryside? Oxen are more common! So many country folks ride ox-carts when they come to the city!" Wang Yingxue smiled and nodded, then followed the direction of her daughter's finger. She saw an ox-cart parked prominently in an alley facing the street, in front of the main gate of a grand residence. Several women were successively alighting from it. By the looks of it, they were likely poor relatives from the countryside visiting or seeking refuge in the city. Such occurrences were not uncommon in grand residences.
Wang Yingxue had originally just glanced and was about to lower the curtain, but suddenly, her pupils contracted violently! For she clearly saw that the back of the woman who had just alighted from the carriage was so familiar, as if it were her own very close best friend from back then! Connecting this with the situation where Lady Li Niang had previously sent a letter to the residence saying she was coming to the capital to seek refuge with her second son-in-law, and they had missed each other, Wang Yingxue immediately realized.
"Stop the carriage!" She subconsciously shouted to the coachman, then turned and bowed to Wei Tingyu, who had opened his eyes, "Marquis, I just saw that sister whom I haven't seen in a long time!"
"Is it that Lady Li Niang who came to the capital to seek refuge with her son-in-law?" Wei Tingyu's spirits immediately lifted upon hearing this. You can see her just by glancing past on the street? Indeed, the System must have some rules governing this world! These main characters from different merged worlds are unconsciously drawn towards me.
"Yes!" Wang Yingxue quickly nodded, "Please, Marquis, give me some time; I wish to go down and catch up with her!" After years of not seeing each other, it was only natural for Wang Yingxue to be so excited to finally reunite with her sister-friend. Not to mention that Wei Tingyu knew the world of Five Blessings Descending Upon the Door approaching him was irreversible; purely from a human perspective, he wouldn't refuse Wang Yingxue's request.
"Thank you, Marquis!" Upon seeing Wei Tingyu nod, Wang Yingxue was overjoyed.
"Then I shall ride in the carriage behind with the three younger sisters and return first!" At this moment, Dou Zhao blinked, then bowed slightly to Wei Tingyu and said, "After all, we are not acquainted with Mother's old friend, so we won't add to the trouble here!"
"Unfortunate! Our master and mistress have gone to the countryside for the summer!" In front of the Fan family's gate, an elderly servant woman, with an inscrutable smile, spoke to the Li family's servant woman. At this moment, Lady Li Niang had also stepped to the side, and her daughters had successively alighted from the ox-cart behind. The scene she had originally envisionedāthe central gate wide open, the entire Fan family coming out to welcome her and her daughtersādid not materialize. The cold, vermilion red gate remained tightly shut, and the gatekeeper, a young page, watched their direction expressionlessly.
At this moment, Lady Li Niang felt a faint sense of unease. Things seemed to be a bit different from what she had originally expected!
"Please trouble yourself to inform your young master that his mother-in-law's family has traveled all the way from the Eastern Capital to visit relatives!" The Li family's old servant woman also sensed that something was amiss, but at this point, she could only bite the bullet and continue speaking. However, her tone at this moment was less about asking the other party to relay a message and more like pleading and begging! After all, she knew that if they couldn't enter the Fan family's gate this time, the entire Li family wouldn't know how to establish themselves in the capital.
"Young master, ah..." The Fan family's servant woman's eyes darted around upon hearing this, and she said, "Young master has gone to meet friends!"
"Ah?" At these words, not only was the Li family's servant woman stunned, but Lady Li Niang, standing not far behind her, also frowned. This Fan family servant woman practically had the word "disdain" written all over her face. So, did she still need to continue pestering them? But if they just turned and left, how would she and her four daughters establish themselves in this capital?
"Then when will he return?" The Li family's servant woman was extremely embarrassed at this moment, but thinking of their future life, she could only grit her teeth and continue to ask with a fawning expression.
"At noon, he usually enjoys himself at the Sang Family Tile Market! And there's an evening show too..." The Fan family's servant woman said with a half-smile, "Who knows until when he'll linger?"
And the Li family's daughters had all alighted from the ox-cart by this point, standing in a row, watching the old servant woman negotiate with the Fan family. At this moment, among the four young ladies of the Li family, there was another young and beautiful woman. This woman was named Qiong Nu, an adopted daughter raised by the Li family since childhood. Previously, she had been riding in another, smaller donkey-cart behind the ox-cart with the Li family's servant woman who was speaking.
"What's wrong? What does that mean?" These young girls didn't understand the ways of the world. They stood there, confused, whispering amongst themselves. Only Eldest Daughter Shou Hua looked serious. After all, she had suffered no less from such slights and cold treatment in her previous husband's family after he died, and of course, she now understood what her second sister's in-laws meant!
"Then please trouble yourself to make another trip and tell my second daughter to come out and welcome us!" The Li family's servant woman had no choice but to plead again and again... Originally, the Li family shouldn't even have to ask for such a thing. Since the mother and a close sister had arrived, the second daughter, Fu Hui, should have proactively come out to welcome them. But this Fan family servant woman was clearly unwilling to even announce their arrival.
"There's a fasting gathering at the Xiangguo Temple, and the young mistress has gone to make offerings!" The Fan family's servant woman at this point didn't even bother to feign politeness. Her face showed clear impatience. "You've troubled our in-laws, Madam. Please come again another day!"
And Lady Li Niang's smile at this moment also became stiff. Could she still not understand the situation now? As a woman whose husband had died over a decade ago, she had raised five daughters and endured countless ostracism and cold glares within the clan. If she hadn't become more assertive, she would probably have been bullied to death long ago! Yet, she never expected to be treated with such coldness right at her son-in-law's doorstep. Truly, the world was a cold place!
However, though Lady Li Niang was assertive, she also knew when to lose her temper and when to endure. At this moment, with herself and her five daughters having come to seek refuge with their in-laws, it was not the time to completely tear off all pretense! She forced a smile and said, "Good! Good!" Then, with a swift turn, she said to her daughters, "Let's go back!"
"Sweep this up!" And the Fan family's servant woman, seeing her successful display of arrogance, having driven away her young master's mother-in-law and her entourage, immediately became even more smug. Her peripheral vision swept around, and she saw the cow dung under the ox-cart. She immediately shouted to a young page nearby, "Who is that left there to offend?"
However, as her words fell, before the Fan family's page could react, Lady Li Niang, who had already reached the front of the ox-cart, suddenly turned around and strode towards this long-tongued servant woman of the Fan family. Immediately, without waiting for the other party to say anything, Lady Li Niang directly raised her hand and delivered a fierce slap to the other party's cheek! The force of the slap and the crisp sound were so great that they startled a flock of birds from the trees in the alley! And even Lady Li Niang's daughters were startled by their mother's action, all frozen in place.
"In-law, Madam, you are..." However, this servant woman was also formidable. After taking a slap to the face, she immediately turned and glared fiercely at Lady Li Niang, asking. In her opinion, the Li family had already fallen into decline, and now had no assets left in the Eastern Capital. All their money had been brought to the capital to seek refuge with her Fan family. So, no matter how much she had coldly dismissed and ridiculed them before, the other party, even if dissatisfied, would never dare to show it. Yet, she hadn't expected this woman to be so aggressive as to slap her in public!
But it was only just that one slap. Although the Fan family's servant woman's face hurt, she wasn't very flustered in her heart. After all, she wasn't the Li family's servant, so it wasn't up to Lady Li Niang to deal with her. This slap might even enrage the Fan family's master and madam. At that point, the Li family's plan to seek refuge with the Fan family would completely fall through. And her acting on her own initiative to slap another family's servant could serve as a perfect excuse to refuse to take them in! Even if outsiders heard about it, they wouldn't say the Fan family was heartless. Thinking this, the Fan family servant woman's heart secretly swelled with pride. If Master and Madam knew, I might even get a reward!
And Lady Li Niang, seeing the expression in the servant woman's eyes, was immediately startled. Only now did she realize that she might have been a little too impulsive! This slap might indeed have offended the Fan family! Although this servant woman's status was low, she was still a member of the Fan family after all! For her to directly slap her, bypassing the masters, seemed truly unreasonable! If she had still possessed land and houses in the Eastern Capital before, the Fan family might have tolerated it a little for the sake of maintaining the relationship between the two families... But now, things were completely different! The Li family mother and daughters were like rootless duckweed; what qualifications did they have to earn the Fan family's high regard?
But now that this had happened, she couldn't possibly apologize to this wicked servant, could she?! Wouldn't that make the entire Li family even more despised?! Just as Lady Li Niang was in a dilemma, she suddenly heard a sharp cry from behind!
"Well struck!" This voice startled Lady Li Niang, for she was very familiar with this voice! And everyone else present was naturally drawn by this sharp cry. They all looked in the direction of the sound, only to see a luxurious carriage pulled by two tall, majestic horses currently stopped not far away. And standing beside the carriage were two elegantly dressed women. Besides several maidservants and pages, there were also several valiant female guards standing with swords, their status clearly extraordinary at first glance! The leading woman was about thirty years old, with her hair styled in a high cloud bun, indicating her married status. And beside her was a beautifully dressed girl, whose features bore some resemblance to hers, affectionately holding her arm. At a glance, they were clearly mother and daughter!