A Beautiful Duchess with a Dark Heart – Chapter 163

Chapter 163

Qi Xiao and Xu Shi left and got into the carriage.

This time, Xu Shi lost a lot of face.

After getting into the carriage, she cried and argued with her husband, “I said I didn’t want to come, but you insisted. Now look! We were kicked out, are you happy now?!”

Her voice was sharp and reckless.

It attracted the attention of passersby.

“I was actually… carried out without my feet touching the ground! That b*tch from the Wen family, with a smile on her face… God! How much have I suffered since marrying you! But I never thought I would have to endure such humiliation. If it weren’t for Bao’er, I would go kill myself! How can I still have the face to live…”

Her hair was messy, and her hairpin was crooked. She was crying her heart out!

Qi Xiao himself had a miserable time today. He was ignored by everyone and even called “fake” by his cousin!

Qi Wu was surrounded by stars, while he was only accompanied by a few old men…

Originally, he had just shown off his archery skills and was complimented by a few kids, and more people gathered around him…

But he was called over and scolded by his aunt!

His aunt was the head of the household, and all his cousins were afraid of her.

But for so many years, she had never given him a cold shoulder.

Today was great! She scolded him so badly he couldn’t even lift his head!

For a moment, he felt lost and empty.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Why did you hit Bao’er?”

In families like theirs, it was common to discipline children, but who would hit them?

Especially a girl… and in front of others!

Xu Shi was still making a scene. Hearing her husband not comforting her or joining her in scolding, but questioning her instead…

“I’m her mother! If she doesn’t listen, what’s wrong with hitting her?!” Xu Shi became even angrier.

“You! Minghui, you are wrong to say that…”

“What’s wrong?! That b*tch from the Wen family, she even brought someone with her, and as soon as she arrived, she hit it off with Eldest Miss Cui! Coming from a small family, shameless! She hasn’t even entered the family yet? And she’s already lowering herself to please everyone! I spit! Your mother always looks down on my background. I come from an Earl’s mansion, but I can’t do such shameless things!”

“Minghui, I’m asking you why you hit Bao’er. Why are you talking about all this?”

“She insisted on going up to them! Would they play with her? Why bother? She’s Eldest Miss Cui! Bao’er is still Eldest Miss Qi! Why would she need to go and flatter her?!”

“Minghui, young girls playing together, you don’t have to think that way, do you?!” Today’s Qi Xiao seemed different.

But Xu Shi was still venting on her own, “The grandmother doesn’t love her granddaughter, but loves her niece from her own family! It’s all my fault as a mother, I’m not liked by my mother-in-law, and even my daughter suffers with me!” She started crying again.

“Alright!” Qi Xiao coaxed patiently, “If Bao’er wants to play, let her go! Little girls getting along is not as complicated as adults… Even if you don’t want to, you can just take her away. You can’t hit her! And in front of so many people…”

Xu Shi also regretted this incident, but with her personality, how could she admit it?

She glared at her husband with disbelief… She had suffered such a great grievance, and her husband was still blaming her?

Qi Xiao continued, “In families like ours, which mother would hit her child? I’ve never gotten along with my mother since I was a child, and there were times when she was clearly right, but I refused to listen. But my mother only reasoned with me… never…”

“You still have the nerve to say that?!” Xu Shi finally snapped, “If it weren’t for you not being liked by your mother, would I be in this situation today? Did you see how your mother treated that Wen b*tch? The two of them, arm in arm!!”

She screamed like a madwoman…

“Enough! What does this look like?!” Qi Xiao also got angry. “Stop the carriage!”

As soon as the carriage stopped, Qi Xiao got out.

“Where are you going?!” Xu Shi grabbed him, trying to stop him from leaving.

But if Qi Xiao really wanted to leave, how could she stop him? With a slight struggle, Xu Shi’s grip on his clothes loosened.

Xu Shi had been pulling so hard that one of her long fingernails split.

The pain was excruciating, “Ouch!”

But Qi Xiao had already gotten out of the carriage and disappeared.

Xu Shi felt like the sky was falling…

She returned to the mansion, crying all the way back to her room.

Tan Shi heard about it and said, “Sigh, young couples! On New Year’s Day… Let her calm down, I’ll talk to her later!”

She dismissed everyone and then chuckled, “This Xu Shi! Her mother-in-law has changed, and she still can’t see it!”

With her brains and temperament, she’ll suffer later! However, she’s useful, so I still need to appease her.

Cui Shi’s change means she has guessed that incident was my doing.

So what if she guessed it?

However, if I really provoke her and it affects the bigger picture, then it will be a case of losing more than I gain…

Sigh… Things have been going too smoothly these past few years, I’ve been careless!

✿✿✿

The Wen family returned home happily.

✿✿✿

Each girl received generous gifts. Even Wen Su, who was usually frugal and practical and rarely showed much emotion, was all smiles at Wen Yu, “Eldest Sister, this marriage of yours is really good! The Cui family is very nice. You have to please your mother-in-law well! If there are any good things in the future, remember your younger sister!”

After saying that, she went back to her room with her things.

When they returned home, Yuan Shi and Wen Huan were already there. Seeing that Old Madam Wen had returned, they went to the back hall.

Wen Jiao was really smug and didn’t even go back to her room. She brought all the gifts she received to the back hall.

She opened them one by one in front of Wen Huan.

“This is from Old General Cui. He said it’s for women’s self-defense. Oh, I’ve never had something like this before!” It was a beautiful small dagger in a cowhide sheath.

Old Madam Wen was shocked when she saw it, “Quickly put it away! A girl, what do you need this for?!”

“Grandmother, you don’t understand this! Military families value this! Look! This is from Eldest Madam Cui… This is from Second Madam…”

While showing off, Wen Jiao glanced at Wen Huan from the corner of her eye.

Wen Huan, whether it was true envy for the gifts or anger at the Cui family’s kindness to Wen Yu, her little face flushed red and then turned pale.

Even Old Madam Wen sighed, “The Cui family really favors girls. Normally, on a day like this, Eldest Madam Cui would represent the Cui family and give one gift, and that would be enough! But look, all three madams gave gifts!”

“Grandmother, they value my Eldest Sister! Why would they give gifts to irrelevant girls!”

“Yes!” Old Madam Wen also agreed.

After Wen Jiao finished showing off, she packed up her things and was about to go back to her room. She asked Wen Huan, “Second Sister, what did you get at Prince Wu’s Mansion?”

Of course, Princess Wu also gave gifts, very exquisite, but not expensive.

Wen Huan said, “All the girls who went received wrist corsages. I think this is just a formality of hospitality, not like the Cui family, who genuinely like the girls.”

She said it in a very calm and humble tone, but it didn’t give Wen Jiao any opportunity to retort.

Wu Shi’s favorite was Wen Jiao because she could understand Wen Jiao’s thoughts immediately. Although Wen Su was also her biological daughter, her personality was different.

At this time, Wu Shi said pretentiously, “Jiao’er, you’ve received so much. Let Second Sister choose one!”

Wen Jiao smiled and said, “Mother is right. Second Sister, choose one!”

“This is a gift from the Cui family specifically for Third Sister. How can I take it? I appreciate the thought!” No matter what Wen Huan thought in her heart, she acted generously.

Wu Shi helped Wen Jiao take her things back to her room and asked her in detail about what happened today.

This time, Wen Jiao was very talkative, “We even went to the martial arts training ground! There were so many people! It was so dusty that we got dirt in our mouths! But those young masters, playing polo, shooting arrows… It was so much fun! It was really the first time I’ve seen something like that!”

Wu Shi listened to Wen Jiao describe the Cui family’s mansion and sighed inwardly, “Wen Yu is really lucky!”

✿✿✿

In the evening, Wen Yu called Laba over, “Go see what Yuan Shi is saying to my father, what tone she’s using, what expression she has!”

“Yes.”

When Wen Qian returned, Yuan Shi told him about going to Prince Wu’s Mansion. She was quite detailed, including who they might interact with further in the future.

“There was a Madam Wen, whose husband also works in the Ministry of Revenue. Do you know him?”

“Yes, I do. Magistrate Wen Ruoqing. Even the Minister himself has to be polite to him. He’s valued by the Emperor and is truly capable.”

“No wonder. Princess Wu was also very polite to her. Today, the eldest daughter-in-law of Grand Secretary Li also came, but she didn’t say much. Princess Wu was very polite to her too…”

“Prince Wu’s Mansion is connected to Grand Secretary He’s family through marriage. The Li family and the He family are both Grand Secretaries…”

“We haven’t had much contact with these matters before. We should inquire more in the future.”

“You’re very thoughtful. The eldest daughter-in-law of the Li family was there… What about Huanhuan’s matter…” Wen Qian took the opportunity to ask.

“What we talked about before wasn’t the eldest son… It was the son of Grand Secretary Li’s brother. It’s still far off, she won’t say anything.”

“Oh, then… Are they still discussing it?” Wen Qian noticed that Yuan Shi’s attitude towards this was somewhat indifferent, completely different from her previous attitude.

“Mother has been here recently, and it’s New Year’s, so we haven’t had time to deal with it! We’ll see after the New Year…”

“Alright.” Wen Qian knew his wife’s mind had changed.

He didn’t know how far the discussions had progressed before, and what impact this change of heart would have.

In the past, he would have asked directly.

But now, if his wife didn’t say anything, he probably wouldn’t be able to get the truth out of her.

He felt a bit uncomfortable…