jdhmnovel Chapter 1107: Huo Siwu and Qiu Hongyan (1)
Chapter 1107: Huo Siwu and Qiu Hongyan (1)
It has been the fifth year since Qiu Hongyan married Huo Siwu.
Huo Siwu had been practicing battle formations at the Ministry of War and hadn't been home for five days. He'd only finished half the chicken soup Qiu Hongyan had prepared for him when the servant came back and said, "Madam, the young master told you not to bring him any more soup."
Qiu Hongyan wanted to ask, "Is it not tasty?" but she didn't ask. She served all the chicken soup she had simmered on the stove, and the guests raved about it.
Today, her mother-in-law, Mrs. Ding, had a guest visiting. It was Mrs. Wang, the wife of the Marquis of Linyang. She heard that the Marquis of Huaiyang’s mansion had planted many rainbow flowers, so she brought her daughters to appreciate the flowers.
In fact, the two governments had some overlap.
At that time, Huo Sishan, the nominal eldest son of the Huaiyang Marquis's Mansion, had not yet died. He had some friendship with Jiang Zhan, the eldest son of the Linyang Marquis's Mansion, at Wencang Academy. By the way, he also had some exchanges with Jiang Mengnan, the eldest daughter of the Jiang family, and they were in love with each other.
As soon as the imperial examination was over, the two families planned to discuss marriage. However, before the examination was over, Huo Sishan was beaten to death at the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall during an execution.
The two families stopped having any contact.
Later, Huo Siwu, the second son of the Huaiyang Marquis, was admitted to the Ministry of War as an exception because of his deduction of battle formations and became the head of the Military Affairs Department.
Jiang Zhan was just a clerk of no rank. Although they worked in the same government office, their status was very different.
When Jiang Zhan finally managed to use his connections to become the head of the department, Huo Siwu was promoted to the position of Deputy Director of the Ministry of War due to his outstanding performance.
You have to know that Huo Siwu was just a small gangster back then, and was not even in the eyes of Jiang Zhan and Huo Sishan.
The Jiang family once again considered marrying into the Huo family.
Unexpectedly, Huo Siwu would rather marry a concubine's daughter than Jiang Mengnan, which made the Jiang family very angry.
But what if I get mad?
The Huaiyang Marquis' Mansion has always been richer and has more extensive connections than the Linyang Marquis' Mansion.
Jiang Mengnan married out of anger. Her husband's father-in-law was an imperial censor and had a lot of say in the court.
But the situation in the Northern Wing court was volatile. When Emperor Zhaowu ascended the throne, he overhauled the Censorate. Her father-in-law, due to his mediocre performance, had escaped the disaster.
As a result, when Emperor Wenxuan came to power, he carried out drastic reforms and either sent a number of mediocre officials of the Censorate to other places or allowed them to return home to enjoy their retirement.
Her father-in-law was from the Rongyang group. Jiang Mengnan felt even more miserable after marrying against the backdrop of her good sisters.
Who should be held accountable for this?
That was naturally Huo Siwu.
Who told him not to marry her? If he had married her, would she have lived such a miserable life?
Once this thought came to her mind, Jiang Mengnan became dissatisfied with her husband in every way.
Especially now, Huo Siwu is no longer the Huo Siwu of the past, who at a young age had risen to the rank of Yuanwailang by relying on his real ability. Unlike her brother Jiang Zhan, who had to beg for favors everywhere and still couldn't get promoted.
Jiang Mengnan had an idea and went back to her parents' home to discuss it with her mother, "I want to divorce and marry into the Huo family."
Mrs. Wang thought her daughter was crazy, "Huo Siwu? He's married!"
"So what? She's just a concubine's daughter." Jiang Mengnan said with disdain, "The Huo family is really shameless. Marrying a concubine's daughter as the Crown Prince's wife is crazy."
In order to dispel her daughter's unrealistic thoughts, Wang explained everything to her, "My daughter, please be quiet and don't do anything stupid. That concubine's daughter is from a powerful family, not an ordinary person..."
I heard that the concubine's daughter is the most beloved daughter of Princess Haiyan, and a favorite of the Empress Dowager. Her marriage was all arranged by the Empress Dowager, so why are you so desperate to go against her?
By the way, if her brother, Master Qiu, hadn't been unlucky enough to meet Shi Yunqi, he would definitely have been the top scorer. But the second place is also out of our reach!
Lord Qiu loved this sister the most, and the list of dowry was very long. The items in the box were pressed down again and again, and they were heavy even when they were lifted. They were all valuable things.
Jiang Mengnan felt a little discouraged listening to her mother's mumbling. She knew her mother wasn't exaggerating and was telling the truth.
If one plan fails, come up with a second one.
Jiang Mengnan was unhappy with her own life and didn't want to make others comfortable. "It's time for my sisters to get married. The third and fourth sisters are both pretty. Why don't we pick one to be the concubine of Master Huo? Then we can become in-laws."
Wang agreed to this proposal. She had long considered this idea and wanted to form a marriage alliance with the Huaiyang Marquis's Mansion.
She has several well-bred concubines, all of whom are good-looking. She can pick one to marry as a concubine first. After a while, as long as she can outlive the wife, it is not impossible that she can become the first wife in the future.
The reason Wang felt it was a sure thing was simple: the Crown Prince's wife had been married into the Huo family for five years without having any children. Since the Earl of Huaiyang only had one son, he must have been very anxious.
After the mother and daughter had a discussion, Wang brought several concubines to the Huaiyang Earl's Mansion under the pretext of appreciating flowers.
When Qiu Hongyan was listlessly preparing to go back to her room to rest, she heard the conversation between several concubines of the Jiang family.
"Hehe, Third Sister, with the look on your face, Master Huo must be completely captivated by you."
The girl called "Third Sister" smiled and said, "Fifth Sister, don't talk nonsense. Your fourth sister is more beautiful."
The "fourth sister" laughed again and said, "Keep your voices down. If this gets to the Crown Prince's wife and she gets on the alert, it could ruin everything and cause a lot of trouble."
The third sister said, "Well, fourth sister, you've thought it through very carefully. But let's make it clear that no matter who wins Master Huo's favor, the other sisters are not allowed to feel jealous. We must help each other in the future, okay?"
Several girls were admiring the flowers and saying "yes" at the same time, as if one of them would soon be taken into the Huaiyang Marquis's mansion.
Qiu Hongyan's personal maid Su Juan was very angry, "Master, these girls are so shameless, and they are girls from the Bo Mansion."
Qiu Hongyan was already in a bad mood. Hearing these words, she remembered that when she went to the main courtyard just now, she heard her mother-in-law say to the Linyang Marquis's wife, "The girls raised in your Marquis's house are naturally more beautiful than flowers. Just looking at them makes me feel good."
It turned out that she wanted to take a concubine for her husband.
When Huo Siwu returned home that night, the couple chatted for a while as usual.
Qiu Hongyan wanted to tell her mother-in-law several times that she might want to take a concubine for her husband, but when the words came to her lips, she felt sad and her nose was sore, and she couldn't say it in the end.
Huo Siwu didn't notice anything unusual about his wife, and fell asleep right after taking a bath. He hadn't slept well for five or six days, and he was so sleepy.
Qiu Hongyan lit a candle and stared at her husband sleeping for half the night.
Later, she couldn't bear it any longer and fell asleep. When she woke up, Huo Siwu had gone to the Ministry of War.
He left and didn't return for three days.
Qiu Hongyan no longer sent soup to the Ministry of War.
She made "Cheese Flower" that day, which is a milk custard steamed with goat's milk and egg liquid, sprinkled with sugar osmanthus, and the fragrance is refreshing.
The milk skin is covered like snow, and the egg custard is like a golden core hidden at the bottom. It is served in a small white porcelain bowl. It is crystal clear and warm, and it makes people happy just by looking at it.
Mrs. Huo looked very happy and said, "Our little beauty is really skillful."
Qiu Hongyan smiled sweetly and said, "Grandma, please try it and see if it tastes good."
Madam Huo nodded repeatedly before she even started eating, "Delicious, delicious. Everything Xiao Hongyan makes tastes good."
Qiu Hongyan said coquettishly, "Grandma, you haven't eaten yet."
"Eat, eat, eat," Mrs. Huo smiled lovingly. "It smells delicious." She took a bite, savored it slowly, took another bite, and then took several bites in a row. "It's really delicious."
The old nanny beside her laughed and said, "The old lady has never liked desserts, but today she finished this bowl of yogurt."
It can be seen that he really likes to eat.
Qiu Hongyan explained, "Goat cheese soup nourishes the lungs and benefits the intestines, so it's good for Grandma. If you like it, I'll make it again tomorrow."
Mrs. Huo smiled happily and said, "I love it. I want to eat it again tomorrow."
"What's so delicious?" Mrs. Huo, Mrs. Ding, stepped into the room and saw Qiu Hongyan there. She also saw the empty white porcelain bowl on the table and asked with a smile, "Hongyan, is there any of this good stuff for me?"