Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside

Chapter 1272: Visiting the Ouyang Family

Xu Zhao Ming carefully explained everything to Xu Ling, and finally asked, "Do you understand what your brother is saying?"

He continued, "To put it simply, if you want to seek revenge, you can, but you can’t physically confront an elder in public. Doing so will just make you lose reason and invite gossip. You need to stand by reason and uphold the rules, so you can take revenge and still maintain your reputation."

During this time, Xu Zhao Ming had been learning a lot under Elder Xu’s tutelage. He wouldn’t demand Xu Ling to endure everything blindly but would teach her to retaliate when she was in the right.

Of course, if Xu Ling wasn’t in the right, she shouldn’t stir up trouble deliberately.

Elder Xu was very pleased. Zhao Ming had indeed made significant progress and his efforts hadn’t been in vain.

Xu Ling was stunned for a long time, and finally nodded, saying, "I understand."

"Since you understand, the family plans to send you to the manor for a while. Are you willing?" Xu Zhao Ming asked again.

Mrs. Zeng was anxious upon hearing this: "Zhao Ming, your sister knows her mistake, why do you still want to send her to the manor? Is this how you act as a brother?"

It all comes down to sending Girl Ling to the manor, trying to drive her mad.

Xu Zhao Ming didn’t respond, he only looked at Xu Ling and asked again, "Sister Ling, your brother wants to send you to the manor for a while. Are you willing?"

Xu Ling looked up at Xu Zhao Ming, then timidly glanced at Elder Xu, and finally nodded, "Yes, willing~"

The last word was choked with sobs, clearly feeling very wronged.

Xu Zhao Ming was very pleased. He looked at her and said, "Sister Ling, don’t be afraid. I will personally take you to the manor in Hukang County and clear out the people there so no one will offend you carelessly."

He added, "You’ve caused trouble, and the ladies in the county will surely gossip about it for some time. If the family doesn’t punish you, the entire Xu family will be mocked for having no rules. If they see you being punished by being sent to the manor, they’ll feel you are still salvageable and teachable, and won’t slander you too much. Once you return, apologize to Mrs. Jiang, the County Magistrate’s wife, and Aunt Da Gui, and your reputation will improve, and this matter will be over."

"Do I have to apologize to Mrs. Chen too?" Xu Ling still felt dislike for Mrs. Chen and didn’t want to apologize to her.

Xu Zhao Ming nodded: "Yes, this matter started because of Mrs. Chen. As a junior, you can only gain a reputation for being tolerant and understanding by apologizing to her. The apology isn’t for Mrs. Chen, it’s to earn you a good reputation, do you understand?"

Although Xu Ling wasn’t very clever, she understood after Xu Zhao Ming had explained so much. After a moment of silence, she said, "I understand, I’ll listen to my brother."

"Girl Ling!" Mrs. Zeng was heartbroken, she rushed over and said, "Don’t go, let’s not go to the manor, come back to Jiangnan with mother. Mother will find you a good and noble marriage!"

Xu Ling laughed: "Mother, you’ve been telling me this since I was ten years old, and now it’s been several years. Where’s the noble marriage? You don’t need to deceive me. Where would truly noble families look at a family like ours? Should I really be a concubine? But being a concubine to a noble family is not so easy either."

The daughter of the bookstore owner next to their shop became a concubine to the master of a noble family, and she wasn’t even considered a legitimate concubine. She had to sign an indenture to be officially taken in as a concubine.

It seemed glamorous, and her family often boasted about their connection with some noble family when they went out, but did the government or the noble family ever take them seriously?

They could only bluff the ignorant townsfolk at best.

Mrs. Zeng was at a loss for words; she knew that in the eyes of the noble families, the Xu family of merely a wealthy county-level household was nothing. Yet which parent doesn’t want to find an illustrious marriage for their children?

"Husband, say something." Mrs. Zeng was still unwilling, seeking help from Uncle Xu.

Young Master Xu waved his hand, saying, "Let’s just listen to Father and Zhao Ming."

Seeing her husband agree, Mrs. Zeng was even more heartbroken, hugging Xu Ling and crying, "Girl Ling, my poor child."

After she finished crying, Xu Zhao Ming said, "Mother, get up, go pack things for Sister Ling, I’ll take her to the manor in the afternoon."

Mrs. Zeng had no choice but to cry while packing for Xu Ling.

She wanted to accompany Xu Ling to the manor but was stopped by Elder Xu, who said, "Humph, you’re so biased toward Girl Ling. If you go with her to the manor, wouldn’t you continue pampering her there? How can she learn a lesson and change her ways?"

Girl Ling’s stubborn temper won’t improve without some hardship.

Mrs. Zeng could only cry while sending Xu Ling off, arranging for her nanny to accompany her, fearing she might suffer any grievance or hardship.

The news of Xu Ling being sent to the manor quickly spread in the county, and people mocked Xu Ling, but some knowledgeable ladies felt that the Xu family did the right thing.

Spoiled young ladies of wealthy families tend to have some stubborn temper, but as long as they admit their mistakes and can change, they can still be desired.

Xu Zhong also heard about Xu Ling being sent to the manor. She wanted to see Xu Ling off but held back in the end... the elder sister-in-law and Xu Ling were still angry, if she went to see Xu Ling now, even with good intentions, it would make the elder sister-in-law and them resent her, so she decided it was better to stay put.

Ms. Lu didn’t go to see Xu Ling off either, she just said to Xu Zhong, "Girl Ling has been delayed by them, hopefully this time she can correct her temper, otherwise, if she doesn’t fare well in the future, you sisters will be implicated too."

Sharing the same grandfather and with no division in family assets, one’s success is everyone’s success, and one’s failure is shared as well.

...

Gu Jinli didn’t have time for Xu Ling’s gossip; at the moment they were riding a mule cart, on the way to the Ouyang family.

"Third Sister chose the perfect day for the banquet, August 12th, spacing it between Brother Dexing’s engagement and the Mid-Autumn Festival, allowing us time to attend the banquet and drop off a festival gift for Master Ouyang," Gu Jinli said to Gu Jinxiu, holding the invitation in her hand.

This invitation had been delivered not long after Dou Ou Bank opened, but the banquet was scheduled for today.

Gu Jinxiu nodded with a smile, "Yes, the date is indeed well chosen."

Luo Huiniang also came along, and upon hearing this, she asked, "Are the two Ouyang girls really strict with rules, coming from the Capital? I heard from Brother Wang that even the number of times they chew their food is specified. Should we also chew dozens of times when dining with them later?"

She added, "God, chewing dozens of times before swallowing, how can one eat that way?"

It’s similar to feeding mashed rice to a child, thinking about it is nauseating.

Gu Jinli laughed, "You’re just listening to Brother Wang’s nonsense. That kid always exaggerates; who counts how many times they chew their food? Chew a dozen times then swallow, who can count how many times you chew?"

Who has that kind of free time?