Chapter 481: Birth Mother
The Marquis of Chu is very depressed these days. Now that the ninth prince has become the crown prince, the situation in the court has become clearer after the second prince ran away with the Wang family. The third prince and his party can no longer make big waves, and the third prince and Sun Guifei have also become honest. But the emperor did not do what he promised. Once the ninth prince came to power, he asked Princess Rongzhao, who jointly designed the court officials with the second prince, to practice in the nunnery...
Perhaps, if he wants to completely get rid of Rong Zhao, he can only do so after the prince ascends the throne.
Although he still couldn't get rid of Rong Zhao, he didn't need to compromise as ungracefully as before. Especially towards the Ma family, which belongs to the second prince's party, neither he nor the Chu family would be polite.
The Marquis of Chu paused and then said, "The Ma family is a foreign family, so it is impossible not to prevent Yan'er from seeing her. It's okay to come to the house to meet her, but they can't be allowed to take them back to the Ma family."
After hearing the eloquent words of Lord Chu Hou, Chen Afu was very happy. With the support of her elders, it was easier for her to refuse. In fact, it turned out that she was still thinking that even if the elders agreed to the Ma family to take the little girl home, she would find various excuses to prevent the little girl from going back. Not only was he angry at the Ma family for not caring about the little girl and her daughter, but also because the Ma family's character and family tradition were not very good.
The Marquis of Chu added, "There is also Yan'er's mother's dowry. I will ask someone to bring it back to the house tomorrow. You can find someone to take care of it."
It doesn’t seem right for a stepmother to keep an eye on her stepdaughter’s dowry. But Aunt Huang was sent by Mrs. Chu San, and she was asked to take care of it for the time being. When Chu Lingxuan came back, she would ask him to find someone to help take care of it. Chen Afu nodded in agreement.
On the way back to Zhuxuan, the little girl asked in a low voice, "Mom, who wants to pick me up to play at his house? Why doesn't Grandpa allow me to go with them?"
Under the starlight, the little girl's mouth was pursed tightly, and her face was extremely serious. Perhaps, she has already made a guess.
Chen Afu squeezed her little hand hard and said, "After returning to Zhuxuan, I will tell you slowly."
Back at Zhuxuan, Chen Afu finished breastfeeding Xiao Yu'er and asked the two mothers to take the little brothers to a side room to play with Zhui Feng's family. Then he pulled the little girl onto the kang in the east side room and hugged her in. In arms.
Said, "Yan'er, my mother is not your biological mother. You should know this, right?"
The little girl sniffed her nose and tears welled up in her eyes. She choked and said, "But I always regard my mother as my own mother."
Chen Afu lowered his head and kissed her little face and said, "Well, mother has always regarded Yan'er as her biological daughter. But you have a biological mother, and she gave you life. Although she passed away, you still want to Always remember her."
The little girl wiped her tears with a handkerchief and nodded.
Chen Chen Afu added, "Your biological mother's family is still there..."
The little girl was a little scared, raised her head and asked, "Then they will look like brother... Oh, no, it's His Highness Eleven." Every time she called her brother His Highness Eleven, she felt uncomfortable. But she knew that she had to call it that way no matter how uncomfortable it was. She continued, "Will they take me to live with their parents like His Highness Eleven's family did?"
Chen Afu said, "Of course not. His Highness Eleven was taken back because His Highness's father, mother, and brother are still there, and their home is also the home of His Highness Eleven. But you are different. Your father, mother, and father are , and your brothers and sisters are all in this home, this home is your real home..."
The little girl breathed a sigh of relief and smiled brightly with tears in her eyes, "That's good."
Seeing such a little girl, Chen Afu couldn't help but feel a little relaxed and started to laugh. He said, "Someone came to your grandfather's house today and said he wanted to take him to Ma's house for two days. You also heard that the elders don't agree, and mother doesn't want you to interact with them too frequently..."
Chen Afu was in a dilemma. If he said something bad about the Ma family, he would be suspected of instigating a relationship between his stepdaughter and his maternal family. But if we don't tell the truth, we are afraid that the little girl will be coaxed in by the Ma family. It would be great if Chu Lingxuan was here. It would be better for her biological father to say many things than her stepmother. Before, she had always regarded the little girl as her biological daughter, but now that the Ma family appeared, she had to face the relationship between herself and the little girl as stepmother and stepdaughter.
However, for the sake of the little girl, the relationship between them must be instigated, but with great skill.
Then the little girl pouted and said, "I have grown up and have never seen them before. I have been in Dingzhou Prefecture for so many years, and I have aunts and uncles who are also in the capital, as well as cousins in Shizhou Prefecture. They all visited me, but they didn’t visit me. I only found out today that I still have such a relationship. According to grandpa, they don’t really like me..."
As he said this, the little girl's eyes filled with mist again.
The little girl is smarter than she thinks and can tell right from wrong. Chen Afu felt pity and relief, and said, "There are so many people who really like Yan'er, and we don't care about those few people. In the future, if they come to see you in the house, we won't be able to chase them away. After all, they are But if someone from your maternal family takes you back to live in Ma’s house, we won’t agree.”
The little girl nodded and said, "I know, and I won't go with them. In my heart, the grandma, grandpa, and uncle in Dingzhou Prefecture are my maternal relatives, and they are all good to me."
Chen Afu smiled and said, "Just keep these words in your heart." If he said it out loud, others would not say it was the little girl's true feelings, but they would probably say it was instilled by her stepmother.
After the little girl went to Xichaoyuan to rest, Chen Afu said to Aunt Huang, "If someone from the Ma family comes in the future, don't let me be alone with them."
Aunt Huang nodded in agreement.
The next morning, Chen Afu had the west wing of the backyard cleaned up to store Ma's dowry. When the little girl has her own yard, she will move there.
In the afternoon, more than a dozen carts of things were pulled into the bamboo pavilion. The person who came presented the list again.
Chen Afu took a look and found that there were many things, including various ornaments, fabrics, jewelry, medicinal materials, 200 acres of land and a farm, and 1,000 taels of silver. Even the silver converted from the annual output of the land was there, totaling 301 taels of silver over the years. The total value of these things should be more than 5,000 taels of silver.
After Ma's death, her dowry was managed by someone designated by Lord Chu.
Huang Ma and Li Ma went to check and found that the accounts and objects were consistent. Na Rongzhao was extremely rich and noble, and even if he was unbearable, he would not bother to tamper with Ma's dowry. Therefore, Ma's dowry was preserved intact.
Ma's natal family was just a clan of the Ma family, and her father and brother were not great. With such a large dowry, I think it was purchased with the help of the Ma family.
Chen Afu temporarily asked Huang Ma to manage the accounts and Qi'er to manage the warehouse keys. He took the little girl to look at them and told her that these things were left by her biological mother and would be her dowry in the future.
The little girl had no impression of her biological mother, but she still shed tears when she saw these things.