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Upon their return to the western room, Mrs. Wang held Chen Feng in her arms and wept bitterly. “A’Feng, my A’Feng, it’s all my fault. I’ve brought shame to you, and you were almost beaten to death…”
Lu and Dabao, seeing Mrs. Wang’s distress, hugged her and wept with her. Chen Feng, with tears in her eyes, said, “Mother, you haven’t brought shame upon us because you’ve done nothing wrong. You shouldn’t bear this blame, so it was right for me to confront those gossiping women. Mother, rest assured, before the confrontation, I had already sent Sister Gao to call for Gao Lizheng and Steward Luo. I won’t come to harm. Oh, and Zhui Feng is formidable, he protected me…”
Zhui Feng, who was beside them, upon hearing its name mentioned, immediately stood up and lowly howled while embracing the feet of its mistress.
Chen Ming entered and said, “Wife, A’Feng is right, and she did the right thing. You haven’t brought shame upon us because you’ve done nothing wrong. It’s those two wicked women spreading rumors and ruining reputations. A’Feng did well, those two wicked women deserve it.” Then he turned to Chen Feng, “Go and change your clothes quickly, don’t catch a chill.”
Mrs. Wang, now clear-headed, wiped her tears and urged, “Quickly change out of your damp clothes, lie in bed, and I’ll prepare a hot bath for you. If you fall ill, it will be my fault.”
Chen Feng finally felt the chill and a bit of a stuffy nose. Amid her anger during the fight, she hadn’t felt the cold. She stopped Mrs. Wang and took Dabao with her to fetch the water.
Mrs. Wang followed to prepare the ginger soup, then returned to the old courtyard.
After taking a hot bath, drinking the ginger soup, her body felt invigorated. Thanks to the Golden Swallow’s care and the enriched diet, her health was in great shape.
She went back to the old courtyard. As she passed through the side gate, she saw Mrs. Gao and Chen Lan coming, with Chen Lan carrying the basin and clothes that Chen Feng had left by the stream.
Chen Feng noticed that the clothes had been washed, and she quickly expressed her gratitude.
Mrs. Gao said, “Your family’s clothes are quite good. Let’s see if anything got lost.”
Chen Feng checked and indeed three items were lost. She said, “Ah, if it’s lost, then it’s lost. Sister-in-law’s clothes were probably lost too, right? Please check how many items are missing. I’m sorry for causing you to lose things and worry. Thank you all, thanks to Uncle, Cousin, and Grandma. She’s so old, yet she’s still looking out for us.”
Tears were streaming down Chen Lan’s face, and she felt utterly useless.
Mrs. Gao said, “We’re all relatives, and when something happens, we need to help each other. Your Cousin and grandmother each lost an item of clothing, but it’s alright. Yesterday, you gave them silk to make clothes.” She comforted Chen Feng, then left with Chen Lan.
Chen Feng hung the clothes, made a pot of egg drop soup, and everyone went to sleep after eating.
In the morning, Steward Luo asked Chen Ming to tell Chen Feng that she didn’t need to go to Tangyuan today and should rest at home. Exhausted both physically and mentally, and having had a restless night, she slept until the later part of the morning.
When she woke up, she saw Dabao already awake, sitting on the kang, holding Zhui Feng and looking at her. The two of them then went to the old courtyard.
Mrs. Wang was feeling better, sitting on the kang, making clothes for Chen Lu. Although her eyes were swollen, she looked serene and gentle.
She was truly a strong woman, no wonder she had endured so much suffering and adversity and held the family together.
Chen Lu was studying at the table, guided by Chen Ming. When Dabao saw this, he quickly joined them.
Chen Ming said to Chen Feng, “Your mother was frightened today, and your uncle got a large scrape on his arm. I was thinking of inviting them over for dinner, but with everything going on, we’re not in the mood. I’ll take some things to see them in the evening. A’Feng, you can go with father.”
Chen Feng nodded. With Mrs. Wang not wanting to go out and Lu having a bad leg, she had no choice but to accompany Chen Ming. This time, the main house had been a great help, and they should express their gratitude.
She took out a purse from her pocket and removed six silver coins. “These were given to Dabao by Lord Chu. They’re from a wealthy family. Give this to Grandma, Uncle, and Cousin, although they aren’t worth much, it’s something new.”
Chen Ming took the silver coins and added, “This time, Steward Luo, the people from Tangyuan, your uncle’s family, a few relatives, Gao Lizheng, the village carpenter, and some others, including Hu Laowu, have been a great help. We should invite them for a meal. But our home is too small, and we can’t accommodate so many people inside. Dad thought of using some money to arrange it at your uncle’s house. What do you think?”
This is a good idea. With so many people, it will take several tables, and now that the weather is cold, we can’t set it up outside, so it’s perfect for the main house. If we offer more money, the Mrs. Hu will also be willing. The key is, with so many respected guests, Chen Ye, who cares about reputation, will definitely be pleased.
Chen Feng nodded and also brought up the idea of building a house. She mentioned that she still had some money, and in the future, she would earn more, so she wanted to build a larger house and hire two servants to help with the work.
Chen Lu immediately chimed in, “When building the big house, make some additional rooms for grain storage, otherwise, there’s nowhere to store all the grain.”
Chen Ming thought for a moment and said, “Dad knows that A’Feng is ambitious. Building a house and hiring help are both okay. Ah, I’m useless. The work that a man should do is all being done by you and your mother.”
Chen Feng added, “Let’s buy two larger pieces of land, two courtyards like the current ones, separated by a wall, and add a side door for convenient access.”
However, Chen Ming shook his head and said, “Dad used to think about building a house in a couple of years. But now, the family already has so much land, and he also wants you, your mother, and A’Lu to enjoy yourselves. We can build a house, but… Dad feels that you are now self-sufficient. If we build another courtyard, it can’t be connected like it is now. It feels like we’re not separate households.” He quickly explained, “A’Feng, don’t take it the wrong way. Dad isn’t rejecting you. It’s for your and Dabao’s benefit… well, if you find a husband in the future, he might not want to live so close to his father-in-law’s family.”
Chen Ming didn’t want to mix everything together with Chen Feng, but he couldn’t say it outright. Yesterday, Chen Ye and his mother’s intention was for Chen Feng to return to the Chen family and for Chen Ming to have someone go to the county office to cancel her female household registration. They said that given her competence, if she found out that Chen Ming wasn’t her biological father, she might take the family property to her real father. If everything were combined, and she left, at least the property would still be there.
Chen Ming disagreed, saying that Chen Feng had always been supported by Mrs. Wang, and she had already been filial and given so much. She wouldn’t take everything. Besides, A’Feng was not an ungrateful person and wouldn’t disown him as her father.
However, Chen Ye and Grandma Chen felt that no one would knowingly have such an influential biological father and not acknowledge them. They were somewhat displeased with Chen Ming’s “stubbornness”…