Chapter 88 The Eager Xu Baomo

“People from Ao Family are here?” Hearing this, Sheng Weiqiao was very surprised, “Is Ao Family the one where Eldest Brother’s mother grew up? Why did they come to our family?”

What she said didn’t mean that she had a prejudice against Ao Family. Since Mrs. Ao divorced Sheng Lansi, though Ao Family kept contact with Sheng Family because of Sheng Weide, two families had become less close. Even on the Spring Festival or other festivals when two families exchanged gifts, servants dispatched would see Sheng Weide in Jinxue House or Spring House, never entering second branch’s house.

It was unusual, and even their Senior Master came here. They came at the time when it was less than a month since Madam Bai died!

Sheng Weiqiao doubted that they were intended for Madam Bai. That is to say, they intended to add insult to injuries on Sheng Weirao and Sheng Weixing!

“The Senior Master of Ao Family had a chronic disease in the early years, and doctors in Lin County were mediocre. Therefore, his disease hadn’t been relieved after many years! Recently, it became even worse.” Sheng Lanci and Madam Feng looked at each other and explained to Sheng Weiqiao, “Your grandfather wrote letters to persuade him to see doctors in Nanfeng County many times. Finally, he agreed to come here and seek help from Doctor Hang recently.”

Of course, it was an excuse. The real reason was that Ao Family came to plead their guilty, and that was why Senior Master Ao took the lead.

Although Senior Master Sheng was annoyed that Ao Family exceeded their rights and murdered his second daughter-in-law, the death of Madam Bai, who was disliked by him, seemed to be less important compared with their deep friendship from wars. Therefore, Senior Master would never let the fact leak out. It was natural for him to find an excuse.

Of course, many people doubted the explanation. Even Sheng Weiqiao, a naive granddaughter of Sheng Family, thought, “People of Ao Family came just after Second Aunt died. Wouldn’t Sister Rao and Fifth Brother feel sad?”

People of Ao Family came at the time to bring trouble to descendants of Madam Bai, didn’t they?

“Sweetheart, you know, when Weide’s mother gave birth to him, because he was the first child, it was very hard for his mother. She told the midwife specifically that, if there were accidents, she should abandon her and save Weide, like your grandmother!” Sheng Lanci squinted. Striking his short beard, he added gently, “After risking her life to give birth to Weide, instead of treating her well, your Second Uncle gave her a hard time and annoyed her frequently. It’s lucky for her not to get the illness in her first month after giving birth to Weide. The reason why your uncle did that was related to both his character and continual inciting of your Second Aunt, who just died!”

“Therefore, even if Ao Family came at your aunt’s funeral time deliberately, Madam Bai and her children couldn’t judge that. After all, Weirao and Weixing acquired the legal identity because their mother robbed things that once belonged to your Aunt Ao!”

“The criticism was really no big deal!”

“A dutiful son was obliged to pay his mother’s debts!”

“Furthermore, Sheng Family had been considerate enough to Weirao, and your grandfather even sent your Second Uncle to Yamen! As a part of our family, they should also learn to be considerate of others, especially the elders. Your grandfather had not met Senior Master Ao for many years, so he felt delighted when knowing that Senior Master Ao would come.”

Sheng Lanci didn’t like Madam Bai, not only because Madam Bai was initially a mistress, but also because she tried to let him take Sheng Weixing into the eldest branch. Didn’t they know what she was planning?!

Madam Feng felt that “how could you be sure that I couldn’t have a son in the future”. Although Sheng Lanci never said a word, he was actually furious: Although I didn’t have a son, I got a daughter! With so many years of hard work to earn the property, you were not satisfied to reap where you hadn’t sown but planning to reap what I had?!

Although Sheng Shuihe was taken back just this year, Sheng Lanci hadn’t considered the adoption of a son for the past ten years. In his view, the heir was not for an inheritance, but for robbing things from her daughter!

Madam Bai was discovered to be dead at dawn when Sheng Lanci was outside checking shops, so it was a decision made by Senior Master Sheng and Old Madam Ming. Because of the disappointment of the second son and the affections for Sheng Weirao, he decided to report that to Yamen.

When Sheng Lanci returned, Sheng Lansi had been sent to Yamen, so he couldn’t say more.

If he had been in the family, he would have been in support of Old Madam Ming, not reporting to Yamen. That was not because he cared for Sheng Lansi but because he considered the future of Sheng Shuihe, the fame of Sheng Family, and the close relationship with Yamen!

Officials’ performance was not judged by how many cases they solved but how many cases people reported.

The royal court thought like this: If an official could govern on place well, lessons of the sages and the majesty of the national law would be deeply understood by the public, so people could be reasonable and distinguish between right and wrong. Then, no crimes would be committed!

Therefore, if there were cases, it was because officials were in lack of ability to teach the public well!

That is to say, after the murder case in Sheng Family was passed out, the County Chief would be regarded as “insufficient teaching”, with no possibility of being rated an A. That might also be an excuse for political opponents to attack him. Because Sheng Family was one of the most powerful families in Nanfeng County, it had been in a close relationship with Yamen!

With the advantage of being in a favored position, it should serve as a model family! However, such a terrible case happened, indicating bad social morality in the county.

Even though Sheng Lanci made Old Madam Ming try her best to leave a good impression of Madam Bai on people, reducing bad influence on Sheng Family, the rating would also be affected. Since the mistress living outside plotted to murder the wife, and the servant plotted to kill the mistress, those were clear violations of the taboo that a humble one offends a respected one.

Although the County Chief had not shown any dissatisfaction with the Sheng Family so far, nobody knew what he thought. After all, the County Chief was only in his forties this year, and he would have a bright future. When Senior Master Sheng’s behavior of placing righteousness above family loyalty affected him, wouldn’t he feel unhappy?

Therefore, though the case of Madam Bai’s death was settled, Sheng Lanci had just begun to be busy handling things. Nanfeng County was far away from Chang’an. If a local official wanted to do a good job, he must rely on influential families in the county. However, Sheng Family got rich in recent years, less potent than Xuanyu Family and Feng Family. If it broke up with County Chief, he could rely on Xuanyu Family or Feng Family, even weakening Sheng Family with the power of the other two families.

Although the two families had a close relationship with Sheng Lanci and his wife, they wouldn’t be merciful when handling things concerning the future of their families. The business was business. When competing in business for a larger market in the early years, Sheng Lanci showed no mercy.

Under these considerations, Sheng Lanci had no regrets for Madam Bai’s death. Instead, he felt her annoying because she plotted to get some property from them when she was alive. And after she died, she brought much trouble to him.

As for her son and daughter, though he didn’t transfer his anger to them, he didn’t want to give them special care. Therefore, he didn’t want his daughter to take their stance. He said thoughtfully, “You think Weirao pitiful. How about your Eldest Brother? As the eldest son of the first wife of your Second Uncle, he should have been brought up in a harmonious family, favored by his parents! But because of your Second Aunt, his mother couldn’t take care of him since he was a baby! If it weren’t that your grandparents took good care of him, how could your Second Aunt let go of him?”

Speaking of this, he sighed, “The family of his mother was rare to come. If you didn’t welcome them, after knowing this, wouldn’t your Eldest Brother feel sad? Weirao and Weixing are your brother and sister, but isn’t Weide your brother?”

Sheng Weiqiao couldn’t reply. She said, “I didn’t mean that. I just felt surprised.”

“Sweetheart, are you tired? If not, would you like to go with us and greet the guests?” Madam Feng blinked and touched her small head with a smile. She said gently, “The Miss from Ao Family is also here. She is unmarried, so she is obviously about the same age as you. You are the only one proper to entertain her in our family!”

She knew that if Wanchun hadn’t come at that time, her daughter would lose temper.

She must seize the opportunity to hand some tasks to the apple of her eye for fear that she would complain about being locked in the ancestral hall!

Sheng Weiqiao just came out from the ancestral hall, so she would rather take a rest than entertain the guests. However, there were only four girls of the generation. Sheng Lianlian died of “illness”, and Sheng Weirao couldn’t even take care of herself at the moment. Sheng Weiwu was still little. In fact, she was the only proper choice.

If she didn’t go, people of Ao Family would feel left out in the cold. It didn’t matter much to her. What she cared about was that her Eldest Brother Sheng Weide would think that she didn’t like the family of his mother….

Sheng Weiqiao thought quickly, and finally sighed helplessly, “I will get changed!”

Senior Master, Eldest Master, Eldest Madam, and the daughter and son of the eldest branch from Ao Family came here. Because Sheng Lanci couple took some time to comfort Sheng Weiqiao and waited for her to change clothes, they arrived late in Jinxue House. Except for Senior Master Ao, who went to see Senior Master Sheng, Eldest Master Ao and his family members had been here for a long time.

Fortunately, Sheng Shuihe and Sheng Weide were there to chat with them, so they could be entertained without angry feelings.

Just walking in, following her parents, Sheng Weiqiao saw Sheng Shuihe, who was wearing a smiling face. Her eyes were filled with tears. She was dying in the ancestral hall while he was laughing and joking here!!!

If it weren’t that people of Ao Family quickly stood up to welcome them, she would run toward him and give him a hard kick!

Due to his father, Eldest Master Ao and Sheng Lanci were old acquaintances. Hadn’t met for a long time, both of them were very excited, “Brother Xinzhang! Sister! I am so happy that you are still in good spirits as we met many years ago!”

“Brother Chengpei, and sister, it has indeed been many years since we met last time!” Sheng Lanci also took a quick step or two. Calling another name of Eldest Master Ao Muzhi, he shook his hands tightly and said, “Time flies! Ten years have passed!”

During their dialogue, Madam Feng and Madam Di (Eldest Madam Ao) also gave a salute to each other. After talking for a long time, they remembered to introduce their children.

Ao Luanxiao and Ao Luanjing were siblings from Ao Family. Ao Luanxiao was one year younger than Sheng Shuihe. He had a medium height, bright eyes, and graceful eyebrows. He was elegant but a little shy. His sister Ao Luanjing was fifteen years old, two years older than Sheng Weiqiao. With beautiful eyes and pale skin, she had a pretty appearance.

After younger members gave a salute to each other and took gifts at the first meeting from each other’s parents, Sheng Lanci stroke his short beard and said, “The grandson of Uncle Xu is also here. Because an accident happened several days ago, he showed solicitude for us, making an excuse of catching a cold and had not shown up these days. Today, I forgot to inform him, and he would give a salute to you later.”

Senior Master of Ao Family and Old Marquis Xu were at the same official level, while Senior Master Sheng was the head of Old Marquis Xu and Ningwei Marquis. Senior Master Sheng had done a favor in their promotion. Since Xu Family had the title of marquis, Ao Family was more afraid than close to Xu Baomo. He dared not to ask Xu Baomo to come here to give a salute, so he replied immediately, “We came for pleading our guilty. How should we trouble Young Lord?”

“You regarded me as an outsider!” Sheng Lanci had dispatched servants to invite Xu Baomo on the halfway, and Xu Baomo was just outside the door at the moment. Xu Baomo replied as walking toward the house, “Uncle is an elder. If you thought that troubled me, you didn’t see me as a nephew.”

While speaking, he gave a salute to them and greeted Sheng Lanci couple. He was kind and friendly to people of his generation, such as the siblings of Ao Family, showing no arrogance.

This made people of Ao Family feel flattered and moved. They praised him and felt that Xu Family had good family education. Old Marquis Xu remembered the friendship, so they didn’t forget them after so many years!

However, they didn’t know that Xu Baomo was thinking, “Nearly half a month! Half a month! Grandfather had written my letters to me to criticize my incompetence! Today, Big Weiqiao finally got out of the ancestral hall. I must say clearly to her!!!”

The current situation was an excellent opportunity for him to say everything. He must pretend to be a person easy to get along with!

With a gentle smile, Xu Baomo endured until more greetings from the two couples ended. They would talk something important, “Children must feel boring staying here with us. The garden was large. Why not let Shuihe and Weide accompany them to walk around? Baomo could also go with them.”

Xu Baomo’s eyes brightened.