Chapter 450: Chapter 449: You Should Accumulate Some Virtue for Yourself
The entrance of Ming Mansion was bustling with activity, guests thronging like clouds.
There were no fewer than a hundred tables laid for the feast, with red silk hanging high.
"It’s a day of great joy; Madam should try to be happy. If the Master sees you like this, you’ll be the one punished," a Maid whispered in persuasion.
Dressed in wedding attire, Miss Ming could not hide the pallor of her face.
"The Master has really outdone himself this time; such a spectacle is unrivaled in Hui State. After the wedding banquet, he’s even offering porridge for seven days as a blessing for the young heir."
"Madam must recognize the good and bad in this."
The more she spoke, the more listless Miss Ming’s eyes became until the remaining glimmer of light in them completely vanished, leaving only humiliation.
"Shut up!"
"How much benefit have you received to say such conscience-lacking words?"
Frightened, the Maid prostrated herself: "It is I who deserve to die."
Ming Yuan closed her eyes momentarily.
"You do deserve to die!"
She turned her head away in a fluster.
"Get out."
Remembering the Master’s fondness for Madam, the Maid retreated properly, daring not to be sly in front of her.
Barely out the door, she changed her face and spat.
"Fox, do you still think you’re a respected Madam? If in just a few months your body couldn’t conceal..., still pretending to be so virtuous."
As she spoke, about to leave the courtyard, she unexpectedly bumped into the head of the household lingering outside, her heart skipping a beat.
She quickly blessed herself and left in haste.
"Even a Maid dares to gossip so recklessly behind one’s back."
Lady Qi laughed coldly while Eldest Young Master took it casually, snapping the folding fan shut.
"The Ming Family has violated human relations, and has long broken the rules."
Lady Qi glanced back at the courtyard from time to time. Despite the bustle in the front yard, this place was desolately quiet.
"She’s also a pitiable person. Previously, when she had no other option, she even begged me to save her. Stupid girl."
With that, she chuckled maliciously: "Who knows which unlucky fellow she’s set her sights on this time? The old man cares so much about her; even a mere meeting between you and I is difficult. She’s been kept like a prisoner these years. The new brother-in-law probably can’t even touch her."
Suddenly, she clenched her teeth with resentment.
"How could Mama endure this!"
"And the family fortune, which should rightfully be brother’s, but in the old man’s eyes, no matter how good you are, you still can’t compare to her. The old man has intentions to cultivate her, yet she feels no gratitude."
Hearing this, Eldest Young Master remained indifferent, but deliberately slapped the folding fan with a loud sound for the people in the room to hear.
"Enough, talk less of such things! Otherwise, you’ll end up getting hurt again. You’re not her, and you don’t resemble the late Madam; Father will not be merciful."
"Enough, your sister-in-law is waiting for me; I’m leaving now."
Lady Qi quickly softened and clung to Eldest Young Master’s hand, cooing: "My mistake, brother won’t blame me, right?"
In the front yard, Mr. Ming was pacing back and forth, dismissing those who came up to offer their congratulations, while Mrs. Ming was also in full attendance, smiling and welcoming the guests.
No one knew how reluctantly she smiled.
She detested Ming Yuan.
Initially, Ming Yuan was nothing but a wild child whose mother had died. So what if she was the legitimate daughter? With the Master having many children and occupied with business, how could he remember her?
It was all under her control.
She couldn’t stand Ming Yuan having a good marriage prospect. After her manipulations, the Master ended up ruining Ming Yuan’s marriage.
How pitiful Ming Yuan cried at that time.
But her satisfaction was short-lived.
Ming Yuan grew to look more and more like that person.
The master’s gaze on her was getting hotter and hotter!
By the time she realized, it was too late.
She still had to endure. Even go so far as to cover up for both of them!
Finally, there was some commotion outside.
The dispatched steward stumbled over.
"Master!"
The steward gasped: "Something’s wrong!"
Mr. Ming’s face darkened suddenly. He didn’t want anything to go awry. Yuan couldn’t wait any longer either with her condition.
The steward’s face was ashen, and before he could speak again, a graceful female voice came hauntingly.
"Why rush so? Is there a ghost at your heels hounding you for debts?"
She walked slowly over, struggling to unwrap the wedding candy she grabbed from the table earlier.
Before she got close, there was a ’clang’ as someone accidentally knocked over a wine jar.
Mr. Ming’s face changed, staring fixedly at the embroidered ball she was holding, dazed for a good while.
"You—"
"Is this what you caught?"
Shen Hua provocatively looked at her: "Yes."
Mr. Ming took a deep breath in anger, the surrounding guests all turned to look, equally stunned.
"How could it be a girl!"
"Nonsense, this is total chaos!"
Shen Hua smiled faintly: "I’ve seen many a case of seeking a son-in-law, mostly because there’s no young man to carry on the family line, and they don’t want to adopt from a collateral branch. Another kind is a girl setting up her own household."
"Regardless of the type. They all value looks, appearance, character, achievements... A live-in son-in-law isn’t for just anyone, there has to be something exceptional about him. At the very least, the girl must like him."
"Excuse my limited experience, but this is the first time I’ve seen the Ming Family disregard everything, not care about anything, only requiring the groom to be without a family, even unconcerned if he has a former wife or children of his own. The Ming Family is magnanimous, able to support such a thing. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to call it blind, oh, and one more thing, he can’t be older than Mr. Ming. That makes sense, to prevent the son-in-law from not looking like a son-in-law, and the father from not being a father, now that would truly be chaos, as the days of yore can’t always be compared to who closes their eyes last."
Mr. Ming was so infuriated by her words that smoke was nearly billowing from his seven orifices. He rebuked her fiercely: "You’re a girl, if you caught it by mistake you should have thrown the embroidered ball back, are you ruining the Ming Family’s happy occasion? Can you bear the responsibility?!"
"Even if a little beggar caught it on the street, the Ming Family would have to press on with the marriage ceremony. There’s nothing in the rules that says a girl can’t catch the ball, right? How now do you turn around and blame me?"
Shen Hua, who often blamed others rather than reflecting on herself in any situation, scowled.
"You—such a person, of advancing years, ought to be accumulating some virtue for yourself."
"Master!"
At this moment, a maid next to Ming Yuan rushed in crying and stumbling.
"What’s this! How indecorous!"
The maid trembled with fear: "Madam has attempted suicide."
Mr. Ming’s vision went dark, and he almost spit out a mouthful of blood.
"Summon the doctor at once!"
He could no longer care about anything else and hurried off.
Mrs. Ming was inwardly delighted, but her face did not show it.
She urgently instructed: "Find Dr. Jiang from East City Street!"
This was the doctor known for keeping the tightest lips.
She wiped the corners of her eyes, dry of tears: "How could that child have such desperation. If anything happens to her, how could I ever face my late sister?"
The commotion among the crowd could no longer be contained.
"That’s not right, the news here surely hasn’t reached the back courtyard yet, how could she suddenly become so hopeless?"
"The words spoken by that girl just now, upon careful consideration, do make some sense. Not to mention wealthy merchants, even country folks are choosy when marrying off their daughters, always feeling like the Ming Family just wants to find a compliant and obedient live-in son-in-law. Miss Ming is indeed precious, though a bit older, but her marital fate should not be so carelessly concluded."
"Could it be that Miss Ming had harbored a death wish all this while? If a good wedding turns into a funeral, that would be terribly inauspicious."