Chapter 353: Going to Sheng's House to Choose a Relative

"I asked you if you had anything to do with him?" Old Madam Sheng smiled kindly and said, "You confessed it yourself!"

"Grandma~!" Minglan threw herself into Old Lady Sheng's arms and acted coquettishly.

At this time, the old lady whispered to Minglan:
"You silly girl, you're almost writing the words 'hate to get married' on your face, and your sister-in-law has already told me!"

"Ah~! How could my sister-in-law do this!" Minglan was stunned.

at the same time.

Lin Hao and the Lady of the Duke of England also arrived at the gate of the Sheng Mansion. Sheng Hong, Madam Wang, Sheng Changbai and Zhang Cuifen were welcoming them warmly at the gate.

There was no way. Whether it was the Duchess of England or Lin Hao, the King of Yan, their status was far beyond that of the Sheng family, and it was only natural to greet them at the gate.

At this time, Zhang Cuifen saw her mother and elder brother coming, and she walked forward to greet them with a smile on her face:
"Mother, brother!"

Chang Bai, who was beside her, immediately supported Zhang Cuifen:
"Madam, don't worry, be careful of the child!"

"Child, child!" Sheng Hong and his wife said anxiously.

Lin Hao was helping his mother get out of the car. When they heard the words "be careful with the child", they both looked at Zhang Cuifen.

Zhang Cuifen immediately slowed down and dared not make any more big moves!
The Duchess of England held her daughter's hand, and when she knew that her daughter was pregnant, she immediately smiled. However, this was the gate of the Sheng Mansion after all, so it was not appropriate to say such private things.

Then the Duchess of England held her daughter's hand tightly and whispered:
"You're in public, watch your image!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cuifen immediately resumed her ladylike demeanor and answered her mother's question:
"My daughter hasn't seen her mother and elder brother for a long time. She missed them very much. When she suddenly saw her relatives, she couldn't help herself!"

But the Duchess of England said:
"You silly girl, you have married into the Sheng family. The people of the Sheng family are your relatives. Don't say such things in the future. Do you understand?"

"My daughter knows!" Zhang Cuifen immediately admitted her mistake.

The Duchess of England's voice was not loud, but Sheng Hong and his wife and Chang Bai just happened to hear it, and everyone in the Sheng family nodded slightly.

I didn't expect that the Duchess of England was so open-minded. She brought up her daughter very well and loved her daughter-in-law very much.

Afterwards, the couple warmly greeted Lin Hao and his mother, and then welcomed them into the Sheng Mansion.

Led by Madam Wang, the Lady of the Duke of England went to Shou'an Hall to pay a visit to Old Madam Sheng, while Lin Hao was taken to the central hall by Sheng Hong, with Changbai and his sister accompanying them!
At this time in Shou'an Hall, the Lady of the Duke of England and Old Madam Sheng sat in the main seats, while Madam Wang sat on the left side of the main seat.

On the right side of the main seat are Rulan, Molan and Minglan. The seats are arranged according to legitimacy and age.

If there is no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children and between the highest and lowest classes, it may not matter on a daily basis, but it will only make people laugh in formal occasions!

After everyone was seated and exchanged some courtesies, the Duke of England's wife also took a look at the three maids from the Sheng family.

She had already looked up the information of the Sheng family in the archives of the Duke's Mansion. Rulan was a straightforward and kind person, not very scheming, but impatient when faced with things. She was more like her mother, Wang Ruofu.

Molan, who was sitting in the middle, was raised by a favored concubine. Unfortunately, she ended up behaving like a concubine. Not only did she live a more luxurious life than a legitimate daughter, she also seemed quite aloof and arrogant!
Minglan, who was sitting at the bottom and looked cute and lovely, had no clear description of her personality in the archives, only her past life experience was recorded.

After Minglan's biological mother died in childbirth, she was raised by Old Madam Sheng. It was said that she was well educated and even served as the housekeeper on behalf of Madam Wang before her own daughter joined the Sheng family.

However, through the information she collected, combined with the clues in the archives, it can be seen that Minglan is a sober and independent person.

This is completely different from her current cute and ignorant look. It seems that she is a person with something in mind.

But there is no harm in being more careful. After all, everyone in the Zhang family has a lot of tricks. As long as she doesn't have any bad intentions, it's fine!
The only flaw is probably that he is not born of a legitimate wife. However, this flaw is not a big deal for the Zhang family. After all, the Zhang family does not care too much about this.

Then the Duchess of England said:
"I heard from Haolin and Cuifen that all the girls in your Sheng family are beautiful and graceful. I heard that the eldest girl who married into the Earl Zhongqin's mansion is also a virtuous, thrifty and frugal child!"

"Yes~!" Mrs. Wang said happily.

Just as she was about to continue praising her daughter, Old Madam Sheng interrupted her and changed the subject:

"Cui Fen is the epitome of a lady from a noble family. Since she married into the Sheng family, she has been humble and polite, respectful to her parents-in-law, and has never overstepped the boundaries. She is truly a good daughter-in-law that is hard to find even with a lantern lit!"

Then the old lady said to Madam Wang: "Isn't it?"

At this moment, Madam Wang felt very uncomfortable and could only smile awkwardly and say:

"Yes, yes, Cuifen is very filial to me. The upbringing of the Duke's Mansion is the best!"

When Wang Ruofu first married into the Sheng family, she had been depressed in the family for decades. Now that she had finally become a mother-in-law, she naturally wanted to show off her status as a mother-in-law.

The result! After the wedding, the daughter-in-law served him respectfully without her having to tell him anything. She would take the initiative to visit him every morning and evening.

From the moment the daughter-in-law opens her eyes in the morning until Sheng Hong and Chang Bai return home in the evening, the daughter-in-law has been by her side serving her!

When the mother-in-law eats, she stands and sets the dishes;

When my mother-in-law drinks water, she first tests whether it is hot or cold;
When her mother-in-law washed her hands and face, she would hold the basin and wash the handkerchief.

And he always had a smile on his face, without any sign of fatigue. Not to mention his daughter-in-law, even she felt a little guilty!
Instead of complaining, she always smiles and talks, as if serving her mother-in-law is a very happy thing.

Even though he wanted to give the new bride a warning, he couldn't find any fault with her!

Sometimes, the daughter-in-law would just say a few words to find fault with nothing, and she would accept it sincerely and thank her mother-in-law for her advice with a grateful look on her face.

The sincerity of the attitude and the genuineness of the expression will make anyone who sees it feel that it comes from the heart.

After a few days, she was very comfortable being served by her daughter-in-law, and felt that she had married a good daughter-in-law!
However, the good times did not last long, and some bad rumors began to spread in the mansion.

Even Sheng Hong would often make sarcastic remarks about her, saying things like he wasn't particularly nice to his mother-in-law, yet now he has the nerve to make his daughter-in-law serve him.

At first she didn't care, but after hearing so many rumors, she felt trapped and didn't know what to do.

The most important thing is that once at the dinner table, the old lady looked at Zhang Cuifen who was serving her, and said something to her indifferently:

"You are more fortunate than me, you are destined to be a daughter-in-law!"

My goodness, this sentence is so destructive. What does this sentence mean? Old Madam Sheng is her mother-in-law. She never asked her to come to visit her every morning and evening, nor did she ask her to follow the rules. The problem is that she herself has never served her mother-in-law so wholeheartedly.

The key point is that this sentence can be extended to mean that she is disobeying her parents. You know, that is the first of the seven reasons for divorce!
The first of the seven grounds for divorce is disobeying parents. The husband's family can use this as an excuse to divorce the wife!
Madam Wang looked at Zhang Cuifen busying herself, thought about her own behavior, and the recent rumors in the mansion, and she was immediately frightened.

So she began to remind her daughter-in-law in both explicit and implicit ways that she didn't have to serve her anymore. However, Zhang Cuifen said that this was against the rules. She was from the Duke of Yingguo's mansion and she couldn't bring shame to her natal family, nor could she be unfilial to her husband's parents-in-law.

Madam Wang took a deep breath and didn't even dare to think about letting her daughter-in-law come. As long as you come less often, my problems won't be highlighted!
Fortunately, she finally had an idea, which allowed her to spend most of her time serving the old lady in Shou'an Hall instead of her.

Naturally, the old lady would not treat her grandson's wife harshly, so Zhang Cuifen usually only had to chat with the old lady, or accompany Minglan to play chess, read books, and play cards in front of her.

With this, Zhang Cuifen also struggled out of the complicated rules!

The Duchess of England looked at Madam Wang and knew that she was just trying to show off and didn't have any bad intentions. She just wanted to laugh when she saw that she looked so depressed.

Because she remembered what her son told her, that Sheng Changbai was giving his daughter advice on how to "do her best to be filial to her mother-in-law"!

This is also what the Duchess of England is most satisfied with her son-in-law Changbai. A son-in-law who loves his own daughter is the best son-in-law!

At this time, the British lady said:

"Okay, let's not waste any more time on small talk. Haolin and I are coming to Sheng's house today. I'm sure Cuifen has already told you the news!"

Old Madam Sheng and Madam Wang nodded, indicating that they had received the news, while the three maids beside them lowered their heads shyly!
But in the eyes of the Duchess of England, Rulan and Minglan are really shy, while Molan just looks shy!

Then the Duchess of England continued:
"The Zhang family has always been resolute in their actions, so I won't beat around the bush!"

"Haolin has studied in your Sheng family for several years and has some understanding of the girls of the Sheng family. So Haolin discussed with me and the Duke of England and wanted to marry a girl from the Sheng family as his princess!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Wang was immediately excited and decided that he wanted to marry her own Rulan. Madam Sheng smiled knowingly because she knew that Lin Hao was going for Ming girl!
Another thing that made the Sheng family happy was that the Duchess of England said that marrying a girl from the Sheng family as the princess had been unanimously agreed upon by the people in charge of the Zhang family.

What's more, it was the Duchess of England who came in person, which gave enough face to the Sheng family!

The lady at this time couldn't wait to ask:
"Which girl of our family have you taken a fancy to?"

Then he looked at the three girls with a smile, and said to Madam Wang and the old lady:
"I think the three girls of the Sheng family are all good, but when it comes to marrying a daughter-in-law in our family, naturally the person involved has the final say. As long as Haolin agrees, the Duke and I will agree too!

At this point, the Duchess of England continued:

"How about letting Haolin come in and explain in detail?"

"It should be so!" Mrs. Wang said happily.

Then Madam Wang couldn't wait any longer and ordered her servants to invite someone!

After the servants left, Lady England looked at the three maids and said to Madam Wang:

"Oh, right? This should be the eldest lady's legitimate daughter, Rulan!"

"She looks very much like you, with intelligent features, generous and frank, she really has the demeanor of a lady from a noble family!"

When Wang Ruofu heard the Duke's wife praising Rulan, she immediately smiled like a flower and was extremely happy!
Rulan also bowed generously and said obediently:
"Thank you for your praise, Auntie. Rulan is unworthy of it!"

The Duchess of England smiled and nodded, then looked at Molan and said:
"I remember you are Molan! Girls really change a lot when they grow up. You become more and more beautiful!"

Molan stood up awkwardly and replied in a somewhat pretentious manner:

"Thank you for the compliment, Madam. Molan is unworthy of it!"

The Lady of the Duke of England just nodded, then looked at Minglan, and then said to Old Lady Sheng:
"This must be Minglan who was raised by you! It is said that like Hualan, you have brought her up very well. No wonder she looks so likable!"

Minglan looked at the Lady of England with a confused look on her face, and then said:
"I wish you good health and a long life!"

"Haha! This girl really knows how to talk!" The Duchess of England nodded with satisfaction.

Madam Wang was even more delighted when she heard this. When the Lady of the Duke of England talked about Rulan, she said she had the demeanor of a lady from a noble family. When she talked about Molan, she only said that she was pretty. And when she talked about Minglan, she said that she was as well-educated as Hualan!

The evaluation of the three maids is very clear! The best one is Rulan, followed by Minglan, and the worst one is Molan.

Because the first two both have the qualities to become princesses, but Molan is just pretty. But what's the use of being pretty? Let alone marrying a prince, even if it's marrying into an official family, it's not enough to be pretty!

On this point, Aunt Wang definitely has better vision than Lin Qinshuang. Being well-educated, virtuous, etc. can all be added points, but being beautiful is not the first option for the lady of the house!

When the three girls of the Sheng family were being praised one by one, Lin Hao and his sister Zhang Cuifen also came in. As for Sheng Hong and Chang Bai, they were still waiting in the main hall!

At this time, Lin Hao began to salute:

"Old Madam Ci'an, Mother Yi'an, Madam Yi'an, and three younger sisters Zhuang'an!"

The three maids immediately stood up and bowed. After they sat down again, Old Lady Sheng smiled and said:

"Please take a seat, King Yan!"

At this time, Lin Hao saluted the old lady again and said:

"Old lady, the Zhang family and the Sheng family are actually relatives, and I have studied in the Sheng family for several years, so I am not an outsider. You should just call me Haolin!!"

Moreover, my mother and I are here to ask for marriage today. The old lady was also happy to hear this and said:

"Okay, then I'll call you Haolin in private from now on!"

"The Duke's wife has already told me about you, but I don't know which girl in our family you like!"

Lin Hao looked at Rulan, Molan, and Minglan, and said slowly:

"Our Zhang family has many businesses all over the country, and the head lady must first have the ability to manage the backyard!"

Hearing Lin Hao say this, Molan's face fell, and she immediately knew that she had no chance. Of course, Molan didn't know that she had already been eliminated when it came to the stage of the Duke of England's evaluation!
(End of this chapter)