The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1091 - 1091 527 Huanxi (second watch)_2

Chapter 1091: 527 Huanxi (second watch)_2 Chapter 1091: 527 Huanxi (second watch)_2 The Empress Dowager and the Emperor sat down in the main hall, both having much to say to Gu Jiao.

The elder Sacrificial Official silently went to the kitchen to make brown sugar glutinous rice cakes.

Xiao Hen planned to go and help his teacher, but was mercilessly rejected by the elder Sacrificial Official.

Didn’t he have any idea how much his cooking skills weighed?

“Ahen, come over and help with the couplets,” said the Yao Family, smiling.

“Okay,” Xiao Hen walked out, carrying a bucket of paste, and took the young boys of the family to the door to paste the couplets.

The Empress Dowager did not bring up the matters of the battlefield; those could be discussed after the New Year. She talked about the issues in the village.

The eunuchs and guards she sent to Qingquan Village had met Xue Ningxiang, and the simultaneous marriage proposals for Xue Ningxiang by Zhou Erzhuang and the head of Tianxiang Academy had caused a massive stir in the adjacent eight or ten villages.

Xue Ningxiang was a young widow, looked down upon by many in the countryside, yet there were those with unrighteous intentions who wanted to take advantage of her. Initially, when Gu Jiao’s family and Zhou’s mother were around, those mean-spirited people were somewhat restrained.

After Gu Jiao’s family left and Zhou’s mother passed away, and Gu Yan’s two secret guards returned to the Capital City, Xue Ningxiang’s circumstances became difficult.

Once, she was awakened in the middle of the night when a hooligan from the neighboring village climbed over the wall into her room, pinned her down on the bed, and bullied her. It was only because the child, Huanxi, woke up and cried so loudly that the neighbors were alerted, which prevented the man from succeeding.

In the countryside, news cannot be hidden, and what happened at night would spread through the village by the next day.

The rogue was named Li Dazhu, and his wife came to Xue Ningxiang’s door the next day to berate her, calling her a fox spirit, a cheap floozy, a little whore… accusing her of stripping naked in the sorghum field to seduce her husband, even saying her husband went to find her in the middle of the night.

Xue Ningxiang, the victim, became the fox spirit who seduced men, unable to clear her name.

Such incidents were not few, and Xue Ningxiang had never mentioned them in her letters. If not for the visit from the Empress Dowager’s people to the countryside, they wouldn’t have known the extent of Xue Ningxiang’s sufferings.

Luo Lizheng was protecting Xue Ningxiang, but the more he protected her, the more gossip there was.

In the end, he, the Lizheng, also became an outcast.

After the head of the Academy learned about this, he wanted to bring Xue Ningxiang to the town. However, just at that time, Zhou Erzhuang returned.

How the matter became public knowledge was unknown, but eventually the whole village knew that Xue Ningxiang had caught the eye of her young uncle and the respected head of Tianxiang Academy. To be precise, they thought it was Xue Ningxiang who had seduced the two of them.

Xue Ningxiang was harshly criticized.

Even her relatives, who lived a hundred miles away, got wind of the situation and came to berate her severely.

Human nature is sometimes like this: after seeing Xue Ningxiang struggle in the mire, they were unwilling to see her climb out.

In the eyes of many, a widow who had caused her husband’s death deserved to be scorned; why should she lead a superior life?

Of course, all this could be resolved. People dared to scold a rock blocking their path, but almost no one dared to curse the mountains in front of and behind their village.

The Empress Dowager turned Xue Ningxiang into the highest mountain in the village.

“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager would like to invite Mistress Xue to the Capital City for a visit.”

As soon as the eunuch spoke these words, people within eight or ten miles knelt down.

They knew the greatest official was the county magistrate, but what was the Empress Dowager? A Bodhisattva, a Buddha, Heaven itself! With just a wave of her finger—no, not even a finger, just a breath—she could take the lives of everyone in their village!

The way people looked at Xue Ningxiang shifted from jealousy to fear.

They could no longer afford to be jealous.

Of course, the Empress Dowager did not really intend to summon Xue Ningxiang to the Capital City forcibly; it was merely a statement of support.

The person the Empress Dowager sent reassured Xue Ningxiang that with the Empress Dowager’s backing, she need fear nothing; even if she wished to marry ten or eight husbands, nobody would dare gossip about her.

Xue Ningxiang was truly frightened by this outrageous statement—ten or eight husbands? She had no such intention!

However, after this conversation, Xue Ningxiang’s courage was indeed greatly bolstered.

Zhou Erzhuang and the head of the Academy were both very outstanding men. In another ten or twenty years, Xue Ningxiang might have chosen the youthful and spirited Zhou Erzhuang. But at her current age, only two years older than Gu Jiao and burdened with these current tribulations, she was more inclined towards the fatherly figure of the head of the Academy.

He was mature and steady, considerate and meticulous, tolerant with people, and he was also wealthy.

Furthermore, Zhou Erzhuang was Xue Ningxiang’s brother-in-law, and she couldn’t get over that hurdle in her heart.

Last, and most importantly, she was a mother. Sometimes, what binds a woman is not a man, but her child.

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