My husband, who abandoned his father and kept his son, actually wants me to be his concubine.

Chapter 32 Bringing Lu Jinshi's Male Favorites to Chang'an

Lu Jinshi looked at Huiniang and said, "I am unwilling to act as a matchmaker for Senior Brother Shen, not because I still have any feelings for him, but because my grandfather just passed away. How can I bring myself to ask him to arrange a marriage for my cousin?"

"And in your Shen family, the adopted daughter is not like an adopted daughter, and the child bride is not like a child bride. I will not let my cousin fall into this fire pit of your Shen family!"

It was only after Lu Jinshi and Shen Xing were engaged that he learned that although Hui Niang had grown up in the Shen family since childhood and called Shen Xing "brother", she was not an adopted daughter of the Shen family who had been formally adopted through connections.

Hui Niang was already fifteen years old at that time, and many people came to propose marriage, but Madam Shen politely declined them all. Originally, she wanted Hui Niang to be Shen Xing's concubine.

Lu Jinshi and his mother naturally could not tolerate such a younger sister becoming a concubine.

Lu Jinshi told Shen Xing that she could not tolerate her husband having a concubine and asked Shen Xing to find a good marriage for Hui Niang. Somehow, Hui Niang found out about this. She left a letter saying that she would not implicate Shen Xing and returned to her hometown in Xiangzhou.

Upon learning that Hui Niang had set off with a young maid, Shen Xing disregarded the gloomy weather and went out to search for Hui Niang, fearing that the two young women might encounter danger.

That day, the heaviest rain in ten years fell in Shanyin City. Shen Xing found Hui Niang in a dilapidated temple. He was soaked to the bone and developed a high fever and fell seriously ill after returning home, falling into a coma.

At that time, Madam Shen came and scolded her, saying that she was indeed a jinx to her husband.

Hui Niang knelt before Tianzhang Academy, pleading with Lu Jinshi to annul the engagement.

Lu Jinshi was furious at the time, but the Shen family and his stepfather's Qin family had been on good terms for generations, and both families were prominent families in Shanyin City.

Lu Jinshi swallowed his anger and granted Hui Niang's wish by announcing the annulment of the engagement with Shen Xing.

Lu Jinshi looked at Madam Shen and Huiniang and said, "Whether Shen Xing is my jinx or not, you know better than anyone else. The reason I accepted the accusation of being a jinx and broke off the engagement was because I never wanted to marry into your Shen family. You can rest assured that I will never enter your Shen family again."

After Lu Jinshi finished speaking, he went inside and asked Shuangxi to close the courtyard gate.

Seeing that the door was closed, Hui Niang said, "Mother... I think Lu Jinshi is just being stubborn after he's been exposed."

Madam Shen said, "As long as I am alive, I will not allow Lu Jinshi to enter the Shen family's gate."

Back inside, Lu Jin rinsed her mouth with water, washing off the lip rouge, which she found disgusting.

Arriving in Chang'an, all I encountered were infuriating things.

However, Lu Jinshi was very curious as to why Shen Xing, as a junior scholar in the Hanlin Academy, would set off for Luoyang immediately.
Has something important happened in the imperial court?
Since Lu Jinshi had promised her master to help the students of Lingxiao Academy pass the imperial examinations, she also knew some of the important events in the court, so she could try to guess the questions for the examinations.

Lu Jinshi then sent his servant Shuangfu to find out why the Hanlin Academy had sent someone to Luoyang.
-
In the residence of the Minister of War.

As soon as Xu Yang entered, he saw his younger sister returning from outside. "Dan'er, where have you been?"

Xu Dan said, "Brother, I went to the Sun family to comfort Miss Sun. Miss Sun was slapped by Miss He earlier."

Xu Yang scoffed and said, "This Miss He is not only absurd in her actions, but also so stupid and arrogant. By the way, sister, you are eloquent. Can you help me think of a way to refute the fallacy that women are expected to raise their husbands' concubines and illegitimate children after marriage, so women might as well go and have children through artificial insemination?"

Xu Dan smiled, "How can this be considered fallacy? This is clearly the truth, brother. Which young lady said these words to you?"

Xu Yang naturally wouldn't tell his younger sister that it was Senior Sister Lu who said it, lest his sister befriend Senior Sister Lu and corrupt his lovely and sensible sister: "It was just said by an unrelated person, it doesn't matter." Xu Dan said: "There hasn't been a wonderful person like Miss He in Chang'an for a long time. She left her father and kept her son, she is truly a role model for women."

Xu Yang frowned and coldly rebuked, "Dan'er, you mustn't act like Miss He. How shameful it is to abandon your father and leave your son behind! If you dare to abandon your father and leave your son behind, I'll break your legs!"

Seeing her brother angry, Xu Dan dared not say anything more, but she really wanted to get to know the eldest daughter of the He family.
-
Inside the Yongxing Marquis's residence.

Today, with the funeral of the old Marquis, everyone in the Marquis's mansion gathered together except for Lu Jinshi. The Marquis's wife is still alive, so even though the old Marquis has passed away, the family property has not been divided.

The reason they gathered together was to discuss He Tan's appointment as Marquis.

The second master of the He family said, "Eldest brother, Father has already been buried, why hasn't His Majesty sent an edict to bestow upon you the title of Marquis?"

He Qin chimed in from the side, "He Jinshi slapped the Minister's daughter, and all six ministers will definitely try to stop Father from being granted the title of Marquis."

Second Master He said, “Now that we are all suspended from our duties to observe mourning, we cannot go to the palace to see His Majesty. But the Marquis’s mansion cannot only have the heir and not the Marquis. Why don’t we let Jinlan go to see the Seventh Prince? The Seventh Prince, out of consideration for Jinlan, may put in a good word for you, elder brother.”

He Tan said, "If the Seventh Prince has such intentions, there is no need to have Jinlan plead for him. Well, since we are here, let's just wait and see."

In a corner to the side, the He family girls gathered together.

He Jinlan said, "Let He Jinshi be so arrogant before! Now the whole of Chang'an is laughing at her for leaving her son and losing her father. I have to add fuel to the fire so that everyone in Chang'an knows that He Jinshi could only leave her son and lose her father, making her a laughing stock in Chang'an."

He Jiayi, the seventeen-year-old second daughter of the He family, who was only a few months younger than He Jinlan, frowned and looked at He Jinlan, saying, "Sister, this is absolutely not allowed. If eldest sister's reputation is bad, it will also affect the reputation of the other girls in our He family. In that case, marriage will be difficult. Our sisters' reputations are intertwined; if one is ruined, the whole family will be ruined."

He Jinlan glared at He Jiayi impatiently and said, "In the imperial court, even the execution of nine generations of a family is a crime of treason. How can He Jinshi's bad reputation ruin the reputation of all the daughters in the family? He Jiayi, why are you always so old-fashioned?"

Do you think this is like marrying off a daughter in a rural village, where a bad family reputation makes it difficult for the daughter to get married? We are the daughter of a marquis, sought after by many families. How could our marriage be affected by Lu Jinshi's reputation?"

He Jiayi frowned, her mind filled with nothing but thoughts of that idiot He Jinlan!
Unfortunately, she was born into a bad family and became the illegitimate daughter of the second branch of the Marquis's family, so she could only let He Jinlan, that fool, do whatever she wanted.

He Jinlan said, "I wonder who Lu Jinshi's male favorite is? I'll send someone to Shanyin City to find out. It would be best to bring Lu Jinshi's male favorite to Chang'an so that she can humiliate my mother and steal my Jinyuan as soon as she arrives! Lu Jinshi should be taught a lesson."

He Jiayi couldn't help but frown. Were her uncle's two daughters really determined to ruin the reputation of the Marquis's daughters?

However, He Jinshi made no attempt to hide the fact that she left her father and kept her son, and acted arrogantly, so she must be from the same hometown as him.
We should test He Jinshi. For the sake of being from the same hometown, He Jiayi should also advise He Jinshi not to continue to be so arrogant. After all, this is not the world they used to live in.

He Jiayi looked at He Jinlan and asked, "Sister, do you know where eldest sister lives?"

He Jinlan said, "I don't know, what do you want with her? You're not going to complain to Lu Jinshi that I'm sending people to Shanyin City to find her male lover, are you?"

He Jiayi said, "I dare not, but I have a couplet that I would like to ask my elder sister."

He Jinlan retorted angrily, "What couplet can't I match? Why do you have to ask Lu Jinshi? Tell me, and see if I can match it."

Seeing He Jinlan's expression, as if she feared He Jiayi was about to report her, He Jiayi could only slowly say, "My first line is 'odd changes, even remains unchanged.'"

(End of this chapter)