Zhao Jingtai's Prospects
"What are you doing here?" Zhao Yuanxun asked with a serious face.
Zhao Ruyu clutched her skirt tightly and stammered, "To meet... to meet my classmates from the Women's Academy." As she spoke, she glanced at Zhao Ruxi.
Even now, Zhao Ruyu has no idea who this "Zhao Ruxi" is, whether she is the reborn Zhao Ruxi, or whether her body has been possessed by some demon or monster.
She wasn't afraid of Zhao Yuanxun. Perhaps she was a little afraid in her past life, but she wasn't afraid in this one. She knew that although Zhao Yuanxun looked serious, he was actually a very gentle person and very kind to his family.
What she feared was Zhao Ruxi.
She didn't sleep a wink last night, pondering the variables of this life and the next. Finally, she realized one thing: the reason so many things changed in this life was because of the existence of "Zhao Ruxi".
She didn't know why this demon had come here, or why it had possessed Zhao Ruxi's body. But she knew that it was because of her that the child-swapping incident had been exposed; because the child-swapping incident had been exposed, Lady Wei had been arrested, and thus Li Mu's affair had come to light, bringing the Wei Family family to ruin. It was for these reasons that the old lady and Zhao Yuanxun insisted on dividing the family property.
The series of chain reactions, when traced back to their origins, were all due to the existence of this "Zhao Ruxi".
She didn't know what Zhao Ruxi's purpose was in coming here—whether it was to target her, who had a reborn soul, or something else.
Regardless of whether it was targeted at her or not, Zhao Ruxi's existence has seriously affected her life. Her smooth path in her previous life has become fraught with obstacles because of this series of changes.
Fu Yunlang didn't say anything just now, he only comforted her, saying that as long as he persisted, he would definitely be able to marry her.
But based on her understanding of Fu Yunlang from her previous life, she knew he was lying. After what happened to Lady Wei, the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan would definitely worry that Fu Yunlang still had ties with her and would arrange his engagement as soon as possible.
Her marriage, her love, everything she has will be destroyed.
The culprit behind all of this is none other than the woman in front of us, "Zhao Ruxi".
But what about Zhao Ruxi herself? Because she has returned to the main branch of the family and has the love and care of Zhao Yuanxun and Lady Zhu, she will certainly not marry a notorious homosexual like she did in her previous life. Even if the Marquis's mansion becomes the Earl's mansion and the Zhao Family is not as good as before after the division, Lady Zhu will definitely choose a good family for Zhao Ruxi, like Zhao Ruyu and Zhao Ruzhu, so that she can live a happy life.
Thinking of this, Zhao Ruyu was overcome with grief, and tears fell unconsciously again.
Zhao Yuanxun disliked women who cried easily.
Before he could say anything, Zhao Ruyu started crying and sobbing. If someone saw this, they might say he was mistreating his niece.
His voice turned colder. "Alright, hurry home." With that, he turned and got into the carriage.
Zhao Ruxi raised an eyebrow, glanced at the blooming white lotus, and then followed her father into the carriage.
"Let's go." As soon as his daughter got into the car, Zhao Yuanxun told the driver to leave, completely ignoring whether Zhao Ruyu was going to leave or not.
When Zhao Ruyu came out, he saw a carriage from the Earl's mansion drive out from the side. He had no worries about Zhao Ruyu not being able to get home.
Zhao Ruyu didn't dare to linger, fearing that if Fu Yunlang came out of the teahouse at any moment and saw her still at the door trying to comfort him, Zhao Yuanxun would see it.
Although the officials of both households knew about her marriage to Fu Yunlang, Lady Wei was still in prison and about to be beheaded; Zhao Yuanliang was still in bed. The family property had just been divided, and the Earl's mansion was in chaos.
If Zhao Yuanxun finds out that she's out secretly meeting her lover, and that the marriage is likely to fall through, how will he deal with her? Will he simply make her pack her bags and go back to the Xu Family?
Therefore, Zhao Ruyu didn't dare to delay for even a moment, quickly got into the carriage, and followed Zhao Yuanxun's carriage away.
Upon returning to the Earl's residence, it was already past dinnertime. To avoid upsetting the old lady, Zhao Yuanxun took Zhao Ruxi to the Rongxi Hall first.
As soon as I stepped into the courtyard, I heard the old lady's hearty laughter coming from the Rongxi Hall.
Ever since the family divided their property, leaving the house with two missing corners, the old lady has been depressed. If it weren't for Zhao Ruxi's preemptive warning and the subsequent encouragement from Zhao Yuanxun and the First Madam, she might have fallen ill.
Therefore, Zhao Yuanxun and Zhao Ruxi were very Gao Xing to hear the old lady's hearty laughter.
"Grandmother, what makes you so Gao Xing?" Zhao Ruxi asked as soon as she entered the door.
"Oh my, Miss Xi, you are truly my good granddaughter! You've actually been chosen by Mister Kumu to be his apprentice." The old lady called Zhao Ruxi to her side, reached out and stroked her face, her expression full of affection.
The First Madam sat beside them, watching them with a smile. Zhao Jingtai also sat down beside her.
Clearly, the First Madam had already told the Old Madam about Kang Shilin taking Zhao Ruxi as his apprentice.
"You were really taken as a disciple by Mister Kumu? And your senior brother is really Minister Lord Wu of the Ministry of Personnel?" The old lady still seemed unconvinced and needed to confirm with Zhao Ruxi.
"Yes, that's right." Zhao Ruxi was also very Gao Xing that this news would cheer up the old lady.
"Miss Xi, you are so capable." As she spoke, tears welled up in the old lady's eyes.
Seeing her like this, the First Madam was quite helpless. "Mother, this is a joyous occasion, you should be Gao Xing, why are you crying?"
"It's wonderful news, truly wonderful news," the old lady said, wiping away her tears. "After so many years, it's so rare to have such good news. I'm so Gao Xing."
Seeing her mother-in-law like this, the First Madam felt heartbroken.
The old lady's ecstatic joy upon hearing that Master Kang had accepted Zhao Ruxi as his apprentice was not fully understood by others, who only thought that Zhao Ruxi had climbed to a higher social status and could bring more benefits to the Earl of Suiping's Residence. However, the first lady knew that was not the case.
The Great Jin had only been established for a little over two hundred years. Whether it was the Earl of Huanping's Residence, the Duke of Wei's Residence, or the Duke of Ying's Residence, they were all nobles who had made great contributions in the founding emperor's conquest of the country.
They were all military officers.
Although there are still some nomadic tribes eyeing the borders of the Great Jin Dynasty, the Great Jin is powerful enough that those neighboring countries will only harass them when their own countries are in trouble, and dare not launch a large-scale attack.
As the country enjoys peace and prosperity for a long time, the status of military generals gradually declines, while the status of civil officials rises. Nowadays, apart from a few powerful families that still hold military power, the other military families that received their titles at the same time have gradually fallen into decline.
Other aristocratic families declined slowly because their sons were still serving in the military. However, the Zhao Yuanxun Duke of Sui's Residence had no successor since the Duke of Sui's Residence of Suiguo's death. This was because the eldest son, Zhao Yuanxun, was in poor health and was the only eldest son who could not join the army. Zhao Yuanliang was incompetent, and Zhao Yuankun was ambitious but cold-hearted. The Duke of Sui dared not let him go out.