Chapter 279: Preparations for a Second Marriage

l.Meng Jin Yao was taken aback for a moment, then calmly replied: "I lost my mother right after birth. My grandmother believed I was an ill omen, and my father didn't care much for me. My stepmother a...It is a tea gathering at the home of the Luo family.

The Luo family were originally from the capital, and they had relatives and friends there. It's just that Master Luo was sent to a remote area to serve as an official many years ago, so they haven't been in touch much.

Now that he has been recalled to the capital and promoted, Luo Da's old friends have all reached out. Some of his colleagues' families also came today, so there are quite a few guests at the Luo household, making it lively.

Meng Jinyao didn't sleep well last night, so she woke up a little late today. When she arrived, most of the guests were already there. Fortunately, there were two other guests who arrived later than her, so she wasn't the last one to arrive.

Today's arrivals were all from families similar to the Luo family. Among those ladies, Meng Jinyao's status became the most distinguished one. As soon as she arrived, everyone present seemed a bit restrained. You see, the female members of Changxing Houfu rarely attended gatherings with them; they usually socialize with women from other aristocratic families or officials' households.

Meng Jinyao greeted her uncle's new wife and then spoke with Xu Shi. When a noblewoman wanted to talk to her, she smiled and responded.

Seeing that she wasn't acting like a haughty mistress, everyone relaxed and felt comfortable talking to her.

But gossip is unavoidable, and some people with poor eyesight speak without thinking. One such person asked, "Madam Gu, I hear that Miss Meng Er and Young Master Meng didn't visit Sun's grave after her death. Is this true"

As soon as she uttered those words, the expressions on everyone's faces became rather interesting. However, driven by curiosity, no one interrupted the lady. Instead, they subtly shifted their gaze towards Meng Jin Yao, eager to hear more gossip. After all, rumors were just rumors; who would know better than Meng Jin Yao If the rumors were true, then the Sun family's children were truly heartless and despicable, utterly ungrateful and callous. No matter how cruel the Sun family matriarch had been, she hadn't wronged them. Yet, they hadn't even visited her grave.

Xu's brows furrowed, just about to speak up for her cousin and fend off the remark, but when she saw her cousin gently shake her head, she held back.

Meng Jinyo shook her head slightly at her sister-in-law, then calmly raised her teacup, took a sip, and responded leisurely: "I've heard about this, but whether it's true or not, I'm not sure. After all, the woman who has been my mother for over ten years murdered my biological mother and younger half-brother. After that birthday banquet, I didn't have the heart to pay attention to her affairs, just treating her like a stranger."

This statement does two things: it acknowledges having heard the rumors and expresses her disappointment in Mrs. Sun. Importantly, she avoids directly accusing her siblings of being unfilial. She leaves the truth of the rumors open-ended, suggesting she doesn't know if they are true or false. Given her disappointment with Mrs. Sun, she chose not to investigate further what happened afterwards.

Only the person involved knows for sure if they have truly never paid attention. The ladies glanced at her, secretly thinking she was someone who didn't reveal anything in her words.

Soon, a wife flattered Mrs. Gu: "Mrs. Gu is kindhearted. She didn't hand her over to the authorities back then. If it had been someone else, there wouldn't have been such polite words. They probably wouldn't have cared about decades of mother-daughter affection and would have torn her apart right away.

As soon as the words were spoken, someone else sighed and said, "It's sometimes hard to say which is heavier, the kindness of giving birth or the kindness of raising a child. Mrs. Gu, considering the decades of nurturing she received, didn't report her wrongs. In the end, she took her own life. This could be considered karmic retribution. They say that those who do evil will face multiple deaths from the King of Hell, and she wouldn't live past five more hours."

Someone else chimed in, "That's right, this is her retribution. She was abandoned by everyone and lost two children who she didn't even bury."

Meng Jinyao only drank tea and didn't speak. She wasn't actually that easy to get along with. Back then, she only wanted to kill Sun Shi's heart, get her divorced, and be despised by the Sun family, so that Sun Shi could taste the bitterness of being betrayed by everyone, and finally report Sun Shi to the authorities. Unexpectedly, Sun Shi would hit her head to death at the door of the Sun family that night.

At this time, a lady quietly observed Meng Jinyang's face. Seeing that she showed no displeasure, and remembering something, she cautiously said, "Madam Gu, I wonder if you have heard of something..."

Meng Jin Yao looked at her: "What's the matter My lady, you may speak freely."

"That lady said, 'Yesterday I was helping my cousin who is living with me to find her family. I overheard the matchmaker say that Lord Yongchang's household had hired one. I thought to myself that Miss Meng Er had indeed reached marriageable age. However, she is still in mourning, and Second Master hasn't reached marriageable age either. And Young Master is even younger, and also in mourning.'

She didn't finish her sentence, but everyone could guess what she meant. Some of the children were of marriageable age and were observing filial piety, while others were too young to worry about marriage arrangements.

Then who else could be the prospective groom

It's simply preposterous to suggest that Mrs. Meng, an elderly woman nearing her twilight years, would remarry!

Surely it is Mengdong Yuan from Yongchang, eh!

Everyone looked at each other in surprise. He had only divorced his previous wife last month, and his ex-wife had died just last month as well. Was he already looking for a new bride so soon

Surprised as it was, people readily accepted it. After all, a man shouldn't remain faithful to his wife just because she had died, especially if she was a cruel and abandoned woman.

The household not only has children to take care of, but also requires the mistress to manage the family affairs, maintain relationships with relatives and friends. Moreover, it was Sun who made the mistakes, while Master Meng is an innocent victim. The original wife was killed by Sun, and the eldest son was also killed by Sun. At his age of just over thirty, remarrying is normal.

Meng Jinyao was also taken aback, although she had expected this to happen, she didn't expect her father to find a new wife so quickly. Her mother remarrying and her father taking another wife were things that children couldn't stop.

Seeing the silence from everyone, especially Meng Jinyang's silence, that lady felt a little flustered. She felt like she had said something wrong and hurriedly tried to backtrack: "Madam Gu, I probably misunderstood. About things that haven't been confirmed, you don't need to worry too much."

Meng Jinyao's complexion returned to normal, and she said softly, "What Xu said is true. However, it's a matter for the elders, and as juniors, we can't interfere. If my father really wants to remarry, as children, we can only wish him and his new wife happiness and harmony."

That lady, seeing that she seemed not to mind, also let out a slow breath and followed along, saying, "Mrs. Gu is right."

Xu feared that her cousin might feel uncomfortable, so she subtly changed the subject.

The other ladies also suppressed their gossipy thoughts and, following Xu's lead, changed the subject.

Meng Jinyo's lips held a faint smile, she calmly sipped her tea, but her thoughts drifted far away.

Fortunately, she had predicted her father's next move that day. She took advantage of the situation and moved out the late mother's name, claiming that the mother dreamt of wanting a son. This made her father and grandmother agree to register her younger brother under their mother's name as the legitimate heir. That way, even when the stepmother came in, it wouldn't be so easy for her to manipulate her younger brother. The difference between a concubine's child and a legitimate son was vast, and with her as the elder sister, the wife of the Marquis, supporting him, the stepmother wouldn't dare to touch him easily.

As for Sun's children, they are probably not so fortunate. Sun made a grave mistake and was abandoned by her father. Meng Jinyu and Meng Chengxing's reputation has been damaged, and she and her younger brother do not associate with Sun's children unless their stepmother is kind, otherwise they will be mistreated.nue to be dutiful and filial towards herSun's face stiffened slightly, she evaded the question and replied lightly: "I didn't sleep well last night. I have already asked the master to solve that matte...