<h4>Chapter 137: Two Ways of Persuading (2)</h4>


    Trantor: Iris


    Proofread by DragonRider


    Minn firmly believed that her direction of struggle was always deviated from God’s n for her. She would really like some hints from God. After all, she, Minn or Yao Yiyi, was an obedient girl since she had been a little child and would never go against God’s will!


    As the family war continued, Hun who had initiated this marriage chose to lie low wisely and showed no intention to participate in the persuading. Instead, she invited Minn to her home. Old Madam Sheng knew that Hun only wanted to persuade Minn by doing that. So she turned down Hun’s request without any hesitation. After racking her brain for three days, Hun still didn’t find a proper excuse to invite again. Luckily, God helped her with a good reason: She was pregnant again. And she really wanted to see her mother and her sister.


    After hearing that, Old Madam Sheng was in silence for a long while. Then with the look on her face turning a little brighter, she finally allowed Minn to go there.


    Early in the morning, Wang shi brought Minn to the mansion of Marquis Zhongqin directly. On this day Countess of Zhongqin had gone to her mother’s home due to certain matters and had to stay overnight. Wang shi was so happy that she didn’t need to greet this annoying woman and went straight to the side yard on the west.


    Hun was wearing a rose patterned silky ermine coat and a fair spider ornament with pearl iid on her head. She reclined on a soft couch with a pomegranate patterned faience warmer in her hands, talking smilingly with a blush on her face.


    Seeing Hun being in a good look, Wang shi finally released herself from the depressive moods she had these days. She held Hun’s hand and asked about her condition while Hun, with all smiles, answered all the questions, “... I’m fine. Everything’s fine. It’s my third child. And I already knew everything about pregnancy. Don’t worry, mother... Minn, eat those nuts. Those walnuts are tributes to the emperor. It’s crispy and tasty.”


    Minn nodded while smiling. She approached the Ruyi (Note: Ruyi means good fortune in Chinese culture) round table and grabbed a tiny nutcracker. Then she started to peel the walnuts. In the meantime, Wang shi let go of Hun’s hand and took a sip of the tea, saying in a smile, “It’s so lucky today. We can chat a bit longer than usual since your mother-inw is not here.”


    Hun grinned, “A bit longer is not enough. My sister-inw went with her as well. Why don’t you two have the meal before going back. I’ll let them prepare the table here. Yesterday my husband went hunting in the back mountain and brought back some deers. Although the meat is not as fresh as the ones in the forest, it still tastes great.”


    “That would be great!” Wang shiughed while peeling an orange slowly. Then she asked, “By the way, I heard from your father that your husband gets promoted again?” With smile filling in Hun’s beautiful eyes, she answered pleasurably, “It’s not so certain yet. But... pretty close. This time he might be the militarymander of the armed forces of five cities.”


    Wang shi put down the orange with peels on and prayed to Buddha with both her palms together. Then she said, “That’s great, I got relieved seeing you two living so well; Yuan family should be happy to hear this too. I guess your mother-inw wouldn’t nag at you anymore!”


    With her lips curled up, Hun snorted and said, “My father-inw is really delightful about that. But my mother-inw only always knows how to dampen our spirits. The moment we heard that my husband might get a promotion, she asked him to think of a way to seek a job opportunity for her niece. My father-inw turned her down right away!”


    “So your mother-inw got mad because of that and left with your sister-inw?” Wang shi burst intoughter while saying that.


    “Not exactly.” Hun chuckled and continued, “Her mother’s family is in a bad situationtely. The elders only know how to squander money. They have sold thended property and married their mistresses. And the juniors make no effort to seek progress. They don’t study hard and only want to seek for my father-inw’s help. He has been tired of them for a long time. This time my mother-inw’s niece got married, and my father-inw was unwilling to go. Thus they had to go back by themselves.”


    After Minn had peeled a te of walnuts, she served the nuts to Hun. Wang shi took over the te and gave it to Hun, saying with a smile, “No wonder your mother-inw finds you unpleasant. It turns out that she is just being jealous!... Minn, you should eat some too, you don’t need to serve us now.”


    Minn answered tamely. Then she sat back and picked up a fat little walnut. As she was about to crack the walnuts, Hun and Wang shi looked at each other with meaningful expressions in their eyes. Hun turned around and talked smilingly, “Minn, Zhuang missed you a lot recently. She’s in the back garden right now. I find you two quite congenial to each other. Why don’t you go y with her?”


    Saying that, Hun called the maid besides her to serve Minn to wash hands and get dressed. Minn only smiled and thought that by no means would Hun let Zhuang run wildly on the outside in winter. She knew from the beginning that there was a treachery being nned here! Hun always had a sense of propriety and was good at governing the servants, so Minn believed that Hun wouldn’t do anything ridiculous to her. After all, she was still in Hun’s yard, so it wouldn’t hurt to go out, however...


    Minn smiled obediently while said in hesitation, “It’s so cold outside. We should let Zhuange in.” Hearing this, the expression on Hun’s face went frozen. Wang shi coughed and said in a heavy voice, “Zhuang is a naughty girl. I’m afraid she will cry by then. You should coax her toe in.”


    After answering a ‘yes’, Minn followed the maid out docilely.


    Wang shi watched Minn leave and turned around to ask her daughter doubtfully, “You think it’ll work? Isn’t it... a bit inappropriate? Your dad would be mad again if he knows about it. He always says to me that letting Minn ask Old Madam Sheng by herself would only make things worse.”


    Hun straightened up and faced Wang shi while saying in a low voice with a serious look, “Mom, you only have a one-sided view. I know that Old Madam sees things clearly. She and Minn have lived together more than ten years. So Old Madam will know from the first nce if Minn says anything out of her own will! If we force Minn to ask for her marriage, Old Madam will only get more furious! But what if Minn is willing to get married?”


    With doubt in Wang shi’s eyes, she said, “Minn only listens to her grandmother. How could she know her own mind?”


    Hun shook her head with a meaningful look while smiling, “Mother, you are wrong about her. Though sixth young sister has been obedient since childhood, she is actually an assertive and thoughtful girl; I wasn’t able to find that when she was a child, but I have seen her understand Old Madam’s hints for a few times after you guys arrived at the capital; As long as she sees Gu Tingye and realizes that he’s not a monster, she will agree to this marriage for our family and her own future as well.”


    Wang shi kept quiet for a long time. Then she sighed and said, “That would be great. I just feel sorry for your sister Rn. Why could Minn be so lucky to marry into such a prestigious family while Rn could only marry to an ordinary man.”


    “Mother, you need to stop!” Hun’s face turned gloomy as Wang shi mentioned Rn. She said angrily, “You have spoiled Rn too much. How could she meet that man in private as ady from a decent family! Her parents have already betrothed her to a great man. Not only did she feel ungrateful to that and make a scene, she even let General Gu know about her affairs! How shameless is that! Luckily, my husband hasn’t been too dedicated to the progress of their marriage. He only mentioned twice about my sister and never told General Gu which one would be married to him. That’s why the whole thing is not final. Otherwise... huh!”


    Wang shi knew about Hun’s difficulty so she didn’t dare to put on words for Rn. And the only thing she could do now was sighing. Then Hun said, “It was your idea to let Rn marry General Gu at the first ce. In fact, in my opinion, Minn is more suitable than Rn. Just look at her gestures of coaxing Old Madam, even I got softened by that, not to mention a man. Unlike Rn who is so willful and always loses her temper! What’s more, Minn is an independent girl. I think highly of her. As for Rn, it’s better that she could marry to a family that has a lower family status than us. When she has conflicts with her husband’s family, we can still support her.”


    Thinking of Hun’s words for a while, Wang shi agreed helplessly. Then she got delighted, saying, “... You are right. Minn doesn’t have any biological brothers or sisters, she can only rely on us; If she behaves well in Gu family, she can also bring honor to our family. And if she is despised there, we cannot back her up since Gu family is way too powerful for us. Actually, I really couldn’t bear to see Rn being bullied there!”


    Hearing those words, Hun almost got choked by her own saliva. She red at her mother without uttering a single word for a long time. Atst, Hun just ignored Wang shi while thinking whether Minn had arrived at that ce.