Free Web NovelChapter 382: Chapter 150: Sucker (Part 2)
What kind of grudge was this? How could their words be so venomous?
’Are they going to start fighting? Maybe I should find somewhere safe to hide.’
’GASP... They’re fighting! They’re actually fighting!’
No, they didn’t fight. Just in the nick of time, Mrs. Meng shouted, "Stop!" and forcefully grabbed her son’s arm, which he had raised high in the air.
It was those two words, "my wife," that snapped Mrs. Meng’s anger-addled mind back to clarity for a brief moment.
She had always kept a close watch on Chen Wanqing, hoping she would fall on hard times. And yet, not only had Chen Wanqing not suffered, she was thriving.
Ever since Chen Wanqing’s father started working at the government office, hobnobbing with people from every walk of life, Mrs. Meng could no longer use her underhanded tactics. She could only redouble her secret curses: ’May Chen Wanqing’s business fail! May she never find a good husband!’
But the Bodhisattva did not hear her spiteful curses.
Chen Wanqing’s business grew more and more prosperous. To make matters worse, she had even married an exceptionally capable young man.
Her own son had also become a Scholar at seventeen, hailed as young and promising, a prodigy of his generation.
But Zhao Jing hadn’t just become a Scholar—he had even achieved the Lesser Triple Crown.
’Why is Heaven so unfair? Why does it favor Chen Wanqing so much!’
’She just wanted to vent her anger. Did she not deserve to?’
’It was Chen Wanqing who broke the promise first! She had clearly agreed to the marriage and accepted the wedding date. So regardless of whether my son lived or died, she should have honored her promise and married him!’
’It was all her fault! She was the one who was wrong from the very beginning!’
Mrs. Meng looked at Zhao Jing, who stood beside Chen Wanqing. Zhao Jing’s future was bright; he had even caught the eye of the Lord Prefect.
Meanwhile, Chen Wanqing’s family was also growing more influential. Chen Song was now the County Administrator, a position second only to the County Magistrate.
Both of them were held in high regard by the County Magistrate. If they were to whisper a few malicious words to the Lord County Magistrate, the Meng family’s business would surely suffer.
’King Yan is easy to deal with, but his minions are another story!’
A wave of bleakness washed over Mrs. Meng. She pushed her son’s hand down. "We are a respectable family. We don’t resort to violence."
The one who had come out with Mrs. Meng was her second son, Meng Jinchun.
Meng Jinchun was accomplished in neither scholarship nor martial arts, but he had a quick mind.
Since Meng Jintang was pursuing a career through the imperial examinations and was destined for success, Mrs. Meng intended for Meng Jinchun to take over the family business.
The two brothers could then support each other, ensuring the family business would prosper.
But Meng Jinchun had always lived in his elder brother’s shadow. Now that his brother had finally left and established his own household, Meng Jinchun was thrilled. Brimming with ambition, he was eager to prove himself and show his parents what he was capable of.
Unfortunately, his father said he was too reckless and only let him run errands. Moreover, his father was thoroughly henpecked and listened only to his mother. Thus, Meng Jinchun’s only option was to work on Mrs. Meng, hoping she would use some "pillow talk" to persuade his father to relinquish control sooner.
Meng Jinchun recognized Zhao Jing as well.
Unlike Mrs. Meng, he was a man who was often out socializing for business and thus encountered many people.
Back when Zhao Jing had exposed Mr. Zheng’s conspiracy, ruining the scholar’s name throughout Qingshui County, some of Meng Jinchun’s unsavory friends had egged him on, telling him to teach Zhao Jing a lesson.
After all, Zhao Jing had married Chen Wanqing, and everyone knew about the feud between the Meng and Chen Families. If they allowed Zhao Jing to rise to power, it would only spell trouble for their family.
But he would have to be as stupid as a pig to make a move at a time like that.
The moment he acted, he risked being caught. And if he were caught, the family business would fall into his third brother’s hands.
Besides, his mother was the one who had done the wicked deeds. He considered himself innocent and had no intention of deliberately making an enemy of Zhao Jing.
To show that the grudge between the Meng and Chen Families was a thing of the past, he had even invited several friends to a teahouse on the day the county examination results were announced.
When news spread that Zhao Jing had placed first in the exam, he had said with genuine sincerity, "Young and promising. A truly remarkable talent."
It was just that the teahouse had been too crowded, so he hadn’t even recognized which one was Zhao Jing.
He had been eager to impress his mother. So when he heard her say she wanted to buy the ginseng the old doctor was holding, but that someone else seemed to want it too, he had spoken harshly on impulse.
He had even raised his hand to slap them out of a sense of indignation. But with his hand in the air, he finally saw Chen Wanqing, who was shielded behind Zhao Jing.
Once he recognized Chen Wanqing, it wasn’t hard to guess the identity of the young man who had called her "my wife."
In that moment, Meng Jinchun’s mind was a tangled mess.
’He had been so careful, so determined to avoid them... and he had still ended up offending them?’
Meng Jinchun shot his mother a resentful, angry look and silently mouthed, "Mother, you did this to me on purpose."
Mrs. Meng’s hand tightened, but she pretended not to see her son’s expression.
