Chapter 448 A Sincere Apology?
The next day in the morning, the elders of the Shao family went into the mansion in ones and twos. The official ceremony to record Qin Wanru into the family history would take place in the afternoon, and they had to worship their ancestors at noon.
Because time was limited, all of Duke Xing's Mansion was busy preparing a lot of things. Fortunately, it was still the Spring Festival and a lot of things had been prepared during that time. Before the Spring Festival, they had worshiped their ancestors, so some things were still around and they had no need to find more.
A lot of people from the Shao Clan came there; the elders of the clan along with some of their clansmen.
10 feasts were held in Duke Xing's Mansion at noon.
There were many doubts about Qin Wanru's identity. They all felt that the daughter of the former Heir of Duke Xing came out of nowhere, and they had never heard of her before. Could she be fake?
Old Madam of Duke Xing's Mansion and Madam of Duke Xing authenticated this again and again, and Rui'an Great Elder Princess also brought Shao Yuanhao to authenticate this at noon. Thus, the people of the Shao Clan slowly stopped talking about this matter and dared not casually say anything more.
Rui'an Great Elder Princess came over with Shao Yuanhao for a while and only let Shao Yuanhao meet Qin Wanru. Then Rui'an Great Elder Princess left, leaving Shao Yuanhao alone to follow Qin Wanru.
In the afternoon, it was the ceremony of the Shao Clan to worship the ancestors, so it was not convenient for Rui'an Great Elder Princess to stay here.
Shao Yuanhao followed Qin Wanru like a little tail. Since he knew that Qin Wanru was his elder sister, he had been smiling happily.
He did everything that Qin Wanru asked, and looked very obedient. In addition, he had been taught in Rui'an Great Elder Princess' Mansion for a while, so Hao'er behaved politely, which surprised all the elders who had seen Shao Yuanhao before.
In the past, this Master Hao was the little devil in the Duke Xing's Mansion. He could do whatever he wanted at any time without any limitations.
The clansmen secretly had shaken their heads and sighed before. Someone had even said that fortunately the former Heir of Duke Xing had left, otherwise the Shao family would be destroyed if the whole Duke Xing's Mansion was handed over to this Master Hao in the future.
From this point of view, it was a good thing that the former Heir of Duke Xing had left.
But now, it seemed that this young master was not only well-behaved, but also polite. Was he really the unruly Master Hao? The clansmen were very surprised and began to talk about him in private.
There was a rumor outside that Duke Xing's Mansion wanted to destroy the only offspring of the former Heir of Duke Xing by spoiling him. People of the Shao family had not taken it seriously before. Many people had seen Master Hao before, who was just a brat. Old Madam spoiled him like this because she felt pity for him as the offspring of the former Heir of Duke Xing.
However, in this situation, the clansmen began to wonder. "If Master Hao is really incorrigible, why did he become so polite now?"
People in Duke Xing's Mansion were very busy, but Qin Wanru was not very busy. She only attended the banquet at noon and met a few respected elders of the clan. Then she took Shao Yuanhao's hand and went back to her courtyard.
The banquet had almost finished at this time. A few Misses of the Shao family began to enjoy the flowers in the garden.
Many people came here, and they were not the Misses of aristocratic families like before, so they had no need to behave themselves all the time. The figures of the Shao girls could almost be seen everywhere.
The girls were quite happy to have such a chance to come to Duke Xing's Mansion and take a walk.
"Cousin Wanru!" A figure suddenly appeared from the rockery, which scared Qin Wanru to stop in her tracks. Shao Yuanhao raised his little face and looked at Qin Wanru. When he was about to speak, he saw Qin Wanru stretch out her white tender finger and shake it. He immediately stopped, but still pouted and unhappily stared at the figure in front of him.
"Cousin Wanru, it's me!" The man raised his head and smiled bitterly with a haggard face. It turned out to be Wang Shengxue, but this time, he was very polite and did not try to approach Qin Wanru.
"Childe Wang, what's the matter?" Qin Wanru raised her eyebrows slightly and asked calmly.
Wang Shengxue was indeed her cousin now, but she did not want to talk about the old days with him.
"I hope Cousin Wanru can forgive me for what happened between me and my sister before!" Wang Shengxue bowed deeply to Qin Wanru.
"If you want to say something about the past, just forget it. It is all in the past, isn't it?" Qin Wanru said with an unchanging look.
In this life, Wang Shengxue and his sister Wang Yishu had a grudge against Qin Wanru. It was said that Wang Yishu was still unconscious in bed. As her older brother, Wang Shengxue must have hated Qin Wanru to the marrow.
"Cousin Wanru, do you think it is strange for me to come and apologize now?" Wang Shengxue raised his body and looked at Qin Wanru. His smile became more bitter and even a little unwilling.
Before Qin Wanru could ask further, he answered his own question, "Cousin Wanru is now the daughter of Uncle and also the granddaughter of Rui'an Great Elder Princess. If I still had any bad ideas, I'm afraid that I couldn't stay in the capital city anymore!"
Such an unwilling and bitter look indicated that he had no choice but to come and apologize. Things were different now. The change of Qin Wanru's identity made it so that he no longer had the opportunity to seek revenge on Qin Wanru.
Qin Wanru quietly looked at Wang Shengxue and said with a slight smile, "Childe Wang, you are too polite. Please go ahead!"
As she said that, she was going to pass by him and leave.
Seeing that Qin Wanru was going to leave, Wang Shengxue was anxious and took two steps forward. It seemed that he subconsciously wanted to reach out to pull Qin Wanru, but he was pushed away by Shao Yuanhao off to the side. He staggered a few steps and then stood firm.
"Cousin Wanru, please forgive me and my sister!" Wang Shengxue stood still and did not dare to approach again. He looked at Qin Wanru and begged her. "My sister and I are living in Duke Xing's Mansion now. If Cousin Wanru does not forgive me, I'm afraid that we will be driven away after the matters in Duke Xing's Mansion are finished. How can my sister leave in this condition? Without the imperial physician from the Imperial Institute of Medicine to treat..."
When getting to this part, Wang Shengxue could not go on, looking sad.
As for the current situation of Wang Yishu, it was said that she was neither dead nor alive. She had always relied on medicine to maintain her life, and from time to time, needed the imperial physician from the Imperial Institute of Medicine to take her pulse. If Wang Shengxue and his sister had to leave, all of these would be gone, and then Wang Yishu might lose her life.
At least, she was still alive. There was a glimmer of hope as long as she remained alive.
After Qin Wanru thought about it, it was also reasonable for Wang Shengxue to apologize to her now.
No matter how much Wang Shengxue hated Qin Wanru before, the change of her status now made it impossible for him to seek revenge. Even for his own future and his sister, it was justifiable for him to have to plead with Qin Wanru.
Wang Shengxue had lost his qualification for participating in the metropolitan examination in the spring because of Qin Wanru, so he definitely hated her. This kind of hatred of cutting off people's future was almost the hatred of breaking their family apart. But now, Wang Shengxue had to make concessions, not only for his sister, but also for his own future. Without the support of Duke Xing's Mansion, he could not have a good future.
"Childe Wang, do you want to beg for my forgiveness? And you want to stay here?" Qin Wanru's watery eyes turned toward him slightly, without a glimmer of a smile in them.
"Cousin Wanru, my sister and I were wrong. Since you are broad-minded, please forgive us, Cousin Wanru. We have been punished now!"
Wang Shengxue apologized again quickly, took out a delicate box from his arms, and handed it to her.
"This is just a token of my gratitude. Let me give it to Cousin Hao to play with!"
"What? Is this for me?" Shao Yuanhao could not understand their sophisticated chat. When he saw Wang Shengxue's ingratiating look, his heart softened. When Wang Shengxue had seen Shao Yuanhao in Duke Xing's Mansion before, he had always flattered him and brought some gifts to make friends with him from time to time.
"It is for Cousin Hao. I chose it from overseas and it has just arrived. It's a boat. I promised you before, Cousin Hao, but after I found it, you had gone to Rui'an Great Elder Princess' Mansion, and then I had no chance to give it to you!"
Wang Shengxue smiled.
Speaking of this, there was another reason. In the beginning, when Wang Shengxue had brought an imported good to Old Madam of Duke Xing's Mansion, she liked it very much. Shao Yuanhao liked it even more and had asked Wang Shengxue for it. In order to please Shao Yuanhao, Wang Shengxue had also promised him. Then because of a series of changes, this matter had been delayed.
Now, Wang Shengxue took it out, and it was related to the previous matter.
Shao Yuanhao pitifully raised his head and looked at Qin Wanru's face. He shook her hand carefully and asked with a puppy face, "Sister, can I accept this?"
"Thank you, Childe Wang!" Qin Wanru nodded.
Yujie stepped forward, took the box, and stepped aside.
"Then I will take my leave now!" It seemed that because Qin Wanru took the gift, Wang Shengxue breathed a sigh of relief and raised his head with a gentle smile.
This meant that the grudges between Qin Wanru and the Wang brother and sister had been resolved.
Qin Wanru nodded.
Wang Shengxue was overjoyed and bowed to Qin Wanru again, and then he turned and left. After a few steps, he seemed to think of something and looked back, but he hesitated for a moment and continued to leave.
Seeing that Wang Shengxue had left, Qin Wanru continued to go back with a group of people. It seemed that this scene was just an interlude, and no one took it seriously.
Shao Jie'er was sitting in a pavilion not far from the place where they had spoken. She was admiring the scenery with a few sisters of her family, but they had seen what had happened just now. They could not hear their conversation because of the long distance, but they could see clearly that Wang Shengxue had left reluctantly. At that moment, a Miss could not help asking her, "Second Miss, is... is this an underhand dealing?"
"I don't think so. Something might have happened," Shao Jie'er wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief and said casually.
"How could it not be? I saw it clearly just now. He not only gave a gift, but also left with loving eyes. This... this kind of thing..."
Another girl of the Shao Clan could not help speaking up.
"That's right. How could she do that?"
"Yes. It is inappropriate to secretly meet a man. Our Shao family is the most well-behaved. How can we let such a girl who does not follow the rules enter our family?"
"Had she hooked up with him at an earlier time? I have heard before that this Second Miss Qin's reputation is not very good."
The fact that Qin Wanru had become the daughter of the Heir of Duke Xing all at once made the Misses of the Shao family jealous. When they saw this scene, they talked about it one after another, but the more they talked about it, the more exaggerated it became.
Shao Jie'er took out her handkerchief and pressed the corner of her mouth to wipe the complacency from her lips. She completed the task that her mother had asked her to do...
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