Chapter 20
The Wang family mansion was exceptionally lively that day.
Lu Mingzhu and Liao Wanru had decided to wear qipaos to the banquet—a suggestion originally made by Mrs. Wang, which Liao Wanru readily endorsed. She then brought out several exquisitely crafted qipaos tailored specifically to Lu Mingzhu’s measurements, trying them on one by one for Mrs. Wang’s appraisal and commentary.
Whether adorned with pearls or jadeite, each ensemble radiated an extraordinary elegance and understated grace, embodying a profoundly gentle and refined aura.
Shanghainese have always been at the forefront of fashion trends; the qipaos worn by women from Shanghai became extremely popular in Hong Kong, with some even paying travel expenses to invite seasoned Shanghainese tailors to Hong Kong specifically to make garments for them.
Although the Wang family did not go to such extravagant lengths, they employed a highly skilled elderly tailor who primarily crafted qipaos for the women of the household. Enjoying a generous salary, light workload, and spacious accommodations, this elder had taken refuge under the Wang family’s protection for decades, successfully avoiding the calamities brought by various wars. Living quite contentedly, he had no desire to leave, instead sending his apprentices out to establish their own shops.
Shortly after Lu Mingzhu moved into the Wang residence, Liao Wanru immediately invited this elderly tailor to take her latest measurements.
Lu Mingzhu had long grown accustomed to being included whenever Mrs. Wang and Liao Wanru ordered new clothes; this was the case back in Shanghai and remained unchanged upon arriving in Hong Kong. Since both Mrs. Wang and Liao Wanru had only sons and no daughters, they particularly enjoyed dressing up Lu Mingzhu.
Now, neither of Liao Wanru’s two sons is at home; they are both..
Studied in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Just as the two women were trying on clothes with great enthusiasm, Wang Zhongzhao, the second son of the Wang family whom Lu Mingzhu had not seen even once since arriving in Hong Kong, suddenly appeared.
He smiled before speaking, his voice booming, “Mother, Sister-in-law, what have you been busy with lately? This is the Lu family’s pearl, isn’t it? After several years apart, she has grown even more beautiful. She will surely marry into a prestigious family as a young mistress.”
To this adoptive older brother with whom she shared a rather distant relationship, Lu Mingzhu offered a polite greeting: “Second Brother.”
“Ah!” Wang Zhongzhao responded.
He had not come alone; he was accompanied by a young maiden.
Seeing that Lu Mingzhu possessed skin as fair as snow and features as beautiful as flowers, yet was dressed in such a stylish and striking manner, a clear hint of jealousy flashed in the young girl’s eyes.
Lu Mingzhu, being highly perceptive, noticed this and realized the reason for her jealousy: her own skin was not fair enough, she was short in stature, extremely slender, appearing delicate and graceful. Her looks could at best be described as refined; her eyebrows were neither too thick nor too thin, her eyes neither too large nor too small, her nose bridge neither too high nor too low, and her lips neither too full nor too thin. She wore her hair cut short to her ears, adorned with a plaid headband, dressed in a British-style plaid dress, accessorized with a diamond watch and a pair of diamond earrings, altogether very appropriately attired.
Soon, Lu Mingzhu remembered who she was.
She and the original body were elementary school classmates with an ordinary relationship, but she was close to the original body’s seventh sister, Lu Feifei. Her name is Wang Xiuyi; she is eighteen years old, three or four months older than the original body, and the daughter of Wang Zhongzhao.
She was not born of the principal wife.
While Wang Xingcai and his son Wang Bohui focused on their careers, each taking only one wife and never straying, Wang Zhongzhao was different from them.
Before going abroad, the great scholar Wang Zhongzhao obeyed his parents’ arrangements and the matchmaker’s words to marry, consummate the union, and father a child. He showed no dissatisfaction; it was said he even went to fetch his bride with great joy. However, during his journey abroad, he became involved with Mo Shuxian, Wang Xiuyi’s mother. It was rumored that Mo Shuxian had been his high school classmate and followed him overseas, where the two formed what they called a “modern marriage.”
A few years later, Wang Zhongzhao returned to China with Mo Shuxian and their children; his first act was to demand a divorce from his wife. The couples Wang Xingcai and Wang Bohui refused to consent, leaving Mo Shuxian not even recognized as a concubine.
Wang Xingcai and his wife barred her from entering the household, and Zhen Zhen, the principal wife, refused to drink the tea she offered in respect.
Zhen Zhen was unwilling to accept the tea, and Mo Shuxian had no desire to submit to a subordinate position.
Wang Zhongzhao wished to resist, but since financial control rested firmly in the hands of his father and elder brother, he had no choice but to compromise, arranging for Mo Shuxian and her children to live outside the Wang family compound.
That all happened in Shanghai; with the passage of time and changing circumstances, Lu Mingzhu has no idea what the current situation is. After all, Wang Xingcai distributed a significant portion of his assets among his sons, effectively dividing the household, and Wang Zhongzhao became the head of their branch of the family.
It would not be impossible for him to favor his concubine over his wife.
In recent years, Mrs. Wang has grown rather fond of neither her second son. She believes that she and Wang Xingcai have treated all four sons equally; apart from entrusting many heavy responsibilities to the eldest, Wang Bohui, they have maintained perfect impartiality in every other aspect, providing identical houses and monetary allowances to each. Yet this second son, from childhood through adulthood, has always carried an air of cynicism, convinced that his parents favored the eldest and doted on the youngest, while neglecting him, the middle child.
Heaven knows, the old couple was utterly wronged!
Because he was the most disobedient, behaving recklessly and without propriety, Mr. and Mrs. Wang Xingcai invested the most effort and care in him.
The eldest son was steady and followed in his father’s footsteps; the third was clever, and the fourth well-mannered. One became a lawyer, another an engineer—each achieving success in their own right. They all married and had children quietly, conducting their lives and affairs with integrity, never causing their parents any worry.
When dividing the estate, considering Wang Zhongzhao’s character, the old couple feared he might not treat Zhen Zhen and her son properly in the future. Therefore, they registered the four large mansions under the names of their four sons and daughters-in-law, with each couple holding half ownership. Contrary to what Zhao Sinan claimed, the properties were not placed under the names of the four young “Mr. Wangs.” Alongside distributing one million Hong Kong dollars to each son, they also allotted one million Hong Kong dollars to each legitimate grandson and granddaughter from every branch of the family.
Like Wang Bohui and Liao Wanru, who had two sons, each receiving 500,000; the two brothers were studying abroad, and with their consent, the money was managed and disbursed by their parents. Similarly, the third and fourth brothers each had four children, so the 1,000,000 was divided equally among their four offspring. As for Wang Zhongzhao, who had only one legitimate son born to Zhen Zhen, Wang Xingcai directly gave him the full 1,000,000 and arranged for him to study abroad.
Wang Bohui, along with his third brother Wang Shuyang and fourth brother Wang Jixu, raised no objections. They clearly understood the reason behind their parents’ distribution: it was simply out of pity for Zhen Zhen and her son, who were akin to a widow and orphan, thus deserving greater financial consideration.
Only Wang Zhongzhao cried out against the injustice.
The only ones excluded from the property division were himself and the sons of Mo Shuxian—and there was more than one of them.
Wang Xingcai was an upright man who always favored legitimate children over those born of concubines, believing that a family without rules could not function properly. Moreover, Zhen Zhen was the daughter of his close friend, entrusted to him on her deathbed, only to be betrayed by his own son; he felt compelled to safeguard the interests of mother and child.
Regarding his grandchildren, he had always been openly partial, unafraid of gossip or public scrutiny.
Consequently, Wang Zhongzhao harbored even greater resentment toward his parents.
Most importantly, he knew that the bulk of the family fortune had not been allocated to them; later, his father took it back to mainland China, telling him and his brothers not to dwell on it and promising distribution only after his passing. But in reality?
Privately, she must have been subsidizing the boss, enabling his business to flourish and making him the foremost wealthy merchant in Hong Kong.
“Why have you come?” Mrs. Wang asked him indifferently.
Liao Wanru pulled Lu Mingzhu aside, and the two women stood silently on either side of the old lady, listening as Wang Zhongzhao forced a smile and replied to Mrs. Wang, “Mother, I’ve come today because there’s something very important.”
Mrs. Wang frowned. “What is it?”
When someone offers unsolicited kindness, they’re either up to no good or planning theft.
It wasn’t that she deliberately thought the worst of this son; it was simply that he had always treated his parents like Zhong Wu Yan when he needed something and Xia Yingchun when he didn’t—and this was far from the first time.
After repeated occurrences, it is only natural for parents to feel chilled to the bone and disheartened.
Sure enough, Wang Zhongzhao opened by asking, “I heard that Eldest Brother received an invitation from the Minghui family, the shipping magnates; is this true?”
“That is indeed the case,” Liao Wanru replied. She glanced at Wang Xiuyi without betraying any emotion. “Second Brother, you’ve come at this particular moment; do you have some objection?”
“No objection, no objection at all; how would I dare to object? I am merely envious that Eldest Brother so easily obtained the key to the door that remains closed to us.” At forty years old, he wore a broad smile; blessed with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a square face that radiated righteousness, he never appeared shrewd, slick, or hypocritical. Yet the request he proceeded to make left everyone present utterly speechless: “I have come today to earnestly beg that Eldest Brother and Sister-in-law take Xiuyi along when you attend the banquet. As her younger brother, I would be eternally grateful.”
Liao Wanru frowned. “Second Brother, the invitation clearly states that only your elder brother and I, as a distinguished couple, are invited.”
Her implication was clear: Wang Xiuyi could not be brought along.
Wang Zhongzhao chuckled. “It’s merely bringing along a junior. I trust the Ming family won’t turn away my elder brother and sister-in-law! Everyone knows how smoothly my elder brother has cooperated with the Mings; they surely wouldn’t deny him this small courtesy.”
He then lamented, “Xiuyi is getting older. Unlike my elder brother, I lack such capability. While he runs a property company and holds shares in a shipping firm, enjoying prosperous business and a thriving life, I cannot support Xiuyi through my family background. My only hope lies in her attending banquets at prestigious households, meeting more young masters and ladies, so she might find me an ideal son-in-law.”
Mrs. Wang was utterly displeased. “Wang Zhongzhao, didn’t you say that arranged marriages dictated by parents and matchmakers were feudal poison, sheer nonsense? Didn’t you proclaim that a good marriage should be based on love rather than matching social status? Then why, when it comes to your own daughter, do you hope she marries into a prestigious family to secure you an ideal son-in-law? You’re contradicting yourself! You ought to let her find someone who truly loves her, regardless of their background. I do not agree with letting your elder brother and sister-in-law take her to the Ming family’s dinner party. People should act according to their station; don’t embarrass me in public!”
Perhaps some might think that a son’s children are grandchildren regardless, all continuing the family line, differing only in their mothers, and that grandparents should treat them equally. Yet Mrs. Wang simply could not bring herself to do so. Having lived many years without ever suffering the pain of a husband’s infidelity, she felt deep sympathy for her second daughter-in-law, who had accompanied her son abroad for his studies, and thus could not accept the child born from his mistress.
If anyone is to be blamed, it is Wang Zhongzhao, and Mo Shuxian, the mother of those children. One knowingly threw herself at a man who already had a wife and children; the other, despite having a wife and children, could not control himself.
Mo Shuxian came from a wealthy family, affluent enough to afford education and study abroad; she could easily have married into a comparable household as a legitimate wife.
Her involvement with Wang Zhongzhao was merely because the Wang family was wealthier and more prestigious; their social circle in Shanghai included elites from all walks of life, and even the crumbs swept from their floors would have been enough to sustain the Mo family for three years.
She had believed she could replace Zhen Zhen as Wang Zhongzhao’s wife, only to meet a crushing defeat.
Mr. and Mrs. Wang Xingcai saw through her immediately.
After hearing Mrs. Wang’s words, Wang Xiuyi’s expression changed; she withdrew her gaze from the emerald bracelet on Lu Mingzhu’s wrist, barely concealing the resentment burning within her heart.
Wang Zhongzhao was also deeply displeased. “Mother, how could you say such a thing? Xiuyi is your granddaughter; don’t you wish for her to have a good life?”
Mrs. Wang let out a cold laugh. “When I arranged for you to marry a daughter from a prestigious family, I too wished for your well-being. Did you cherish that opportunity? I sent you abroad to acquire knowledge, and what did you do? You merely engaged in frivolous antics with others, returning home in disgrace before even graduating. Furthermore, I can barely manage the three granddaughters born to my formally wed daughter-in-law; why should I concern myself with outsiders?”
“If only you had agreed back then to facilitate a match between Xiuyi and Xie Junyao, securing a golden…
“If it weren’t for this fated union, I wouldn’t be humbling myself today to beg my elder brother and sister-in-law,” Wang Zhongzhao said indignantly.
Lu Mingzhu’s eyes suddenly widened, filled with astonishment.
Why, out of the blue, had the conversation turned to Xie Junyao?
He wasn’t even here.
Mrs. Wang flew into a rage and said bluntly, “She should first consider whether she is even worthy! Xie Junyao is a distinguished scion born of the principal wife, blessed with both talent and beauty, and possessed of an elegant character. There are hundreds, if not thousands, vying for his attention. Who does Wang Xiuyi think she is? Moreover, his mother and brother have already made it clear that regardless of wealth or poverty, as long as the young couple share mutual affection and maintain pure intentions, the elders will never interfere.”
Judging solely by her birth, Wang Xiuyi’s background is far from pure.
True, she herself is innocent; the sin lies with her parents. Yet which respectable noble family does not care about the distinction between children born of the principal wife and those born of concubines?
For any child born of a concubine, unless they are the only offspring, they can only marry beneath their station unless they possess extraordinary qualities—whether in talent or beauty—so remarkable that everyone overlooks their humble origin. Otherwise, climbing socially through marriage remains nearly impossible.
This applies to both men and women.
“Mother, please calm down. I’ll call Mrs. Ming and ask her for an extra invitation for my second brother,” Liao Wanru immediately interceded, worried that this incident might cause a rift between mother and son.
A mother would certainly never hold resentment toward her son, but Wang Zhongzhao was another matter entirely.
Upon learning that he could gain entry with an invitation, Wang Zhongzhao instantly transformed his annoyance into delight. “Thank you, eldest sister-in-law. You truly embody the grace and generosity befitting the eldest daughter-in-law.”
Liao Wanru smiled faintly.
Being able to secure an invitation made her the elder sister-in-law; failing to bring Wang Xiuyi along, however, would surely invite a very different interpretation.
Wang Zhongzhao had more than once complained behind her back that she, as the elder sister-in-law, refused to treat Mo Shuxian as a true sister-in-law or regard their children as proper nephews and nieces. Yet since his second brother’s wife paid no heed to the messy affairs between him and Mo Shuxian, Liao Wanru herself saw little point in dwelling on such matters.