Chapter Fifty-Four

  Jia She was overjoyed in his heart! Especially when he saw the door curtain lifted and Jia Min and Lin Ruhai walked into Rong Xuan Tang one after another; Jia She was so happy that he almost lost his direction.

  "Ah, Miao Jie and brother-in-law, you've finally arrived!" Jia She said with a beaming smile as he stood up to personally welcome them, his face filled with warmth as he spoke to Jia Min and Lin Ruhai.

  That enthusiastic appearance made Jia Min unexpectedly look at Jia Xue twice, fortunately, the relationship between Jia Min and Jia Xue was very good; although Jia Xue's performance today was more enthusiastic than usual, Jia Min didn't feel much surprise.

  Otherwise, this performance would have been exposed long ago.

  Mrs. Jia was quite satisfied with her eldest son, alas... Although he didn't seem reliable on a daily basis, he really had no fault when it came to his sister Jia Min; compared to the couple from the second branch of the family, they were simply worlds apart and couldn't be compared at all.

  As soon as she thought of Jia Zheng and Wang Xifeng, who had not appeared until now, Old Lady Jia's anger surged up with a 'whoosh' - was this ungrateful son really trying to drive his old mother to her death?

  "Big brother!" Jia Min and Jia Ze's sibling affection was quite good. Facing the enthusiastic Jia Ze, Jia Min bowed slightly and called out to him.

  Although Lin Ruhai was dissatisfied with the people in Rongguo Mansion, he did not neglect the necessary etiquette.

  "As if I've seen a great uncle!" Lin Ruhai stepped forward and saluted Jia Zhen with a fist, but the expression on his face remained indifferent.

  Fortunately, the people in Rongguo Mansion were not very familiar with Lin Ruhai's usual behavior, and Jia Min saw Lin Ruhai every day during these days; he was always so calm and collected that Jia Min thought Lin Ruhai had always been this way. Since his own sister didn't say anything, Jia Xuan wouldn't even bother to pay attention to such a small matter.

  "Xiao Xu Lin Ruhai has paid his respects to the old lady, and is now greeting her!" Lin Ruhai indeed lives up to his reputation as this year's top scholar in the imperial examination, for his etiquette is flawless.

  "Son-in-law, no need to be so polite, please get up quickly!" Old Lady Jia looked at Lin Ruhai in front of her, and she really couldn't help but want to personally support him up herself.

  As the saying goes, the more a mother-in-law looks at her son-in-law, the more interesting he becomes! This sentence is most suitable to describe Mrs. Jia at this moment.

  Although Mrs. Jia had met Lin Ruhai before, it was the first time they had met at such close range; Mrs. Jia warmly invited Lin Ruhai to sit down.

  "Madam!" After paying her respects to Old Mrs. Jia, Jia Min immediately turned red-eyed; especially when she thought of the cold treatment she had received after marrying into the Lin family, how aggrieved she felt in her heart!

  Mrs. Jia was most fond of Xiangling, that lovely girl who was as precious to her as her own eyeballs; and when she saw Xiangling's eyes red from crying, Mrs. Jia became flustered.

  "Min'er, today is a joyful day; why are your eyes red?" Old Lady Jia pulled Min'er to sit beside her, then thoughtfully glanced at Lin Ruhai and said with underlying meaning: "Could it be that you suffered some grievance from your in-laws?"

  Jia Min knew things were going to go badly as soon as she saw her mother's behavior, so she quickly took out a handkerchief and dabbed at the corners of her eyes; then forcing a smile, she said: "Mother, Father and Grandmother have always been very good to me; it's just that I've never been away from you for so long before, and I couldn't help but get emotional."

  Jia Min's words were half true and half false, but they did solve the current dilemma.

  Mrs. Jia felt a pang in her heart, didn't she? Since Jia Min was born until now, the mother and daughter had never been apart for so long; for a moment, she couldn't help but redden her eyes.

  Mrs. Jia has lived for several decades and Lin Ruhai is now sitting beside her, so it's impossible to say something unpleasant.

  "My child, from now on you must not behave like this; as you are now someone else's daughter-in-law, remember that you cannot be as willful as you were in the mansion before. Whatever it is, think more of your husband's feelings." Old Lady Jia held Jia Min's hand and exhorted her carefully: "As for me, I have no other wishes but to hope that you and your husband can live together in harmony; when next year comes and you give birth to a big fat baby boy, even if I were to close my eyes immediately, I would still have the face to see your father in the underworld."

  Mrs. Jia stroked Mian's hand and couldn't help but sigh.

  "Madam, it's Min'er being unfilial that has caused you distress." How could Jia Min have imagined that her two seemingly innocuous sentences would evoke such a sentimental response from Old Lady Jia; for the moment, she actually felt a pang of distress.

  Lin Ruhai looked at Jia Min and Old Lady Jia, mother and daughter, and raised an eyebrow; he really hadn't expected that Old Lady Jia and Jia Min would be so deeply affectionate.

  It turned out that the rumor was true, and Jia Min was indeed Old Lady Jia's darling! Lin Ruhai smiled thoughtfully.

  On this side, Old Lady Jia and Xiangling were performing a deep mother-daughter scene, while beside them, Jia She was getting anxious; he didn't want to let slip away the opportunity to deal a blow to Jia Zheng that he had finally obtained.

  "Cough, cough... Madam, don't you think it's also time to have someone invite the second brother and his wife out; for them to meet their sister's husband?" suggested Jia Zhen, clearing his throat.

  The smile on Old Lady Jia's face suddenly disappeared, and she couldn't help but feel a surge of hatred towards Jia She for bringing up this proposal; however, at this moment, the people she hated the most in her heart were still Jia Zheng and Wang Shi. Hmph... how dare they play tricks on a day like today? She would deal with them properly later.

  Jia Yu's words reminded Jia Min, she looked around but didn't see her second brother and sister-in-law; clever as Jia Min was, she had a rough idea in her mind.

  However, Wang Shi had been at odds with herself since the day she married into Rongguo House; today, if Jia Min didn't show up, it was understandable, wasn't it just to save her own face? But Jia Zheng was her own elder brother, and he actually didn't show up either; Jia Min's face turned a bit unsightly.

  Is this what you call hitting your own face? Jia Min's heart was filled with hatred! Even her fingernails were digging into her palms, but she didn't feel any pain.

  Lin Ruhai listened to Jia Yu's words and saw the expressions on the faces of Old Lady Jia and Jia Min, mother and daughter. Where was there anything not clear? Immediately delighted, haha... It turned out that inside Rongguo Mansion it wasn't peaceful either! Now just right, she could take advantage of the situation to make a scene, just in time to use this as an excuse to leave and no longer have to see these few faces that made people feel disgusted.

  Nothing is wrong, although Lin Ruhai's superficial efforts were indeed made; unfortunately, Jia Min underestimated a man's self-esteem, especially someone as proud as Lin Ruhai, the son of heaven. His self-esteem was several times stronger than that of ordinary people.

  The marriage between Rongguo House and Lin's family, to put it nicely, was a imperial decree; to put it bluntly, it was forced. Rongguo House used the emperor's edict to coerce their own family members, forcing them to marry Jia Min against their will.

  This matter is a stain that Lin Ruhai cannot wash away for the rest of his life, so the people of Rongguo House in the Jia family can only be described as disgusting and hateful to him.

  "Since the old lady and uncle are not very welcoming to my arrival, I'll take my leave first." Lin Ruhai suddenly stood up and said to Lady Wang and Jia Zheng.

  Don't look at Lin Ruhai's expression, which is light and calm, but that urgent tone; and the sarcastic smile at the corner of his mouth, all indicate one thing - he is angry!

  "Hubby!" Jia Min stood up in a fluster, stretching out her hand to grab Lin Ruhai's sleeve; but she was still one step too late.

  Lin Ruhai flung his sleeve and strode away without looking back.

  "Sister-in-law, let's not quarrel, okay?" Jia Ze was secretly delighted to death, heh heh... Go ahead and make a fuss? Try your best to stir up trouble? But on the surface, I still have to put on a show.

  Lin Ruhai directly bypassed Jia Xun, ignoring him, but his feet didn't stop for a moment; and left the Rongxi Hall like that.

  Jia Min's hand grasped at nothing, and she weakly waved her hand in the air; a bitter smile hung on her lips as she turned to face Old Lady Jia. The hatred in her eyes was shocking.

  "Min'er!" Old Lady Jia called out cautiously to Jia Min: "My child, are you all right?"

  Jia Min's beautiful face turned pale, with a slightly ferocious and intimidating expression; she smiled wryly at Old Lady Jia: "Madam, do you think I can still recover from this state?"

  Mrs. Jia smiled and said with a chuckle, "This son-in-law is really something, he actually left just because of this little thing; he doesn't know..."

  "Mother!" Jia Min raised her voice slightly, interrupting Old Lady Jia's words. With a displeased expression, she said: "This matter today is clearly Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law being too much, Mother, you're not being reasonable, blaming my husband instead; are you going to have my husband stay here and continue to be slapped in the face?"

  Normally, Jia Min would never say such things to Old Lady Jia; today she was indeed so angry that she didn't care and blurted out all the grievances in her heart.

  Mrs. Jia was stunned, she couldn't have imagined that Jia Min would speak to her in such a tone; however, deep down Mrs. Jia didn't blame Jia Min for it, instead she became even more annoyed with Jia Zheng and Wang Shi.