Chapter 2468 - 2442: Awaiting Official Appointment

Wang Ruile let out a sigh of relief and curtseyed, saying, "Thank you, elder sister."

Madam Tang smiled, patted her hand, and said, "Sixth Lady, speaking of hardship, Wulang is probably not much better off than you. His heart is likely more troubled than yours. If Ms. Cui did something wrong against you, he might be the most upset. In the future, write to him more often; as siblings, the more exchanges, the more the feelings will return."

She said, "I remember your sibling relationship was very good before, even better than that between Fifth Lady and him."

Fifth Lady Wang and Wulang are direct siblings.

Sixth Lady Wang tugged at the corner of her mouth and said, "I know."

Sixth Lady Wang and Fifth Lady Wang are close in age, with only a three-month difference between the two cousins, while Wang Cheng is two years younger than them.

At that time, Sixth Lady Wang’s father, Wulang, had not yet experienced his accident, so both parents were still hoping to have more children. At that time, Wang Cheng was seven to eight months old, chubby and very adorable. Fifth Madam liked him very much, as it’s said that holding boys frequently would invite boys to reincarnate, so she loved holding him.

Gradually, three-year-old Sixth Lady Wang became quite familiar with this cousin.

Afterwards, when her father went to battle and faced an accident, making it certain there would be no more offspring, her grandparents always liked to send Wang Cheng to her house.

The brothers from the second family, Wang Pei stayed home handling affairs, while Wang Feng went into officialdom, with fairly smooth progression. At that time, among the Wang family representatives in the capital, Wang Ji was far inferior to Wang Feng.

Moreover, Wang Feng was from the direct branch, and though the first and second homes were separated, there was plenty of support for him. At the time, family resources were slightly tilted towards Wang Feng.

Therefore, Wang Feng not having a son was considered quite significant in the family.

Without needing him to speak, his parents had already spoken, with an absolute intention to pass on the second family’s lineage.

The most suitable candidate at the time was little Wang Cheng, Wang Feng’s younger brother’s youngest son, suitable regardless of blood relation, affection, or age.

But Ms. Cui wasn’t willing.

When a mother is unwilling, the issue drags on.

Later, as Sixth Lady Wang grew up, Wang Feng probably thought his daughter needed a brother for support, and thus began selecting suitable children within the family for adoption.

Others might not know, but Wang Ruile knew. Her mother had privately told her before that her aunt was quite greedy, wanting both her father’s possessions and yet being unwilling to give up her son.

Because their second family hadn’t separated, even without adoption, Wang Feng’s connections and resources would still belong to her two sons in the future.

Who would have expected Wang Feng to want to find a child for adoption from a sideline?

At that time, her parents had already looked over several boys, even taking her to see them. Nearly a decision had been made, but just then, Ms. Cui finally yielded to allow Wang Cheng to be adopted.

At the time, Wang Cheng wasn’t called Wang Cheng. Upon adoption, his grandfather and grandmother directly renamed him, with her mother saying this was a representation of dissatisfaction towards her uncle and aunt, with adoption delayed by seven years despite it being feasible much earlier.

Had they persistently refused, grandparents’ anger would eventually dissipate, perhaps even admiring their devotion and loving the child sincerely, achieving at least one aspect.

Unfortunately, in the end, they still gave Wang Cheng to their house, but required her father to keep Third Brother Wang Geng beside him for nurturing.

Wang Ruile lowered her gaze, shielding the gleam in her eyes, sneering with a tug at the corner of her mouth. For this reason, she always felt somewhat guilty towards this gradually declining adopted brother.

He had been adopted for less than two years when her father suddenly passed away, followed shortly by her mother due to being overwhelmed with grief, losing both adoptive parents at once. The relationship with his biological parents wasn’t amicable due to the conditions associated with the adoption.

Then, her grandfather also passed away due to the blow, leaving no one to manage the second family.

Previously, Wang Ruile didn’t want more estrangement between them and their biological mother, knowing Ms. Cui disliked her associating with Wang Cheng, hence rarely dealing with him after her parents passed away.

But now...

The gleam in her eyes was faint, agreeing with the elder sister’s words.

Additionally, she also needed a backing from her family.

Having made up her mind, Wang Ruile lifted the carriage window to look outside, noticing a group of men on horseback in the distance shouting heading their way...

Sitting beside her, Madam Tang also heard the shouts and leaned closer to look outside, seeing Zhou Man and the others galloping in their direction, no—not directly towards them, as the group quickly reined in their horses before a field.

Their voices drifted over on the wind, "Oh dear, it’s run into the field..."

"Your archery is too poor."

"It’s like you could hit it yourself, didn’t you also miss?"

"Stop arguing, it’s gone without a trace. Let’s go, head up the mountain, maybe there are more."

With that, the five turned their horses to leave, and Madam Tang leaned out, speaking loudly, "Don’t you know spring hunting is prohibited now?"

Manbao and the others jumped in surprise, quickly turned around to look, and upon seeing it was Madam Tang, they sighed with relief and rode over to greet, "Scholarly sister-in-law, are you returning to the capital?"

Madam Tang stepped down from the carriage, waving off the unpleasant smell along the road, and said, "Why are you galloping along the official road?"

Manbao pointed into the distance, saying, "Not on the official road, we were running amid the foothills over there, where there’s a large expanse of grassland, sparse trees, allowing for free galloping. But we saw a gray rabbit, quite plump, yet it got away."

Madam Tang went over to them.

The guards had spread a mat under a tree, on which rested fruits and snacks, clearly where they had previously been eating.

Madam Tang asked Wang Ruile to sit, not rushed to return to the capital.

"You all seem quite relaxed," Madam Tang sat by the mat, deeply sighed and said, "Being a girl is truly pleasant, without family burdens, wanting to ride horses then ride horses, yearning for a picnic then picnic, even camping tonight here, just go back tomorrow and act spoiled to resolve issues."

Manbao wore a puzzled expression, "You can do that now too."

"Not now," Madam Tang said, "I’ve already been out for three days, there are children at home, how could I stay outside long?"

She sighed, "At most, I’ll rest here for half a day further, need to return by afternoon."

Manbao looked at her sympathetically.

Madam Tang glanced at her, "No sympathy necessary, you’ll soon find out."

Manbao promptly said, "That won’t be the case. Even after I marry in the future, so long as I have leisure, if I wish, I can certainly still come out riding and picnicking, right?"

She turned to ask Bai Shan.

Bai Shan nodded, "Yes."

Madam Tang seemed amused and said to her, "Then let’s see how it turns out."

Soon enough, when their vacation ended, Bai Shan went to the Ministry of Personnel to await an official position, whereupon he was immediately assigned to the Hanlin Academy, able to serve before the throne.

Liu Huan had to wait two more days for a ninth-grade position in the Ministry of Public Works, not to mention others.

Some might have to wait half a year or even longer before securing positions; they would need to rent accommodations in Beijing to wait beforehand.