Chapter 371: The Entire Hou Fu Knows

After Qin Tang finished speaking, he looked utterly bewildered.

Rong He Shizi simply refused to bother with it; what did it matter to him?

In any case, they could not simply pick any young lady from the Hou Fu to fill the role.

Qin Bi's gaze flickered. Qin Tang and Qin Lang each pondered carefully; at that time, the Fourth House still had an unmarried daughter, namely Qin Bi, but Rong He Shizi did not favor Qin Bi!

So, this matter...

Qin Tang was not foolish, and Qin Lang was quite sharp.

A thought occurred to Qin Tang: "..."

Qin Lang: "..."

Rong He Shizi had not spelled it out, but Qin Tang and Qin Lang had grasped the general meaning.

After a while, Qin Tang looked up at Rong He Shizi, but Rong He Shizi refused to look at him.

Could he ask? Qin Tang really wanted to ask Rong He Shizi if the Fourth House's lack of favor was as he suspected. If so, the Fourth House had suffered greatly; it was Rong He Shizi who did not favor their Qin Bi!

No matter how the entire Qin Yan Hou Fu arranged a match for Rong He Shizi, they would never have considered Qin Bi.

Everyone in the Hou Fu knew that the powerful Rong He Shizi did not favor Qin Bi; only Qin Yan, with a flawed mind, would have suggested marrying Qin Bi to Rong He Shizi. If no suitable young lady could be found among the Hou Fu daughters, they would search again, yet still never consider Qin Bi.

Yet, this seemingly obvious decision had led to a misunderstanding.

Rong He Shizi's dislike for Qin Bi did not seem to prevent him from accepting Qin Bi as his wife.

But the entire household could not have imagined it!

For so many years, the Hou Fu people had been baffled. Now that the mystery was solved, Qin Tang and Qin Lang fell silent, their heads aching, utterly speechless. They hoped they had misunderstood.

If they were right, it was terribly depressing.

Qin Bi remained silent for a moment before saying, "The Hou Fu values the He Shizi, which is why they selected a Rong Shizifei from within the Hou Fu; it was not neglect."

Rong He Shizi glanced at Qin Bi: "I do not feel the Qin Yan Hou Fu values me. Qin He Shizi asked me more than once, and I answered each time to choose the Rong Shizifei from the Fourth House. Yet, the women brought before me were all from other parts of the Hou Fu."

Qin Bi said nothing. Naturally, when selecting a Rong Shizifei for Rong He Shizi, they would choose from the legitimate daughters.

Only when no legitimate daughter was suitable would they consider the concubine-born daughters. At that time, the only eligible women in the Fourth House were herself and Qin Han, both concubine-born, and thus never considered as candidates. Given Rong He Shizi's fate of killing his wives and bearing no children, a concubine-born daughter could have been chosen.

Qin Han was already being discussed for marriage, and the Hou Fu would not have minded breaking the engagement. Even if they had considered breaking Qin Han's engagement, they never considered her.

For no other reason; it was simply impossible.

Yet, because of this impossibility, the Hou Fu was trapped.

Rong He Shizi had once intended to discuss marriage with noble daughters from other noble families, abandoning the match with the Qin Yan Hou Fu. At that time, the entire Qin Yan Hou Fu panicked and frantically searched among the Hou Fu young ladies.

They even considered the cousin's daughters.

When Rong He Shizi planned to abandon the match, he treated the Hou Fu with cold indifference, which worried Qin Yan terribly. Now, looking back, Qin Bi stood up irritably, though she was not particularly happy either.

After a long while, Qin Tang said, "Rong He Shizi should have told us who he wished to select as Rong Shizifei."

Rong He Shizi sneered lightly: "Do I, Rong Juan, need to chase after a marriage?"

It was the Qin Yan Hou Fu that chased after the alliance, not him forcing a marriage. If the Hou Fu proposed the right person, Rong He Shizi would marry; if not, he could marry into other noble families.

Qin Tang: "..."

Qin Lang: "..."

But in the end, Qin Bi married and then divorced; did you not speak up to marry her then?

Qin Tang and Qin Lang had many things they wanted to ask, but they knew Rong He Shizi would not reveal his inner calculations in detail. In short, for so many years, Rong He Shizi's cold treatment of the Hou Fu and his dislike for the Fourth House were simply because the entire Qin Yan Hou Fu had misunderstood everything.

To put it plainly, Rong He Shizi never intended to marry into the Hou Fu. When he finally agreed, the person proposed was wrong.

Rong He Shizi had no intention of continuing the conversation. If they wanted to know why he treated the Hou Fu coldly, he had just told them. He no longer cared. Now that the Qin Yan Hou Fu was still his wife's family, he would surely protect them under his wings.

He did not wish to speak of the past.

Rong He Shizi stood up and left for the study. With no children to attend to, he had court affairs to discuss with his advisors.

Only Qin Tang, Qin Lang, and Qin Bi were left, staring at one another in silence for a long while.

Qin Bi had a headache and was too lazy to dwell on past events. Bringing up the past made her angry; Rong He Shizi's single statement that he did not favor her had made her marriage prospects in the Hou Fu difficult, and even after marriage, Qin Bi still minded.

Moments later, Qin Tang and Qin Lang stood up to take their leave.

On the carriage ride back to the Hou Fu, Qin Lang said, "Cousin, could it be that Rong He Shizi has always favored Sister Qin Bi? Powerful officials are like that; they do not speak clearly. Among the eligible young ladies of the Fourth House at that time, besides Qin Han, there was only Sister Qin Bi."

Rong He Shizi did not favor Qin Han, so it could only be Qin Bi.

The candidate for Rong He Shizi's wife had been decided long ago, yet the entire Hou Fu was too confused to see it.

Qin Tang covered his face: "For all these years, the Fourth House was treated coldly; we suffered greatly."

If Rong He Shizi had said he wanted to marry Qin Bi, he should have said so long ago; the Fourth House would not have hesitated. But Qin Yan and Qin Tang knew nothing. Qin He Shizi searched the entire Hou Fu for Rong He Shizi, yet none met Rong He Shizi's expectations.

Qin Tang did not want to talk with Qin Lang. Upon returning to the Hou Fu, he told Qin Xun about this.

Qin Xun: "..."

Qin Xun was also speechless for a long while. Initially, the legitimate daughter of the Fourth House had perished in the small space of the Demon Beast Realm. Both the Hou Fu and the Fourth House were anxious about the marriage alliance, yet Rong He Shizi avoided the topic. The Hou Fu had no choice but to search among the eligible young ladies of the Hou Fu.

Qin He Shizi proposed several names, Rong He Shizi did not say no, yet later he discussed marriage with other noble families.

Qin He Shizi had no choice; the powerful He Shizi could not be snatched away by others. Although He He Shizi had intentions toward Qin He at that time, Qin He Shizi still preferred an alliance with the Rong Wang Fu, so he proposed Qin He to Rong He Shizi.

This time, Rong He Shizi did not ignore him, saying directly, "Not suitable."

By then, Rong He Shizi was already treating the Qin Yan Hou Fu coldly, rarely visiting, and the Fourth House was even more anxious. Qin Tang then tested Rong He Shizi's intentions.

Rong Juan said, "Rest assured, my Rong Shizifei will definitely come from the Fourth House of the Qin Yan Hou Fu."

Because of this, Qin Tang almost ruined the engagement between Qin Han and Jiang Mo.

Fortunately, Qin Tang tested Rong He Shizi's intentions. Rong He Shizi said, "That is unnecessary. My relationship with Jiang Mo is quite good; I have no habit of snatching what others love. Qin Han will not do."

At that moment, Qin Tang was in a dilemma. If Qin Han would not do, then there was no one left.

From then on, Rong He Shizi completely shunned the Fourth House. Even when Rong He Shizi, following He He Shizi, gave goods and resources to the Second House, eyeing the Fourth House with envy, he did not leak a single resource to the Fourth House.

For so many years, the Fourth House remained confused, but today they finally understood. Their mood did not improve at all; it was terribly depressing.