Su Mingfeng couldn't stop her, so she stopped paying attention to Zhang and let her go.

Before long, Su Tang learned of this and became extremely anxious. She rushed to her father to persuade him, asking him to go to the Zhang family to appease her mother.

"My mother has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Father, please try to coax her, say a few nice words, and bring her back!"

Over the past ten years, Su Mingfeng had coaxed her many times, and she had mentioned divorce many times. Every time, Su Mingfeng tried his best to persuade her for the sake of the family, but this time, he suddenly felt tired and didn't want to persuade her anymore.

Exhausted, he sighed softly, rubbing his forehead. "Tang'er, do you know why your mother is angry?"

After her mother left her room, she started arguing with her father. After a moment's thought, Su Tang understood the reason. "Is it because I was rejected? Mother must feel that I lost face by not being selected, which is why she was so angry."

Su Mingfeng could tolerate everything else, but this was the one thing he found unbearable and was unwilling to compromise on easily. "She doesn't consider your happiness; she only hopes you can marry into a powerful family. As your father, I simply cannot tolerate her selfishness!"

Since this matter was caused by her, Su Tang couldn't help but feel guilty. "Every parent hopes that their children will succeed. I can understand my mother's good intentions, but I failed to meet her expectations, so it's inevitable that she will be angry. As long as I can coax her back, speak kindly to her, and reason with her, I don't think she will hold a grudge against you anymore."

Zhang had been well-versed in classical Chinese literature since childhood, and she understood all principles; however, the principles in her heart had become skewed.

“Your mother’s reason is based on power, while mine is based on my conscience. When I am an official, I will follow my conscience, and I also hope that you can follow your conscience and find a good match. Tang’er, you don’t need to worry about this matter anymore, I have my own ideas.”

No matter how much Su Tang tried to persuade him, her father refused to go to the Zhang family. Helpless, Su Tang could only return to her room, thinking that she would wait until her parents had calmed down for a few days before trying to reconcile them.

Upon returning to her parents' home, Zhang told her father about the matter. Learning that his granddaughter had not been chosen, Zhang Tingyu was also disappointed. However, after careful consideration, he advised his daughter not to divorce him.

“Su Mingfeng is a bit stubborn, but he is, after all, the Imperial Noble Consort’s brother. It is the best choice for you to follow him.”

Zhang angrily complained to her father, "Father, you have no idea what kind of life I've been living all these years. He wouldn't let me accept any gifts from the wives of officials, he wouldn't even take them for free. The wives of ministers have rooms overflowing with antiques and treasures, but my room still has the same things I brought as part of my dowry. If I see anything valuable that I like, he won't let me buy it, saying he wants to save money for our sons and daughters' dowries and betrothal gifts."

Why worry about a dowry if your daughter can marry into a powerful family? He had such a great opportunity right in front of him, yet he refused the emperor's bestowed marriage. Don't you think he was foolish?

With his inflexible nature, there's no way he'll succeed; I can't take this anymore!

“Silly girl, don’t you think about it? Who’s in the harem now? The Empress is just a figurehead. All three princes are born to the Imperial Noble Consort. As long as the Imperial Noble Consort is favored, the Su family will not decline. Su Mingfeng is a breath of fresh air in the court. The Emperor trusts him a lot. He will have a chance to be promoted in the future. If you follow him, the benefits will outweigh the drawbacks.”

Zhang Tingyu knew very well that once his daughter divorced, it wouldn't be easy for her to find a better family than Su Mingfeng. Therefore, he tried his best to persuade his daughter to continue living with Su Mingfeng and not to cause any more trouble.

"Tang'er has already passed the preliminary selection, and she is also the niece of the Imperial Noble Consort. Even if she fails to win the bid, many noble families will come to propose marriage. You don't need to worry about her marriage. Your father has his own plans."

Zhang felt that her father's words made sense, but she still did not want to go back. She had run away on her own, and it would be too embarrassing for her to go back on her own. She would wait at her parents' house until Su Mingfeng came to pick her up, and then she would consider going back.

This matter was neither a big deal nor a small one; even Hongli had heard about it. Hongli told Yushan about it, and Yushan was puzzled as to why her elder brother and sister-in-law had made such a fuss.

When Hongli summoned Su Mingfeng, he asked him about it, but Su Mingfeng was too embarrassed to tell the truth and only said it was a minor conflict between husband and wife.

Su Tang had just been dismissed from the imperial harem when the two of them got into a fight. Yu Shan guessed it was related to Su Tang's marriage, but she didn't have a chance to see her brother. Coincidentally, He Yun Ning was recently granted the title of First Rank Lady and was going to the palace to express her gratitude. Su Yu Shan took advantage of He Yun Ning's trip to the palace to inquire about her brother and sister-in-law.

He Yuning had heard Jia Feng talk about this before; she knew the inside story best and understood the source of the conflict between Su Mingfeng and her husband.

After hearing He Yuning's account, Su Yushan realized that her brother and sister-in-law had never been on good terms, and that Zhang was not as virtuous as she had imagined.

Yu Shan was wholeheartedly concerned for Su Tang's happiness. She didn't want Su Tang to compete for favor with other women in the future, and she didn't want their child to fall ill, which is why she made this decision. Unexpectedly, Zhang Shi would cause trouble and file for divorce because of this!

He Yuning sighed, "Their conflict isn't limited to this one thing. My sister-in-law had previously accepted valuable gifts from other officials' wives. My brother asked her to return them, but she only returned half and secretly kept some. She also asked my brother to intercede for the Zhang faction officials, but he refused. She then got angry with him and made him sleep in the study..."

He Yuning knew about these things, but she thought it was their business and she shouldn't interfere, so she didn't mention it.

She only revealed the truth today when the Imperial Noble Consort asked her about it.

As the saying goes, it's better to tear down ten temples than to break up one marriage. As the younger sister, Su Yushan should have advised her elder brother to coax his sister-in-law. However, Zhang's various actions have shown that they are not on the same path. If they force themselves to continue, trouble will inevitably follow sooner or later.

Su Yushan never divulged a word about the affairs of the previous dynasty to her family, but this time, she had to say something.

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