Tang Jieer and Wang Shi 2

Although Chen Yuanyuan could hear that the man felt a little guilty towards her about this matter (he asked her to do it even though he knew it was difficult), Chen Yuanyuan did not feel too upset.

Chen Yuanyuan admired Tang Jie'er very much, especially what Tao told her a few days ago.

It was said that at the Duke of Yue's flower banquet, Tang Jie'er had publicly stripped a servant of his clothes to save him from a sudden illness and gave him acupuncture. Although the man was saved, Tang Jie'er's reputation was ruined. No one in the high-ranking families in the capital dared to marry the fifth daughter of the Shen family who "stripped a man's clothes".

Thinking of Tang Jie'er's stubborn and resolute expression when she came to pay her respects to her for the first time, Chen Yuanyuan felt from the bottom of her heart that those so-called high-ranking families in Beijing were not worthy of Chen Tang.

She didn't dare to make a decision before because she was afraid that since she was new and young and inexperienced, the person she chose might end up hurting Tang Jie'er.

But now Shen Cong's words gave her a reassurance. What she wanted was to be on the same page with Shen Cong. To put it nicely, it meant being of one mind and working together, like a husband and wife who are of one mind and can accomplish anything.

If she were allowed to make the decision on this matter, she thought, she would definitely choose the best and most gentle man in the world to be Chen Tang's husband, and respect and love her all her life.

Thinking of this, Ling Wan immediately cheered up and treated the three candidates more seriously than the college entrance examination. When he had nothing to do, he would go to his eldest sister-in-law's Minghui Garden and Tao's pomegranate garden.

After these days of contact, Chen Yuanyuan discovered that Tao was simply a walking gossip book, and then based on the bits and pieces of information she collected, she wrote extremely detailed character introductions for the three people.

At first, Chen Cong saw her running around and thought she was just panicking. Later, when he turned to the "Character Introduction Book" she had written and annotated, "It is said that the distant sixth aunt of the Liu family's third mistress's sister's aunt's cousin is interested in Liu Weiming," Chen Cong pointed to the small note at the end that said "This is a rumor, to be verified," and laughed out loud: "Ling Wan, with all this effort, are you going to take the exam for the top female scholar?"

What a female top scholar, it's like a dog can't spit out ivory. She works diligently, treads on thin ice, and starts from scratch. Isn't this just choosing a husband for your daughter?

Ling Wan glanced at him sideways, her face innocent and confused, and she laughed awkwardly a few times: "As the saying goes, if you know yourself and your enemy, you will never be defeated in a hundred battles."

As a 28-year-old single woman, her years of blind date experience tell her that she needs to start looking for a good man early, so as to avoid running into some weirdos later.

Chen Yuanyuan wanted to ask Chen Tang about his preferences in a tactful way, but this aloof woman who dared to strip a man's clothes in public was as aloof as ever when it came to her own marriage.

Ling Wan just whispered, "I think talent alone isn't enough. Being able to support a family, be ambitious, and be responsible is the right thing to do." Sister Tang didn't even say a word, but said coldly, "Everything is up to my parents."

Ah, so indifferent. This is why the emperor is not anxious but the eunuch is. Those who don’t know would think that she, the biological mother, is going to marry again.

However, Chen Yuanyuan herself had some ideas about these three people.

When you get married, you are also marrying into that person's family. If your husband's family is small and your parents-in-law are sensible and understanding, you can save yourself a lot of trouble after marriage.

Although the Lin son-in-law is an only child, he has the entire Lin family of Cangzhou behind him. Although a big tree provides shade, Tang Jieer has a reputation for "pulling men's clothes" and cannot withstand the gossip of the family's relatives.

As for son-in-law Liu and son-in-law Di, they both come from humble family backgrounds. The only difference is that son-in-law Di has an unconventional father, which is a plus.

After all, if a father has such a strong personality, he will probably sympathize with a daughter-in-law with such a strong personality.

So when Xu Lingwan carefully told Chen Cong about this inference, a hint of coldness flashed in Chen Cong's eyes, and then he smiled: "Madam is right."

Anyway, I don’t know when it started, but whenever the two of them flirted with each other in private, Chen Cong would call her “Madam” all the time.

Doesn't he know that every time he calls her "Madam", his voice sounds a bit nasal, like a little puppy, which always makes Wan feel a tingling sensation in her heart.

"I'm talking about serious business." Ling Wan pulled away his hand that was touching her waist and muttered.

Then she shifted her body, finding a comfortable position on him before she spoke slowly, "From my perspective, that's it. Regardless of his family background, you have to live your life by yourself, and being comfortable is the right thing to do."

"Hmm." After hearing this, Chen Cong thought of something and fell silent for a long time.

Just when Xu Lingwan was about to fall asleep, she heard Chen Cong speak softly, "I'm sure you've heard a little bit about what happened at the Duke of Yue's mansion, right?"

Why did they bring up this topic? Chen Yuanyuan felt sleepy, so she just said "hmm" and closed her eyes to listen to him continue.

"In fact, five years ago, something similar to what happened at the Duke of Yue's residence also happened at the Shen Mansion, but the person involved was Yunlan."

Huh? Could it be that Sister Tang had also saved Wang Shi before, but didn't Wang Shi ignore Shen Tang? Ling Wan was half awake.

"Yunlan was pregnant at the time. She was weak and not suitable for bearing another child." Chen Cong smiled bitterly. At that time, Wang Shi had even drugged him in his tea in order to conceive a second child.

Until now, Chen Cong still couldn't understand why Wang was so insistent on having a second child.

She already had an outstanding eldest son, and Chen Cong had clearly told her that "the second wife is the eldest son who inherits the family line", and other illegitimate sons would not threaten Huai Jin's position in the mansion at all.

"In order to save this child, Yunlan took medicine every day and burned incense to pray for blessings." When he said this, Chen Cong paused.

Noticing the little person in his arms staring at him in the darkness, the bitterness in his heart eased a little. "After three months of stable pregnancy, Yunlan insisted on going to the temple to fulfill her vow. It just so happened that Tang Jie'er's birthday was approaching, so Yunlan took her with her to Guangyuan Temple to burn incense."

"Guangyuan Temple is twenty miles outside of Beijing. On the way to pay her respects, the carriage was too bumpy, and Yunlan started bleeding. The bleeding wouldn't stop, and she became increasingly weak."

"Everyone was so scared that they rushed back. Tang Jie'er was in the same car with Yunlan. Seeing Yunlan's face getting paler and paler, she was frightened, but she still calmly went to check Yunlan's pulse."

"After taking her pulse, she asked the nanny beside her to remove Yunlan's clothes so she could give her acupuncture."

After saying this, Chen Cong seemed reluctant and took a deep breath: "Later, when we returned to the mansion, Doctor Cheng said that the child was definitely not going to be saved."

"At the time, Imperial Physician Cheng didn't know Yunlan had gone to Guangyuan Temple, nor did he know it was Sister Tang who had performed the acupuncture on Yunlan. He then said that the doctor who had previously treated Madam must have been in an emergency and had to stabilize Madam's heart rate first, so he didn't care about the unborn child. If that doctor hadn't performed the acupuncture, perhaps the child could have been saved."

"At this point, Yunlan felt that it was Sister Tang who killed her child."

Chen Yuanyuan listened in silence. Tang Jie'er was only nine at the time, and she had already done a great job. If Tang Jie'er hadn't applied acupuncture, Wang Shi might not have survived, and by the time she returned to the mansion, there would have been two dead bodies.

"Later I asked Sister Tang if she was afraid at that time."

"Tang Jie'er bit her lip and shook her head, and asked me, 'Daddy, is it because I'm not good enough at learning martial arts that I killed my unborn brother?'"

As he spoke, Chen Cong took another deep breath and then remained silent for a long time.

No wonder Wang and Shen Cong often quarreled over Tang Jie'er.

Chen Yuanyuan sighed secretly. According to Chen Cong, it was Chen Tang who took care of Wang first, but Tang Jie'er was young and the matter was urgent at the time, so he could not take care of the baby in Wang's belly.

Wang felt that she could have had a chance to keep the child if she had stayed in the mansion, but because of Chen Tang's acupuncture, she lost the chance to be a mother.

Words like "maybe", "originally", and "had a chance" actually represent the "regret" and "helplessness" after something happens.

She was not involved in the incident, and she could not judge Wang from a high vantage point, because it was difficult to judge.

In modern social apps, people often joke about women's fertility: "Between saving the adult and saving the child, you must save yourself."

But among the mothers around me, when faced with this problem, most mothers would choose to "keep the child."

Chen Yuanyuan asked her mother about this. She smiled and smoothed her hair around her ears, saying, "If I had to choose between you and me, I would definitely choose you."

After saying that, she looked at her and was silent for a long time. Then she whispered solemnly, "Yuanyuan, but Mom is very selfish. If, I mean if, you encounter something like this in the future, Mom asks you to make sure to choose yourself."

As she spoke, Chen's mother couldn't help but cry on Chen Yuanyuan's shoulder, even though Chen Yuanyuan didn't have a boyfriend at the time and had just failed on her third blind date.

So later Chen Yuanyuan thought about it carefully and realized that this was an unsolvable problem. A woman who had just become a mother was a mother to her child, but a daughter to her grandmother.

The core of the issue of "big and small" lies in the ownership of decision-making power, and who lives and who dies cannot be determined in one word.

I once saw a news report online that said a woman risked her own life just to give birth to a child for her husband. However, not long after giving birth to the child, the woman died, leaving the child crying for food. Her husband also remarried soon after.

Most of the comments online felt sorry for the mother, and some people even said that the mother was too stupid and had a broken brain. They asked what kind of man was worthy of her risking her life like this? What would happen to the child if she was gone? She shouldn't have brought the child into the world.

At that time, Chen Yuanyuan was extremely heartbroken and found it difficult to understand after reading it.

Coincidentally, a close friend who had just given birth also saw this and whispered, "This mother is not an ignorant woman. She is well educated and has an independent personality. She worked hard to give birth to a child, not because the man is worthy, but because the child is worthy."

After saying that, she added softly, "No mother wants to abandon her child. Why do these people say she's selfish and irresponsible? Why do they criticize other people's choices from their own perspective? This mother is already amazing."

Chen Yuanyuan still remembers her best friend’s red eyes when she said that.

Yes, many things in the world are not black and white. Don’t stand from the perspective of a bystander and judge the good or bad of something at will.

Take care of yourself, be true to yourself, don't hurt others, and have a clear conscience.

"Sister Tang is right, and Sister Wang is right too." Ling Wan sensed his grief and put her arms around him. She felt a mixture of emotions, but didn't know what to say. She could only snuggle in Shen Cong's arms and whispered, "The past cannot be retrieved. It's over."