Chapter 314 Daiyu's Views on Marriage

After all the students had returned to their own carriages, Yuan Hongqu got back into hers, while Daiyu was already chatting with Miss Wen.

Miss Wen's initial unease had completely vanished under the influence of the socially adept Daiyu.

However, he was still a little embarrassed when he saw Yuan Hongqu get into the carriage.

"Dean, I'm sorry to have troubled you."

“Wen Ruoying, your only mistake is taking all the blame upon yourself.” Yuan Hongqu looked at Miss Wen with a serious expression.

Miss Wen, Ruoying, bit her lip nervously, her expression becoming uneasy again.

"Granny, you've frightened Sister Wen." Daiyu quickly comforted Wen Ruoying, "Sister Wen, don't be afraid, my nanny was just joking."

Yuan Hongqu glanced at Daiyu. Although she was younger than Wen Ruoying, she had a whole repertoire of comforting words, and Wen Ruoying's mood gradually calmed down.

Yuan Hongqu's lips curled up, and in response to Daiyu's words, she revealed a faint smile, which indeed made Wen Ruoying completely relax.

The carriage began to move slowly forward. It had been delayed for almost an hour, but after passing this section of the road, the carriage was much faster than before.

Yuan Hongqu sat by the door, her voice very soft, just as she usually spoke to Daiyu.

Since Daiyu wouldn't allow herself to frighten her friend, she had no choice but to change the way she talked to her.

"Ruoying, I remember you only entered the academy this year. After so long of being immersed in it, how come your temperament and personality are still like a steamed bun? No wonder your mother asked me for a refund." She joked.

Daiyu and Wen Ruoying sat inside, talking quietly about topics that young girls are interested in.

Upon hearing this, Wen Ruoying paused, then tried to shrink back, but Daiyu took her arm and whispered something to her.

“Sister Wen, my nanny was just joking with you. We happened to see your princess mother in the palace that time. She mentioned you, saying that other girls who came home from the academy were like different people. They used to be timid and fearful, but now they can stand on their own. Then she said that your personality hasn’t changed much. She’s worried that you will have too many things to face when you grow up, and that you will suffer because you are still as soft as dough.”

Wen Ruoying was unaware that her mother was so worried about her. She only thought that she had never caught her mother's eye and was just a nobody in the family, which was why she was sent to be raised by her grandmother from a young age, unlike the other sisters in the family.

She doesn't like her own personality and temperament, but she doesn't have the courage to change it.

Every day when she returned home, she still stayed in her grandmother's yard.

Her grandmother still controlled everything she did, just like when she was a child.

Her grandmother forbade her to participate in this study tour, but her mother insisted that she join in, so she was able to come along.

Her mother, Princess Ningyi, was the eighth princess of the retired emperor. The retired emperor had many concubines and children, so he didn't pay much attention to this princess.

The Wen family, to which the princess married, was a collateral branch of a once-powerful but now-declining family.

The prince consort was a promising man who took the imperial examination route and achieved a pretty good ranking in the palace examination.

After the palace examination, the retired emperor bestowed a marriage upon him. The reason was quite absurd: he felt that the scholar resembled an old friend of his, with whom he had made a promise to marry their children in the future. However, the old friend died before she could have any children.

Seeing this scholar now is like seeing an old friend; the marriage between their children is now a done deal.

The retired emperor counted his daughters. The first seven were already married, and it was the eighth daughter, Ningyi's turn. That meant she was the one!

They didn't care at all what kind of family the Wen family was!

Fortunately, Princess Ningyi has become more independent over the years, and her life has become more and more comfortable. She and her husband have become increasingly close.

However, during the power struggle with her mother-in-law, the second daughter, Wen Ruoying, was taken away by her mother-in-law for upbringing. By the time Princess Ningyi finally gained control of the Wen family and prepared to take her daughter back, Wen Ruoying had become a timid and submissive little dumpling.

Ning Yi tried to raise Wen Ruoying herself for a while, but she couldn't change Wen Ruoying's personality. Just then, the girls' academy started enrolling students, so she simply sent Wen Ruoying into the girls' academy.

Thinking that if I had less contact with Grandma Wen in the future, I wouldn't suffer as much negative influence.

To everyone's surprise, Old Mrs. Wen absolutely refused to let Wen Ruoying go to the girls' school. After much persuasion, she finally agreed to let Wen Ruoying go, but she had to return to her original residence, which was Old Mrs. Wen's courtyard, after school.

So when Wen Ruoying received new knowledge at the academy, before she could put it into practice at home, her mother completely overturned it, citing reasons such as it being unreasonable and unbecoming of a woman.

Wen Ruoying wanted to change, but unfortunately she never had the chance.

She excelled in all subjects at the academy, but her usual habits remained unchanged.

Before traveling for her studies, Yuan Hongqu had a conversation with Princess Ningyi. She believed that Wen Ruoying's inner self had already changed, but her outward appearance had not. Perhaps even she herself was unaware of it. Deep down, she was waiting for the right opportunity.

“Ruoying, you will be of marriageable age at the end of this year. Things will not be as simple as they are now. If you still stick to what your grandmother taught you, anyone can bully you and manipulate you in the future. Do you want that?” Yuan Hongqu said softly.

Wen Ruoying glanced at Daiyu, then at Yuan Hongqu, pursed her lips, and as if making some kind of decision, mustered her courage before speaking.

"Dean, after I graduate this year, my grandmother wants to arrange a marriage for me. But I don't want to. What should I do?"

Yuan Hongqu breathed a sigh of relief. "Since you asked this question, it means that you don't completely trust your grandmother, and you're afraid that the family she finds for you is too different from your own wishes."

Wen Ruoying nodded, "Dean, that's why I'm in a dilemma. If it were my mother, I wouldn't have to worry at all, but my grandmother and mother have agreed that my marriage must be decided by my grandmother, and my father and mother cannot interfere."

“Sister Wen, we’ve already learned all this at the academy! Although we are currently dependent on our families, we will also become their support in the future. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. If you marry someone you like and the two of you live in harmony, it will be beneficial to the relationship between the two families. If you marry someone you don’t like and the two of you are constantly fighting like fighting cocks, it will be good enough if the two families don’t become enemies!”

Daiyu spoke eloquently. Being young, she observed and summarized matters of marriage from an outsider's perspective. Although what she said were truths that everyone knew, it seemed that very few families actually put them into practice.