"What did you say? What exactly happened?" Granny Zhao asked in surprise.
Zhao Dahua tearfully recounted her experience that night, and Granny Zhao slapped her thigh in regret, saying, "Silly girl, you've fallen for that bitch's tricks."
Zhao Dahua suddenly realized, wiped away her tears, and asked, "Mother, what should we do next?"
"What else can we do? I originally thought that if you ran away tonight and hid for a few days, things would calm down, and we could deal with it when your two brothers came back. But with this incident, you'll have no choice but to marry into the Zhao family tomorrow." Granny Zhao sighed helplessly.
"Mother, I don't want to marry that idiot," Zhao Dahua said sadly.
“I didn’t want this either, but it’s too late now. You have no other choice.” Granny Zhao lovingly touched Zhao Dahua’s face and continued, “But don’t worry, Dahua, we’re only marrying into the family temporarily. I’ll find a way to get you divorced later.”
"Really?" Zhao Dahua asked hopefully.
“Really, we’ll have to be patient for a while. When your two older brothers come back in three months, I’ll have a good talk with them. Right now, we can only be patient,” Granny Zhao said solemnly, nodding.
Zhao Dahua fell silent. Even though she felt utterly helpless, this was all she could do. After all, she was no longer a virgin, and it wouldn't sound good to outsiders. But things would be different after the divorce.
Moreover, even if she couldn't be the official wife of an official after the divorce, she could still be a concubine of the official. He had seen that the concubines of those high-ranking officials lived the same way, enjoying a life of luxury.
It's just a pity about her Brother Wu. I wonder what happened to him after that night?
Although this incident frustrated Granny Zhao, she was comforted by the fact that the Zhao family had indeed come with sincerity. The bride price alone was a full tael of silver, and the dowry, besides basic clothing, bedding, and chests, even included a silver hairpin. Their sincerity was evident. This somewhat soothed the wounded hearts of the mother and daughter.
The next day arrived quickly, and firecrackers went off in unison; Zhao Da Zui's family certainly put on a grand show. Under Granny Zhao's reluctant gaze, Zhao Da Hua covered her head with her veil and followed the matchmaker into the bridal sedan chair…
These past two days, Granny Zhao has been behaving herself, not finding fault with Li Rou Niang anymore. She just keeps herself locked in her room, sighing from time to time.
Li Rouniang ignored her and focused on her own affairs. After all, she was struggling to make ends meet and needed to find a way to earn money!
Before they knew it, the day of Zhao Dahua's return to her parents' home after three days had passed arrived. Zhao's mother was surprised and quickly went up to her and asked, "Why did you come back by yourself?"
"My mother-in-law wouldn't let me bring Da Niu back, so I had to come back by myself," Zhao Dahua said angrily.
After she married into the family, Zhao Daniu, being a simpleton, listened to his mother in everything. She already disliked Zhao Daniu, and now she looked down on him even more.
I can't stand it for even a day longer!
On the day of her wedding, she didn't even let her husband accompany her, making her a laughingstock in the whole village.
However, Granny Zhao could understand. After all, Zhao Daniu had a disability, and as a mother, it was understandable that Zhao Dazui would have concerns.
Could she possibly kill her current son-in-law? Why be so cautious!
Just then, Zhao Dahua saw Zhao Erni squatting there playing with ants. She remembered how the little girl had acted in front of her that night, and she became furious.
She strode over angrily and kicked him, saying, "You brat, I'm back! Hurry up and bring me some water!"
Erni was kicked and fell by Zhao Dahua.
Just then, Li Rouniang witnessed the scene. Enraged, she handed Sanni to Dani and immediately began fighting with Zhao Dahua: "You come back and start hitting my daughter! Do you think I'm easy to bully? A married daughter is like water spilled from a cup; how dare you be so arrogant after returning? I'll beat your face to a pulp!" Li Rouniang was also furious, fueled by both old and new grudges, and she used all her strength in her blows.
Zhao Dahua was quickly overwhelmed and was secretly shocked: Li Rouniang usually didn't dare to fight back when she was bullied, but she didn't expect that the seemingly weak Li Rouniang would be so strong!
Seeing that her daughter was at a disadvantage, Granny Zhao rushed forward to break up the fight. Thinking that her daughter had finally come back, she didn't want to waste time dealing with the quarrel between her sister-in-law and her husband, so she pulled Zhao Dahua back to her room to talk.
"Mom, why are you pulling me? He's the one who set me up. He's in the wrong, so why are you telling me to go back inside?" Zhao Dahua said indignantly.
"Silly girl, haven't you seen the situation yet? Didn't you notice that Li Rouniang's personality has changed drastically since she came back this time? She's just holding back her anger."
"Let's put up with her for now, otherwise neither of us can handle her, right? Don't suffer this loss," Granny Zhao advised.
Zhao Dahua fell silent. She knew that the two of them were no match for Li Rouniang, but she felt somewhat unwilling and frustrated.
Setting that aside, Granny Zhao asked Da Hua with concern, "Are you doing well with your mother-in-law?"
“What’s so good about it? Zhao Daniu is a fool. He listens to my mother-in-law in everything. My father-in-law is like a gourd that has shut its mouth. He doesn’t say a word. Every day, I hear my mother-in-law nagging and nagging inside and outside the house. It’s so annoying,” Zhao Dahua complained.
"Sigh, you should just go along with her a bit. Your mother-in-law, she's just a bit sharp-tongued, but she's actually a good person at heart. If you go along with her, you won't suffer any losses," Granny Zhao advised.
"Mom, let's not talk about that. Actually, there's something else I'd like you to help me with when I came back this time," Zhao Dahua said earnestly.
"What is it?" Granny Zhao asked.
"I want to go see Scholar Wu again. Even though I know it's impossible for us, I want to part amicably and say goodbye to him one last time. It would be a way to give my feelings some closure. I hope Mother can grant my wish," Zhao Dahua said with a look of deep affection.
She was really worried about what kind of situation her brother Wu would face after that night.
"Dahua, you—" Granny Zhao wanted to persuade her, but after thinking about it, she swallowed her words.
She thought that if her daughter got divorced one day, it wouldn't be so easy to find a suitable one. She and this scholar Wu already had feelings for each other. If one day this scholar Wu passed the imperial examination, Da Hua could go to his place as a concubine.
With this in mind, Granny Zhao nodded and said, "I understand how you feel. Don't worry, I'll take care of things here for you."
"I'm just afraid that Li Rouniang and the others will go and talk nonsense to my mother-in-law," Zhao Dahua said, expressing her concerns.
“Here’s what we’ll do. Wait for me, I’ll get them out of here, and then you can go out. After that, go straight back to your mother-in-law’s from Wu Xiucai’s place, and no one will suspect anything,” Granny Zhao said.
"Thank you," Zhao Dahua said earnestly.
“Wouldn’t it be too formal for us, mother and daughter, to say thank you?” Granny Zhao affectionately pinched Zhao Dahua’s nose, then got up and left.
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