"What does 'returning to one's ancestral lineage after three generations' mean?" Shi Murou asked, puzzled.
“Miss Shi, it must be tiring to stand and talk outside. Please come inside and sit down,” Qiao Lian’er said. “As long as Miss Shi doesn’t mind that my home is humble.”
Shi Murou's face darkened: "How could I possibly have the mind to dislike you right now?"
At this point, Old Mrs. Qiao had achieved her goal and stopped wailing. In the kitchen, she said to Mrs. Wan, "Miss Shi is not a bad person either. It's like giving her a hand. I hope she is aware of this."
"Yes, Mother. She has a bit of a spoiled young lady's temper, but she's not a bad person. At most, she's just young and easily fooled by Shen Liang's sweet talk. We must not let the Shen family scheme against her."
When Shi Murou entered the Qiao family home, she discovered that although the family was poor, everything was kept very clean and tidy. Even the pigsties were neat and tidy, and the little pigs, dogs, chickens, and ducks looked quite cute.
Upon entering the main room, she found that every stool was polished to a shine, so she didn't have to worry about her clothes getting dusty. She plopped down on one of the stools.
"Tell me everything you know." Shi Murou was immersed in the sweetness Shen Liang had given her, but she was not someone who would truly deceive herself.
If she discovers a flaw in something, especially one that concerns her, she's determined to get to the bottom of it and find out the truth.
"The 'three generations returning to the ancestral line' refers to a man becoming a live-in son-in-law in the woman's family. In the beginning, the woman's parents and relatives are all alive, and the servants in the house obey the woman. After the child is born, it naturally takes the woman's surname according to custom. However, as time goes by, the woman's parents pass away one after another, and the relatives become distant across generations. The servants and children born into the family are gradually won over and bought off by the man. At this time, the woman begins to be isolated and helpless. When their child has a grandson, the man will find all sorts of excuses to change the surname back to his own. If the woman complies, it's fine, but if she doesn't, violence may occur, and she may even lose her life."
"Through the process of returning to the ancestral lineage for three generations and decades of scheming and plotting, the man seized everything from the woman's family, causing her family line to be completely wiped out."
"Why be so cruel? Is this something a human being would do? It's natural for the woman's family to be better off as a son-in-law, providing the man with a better living environment. Why should the man be such an ungrateful wretch?"
“Because his motives were impure from the beginning, because he intended to devour the woman’s entire family from the start,” Qiao Lian’er said. “And for the past few decades, the man has endured humiliation and hardship, having to bear the injustice in order to achieve his goal. He may harbor deep hatred in his heart, and he will take revenge on everything in due time.”
Such things didn't only happen in ancient times; there were many examples in the world she came from, and in the end, the original wives all suffered terrible fates and met with horrible ends.
The woman in charge thought she was being kind and had a benevolent heart, but little did she know she was inviting a wolf into her house.
Shi Murou felt a chill run through her body, a chill that went straight to her bones.
Qiao Lian'er continued, "There are two things in this world that cannot be looked at directly: the sun and the human heart."
Shi Murou froze in her chair, her face turning pale.
She murmured, "Is Shen Liang that kind of person? What you said later was just an example, but can you guarantee that everything you said before was true?"
"Miss Shi can just ask the snake catcher. As for my grandmother, she was just upset about it and kept nagging. She didn't even know Miss Shi was outside."
“After you left that day, the Shen family did come to our house and said they wanted my cousin to be Shen Liang’s concubine. Our Qiao family turned them away. Everyone in the village knows about this. Just ask any family.”
Shi Murou took a deep breath, biting her lip tightly. Something seemed to be churning in her heart, causing her pain, bitterness, and hatred.
She didn't believe this was just the Shen family's idea; people who aren't family don't belong together.
She even suspected that it was Shen Liang who first came up with the idea, which is why the Shen family came to the Qiao family to discuss it so naturally.
It's said that one should marry a virtuous wife and take a beautiful concubine. She knew Qiao Xi'er was beautiful, and Shen Liang had also considered this. So, when he said she was beautiful, was he just flattering her and lying through his teeth? Otherwise, why wouldn't he be satisfied?
Was the entire acquaintance and getting to know each other a deception, a scheme?
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