Chapter 394 My sister-in-law is going to be sold as a concubine
The Zhou family was still happily preparing to help Zhou Quan go to the Tao family to propose marriage.
Aunt Tao's family, however, were plotting to marry their youngest daughter off to the family.
The youngest daughter, Tao Meiyu, cries every day at home.
Aunt Tao felt sorry for her and said, "Meiyu, don't worry. As long as your older sister and that young master Zhou are not married, you still have a chance."
While wiping away her tears, Tao Meiyu looked towards Tao Yaofang's room. "It's all because of her. If it weren't for her, my marriage with the Zhou family's young master would have been settled smoothly long ago."
Zhou Quan's birth mother was a beauty in the past, and the emperor was also a handsome man when he was young. His appearance was naturally not bad either. Although he could not compare with Zhou Ruiyuan, he was still one of the best in Cheng'an County.
Tao Meiyu couldn't take her eyes off him the moment she saw him; she had been thinking about him for a long time.
Aunt Tao glared at Tao Yaofang lying in the room as she listened, and took Tao Meiyu's hand to comfort her, saying, "Meiyu, don't be sad, I'll help you think of a way."
Tao Meiyu stopped crying and asked her aunt with red eyes, "Mother, do you have any other ideas?"
Aunt Tao turned her gaze to Tao Yaofang and said viciously, "First, let your sister get engaged to the Zhou family, and then secretly sell her. When the Zhou family can't find anyone else to marry, they will naturally marry you."
Tao Meiyu exclaimed in surprise, "Mother, are you going to sell my eldest sister?"
Aunt Tao quickly changed her tune, saying, "It's not about selling her. Isn't Master He from Qingzhou Prefecture looking to take a concubine? I'd like to marry your eldest sister to him."
"Although the He family is not as good as the Zhou family, they are in the grain and oil business and are not short of money."
As she spoke, she deliberately raised her voice and said, "Besides, a woman like her is already blessed to be someone else's concubine."
Tao Meiyu covered her mouth and said, "Mother, but Master He has a lot of wives and concubines at home. If I marry into that family, I'll suffer."
Not only did Master He have a large number of wives and concubines, but he also had unusual hobbies, which Aunt Tao learned from a maid in the kitchen of the He family mansion.
Over the years, she had been doing laundry for wealthy families in Qingzhou Prefecture, so she often heard some unknown gossip.
After Aunt Tao returned home, she told her youngest daughter about what she had seen and heard, as if it were a joke.
That's why Tao Meiyu reacted that way.
Although she resented her older sister for stealing her good marriage, she wasn't so cruel as to want to punish her older sister for harming her like that.
Aunt Tao didn't care: "So what if Master He has many wives and concubines? As long as he has enough to eat and wear, that's fine."
Tao Yaofang lay on the bed with her eyes closed, pretending to be unconscious as she listened to their conversation, her heart feeling like it was being torn apart.
She always knew that her biological mother didn't like her, so she was very sensible from a young age. When she was five years old, she helped her biological mother cook and tend the fire, often leaving her little face blackened with soot.
As she grew older, she cooked for herself, thinking every day about how to make her mother's favorite dishes. She would happily serve the dishes to her mother every day, just to see her mother smile.
But in the end, all Aunt Tao did was scold and beat her.
She was mischievous and strong since she was a child. If she really fought with Aunt Tao, Aunt Tao would be no match for her at all.
The reason she didn't fight back was that she kept hoping to receive the maternal love that a normal person should have from her.
But just now, she overheard her mother and sister talking outside and realized that no matter how well she did or how much she sacrificed for the family, she could not get their care or love.
Even the slightest bit of sympathy from an ordinary person is a luxury.
Her hands clenched tightly into fists, trembling, she secretly vowed that the suffering of the past ten years was her way of fulfilling her filial duty, and that her life and death would have nothing to do with this family.
Tao Yaofang slowly turned her face to the side, and the tears in the corners of her eyes could no longer be held back, flowing down in one go.
Outside, after discussing it with Tao Meiyu, Aunt Tao really went to Qingzhou Prefecture.
Fortunately, it takes a whole day to get from their village to Qingzhou Prefecture.
Aunt Tao won't be back for a while.
While they were all out, Tao Yaofang endured the pain and struggled to get up. She didn't take anything with her, except for a small clay figure under her pillow.
This little clay figure was made for her by her father in the past.
Unfortunately, this was the only thing she ever received in her life from her parents.
She wiped away her tears, tucked the clay figure into her arms, and walked outside, leaning against the wall.
A few days ago, Aunt Tao really hit her hard, hitting her legs the whole time. Now every step she takes is excruciatingly painful.
Tao Yaofang gritted her teeth and walked laboriously towards the outside.
As she reached the door, someone inside called out to her, "Big sister, where are you going?!"
Tao Yaofang paused, her body trembling slightly. She slowly turned around and saw her second brother.
The second son of the Tao family strode out and asked her, "Eldest sister, where are you going with all these injuries?"
Tao Yaofang shook her head and said, "I just went out for a walk."
Tao's second son sighed, "I heard what my mother and younger sister said today. They are such terrible people to treat you like this."
The three younger members of the Tao family were actually raised with the help of Tao Yaofang.
She was closest to the second son of the Tao family.
A few days ago, he was also hit twice for pleading for her, which made Aunt Tao so heartbroken that she couldn't sleep all night.
Tao Yaofang was extremely grateful to him. If he hadn't stepped in to take the beating for her, she probably would have been beaten to death on the ground by now.
"Second brother, I don't want to be Master He's concubine." Tao Yaofang gritted her teeth, trying to hold back the tears that were about to fall.
Tao's second son thought for a moment and said, "Eldest sister, you are injured now, so even if you want to escape, you can't get far."
As he spoke, his eyes lit up. "Why don't you just run away to the Zhou family's shop? You don't need to say where your injury came from. Just say you want to work at the Zhou family's shop. As long as you're under the Zhou family's watchful eye, my mother and younger sister won't be able to do anything bad to you."
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