Chapter 424 looks somewhat familiar.
Those who have nothing to lose are not afraid of those who have something to lose. Nobody is a saint, and everyone has a despicable face from the other's perspective.
But to swallow your anger and suffer in silence when you're being bullied is just too useless.
Song Chunxue said this to intimidate Lin Chuncheng, to let him know that if he provokes Jiang Yehui in the future, he may lose his official position.
She also knew that Lin Chuncheng had a hard time. The reason he brought his younger sister with him to the army was because his father had passed away, and she was afraid that his mother, a woman who was powerless, would not be able to protect his sister.
He genuinely wanted what was best for his sister, which is why he came up with such a foolproof plan.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Yehui suddenly changed his mind, cultivated a better relationship, and went back on his previous promise.
He was a good older brother, but definitely not a good person.
Song Chunxue looked down at him and said, "Everyone knows the truth about this. Don't try to threaten or coerce us. If you can't be sincere and have a calm discussion, then don't blame us for retaliating."
The fourth brother waved his hand, "Alright, you can leave now. My mother's point is that it's not that your sister can't be discussed if she wants to marry my second brother, but as a live-in son-in-law, there's no way she'll do it."
Song Chunxue glanced at the fourth brother; he was quite clever.
Seeing Lin Chuncheng storm out in anger, she poured herself a cup of tea. Instead of feeling pleased, she felt sorrow for her past self and her second son.
She thought again, if she were a good mother, treating her children fairly and justly, not favoring the eldest, not letting the third child shoulder great responsibilities, and letting the brothers learn to get along harmoniously and work together to make the Jiang family better, wouldn't the children not want to leave their hometown?
Even becoming someone's son-in-law is fine.
None of them were wrong, yet they were all wrong.
The children are to blame because of their mother, but they are also truly unfilial, selfish, and ungrateful.
Well, sometimes I think about it. In those difficult times, it was good enough if they didn't starve to death. Why should we let them study?
Perhaps, if they were allowed to marry and separate from their families early, like other people's children, the situation would be quite different.
Who knows?
"Mom, you're amazing, but why aren't you happy?"
The second son's face came close to Song Chunxue's, but she raised her hand and pushed him away.
"Hmph, you'd rather be a live-in son-in-law than acknowledge me as your mother, how can I be happy?" Song Chunxue got up and walked out. "Pack your things and go stay on the mountain for a few days. Go to the yamen when you're better."
"I've already sent a letter to Lord Xie, telling him about my injury. He told me to come back when I'm fully recovered, and that he'll keep my position for me," the second son whispered. "It seems Lord Xie treats Mother very well."
"I already owe him a lot of favors. If any of you trouble him again, I'll break your legs!"
The fourth brother muttered to himself, "I haven't bothered anyone."
Song Chunxue warned him, "Don't even think about having Lord Xie come to your wedding. He's such a high-ranking official; who do you think you are?"
The fourth son was extremely upset, saying, "Mother, you can't scold your own son like that."
"I won't curse if you don't upset me," Song Chunxue said, slinging her bundle over her shoulder and stepping out the door. "I'll go find the carriage. You two hurry up."
They bought meat, vegetables, and noodles on the street and took a horse-drawn carriage up the mountain.
When they saw the large courtyard in front of them, the second and fourth brothers rubbed their eyes vigorously.
"Mother, whose house is this?"
"The big courtyard that Mom bought, could it be this one? It's so grand!"
"My goodness, where did you get so much silver? Could it be that the ground beneath that fortress is paved with silver?" The fourth brother jumped off the carriage in a daze, unable to describe his feelings at that moment.
Song Chunxue said calmly, "When I came to climb the mountain with the Taoist priest, I picked up a big rock halfway up and traded it for this."
"What?"
"You're not lying to me, are you?"
"Where did you find that stone? Take us to find it, maybe we can find some amazing stones too, and then we can live off it for the rest of our lives."
The fourth child jumped up and down at the door. "Mom, I'm serious. Take us to collect stones!"
Song Chunxue casually pointed, "Over there, you guys go pick them up. Don't be lazy when you come in later, clean the house and yard. The yard is big, but without maids and servants, I can't afford to keep them."
"Okay, okay, Mom, go inside first, I'll go pick up some stones." The fourth son happily ran towards the pile of stones.
The second son, leaning on his cane, followed closely behind. "Let me see too, just in case, the God of Wealth falls asleep and drops me a gold nugget."
Seeing the two of them groping around and laughing like idiots, Song Chunxue didn't stop them.
They're my own children, what else can I do?
However, when the two of them excitedly picked up a few stones and forgot about their work, focusing only on cleaning the stones, Song Chunxue picked up a fire poker and hit each of them a few times.
"You're still expecting me to serve you meals, aren't you? You're used to being served food, and you think I'll still wait on you like before?"
Song Chunxue smacked their legs twice. "I'm not doing it anymore. Today I'm just waiting to be served. If you're not going to work, you two can get off the mountain and go wherever you want."
The fourth child covered his head and ran away, crying, "Mom, I'll go cook right now, please stop hitting me."
The second son gritted his teeth and said, "Mom, I'll go start the fire. Don't be angry. From now on, the two of us will take care of you."
Song Chunxue threw away the fire poker. "That's more like it."
In the following days, the second and fourth children were very diligent.
The fourth brother cooked and swept the yard, while the second brother, limping, tidied up the house, never stopping to come and go.
They had long been spoiled by Song Chunxue, and now she would never spoil them again.
This large courtyard contains several smaller courtyards, all of which Song Chunxue requested to be cleaned.
Before they knew it, they had been on the mountain for seven or eight days.
The meat and vegetables are almost gone, but we still have potatoes and noodles, so we can manage.
Song Chunxue didn't plan to go down the mountain, but the fourth brother was craving meat and offered to go down the mountain to buy some green vegetables and fresh meat.
It was damp and cold on the mountain, so Song Chunxue told him to buy two thick cotton quilts.
The fourth brother readily agreed, hitched up the horse and carriage, and went down the mountain.
The second son's leg is much better; he's chopping wood with an axe.
"Mother, now I understand why you don't want to marry Lord Xie."
"..." Song Chunxue stared at him, wondering if this kid knew how to choose his words.
The second son quickly changed his tune, "That's the gist of it, Mother, don't be angry. If someone has money and land and isn't swayed by beauty, then there's really no need to find a companion. People who aren't lonely don't need companions."
"Good to know." Song Chunxue looked up at the sky. "The clouds are quite heavy. It's probably going to rain. I'll go and bring the blankets inside."
“There are also books. I discovered that there are two studies in this courtyard, and the books inside are all very valuable. The previous owner of the courtyard was very generous.” The second son put down his axe. “I took some out to air them out, otherwise they would easily get moldy.”
"Okay, I'll go outside and carry the tree in."
She usually finds dry trees in the woods to use as firewood; yesterday she found a few and put them outside in the yard to dry.
If it gets wet, it won't dry easily, and there won't be any firewood left after a few days.
On her third trip outside, she saw an unfamiliar carriage approaching in the distance.
A light drizzle had begun to fall from the sky.
She ignored them, guessing they were just people who had come up the mountain to enjoy the scenery, but they had come at the wrong time.
Just as she was carrying the fourth dead tree toward the gate, the carriage stopped and two people got off.
"What bad timing, it's going to rain. Why don't we go to the yard to take shelter from the rain? I remember this belongs to the Zhao family."
"Alright."
Song Chunxue looked up and noticed that the person behind her looked somewhat familiar.
P.S.: Um... I can't say too much. I couldn't fall asleep last night, and I'm so sleepy I can barely keep my eyes open today. I'll finish this later. (Please be gentle with your scolding.)
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