As they were talking, the courtyard gate was pushed open from the outside, and a woman who looked to be in her early twenties walked in, carrying a bundle on her back.
Fang Xiaohua asked, "Sister Su Meng, didn't you go home? Why are you back again?"
The woman named Su Meng rolled her eyes at her. "You silly girl, are you out of your mind? Why would I come back? Of course, it's because I met a heartless man and can't stay at home anymore. Otherwise, why would I come back to this dilapidated courtyard?"
Fang Xiaohua realized she had said the wrong thing and looked at her somewhat embarrassedly. Su Meng ignored her and found a stool to sit down and started cursing, "He's a bastard! I've only been gone a short while and he's already found a new lover. He even dared to send me a letter of divorce. It's not like when he was crying and begging to marry me. My brother and sister-in-law are shameless too. When they saw me come back, they were so scared that they didn't even dare to open the door. They're despicable. I curse their whole family to die."
Meng Zhao looked up at the woman named Su Meng. Seeing her indignant expression, he didn't remind her that her brother and sister-in-law's entire family included her. Instead, he asked, "So you're just going to let them go like that?"
Su Meng, who was originally angry, sighed and looked frustrated. "What can I do? I have no money and no backing. What can I do about him?"
Although she did not commit any of the seven grounds for divorce, she was not in the right simply because she was kidnapped by bandits, so how could she possibly argue her case?
Su Meng looked up at Wei Jinglan and Meng Zhao, noticing their well-dressed appearance and obvious wealth, and her earlier dejection vanished. She asked, "Ladies, what do you do? Do you need any help with chores?"
Meng Zhao and Wei Jinglan exchanged a glance but did not answer. On the way back, they both kept thinking about this matter.
Meng Zhao naturally wanted to lend a hand, but her businesses were all in Qingshi County and Hongnong County, and she had no businesses in Quyang. It wouldn't be right to bring such a group of people home.
Wei Jinglan rubbed her handkerchief and made a suggestion: "Our family has many workshops around here. I'll go home and try to persuade my father to see if he can find some suitable jobs for them."
Meng Zhao nodded. Giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him how to fish. She could offer some money, but it was better to give them a job.
***
"No way!" Wei Shoucheng slammed his hand on the table, making the teacups on it jump.
His face was ashen, his eyes blazing with anger: "Isn't it enough that you've already lost face yourself? Now you want to bring those filthy women into your home? If this gets out, how will the Wei family maintain its standing in the business world?"
The roar startled Dong Xuan, who was standing nearby. She quickly stepped forward and gently tugged at Wei Shoucheng's sleeve, her voice pleading, "Master, what's wrong with you? Jinglan didn't say anything, she was just making a suggestion."
Wei Jinglan sneered, a hint of mockery flashing in her eyes: "Dirty woman? Father, is that what you think of me too?"
Wei Shoucheng's eyes flickered, and his tone softened slightly, "I...I didn't. Since Father let you come back, it means he doesn't care about what happened before. From now on, just stay at home and pretend nothing happened."
"Nothing happened?" Wei Jinglan's voice suddenly rose, her eyes filled with grief and indignation. "Even the fact that you found a doctor, made me mistakenly believe that I had a sexually transmitted disease, and wanted me to end my own life, you want me to pretend that it never happened?"
Wei Shoucheng's lips pressed into a straight line, a hint of pain flashing in his eyes, but he said nothing.
Wei Jinglan turned her gaze to her mother, Dong Xuan, who was standing to the side, her voice trembling: "Mother, you know about this too, don't you?"
Dong Xuan's tears welled up instantly, her voice choked with sobs: "Jinglan, I am your mother, how could I want you to die? I really didn't know at the time, it was only later when I heard that you had come back that I found out! I didn't want it either! Because of this, I burned incense and prayed to Buddha, and ate vegetarian food every day, just to ask God to have mercy on you and let you live in peace."
"Did Mother send anyone to look for me?" When she left the Wei family, she didn't think so much, so naturally she couldn't erase the traces. With the Wei family's wealth, it wouldn't be difficult for them to find her.
Dong Xuan's crying stopped abruptly. Her lips moved, but she didn't say anything.
Wei Jinglan sighed, her disappointment deepening as she murmured to herself, "So that's how it is... so that's how it is..."
Seeing this, Wei Shoucheng's anger surged again. "You unfilial daughter! You got into trouble yourself, how dare you blame your mother? She gave birth to you, is that wrong?"
"So, according to Father, I'm the one who's wrong? I shouldn't have gone home? Should I have committed suicide by banging my head against the wall the day I was taken to the bandits' den?"
Looking at his daughter's stubborn face, Wei Shoucheng closed his eyes and said in a low voice, "Even if you don't think about your parents, you should think about your younger siblings who have been innocently implicated by you! Your brother is about to take the provincial examination. Do you want him to be unable to hold his head up in the academy? Your second sister is being pointed at and gossiped about in her husband's family. Your third sister is about to get engaged. The marriage was originally arranged, but because of your affair, it has become the talk of the town. Now, the betrothal gifts haven't even been sent! Do you want her to die of old age at home?"
Just then, Wei Jingru rushed in. She had come excitedly after hearing that her older sister had returned, but she happened to overhear her father's words.
She immediately rushed to Wei Jinglan's side and grabbed her hand tightly. "Father, don't say that! My matter has nothing to do with my eldest sister! My eldest sister did nothing wrong! If that Jiang family refuses to marry me because of this, then it means they are not a good match! Even if they bring the betrothal gifts later, I will not marry them!"
"You, you, you unfilial daughter!" Wei Shoucheng was speechless after being rebuked, pointing at Wei Jingru and trembling.
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