Chapter 36 I came to the capital not to climb the social ladder
"Ying'er, you just took a shower and your body is still damp. Drink this bowl of sweet soup while it's hot to prevent the cold from entering your body."
Su Ying had not noticed Rong's arrival. When she heard the voice, she turned around and saw her aunt holding a steaming porcelain bowl. She hurriedly put down her handkerchief and stood up to greet her.
"Don't do it, be careful of the heat."
Seeing Su Ying reaching out to take it, Rong shook her head, walked past her niece and went straight to the table beside the couch.
After putting the soup bowl down safely, Rong took out the spoon and handed it to Su Ying, saying softly, "Hurry up and sit down. Drink it while it's hot."
But she did not sit down, but picked up the handkerchief that her niece had just put down and continued to wipe her wet hair carefully.
Seeing Su Ying obediently pick up the spoon, Rong Shi slowly spoke, pretending to be nonchalant and asked, "Did you run into anyone while copying scriptures in the East Courtyard these days?"
Su Ying scooped a spoonful of soup and first tasted a longan, which was soft, sweet, and pitted. Then she bit into a red date, which was also fleshy and pitless.
Su Ying's heart warmed slightly, and she lowered her head to scoop the soup more gently. She had never liked things with seeds in them since she was a child, and she had never expected that her aunt would still remember her after all these years.
Grateful for her aunt's love for her, she didn't question her aunt's question and answered obediently, "Every day I copy scriptures with Wanyi. Apart from the servants who wait on me, I have never seen anyone else."
Rong Shi was certain and continued to ask, "Where is the library?"
Su Ying drank another spoonful of soup, and her whole body was warm and comfortable. She didn't have time to think about it, so she shook her head and said, "No."
In her opinion, Qingquan and Xueyuan just came to the library to borrow books and then left, so it was not something that she had to explain to her aunt.
Rong Shi heard Su Ying's natural tone, without any pretense, and breathed a sigh of relief. She nodded softly and said, "That's good."
A gentleman loves a beautiful lady. The girls from the Rong family are naturally beautiful and talented, and Heng'er is also in his prime, so it is inevitable that he will be attracted to her.
As long as the two of them do not have any private contact, as time goes by, those who get married will get married, and those who take the imperial examinations will take the imperial examinations. Even if they really have any feelings for each other, over time, they will be gone with the wind.
Thinking of this, Rong's heart felt even more at ease.
Seeing that her aunt stopped asking questions, Su Ying felt strange and turned around to ask, "Aunt, what happened?"
Rong didn't want Su Ying to think too much, so she covered it up with something else: "It's nothing. Auntie just thought that after the sutra offering ceremony, you and Wanyi will definitely receive invitations from various families. You don't usually meet many people, so I was thinking, should I tell you about some of the etiquette for banquets hosted by the wives of officials in the capital?"
"Aunt, I didn't come to the capital to climb up the social ladder."
Su Ying had finished her sweet soup. She put down her porcelain bowl, stood up, and sat down on the couch with her aunt. She slowly revealed her true feelings, long hidden in her heart: "In the past two years since I returned home, Lin has used every possible means to make things difficult for me. Even the two little ones, who call me "eldest sister" on the surface, have followed Lin's example and made things difficult for me. Although they rarely succeed, I'm already tired of them."
Su Ying sighed deeply, and her chest felt a little sore when she thought about everything that happened in the Su family.
She was raised by Rong and her maternal grandmother, and had never heard them say a word against her father or Lin. At the age of twelve, she was taken back to the Su family. Although she was reluctant to leave her maternal grandparents, she had expectations in her heart, especially for her biological father, Su Jianrong.
But who could have known that what greeted her was the fickleness of the world and the scheming and calculating intrigue.
"The Su family only gained a foothold in Yueqing thanks to their tea business. Lin started out as a concubine and schemed her way to becoming the head of the Su family. Logically, she should have gotten what she wanted long ago. But she's always worried, worried that I'd take away Su Jianrong's affection for her two children. That's why she's so eager to force me onto him."
"If Su Jianrong had any genuine father-daughter feelings for me, he wouldn't have simply listened to Lin's words and allowed me to meet that fifty-year-old merchant. But he was ultimately tempted, simply because that man could help him expand his business in the north."
Only then did Su Ying truly reveal her disappointment and resentment towards that family. She addressed her father by his first name and never addressed Lin as "mother." She had grown tired of the hypocrisy of the Su family over the past two years.
"Ying'er has never thought about marrying into a wealthy family. The Su family alone has caused a lot of trouble because they are wary of me, the daughter of the original wife. If I really marry into such a family, without a decent family to support me, what hope will I have?"
"You asked me to copy the sutras well, hoping that I would have a good reputation in the capital. I understand your intentions, and I did put in some thought, using the Weibei style to create a new style. However, the respectability that Ying'er has fought for is not to find a noble or aristocratic family. Ying'er only wants to find a simple family of poets and scholars, so that they can know my talent."
"I don't understand the love between men and women, but I do know what the love between parents and children, and between brothers and sisters is. Ying'er doesn't ask for much. I just hope that my aunt can help me find a well-educated and respectful family. I don't ask for deep love between husband and wife, just that we treat each other with respect. That's enough."
After Su Ying finished speaking, she leaned her head on Rong's shoulder and remained silent.
Rong stretched out his hand and gently stroked Su Ying's back, just like when Su Ying was a child sobbing and looking for her mother, Rong would gently comfort her and coax her to sleep.
The eldest sister died of illness, and before her body was cold, Su Jianrong was impatient to bring his concubine into the Su Mansion.
Despite their deep hatred, the Rong family never quarreled with Su Jianrong because Ying'er was still young. Thinking that Ying'er would eventually return to the Su family, the Rong family never said a word against Su Jianrong and the Lin family in front of Ying'er.
Unexpectedly, in just two years since Ying'er returned to the Su family, she has experienced the warmth and coldness of human nature, the ups and downs of life.
After hearing Ying'er's words, Rong was angry and sad. She didn't expect that her niece, at such a young age, had such a cold view of the future.
I wanted to speak to comfort her several times, but when I opened my mouth, I didn't know where to start.
In the end, it just turned into a sigh, and she coaxed softly: "Auntie, I'll listen to you. Let's only look at those simple families who are well-educated and well-mannered."
However, she secretly made up her mind that she must take good care of Ying'er. How could she be willing to let such a good niece live a future filled with only mutual respect but no harmonious life and growing old hands together?
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