Every few days, Sun Shangxiang would walk five miles from Linhua Mansion, where she and her mother lived, to Fubihai to pour out her heart to her sister-in-law.
"Sister-in-law, do you even care about my matter? You promised so readily! I've already told you that I miss him terribly, and I want to marry him!"
"Do you expect me to bring gifts and go to your house to propose marriage to your mother and father, and his adoptive parents?"
Sun Shangxiang was in such a hurry.
She's so adorable when she speaks.
Qiao Jingjing was amused, but in reality, she was even more anxious than Sun Shangxiang.
But there's something you can't reveal while you're talking.
Qiao Jingjing reached out and tapped Sun Shangxiang's nose:
"You little girl, how did you grow up so fast? When I first came here, you were so tall, and now you're old enough to be getting married and moving to your husband's family!"
Do you want the truth or the facts? I said I can't bear to let you go, no matter who you marry!
I already mentioned this to my mother that day.
Mother said she would discuss it with your second brother.
"Your second brother has been very busy lately, I've heard about it. Don't bother him unless it's absolutely necessary, understand?"
Speaking of Sun Quan.
Sun Shangxiang pouted.
Of course she knew her second brother was very busy. Wasn't it all because of Cao Cao in the north, and Jingzhou? Was Liu Biao dead?
Anyway, war is going to break out.
There is war every day, every year.
People die in war, and people die even when there is no war.
That's how my eldest brother died, and that's how my third brother died too.
"I don't care! If there's going to be a war, it's theirs. I've learned something from this trip. Sister-in-law, I just want to live a peaceful life. Your situation with my brother has also made me realize why I should care about those people. It's just that people in this world are constantly fighting and competing, and human hearts are never satisfied. I just want to spend my life with the person I love."
You should talk to your second brother and get him to nod in agreement!
I don't want him to give me a grand wedding. Liu Ji and I will go through the traditional wedding ceremony, and I'll kowtow to my mother and you all. Then we'll go live somewhere else—perhaps Wuyishan, perhaps Quanzhou, perhaps Guilin. We'll find a place and live a peaceful, secluded life.
Until Sun Shangxiang finished speaking this long and clear statement.
Qiao Jingjing finally realized what was happening.
Qiao Jingjing's heart felt like it had been violently shaken.
She couldn't help but reflect on what she had been thinking all this time.
People used Sun Shangxiang's marriage as a political tool, a bargaining chip for alliances.
She and Sun Shangxiang were sisters-in-law. She watched her grow up and thought she was worried about her and cared about her, but she still couldn't help but consider things from the perspective of power and politics.
What Sun Shangxiang pursued.
Isn't this exactly what Qiao Jingjing wanted to pursue back then? She hoped that Sun Ce would put aside all the conflicts and go with her to a place with mountains and rivers to spend the rest of their lives in peace.
I think of Sun Ce.
It's frustrating again.
Qiao Jingjing changed her tone, becoming very gentle:
"I know how you feel, I understand! I will discuss it with Mother and your second brother. As long as they agree, you can go wherever you want, and your sister-in-law will prepare a dowry for you!"
Qiao Jingjing concluded.
I also felt sad.
Why couldn't she let Sun Shangxiang have her way? She should have.
At least, she can do something for her.
That day, Qiao Jingjing asked Ye Rong to invite Sun Quan, and also invited her mother, Madam Wu.
When Sun Quan arrived at Bihai, it was already very late at night.
He spent a lot of time discussing and handling important matters with his ministers.
Madam Wu was already getting tired of waiting.
Sun Quan arrived and repeatedly apologized:
"I'm sorry to have kept my mother and sister-in-law waiting."
Lady Wu also urged Sun Quan to sit down quickly, have a cup of hot tea, and eat some snacks.
"It's not your fault, we're all family. You need to take care of yourself, the whole family is counting on you!"
In this family, only Sun Quan remained as a man.
And then there are the grandchildren, who are still very young.
Sun Quan drank the tea:
"I know about what my mother and sister-in-law asked me to discuss! Ah Xiang has fallen for Liu Ji. Do my mother and sister-in-law mean they agree to their marriage?"
Although Madam Wu doted on her daughter, she also felt sorry for her son.
Knowing that his son carried a heavy burden, he needed someone to help him share the burden.
Therefore, Madam Wu did not immediately express her opinion.
She simply said, "Ah Xiang is too young to make this decision. Your father died early, and your eldest brother is gone too, so of course it's entirely up to you to decide!"
Madam Wu did not say that Qiao Jingjing could make the decision.
But since Qiao Jingjing was moved by Sun Shangxiang, she still wanted to stand up and say something for Sun Shangxiang.
“Mother, I shouldn’t have said this, but because Ah Xiang and I are very close, she has asked me to do it again and again. I feel sorry for Ah Xiang, and although this is a difficult thing to say, I still have to say it, even though it makes things difficult for Zhongmou!”
Liu Ji is my sworn brother from my maternal family; everyone in the six counties of Jiangdong knows this.
Liu Ji came from a respectable family, but his family was small and he had no parents to rely on. He was now merely a distant relative of the Han dynasty, a figurehead.
They are certainly not comparable to families with strong foundations like the Zhu, Gu, and Lu families.
They are no match for the Xu family, the Wu family, our Sun family, or even the Zhou family—these are all local powerful and influential families.
However, Mother, Zhongmou, can you consider your children's marriage from a different perspective?
Ah Xiang said something that touched me.
She said she wanted to live the life she and her loved ones dreamed of—a peaceful, quiet life, without conflict or war, whether in a small town or a rural area, she said she could live that way.
At this point in Qiao Jingjing's speech, Madam Wu remained silent.
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