Chapter 74: Coercion and Inducement
Jiang Yingli took a deep breath and her body trembled. She waved away the embroidered handkerchief and tears suddenly rolled down her face. Her voice was broken and helpless.
"Mother, how could you do this! You knew that she was my cousin, you knew that I entered the Su Wang Mansion as soon as I reached the age of marriage, and that I had a four-year friendship with His Majesty. Now you want me to help my cousin enter the palace and let me share a husband with her. How can you make me feel?"
Xu was startled and quickly picked up the embroidered handkerchief that had fallen to the ground. She walked forward and wiped Jiang Yingli's tears with her sleeve, her voice unprecedentedly gentle.
"Good child, mother knows you're feeling wronged, but there's nothing we can do about it. Think about it, there are so many people in the palace now, your cousin is definitely one of them, right?"
"You and your cousin are blood relatives. It's better to let your cousin be favored than to let others be favored."
Xu hugged the sobbing Jiang Yingli and whispered softly, "What your mother said to you was from the bottom of her heart. Survival in the harem is not easy. You are alone and weak. How can you make it to the end?"
"The only way out for you is to expand your family. Once your cousin becomes the imperial concubine and your uncle becomes successful, our family will also prosper, and you'll have a backup."
Jiang Yingli's mind was in a mess and her body couldn't stop shaking slightly.
In confusion, she suddenly remembered what happened at the palace banquet today.
Su Qingrong had displeased His Majesty and had been in a state of embarrassment for several days. However, today, Su Wenyue's words were enough to allow her to skip levels and be promoted.
Concubine Song sat firmly on the high platform, and the Song family's courtiers were also sitting below. Su Qingrong only dared to provoke her and did not dare to say a word to Concubine Song.
This is indeed the benefit brought by the family.
But... is it really like this...
Seeing that Jiang Yingli's painful and confused expression had relaxed a little, Xu took the opportunity to stuff the handkerchief into Jiang Yingli's hand.
"Li'er, dear Li'er, you have always been the most sensible one in the family. You understand your mother's painstaking efforts."
Jiang Yingli looked at the gentle smile on her mother's face that had not appeared for a long time, and the words of rejection were stuck in her throat. At this time, Jiang Yuanzhou on the side actually knelt down.
"Li'er, I know I'm sorry for you, but I can't help it. I'm old now and can't work as hard as I did when I was young. This is the Jiang family's last chance to prosper. I really can't bear to see the Jiang family's fortune fall in my hands!"
Jiang Yuanzhou spoke earnestly, his back seemed a little hunched as he knelt, and he covered his face to wipe away his tears. Jiang Yingli suddenly felt uncomfortable.
Xu Huiran also saw the opportunity and said, "Li'er, your father has said this, and you still won't give in? How about this, your mother kneels down for you! Even after all this, if you still don't want to help, then forget it. We will just treat it as if we raised an ungrateful person. From now on, the Jiang family will no longer have a daughter like you!"
Xu Huiran became more and more resolute as she spoke: "From now on, you will no longer have a family to rely on. You will be alone in the palace. Whether you live, die, or are sick, no one will ever come to see you again. You will be lonely and miserable for the rest of your life!"
After saying that, Xu Huiran bent her knees and pretended to kneel down.
Jiang Yingli held her, opened her mouth several times, and finally said with difficulty:
"...I will help my cousin enter the palace."
Hearing Jiang Yingli's agreement, Xu Huiran and Jiang Yuanzhou looked at each other, wiped their tears, and were so moved that they burst into tears.
After the visiting hours ended, before leaving, Xu Huiran repeatedly instructed His Majesty to give the handkerchief embroidered by her cousin Xu Nianya to His Majesty, and then she left with two full boxes.
Inside the hall, three beautifully embroidered sachets were scattered on the ground. Jiang Yingli sat on a chair, her tears having dried, but her expression was still somewhat dull as she stared at the pair of golden hairpins left on the table.
Why is it that every time we meet, even though I'm looking forward to it so much, I always feel so painful?
She thought that after so much time had passed, her parents would at least miss her a little.
But no, not at all.
Even Jiang Zhao distanced himself from her.
Jiang Yingli closed her eyes, unable to digest this suffocating emotion.
"elder sister!"
A clear young voice could be heard faintly from outside the hall.
Jiang Yingli was startled and looked up. There was a dusty young man standing behind the rockery outside the hall. He timidly stuck half of his head out, with a shy and innocent smile.
No matter how long they had been apart, Jiang Yingli recognized Jiang Zhao at a glance.
Jiang Yingli's eyes trembled slightly, and she stood up, "Brother!"
Jiang Zhao casually lifted his messy hair, ran over quickly, stopped outside the hall, and knelt down firmly.
"Greetings to Empress Chongyi."
Jiang Yingli quickly helped him up and brushed the dust off his shoulders and clothes. "How did you get into this state?"
Jiang Zhao stopped Jiang Yingli from brushing off the dust on him and scratched his head embarrassedly.
"My Lady, please stop taking pictures. It's really dirty. Oh, seriously... I originally wore clean clothes today, but they got dirty."
Jiang Yingli's heart softened, and she said softly, "Don't call me Empress anymore. Just call me Sister like before."
Jiang Zhao nodded vigorously, a bright smile spreading across his fair face. "Yes! Sister!"
Jiang Yingli smiled, then immediately asked worriedly, "Didn't Mom and Dad say you weren't coming? You're in this state. Did you sneak in?"
Jiang Zhao said anxiously after hearing this: "How could I not come to see my sister! It was my parents who told me not to come and wait in the Imperial Garden. But now that I'm in the palace, how could I not come to see my sister? So I followed them secretly, waiting for them to leave before coming. But there was no one to show me the way, so I couldn't get in. The dust on my clothes was from when I climbed over the wall through the dog hole."
Jiang Yingli finally felt much better. When Xu said that her brother didn't want to see her, her heart was broken.
This is her younger brother who grew up under her care. Even if her parents are partial to her and give three out of four pieces of osmanthus candy to her younger brother, her younger brother will hide them all and give her two.
She really thought that her brother, who was so cute and kind when he was a child, had changed after growing up.
Jiang Yingli touched Jiang Zhao's head and was surprised again: "The palace wall is so high, how could you climb over it?"
Jiang Zhao was a little proud: "Sister, even if there is only a wall, I can climb over it. What's more, there are so many trees to use as leverage. This won't be a problem for me."
Jiang Yingli was amused by him and said, "Don't climb over the wall next time. It's still too dangerous. Besides, it would be bad if others saw you. Next time, just say you are Zhao Chongyi's younger brother. Naturally, people will rush to lead the way for you."
Jiang Zhao's eyes lit up, "Really? She's rushing to lead the way. It turns out that my sister is so powerful in the palace."
"Yes, your sister... His Majesty is very good to me, so you don't have to worry about your sister. You must be well outside the palace. You are sixteen years old and not a child anymore."
Jiang Zhao nodded solemnly, "As long as my sister is fine, I'll be relieved."
After saying that, Jiang Zhao noticed the sachets scattered on the ground.
"This was embroidered by my sister!"
He picked up the three sachets one by one. It was easy to guess who had discarded them, but Jiang Zhao didn't mention it. He just held them happily in his hands.
"Sister, your embroidery skills are getting better and better. I'll take these three sachets back home and wear one every day."
Jiang Yingli felt a lump in her throat when she saw her brother like this, and she couldn't help but want to cry.
"By the way, sister." Jiang Zhao took out something wrapped in old cloth from the front of his clothes and handed it to Jiang Yingli carefully, his eyes full of anticipation.
"This is for my sister. Please open it and take a look."
Jiang Yingli lifted a corner of the old cloth, revealing a lustrous green bracelet wrapped inside.
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I shouldn't have written this in the main text to disturb everyone reading, but unfortunately, my words always get swallowed, so there are some things I must say:
The heroine struggled out of her identity as a PUA victim and resolved the matter within a few days. She didn't have to start her life over again to realize the truth and start revenge. She was already very decisive and brave.
From now until later, her inner OS 'who else but me can be the queen's?' Her growth is clearly visible. In my eyes, she is very capable.
I stand with the heroine.
(Of course, the heroines who have been reborn are also very brave and decisive, and their past and present lives have a strong sense of fate. I also love watching them. Everyone is very good, and I definitely don’t mean to drag them down.)
The heroine may not be the best, but she is getting better all the time.
As mentioned before, the characters are not perfect, and the male and female protagonists are both growing.
They had lived in the Prince Su's Mansion for four years, living in peace and happiness, and had completely forgotten all the troubles. So now this matter was brought up just to let the heroine solve it.
The hero and heroine both arrive in a new environment, where the people and situations around them become complicated. Even jealousy is a new experience for them, a very young couple. They need to explore a new way to get along, but from beginning to end they are together and support each other. This is the two-way redemption and two-way journey I want to write.
Scolding the plot and abandoning the novel are personal choices, and we respect and understand that. But please don't make rumors and remarks like "The male and female leads are 88, the male lead and the female supporting role should have a baby soon" or "The male lead and the female supporting role have a child."
The heroine's cousin entered the palace to die, there is no other plot.
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