Chapter 189 Demanding Justice
Seeing that Madam Sun dared not speak her anger, even though she was clearly furious and her eyes were filled with rage, she still tried her best to suppress it and maintain a proper smile, Meng Jinyao admired her and felt relieved.
Once upon a time, she treated Sun Shi as her own mother, but Sun Shi never treated her as a daughter. She had been scheming against her all along, and even murdered Cheng Yu. Sun Shi was the one who killed her own mother.
As her own daughter, Meng Jinyu could see her mother's embarrassment, but she couldn't refute it. Everyone else was saying nice things, but her mother had really done something wrong. It was common knowledge that she had withheld Meng Jinyao's birth mother's dowry, so it was ironic to use such nice words against her mother.
Meng Jinyu frowned slightly and glared resentfully at Meng Jinyao, who was watching the show.
Meng Jinyao's eyes met Meng Jinyu's. She curled her lips into a playful smile. She was happy to see Sun Shi being haunted by a 'ghost' and suffering from almost no sleep every night. But that was far from enough.
If it weren't for the fact that our dynasty's laws stipulate that children who sue their parents will be imprisoned regardless of whether the allegations are true or not, she would have truly accused Sun of murdering Chengyu. As for her birth mother's death, there is no evidence to prove it now. There are witnesses, but based solely on that woman's one-sided testimony, the charges are difficult to establish.
One day, she will make Mrs. Sun admit it herself.
When a person is in a daze or under too much mental pressure, their willpower will gradually collapse. She was waiting for that day to come. It didn't matter whether Sun died in the end, because many times living is more terrifying than dying. If living is worse than dying, then it's better to die.
Seeing the undercurrents between the sisters, Sun's sister-in-law, Yang, thought to herself, "She really has climbed the social ladder. She's quite capable. Since Meng Jinyao regards her sister-in-law as an enemy, then as a member of the Sun family, she won't get any benefits from Meng Jinyao either."
Since that's the case, it's better to help the younger sister-in-law. If the younger sister-in-law is happy, she can also get some benefits from her. Her eldest son is about to get married, and if the younger sister-in-law can help out a bit, their family can save some money. Even though the Yongchang Marquis's mansion has declined, it was once a wealthy and influential family. They still have some wealth. Judging from the fresh fruit and pastries served to the guests today, which are from Yipinzhai, and the tea is also of good quality, it's clear that the Marquis's mansion is doing quite well now.
The younger sister-in-law manages the household affairs, which makes it convenient for her to help support her family.
Thinking this, Yang changed the subject: "Ayao, I heard that you and Ayu have had a conflict recently because of making friends?"
Hearing her sister-in-law speak, Mrs. Sun breathed a sigh of relief.
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao knew it was about Princess Jingning. She glanced at Meng Jinyu indifferently and asked in a low voice, "Has Aunt misunderstood something?"
"Perhaps there is a misunderstanding." Madam Yang sighed softly and said earnestly, "You two are sisters, and you don't have any other older or younger sisters. You must get along well. As the older sister, you should give way to your younger sister. Ayu cried for a long time because of this."
This is an indiscriminate accusation, directly labeling her as unloving towards her sister.
Meng Jinyao remained calm and answered slowly, "Did Second Sister tell Aunt why she was crying?" Although she was asking Yang Shi, her gaze fell on Meng Jinyu, looking at her meaningfully.
When Meng Jinyu met her gaze, her expression tightened. She had suffered a great loss at Meng Jinyao's hands when Princess Jingning was present, and she dared not gamble this time. At this moment, she could only admit defeat, otherwise she would lose face in front of the guests and ruin her reputation. She hurriedly said, "It was actually my fault that day. I didn't explain clearly and caused the princess to misunderstand my elder sister. I felt very guilty when I got home and cried. Fortunately, my elder sister did not blame me."
Upon hearing this, Madam Sun knew that her daughter was definitely at fault. However, her daughter hadn't explained things clearly when she returned that day, only saying that Meng Jinyao had slandered her in front of Princess Jingning. She hadn't expected there to be another hidden story. She glanced at her daughter and said gently, "My child, you must be more careful with your words in the future. Did the princess misunderstand later? If she did, you should go and explain it to her yourself."
Meng Jinyu replied, "Mother, it has already been explained clearly."
Madam Sun nodded gently: "That's good then." After saying that, she stood up gracefully and said to Meng Jinyao, "Ayao, Ayu, you two help your mother greet the guests first. Your mother will go to the kitchen to see how the lunch preparations are going."
Meng Jinyao and Meng Jinyu responded.
This was exactly what the other ladies wanted, and they were already thinking about how to strike up a conversation with Meng Jinyao.
After Sun left, Meng Jinyu led the unmarried girls out of the flower hall and went to the small pavilion next door to play leaf cards.
Meng Jinyao handled the ladies with ease. Her indifferent attitude and aloofness made it difficult for them to flatter her or curry favor with her. Even the wife of Old Madam Meng's nephew, relying on her elder's name, found it hard to get close to Meng Jinyao.
Not long after, the luncheon began, with men and women seated separately.
The male guests were drinking heartily, playing drinking games to liven things up, and the atmosphere was very lively.
The women were much quieter, only talking about interesting things in the capital to avoid the atmosphere becoming too silent.
Looking at the delicious food on the table, Meng Jinyao noticed that the dishes tasted familiar, similar to those from a restaurant she and Aning had eaten at before. She guessed that her showy and vain father had hired a chef from a restaurant to cook for her. The snacks and fresh fruits they had eaten in the morning were also of good quality, and the tea was also excellent. Today's small banquet was another expense.
She curled the corners of her lips into a mocking smile. The Yongchang Marquis's mansion had fallen into decline, and without the support of her mother's dowry, they still had to put on a show of wealth. This was probably a case of how difficult it is to go from extravagance to frugality.
After the luncheon, when no one was around, Madam Yang approached Meng Jinyao and whispered mockingly, "Has Ayao climbed up the social ladder and forgotten who she is?"
Meng Jinyao was not surprised at all that Yang dared to confront her. She had a problem with Sun, so she certainly wouldn't treat Sun's family well. Yang understood this, which was why she hadn't tried to curry favor with her earlier. It would have been better to curry favor with Sun instead. She asked calmly, "What do you mean by that, Aunt?"
Relying on her status as an elder, Madam Yang spoke with a hint of accusation, reprimanding her in a stern voice: "No matter what your mother is like, she is still your mother. The dowry issue is in the past. You should calm down now. Money is just an external thing. How can it be more important than your mother? Just now, you deliberately embarrassed her in front of the guests. Is this what you should do as a child? As a child, you are so unfilial. Does your husband's family know about this?"
Meng Jinyao dismissed it, saying, "Auntie is joking. I care about my mother; why would I embarrass her?"
As she spoke, she chuckled softly, her gaze coldly fixed on Madam Yang, and said with a hint of sarcasm, "As for you, Aunt, you are the daughter-in-law of the Sun family, while I am the daughter of the Meng family and the daughter-in-law of the Gu family. Even if I were to act improperly one day, my parents and grandmother are still alive, and it is not your place to educate me. Do you intend to overstep my parents and grandmother? I call you Aunt only because of my stepmother. If it weren't for my stepmother, my mother would have no brothers. What kind of aunt would you be?"
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