Chapter 904 Yu Xuelian's Struggle!
Yu Xuelian, who was being worried about by her maid and Li Sanniang, was lying on the bed with a pale face. She had not eaten for several days and only had a pot of water to keep her alive. In just a few days, her face had become thin.
She should have had the delicate and lovely face of a young girl, but now she looked lifeless, like an old man in the twilight, just waiting to die.
With her eyes closed, Yu Xuelian's still-beating heart seemed to be telling her something. She thought to herself, "Am I really going to die like this?"
Yu Xuelian recalled the scene a few days ago when she confronted her father in the main hall. She felt a sense of satisfaction, and even the pain of enduring hunger for several days could not suppress the joy in her heart!
This joy was something she had never experienced since childhood. It was a rebellion against her elders, or rather, a rebellion against patriarchal authority, even though she was suppressed, locked up and starved for days, and might starve to death if she didn't receive help.
She was still happy, a feeling that Yu Xuelian couldn't express in words at that moment.
She wanted to fall asleep so she could forget the feeling of hunger, but the more she tried to sleep, the less she could. The questioning from her father that day kept replaying in her mind.
"Are you out of your mind?!"
"You are my mother, and I am your father. You must listen to me!"
Kneeling at the bottom with her head bowed and eyes fixed on the floor tiles, Yu Xuelian ignored her father's words and remained silent and unresponsive.
Yu Xuelian's reaction directly ignited the nerve of Yu's father, who felt his authority had been challenged.
Mr. Yu slammed his teacup on the table, causing the tea to spray onto the table. He was about to curse, but before he could finish, the eldest wife of the Yu family, who was sitting on the other side, raised her hand to stop him.
When Yu's father looked up, he saw the disapproving look in the eyes of the First Madam. Looking at Yu Xuelian kneeling upright below, he softened his tone and said, "I have raised you for more than ten years. I would not say that you were born into a life of luxury every day, but I have never let you go hungry. I even allowed you to study at the family school, just like your elder sister."
Isn't this good enough for you?
Go and see what other families in Chang'an have that kind of treatment for their illegitimate daughters.
If your mother hadn't said that even a concubine's daughter should be well-educated and polite, would you have been able to study?
Did you waste your time reading that book?
"Your teacher taught you to rebel against your elders, to be disobedient and compliant, and instead, to defy your father!"
The more Yu's father talked, the more he felt that he was a rare and good father who treated his daughters very well. The reproach in his eyes for the disobedient Yu Xuelian became more and more obvious.
"Even if you wanted to go to that midwifery school before, I allowed you to go."
Now, your family needs you to marry into Dengzhou. Although Zhou Lang is a bit older than you, you can take charge of the household as soon as you go. What's wrong with that?
"I'm your father, I'm doing this all for your own good, would I ever harm you?"
Listening to her father's words, Yu Xuelian felt not anger, but rather a slight smile.
Therefore, she couldn't hold back and burst out laughing right there in the room.
Upon hearing Yu Xuelian's two "haha"s, Yu's father was truly enraged. With a cry of "rebellious daughter," he threw the teacup he was holding at Yu Xuelian.
With a "crack," the teacup hit the ground and shattered, the shards of which just happened to cut Yu Xuelian's hand, leaving a trace of blood on her fair skin.
Feeling a slight pain on the back of her hand, Yu Xuelian looked up and smiled at her father, her eyes crinkling, "It's for my own good."
"Haha, Father, are you truly sincere about these words?"
Yu Xuelian stared hatefully into her father's eyes, "Putting aside the fact that Dengzhou is far away, Zhou Lang is fifteen years older than me, and he has a son and a daughter who are only a few years younger than me."
Is this the kind of man my father spoke of who was doing it for my own good?
Is my father truly doing this for my own good?
Or would it be better to sell me and use the dowry Zhou Lang gave me?
Or perhaps they wanted to use Zhou Lang's connections to do their family's business a favor?
Yu Xuelian's words, which directly exposed and humiliated Yu's father, left him extremely embarrassed. His face turned red, and he looked guilty, as if Yu Xuelian had hit the nail on the head.
"nonsense!
Shut up!
Shut up!
You disrespect your father…
Before Yu's father could finish speaking, Madam Yu interrupted him, saying, "Alright, Your Highness, don't be angry. Xue Lian didn't really think that way. It's just that the young lady is young and couldn't think straight for a moment."
"My lord, please don't be angry with your daughter. The marriage with Zhou Lang of Dengzhou has only just begun; give Xue Lian some more time, and she will understand."
Madam Yu gave Yu Xuelian, who was kneeling at the lower end of the table and still staring at her father with her head held high, a wink, signaling her not to say anything more backtalk.
But Xue Lian was unwilling to back down.
If she were to back down now, she would really be forced to marry a man old enough to be her father, becoming not only his second wife but also his stepmother.
So she straightened her back, raised her head, and shouted at her father, who was already furious and had lost his temper, "I will not marry Zhou Lang!"
Impossible, I won't go to Dengzhou!
Stop saying you're doing this for my own good. My father is just selling his daughter for personal gain!
A loud slap echoed in the main hall. Covering her left cheek where she had been slapped, the furious Yu Xuelian felt no pain at all. Looking at her father, who had completely lost his mind due to her words, she felt only a sense of satisfaction.
Madam Yu was stunned for a moment before she realized what was happening and quickly got up to take her father's hand.
Yu's father raised his hand again, but when he saw Yu Xuelian's eyes full of mockery, he stopped, feeling extremely uneasy.
Taking advantage of the moment, Madam Yu called to the old woman outside the door and had her and her maid pull Yu Xuelian out of the main hall.
Seeing the bright red blood dripping from the corner of Yu Xuelian's mouth as she was dragged out of the main hall, Yu's father paused for a moment before still sternly saying, "Lock up this unfilial daughter and don't give her any food. Let's see how many days she can keep up with me!"
For the next few days, locked in her room, Yu Xuelian had nothing but a pot of water every morning.
Furthermore, Yu's father forbade anyone else to touch Yu Xuelian, and even the maids could only enter the room once a day in the morning when they went to collect the chamber pots.
Madam Yu came by, bringing food with her. She said to Yu Xuelian, "You should apologize. The prince is just angry that you didn't listen to him."
If you don't like Zhou Lang, you can talk to the master properly and find another husband who is your age.
The master of the house is like heaven; Xue Lian, do not resist.
Before leaving, Madam Yu left the plate of pastries for Yu Xuelian.
Although Yu's father said that Yu Xuelian was not allowed to eat, Madam Yu really left a plate of only four pastries. Who could say anything about that?
Besides, even if Yu Xuelian was a concubine's daughter whose birth mother had died, she was still a lady of the house, a mistress. How could she really starve to death?
However, Yu Xuelian became stubborn, and even though she was starving, she refused to eat a single bite.
The next day, according to the old woman, the maid who brought the water brought out the plate of snacks again, untouched. Madam Yu said helplessly to the old woman beside her, "Why is this child so stubborn? She doesn't care about her own health at all. What if something really happens to her?"
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