Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhaoci had a different thought and asked, "Grandmother, is this prince going to use his marriage to avenge Miss Jiang Si?"
The old lady said, "Yes, at the time no one understood why, after the Jiang family's illegitimate daughter married into the family, the Prince gave her the honors of a principal wife, but never entered her courtyard. Not many people knew about this. They only knew that the Prince had been married for many years, and his principal wife had no children. Only one of his concubines gave birth to a son who inherited the Prince's family business. It was only after the Prince died that he left a will, saying that his principal wife should not be buried in the same grave as him."
Zhang Zhaoci said, "This prince is truly a man of great affection and righteousness."
The old lady said, "After Miss Jiang the Fourth disappeared, the only people who kept sending people to search for her were the Empress Dowager and the Prince. The Prince was a kind and righteous man. Not only did he send people to search for Miss Jiang Su, but he also carefully preserved Miss Jiang the Fourth's dowry. When the Prince passed away, he sent people to guard the dowry he had collected, saying that when Miss Jiang the Fourth returned, all of the dowry would be returned to her."
Zhang Zhaoci sighed and said, "I guess the prince thinks that the fourth daughter of the Jiang family suffered a calamity because of her engagement to him."
The old lady said, "They were all upright and honorable people. If they could have been together, it would have been a beautiful story. Who could have imagined that such an unexpected turn of events would lead to such a tragic tale?"
Granny Lu said, "When the old lady of the Feng family returned, I was already serving in the Empress Dowager's palace. I happened to be on duty the day the old lady of the Feng family entered the palace. The Empress Dowager's head maid asked us all to come out of the hall. I was standing at the palace gate when I heard heart-wrenching cries coming from inside."
Zhang Zhaoci said, "Anyone who has had this experience will find someone they trust and have a good cry to vent their emotions. From their teens to middle age, I don't know if most people could have endured this."
The old lady said, "Yes, decades have passed in the blink of an eye. When we came back, everything had changed. How could we not feel sad when we thought about it? At that time, the Prince had already passed away. The people who left behind secretly sent the dowry of the fourth daughter of the Jiang family to the Feng family. It was with the help of this dowry, plus the support of the eldest son of the Jiang family who had already inherited the title of Marquis of Anping, that the Feng family slowly rose to prominence."
Zhang Zhaoci said, "People's hearts are naturally biased. Some biases are understandable, but it's really rare to see someone as biased as the old Marquis of Anping."
The old lady said, "I can only say that he was a fool. A perfectly good family, but because of his favoritism, not many of them had a good end. After the old Marquis Anping passed away, the children born to that favored concubine were forcibly separated. I heard that when that concubine died, she was only wrapped in a straw mat and was not even buried in the Jiang family's ancestral grave."
Granny Lu said, "Only a family with a clean and upright family tradition can pass on its legacy properly. In our capital, how many noble families have gradually declined because of their corrupt family traditions?"
The old lady said, "Back then, our household was in complete chaos. The old Marquis favored his concubines. My mother-in-law was a gentle person and had no choice but to hand over the reins of the household to me after I married into the family. I saw that things couldn't continue like this, so I sent the old Marquis to the back courtyard to live in peace. I separated the illegitimate sons from the household and gave the illegitimate daughters a dowry before they were married off. Then, my husband and I re-established the household rules. The men in the family were not allowed to take concubines at will, not even maids. At that time, many people were waiting to see me make a fool of myself. They even laughed at me for using the methods I used in the military to manage a household. They said that this would not work."
Zhang Zhaoci said, "It is thanks to your methods that our mansion has such a good atmosphere. Otherwise, this Marquis's mansion would be like the Marquis of Anping's mansion, resorting to harmful means because they envy their elder sister's marriage. This is the root of all the troubles in the family."
The old lady said, "Yes, these were originally simple things, but they had to make them too complicated. It's fine for a couple to live with a few children, but they had to bring a few more to bother people. It's not easy for men to support their families, but is it easy for women to take care of the whole family's food, drink, and daily needs? I have been teaching the Marquis and his brother since they were young, and I have also taught the Rao brothers since they were young that they should respect their wives and keep their wives' hard work in mind. Grandmother is also a woman, and she knows the difficulties women face."
Zhang Zhaoci felt it was good to have such an elder in the family. Some female elders always thought about how hard their own children had it, but they never thought about how hard their daughters-in-law and granddaughters-in-law had it too. Some even used methods such as sending concubines to their sons or grandsons to control people, but they didn't know that such practices were the root of all trouble.
Zhang Zhaoci and Granny Lu talked in the old lady's room until the first watch of the night. The snow outside was already quite thick. Zhang Zhaoci helped Granny Lu, and Bai Kou, carrying a lantern, walked back to her own courtyard through the snow.
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