Fifteen-year-old Su Yuanqing staggered in, reeking of alcohol.
Su Xiangling glanced at her younger brother with disdain. "All you do is go out and have a life of debauchery all day long. Father's injured, and you still have to beg me to come back?"
He interrupted Su Xiangling and said, "Your brother is old enough now, he should have some friends."
Su Xiangling immediately became angry. "Mom, please just spoil him. What will happen to him in the future if he's neither good at literature nor martial arts?"
He smiled and tried to smooth things over. "Your brother is still young, he'll be fine when he grows up. Your uncle only has one son, and he's still missing, his body missing. In my opinion, the title of marquis may belong to my son in the future."
"Besides, we still have you as our sister. You should fight for your reputation and win over the Crown Prince. Your brother is the Crown Prince's uncle. With the Crown Prince's support, what will he have to worry about in the rest of his life?"
He had been saying this a lot recently, but Su Xiangling felt more and more depressed the more she listened.
He stood up and said, "Father, if you have nothing to do, I will go back first."
As he passed Su Yuanqing, he glared at him fiercely.
Su Yuanqing was dissatisfied, "Sister, you really look down on me. From now on, you will have to rely on me to support you in my family."
Su Xiangling wanted to slap him, but her father and mother were around and would not allow her to touch her brother.
After leaving the main room, Su Xiangling breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted to rely on herself and forge a brilliant path forward.
*
In the carriage on the way back home, Su Qingyu was in a bad mood. Shen Zhixiu knew she was still angry and put his arm around her shoulders.
Then Su Qingyu suddenly asked, "Am I useless?"
Shen Zhixiu didn't know why she asked this. He guessed that she was subconsciously blaming herself as a daughter because her mother was being bullied.
He could only comfort her softly, "You've done very well. Second Uncle has promised to apologize. Let's just wait for him to apologize."
He understood Su Qingyu's point. Su Chengyan was a military officer, thick-skinned and tough, and a beating wouldn't satisfy him. He looked down on merchants, and asking him to apologize would be like hitting him in the sore spot.
Su Qingyu leaned on Shen Zhixiu's shoulder, her thoughts wandering, and she didn't speak for a long time.
When she was little, her grandmother often told her mother to give birth to a legitimate son, but she didn't agree at the time. She was always thinking about being filial to her mother and doing as good as her son.
But today she suddenly realized that there was a world of difference. If a mother had a son, she would have someone to rely on. If her son became successful and was appointed a marquis or prime minister, she could also receive imperial decrees and enjoy a salary from the court.
But what about her? Besides marrying well, what else can she do? Even if she went to the Su family to settle the score, in the end she relied on Shen Zhixiu's power.
Su Qingyu suddenly felt sad, not for herself, but for the countless women like her who were restricted from even fulfilling their filial duties.
She was only depressed for a moment, then returned to normal. She didn't tell Shen Zhixiu these words, as she felt that they were a bit hypocritical.
After returning to the Shen family, Shen Zhixiu changed into casual clothes and went to the study, while Su Qingyu asked Feicui to help her change clothes.
"Madam, aren't you afraid that the Second Young Miss is just being perfunctory? According to this servant, you should have taken the Second Master to apologize just now."
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