From childhood to adulthood, An Yuan'er never received any love or care from her grandmother.
She lost her older brother when she was young, and after growing up, she asked her father to remarry.
If it weren't for her father's constant refusal to cooperate with her grandmother's arrangements, An Yuan'er would already have a stepmother by now.
Sometimes, blood ties cannot prove how close or distant people are. On the contrary, the bond of blood ties can create many unnecessary shackles.
The old lady dedicated her life to upholding the reputation of the An family, but in her eyes, everything An Yuan'er did was outrageous and shameless.
The old lady announced to the public: "Guards, the Fourth Miss has disrespected the teachings and rules for women, and is a disgrace to the women of our great family. Today, on behalf of the ancestors of the An family, I will shave her hair and send her to a temple to reflect on her misdeeds, where she will be accompanied by the ancient Buddha and the dim lamp."
An Piao'er interjected at this moment, saying, "Grandmother, there's also the matter of the First Prince. We can't explain it to him. I heard from the First Prince's wife that the First Prince was furious because of his sister's slander. The First Prince is about to become the Crown Prince. If this is really investigated, our family may be implicated."
An Piao'er's words hit the old lady's sore spot perfectly.
The eldest prince is currently at the pinnacle of his power, but An Yuan'er deliberately brought trouble upon herself.
She was alone, and the old lady wouldn't care whether she lived or died. But it concerned the other people in the An family, and the old lady couldn't just sit idly by.
After a moment's thought, she made up her mind and said, "According to the laws of Tiansheng, recklessly striking the Dengwen Drum should warrant 100 strokes of the cane. The An family has always been a just family, so we should naturally put righteousness above family ties. Send Miss An to the Imperial Clan Court for execution immediately, and the An family will certainly give the Crown Prince and the people of the city a reasonable explanation."
If one hundred strokes of the cane were delivered to An Yuan'er, she would surely die. This was something everyone knew.
But in that instant, the old lady had already weighed her options. Sacrificing a disobedient female member of the family in exchange for the An family's reputation for fairness and impartiality—clearly, the old lady chose the latter.
The old lady had long been dissatisfied with An Yuan'er, believing that the An family would be dragged down by her sooner or later. This opportunity provided the old lady with a chance to get rid of this disobedient granddaughter.
Several of the younger sisters couldn't bear it and pleaded, "Grandmother, isn't punishing our elder sister too harsh? Please reconsider!"
"Sister, you should quickly apologize to Grandmother. We are all family. If you apologize properly, Grandmother is kind and won't treat you like this."
“”
The old lady turned her head away, unmoved.
An Piao'er, beaming with pride, said, "Since you sisters are all pleading for her, why don't you offer to take the hundred lashes for Yuan'er? That's true sisterly affection!"
After An Piao'er finished speaking, all the sisters fell silent. An Piao'er meant that she wouldn't allow anyone to be kind to An Yuan'er and was deliberately isolating her.
An Yuan'er had long since given up on this family—the snobbish family, the mean-spirited grandmother, and the sharp-tongued sisters. Yet, she couldn't help feeling a chill now; everyone seemed to be on her side.
Actually, what she wanted was never support; even a kind greeting would have been enough.
However, even this simple request has become a luxury.
An Yuan'er burst into uncontrollable laughter.
This laughter was more of a release and relief; An Yuan'er had had enough of this family.
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