Chapter Eighteen: Using Family Discipline to Temper Character
Before the carriage had even come to a complete stop, Song Yiqiu saw through the carriage window a large crowd gathered at the gate of the mansion. Leading the crowd was her mother, Song Shenshi, whose face was ashen and who looked ready to interrogate her.
Song Yiqiu sneered inwardly:
Song Sangyu filed this lawsuit really fast; she must have flown back from somewhere.
As soon as the car stopped, Song Shenshi's shrill voice rang out:
"Song Yiqiu! You still know how to come back?"
Song Yiqiu ignored him, calmly helping the nervous Song Sanchun out of the car before turning around with just the right amount of confusion on her face:
“Mother, I don’t understand what you’re saying. The Song family home is my home. If I don’t go back to the Song family home, where else can I go back to? Could it be that…”
Her words were vague, her gaze sweeping over Song Shenshi's face, which instantly turned even more unpleasant.
"Are we going back to Grandmother's Zhaohua Mansion?"
The word "grandmother" precisely struck a nerve with Madam Song.
Sure enough, Song Sangyu immediately seized the opportunity and stepped forward to gently 'admonish' her:
“Mother, please don’t blame my sister! She certainly didn’t mean to bring up Grandmother and upset you…”
"She was just in a moment of impatience. Just like today at Feizhi Pavilion, she offended Princess Xingrong in a moment of desperation in order to protect her sister Sanchun..."
"Fortunately, my daughter had served as the princess's companion for two years and pleaded with her, which is why the princess was magnanimous and didn't pursue the matter further. Otherwise... otherwise our Song family would have been in real trouble!"
Song Yiqiu watched her performance with a cold eye, a smile playing on her lips.
They ran fast enough and their writing was quite comprehensive.
Grandmother Shen Zhaohua is a taboo subject in this family.
Her mother, Shen Ruyi, had an extremely strained relationship with her grandmother. Since her birth, she had only seen her grandmother a handful of times.
When she was five years old, she accidentally took her father's sword and brandished it a few times. When her mother saw this, she was considered to be extremely disrespectful and was thrown out of the mansion that night and forced to kneel.
It was pouring rain when she knelt at the doorway, suffering from a high fever and fainting. It was her grandmother who took her back to Zhaohua Mansion and cared for her meticulously…
As a result, the conflict between the mother and grandmother deepened.
After that, she spent most of the year living in Zhaohua Mansion, which was the place where she truly felt warmth.
Provoked by the incidents of 'grandmother' and 'disrespecting the princess,' Madam Song's face turned ashen, her chest heaving violently. Pointing at Song Yiqiu, she said sternly:
"You! Go kneel in the ancestral hall! You'll be punished according to family rules!"
Bai Mei was furious upon hearing this and couldn't help but speak up:
"No! Madam! That's not how things happened today! It was that princess who started it..."
Qingzhu, who was standing nearby, quickly tugged at her sleeve and whispered urgently:
"Sister Bai Mei... please stop talking!"
She understood the lady's temper better than Bai Mei; the more she argued, the harsher the punishment would be.
Bai Mei was both anxious and angry, and looked at Song Sanchun, whom they had just helped:
"Miss Sanchun, say something! If it weren't for our young lady today..."
Song Sanchun merely glanced at Song Yiqiu expressionlessly, then bowed respectfully to Madam Song Shen without uttering a word. Holding her painting, she walked straight into the mansion with her head down, as if everything was none of her concern.
Bai Mei stomped her foot in anger:
"Hey! This heartless bastard..."
"White plum."
Song Yiqiu shook her head to stop her, then looked back at Song Shenshi, her tone calm:
"Alright. I can go to the ancestral hall, and I can receive the family punishment. But please tell me, Mother, what exactly did Yiqiu do wrong today?"
"The matter of arguing with the princess is not solely Song Sangyu's account of right and wrong. As for mentioning the grandmother... the grandmother is Yiqiu's closest relative. When Yiqiu returned home and missed her grandmother, what wrong was there in mentioning her?"
Song Shenshi was further enraged by her calm attitude:
"Wrong? Your wild temper brought back from the frontier is your biggest mistake! You need to be tempered! If it weren't for Sang Yu's careful handling today, do you know how much trouble you would have brought to the manor?"
"Putting aside the fact that you dared to speak to the Earl's son like that, if you dare to be disrespectful to the princess today, you will dare to be unfilial to your parents in the future."
"I really don't know how I, Shen Ruyi, could have given birth to such a wretched child. If you were even half as obedient and sensible as Sang Yu, why would I have to worry about you so much?"
She became more and more agitated as she spoke, pointing to her forehead:
"You better remember this: you are my daughter, Shen Ruyi's daughter! Not Shen Zhaohua's!"
"What happened to Shen Zhaohua? She died a violent death! All my brothers and sisters died on the battlefield, all because of her restless, competitive nature."
"A girl should be like Sang Yu, gentle, docile, and well-mannered. Not like you or her, brandishing weapons and making a fool of yourself!"
As Song Yiqiu listened to her mother's curses against her grandmother and her self-deprecation, her heart grew colder and colder.
She straightened her back and retorted loudly:
"Mother seems to have forgotten that you yourself also bear the surname Chen!"
"Grandmother was the only woman in the Great Jin Dynasty who allowed her children to take her surname and was granted titles based on her military merits. You share the same blood as Grandmother."
"The misfortunes that befell my grandmother, uncles, and aunts were caused by the turmoil on the frontier and the brutality of the enemy, not by my grandmother 'cursing' them! They were heroes who defended their country, not the sinners you speak of!"
Snap!
A resounding slap landed hard on Song Yiqiu's face.
Madam Song was trembling with anger, clutching her chest as if she couldn't breathe.
"You! How dare you... How dare you speak to me like that? What do you know? Shen Zhaohua is a heartless viper..."
She stopped abruptly, as if realizing her slip of the tongue, and swallowed back the rest of her words, panting heavily as she spoke.
"Enough. There's no need for me to tell you about these sordid things. Granny Wang, go and fetch the family law! Drag her to the ancestral hall and make her kneel before our ancestors to repent!"
Song Sangyu immediately pretended to be frightened, tears welling up in her eyes, and supported Song Shenshi:
"Oh, sister~ just shut up and apologize to Mother! How could we younger generations know about what happened back then? Maybe... maybe Grandmother really..."
She hesitated, as if she wanted to say something, while the aroma of tea filled the air.
Song Yiqiu licked the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth and looked at her coldly:
"She's not your grandmother. She's an adopted daughter; don't try to claim kinship with her."
Song Sangyu's face turned deathly pale instantly, and her tears fell even more fiercely as she looked at Song Shenshi with a wronged expression:
"Mother……"
As expected, Madam Song became even more enraged, pointing at Song Yiqiu and cursing:
"Song Yiqiu, who do you think you are? Even I wouldn't dare say a harsh word to Sang Yu in the manor, and you dare to insult her like this? You're truly outrageous! I'll teach you a lesson today! Granny Wang! Go now!"
Granny Wang responded excitedly:
"Yes! This old servant will go right away!"
He seemed even happier than when he received his monthly allowance.
Li, the wet nurse standing nearby, had watched Song Yiqiu grow up and couldn't bear it any longer, so she stepped forward to advise her:
"Madam, please reconsider! Miss has just returned to the manor and is probably not fully recovered. The family rules are severe; I'm afraid she won't be able to bear them..."
Madam Song was already furious, and upon hearing this, she became even more enraged:
"What? Just because Song Yiqiu is back, does that mean you can take charge of the Song family? Do you even respect me as your wife?"
Seeing this, Granny Li could only sigh and helplessly retreat to the side.
Granny Wang glanced at her smugly, then swayed her hips and hurried off to fetch the family punishment.
Song Yiqiu said no more, her gaze sweeping over the servants who wanted to step forward to arrest her, and said coldly:
"Don't touch me, I can walk by myself."
She turned around and walked towards the ancestral hall.
Bai Mei clenched her fists, suppressing her anger, and followed closely behind her.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Qingzhu quietly slipped into a nearby alley, quickly removed her simple disguise, and reverted to her foolish and insane appearance. Afraid of arousing suspicion, she skipped and hopped after them.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
