Chapter 488: Hometown is where the whole family is
There was a constant flow of cars and horses coming and going at the gate of the county town, and all around me was noisy but scattered conversations that had no main point.
The sounds of rolling wheels and the long cries of livestock mixed together, and looking along the city gate towards the only official road, there was no end in sight.
Sang Zhixia was so emotional that she couldn't sit still and unconsciously clutched the handkerchief in her hand.
Xu Yu stayed quietly by her side, leaning over to block the incoming wind, and whispered, "Zhizhi, don't worry."
"Song Liu has already rushed out of the city gate to meet him. He will be here soon as he picks him up."
Sang Zhixia's lips moved slightly as if she wanted to explain something, but after a moment of silence, she just sighed softly: "How can I feel at ease before I see him?"
To be fair, Sang Zhixia actually has no feelings for her mother and brother who are about to arrive.
The original owner was timid and grew up relying on Aunt Xie's protection at the cost of her life. All the details that could be found in her memory were about Aunt Xie either wiping tears by the dim candlelight or doing needlework day and night.
No one would believe that a concubine who had given birth to a son and a daughter in the mansion of General Sang could not even afford to have enough food and clothing after her monthly allowance was deducted openly or secretly.
Aunt Xie had to stay at home during the day and keep a low profile in front of her stepmother to survive. At night, after her two children fell asleep, she had to do needlework in the dim candlelight to supplement her livelihood.
But this weak woman who could only kneel down when slapped in the face, unexpectedly showed her bold side when the original owner was chosen to marry in place of her eldest sister.
Sang Zhixia's throat felt dry, and she said self-deprecatingly, "The mistress is deceiving both inside and outside, staging a grand drama to deceive everyone."
"At that time, my mother and I had no idea that the Xu family wanted a replacement. We just thought I was being forced to marry in place of my eldest sister and was being sent to die in the Xu family."
"For the first time, my mother disobeyed my father and stepmother's orders and begged them to spare my life, threatening death..."
Aunt Xie wanted to use her own life to fight for a bright future for Sang Zhixia.
Even if she married an ordinary peddler in the city, or even went to work in the fields and plant mulberry trees, it would be better than jumping directly into the fire pit of the Xu family, which was about to be destroyed and would cost her life.
However, the clumsy plan failed and the stepmother got hold of the evidence against him.
Sang Zhixia took a deep breath and said, "Mrs. Sang threatened me with my mother's life to force me to obey."
"Speaking of which..."
"It was thanks to my brother that he cried and made a scene, otherwise you probably wouldn't have seen what I looked like when I was alive."
On the day of Sang Zhixia's wedding, everything was in chaos and noisy.
Aunt Xie was punished to the point of fainting and was locked up in the woodshed. Sang Zhixia was surrounded by skilled guards left by Madam Sang to prevent her from committing suicide.
Sang Zhixia cried until dawn, and when it finally dawned, two bowls of medicine were sent into the bridal chamber, which was not much warmer than an ice cellar.
One bowl is the muscle softening powder.
One bowl is a deadly poison.
General Sang was far-sighted and had noticed in advance that something was amiss.
When the Xu family was at its peak, marrying into the family would have been a great opportunity, but Sang Zhixia would never have had such a great opportunity.
But once the Xu family falls, the daughter who marries into the Xu family will become a burden to the Sang family, and no one wants to see such a burden alive.
So from the very beginning when they decided to let Sang Zhixia get into the bridal sedan, these people were determined not to let Sang Zhixia survive her wedding night.
As long as Sang Zhixia died on the first night of her wedding, no matter what the Xu family's situation would be like in the future, the Sang family could legitimately get rid of the controversy and perfectly avoid this wave of storm.
In the bridal chamber, Sang Zhixia had just had her chin pinched and was forced to drink the first bowl of muscle softening powder. She was choking so hard that she was almost dead and had no idea what day it was. Then she heard a commotion outside the door and saw her five-year-old brother rushing in.
Sang Yanyou rushed in and knocked over the poison in the old woman's hand.
The exquisite gold-painted bowl rolled to the ground, leaving a large ominous black area. Sang Yanyou bit the maidservant who rushed over like a madman and said, "Sister, I won't drink it!"
"Sister will die if she drinks it!"
The bridal chamber was instantly in chaos, and no one knew where such a tiny baby got the strength to make such a fuss.
While these people were busy trying to catch Sang Yanyou, the Xu family's wedding procession arrived.
It was obviously too late to make another bowl. Mrs. Sang had no time to make any plans. She could only lean over to Sang Zhixia's ear and give her a few warnings with gritted teeth. When she left, she also took away Sang Yanyou, who was kicking and crying.
At first, Sang Zhixia thought she had forgotten all the chaos.
After all, the moment she opened her eyes, Xu Yu threw a divorce letter in her face. The subsequent chaotic and difficult exile that was so difficult that she almost couldn't survive was too memorable. In fact, the original owner could no longer recall the details of her experience.
But Sang Zhixia didn't expect that when she looked back at this moment, she could remember it all so vividly.
Sang Zhixia's heart felt as heavy as if it were filled with a lump of soaked cotton. After repeatedly taking a deep breath, she spoke in a hoarse voice, "I don't know how my mother and brother managed to get through this."
She was indeed exiled to the northwest, and her life was not easy when she first arrived there.
Fortunately, she got a considerate and good husband despite her blind marriage. Although there have been some setbacks in her family, they are still harmonious.
But what about Aunt Xie and my younger brother?
When she was exiled to the northwest, Aunt Xie was seriously ill and her brother was taken away and his whereabouts were unknown.
How did this mother and son survive the days when she couldn't see?
Perhaps just after she had taken a breather at the Sang family in Kyoto, Aunt Xie immediately started worrying about her daughter far away in the northwest.
From the first delivery of clothes and small change, to the various things that were delivered every six months, each time, no matter what was delivered, there would always be a bag of small change attached.
Those things are actually not worth much when you look into it.
But no one knew how many days and nights Aunt Xie had spent sewing in order to send the insignificant silver coins from thousands of miles away to her daughter.
Every time Sang Zhixia received the coins, each weighing ten taels, a huge hole would appear in her heart.
But she had no way to vent all her worries, so she could only play a game of back and forth with Aunt Xie, trying to send back more silver next time.
What’s interesting is that no matter how much she sends back, it will be returned to her next time, even more than what she sent out.
Xu Yu listened to these past events, and a dark ripple appeared in his eyes. He took a deep breath to suppress the anger that surged into his heart, and tried to speak in a gentle tone, "You haven't mentioned these details before."
Sang Zhixia had briefly mentioned the Sang family to him, but she only gave him a vague account each time.
Xu Yu was afraid that she would think of unhappy things so he didn't dare to say anything, but he never thought that there would be such a complicated matter.
Sang Zhixia smiled bitterly and lowered her head: "The main thing is that there is nothing to say."
"My mother had a hard time at home, but she always reported good news and never bad news. No matter what I asked, she would always say yes."
"Until you actually meet someone, everything you say is empty."
"But Xu Yu..."
"Um?"
Xu Yu lifted the cloak that had slipped off Sang Zhixia's shoulders, lowered his head and said softly, "Zhizhi?"
Sang Zhixia smiled and took his hand, saying in a voice that only Xu Yu could hear, "I'm very happy that you remembered what I said and are secretly looking after them."
I am really happy.
Xu Yu secretly kept the person who was very important to him in his heart.
Without her knowing, Xu Yu secretly paved the way away from Kyoto and took the person out in a way that Sang Zhixia could never have imagined.
So what if I was forced to leave my hometown and settle down here?
Where the whole family is together, that is their home.
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