Upon arriving in the town, we headed straight for the Zhou family's house.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they entered the alley, they saw Zhou Ziyang rushing out: "Jinhua..."
"You..." She roared in her heart the whole way, with too many questions to ask and too many emotions to vent.
But as soon as she saw him, she couldn't utter a single question; a wave of grievance washed over her.
Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably, and finally, choking back sobs, she managed to utter only one sentence: "Why...why did you do this to me?"
“No…” Zhou Ziyang looked at her tears and felt very sorry for her. “Come here!”
He then pulled her inside, and the two hid behind two trees in the outer courtyard.
"I only just found out about this myself..." Zhou Ziyang said anxiously.
“Yesterday, my mother sent someone to invite a matchmaker and prepared many gifts, so I knew they were coming to your house to propose marriage. I was nervous and excited all night, and I finally made it to this point…”
"Unexpectedly, Aunt Liu just returned with a servant and a gift chest. I had no idea what had happened. I had to go to my mother's room to question her, and that's when I learned that my mother didn't want you to be my principal wife, but rather a concubine..."
Jin Hua felt a little better after hearing that it wasn't his idea, but she was still heartbroken.
"How could this be? Aunt Xie used to like me a lot... Last time, on your birthday, you even invited our family to your home, and you never uttered the word 'concubine'... You also promised before that Aunt Xie wouldn't mind and would marry me. If it weren't for this..."
If it weren't for his promise of a legal wife and a lifelong commitment, she wouldn't have been so infatuated with him and allowed their relationship to develop to this point.
Zhou Ziyang gritted his teeth: "I did make a promise, and all the promises I made to you were true. My mother also agreed to this marriage back then."
"So, she lied to you back then? She never actually agreed!"
"No, she originally agreed, but changed her mind later. It was... on my birthday last time, she felt that your family was being difficult."
“My mother and you didn’t have a very pleasant conversation that day, and she complained to me about it after you went home. Then you kept dragging your feet and wouldn’t agree. My mother was very angry, and a few days ago, she…”
"Madam has arranged a marriage for the young master." A cold laugh rang out; it was Liu Ma. "She is the daughter of the Song family, a scholar in the county. Not only is she from a good family, but she is also well-educated and courteous."
Upon seeing Aunt Liu, Jin Hua's expression changed drastically: "What...what did you say?"
Looking at Zhou Ziyang, whose handsome face was pale, he dared not look at her: "I...I'm engaged! I only just found out...it was engaged the day before yesterday!"
Jin Hua swayed, her mind blank.
Aunt Liu looked at Jin Hua and sneered, "How could a lowly village girl like you be worthy of the young master? The madam was kind before and only reluctantly agreed because the young master liked her."
"Who would have thought that you peasants would put on airs and drag your feet? In a fit of anger, Madam naturally arranged a marriage for the young master. Our Zhou family is so wealthy and powerful, we can have any girl we want. It's not like you're the only one we need!"
"Later you told your wife that you were willing. But by then it was too late!"
Jin Hua's vision went black: "If you look down on me so much, why did you try to trick me out of my birth chart when you just arrived at my house?"
Aunt Liu snorted: "What do you mean by lying... Although our madam looks down on you, the young master likes you! That's why we decided to make you the young master's concubine."
At this moment, a maid came out and said, "Young master, Madam wants you to come back."
He then looked at Jinhua and said, "Miss Ye, Madam said that she has already proposed to you, but you yourself did not agree."
Jin Hua was overcome with grief and resentment: "Is this what you call a marriage proposal? Do you think I didn't want to? You're just fooling me!"
He was about to burst through the second gate when he said that.
Aunt Liu and her maid pushed her away.
Jin Hua fell to the ground with a thud. Aunt Liu said with a stern face, "Who can just barge into our Zhou family? Miss Ye, remember, you were the ones who acted arrogantly first."
"What? You're allowed to disrespect the Madam, but she's not allowed to disrespect you? This concubine position is already a sign of the Madam's kindness to you. Take it or leave it, if you don't want it, then get out."
With that, Aunt Liu and her maid turned and went through the second gate, locking it tightly behind them.
“Jin Hua…” Zhou Ziyang hurriedly reached out to pull her.
Jin Hua didn't take his hand, but stood up blankly: "Now... what do we do? What do you think?"
Zhou Ziyang looked at her with a heartbroken and troubled expression: "You're the only one in my heart... but marriage is arranged by parents and matchmakers. She arranged my marriage... without even asking for my consent... I've been trying so hard..."
Jin Hua looked at his helpless face, and her mind went blank.
Yes, what can they do?
Thinking about it, she turned and ran out.
...
Mrs. Du and Old Mrs. Ye were extremely worried at home.
It wasn't until evening that Jinhua stumbled into her house, her steps uneven.
Seeing her distraught appearance, Madam Du was both angry and heartbroken as she stepped forward: "See? They've made you their concubine!"
Du tried to pull her away, but she pushed her away, saying, "It's all your fault!"
Jin Hua's wailing startled Du Shi.
Not just her, everyone at home came out when they heard the noise.
Madam Du stared at her: "What did you say? It's the Zhou family that's acting like idiots, and you're blaming us?"
Jin Hua finally broke down, crying, "If it's not your fault, who else is it?"
"Aunt Xie had already agreed to our marriage, and even invited you to our home on Ziyang's birthday. But you insisted on being difficult, finding fault with everything."
"They kept dragging it out after we got home... Waaah... Don't the Zhou family have any shame? You just had to put on airs and wouldn't agree."
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