Chapter 604: A sudden turn of events
"You heard it right, Second Uncle and Second Aunt really agreed to marry into the fourth branch of the Zhu family?" Daohua looked at Wang Man'er in surprise.
Wang Man'er nodded quickly: "Really, I heard it all. I guess the Second Madam and the Second Master are still discussing this in the old lady's courtyard."
As he said this, he smiled.
"My dear, your words of praise for Miss Zhu yesterday must have gone to the Second Master, so he went to see the Second Master and the Second Madam early this morning."
Daohua sighed, "I didn't expect Second Brother to be so efficient. He was able to get Second Aunt to agree to this marriage so quickly. His ability to persuade people is quite strong."
Wang Man'er laughed and said, "That's right. The Second Madam was so strongly against this marriage before, but after being persuaded by the Second Master, she agreed. It turns out that even a mother can't persuade her son."
When Daohua went to the old lady's yard, she heard Old Lady Yan say to Madam Li, "Zhigao's birthday is just a few days away. You should send an invitation to the Zhu family. When Mrs. Zhu Si comes over and gets Miss Zhu's birth date, we can discuss the date for the engagement with the second son and the others."
Mrs. Li smiled and said, "I will obey mother in everything."
Xingzhou, the home of Zhu Jiaoyu.
After Mrs. Zhu came back, she told Teacher Zhu about what happened at the Yan family.
When Teacher Zhu heard that the Yan family did not like Zhu Qiyun, he felt a little sorry, but he didn't say anything.
Madam Zhu Si and Zhu Qiyun were quite disappointed. The clan was pressing them hard, and some clan elders wanted to use Zhu Qiyun to curry favor with the powerful. After Madam Zhu Si came back, she was so anxious about her daughter's marriage that she had several blisters on the corners of her mouth.
Zhu Qiyun seemed to have accepted her fate and kept comforting Mrs. Zhu Si: "Mother, I don't want to spend my life with my husband anymore. I'll marry into the Pingzhou Zhizhou family. Marrying into their family will definitely help my brother's career in the future."
Mrs. Zhu Si had a bitter look on her face and felt extremely angry towards the clan leader's wife. If it weren't for the clan leader's wife acting as a matchmaker, how could her daughter have been engaged to the Zhuang family? Now that the Zhuang family had done something shameful, the clan leader's wife didn't even offer to help them. She just watched her daughter being pushed into the fire pit by the clan members with such indifference.
Mrs. Zhu Si held Zhu Qiyun's hand and said, "Don't be afraid. Mother will never let you marry a fool. I don't believe that if I give you all the books in our house as a dowry, you won't be able to find a good family."
Zhu Qiyun quickly stopped him, "Mother, I know you love me, but you also have to think about my brother. You gave me everything our father left behind. Without a decent betrothal gift, who would marry my brother in the future?"
Mrs. Zhu Si said: "Your brother is a man. Even if he marries an illiterate wife, as long as he is motivated, he still has a chance to turn his life around."
"But you're different. Life is already difficult for women. If you don't have a good husband to protect you, what's the point? A fool like that won't even care about you. He'll only cause you endless trouble. I won't let you fall into this fire pit."
Zhu Qiyun's eyes instantly turned red, and she couldn't help but sob on Mrs. Zhu Si.
She didn't expect that her life would be so bad.
When Mrs. Zhu Si saw her daughter like this, she also shed silent tears.
Before Mrs. Zhu Si could find another man for Zhu Qiyun, the second elder of the Zhu family came to Xingzhou.
"The wife of the Pingzhou prefect has sent a message saying that she thinks Qiyun is a good choice. You should pack up and go to Pingzhou with me tomorrow to discuss the details of the marriage."
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Zhu Si no longer cared about etiquette and immediately roared with red face: "Unless I die, I will not agree to marry Qiyun to him."
Seeing the state of Mrs. Zhu Si, the second elder's face turned very ugly: "Fourth Brother's wife, look at what you look like now. The fourth brother is dead, and Junhui is still unable to establish his own family. We have the right to decide Qiyun's marriage."
Mrs. Zhu Si swayed, then knelt down before the Second Elder. "Second Uncle, you've watched Qiyun grow up. Can you bear to watch her jump into the fire? Please, give me a little more time. I will find a marriage for Qiyun as soon as possible and won't let the other girls in the Zhu family get hurt."
The second elder snorted, "We haven't given you enough time. The girl from the fifth family is getting married, and she can't have a sister who stayed at home and was rejected by the family before."
Mrs. Zhu was furious: "Is my daughter's life going to be ruined for my fifth brother's daughter? Can't she wait a little longer?"
The second elder glanced at Zhu Qiyun, who was standing at the door and looking at him with silent tears, and said silently: "If you want to blame someone, you can only blame Qiyun's bad luck."
Mrs. Zhu Si was immediately furious: "Is it my daughter's fate that's bad? She's clearly the clan leader's wife. I didn't agree to the Zhuang family getting engaged so quickly. It was her who promised me that the Zhuang family was a good family. Now that the Zhuang family has done something shameful, she's hiding in fear. Why don't you blame her?"
The second elder also became angry: "Fourth elder's wife, I think you are getting more and more crazy. You don't know what to say or what not to say. Do you still want to stay in the clan?"
Mrs. Zhu Si was too busy to care about anything else. "What's the point of staying in a family like this? Aren't you just bullying us orphans and widows? If the master knew how you treated his children in this way, he probably wouldn't want to acknowledge the Zhu family as his ancestor."
"presumptuous!"
The elder of the second clan was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, pointing at Madam Zhu Si with trembling fingers.
Seeing that Fourth Lady Zhu was losing control of her emotions, Teacher Zhu quickly spoke up to smooth things over: "Second Uncle, Fourth Sister-in-law is just worried about Qiyun. Don't take it personally."
The second elder snorted and said with a flick of his sleeve, "Fourth Wife, don't forget that besides Qiyun, you also have Junhui. Without the protection of the tribe, I want to see how far his sickly body can go."
"you"
Mrs. Zhu Si wanted to argue, but Zhu Qiyun pounced on her and covered her mouth.
Zhu Qiyun, her face covered in tears, shook her head at Madam Zhu Si. After Madam Zhu Si calmed down, she turned to look at the Second Clan Elder and said calmly, "I can marry, but Second Grandfather is forcing us like this. Does he think that our Fourth Branch will never be able to recover?"
The elder of the second clan frowned. Since they were all clan members, he didn't want to be too extreme. Junhui was a really good student. Once he recovered, he might have a chance to rise again.
Thinking of this, he sighed, "Qiyun, Second Grandpa doesn't want to force you. When your mother insisted on bringing you back from the Zhuang family, I told you that your life might not be better if you went home than if you stayed at the Zhuang family, but you refused to listen. After all, this situation is caused by you all."
Zhu Qiyun sneered, "I accept my fate. Second Grandfather, there's no need to confuse people here. We all know who is right and who is wrong."
The second elder choked and snorted, looking at Zhu Jiaoyu and Madam Zhu: "I can't make sense to them, you two should talk to them properly."
Having said that, he was about to leave.
At this moment, the doorman hurried in with a letter from the Yan family and said to Zhu Jiaoyu with a smile, "Master, Madam, the eldest lady of the Yan family has sent us an invitation, inviting you and the fourth lady to bring their two daughters to Ningmen Mansion to attend the birthday banquet of Prefect Yan on May 20th."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com