"Objection overruled." Song Tantan leaned back lazily in her chair; once she made up her mind, no one could stop her.
"Tantan." Song Zhuiyan entered warning mode.
Song Tantan wasn't buying it. "Unless you don't go either, don't try to persuade me."
“Tantan, I’m not going, and you shouldn’t go either,” Ye Moxun said.
"What does it matter to me whether you go or not? I'm going with my aunt." She completely disregarded whether someone would be hurt by her words.
"You heartless bastard, then you might as well not come to the capital at all. I'm not taking you with me." Ye Moxun held back for a moment before finally uttering these words.
"I'll ride my own horse, you don't need to lead me." She followed behind the army, not needing to worry even if she didn't know the way.
Zhong Qingyi hesitated, wanting to offer advice but not daring to, fearing his wife would get angry and ignore him. He was about to go to war, and he couldn't afford to spend more time with his wife these days. If he angered her, he would have no choice but to sleep on the cold floor.
In the end, no one could persuade Song Tantan. She swaggered along with Ye Moxun and the others to the capital. Sitting in the spacious carriage with soft cushions underneath, she hugged a pillow in her arms and leaned back comfortably in the carriage, letting out a sigh.
Suddenly, a woman's voice, like a ghost calling out, came from the back of the group, "Song Tantan, you stop right there! You actually wanted to secretly leave Xifeng without telling me!"
"Who is it?" Song Tantan herself was curious.
Peeking out of the carriage window, she rolled her eyes in exasperation. She pulled back, sat up straight, and pouted, "What does that persistent, crazy woman Zhang Qingling want now?" Could it be that she wants to come to the capital with her?
Zhang Qingling was right. There were few officials in Xifeng, and even fewer noble families. The capital was different. She remembered that in the capital, you could hit a fifth-rank official with a brick.
She wanted to marry into a good family, but she had to go to the capital to find one. She couldn't find a suitable man in this remote corner of Xifeng, so she had to go to the capital.
But she couldn't even get close to the carriage, let alone see Song Tantan. Soldiers blocked her way with knives, and she couldn't take a single step forward. In the end, she could only watch the army gradually disappear into the distance with resentment.
Today, Zhang Qingyu was on her way to buy some jewelry and fabrics. She was accompanied by a maid. Just as the two were about to enter the jewelry shop, they heard a familiar voice. Who else could it be but her younger sister, Zhang Qingling, who was shouting?
Seeing Zhang Qingling being pushed to the ground by the soldiers, she fell there crying and screaming like a madwoman, while people around her pointed and whispered about her, but she was completely unaware.
"Ling'er, what are you doing?" Zhang Qingyu ran over and helped her up.
Zhang Qingling wanted to say "What's it to you?" but when she saw that it was her own sister, her expression immediately changed, and she cried even louder, feeling wronged. "Sister, you've finally come to see me! Why don't you ever come to see me? Shen'er and I are having such a miserable time."
Zhang Qingyu: "..."
What kind of behavior is this, younger sister? Even though the Zhang family is now in decline, the sisters were raised to be well-mannered and knowledgeable young ladies. It's a pity that the second sister has long lost her former spirit. She only cares about wealth and status, but doesn't remember how daughters of noble families conduct themselves.
Never mind, there's no point in saying all this, since they can't go back anyway.
Now, hasn't she herself bowed to fate and married the merchant she once looked down upon as his daughter-in-law? In order to survive, she can no longer care about anything else. After all, she is not young anymore. She waited until she was twenty to get married. If it weren't for her good looks, she wouldn't have been able to marry into the merchant family.
Yes, her husband's family was not only merchants, but also surnamed Shang, and named Fuyan. Her husband's appearance was average, barely considered handsome. What she valued was that his family had a lot of silver and grain, and most importantly, Shang Fuyan treated her extremely well.
He promised her that if she was willing to marry him, he would get rid of his two concubines and would never take another concubine, and would only grow old with her.
For this reason, she felt that marrying this man was worthwhile. No one's life is perfect. The Zhang family has already become commoners. No matter how unwilling she is, what can she do? She still has to face reality and live well. It is even more precious to find someone who truly loves her.
She gave up and saw things clearly, but her second sister was still unwilling to give up. She still longed for her old life and wanted to marry into a well-off family, so she dragged it out until she was twenty.
"No, you didn't come to see me, you came to go shopping," Zhang Qingling suddenly realized something and glared at her resentfully. "You went shopping with your maid and didn't even come to see me and Shen'er. How could you do this? You said such nice things before you got married!"
She said she married into the Shang family for my and Shen'er's sake, but on the day of our homecoming, she only gave me two hundred taels of silver and then ignored us completely, never even glancing at us again.
"Ling'er, I have my reasons." Her mother-in-law disliked her, and she was often harassed after marrying into the family. Although her husband often protected her, he had to work at the restaurant and couldn't be home all the time. What good was protecting her for a while?
Her monthly allowance was not much, only two taels of silver. Whenever there was a wedding or funeral in a relative's family, the old woman would ask her to contribute money. If she didn't listen, the old woman would cause her all sorts of trouble, making her suffer terribly.
"What troubles do you have? You have someone to love you and money to spend. I think you're living too comfortably." Zhang Qingling spoke without restraint, never knowing how to be discreet in front of anyone, as if everyone owed her something.
Zhang Qingyu wasn't one to be easily swayed; on the contrary, she had a rather strong personality. She would never hold back when she didn't want to tolerate something. Hearing her sister becoming increasingly unreasonable, she sneered, "You're upset that I'm doing well? You feel good seeing others suffering more than you?"
"That's not what I meant." Zhang Qingling sensed that her sister was angry. The two sisters behaved completely differently when they were angry; the former would become hysterical, crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide.
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