During the meal, Xuan Jie'er and Yang Chen insisted on sitting next to Su Wanwan, and Yang Ting readily agreed.
After the meal, Su Wanwan was about to leave, but Xuan Jie'er and Yang Chen pulled her to stay and play with them.
Su Wanwan really loves children, and since she had nothing else to do when she got back, she was naturally willing to spend some more time with them.
The group was playing hide-and-seek.
When it was Su Wanwan's turn to look, she covered her eyes, turned around, and counted from one to twenty, waiting for the siblings to hide.
"I'm going to start looking now," Su Wanwan reminded her with a smile.
The two little ones, who had been hiding behind the door, giggled and crouched down as they ran out, hurriedly heading out to find another place to hide, only to bump into someone.
The visitor was Yang Zhen, who had just returned from paying a New Year's visit to his mentor, Chief Minister Li.
Yang Zhen was thrown backward by his younger brother and sister, and raised an eyebrow at the woman in the room.
In reality, he was not close to his two step-siblings.
Xuan Jie'er and Yang Chen usually react like mice to a cat when they see him, rarely rushing into his arms with such smiles.
I see you!
When Su Wanwan turned around with a big smile, her smile froze on her face when she saw Yang Zhen.
Having only met him once, and being an adult male, Su Wanwan quickly regained her composure and politely bowed.
Yang Zhen, dressed in a light blue robe and with his hair tied up in a silver crown, frowned slightly and gave her a deep look:
"Miss Su."
Despite being treated with impeccable manners by a handsome and talented young man, Su Wanwan felt a tightness in her heart.
Perhaps it was because Yang Zhen's eyes were too bright and sharp, seemingly able to see through people's hearts, that she felt somewhat uneasy.
She has an instinctive wariness of people who are too intelligent.
Madam Yu, who had just prepared a return gift for Su Wanwan, came over and, smiling, smoothed things over, saying:
"Young Master is back. Master is waiting for you in the study. Xuan'er, Chen'er, see your Wan'er out."
Yang Zhen watched as Su Wanwan, with her graceful steps, was about to brush past him. After a slight hesitation, he finally spoke:
"Miss Su, have you offended anyone recently?"
Su Wanwan stopped in her tracks, raised an eyebrow at Yang Zhen, and asked, "Young Master Yang, what do you mean by that?"
Yang Zhen's expression turned cold: "It seems that you are unaware that someone outside is using your reputation to spread rumors and slander you. I'm afraid their intentions are not good."
Su Wanwan frowned and clenched her fists: "What did you say?"
Yang Zhen naturally couldn't bring himself to utter those vile rumors, but simply said, "The innocent are innocent, and there's no need to be troubled by rumors."
Su Wanwan had no intention of staying any longer and hurriedly left the Yang family. On her way home, she asked Heying to visit a few teahouses before returning.
Crane Shadow returned, looking worried:
"Miss, there are rumors circulating outside about you and Young Master Gu. They say you two are having an affair and that you're secretly pregnant..."
Su Wanwan's eyes narrowed slightly.
These are clearly the same words Xu Pengju used to slander her and Gu Ziyu, which were refuted on the spot. How come they are being spread again after several months?
After Lu Xingjian stayed at the Su family's house for a while, she and Gu Ziyu never had any contact again.
Later that day, Su Nan brought Su Wanying home, his expression somewhat grave. He called her into his study and asked, "You already know?"
Su Wanwan nodded calmly.
Su Nan's expression softened considerably, and her tone carried a hint of earnestness:
"If you want to climb a high mountain, you must first brave its dangers. You haven't even started yet, have you thought this through?"
Su Wanwan lowered her eyes and remained silent.
Neither she nor her father mentioned the purpose of Lu Xingjian's visit on the eve of the Lunar New Year.
But Su Wanwan knew that her father had politely rejected Lu Xingjian in his own way.
She couldn't help but think of the scene where Lu Xingjian was embracing Yu Ji at her own doorstep.
Then I thought of Madam Yu's virtuous appearance.
Lady Yu's husband, Yang Ting, was a young prodigy who passed the imperial examination at the age of nineteen and rose to a high position in the cabinet in his forties.
She has a son and a daughter and is a perfect wife that everyone envies, busy taking care of her whole family.
But for some reason, her heart suddenly ached with a dense, tingling pain, as if it had been pricked by needles.
I don't know whether I feel sad for Madam Yu or sad for my own uncertain future.
Yes.
Undeniably, Lu Xingjian has feelings for her.
However, this does not prevent him from having other women in his heart and other women around him.
She couldn't be as magnanimous as Madam Yu.
Unless you don't love them.
When she married Xu Peng'an, she didn't love him, so she left the beautiful Concubine Luo in the capital to serve Xu Peng'an and fulfill her duties as a wife.
When the news of Aunt Luo's pregnancy came, she was happy for Aunt Luo.
I'm also happy for Xu Peng'an.
I feel that I did not harm them because of my own selfishness.
But now, because of that promise made in Weizhou City, she couldn't help but feel heartbroken.
A marriage built on emotional investment often results in pain for the person who invests the most.
Because my husband will fall in love with another woman sooner or later.
Even if he doesn't fall in love with other women, he will still take a few concubines to satisfy his own desires.
In a marriage devoid of love, it is the children who suffer.
How painful it must be for a child to be born into this world without being loved.
Su Wanwan simply asked in a calm tone:
"Father, did you marry my mother because you loved her, or because you had no other choice?"
Su Nan's face turned very ugly.
He looked down at the teacup in his hand and remained silent for a long while, then said in a deep voice:
"Your elders' affairs are none of your business. Just take care of yourself."
Su Wanwan, however, did not want to end the topic so easily:
"But why did my mother commit suicide?"
Su Nan looked up as if she had been burned, her gaze sharply fixed on Su Wanwan.
It was probably the words "suicide" that made him feel humiliated and ashamed.
The son of a high-ranking official, a young man who passed the imperial examinations twice, was full of vigor and unparalleled in his prowess.
His wife abandoned their six-month-old child and committed suicide.
This should be an indelible stain on his life.
"Do you have even the slightest feeling for her?"
Her gaze was fixed on Su Nan's face, not missing a single change.
My heart was pounding like thunder.
Her relationship with her father wasn't close enough for them to discuss these things.
Although they are father and daughter, they are not close.
Only after living together recently did she begin to feel a little bit of father-daughter affection.
The saying, "If you want to climb a high mountain, you must endure its dangers," sounds like a father's earnest advice to his daughter.
Su Nan's lips were pressed into a thin line, and his face was ashen, on the verge of exploding with rage.
Su Wanwan felt that she had finally hit his sore spot.
If he loved his mother, she probably wouldn't have committed suicide.
Women who have given birth know that no mother would be willing to abandon the child she carried for ten months.
Unless absolutely necessary.
Unless you are so heartbroken and desperate that you feel that living is too painful and difficult.
Su Wanwan continues to provoke southern Jiangsu:
"Because he doesn't like her, he doesn't have any fatherly affection for me and never hugs me?"
Su Nan finally broke down, his handsome face flushed red, and he slammed his hand on the table, demanding through gritted teeth:
"Who told you such nonsense?!"
"Who's gossiping?!"
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