My sister became the empress, but I'm still growing vegetables and raising chickens

Chapter 236: Mother You's Surrender

Mother You sighed, "How could the Si family tolerate this? But by then, Emperor Houde had passed away, and Emperor Zong favored Concubine Rong. So what if the Si family couldn't tolerate it? If poor aunt had suffered this humiliation, the Si family would have lowered their status and would never be able to hold their heads up again in Kyoto. But how could she prove that she wasn't weak? For the future of the family's daughters, aunt simply hanged herself..."

"Ah?" Si Muyan's heart tightened.

Mother You waved her hand and said, "The Si family was deeply concerned about their daughter and feared something might happen to her, so they ordered someone to stand guard and fortunately, they rescued her. The old master and the grandfather took off their hats and knelt for three hours in front of the palace gate, angering the ministers. When scholars from the public heard about this, they wrote letters denouncing the Weiyuan Marquis's Mansion. The counselors rebuked the Emperor Zong in court, saying that he disregarded state order and favored concubines, disregarding the country. In the end, the Zhu family had no choice but to send the second son away, cancel the engagement with the Rong family's daughter, and continue with the engagement with the Si family."

Si Muyan asked, "My aunt suffered so much injustice, and she still married into the Zhu family?"

With such a commotion, the two families have really become enemies. If the daughter of the Si family marries into the Zhu family, she will be at the mercy of the Zhu family.

Mother You replied, "The Si family's old master and great-grandfather were renowned for their love for their daughters and younger sisters. They couldn't bear to see the Si family girl suffer so much, so they flatly rejected the marriage proposal. But how easy is it to find another marriage? The Si family girl also had a reputation for being weak and infertile. To make the future marriages of the other Si family sisters less difficult, my aunt became a nun. Her younger sister, my second aunt, was hastily married off upon reaching the age of marriage and gave birth to three children in a row, which helped to redeem the Si family girl's reputation."

So now the daughters of the Si family no longer have the bad reputation of being infertile, all thanks to the two second aunts' determination to cut off their own arms.

Thinking of this, Si Muyan sighed in his heart. It is true that it takes only one mouth to spread rumors, but it takes a lot of effort to refute them.

I also thought that the Si family's doting on their daughter was hereditary, and their ancestors had always been like that.

I'm also thankful that the Si family dotes on their daughter. Otherwise, that aunt with a damaged reputation wouldn't just become a nun. Even death wouldn't be that easy.

After Mother You finished speaking, she waited for Si Muyan to speak. Seeing that the girl was slow to speak, she thought for a while and then spoke again.

"Although the two families stopped communicating later, the fact that the Emperor was obsessed with his harem and allowed his favorite concubine to disrupt the government became a taboo, and no one was allowed to mention it. Later, the matter gradually faded. Most people only knew that the Marquis and Earl's Houses did not communicate with each other, but they did not know the details. There is another thing, which is not a secret, but I am afraid that you don't know it. Allow me to explain it to you in detail."

Si Muyan nodded: "You go ahead."

"The Zuo family has a daughter from the direct line of the family. She's a generation older than the late Empress, but she's the same age as our Madam. Because the Shao and Zuo families weren't on good terms, they didn't interact much back home. But the Zuo family's daughter, being the youngest of her generation, was pampered and had everything she wanted. But when it came time to get married, she looked down on all the talented young men and only set her sights on the unremarkable Si family man..."

Si Muyan raised an eyebrow: "My father?"

"Yes." Mother You touched her nose awkwardly. Now she was eating at the Si family's table, but she said that the head of the family was not outstanding when he was young because he was too quick to talk.

Si Muyan smiled slightly: "I also feel that my father is nothing special except that he is gentle and easy to talk to. I don't know why my mother, a girl of good character and appearance and noble status, fell in love with my father."

Mother You breathed a sigh of relief and started laughing too.

"Young lady, you don't know that the master is only inferior to the old master in talent, but he is also a first-class talent. He is as handsome as Pan An and as gentle as jade. To say he is not outstanding is just to say that he is obsessed with poetry and books and has no interest in a career in politics."

How can such a person not stand out?

Si Muyan understood after thinking about it, if a noble family wants to prosper from generation to generation, the eldest son cannot just maintain the status quo, but must be able to judge the situation and know when to advance and when to retreat.

Si Xingzhi obviously didn't quite understand this.

Mother You said, "Miss Zuo has her eyes on Si Jialang, but he has a special liking for the daughter of the Shao family. It is said that when the daughter of the Shao family went to Baiyu Mountain to pray for the royal family, Si Jialang waited outside the Baiyu Temple on the mountainside for three days. It was precisely because of this that the general was willing to marry his only daughter to the Si family."

"That seems like something my father would do." Si Muyan's eyes curved, "Did Miss Zuo marry into the Weiyuan Marquis's mansion?"

"It's because Miss Zuo has always acted domineeringly. She thinks she is the daughter of the Duke's Mansion and is determined to win Si Jialang. So the news that she wants to marry Si Jialang has become a hot topic in the city."

Si Muyan nodded. A girl's marriage caused a lot of uproar in the city, and then the marriage failed. This would certainly be a bad reputation. It would be difficult for her to marry into a family of equal status.

No wonder the daughter of a Duke would marry into an Earl's mansion.

"Being able to marry into the Earl's Mansion, it seems that this Earl's son has a good reputation, right?"

Mother You nodded. "The Earl's son is a bit of a playboy. He has several concubines in his backyard before he even got married, and he even keeps some low-class actors outside."

After understanding the general situation, Si Muyan asked again, "These are the only two families that are openly at odds with the Si family, right?"

Mother You said, "Yes, they even took advantage of the Si family when they were down. No matter what other families did in private, at least they were able to get by on the surface."

After all, the Queen Mother is Shao Qin's aunt. For the Queen Mother's sake, the noble families will not do anything. It seems that the exile of the Si family is relatively smooth, and there are also many people who want to do good to the Queen Mother.

This is because the Empress Dowager is still alive. Once she dies, the Si family's situation will be devastating. That's why the Empress Dowager is determined to bring the Si family back to Kyoto.

"It's okay to save face, but given the situation at home, I can't cover up everyone's mouths and tell them not to say anything."

Mother You nodded repeatedly, thinking that her daughter was generous.

After a moment's thought, she hurriedly added, "There's another family, the Feng family of the Duke's Mansion... They're originally from the Empress Dowager's mother's family, and they're related to our Si family, so they should be the closest. But I heard that when the Si family returned to the capital, the Feng family was the first to oppose it with all their might, and it angered the Empress Dowager so much that she vomited blood on the spot. Since then, the Empress Dowager has never invited a woman from the Feng family into the palace again."

Si Muyan remained noncommittal: "After all, we are relatives. If we meet, we must follow proper etiquette. The Duke is my father's cousin. He is the elder and we are the younger. They are the Duke's Mansion and we are the Marquis' Mansion. It is neither moral nor logical for us to argue with him."

Mother You lowered her eyes and said, "Yes, I will remember this."

Si Muyan glanced at her. She was not sure whether this mother who surrendered was really sincere.

Then he added, "Of course, there's no need for more interactions. Our Si family isn't an official, and they have no intention of continuing our relationship. We don't need to risk our reputation by sticking to them, understand?"