nucmednet Chapter 95 Arrival
Chapter 95 Arrival
Shen Laihui gave the waiter in charge of boiling water one tael of silver, and the waiter happily said, "Great! You need more than ten buckets of water? I promise to boil more, I'll give you twenty buckets! If it's not enough, you can ask me for more!"
One tael of silver! That's two months' wages for him! His elderly mother at home is sick, and he's worried about not having enough money for medical treatment. Now, it's like a windfall!
Buckets of hot water were carried to the courtyard where Zisu and her companions were staying, lining up in a long row around the camphor tree in the yard. Zisu guessed that the waiter must have used up all the water buckets in the inn!
Zisu frowned and said, "Xiangli, you're all dirty. I want to wash my hair." Then she said to the Princess, "Your Highness, you should wash your hair too! You should also carefully clean any areas of your body that aren't injured. The further north you go, the scarcer the water becomes. You should take advantage of today to pamper yourself!"
The eldest princess said, "That's what I thought too. If I weren't covered in injuries, I really would like to take a nice bath." After spending a few days in the prison, the experience was truly disgusting and unbearable to recall.
Zisu then said to her maternal grandmother and Hua'er's paternal grandparents, "Each of you should have two buckets of water and wash your hair properly! If there isn't enough water, just ask the servant to boil a few more buckets! Don't worry, I still have the money for a few buckets of hot water!"
As soon as Zisu spoke, the Second Madam dared not utter a word.
Forget about hot water; even the lodging expenses were paid by them. If she didn't know her place, she'd be humiliated! She was perceptive enough to understand. However, she was deeply saddened. From a life of luxury to being a prisoner, and then to exile, everything had been a painful blow to her. Her heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer, the pain unbearable, filled with resentment.
Mrs. Yu personally bathed her daughter and cleaned her wounds.
"Zisu, my child, you have so many wounds and you didn't say a word. It breaks my heart!" Seeing her daughter's wounds, the mother couldn't help but burst into tears. One after another, they fell into the bathtub.
This is terrible! So many injuries, they'll leave so many scars, won't they? How will my daughter ever get married again? Just thinking about this makes Yu feel like her heart is being torn apart.
Zisu: "Mother, don't be sad! The medicine Shen Laihui brought is excellent. This small bottle alone costs over a hundred taels of silver. It's said to be a secret recipe personally made by the head of the Imperial Medical Academy. Besides healing wounds quickly, this medicine also has the effect of removing scars! So, Mother, don't worry too much. Everything will be fine once the wound heals!"
Anyway, since there were no wounds on her face, even if she was left with scars, Zisu wouldn't care much. As long as she was alive and well, that was better than anything else. She really didn't care too much about whether she was left with scars or not.
If a man despises himself because of a scar, then he won't be truly sincere towards you. What's the point of having a man who only cares about appearances and has no genuine feelings?
Madam Yu was still very distressed: "Good child, be kinder to yourself in the future, don't be stubborn!" This time, if Zisu hadn't taken in the princess, she probably wouldn't have gotten into trouble.
Zisu: "Mother, please stop blaming the Princess and the others. Even if I hadn't taken them in, do you think Shangguan Chengfeng and Shangguan Zhihua would have let us off the hook? Even without evidence, Shangguan Zhihua and Shangguan Chengfeng would have fabricated facts and framed us! So, this calamity was unavoidable!"
Madam Yu wasn't unreasonable. After hearing her daughter's words, she remained silent for a moment before finally nodding: "Alright, I understand. I'll be a little more enthusiastic when I see members of the Jiang family in the future. But please don't blame me for being enthusiastic towards some and not towards others!"
She can't be very enthusiastic, but she'll try her best to be just a little bit enthusiastic.
However, while she could be enthusiastic towards the eldest princess, she didn't have the same enthusiasm or time for the second wife, who still looked down on everyone. Not mocking that woman was already giving Hua'er face!
Zisu naturally understood what she meant, and couldn't help but smile helplessly: "I understand, I won't force my own mother for someone who doesn't know anything!"
The head maidservant who bathed the princess, cleaned her wounds, and applied medicine was there. Looking at the princess's injuries, tears streamed down her face: "How could those people be so cruel to you?"
The only person accompanying the Princess to the Northwest was this head maid. The rest of them were forcibly taken away by Consort Mei's men, and no one knew where they were taken. The Princess was very worried about this and felt she had let them down.
The eldest princess said, "Don't worry, these are just superficial wounds, they'll heal soon!"
The head maid said, "Your Highness, the Second Madam is still arrogant and haughty, not very polite to the Zisu family and the Yu family, and still acts like a noblewoman. This is not good. In the long run, it will affect everyone's relationship. Now, we all depend on Zisu. If we anger her and she abandons the Jiang family, we will be finished!"
The Eldest Princess said, "I'll give my second brother a heads-up and have him give her a stern talking-to. He should tell her to behave herself. Even if she can't be very close to someone, she shouldn't speak recklessly and make things worse! Anyway, I have high hopes for Zisu. If my sister-in-law is unrepentant, I'll never speak to her again!"
Upon hearing this, the matron breathed a sigh of relief.
If the eldest princess ignores the second wife, she will be completely isolated, and even her own husband will turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to her. She will not be able to live like this and will no longer dare to cause trouble.
So, very good!
The second wife, unaware of the eldest princess's intentions, grew impatient while waiting in line to bathe and even yelled at Hua'er, "You traitorous wretch! You always side with outsiders! Do you even have any respect for your birth mother anymore?!"
Upon hearing this, the entire room fell silent, creating an extremely eerie atmosphere.
Jiang Shichang walked over, raised his hand and slapped her hard across the face, shouting sternly, "You've fallen to this state and you still don't know how to repent! That's right, do you feel that our Jiang family has dragged you down? Here's what we'll do, I'll give you a letter of divorce. Once you accept it, you can go back to your parents' home and won't have to suffer with us in the Northwest anymore!"
The second wife was stunned for a moment, then shouted: "No, I don't want a letter of divorce! I'd rather go to the Northwest to suffer! I don't want a letter of divorce!"
Jiang Shichang: "Fine, since that's the case, then you'd better behave yourself and stop causing trouble! Otherwise, don't blame me for being heartless and ruthless! From now on, your three children won't need your upbringing; just mind your own business! If I ever hear you scolding or beating Hua'er and her siblings again, then you'll have to accept the divorce papers whether you want them or not!"
"I know, I won't cause any more trouble." The second wife lowered her eyes, feeling extremely frightened, and dared not cause any more trouble.
Are you kidding me? Accept the divorce papers and go back to her parents' home? Where could she possibly go back? Her eldest brother would break her legs, no doubt. Her parents are dead; where would she find a place to stand in her parents' home? Live alone? Without money, how could she survive? Her dowry was all confiscated during the raid; where would she find any money to live on?
So, if she were divorced and didn't return to her parents' home, she would basically face certain death! Returning home? That would also likely mean certain death! After being divorced, her children would probably disown her. She firmly believed that her eldest son, Chun'er, would be alright. One day, Chun'er would rise above his circumstances and come back to find her!
But now she owes Zisu a great debt of gratitude. What if Zisu uses this debt as an excuse to renege on her promise and force her to marry Chun'er? No, absolutely not! How could her Chun'er marry a woman who had been exiled?
Well then, from now on, she'll try to behave herself and accept as little kindness from Zisu as possible! Otherwise, if Zisu asks her to repay him with Chun'er in the future, she'll be at a huge disadvantage!
Her Chun'er, no matter what, deserves the best!
In the days that followed, the second wife indeed behaved much better. Jiang Shichang was quite relieved, thinking that she had truly reformed and that the words "divorce" were merely uttered in a fit of anger. After so many years of loving marriage, how could divorcing one's wife be so easy?
Even setting aside the saying "a day as husband and wife is worth a hundred days of kindness," just for the sake of the children...
The decision to divorce his wife wasn't easy to make. He wasn't a heartless man; after all, his wife hadn't committed any unforgivable mistake. She had simply lost her rationality and principles regarding the issue of perilla.
However, everyone makes mistakes. Shouldn't he give her a chance and time to correct them? Divorce is a last resort; he wouldn't actually divorce her unless absolutely necessary. He also knows that if his wife were divorced, she would have nowhere to go. Under such circumstances, how could his children be at ease if he divorced her? Not to mention his children, even he himself wouldn't be at ease.
The relationship they've shared over the past ten years wasn't fake; it was all real, filled with love and affection. Alas, he was too rash back then. If he had known his wife didn't want Zisu to marry Chun'er, he would never have revealed his thoughts to her.
But who knew it would turn out like this? My wife clearly liked Zisu very much and praised her as a girl who was one in a hundred. Especially after Hua'er went to Xiaoshitan to live for a few months, my wife's affection for Zisu increased dramatically. She almost praised Zisu as a fairy!
However, who would have thought that she, who liked Zisu so much, would be so vehemently opposed to Zisu becoming the Jiang family's daughter-in-law! Jiang Shichang never dreamed of this! Moreover, her reaction was far too much! Not only did she disagree, but she also gave Zisu a hard time, treating her like an enemy—it was simply outrageous!
Disagreeing isn't really a bad thing; her reasons aren't entirely without merit. However, her anger directed at Zisu is utterly unreasonable. Zisu knows nothing about the family, has never even met Chun'er, and doesn't even know which way the Jiang family's gate faces. What does this have to do with the young girl?
It has to be said that her words and actions went too far!
Even if you love your son dearly and feel heartbroken for him, you can't mistreat someone else's daughter! What did Zisu do wrong? She knew nothing, what did she do wrong?
I have to say, Hua'er's mother is a bit obsessed!
Jiang Shichang couldn't help but shake his head inwardly, feeling very sad and heartbroken.
Originally, everything was fine; whether Chun'er married Zisu or not, things would have been fine. However, because Hua'er's mother went mad, everything turned out this way, leaving him and Hua'er with no face to face Zisu!
Even the eldest princess felt extremely ashamed in front of Zisu.
Now, the Jiang family has received such a great favor from Zisu, and has even been implicated by Zisu's family, resulting in their property being confiscated and them being exiled. The Jiang family can never repay this debt of gratitude and obligation in their lifetime.
If Hua'er's mother stirs up trouble again in the future, he might have to disregard their marital relationship and resolutely divorce her!
As Jiang Shichang traveled northwest, he paid little attention to Hua'er's mother. He was preoccupied and worried the entire way. Exile was bad enough, but his wife's actions only added to his troubles. Fortunately, Hua'er's mother didn't cause any more problems along the way; otherwise, he probably would have collapsed.
It's really not easy for a person to live!
The journey was extremely difficult. Fortunately, it was summer, not the rainy spring or the bitterly cold winter. Moreover, Shen Laihui would occasionally slip some silver to the leading officer. Otherwise, they would have suffered greatly. They might not have even made it to the Northwest; they might have died of illness or exhaustion, or even been killed or kidnapped by bandits.