Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside

Chapter 1271: Complaints

The Young Master Xu and his wife grew anxious and hurriedly said, "Father, Girl Ling has already been locked up for three days, gone hungry for three days. She’s already scared now, there’s no need to send her to the Manor, right?"

Though Young Master Xu was angry that Xu Ling was so disappointing, she was still his own flesh-and-blood daughter. She looked quite decent, and she was of age; she had to be raised well and used for a marriage alliance.

"Yes, Father-in-law, Girl Ling really already knows she was wrong. She is regretting it terribly now. She said she will never again laugh at Miss Zhong, and will treat Mrs. Chen like her own aunt. Please spare her this once." Mrs. Zeng started wiping her tears and cried, "Girl Ling is a pampered young lady, how could she possibly endure the hardships of a country Manor?"

Besides...

"Those in the country Manor are all rough people. If they accidentally offend Girl Ling, her whole life will be ruined. She’s been raised delicately for so many years; you wouldn’t want Girl Ling to be ruined just like that, would you?"

"She’s already ruined!" Elder Xu said angrily. "Go out and ask around, what kind of reputation does she have now? In front of all the ladies of the county, in front of the County Magistrate’s wife, she poured tea on Mrs. Jiang at her own cousin’s betrothal ceremony. Is that something a well-bred girl would do? All the rich households in the county are laughing themselves sick at her. In this lifetime, in Tianfu County, she can forget about marrying into a decent family!"

And who is Mrs. Jiang?

She is the wife of the former County Captain, the birth mother of the current County Captain, a person of the grandmother generation. That girl Xu Ling actually dared to splash tea on her. Does she have any sense of propriety at all?

Mrs. Zeng hurried to argue, "Father-in-law, Girl Ling didn’t intend to pour it on Mrs. Jiang; she wanted to pour it on Mrs. Chen. You also know what kind of shrew Mrs. Chen is. She can anger people the moment she opens her mouth. You mustn’t ruin your own granddaughter’s whole life for an outsider like Mrs. Chen."

Elder Xu pointed at Mrs. Zeng and said, "Zeng, what do you mean by that? You can even say such things—no wonder Girl Ling was taught into this state. It’s all your fault as her mother!"

Hearing this, Mrs. Zeng simply threw caution to the wind and sneered, "Did this daughter-in-law say anything wrong? You treat Mrs. Chen better than Girl Ling, your own granddaughter."

"Silence!" Elder Xu was shaking with rage. Luckily he was already at an advanced age—if outsiders heard such words, who knows how they would gossip.

These days, Xu Zhao Ming had been attending Elder Xu constantly. Standing outside the door at this moment, he could no longer hold back when he heard this. He walked in and patted Elder Xu’s back to help him calm his breath. "Grandfather, don’t be angry. Mother didn’t mean it."

Then he looked at Mrs. Zeng and said, "Mother, our family has already formed a marriage tie with the Gu Family. By saying such things, are you trying to harm Grandfather and Aunt Da Gui?"

Hearing this, Mrs. Zeng felt even more wronged. Looking at Xu Zhao Ming, she burst into tears. "Zhao Ming, your sister’s whole life is going to be ruined. Instead of speaking up for your own sister, you have the leisure to worry about others? Girl Ling ended up like this all because of Mrs. Chen!"

Xu Zhao Ming frowned at this. Looking at Mrs. Zeng, he felt for the first time that his own mother was so unreasonable... Grandfather was right; for Xu Ling to turn out like this, Mother bore an inescapable responsibility.

"Mother, my sister’s ending up like this does have something to do with Aunt Da Gui, but even more, it’s her own fault." Xu Zhao Ming said, "How about this, we bring Sister here and explain everything to her clearly, so she doesn’t stay stuck in a dead end for the rest of her life."

Mrs. Zeng was overjoyed and quickly said, "Good, good, good, we should let your sister out. We’ll explain everything to her clearly, down to the last detail. We can’t just send her to the countryside without saying anything."

These words clearly carried a complaint against Elder Xu, but Elder Xu couldn’t be bothered to argue with a daughter-in-law. Thinking that Xu Ling was, after all, his own granddaughter, he finally nodded in agreement.

The housekeeper quickly brought two nannies and went to fetch Xu Ling.

These past few days, Xu Ling had been given only one steamed bun and a bowl of water a day. At night, she slept on a haystack in the woodshed and had been frightened by rats countless times. She had become thin all over, her eye sockets sunken. When she saw Elder Xu and her own parents, she couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down.

"My child, you’ve suffered!" Mrs. Zeng rushed forward, hugged Xu Ling, and哭ed bitterly, then called out to Xu Zhao Ming, "Look at your sister—she’s already suffered so much, and you still want to send her to a country Manor?"

Elder Xu knew those words were meant for him, but he ignored Mrs. Zeng and instead said to Xu Zhao Ming, "Zhao Ming, you are the eldest grandson of the Xu Family, and already a Scholar. In the future you will walk the official path, and the difficulties you encounter will be greater than today’s. Today, Grandfather will entrust this matter to you. Handle it however you see fit."

If Zhao Ming couldn’t even handle this matter properly, then there would be no need for him to become an official in the future. He’d only be walking into his own doom.

Hearing this, the couple, Mr. and Mrs. Zeng, both had their eyes light up. They looked at Xu Zhao Ming in anticipation. "Zhao Ming, since your grandfather is leaving this to you, just do as you see fit."

Girl Ling was Zhao Ming’s own younger sister. As an elder brother, surely he would not harm his own sister.

Xu Zhao Ming glanced at them without saying anything. He walked over to Xu Ling, squatted down in front of her, and handed her a cup of warm tea and a plate of pastries.

Xu Ling immediately snatched them up and devoured them ravenously, with no semblance of a young lady from a wealthy family.

Seeing this, Xu Zhao Ming’s heart ached, but he knew that his little sister had to be taught strictly. After she finished eating, he said to her, "Do you know you were wrong?"

Xu Ling started, tears welling up again, and she nodded. "I—I know I was wrong."

Just don’t lock her up again. There was a rat’s nest in the woodshed; as soon as it got dark, rats would come out. She had been scared half to death and never wanted to go back to the woodshed again.

And she didn’t want to go to the Manor either!

"Where were you wrong?" Xu Zhao Ming asked again.

Where was she wrong?

Xu Ling was dumbfounded. After a moment, she burst into tears. "I was wrong to pour that cup of tea... but I was provoked by Mrs. Chen."

Hearing this, Xu Zhao Ming shook his head. "You still don’t understand where you went wrong."

Xu Zhao Ming helped Xu Ling up and had her sit in a chair. He pulled another chair over and sat facing her. "You must remember what I’m about to say. If you don’t, I won’t look after you anymore."

Hearing this, Xu Ling trembled in fear and hurriedly clutched at Xu Zhao Ming’s sleeve. "Brother~"

Xu Zhao Ming said, "Your one great fault is that you don’t know how to endure. Everyone knows Mrs. Chen has a sharp and shrewish temper, yet you just let her provoke you and went on to commit a grave mistake because of it."

"On an occasion like a betrothal ceremony, with outsiders present, you, as a junior, when faced with someone like Mrs. Chen, only need to endure it. If Mrs. Chen truly goes too far, your family will step forward for you. Your greatest foolishness was failing to endure, offending your elder in public, breaking the rules of propriety, and handing others leverage against you."

"If you encounter something like this again, whenever elders are present, you must endure it first and stand firmly on the side of reason. As long as you are in the right, your family will naturally speak up for you."

"Don’t be as foolish as this time, personally laying a hand on an elder, losing propriety and reason both, and ruining your own reputation."