Chapter 479 - 182: The Zhu Family and the Sheng Family (3)
Chapter 479: Chapter 182: The Zhu Family and the Sheng Family (3)
’That’s my legal mother, but she’s *only* my legal mother...’
Zhu Caiwei didn’t dare let anyone see her lose her composure. Using the excuse that the wind had blown sand into her eyes, she quickly turned away and wiped the tears from her cheeks.
She returned to her room, lay on her bed, dismissed all the maids and old servants, and muffled herself in her quilt to have a good, long cry.
At the same time, Sheng Saya changed her clothes and went to speak with her mother.
Hearing that her impossibly busy father was finally back, she put down her teacup, took leave of her mother, and hurried to the front courtyard.
In the front courtyard, Mr. Sheng had just changed into his home clothes when he heard familiar footsteps outside, along with a servant’s greeting.
"Dad, Dad, I’m coming in."
Sheng Mingchuan opened his old eyes and watched his daughter push the door open and enter without even waiting for his reply.
"Where are your manners? I must have owed you in a past life to have spoiled you until you act like my ancestor."
"Oh, come on, Dad, what are you talking about? What ancestor? Have you ever seen an ancestor as miserable as me? To find a good son-in-law for you, I have to personally run off to a den of men. Not only do I have to put up with their stinking body odor, but I also have to endure the teacher’s classical mumbo-jumbo and write homework until the middle of the night. If it weren’t for you, would I be suffering like this?"
Sheng Saya plopped down in a seat below her father, crossed her legs, and started sighing dramatically again.
"I’m working harder than a dog. I’m just a girl, not a son, but I’m doing all the work your son should be doing. I’m just asking, seeing me this exhausted and pathetic, don’t you feel even a little bit sorry for me? You have a heart of stone, Dad. I don’t know what I did in my past life..."
"AHEM, AHEM!"
"Er, I mean, I don’t know what good deeds I must have accumulated in my past life to be reborn as your daughter in this one. I’m just so thrilled about it, I burn incense for Buddha every day, praying that He’ll let me be your daughter in the next life too."
Sheng Mingchuan pretended not to see his daughter’s eye-roll. He sat in the main seat, picked up the tea a servant had brought, and took a slow, deliberate sip before asking, "Why are you back so early? Is the banquet over?"
"It hadn’t ended when I left, but it’s probably over by now. And Dad, I’m not just saying this, but look at Zhu Tongzhi. He lives so comfortably day in and day out. Tsk tsk, he collects gifts monthly. His personal treasury is probably worth more than our entire family’s assets."
Hearing this, Sheng Mingchuan didn’t get angry. Instead, an inscrutable expression appeared on his face.
"Our family’s wealth was either earned by your father, coin by coin, or it was passed down from our ancestors. All of it can withstand scrutiny, so I’m not afraid of any investigations. But Zhu Tongzhi... some money is easy to make, but it burns your hands to hold it..."
Seeing her father’s deeply secretive expression gave Sheng Saya a headache.
Her father spoke in riddles, his words veiled in mystery. But as for whether there was truly something hidden within them, he wouldn’t tell her. He just left her feeling anxious, unable to stop guessing and second-guessing.
Sheng Saya’s head ached, so she decided to stop thinking about it. Instead, she described the scene at the banquet to her father, saying that "a full house of esteemed guests" and "a riot of brocaded splendor" weren’t enough to capture it.
Sheng Mingchuan put on that deeply secretive expression again. "Today’s flowers are tomorrow’s snow. And when the avalanche comes, not a single snowflake is innocent."
Seeing his daughter get up to leave, clearly unwilling to listen anymore, Sheng Mingchuan quickly changed the subject to the important matter at hand. "You said you were going to the academy to find a promising son-in-law you can control, someone to be a safety net for our family. Have you found such a man for me yet?"
Sheng Saya plopped right back down in her seat, a vexed look on her face. "It’s not that simple."
"If you ask me," her father said, "a man who’s easy to control is only easy because he hasn’t made his mark yet. Once he does, you might not be able to handle him. Rather than gambling on an uncertain future, it would be better to marry into a noble family of high standing, one with a good reputation and a reliable, ambitious husband. If I’m gone one day, at least I won’t have to worry about you being mistreated..."
"My sisters all married into noble houses, but those families have too many rules and too many concerns. If that day ever really comes, they’ll likely be wary of the political risks and won’t dare to help my brother and me. Rather than betting everything on them, it’s better for me to marry down. I originally thought about not marrying at all, but that would be even worse. I can’t take the imperial exams and become an official; I’m just an unmarried girl. When the time comes, people will be able to do whatever they want to me. So, I might as well find someone to marry. I’m not afraid if my future in-laws are of low status, as long as the man is ambitious and promising, and his family is of good character. If the worst really does happen then, I can at least take my younger brother with me and raise him in peace."
"So, after two months at the academy, do you have any promising candidates in mind?"
Sheng Saya shook her head. "Not yet."
"Actually, if that Zhao Jing weren’t already married, he would be..."
"Don’t even mention him. It’s not like Zhao Jing is the only man in the world. Why are all of you so fixated on him?"
Sheng Mingchuan set his teacup down on the table. "Who else is fixated on Zhao Jing? The Zhang Family’s girl, or the Zhu Family’s?"
"It’s Zhu Caiwei. She’s been proper enough, though; she hasn’t done anything too out of line. Still, coveting a married man is just so demeaning. If she doesn’t change her mind, I’m planning to distance myself from her."
"You can handle it as you see fit."