Song Yixiao went back to Prince of Hengshan"s mansion with a heavy heart. As soon as she came in, Wei Mengying called her, "Several families come to propose a marriage. Come and have a look."
"Propose a marriage?" Song Yixiao was stunned, "Mother, please refuse them. I don"t want to think about that now."
"You are 14 years old, and will be at the age of marring soon." Wei Mengying said nervously, "How can you refuse to talk about your marriage? The Dowager Consort is focusing on your marriage. Even if she doesn"t drive you, can you live in the prince"s mansion all your life? Don"t be shy at this time! You"d better open your eyes to find a good husband!"
Song Yixiao would not end well if she didn"t marry Jian Xubai. But there would be a little hope if she married him. So she was thinking whether she should confess to her mother. At this time, Wei Mengying continued to say, "But you can"t be self-important. A girl"s marriage depends on the status of her father and brothers. Even if you are excellent, you can"t marry into a rich family according to your family background!"
Hearing that, Song Yixiao felt the situation might not be good. So she asked cautiously, "Mother, are you talking about these families proposing the marriage?"
"Take a look at it!" Wei Mengying waved her hand to ask Ms. Bo to give Song Yixiao several papers.
Song Yixiao took it and had a look. Then her face changed immediately. These people were all born in an inferior official family. And they were either concubine"s child or handicapped. One of them was an illegitimate child who hadn"t been admitted by his family until now!
By the way, there was a mark next to a concubine"s child, which showed that he seemed to be seriously ill and needed a wedding to counteract his bad luck!
"Mother, do you want me to marry such a man?" Song Yixiao let papers fall to the ground and jeered, "You"ve brought me up hard for so many years. Do you think I should marry a man like that?"
Her appearance and aura were good after learning hard for six years. And the marriage was an important thing for a girl"s life. As long as the girl was not bad, her family would sweep such young men out like rubbish!
But her mother remembered all their names and let her have a look!
Even a fool could understand her threat and warning!
"What are you talking about?" Ignoring her daughter"s angry eyes, Wei Mengying took a sip of tea and said casually, "I"m you mother and hope you have a good life. But you have such a father and grandmother. During the 6 years, I don"t owe you and raise you to be a beautiful girl. But the ident.i.ty of a girl depends on her father"s family instead of her mother"s family! Even if I love you, I"m only your mother. What can I do?"
Then she said, "At the beginning, the Dowager Consort asked you to instantly marry and didn"t care whether your husband was casually found on the street! If I didn"t prevent her at that time, you would have been someone"s wife! Anyway, I love you but have no way to help you!"
She didn"t prevent Song Yixiao from going out with pale face. After Song Yixiao and Jinxun left, she snorted, "Don"t listen to me? You are raised by me. How can"t I deal with you?"
Song Yixiao walked quickly to the garden. After seeing there was no one around, the tears held back by her finally fell down. "I used to try to give the jade pendant back to Jian Xubai. How ridiculous! In mother"s view, any terrible men can propose a marriage to me!"
She knew that Wei Mengying wouldn"t really let her marry to them. Otherwise she would raise her for six years in vain.
But as her daughter, Song Yixiao was so sad after hearing her mother"s frank warning.
Wei Mengying said "I"m your mother." But how could a mother force her daughter like that?
She walked without any destination and thinking about Jinxun"s words, "It will be good if we have our own home."
Yes. When would she have her own home?
No matter rich or poor, she just needed a home that could keep out wind and rain and she could rest there, without being swept out at any time or paying attention to other people"s feeling.
In such an age that men were superior to women, she was beautiful and young. But her parents were unreliable and her younger siblings were small. She didn"t have any elder siblings to rely on.
Besides marriage, what else could she expect?
But in her past and present life, "parents decide their kids" marriage" was like a heavy shackle, blocking on her life road.
"Although Jian Xubai is arrogant, he will marry me formally." She went to the Hanxia Villa blankly. Ms. Zhao and others came to ask her. But she let them leave and calmed down gradually after going upstairs. She realized, "It"s not a good choice to marry him. But do I have a better one now?"
The Dowager Consort requested her to get married this year. Wei Mengying didn"t want to find a good husband for her daughter and just thought about her son"s future by making use of Song Yixiao. After she exposed Cui Jianlian"s plan at the feast of the Shangsi Festival and was praised by Jiang Muting and Wei Yinlian, she really became so self-conceited!
How could she think that she was popular and could choose a good marriage as she wished?
Her mother tried everything she could to let her seduce a lame marquis, but never thought a duke would marry her daughter. How dare Song Yixiao to nitpick Jian Xubai?
Song Yixiao raised her hands to cover her face and laughed at herself, "Luckily, Jian Xubai felt it troublesome and didn"t let me give the jade pendant back to him... Otherwise I will be desperate now and won"t do anything except listening to my mother."
How could she forget what she had heard beside grandmother"s couch?
Wei Mengying raised her just because she wanted to reap benefit!
Once Song Yixiao didn"t listen to her, she would not only warn her daughter.
In her previous life, when she was drowned in a pigsty, her mother just said it was a "trifle." Who did she think she was? Jiang Muting? Or Wei Yinlian? Or a beloved daughter of her parents?
Even Yuan Xue"e, whose parents had been dead, had more reliable backing than her!
If she hadn"t plotted against Madam Liu, she couldn"t have swum in luxury for six years by chance!
How could she forget the hardships of the previous life and Wei Mengying"s words? She didn"t have the right to be willful at all!
"Now it"s the only way for me to take a gamble to marry Jian Xubai!" After a long time, Song Yixiao went to wet her handkerchief in a basin to clean her face. She patted her cheek to make herself sober and then thought, "I shouldn"t tell mother about that jade pendant first!"
If Wei Mengying knew that, her att.i.tude toward Song Yixiao must change totally and she wouldn"t threat her with poor families that proposed a marriage. In fact, she would hug her daughter immediately and called her "sweetheart"!
But!
She wouldn"t just call her daughter "sweetheart" without making use of her!
Wei Mengying must ask Jian Xubai to help Lu Guanyun become the heir of the prince!
"In this mansion, except Second Young Mistress, no one have a grudge with me. Even though Jian Xubai insists on marrying me because he feels troublesome to find a proper wife, it will be more troublesome to help Guanyun be the heir of the prince!" Song Yixiao also loved her younger brother who had a different father with her. But Lu Guanyun was loved by his parents. Even if he couldn"t be the heir of the prince, he was still the prince"s son. How could he have a poor life in the future?
What"s more, according to Lu Guanlun"s character, Song Yixiao didn"t believe that after he inherited the t.i.tle, he would treat his younger brother with different mother badly.
Most importantly, as a kid of formal wife, Song Yixiao had experienced the anger, grievance, jealousy, sadness, frustration and desperation, after her stepmother came in. She should have been the most honorable child. But everything belonged to her had been grabbed, as well as elders" love.
She didn"t want other people to experience what she suffered. But for Song Yixiao, she was unwilling to help Lu Guanyun to grab Lu Guanlun"s t.i.tle of the heir of the prince!
"I can"t tell mother in advance. Besides, I should be prepared for mother"s scheme after she knows that!" Song Yixiao finally figured out what she should do at present, which was to guard against Wei Mengying!
She sat down in front of her dressing-table mirror to look at herself. Her face was a little pale but looked not bad. Then she went downstairs to discuss with Ms. Zhao.
As she went down, she saw that Ms. Zhao looked worried and suddenly her eyes were light when found her. Ms. Zhao called her, "My lady?"
"I"m fine." Song Yixiao felt warm in her heart and nodded to her with a smile. When she decided to say her thought, she suddenly thought of something, "Where is Jinxun? Is she back?"
But Ms. Zhao looked shocked, "Didn"t you ask her to do anything? You just came back alone!"
"How come?" Song Yixiao was nervous and worried, "Find her quickly! I remember that she still chased me when I came out of my mother"s yard! We are in the prince"s mansion, not in the wilderness! How can"t she come back until now?"
"Maybe she thinks you haven"t come back and is finding you outside?" Ms. Zhao was also anxious. She comforted her, "Don"t worry. As you said, here is the prince"s mansion. Who dare to bully her? It"s the Princess Consort who manages the mansion!"
Although she said that, they still hurried to call free people in the Hanxia Villa to find her. After checking several times in the garden, Wei Mengying also heard that and sent servants to ask them what happened. But they still didn"t find Jinxun!
After dark, Song Yixiao looked paler and paler and wanted to borrow some people from Wei Mengying to find Jinxun again. At this time, two maids came from the flower path in front of her. One of them was Jinxun!
"How naughty you are!" Seeing Jinxun looked good, Ms. Zhao was suddenly angry and wanted to pat her, "Where did you go? Young lady is worrying about you!"
"Please don"t be angry! My lady saw that Jinxun fell down and her dress was dirty, which was not proper to go back like that. So my lady asked me to change her clothes so that we came back late." The maid staying with Jinxun immediately prevented Ms. Zhao and explained, "We should have sent people to tell Miss Song. But the Fourth Commandery Princess invited my lady as soon as she came back. Then she left so hurriedly that she forgot to tell you. When she returned just now, she let me send Jinxun to Hanxia Villa and express apology to Miss Song!"
Song Yixiao recognized the maid of Lu Chai"er was Hongchuang. She was doubtful in her heart, "Lu Chai"er usually dislikes me and shamed me at the feast of the Shangsi Festival. Why did she help my maid so kindly this time?"
But she couldn"t suspect Hongchuang"s reasonable words in public. So she just nodded, "How polite Sixth Young Lady is! I should thank her for she helped Jinxun. How can I ask her to apology? But it"s too late now and I"m afraid to bother her. I"ll go to appreciate her tomorrow!"
Hongchuang talked about with her politely for a short time and then left.
Song Yixiao went back to Hanxia Villa with her people and asked them to do their own jobs. Then she called Jinxun to go upstairs and asked, "What happened?"
Hearing her words, Jinxun suddenly burst into tears, "I really fell down by accident, but I didn"t make my dress dirty or meet Sixth Young Lady first. I saw Fifth Young Master and he treated me... Later... Luckily, Sixth Young Lady came across us and let him go. Then she took me to her yard and changed my worn dress. I sat there for a while. After I look better, she asked Hongchuang to send me back!"
"Lu Zimiao?" Song Yixiao snorted, "You have met him for many years and he never bullied you. Why did he bully you today? Mother is so clever. She introduces many terrible men to me. And before I get married, my maid has been humiliated!"
Wei Mengying gave her the list about people who proposed a marriage. Song Yixiao thought it had been spread out, which made Lu Zimiao believe she would be down and out. Then he dared to bully her maid. But she didn"t know that at present, Lu Chai"er was twisting her handkerchief and said to Hongchuang, "Brother was so bad. Song Yixiao was arranged by grandmother to attract Sister Roumei"s attention and will be Sister Roumei"s daughter-in-law. She is so poor. How can he bully her maid?"
Hongchuang comforted her, "You arrived in time and Jinxun was fine! Her clothes were just torn up. The Princess Consort gives Miss Song many clothes every year publicly or secretly. Will she lack new clothes for Jinxun?"
"In fact, I think it"s unnecessary for us to dislike Song Yixiao." Lu Chai"er shook her head and sighed, "Her beautiful dresses and nice food all belong to the prince"s mansion. We won"t possess the mansion in the future. Why do we feel uncomfortable for the prince"s mansion?"
When talking about Song Yixiao, she also thought of her marriage. "I"m just a concubine"s daughter and dare not compare with Fourth Sister. But I"m also Grandmother"s granddaughter. I hope she can let me marry an honest and sincere husband!"