Seeing Yu Shi’s angry face, the elder Yu Shi stopped pretending to be pitiful.
"I'm deliberately making things difficult for you? I think you're deliberately making things difficult for me. When we agreed on something, you just refuse it?" The elder Yu Shi shrieked in a sharp voice, "You ungrateful wretch, if it weren't for me when you were little, you would have starved to death!"
The elder Yu Shi brought up the past. Yu Shi sneered, "Elder sister, you tell me yourself, how have I treated you? When you had a hard time at the Ge family, I gave you all my dowry behind Mingyue's father's back. What is a dowry? It's the foundation for a woman to establish herself in her husband's home, it's about whether I can hold my head high. Even though I didn't care about myself, you think I wasn't trying to make your life better? After brother-in-law passed away, I subsidized you frequently. The food I saved, the money I accumulated, wasn't it all sent to your family as quickly as possible? In your eyes, all of this means nothing?"
"Your husband's family treated you well, that's why you gave me these things. If they hadn't, would you have been willing to give them to me? Besides, who knows what you were thinking when you sent me those things. To me, you were deliberately showing off how well you were doing." The elder Yu Shi spoke with righteous indignation, "Your intentions were impure, and yet you're blaming me."
Yu Shi was deeply angered, panting heavily. The elder sister she had treated with her whole heart, looking at her like this behind her back. How ridiculous that she had never realized her elder sister's true thoughts, and had even thought of matching their children, to strengthen their kinship. But what was the result?
A pair of ungrateful white-eyed wolves.
"Say whatever you want. I believe I've done all I could and should. When I die and meet our parents in the afterlife, I can hold my head high. I haven't mistreated you all these years." Yu Shi gritted her teeth and squeezed out the words. "Stop making a scene. I already made myself clear when I visited you the other day. From now on, we'll go our separate ways and never see each other again. I'll pretend I don't have you as a sister. As for your son Ah Sheng becoming an official through his studies, we don't have such good fortune, and we won't benefit from you. Your family will walk your sunny road, and we'll walk our single-plank bridge."
After speaking, Yu Shi stood up and ushered her out.
"You say you won't agree to the marriage, and that's that?" The elder Yu Shi sneered, "Don't blame me for disregarding our sisterly bond and spreading this news. Then let's see if your Mingyue can still get married. My Ah Sheng is a man and a scholar, so he'll definitely not have trouble with his marriage. So, you better think carefully. Although Mingyue is a bit useless, I am her maternal aunt, and I wouldn't truly treat her badly, would I?"
Yu Shi now felt disgusted by the woman before her. This was not the elder sister she had respected, but a black-hearted, white-eyed wolf.
"You don't need to worry about it. Mingyue is my daughter. Even if she can't get married, I won't consider your Ah Sheng. I'd rather raise her myself for a lifetime!" Yu Shi said fiercely. "Don't think I don't know about your family's dirty little secrets. If you want no one to know, you shouldn't have done it in the first place. You know exactly what your Ah Sheng did! Don't treat everyone else as fools! If you dare to say anything negative about my Mingyue, I will immediately announce that Ah Sheng had premarital relations. Let's see if he can still achieve fame and bring you honor!"
Now it was the elder Yu Shi who was panting with anger. She hadn't known that her younger sister knew this. She had warned Ah Sheng to handle this matter properly, but before it was even resolved, her younger sister found out.
"What do you want?" The elder Yu Shi wilted like a fish thrown onto shore.
"After all, we are related by blood. I don't want things to get too ugly. Let's each live our own lives from now on. Whether it's good or bad, it depends on our own abilities. I won't rely on your blessings, and you shouldn't covet our family." Yu Shi said.
The elder Yu Shi's plan was to have the Song family sponsor Ah Sheng's imperial examinations in the future. The higher he climbed, the more money it would cost, which was beyond her current means. She had meticulously planned, even envisioning how many maids would serve her, but she never expected her younger sister to break off the engagement.
"Little sister, we are sisters. We are connected even if our bones are broken. Ah Sheng and Mingyue are cousins by age. Are there any more suitable matches than them? Ah Sheng did do something foolish, but that's because he was young and inexperienced, and was deceived. Don't worry, I will keep a close eye on this matter in the future. We can't ruin the good marriage of the two children because of this small matter. As the old saying goes, it's better to dismantle ten temples than to break up one marriage." The elder Yu Shi stared intently at Yu Shi, trying to persuade her.
Young? Inexperienced? Deceived?
It was truly remarkable that the elder Yu Shi could say such things. Ah Sheng was a man, a man who had studied the classics. It seemed more likely that he was the one deceiving others. With the elder Yu Shi's words, it was as if the other girl was in the wrong. One wondered what she would think if she knew what the elder Yu Shi had said.
"You think this is a small matter, but I don't. He hasn't achieved fame yet and hasn't married, and he's already flirting around. If he truly succeeds, won't he start acting like characters in plays, with three wives and four concubines? Our Mingyue cannot afford such a good marriage. Whoever wants it can have it!" Yu Shi spoke rapidly.
"Little sister, how can you think like that? Having three wives and four concubines is legal in our Great Feng. Wealthy families have more than three wives and four concubines. Furthermore, Ah Sheng is a scholar. Who would find fault with scholars being passionate and amorous? Others might even praise him as a young man full of affection! Don't worry, our Mingyue is the primary wife, and no one else can surpass her."
Her words were grand and righteous, as if Ge Yusheng marrying Song Mingyue as his primary wife was a great honor for the Song family.
Yu Shi laughed with anger, "This good fortune, let it be for those fortunate girls. Our Mingyue doesn't have such good fortune."
Song Mingyue, who had been held back, could no longer bear it. She broke free from Qi Zhenzhen's grasp and said in a clear voice, "Mother, why are you still talking nonsense with this person? Just kick her out. Our family is common folk, and we should live our own lives honestly. We shouldn't have any aspirations of climbing too high! Let their family have three wives and four concubines! Do you really think your Ge Yusheng is a coveted delicacy that everyone desires? Let me tell you, I never fancied him from the start. He's weak and full of pedantic talk, it's disgusting!"
Ge Yusheng was the elder Yu Shi's darling, whom she doted on and cherished. She wouldn't even say a harsh word to him herself. Everywhere they went, people admired him and praised him. When had he ever been so disliked?
"You ill-mannered brat, you have no upbringing. Don't say that I and Ah Sheng dislike you, just look at yourself. What good family would want someone like you? You're incredibly stupid and lack all the proper etiquette a young lady should have!" The elder Yu Shi pointed at Song Mingyue's nose and scolded her!