Chapter 480
“A fine New Year’s Day is spoiled just like that by such a person . ”
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Madam Hu got up with an unpleasant look on her face .
The Second lady took a sip of tea with a strange light sparkling in her eyes . She called for Jiang Nongqin .
“When are you leaving?”
Jiang Nongqin lowered her head and replied respectfully, “I’ll leave for Xiangyang District in another five days when everything in Hejian is arranged properly . ”
The Second lady said, “Leave with Wan’er as soon as possible . I’m afraid that there will be changes if there is a delay . ”
The look on Jiang Nongqin’s face changed . She responded hesitantly, “But Madam, if the shrew comes again…”
The Second lady scorned, “So what? If she comes again, I’ll just break her legs . ”
Although Mrs . Zhang came to create trouble, she did not stir up trouble for nothing because the missing Shangguan Wan was indeed hiding in the Liu residence .
Rather than saying Shangguan Wan escaped after leaving behind the divorce letter, it was better to say that the Second lady gave her a suggestion to hide in the Liu residence and provided her with a shelter upon seeing that she was so pitiful . Otherwise, Shangguan Wan would already be dead a long time ago .
The Second lady had once seen the clever and lively Shangguan Wan . In her memory, the girl had always been an aristocratic lady born to a distinguished family, who was raised in luxury .
However, when she met her again, she did not expect that the bright and beautiful young lady had actually been tortured into a haggard and lifeless girl .
This matter had to be explained from what happened three years ago . Shangguan Wan’s mother died of illness and her father remarried after that .
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His second wife was an aristocratic lady who was not considered to have come from a rich and powerful family in Zhongzhao .
She was just a second wife, so she did not need to have an esteemed identity .
His second wife was born of a mistress, so her dowries were not abundant . The only highlight was probably the few sets of Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women .
She claimed to have read the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women thoroughly and she behaved according to the contents of the book .
It was funny . With her humble and lowly appearance, she served her sisters-in-law and mother-in-law well .
Her mother-in-law was treated so comfortably that she casually asked his second wife to educate Shangguan Wan well and not neglect her .
His second wife then treated her mother-in-law’s casual marks as an order and made a big fuss about it . She taught Shangguan Wan by using the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women .
Why would Shangguan Wan agree to it?
She had the arrogance of an aristocratic lady . She despised the contents of the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women .
The stepmother and stepdaughter did not get along well . At the beginning, the Shangguan family was biased towards Shangguan Wan .
As time went by, his second wife became pregnant . Shangguan Wan’s superiority instantly weakened . Instead, she was trampled upon by her stepmother .
The last straw that led to Shangguan Wan’s tragedy was her first engagement .
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The man originally said that he was willing to wait for her to cease mourning . However, her stepmother heard from somewhere that Shangguan Wan had once fallen into the trap of the bandits . She actually said that Shangguan Wan was a girl who had lost her virginity . Of course, this was not said in public, but it was circulated .
The man was disgusted . His mother read the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women again and deeply felt that the contents of the book made a lot of sense . The more she read, she more she felt that marrying a girl like Shangguan Wan, who had lost her virginity, would bring disgrace to the family . She forcefully broke off the engagement .
Shangguan Wan became a joke across the entirety of Hejian because her engagement was broken off due to her being called ‘the girl who lost her virginity’ . The Shangguan family was also ashamed by it .
Her ‘motherly’ and ‘kindhearted’ stepmother volunteered to educate Shangguan Wan and fixed her another marriage .
He was the son born of the legal wife of the Zhang family in Hejian . The family’s status was incomparable to the Shangguan family, but they were not too bad .
However, Shangguan Wan only found out later that her stepmother had malicious intentions .
Her stepmother had a good relationship with Zhang Zhaoshi, who was Mrs . Zhang, who had just come over to stir up trouble .
The son born of the legal wife of the Zhang family was impotent . Moreover, he was weak and had ill health . He was about to die, so he could not be humane at all . Her stepmother set up the marriage in the name of Shangguan Wan’s benefit and pushed her into the fire pit .
However, the matter was not over yet .
The ill son born of the legal wife of the Zhang family died before his marriage . Using the excuse that the marriage had been fixed, she said that Wan’er was already married into the Zhang family and that she could not marry anyone else . With this, she persuaded Shangguan Wan to marry into the Zhang family as a woman who remained unmarried all her life after the death of her betrothed . The implicit and explicit meaning of her words were filthy . She reminded Shangguan Wan over and over again that she was ‘a girl who lost her virginity’ . Mrs . Zhang said that Shangguan Wan had killed her son and insisted Shangguan Wan to marry into the Zhang family and preserve her chastity after the death of her husband .
Shangguan Wan was isolated and helpless . Her family was almost on her stepmother’s side . She could only be forcibly married into the Zhang family in misery .
Her ill husband was dead, so she had to wear a wedding costume and marry a rooster . The second day after her marriage, her mother-in-law gave her a dig .
As the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women became popular in Hejian, Shangguan Wan’s life became tougher and tougher .
Not only her, but the aristocratic ladies who had once fallen into the bandits’ trap were more or less affected .
Her stepmother and Mrs . Zhang were close . They unintentionally mentioned that if a woman could not stand the loneliness, she might masturbate to vent her desire .
This was also an act of destroying one’s reputation and integrity, and considering a violation of chastity .
In Zhongzhao, an upright and unyielding woman who remained unmarried all her life after the death of her betrothed would break her fingers to show her determination in keeping her virginity . Mrs . Zhang was worried that Shangguan Wan might cuckold her son because she was young . She hoped that Shangguan Wan would break her fingers, so that she would not masturbate when she could not stand the loneliness . Why would Shangguan Wan agree to that?
However, she was lonely and helpless in the Zhang residence . No one in the Shangguan family felt that she was innocent .
She really could not live anymore if she did not think of some other way!
Mrs . Zhang pressed on her and Shangguan Wan refused to agree no matter what . The pressure that she had to bear was massive .
Finally, she simply chose to kill herself when she went up the mountain to prostrate herself to the image of Buddha .
She did not die in the end because she was stopped by the Second lady .
Hearing Shangguan Wan’s experience, the Second lady could not help but think of herself, who had once been lonely and helpless . Her heart softened and she promised to save her .
In a few days’ time, Mrs . Zhang ran out of patience and planned to ask someone to chop off Shangguan Wan’s fingers . But Shangguan Wan he left a divorce letter and successfully escaped from the Zhang residence with the help of the soldiers from the Liu residence . In order to be safe, she did not stay in the Liu residence . She lived in the soldiers’ camp instead . She had gone into hiding for half a year .
Her trace was accidentally leaked half a month ago . Mrs . Zhang had repeatedly sent people to the Liu residence to ask for Shangguan Wan .
These people were all removed . At last, Mrs . Zhang had no choice but to take some people with her and go to the Liu residence in person .
Because of this, Jiang Nongqin was not in the mood for the New Year’s banquet . She had been wearing a gloomy face .
Shangguan Wan had already abandoned her aristocratic attire and changed into coarse civilian clothes . She was adapting well in the new environment with the soldiers .
“Sister Nongqin, have the people from the Zhang residence left?”
A trace of fear flashed across her face . She looked unusually nervous and fearful . She lost all the bravery and aggressiveness that she once had .
“We have to travel north in advance,” Jiang Nongqin responded . “Let’s go together, Lady Wan . You’ll be exposed sooner or later if you stay here . ”
One might get off that day, but not necessarily the next day .
Shangguan Wan left the divorce letter behind, but Mrs . Zhang firmly believed that even if Shangguan Wan was dead, she was a part of their family .
If she was caught, she would probably be tortured harshly . One would hear the news about her sudden death in a matter of days .
In the past two years, Jiang Nongqin had saved a number of women who were at the end of their ropes . They were all victims of the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women .
The world today was already so difficult . Why were so many cruel shackles imposed on innocent women?
In the era when the patriarchal clan system was above the law, it was really a dead end when a clan wanted to drown a woman who had lost her virginity .
A slight hesitation flashed across Shangguan Wan’s haggard face . She immediately steeled herself and said, “Okay . We’ll leave this place . ”