"A good new year has been spoiled by this kind of person. What a disappointment."
Madam Hu stood up with some displeasure on her face.
The Second lady took a sip of tea with a strange look in her eyes. She called Jiang Nongqin over.
"When will you depart?"
Jiang Nongqin bowed her head and said respectfully, "In another five days, when everything in Hejian is settled, I'll depart for Xiangyang District."
The Second lady said, "Leave with Wan 'er as soon as possible. If you delay, I'm afraid there will be changes …"
Jiang Nongqin's expression changed and she said hesitantly, "But Madam, if that shrew comes again …"
The Second lady said scornfully, "So what if she comes? If she comes again, I'll break her legs. "
Although Madam Zhang was here to make trouble, she was right because the missing Shangguan Wan was indeed hiding in the Liu residence.
Shangguan Wan came to the Liu residence. Rather than saying that she left the divorce letter and ran away, it was more accurate to say that the Second Madam pitied her and gave her an idea and shelter. Otherwise, the grass on Shangguan Wan's grave would have been as tall as a person.
The Second lady had seen the smart and lively Shangguan Wan before. In her memory, this girl had always been a spoiled noble lady from a noble family.
However, when they met again, she did not expect that such a lively and beautiful girl would be tortured to such a haggard and lifeless state.
This matter had to start from three years ago. Shangguan Wan's mother passed away due to illness and her father then remarried.
The second wife was a noble lady from Zhongzhao and was not from a noble family.
She was just a second wife and did not have a high status requirement.
The second wife was a daughter of a concubine and did not bring a rich dowry. The only highlight was probably a few sets of the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women.
She claimed to be familiar with the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women and acted according to the contents of the books.
It was funny that her humble appearance made her sisters-in-law and mother-in-law feel comfortable.
The old lady was flattered and casually asked the second wife to teach Shangguan Wan well and not neglect her.
This second wife used a chicken feather as a token of authority and used the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women to teach Shangguan Wan.
How could Shangguan Wan agree?
As a noble lady from a noble family, she scoffed at the contents of the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women.
The mother and daughter who had married halfway were quite unhappy. At first, the Shangguan family was biased towards Shangguan Wan.
As time went by, the second wife became pregnant, so Shangguan Wan's advantage was instantly reduced, and she was suppressed by the stepmother.
The real trigger that led to Shangguan Wan's tragedy was her first engagement.
Originally, the man had said that he was willing to wait until she was out of mourning, but the stepmother had somehow heard that Shangguan Wan had once fallen into a bandit's lair, and she even said that Shangguan Wan was a girl who had lost her virginity. Of course, this was not said in public, but it was indeed spread.
His mother had read the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women and deeply felt that the contents of the books were very reasonable. She increasingly felt that marrying a girl like Shangguan Wan, who had lost her virginity, was a disgrace to the family, so she forcefully broke off the engagement.
Shangguan Wan's engagement was broken off because of her reputation as a "girl who had lost her virginity". Shangguan Wan became the joke of the entire Hejian County, and the Shangguan family was also deeply ashamed.
The second wife was "motherly and benevolent". She volunteered to teach Shangguan Wan and arranged another marriage for her.
As the legitimate son of the Zhang family in Hejian, his status was not as high as that of the Shangguan family, but it was not too bad.
However, Shangguan Wan later found out that her stepmother had sinister intentions.
The stepmother and Zhang Zhaoshi, who was also Mrs. Zhang who had just come to make a scene, were on good terms.
The legitimate son of the Zhang family turned out to be a naturally eunuch, and he was also weak and sickly. He was on his last breath and could not have sex at all. The stepmother arranged such a marriage for Shangguan Wan in the name of her own good, and directly pushed Shangguan Wan into the fire pit.
However, this matter was not over yet.
The sick legitimate son of the Zhang family was dying before the marriage. The stepmother persuaded Shangguan Wan to marry and become a widow with the excuse that "the marriage has been decided, and Wan 'er is the wife of the Zhang family. How can she marry someone else?" Her words were full of sarcasm, and she repeatedly reminded Shangguan Wan that she was a "girl who had lost her virginity". Zhang Zhaoshi refused to accept it. She said that Shangguan Wan had killed her son and insisted that Shangguan Wan marry over to keep her son's chastity.
Shangguan Wan was isolated and helpless. Almost all of her family stood on the side of her stepmother. She could only be forced to marry into the Zhang family miserably.
After the invalid died, she had to wear a wedding dress and marry a rooster. On the second day of marriage, she had to endure the sarcasm of her mother-in-law.
As the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women became popular in Hejian, Shangguan Wan's life became more and more difficult.
Not only her, but those noble ladies who had been involved in bandits were more or less affected.
The stepmother was on good terms with Zhang Zhaoshi, and she inadvertently mentioned that if a woman could not bear loneliness, she might commit adultery to vent her lust.
This was also an act of destroying one's reputation and chastity.
In Zhongzhao, unyielding widows would cut off their fingers to show their determination to keep their chastity. Zhang Zhaoshi was worried that Shangguan Wan was young and might make her son a cuckold. She hoped that Shangguan Wan could also cut off her fingers so that she could not bear loneliness and commit adultery. How could Shangguan Wan agree?
But she was alone in the Zhang family, and no one in the Shangguan family thought that she was innocent.
If she did not think of a way, she really could not live!
Zhang Zhaoshi pressed her step by step, and Shangguan Wan clenched her teeth and refused to agree. How much pressure was she under?
Finally, taking advantage of the opportunity to go up the mountain to worship Buddha, she simply chose to commit suicide.
In the end, she did not succeed, because she was stopped by the stepmother.
After listening to Shangguan Wan's experience, the stepmother could not help but think of herself, who was once alone and helpless. Her heart softened, and she agreed to save her.
After a few days, Zhang Zhaoshi's patience ran out, and she was ready to ask someone to cut off Shangguan Wan's fingers. She left a divorce letter and successfully escaped from the Zhang family with the help of the Liu troop. To be safe, she did not live in the Liu family, but in the troop camp instead. She hid there for more than half a year.
Half a month ago, her traces were accidentally leaked, and Zhang Zhaoshi repeatedly sent people to ask for her.
These people were all sent away, and in the end, Zhang Zhaoshi had no choice but to personally bring people over.
Because of this, Jiang Nongqin was not in the mood to eat the New Year's banquet, and her face had been gloomy.
Shangguan Wan had long changed out of her noble lady attire into coarse civilian clothes. She was now adapting well in the troop.
"Sister Nongqin, those people from the Liu family have left, right?"
A trace of fear flashed across her face, and she looked unusually nervous and fearful. She had completely lost her previous bravery and flamboyance.
"We have to leave for the north in advance," Jiang Nongqin said. "Lady Wan, let's go together. If we stay here, sooner or later, we won't be able to hide."
She could hide the first time, but she could not hide forever.
Shangguan Wan had left a divorce letter, but Zhang Zhaoshi had already determined that even if Shangguan Wan died, she would still be their soul.
If she was caught and brought back, she would probably be tortured severely. In less than ten days to half a month, the news of her sudden death would spread.
In the past two years, Jiang Nongqin had saved many women who had been forced into a corner. They were all victims of the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women.
Now that the world was already so difficult, why did they still impose so many cruel shackles on innocent women?
In this era where the clan's law was above the law, if the clan wanted to catch an unchaste woman and drown her in a pond, it would really be a dead end.
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