thebusnovel Chapter 91 All the mistakes are wrong, but I am not.
Chapter 91 All the mistakes are wrong, but I am not.
Madam Shen cried, "That heartless man is engaged, yet he actually claims that Wan'er and he had a secret affair, and that they made a pact that day to consummate their relationship. He's slandering Wan'er like this, and he can't even produce any evidence. But if this gets out, who will believe Wan'er?"
Shen Shixi sneered, "Has this matter become the talk of the town?"
Madam Shen said, "That's right! It spread that very day. The Zhou family deliberately stirred up trouble to ruin your third sister's reputation. When we went to question them, they turned around and accused your third sister of being immoral, saying they were willing to suffer a loss and take her as a concubine."
Shen Shixi was so angry she almost vomited blood. "So, our family should thank the Zhou family? They're related to the Song family by marriage, aren't they? It seems this is all aimed at me. I'm the one who dragged my third sister into this mess."
Madam Shen said, "How can this be your fault? It was the Song family who plotted against you first. We're all family, what's this talk of being implicated!"
The Shen family has strict family traditions. Apart from Shen Shixi, who is an outlier, everyone else is very kind and generous, and the brothers and sisters-in-law are also very close.
Shen Shixi asked, "So what are the family's plans?"
Uncle Shen said, "What else can we do? Wan'er's reputation is ruined, Jieyu is already in the palace, and Xiao Si is still unmarried. If she doesn't marry, wouldn't that damage your reputation? At least the Zhou family promised her a concubine..."
"If there's no arranged marriage, then there's no marriage. If she can't get married in the future, then she won't marry. I don't want to ruin my third sister's life. Why should my third sister marry into a family like the Zhou family? What good can come of it? I won't allow my third sister to marry into that family!"
Shen Shixian stamped her feet, tears welling up in her eyes.
Madam Shen started crying, and all her children and relatives wiped away tears.
Shen Shixi said, "Alright, it's no big deal. So what if you saw it? Reputation can be ruined or restored, it's not important. Fourth Sister is right, the Zhou family is not a good match. They do such despicable and vile things. Even if Third Sister can't get married, she shouldn't marry into that family."
Madam Shen nodded, fighting back tears. "As long as her brothers don't mind, what's wrong with supporting her for life? Old Madam, Master, I beg you, please let Wan'er stay!"
Old Madam Shen sighed, "Then she won't marry him. Tell the Zhou family that Wan'er will never marry into the Zhou family, even if she never gets married herself. Let them give up on that idea!"
The old lady was already feeling uneasy, and she was worried about Shen Shixi.
Shen Shijin has gone to the border, and now the eldest grandchild in the family is Shen Shiyu, who is furious. "The Zhou family is simply going too far, I will never forgive them."
Shen Shixi said, "You don't need to worry about this. Grandmother, Father, Second Uncle, please don't say anything about marrying off Third Sister anymore. She's still so young. In the future, girls in the Shen family will not get married until they are eighteen."
She's only fourteen now. In a few years, this will all be over, and then I'll figure out a good marriage for her."
Madam Shen was relieved. Putting everything else aside, among the current generation of the family, the second daughter was the most promising and capable. When the old master was still alive, he always regretted that the second daughter was not a boy.
Otherwise, being ennobled and appointed prime minister would be a given.
"Thanks to you, my dear older sister, I entrust the Third Miss to Consort Jieyu!"
"Second Aunt, you're too kind. You've said we're all family."
The gifts were all brought in and given to the old lady for her to distribute.
The old lady was a very wise woman. She treated all three branches of the family equally. The three Shen brothers were all her legitimate sons, and the sisters-in-law lived in harmony. Shen Shixi always regretted that she could not see the kind of power struggles that plagued the Shen family.
"Grandmother, Mother, I'm going to check on my third sister first."
"Second sister, I'll go with you."
"You sisters go ahead and talk amongst yourselves. I won't go," said Madam Shen.
The two sisters went to Shen Shiwan's boudoir. She was lying on the bed with a conspicuous ligature mark on her neck, indicating that she had attempted suicide but was rescued.
Shen Shixi was also startled, shocked and annoyed by the sight.
"So resolute, huh? Not afraid of death at all? Should I teach you a way to die? Right now, Beisha and Da Zhou are at war. You could disguise yourself as a man and die on the battlefield. Even if you're just cannon fodder, you'd still have the merit of serving your country loyally!"
Shen Shiwan struggled to her feet, tears streaming down her face. "Second sister is deep within the palace; she hasn't heard the rumors circulating outside. They're truly horrible!"
Shen Shixi said, "So what? You're going to commit suicide? If you die, people outside won't say anything? You're wrong. People will say that the Shen family produced a loyal and virtuous woman who died just because she saw a man's naked body. What a pity!"
You're willing to kill yourself over the word "what a pity"? You think death will solve everything, but have you considered your family? What will happen to them?
Shen Shiwan burst into tears, "I knew I was useless. I shouldn't have let that bastard go back then... I shouldn't have let him go back then."
The head maid said from the side, "Second Miss, Third Miss didn't see much, she only saw the back of that bastard. He only took off his back at the time."
"Ouch!" Shen Shixi covered her head, so angry she felt like she was going to vomit blood. She thought she had seen everything, which was indeed disgusting and not worth it. But even if she had seen everything, what could she do? Gouge out her eyes?
"You've really made something of yourself, Shen Shiwan!"
Shen Shixian chimed in, "Third sister, have you forgotten what second sister said before? Is this your fault? You're punishing yourself for someone else's mistake."
Shen Shixi sat down on the edge of the bed. "Alright, you did something stupid. I don't want to talk to you about it now. You know you were wrong, right?"
Shen Shiwan was filled with shame and nodded.
"It's fine if you admit your mistake and correct it! I've spoken to my family and they won't let you marry into the Zhou family. I'll figure out a way to arrange your marriage in the future..."
"Second sister, I don't want to get married!" Shen Shiwan said.
"Whether I get married or not is a matter for the future, we'll talk about it later," Shen Shixi said. "Let's just let this matter go, I won't let you suffer. You need to pull yourself together. Just because others talk about you, you'll stop living? Are you living for others to see?"
"I don't want to drag you and Fourth Sister into this."
"If you die, we'll only hate you, not be grateful to you!" Shen Shixi said irritably.
She smoothed the hair at Shen Shiwan's temples. The bond between the sisters wasn't particularly deep. She had always been a cold person, but the third and fourth sisters were both sister-obsessed, and only about her, so there was nothing she could do.
"Exactly!" Shen Shixian chimed in. "I told you, Second Sister would definitely scold you if she found out. Humph, serves you right!"
Shen Shiwan turned her head away in shame. "I was confused for a moment. Thank you, Second Sister. I feel so ashamed, and I've tarnished Grandfather's good name!"
"If your grandfather knew how useless you were, believe it or not, he'd want to crawl out of his coffin and give you a good beating!"
Shen Shixian chuckled, "Second sister, the one Grandfather clearly wants to beat the most is you!"
Shen Shiwan mainly didn't want to marry into the Zhou family, but she also understood that her family had no choice but to make this arrangement; otherwise, she would never have been able to get married in her life.
For women at that time, not being able to get married was worse than death, as it would tarnish the family's reputation and also bring shame upon their sisters.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, she wondered what her second sister would do if she were in that situation—she would definitely beat that person up, but she was too terrified to react at the time.
The Zhou family brought many people with them, and she was pointed at and gossiped about. Zhou Yongyu also falsely accused her of coming to keep a date and that the two of them had arranged to have an affair.
She was speechless and could only cry, becoming increasingly passive.
She hated herself for being so stupid.
"Luckily, I have my second older sister!"
"Can I help you for a while, or for a lifetime? Okay, don't do such foolish things again. Here's the thing: everyone makes mistakes, but you don't make mistakes yourself. Even if you do, it's because someone else made you make a mistake."
Got it?
Shen Shiwan couldn't accept it. After all, she had been taught since childhood to "examine herself three times a day," and now she was being asked to have such an arrogant mind. She was very hesitant.
However, her second sister was too fierce, so she could only nod. "Second sister, how are you doing in the palace?"
The two sisters were very worried about her.