The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

Mrs. Jiang waved her hand, and a group of old women surrounded Jiang Caiyue and wanted to take her away.

"Mother, let me go!" Jiang Caiyue struggled.

Xia Mianwan stood aside, folding her arms and watching the show with a smile on her face.

After the maid held Jiang Caiyue down, Madam Jiang wiped the sweat from her forehead due to her anxiety and said, "Take the young lady away."

"Yes!"

As the words fell, a group of old women and maids took Jiang Caiyue out of Huayuxuan.

When Mrs. Jiang saw her daughter leave, she looked at Xia Mianwan with displeasure, "Madam Xia hasn't even gotten married yet, and you're already saying this, isn't it a bit..."

Mrs. Jiang's unfinished intention must be that Xia Mianwan has no manners and no shame.

Xia Mianwan was puzzled. "Hey, what identity does Madam Jiang have to speak to me like this? If I were someone else, I would only think that Miss Jiang is coveting someone else's husband even though she hasn't been engaged yet, and is provoking others. This is because I haven't married Pei Yanxu yet. If we were married, Miss Jiang's behavior would make me think that the daughter of the Minister of War loves my husband so much that she wants to become his concubine!"

"You!" Mrs. Jiang was so angry that her eyes widened and she didn't know what to say for a moment.

Xia Mianwan said coldly: "Madam Jiang, what happened today is because Miss Jiang didn't know etiquette and didn't follow the rules. But I'm getting married soon after all, and I don't want to make a big fuss, so I won't care about it. Once you leave Huayuxuan, no one will know about what happened today as long as you don't say anything."

Mrs. Jiang didn't expect Xia Mianwan to turn the tables, but what her daughter did today was indeed inappropriate. If it gets out, her reputation will be ruined. The daughter of the Minister of War can't really become someone else's concubine, right? Even if she wants to, her master won't agree. If her master knows, he will either beat Jiang Caiyue to death or send her to the family temple.

He didn't know what was wrong with his own daughter. She fell in love with Pei Yanxu like crazy and kept saying that she wanted to marry Pei Yanxu.

It’s not like the Jiang family hasn’t tried before, but they just refused to respond!

Madam Jiang thought about it and couldn't figure out how to save face, so she could only put it aside for now. She looked up at Xia Mianwan for a while, and said expressionlessly: "Madam Xia, I don't want anyone else to know what happened today."

Xia Mianwan blinked and said, "Of course."

"Madam Xia, after all, you are going to move around in the circle of noble ladies in the capital. With your status and your inability to tolerate being bullied, I'm afraid it will be bad for Lord Pei. An unvirtuous wife is a disaster for her husband." Madam Jiang said lightly.

Xia Mianwan said sarcastically: "What's wrong with my status? Why should I be bullied? Madam Jiang, please don't worry about my affairs. Don't worry, I have received your advice. Since I have such a bad temper, I will try my best to make others bear my anger in the future."

Madam Sang couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Mrs. Jiang didn't expect Xia Mianwan to be so shameless, and she turned around and left in anger.

When Madam Sang saw Madam Jiang leave, she pulled Xia Mianwan aside and said worriedly, "Mianwan, will you offend anyone by doing this?"

Xia Mianwan comforted her, "Don't worry, Sister Sang. I've offended you anyway. There's no way to change my identity. I'm a divorced woman. The emperor has issued an order, and these ladies still dare to bully me. If I were too weak, I would have no place to stand in the capital. It's different now than in Yanzhou. In Yanzhou, I needed to be careful, weigh the pros and cons, and plan, but now I don't have to. My strength is no longer comparable to that of the Zheng family, and I don't need to live such a hard life anymore. So, there's nothing wrong with being a little arrogant, so that those blind people don't come to me every day to disgust me."

Madam Sang watched Xia Mianwan travel all the way from Yanzhou to the capital, and she knew very well how hard it was for Xia Mianwan to live a good life under the influence of the Zheng family."

For a moment, heartache surged into Madam Sang's heart again.

When Xia Mianwan raised her eyes, she saw the caring look on Mrs. Sang's face, and the anger in her heart that was provoked by the Jiang family dissipated little by little.

"Sister Sang, stop talking about these unhappy things. Let's pick out some dishes. After that, I'll take you to see the small building at the end of the street." Xia Mianwan coquettishly took Sang's arm.

"it is good!"

……

The three-story building that Xia Mianwan bought was at the end of Hengyang Street, which was lined with shops selling rouge, powder, silks and satins.

Xia Mianwan and Mrs. Sang came out of Huayuxuan, turned left, and walked all the way to the small building.

From the outside, the small building doesn't look like it has been idle for a long time, and the walls still look shiny.

Madam Sang couldn't help but ask, "Mianwan, this little building looks very new!"

Xia Mianwan nodded and pointed at the small building and said, "This building used to be a restaurant, but the business was not good and it lost more and more money. After losing money for a year, the owner couldn't stand it anymore and planned to sell the building and return home."

Madam Sang looked around and said in surprise, "There are only clothes and jewelry shops around here. How can we keep the restaurant open? But...if this is the case, if we open a singing and dancing hall, will our business be affected?"

Xia Mianwan replied, "Yes, I hesitated before buying it. But later I thought about it carefully. It's really hard to buy a single-family house in the downtown area of ​​Beijing. There are very few people who want to buy it. This is really a golden opportunity. I thought that if the dance hall can't continue, I can just use it to collect rent."

Madam Sang nodded and said, "That's right."

Xia Mianwan walked forward and Ruzhu helped them open the lock.

While Xia Mianwan was showing Lady Sang the building, she continued, "You know, if it doesn't work out, I think we can turn it into a girls' academy."

"Women's Academy?" Madam Sang asked loudly.

Xia Mianwan nodded and said, "Yes, that was my original plan. I thought that after I had settled all the arrangements for my marriage, I would start looking for a female teacher and a nanny. I didn't intend to have someone teach only music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Music, chess, calligraphy and painting are all things that are only learned by rich girls. And my first women's academy is intended for... ordinary civilian girls. Therefore, I wanted to find someone to teach some basic etiquette, arithmetic, embroidery and other skills that can allow girls to support themselves."

Mrs. Sang listened carefully and found what Xia Mianwan said very interesting.

"What then?" asked Madam Sang.

"Then, it was my sister Yu who told me that the rent here is very expensive. If we want to open a women's academy, or for ordinary women, we can open it near Sister Zhou's house. It's really a waste here. So, I thought about it for a long time and finally came up with it. We can still use this place to open a singing and dancing hall, but we have to add some novelties and create a gimmick like "Gu Meng"!" Xia Mianwan's eyes were shining when she talked about her ideas, more beautiful than the stars.

Madam Sang nodded gently, "I didn't expect Sister Yu to be so smart. We have already looked at the layout of this place. In fact, it doesn't take too much time to turn it into a singing and dancing house. Then let's do it here. I will talk to a few permanent opera troupes first, and then I will select some girls to train."

Xia Mianwan smiled and handed the key to Madam Sang, "Sister Sang, I'll leave it to you. I'll join you when I'm done with this."

"Of course, you are going to get married."