Half in the river wind, half in the clouds

Jiang Fei began to become abnormal. She often became dazed and habitually giggled. When she heard a sound, she would hastily lift the curtain to check, and then come back disappointed. Her hairpin-flowered small calligraphy was stained with ink one by one...

Jiang Fei likes Gao Hui!

Jiang Feng speculated with her nearly 30-year-old mind, but what about Gao Hui? Well, it doesn't matter if she doesn't like him. She herself had a crush on a boy from the next class when she was or years old, but she couldn't even remember his appearance. The youthful mentality probably won't last long.

Jiang Feng thought about it carefully while slowly walking to the main room. Just as he was about to open the curtain to go in, he heard Aunt Gao sighing, "This time he was beaten hard by his father."

Jiang Feng stopped walking. There was silence inside for a while, probably because Aunt Gao had drunk a bowl of tea. Then she said, "I have watched Ah Fei grow up, and you know I like her. Who would have thought that this silly boy would refuse to marry her to Ah Fei, but he couldn't tell the reason. His face turned red and his mouth was as tight as a saw-mouthed gourd. His father beat him with a stick, but he didn't say a word, just stood there and disagreed."

"Quickly persuade Brother Gao not to hurt the child." Jiang's mother said anxiously.

"How could I give birth to such an evil creature!" Gao's mother sobbed softly, then thought for a moment and said tentatively: "As a mother, I couldn't bear to see my son being beaten like that, so I stopped him. Then the boy told me the truth, he wanted to marry Afeng..."

There was a light "pop" sound, as if someone had knocked over a teacup. Jiang Feng was greatly moved and moved closer. He heard Jiang's mother lower her voice and said anxiously, "Sister-in-law, don't make such plans! Sister-in-law is not someone else. Our two families have known each other for nearly 20 years and are treated as relatives. Sister-in-law told me all this today, and I will not hide it. Although Gao Hui is unwilling, I think Ah Fei is concerned. If she turns around and talks about Ah Feng again, how will Ah Fei deal with it in the future?"

"Sister, I know you have chosen the young man from your sister's family for Afeng. But I am also a mother. A girl's marriage is her second life. It is a major event in her life and cannot be taken lightly! Although they are relatives, the Wen family is far away in Youzhou. You only have one daughter, how can you bear to marry her so far away? I dare not say that marrying Ahui is a perfect match, but I dare say in front of you that Ahui and I will never treat Afeng badly." Aunt Gao was obviously anxious.

The room was silent for a long time, and then Jiang's mother's cold voice came: "Sister-in-law, how could I not know what you said? Afeng looks gentle, but she is actually very upright. I thought that although my sister's home is far away, Yuanhe is honest and can take more care of Afeng in the future. As for other things, Yuanhe is naturally not as good as Ahui! But I can't just because Afeng is my biological daughter..."

"We are not the kind of people who change our minds every day. We are not abandoning Fei and choosing Feng. Our two families have a very good relationship, and our children grew up together, so naturally their feelings are different from those of others. But after all, the matter between Hui and Fei was only mentioned when they were babies. Now that we are discussing marriage, it is natural that we will exchange two for one. To put it bluntly, just because Feng is your biological son, do you have to settle for second best?" Gao's mother still did not give up.

Jiang's mother sighed and said, "It's hard for sister-in-law to think so highly of that girl. She always looks obedient in front of outsiders, but in fact she is very stubborn and naughty. Sister-in-law is probably fooled by her. This is one reason. Second, although Ah Hui and Ah Fei did not have a clear path, mother-in-law has already decided that Ah Hui will be her second grandson's son-in-law. Naturally, we can't go against her wishes. Third... Third, Ah Feng is young and has always had bad health. When she was nine years old, the old abbot of Huanhua Temple also said that she had a bad fate and no blessings. There is no way to delay Ah Hui!"

Gao's mother heard Jiang's mother's gentle tone, but there was no room for maneuver. Moreover, for her, although she liked Jiang Feng more, it was okay to marry Jiang Fei as a daughter-in-law. She couldn't help but sigh: "If Feng heard what you said, I don't know how sad that girl would be! Forget it, I'd better persuade that evil creature in the family again!"

"What are you doing here, Miss San? Why don't you go in?" Aunt Yun suddenly asked from behind, holding freshly washed grapes. Jiang Feng was eavesdropping and was startled by the sudden shock. He hurriedly explained, "Yuzhi's Persian cat is missing. I just saw it wandering around here, and it disappeared in the blink of an eye." As he spoke, he pretended to walk away.

Jiang Feng's heart was cold. It was impossible for her not to feel sad. In her mother's eyes, she was not worthy of marrying such outstanding men as Shen Guxing and Gao Hui! She was perverse and unlucky. It was a great blessing for her to have an honest man like her cousin Yuanhe willing to marry her.

It wasn't that she had to marry Gao Hui, but when it came to discussing marriage, she realized how popular Gao Hui was in the marriage market.

Gao Hui was born into a family of military generals, a legitimate "second generation" military general. His father was one of the "Three Tigers of the Northwest" and a well-known figure in the Liangzhou garrison. The other two tigers were the fathers of Qin Ru and Guan Shanyun.

Gao Hui himself has excellent hardware and software, and his appearance is handsome and elegant. Although he was naughty and mischievous when he was a child, once he grew up and inherited his father's business, everyone found that a tiger father will have a dog son. Even the always picky General Guo favored him and wanted to marry his granddaughter Qinru to him.

Those young girls who were just beginning to fall in love had no idea how many times they were jealous of him, how many quarrels they had, and how many lawsuits they had. Qin Ru and Jiang Fei, as the best girls, were typical representatives. They had been fighting for Gao Huiming and secretly for many years.

Since Jiang Feng completely accepted the situation of being ignored by her father, mother and grandmother, she had to start looking for a way out for herself. She used to take Yuan Ying as her role model and wanted to find a way out that was not dependent on others, but Yuan Ying's tragic ending made her alert: Yuan Ying's success was certainly due to her personal reasons, but more of it was due to the power of her family. She came from Chang'an, was born into a royal family, and had served the empress, so as soon as she arrived in Liangzhou, she set the trend, and what she wore and what she painted on her face were imitated by a group of girls. The reason why her industry expanded rapidly was that the Yuan family also contributed a lot behind the scenes.

Once the Yuan family fell into trouble, even though Yuan Ying was a genius, she was unable to turn the tide. Instead, those in power coveted her wealth and killed her.

Apart from Yuan Ying, there are very few women who have made a career in history. A large number of independent women have been drawn to the entertainment industry and used their beauty to seduce men. Although the social status of women in the Qing Dynasty has improved, it is still an extremely unfriendly era for women. Comparing the two, Jiang Feng still thinks that getting married is less risky.

From then on, Jiang Feng’s only way out was to get married.

In fact, she didn't need Jiang's mother's harsh scolding and attacks, as she had already humbled herself to the dust.

That elegant young man in Chang'an, on that tipsy evening, no matter how beautifully she described their first encounter under the apricot blossoms and drizzle, no matter how graceful and affectionate he was, she kept her distance carefully - Qi Da Fei Ou. How could she reach such a brilliant young man with such a rich family background!

She had originally had a glimmer of hope for Gao Hui. They knew each other well and could be considered childhood sweethearts. More importantly, Gao Hui and Aunt Gao both liked her. Even if the love faded after many years and the other party could not resist the temptation and took a concubine, it would not matter. By then, she would have a lot of children and become the mistress of the house, right? As long as she was open-minded, she could even play mahjong and Pai Gow with a few concubines.

But the astute old lady Jiang seemed to have seen through her thoughts long ago, and kept a close watch on her and Gao Hui. Whenever the two had any contact, they would be beaten. After being beaten and forced to kneel in the ancestral hall again and again, Jiang Feng realized that for the sake of Jiang Fei's interests, old lady Jiang would resolutely block her from marrying Gao Hui.

She even set her sights on the infamous eldest son of Guan, Guan Shanyun! Guan Shanyun had a bad relationship with his father, and ran away from home at the age of fifteen or sixteen. He has traveled all over the mountains and rivers for more than ten years. Outsiders said that he visited prostitutes, kept concubines, and did not work properly. Jiang Feng envied his free and easy life. She tried to please Guan Shanyun all the way, hoping that he would take her as his wife one day. She didn't care about his unruly life as a prodigal son, and treated his unaccepted confidante well; he guaranteed her a free and comfortable life in the inner house, and when he was in a good mood, he would drag her around the world.

Of course she was rejected. Although Guan Shanyun was unruly, he had a strong sense of responsibility. He married a like-minded wife, not a partner who only took what she wanted.

Now, Jiang Feng knew that Jiang's mother had completely rejected Gao Hui, and he no longer had any illusions in his heart, either about Gao Hui or Jiang's mother.

Jiang's mother and father's first wife were distant cousins. Before the first wife died, she arranged for Jiang Lan to marry Jiang's mother's nephew. It didn't seem wrong when she was young, but Jiang's mother's nephew grew up to be absurd, eating, drinking, whoring and gambling all day long. The 16- or 17-year-old boy had concubines all over the house and was said to have syphilis.

When the original wife died, Jiang's mother married in as a second wife. She knew her nephew's character very well and was determined not to push such a good girl like Jiang Lan into the fire pit. Even though she broke off completely with her natal family, she still ruined Jiang Lan's miserable marriage and quickly arranged for Liu Nezhi. Liu's brother-in-law was young and promising, and he valued friendship and loyalty. Jiang Lan lived happily after marrying him.

At this time, the Gao family arranged a good marriage for Jiang Fei.

From this we can see that Jiang's mother has a very good eye for choosing a son-in-law, but she just doesn't want to use it on Jiang Feng.

She seemed to have seen a cramped and boring future. Her husband was dull and boring. She had to make a living under the control of her strict aunt and mother-in-law. She gave birth to children one after another like a rabbit. Her youth passed away little by little, and finally her beauty became withered bones, returning to dust in the indifference of a group of people.