Red Mansion: Holding Space and Marrying Like the Sea

Facing Mrs. Wang's angry and questioning eyes, Wang Zisheng just frowned slightly, and then slowly said: "Sister, what your two sisters-in-law said just now is not unreasonable. You are now a married daughter and you should do your duty when you return to your parents' home. How can you be so unscrupulous and give orders? What's more, as a grandfather, I naturally hope to find a good marriage for Yi'er with a well-educated and well-mannered family. Yi'er has loved reading since he was a child. He will definitely take the path of imperial examinations and official career in the future. If you really marry him a woman who doesn't know etiquette, wouldn't it delay his future? So this matter needs to be considered carefully." These words seemed reasonable, but the implicit sarcasm was obvious.

"Hmph! What are the so-called daughters of scholars? Those scholars who are extremely poor may call themselves noble if they put it nicely, but what are they in reality? To put it bluntly, they are just poor!" Mrs. Wang muttered disdainfully.

"That's right! As the saying goes, 'A scholar is good for nothing'. A noble family like ours, which family would be interested in a family like that? Even if they were to marry into the family, how many of them would have a good ending?" Mrs. Shi Wu echoed from the side.

Mrs. Wang had never had a favorable impression of the daughters of noble families. This was especially true of her eldest sister-in-law, Jia She's first wife, and her second brother Wang Ziteng's wife. They all looked down on her, both in public and in private, and oppressed her in every way, until she felt a sense of suffocation. Therefore, Mrs. Wang had a deep dislike for the daughters of such families.

However, what is puzzling is that Grandmother Jia chose the scholar Wang Yi and insisted that Wang Yi's marriage be arranged either from within the Jia family or within the Shi family. To this end, even the wife of the Shi family was brought to the Wang family, along with Lady Wang.

"Sister, what you said is too biased! What your sister-in-law expects is the daughter of a prominent family, not an ordinary scholar." You must know that there is a world of difference between the noble and the prominent family. The former is just emerging and showing its edge; while the latter is a famous family that has gone through years of sedimentation and inheritance.

Comparing the two, it was undoubtedly the latter who was more favored and loved by the public. Even the two brothers, Wang Zisheng and Wang Zisheng, were more fond of the latter. Even if the latter was of noble birth, it was still better than the ignorant Jia family, and even better than the historians.

"If you don't want to, then don't. Brother, why do you have to belittle me like this?" Mrs. Wang was extremely angry. She gritted her teeth, her eyes were as big as copper bells, and she shouted with anger on her face. At this moment, she was like an enraged lion, her whole body emitting uncontrollable anger.

"Hmph! How could a girl from my Jia family worry about not getting married? Do I have to cling to your Wang family for dear life?" Mrs. Wang's voice rose in pitch as she spoke, her voice rising involuntarily. She knew full well that while she didn't have much maternal affection for Tanchun, a concubine's daughter, she was, after all, the younger sister of the Imperial Concubine, and had been lovingly nurtured and raised by her mother herself. If the Jia family hadn't seen the Wang family's impending rise to prominence and promising future, how could they have allowed them to take advantage of such a huge advantage?

Thinking of this, Mrs. Wang's anger burned even more fiercely. She stared at the other person, her eyes filled with anger and unwillingness. The person standing opposite her was speechless at the sight of such a furious Mrs. Wang, not knowing how to respond.

After a brief stalemate, Mrs. Wang, seeing the other party's continued silence, said coldly, "If you don't want to, then there's nothing to say. Just don't regret it later." As soon as she finished speaking, she snorted loudly and turned away without looking back. Her resolute back seemed to tell everyone that she would never give up.

Mrs. Shi, who was standing by, saw this and knew it was not a good time to stay here for long, so she quickly found an excuse and hurriedly left. For a moment, the originally noisy scene suddenly became quiet, leaving only the tense atmosphere in the air.

Mrs. Wang boarded the carriage in a rage, slumping heavily onto the soft cushions. Her fury still burned fiercely, unable to subside. A servant girl, trembling with fear and care, carefully and respectfully held a cup of steaming hot tea before Mrs. Wang, hoping to calm her master's anger. However, Mrs. Wang, so enraged, couldn't even drink her tea. With a sudden wave of her arm, the cup flew out like a kite with a broken string, crashing to the ground with a crisp, cracking sound, and the scalding tea splattered everywhere.

"Hmph! How can I swallow this anger so easily? I must let those ignorant fellows taste my power and show them a lesson!" Mrs. Wang muttered indignantly, her beautiful eyes wide open, revealing a hint of coldness.

Just then, a concerned voice echoed from afar, "Second Sister, how are things going?" It was Grandmother Jia. Standing beside her, Tanchun pricked up her ears, afraid to miss a single word. It turned out that Tanchun had a crush on Wang Yi. Among his many relatives, Wang Yi was not only well-read but also handsome, a young and promising young man, naturally winning Tanchun's heart. Furthermore, Wang Yi's handsome face had captivated countless young girls.

Facing the inquiries of Lady Jia and Tanchun, Lady Wang was reluctant. She really didn't want to talk about this matter any further, and she didn't want others to know that her two brothers from her mother's side actually looked down on her. But under the pressure of Lady Jia's authority, she had to answer. So she had to bite the bullet and pretend to be calm. She spoke reluctantly and slightly embarrassedly, "In reply to what the old lady said, they said they want to find a well-educated and well-mannered woman from a scholarly family to be their daughter-in-law. You know, Brother Yi is a scholar. We can't find him a wife who can't even talk to him..."

After hearing what Lady Wang said, Tanchun felt aggrieved but could not get angry. She secretly glanced at Lady Jia, who frowned slightly, as if she had different thoughts.

"Hmph! What good can a daughter of a scholar have? Since ancient times, it has been said that a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent. All that reading and studying are things that men should do! What's the point of us girls reading so many books?" Grandmother Jia shook her head and complained with dissatisfaction on her face.

She went on, "It's enough as long as she can recognize a few contracts and calculate accounts... Besides, when marrying a wife, she should marry a virtuous person. In a noble family like ours, the most important thing is to be well-matched! Those girls who only know how to study, no matter how talented they are, may not be able to enter our family!" After saying this, Grandmother Jia sighed lightly, as if she was quite helpless about the current social trends.

At this moment, Li Wan, who had been sitting quietly by the side without saying a word, suddenly smiled and said softly, "Grandma, what you said is very reasonable! However, it is not difficult to understand why the Wang family acted this way. After all, they also love their children with all their hearts and eyes, and they only want to find a good wife for their children to recite poems and discuss literature with. However, in my opinion, the quality of the daughter-in-law you marry ultimately depends on whether there is that rare fate. Take our brothers Bao and Lin Daiyu for example. They stick together all day long, writing poems and painting. The deep friendship they have is naturally incomparable to anyone else!"

After hearing Li Wan's words, everyone present nodded in agreement. Madame Wang quickly took over and said, "What Daughter-in-law Zhu'er said is quite right. This matter, indeed, cannot be rushed. We need to observe carefully and consider it carefully before we proceed." Upon hearing this, Lady Jia couldn't help but laugh. Then, waving her hand, she said, "Alright, alright, let's not talk about this matter today. Let's just treat it as a casual chat and don't start any more arguments about it!"

Tanchun, standing nearby, breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, thinking to herself that there seemed to be a chance for a change, a chance she still had. After the crowd gradually dispersed like a tide, Tanchun cautiously looked around. Seeing that no one was paying attention, she quickly reached out and grabbed Li Wan, dragging her to a corner. Lowering her voice, she anxiously asked, "Sister-in-law, although today's matter has been put on hold for now, what should we do next?"

Li Wan sensed Tanchun's inner uneasiness and gently patted her trembling hand. She soothed her softly, "Third sister, please don't be so anxious. Although the old ancestor currently holds this attitude towards this matter, as long as we can find the right moment and then persuade her with both reason and emotion, there will definitely be room for maneuver."

After hearing this, Tanchun nodded slightly to show her agreement, but her beautiful eyes still revealed a hint of worry that was difficult to conceal.

Just as the two sisters-in-law of the Wang family were whispering to each other, they suddenly heard the sound of light footsteps. Then a clever and well-behaved little maid ran into the room and said in a crisp voice, "The eldest and second masters are back!"