Chapter 394 Past Events
Shui Qing didn’t really like Ling Ce as a father.
His first wife died, and he married a childhood sweetheart in less than three months. She didn’t comment on this, but they already had a son, and he was only one year younger than Ling Ran. No matter how you look at it, she couldn’t agree with it.
She looked at Ling Ce quietly. Out of gratitude for his bringing troops to help, she didn’t refuse or agree immediately, but was very polite: “Governor Ling, you are too polite. Just tell me if you have anything to say.”
Ling Ce was not Bai Manshan and Li Huyu. The latter two were her friends and sisters, but Ling Ce was just Ling Ran’s father, a governor of the second rank.
Ling Ce heard Shui Qing’s answer and he didn’t understand.
She treated him as a governor and an official. He could bring up official matters, and she would do everything she could. As for private matters, she had to choose.
But when he came, there were only private matters.
He looked at Shuiqing's defensive and polite expression, and changed to talk about the past: "Rourou, Ran'er's stepmother, and I have known each other since childhood and have fallen in love with each other. We know each other and stay together;
My grandfather encountered mountain bandits when he was away, and was saved by Zhuneng, my father-in-law. In order to repay his kindness, my grandfather arranged my marriage. I couldn't resist and had to marry Ran'er's mother who didn't get along with me. In fact, I was in pain and resentful in my heart. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have separated from Rourou.
I only have Rourou in my heart. I did neglect her after marriage, but I gave her the position of mistress and the power to manage the family;
Rourou compromised for me and became a concubine. She was depressed and unhappy. She only entered the family after Ran'er's mother passed away. I gave all the respect and face I could give to Ran'er's biological mother, but my biological son still didn't understand. What else can I do?"
Shuiqing looked at Ling Ce's face full of pain, as if he was really enduring great pain and helplessness. She was only angry and had ten thousand greetings.
Fuck! If you want to repay a favor, repay it well. Jade from Hetian, crystal from the East China Sea, chicken blood stone from Changhua, pearls, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, or even gold and silver. Which of these is not repaying a favor?
See how Bai Manshan and Li Huyu repay her for saving Bai Ziqian's life? They just give, give, give! Gold leaves, fish maw, fabrics for clothes, and all kinds of gold and silver jewelry. Did she feel neglected? No, on the contrary, the friendship became stronger!
She snorted and couldn't help asking, "Why do you have to do all those nonsense? You could have just given more gifts in the first place. Is your grandfather repaying a favor or taking revenge?
You're repaying a favor like this. If you're taking revenge, what can you do to the Zhu family? I'm afraid it won't be so miserable.
In my opinion, it's better to be enemies. Maybe they don't particularly want to marry their daughter here."
Ling Ce's painful expression froze on his face, and he didn't know what to look at for a while.
In the past, some people blamed my grandfather for not arranging his marriage, but he was my grandfather after all, the head of the Ling family, the one who carried forward the Ling family, and Zhu Neng saved my grandfather, not only the savior of my grandfather, but also the savior of the Ling family. It was just his marriage, what did it matter as a favor in return.
They never thought of repaying their gratitude by getting married, is it what the Zhu family really wanted? Maybe they didn't think the Ling family was so good that they had to break up a marriage to marry into it.
But my grandfather has passed away for many years, and the son doesn't blame the father, let alone that it was my grandfather, and he, as a grandson, couldn't be unfilial.
"Besides, you are a grown man, and you have a beloved person who is dying and living, you can't resist, and you have to obey the orders of the elders to get married. You let Ling Ran's mother, a girl in the boudoir, rebel against her parents?
What do you think?" Shui Qing wanted to ask, you are so shameless! In the end, he changed to a more elegant way of asking.
"But, but I gave her the position of the principal wife and the power to manage the family, which should have originally belonged to Rourou." The painful expression on Ling Ce's face disappeared, and he explained anxiously.
How did it become his responsibility? He resisted, but he just didn't succeed.
But what Hu Shuiqing said made some sense. Zhu Shi might have opposed it, but it was not the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words, and she, a woman, couldn't compete...
Shuiqing was even more angry when she heard this, and she couldn't stop talking about it at this point, so she just went all the way and continued: "In your perception, is being the principal wife and managing the family a favor to women?
But if Ling Ran's mother doesn't marry you and marries someone else, she won't be the principal wife? As far as I know, the Zhu family is not at the point where they can't make ends meet, and they don't need their daughter to be someone's concubine."
Ling Ce shook his head. In fact, although his father-in-law was a military general, he had made great achievements in the war. Unless his daughter married a royal family, she could not be a concubine if she married any mansion.
When my grandfather proposed the marriage, my father-in-law agreed because he was attracted by the family tradition of the Ling family and him.
"Being in charge of the family is just nice to hear. Getting up early every day to issue matching cards, checking accounts, and making all the decisions at home and abroad. Making decisions means worrying and working hard. It's okay for the couple to work together, at least they can live a good life;
But my husband and I are not of the same mind, and there is "true love" outside. Isn't this a burden? One is to work every day, deal with a lot of interpersonal relationships, serve the parents-in-law and set rules every morning and evening... The other is to be with the sweetheart and live a simple life in the yard. If you were asked to choose, which one would you choose?" Shuiqing asked back.
Ling Ce was shaken.
Rourou often said that for him, she could give up the title of the main wife, and she could be wronged to stay outside, and she and his children could not enter the ancestral temple. He only saw Rourou's grievances. Today, after listening to Hu Shuiqing's words, it seems that he thinks that the gift and face given to Zhu Shi are not that good?
It can't even be considered a gift.
If it is not a gift to Zhu, then hasn't he owed Zhu these years?
But, "Why didn't she say it? She must want and fancy the family background of the Ling family, otherwise she wouldn't stay in the Ling family!"
Shui Qing was furious after hearing this: "Don't you know that a woman has no family after marriage? If she doesn't stay in the Ling family, where can she go? Besides, she already has a child."
Many parents in China still don't agree to their daughters' divorces, thinking it is a shameful thing, let alone here!
Ling Ce is not naive and doesn't understand, he just doesn't care, and keeps making excuses for him and that childhood sweetheart. After all, it is more difficult to admit your own mistakes, but it is easy to blame others and say that it is all someone else's fault!
The forced marriage was caused by his grandfather, and the inability to resist was because he was filial. Later, it was the problem of Ling Ran's biological mother, who shouldn't marry him.
And he and Xiao Qingmei are two unfortunate couples, who were separated abruptly in the front, and only after the death of the main wife did they achieve the right result.
No wonder Ling Ran looked down on his second-rank father and would rather escape than give up anything. If it were her, she would also look down on him!
This is a man without responsibility and accountability, but he is in a high position.