Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, "It's okay. Father has been an official away for almost ten years. He must have adapted to it long ago. I will write a letter to father and ask him to give you to us sisters. I think father will definitely give us sisters this face." After saying that, he asked Ma Fushan's family to prepare pen and ink.
Lanting finally understood.
It turned out that the sisters had already discussed it and decided to keep her in Jinling no matter what she said.
This must be Zhou Chujin’s idea!
She immediately knelt down and hugged Zhou Shaojin's legs, crying, "Second Miss, please send me back to Baoding? You have no idea how hateful the Li family is. They married Li into the family not because of the master's character and talent, but because they saw that the master was in a high position and could help them get through the officialdom so that they could do more business. They didn't care if the master was embarrassed or if doing so would affect the master's reputation. They just wanted to suck the master's blood..."
But Zhou Shaojin was so frightened by her pounce that his face turned pale. He stood up with a "bang", but before he could avoid her, he was hugged by Lan Ting.
Zhou Shaojin felt very embarrassed looking at Lan Ting crying at his feet.
In my two lifetimes, no one has ever cried in front of me like this.
She hurriedly said, "If you have anything to say, stand up and speak."
Lan Ting hugged her even tighter.
Ma Fushan's face turned red with anger, and he went up to her and pulled her: "Why are you crying like this in front of the Second Miss?"
She was quite strong, and Lan Ting was dragged here and there by her, but she refused to let go: "Second Miss, I'm not doing this for myself, I'm doing this for you and the eldest lady. You don't know, as soon as Li got married, she took away the portrait of the lady. If the master hadn't reprimanded her, she would have thrown it away. The master said he would take you and the eldest lady to take up the post and asked her to clean up the house, but she was reluctant. Later, Mrs. Guan wrote to ask to keep you sisters, and it was Li who instigated the master to let you and the eldest lady continue to stay in the Cheng family. She wants to sever the relationship between you and your daughter..."
Zhou Shaojin found this annoying.
Li had selfish motives, but didn't she have any herself? Since they were both the same, why blame others
Seeing that Lan Ting refused to let go, she had no choice but to scare him and said, "If you do this, I'll call someone in."
Zhou Shaojin is a gentle person in nature. Even when he loses his temper, there is a hint of gentleness in his every move. It is impossible for him to intimidate Lan Ting. Instead, she managed to escape from Ma Fushan's house in no time.
Zhou Chujin came out from behind the screen with a livid face: "What are you going to do? Force the Second Miss to obey you? How can you, as a loyal servant, do such a thing?"
Lan Ting's eyes sparkled when he looked at Zhou Chujin.
If she hadn't been bribed by Li, how could she have ended up like this
She remembered clearly that Li had given her sisters nearly five hundred taels of silver as private money. With this amount of dowry, an ordinary family could find a man with all the limbs intact to marry, even a cripple.
"Miss, you are only the stepdaughter of the Madam after all." Lan Ting looked at Zhou Chujin with a look that was like a knife tempered with poison. "No matter what, this is also the Second Miss's business. You'd better not withdraw your hands from the Second Miss's business."
She knew that the eldest daughter of Jinling's Zhou family was in charge, and she also knew that she could not defeat Zhou Chujin. But her affairs had come to this point, and she could not withdraw even if she wanted to. She might as well take the opportunity to sow some seeds of salt between Zhou Chujin and Zhou Shaojin. She did not believe that there was no rift between the two half-sisters. Even if there was not, Zhou Chujin had such a strong personality, Zhou Shaojin would definitely be wronged sometimes. As long as Zhou Shaojin remembered her words when he was wronged, it would be fine.
Zhou Chujin was so angry that his face turned pale. He ordered Ma Fushan's family: "Call two maids in and tie the man up."
Ma Fushan's family hurried out to call for help.
Lan Ting jumped up and pounced towards Zhou Shaojin.
She wanted to hug Zhou Shaojin's arm and hide.
But in Zhou Chujin's eyes, it was not the case.
She thought Lan Ting wanted to use Zhou Shaojin to threaten her.
Zhou Chujin was horrified and shouted loudly, "Shaojin, get out of the way."
Zhou Shaojin was already alert. Before Lan Ting got close to him, he turned around and ran to the floor-standing pillar next to the armchair.
Lanting failed.
Zhou Chujin took two steps at a time and stood in front of Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin hurriedly went to pull Zhou Chujin: "Sister, sister, I'm fine." He wanted to stop Zhou Chujin behind him.
Zhou Chujin remained unmoved, sneered at Lan Ting, and said, "What? Do you still want to hurt someone?"
A fierce light flashed in Lan Ting's eyes, but before he could take any action, Ma Fushan's family came running with two sturdy old women.
Zhou Chujin's heart skipped a beat when he saw the light in Lan Ting's eyes.
She shouldn't have let Zhou Shaojin come over.
Lanting is now like a trapped beast with no where to go, and will fight back with all his might.
Without thinking, she pulled Zhou Shaojin and hid behind a pillar.
Lanting chased after him.
Zhou Chujin and Zhou Shaojin hid behind the flower table and picked up a flower pot, ready to smash it if Lan Ting came after them again.
Ma Fushan's family was so frightened after seeing this scene that they rushed towards Lan Ting regardless of everything.
Lan Ting staggered and fell to the ground.
The two servants immediately ran over, tied Lan Ting up, and blocked her mouth.
Zhou Chujin was so angry that he was shaking. It took him a while to find his voice: "Call the pawnbroker to sell this ungrateful thing to me."
Zhou Shaojin was shocked and quickly hugged his sister's arm, comforting her: "Don't be angry, don't be angry. Be careful not to get sick from anger."
But I sighed quietly in my heart.
Things have finally come to this point.
It can be seen that some things can be changed, but some things cannot be changed.
So can her fate and the future of the Cheng family be changed or not
Zhou Shaojin was a little confused at this moment.
Zhou Chujin pulled Zhou Shaojin away, looked her up and down, and asked with concern: "Did she hurt you?"
Zhou Shaojin shook his head.
Zhou Chujin paused for a moment and whispered, "I know Lan Ting was left behind by mother, but you didn't see her eyes just now... I felt cold in my heart when I saw her, so it's better to send her away." He added, "After all, she served mother and stayed with father for so long, I won't treat her badly."
My sister must be afraid that she will feel uncomfortable!
"I know, I know." Zhou Shaojin leaned against his sister and whispered, "Sister, you don't have to worry about me. Just deal with her as you want. Although I feel sorry for her, I know the story of the Zhongshan Wolf."
Zhou Chujin touched her head and smiled with relief.
Over there, some people from Ma Fushan's family had already tied up Lan Ting. After hearing Zhou Chujin's instructions, she hesitated and said, "Miss, are you really going to call someone from the dental clinic?"
The Zhou family has never sold anyone.
Zhou Chujin nodded and whispered, "This person cannot be kept."
"Then the two young ladies go upstairs and have some tea and rest for a while." The man from Ma Fushan's family said, "Leave this matter to me."
Zhou Chujin nodded and told her: "Find a man who wants to remarry his wife after she died. No matter how much silver you sell her for, give 20 taels to the person who bought her and say it's my dowry. If there is anything in the future, you can come to you. But you must stay with Lanting and don't let her run away."
Ma Fushan's family responded and left.
Lan Ting was pressed to the ground, sobbing, staring at Zhou Chujin with red eyes.
Zhou Shaojin felt cold in his heart as he looked at her, so he took Zhou Chujin's shoulder and walked out: "Sister, let's go to the upper room!"
Zhou Chujin also didn't want his sister to see this dirty scene, so he followed Zhou Shaojin out of the main room.
The two of them sat down in the banquet room in the upper house and drank a few sips of tea before they calmed down.
Ma Fushan's family had brought the dental office staff over and asked Zhou Chujin if he wanted to meet them.
"No need." Zhou Chujin said tiredly, "Just do whatever you want."
Ma Fushan's family nodded and withdrew.
Zhou Chujin said to Zhou Shaojin: "When I think about the life I will have to live like this in the future, I feel that getting married is meaningless..."
Zhou Shaojin was stunned.
In her two lifetimes, this was the first time that her sister had spoken such true feelings to her.
She walked forward and squatted in front of her sister, holding her sister's hand, and said sincerely: "No! Brother-in-law is a very good person. He will protect you from the wind and rain. You and brother-in-law will definitely live in harmony and grow old together."
Zhou Chujin blushed and said shyly, "Little girl, you dare to say anything. Don't let anyone hear it."
Zhou Shaojin said with a grin, "If you don't believe me, you can ask someone to find out! My brother-in-law is a very good person."
Liao Shaotang is really a very good person.
Before the marriage, there was a concubine, but she was sent away after the wedding date was set. After that, she and her sister were always on good terms. No matter what the Liao family said, or when the Cheng family got into trouble later, my brother-in-law always protected my sister.
It would be better if we could have a child earlier.
Zhou Shaojin decided to embroider the Guanyin statue for her sister as soon as possible.
If she was lucky enough to follow Mrs. Guo to Mount Putuo to worship next year, she would offer a sutra to pray for her sister. As for herself... She was still young and would have another chance in the future.
Zhou Shaojin stood up with a smile.
Ma Fushan's family broke in.
"Miss, Miss," she said in a panic, "Go and have a look! Lanting has started talking nonsense again."
The teacup in Zhou Chujin's hand fell onto the coffee table with a clang. "Then tell her, does she want me to give her a mute drug and sell her out? Or does she want to walk away with her life intact?"
Ma Fushan's mouth twitched, but he stood there without leaving.
Zhou Chujin raised his eyebrows.
Ma Fushan took two steps forward and whispered in Zhou Chujin's ear: "Lan Ting said that the wife was killed by Cheng Bo."
Zhou Chujin jumped up.
Zhou Shaojin didn't know what was going on. He nervously pulled his sister's hand and asked, "What's wrong? What's wrong?"
Zhou Chujin didn't say anything, his eyes stayed on Zhou Shaojin's face.
She thought of how her sister looked when she was just born and was swaddled; how she smiled shyly at her when she did something wrong and was scolded by her; how she sobbed quietly in her arms when she was wronged... But more than that, she thought of how her sister made clothes for her, how she giggled while hugging her arms, and how she wanted to stop Lan Ting because she was afraid that she would hurt her.
My sister is growing up slowly.
I know how to feel sorry for her and care about her.
Zhou Chujin's eyes became moist, and she said with a determined look, "Shaojin, come with me!"
※
Sisters, today’s extra update!
The update is scheduled for around 9pm.
※(To be continued)