Chapter 479: Marriage of the Dead, a Woman Who Remained Unmarried After the Death of Her Betrothed (II)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Second lady admired her nails with a disdainful look in her eyes.
“You’ve heard it. The person you’re looking for isn’t here. If you keep being unreasonable just because there’s no man in the Liu residence, this won’t end here. The Zhang family is also considered a distinguished family. As for you, what are you?!”
The Second lady’s words had finally roused Mrs. Zhang’s anger. It was as if her glare could squirt venom.
Taking a deep breath, she clenched her fists, embedding her slender nails in her palms with a grim smile on her face.
“What do you mean, Mrs. Meng? She’s hiding here. It’s obvious that you’ve taken away the Young Lady of the Zhang residence. Even if Liu Zhongqing isn’t around, he has to give me an explanation too!”
Mrs. Zhang satirized Gu Zhen mystifyingly and deliberately stressed the pronunciation of the words “Mrs. Zhang”.
Was there a lady in Hejian who did not know about the background of the Second lady, Gu Zhen?
Her husband was originally Meng Zhan of Changzhou. But she was unfaithful to her husband. After divorcing her husband, Meng Zhan, she married her brother-in-law right away. No one had seen such a shameless woman before.
A virtuous woman would not remarry and a woman would not have two husbands. How could the Liu clan not drown a woman like Gu Zhen, who had lost her personal morals?
Hearing the way Mrs. Zhang addressed her, the Second lady, Gu Zhen, had an even graver look on her face.
Mrs. Zhang thought that she had gained the upper hand, so she could not help but raise her tail, gloating.
“A married woman should treat her husband as her everything and be faithful to her husband until death. This is how a woman should behave and the virtue she should uphold. I heard that when Mrs. Meng was still in Cangzhou, you were unfaithful to your husband. Meng Zhan only divorced you to care for the honor of the two families, instead of casting you off and sending you home. It’s not that I’m a bigmouth, but you should really read the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women and understand what a sense of shame means.”
Once those words were spoken, the entire room was silent.
Madam Hu secretly glanced at the Second lady’s face which had already turned extremely grave.
The Second lady took a sip of tea to suppress the rage that rose in her like a tide.
Mrs. Zhang continued, “My daughter-in-law is unfaithful to her husband and has taken the liberty to abscond. Such a sinful woman has ruined the honorable reputation that the Zhang family has maintained for hundreds of years. Of course, we have to take her with us and denounce her. As for Mrs. Meng… let me give you a piece of advice. You’re no good yourself, so mind less of other people’s business… Ah!”
Leaning against the support, the Second lady splashed the tea in her tea cup towards Mrs. Zhang’s face. Seeing that her face was stained with tea and tea residue, the Second lady laughed out loud, uncaringly.
The room was still. There were only Mrs. Zhang’s uncomposed scream and the Second lady’s oriole-like, euphonious laughter.
“I, Gu Zhen, was born into a real notable and distinguished family. A woman born in a humble family that’s in a straitened circumstances like you shouldn’t talk.” The Second lady straightened her clothes and continued arrogantly, “Zhang Zhaoshi, as a lost child, you’ve indeed soared aloft overnight by marrying the Zhang family’s only son. You’re of a humble origin, so you look down upon and despise yourself and treat your husband as your everything. I can understand that. After all, the more inferior a woman feels, the more she looks up to the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women as the standard. Am I right?”
There was a malicious look in Mrs. Zhang’s eyes. Jiang Nongqin, who sensed her murderous intention, instantly responded.
She stepped forward to capture Mrs. Zhang. Realizing that something was not right, the people from the Zhang residence wanted to save her, but they did not expect to be held down by the retainer of the Liu residence.
“Why don’t you check the situation of the Liu residence before creating trouble here? Besides, you have to remember something…” The Second lady walked towards Mrs. Zhang haughtily and aggressively, pinching her chin with her manicured fingers.
“Call me Mrs. Liu. If you address me wrongly, your life will be in danger.”
Mrs. Zhang was struck dumb. She suddenly understood why she had failed in asking for Shangguan Wan when she sent some people to the Liu residence previously.
Upon hearing that the Second lady wanted to kill, she was so horrified that her heart was pounding and her face had turned pale.
“Do you dare to do so?”
She initially did not want to look for Shangguan Wan at the Liu residence personally, but Shangguan Wan had indeed slapped the Zhang family in the face by escaping after leaving behind a divorce letter.
Zhang Zhaoshi could not swallow her anger and went directly to the Liu residence to ask for Shangguan Wan on New Year’s Day. She also wanted to give the Liu family a piece of her mind.
However, she had forgotten that all kinds of evil forces were all useless in the face of absolute power!
Ever since the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women became popular in Hejian, the aristocratic ladies had made Gu Zhen an outcast and avoided her in all activities.
However, these aristocratic ladies had also forgotten that Gu Zhen had always liked to stay at home. She did not even bother to communicate with them.
However, Gu Zhen had more or less given everyone an illusion by not showing up for a long time…
Liu She’s wife, Gu Zhen, a vulgar woman who had remarried and had two husbands, had no right to be on equal footing with them.
All of a sudden, the Second lady asked rhetorically, “Why not? Who gives you the illusion that makes you think that I don’t have the guts to do so?”
After that, she suddenly grasped Mrs. Zhang’s lower jaw, forcing her to come closer to her.
With her plump, red lips, the Second lady uttered words that made Mrs. Zhang shiver from head to toe. “You’re just someone born in a poor and humble family, so you have a narrow worldview. By reading the ridiculous Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women, your brain that’s already stupid becomes even more stupid. If you don’t believe it, you can ask your husband this: if I take someone with me and smash the Zhang residence’s door in, would he dare to confront me? If he dares to do so, my name, Gu Zhen, will be reversed!”
After letting go of Mrs. Zhang’s lower jaw, Gu Zhen took out a handkerchief and wiped her hands carefully, as if she had touched something dirty.
She said in a seemingly unintentional manner, “Sure enough, you’re born in a poor family. You’re very ignoble-spirited…”
Mrs. Zhang was so enraged that her face turned livid. However, Nongqin’s hands were like eagle’s claws, confining her so tightly that she could not break free.
“Since you’re so proficient in the Four Self-accomplishment Classics for Women, can you tell me if a woman should offer her apology with death if her body is seen by a strange man?” The Second lady returned to sit in the front seat and leaned against the support lazily. “I remember that you made a living from sewing before you got married and often have dealings with the merchants of the embroidery workshops. You fell into the water one year and you were rescued by a few villagers who passed by… Tsk, tsk. I wonder how many times have you made your husband a cuckold?”
The Second lady covered her lips with her sleeve with ill intentions in her eyes.
“This matter can’t be concealed. Let me ask the patriarch of the Zhang family tomorrow if such a shameless woman like you should be drowned to preserve the Zhang family’s reputation. After all, death by starvation is preferable to loss of chastity. You should die to prove your innocence.”
Mrs. Zhang’s face was ghastly pale, for fear that the Second lady would kill her.
Although she felt that Gu Zhen would not dare to do so, her life was important and she could not take risks.
“See her out!”
The Second lady suddenly glowered and flourished her sleeve as she gave the order to throw Mrs. Zhang out. Nongqin escorted the distinguished Mrs. Zhang out like she was shooing a chicken.
Madam Hu said with a smile, “You’re really not afraid of trouble.”
The Second lady squinted her eyes and responded indifferently, “What is there to be afraid of when I’m under my brother-in-law’s wings?”