Chapter 1 Great honor, a decree to bestow marriage
Spring of the fourth year of Jingyang in Dongchen Kingdom
In the courtyard of the Zhenbei General's Mansion, which is paved with bluestones, there are people kneeling on the ground.
A man wearing a blue round-collar robe and a blue gauze hat with fair skin held a bright yellow imperial edict in his hand. The father-in-law said loudly in a high-pitched voice: "The emperor's decree is destined to be the daughter of Lin Qingxue, the daughter of Lieutenant General Lin Zhong." The virtuous and virtuous Hui Zhi Lan Xin is specially granted a marriage to Song Heng, the general of Zhenbei, who is an equal wife. If they find a good time and auspicious day, they can get married!"
After reciting the imperial decree, the servants all knelt behind him and looked at him. Kneeling next to the general was the general's wife, Mrs. Shen.
This lady also did it. If she had agreed earlier to let Miss Lin come in as a concubine, she would not have ended up in this situation today. Now the emperor has decreed that Miss Lin should become a general and have an equal wife. She is not even qualified to object. ,. Moreover, everyone inside and outside the imperial city knew that the wife of the Zhenguo General’s Mansion was a petty and jealous man who would not tolerate country women.
This lady is really... To use an old saying, if you lose your wife, you will lose your troops!
Shen Wan's face turned pale. If she hadn't been holding on, she would have collapsed on the ground at this moment. No matter how much she objected, it would be useless. Lin Qingxue would eventually enter the Song family. The world would probably laugh at her to death. Her life and death prevented her husband from taking a concubine, but now she was originally a concubine, but the emperor granted her a marriage to her husband as an equal wife. The emperor granted her the marriage and she was so honored that she, the head wife, became a joke.
She knew that she was too unkind and ungrateful to not let Lin Qingxue in. But she just wanted her husband to keep his previous promise, so what was wrong with her?
Song Heng frowned with worry and glanced at his wife kneeling beside him. When he saw his wife turning pale, he frowned even more. He didn't expect that this matter would reach the ears of the emperor. The emperor ordered the marriage to be granted.
"General Song's Miss Lin is not going to accept the order soon." The father-in-law Liu Cheng who delivered the order smiled and looked at Song Heng kneeling in front of him and Lin Qingxue kneeling behind him.
General Song and Miss Lin are a perfect match! General Song is handsome and mighty, and Miss Lin is beautiful, gentle and generous. On the other hand, the general's wife... Liu Cheng glanced at Shen Wan with the end of his eyes. A look of disdain.
However, a talentless, colorless country woman entered the imperial city with the help of General Song and became the general's wife. However, she did not know the general situation and did not know how to advance or retreat. She objected to General Song's acceptance of the daughter of his savior and made a fuss. It was known all over the city. She didn't even think about it, if it weren't for the fact that Lieutenant General Lin blocked an arrow for General Song, could General Song come back alive? She actually opposed General Song's acceptance of Miss Lin as an orphan. The person who entered the house really didn't know what repaying a favor meant. When the emperor learned about it, he was very angry, so he personally issued a decree to marry her, so that she had no qualifications to object.
Song Heng raised his hands above his head and said loudly: "Long live my emperor, who has received the order to thank the Lord for his kindness. Long live all things."
Lin Qingxue also followed up with a soft voice: "Long live the Five Emperors, long live the five emperors who received the decree."
Liu Cheng placed the closed book with the imperial edict in Song Heng's hand, and then Song Heng stood up. Others followed suit and stood up one after another.
"Madam..." Qiu Ju helped Shen Wan up with a worried look on her face. If she had known this, she should have persuaded the madam to agree to the general taking a concubine.
Miss Lin's status as concubine's wife and head wife is much higher than that of Miss Lin. Now Miss Lin is going to marry the general as his wife, and it is also a marriage granted by the emperor. In the future, Miss Lin will probably be suppressed everywhere. Mrs. Lin is one of a kind. It turns out that Miss Lin is also very good at being a good person. Except for Mrs. Lin, no one in the whole family likes her.
Shen Wan stood up and she wouldn't have been able to stand at this moment if it weren't for Qiu Ju's support.
"Aunt Lin, it's great that you can finally marry my father." The girl wearing a pink skirt with her hair combed on her temples inserted two pink beaded flowers. The little girl grabbed Lin Qingxue's hand and was very happy. said.
Shen Wanyou swayed and almost fell down. She held Qiu Juyou's hand tightly, and her heart hurt as if she was being pricked by needles. Because the girl who spoke like a girl was only twelve years old. Daughter Song Ziyu. Lin Qingxue was about to marry her husband and become an equal wife. Her daughter was extremely uncomfortable, but she was happy for Lin Qingxue. Was she really wrong?
"Aunt Lin, should I call you Erniang from now on?" Lin Qingxue asked her with a boyish smile on her chest.
This little boy is none other than Shen Wan, who has a son, Song Ziling, who is only nine years old.
The son's words were like a heavy punch. Shen Wan had pain in her chest and she couldn't breathe. She was a failure as a mother. She worked hard to raise her children and turned to outsiders but not to her. .
Lin Qingxue blushed and bit her lip. She shyly glanced at Song Heng who was sending her father-in-law out and said coquettishly, "It's still early! The date hasn't been decided yet!" Ling and Ziyu, her equals, naturally wanted to call each other. She is called "Second Mother".
Mrs. Liu couldn't help but sigh when she saw her daughter-in-law, whose face was pale and looked like she would fall down at any moment.
She shook her head and whispered: "If I had known today, why did I do it in the first place!" She had already agreed to Qingxue's entry and there would have been no such problems.
"Mother..." Shen Wan's open-mouthed throat seemed to be blocked by a big stone, unable to say anything.
"Sister...I'm sorry." Lin Qingxue walked up to Shen Wan and looked at her with a guilty face.
Shen Wan pursed her lips, and a bitter taste spread in her mouth.
The servants in the general's palace looked very guilty when they saw Miss Lin apologizing to the madam. They all thought how could there be such a kind-hearted woman in the world! It was obviously the madam who was hard-hearted and refused to let her in. Now the emperor gave her a gift. She felt guilty when she got married and even apologized to Madam for getting married. There is a difference between a rich lady who knows books and etiquette and a village woman who comes from the countryside. Madam and Miss Lin standing together are completely different. .
It’s no wonder that the lady didn’t agree to let the general take Miss Lin as his concubine! She was probably afraid that if the general took this young, beautiful, well-educated and polite girl, she would lose sight of her as a bad wife!
"Aunt Lin, you're right to say you're sorry?" Song Ziyu raised her chin and glanced sideways at her mother. It was clearly her mother who was at fault.
Aunt Lin's father died to save her father and she became an orphan. Before her death, Aunt Lin's father entrusted Aunt Lin to her father and made her father Na Lin his concubine. But her mother refused to agree and said she didn't care about Lin. Aunt Lin can marry anyone, but she can't be a concubine for her father. She even argued with her father several times over this. A few days ago, Aunt Lin knelt in the rain and begged for her mother, but she was so hard-hearted that she refused. This made Lin Auntie Lin, who had been ill for several days, secretly left the General's Mansion after she recovered. If she hadn't found out in time that she had nowhere to go, Auntie Lin wouldn't have known where she was now!
Thinking of Aunt Lin lying on the hospital bed, she felt that her mother was good or bad.
"No..." Lin Qingxue shook her head and said with a pair of red almond-shaped eyes: "It was my fault if it weren't for my emperor... Anyway, it's my fault..."
"No" Song Ziling interrupted Lin Qingxue's words and raised her round face and said: "Aunt Lin, you are not wrong."
It's his mother's fault. His mother is a petty and jealous woman. It's because his classmates in his mother's college are laughing at him and he doesn't want to go to the college now.
Looking at Shen Wan, who had a pair of children standing next to Lin Qingxue, she felt chilled and heartbroken. If Lin Qingxue hadn't been unable to give birth to such a big child at her age, she would have thought that these two The child is Lin Qingxue’s biological child!
Shen Wan swallowed her saliva and looked at Lin Qingxue and said, "You are right."
The fault is always mine.
Shen Wan didn't want to stay here anymore. She didn't want to see a pair of children standing with her as if Lin Qingxue had her own children. She also didn't want to be looked at with pity by the servants she accepted.
"I'm going back to my room first." Shen Wan said to her mother-in-law Liu, and then Qiu Ju helped her leave.
After sending the message, his father-in-law came back and saw that Shen Wan had left. Song Heng went directly to the backyard.
As soon as Shen Wan returned home, she slumped down on the low couch.
"Woo..." She lay on the couch and cried.
"Madam..." Qiu Ju stood at a loss and didn't know how to comfort her.
She was wrong. She was really wrong. She didn't expect that things would turn out like this. She knew that Vice General Lin died to save her husband. He asked her husband to take Lin Qingxue as his concubine before his death. She was both emotional and reasonable. I should agree. But she is afraid! How can she be compared with the young and beautiful Lin Qingxue, who is just a country woman with no talents and appearance? How can she be compared with the young and beautiful Lin Qingxue? After entering this imperial city, many people She was told that she was not worthy of her husband and that she looked like he had a sister. For this reason, she did not dare to go out. She was afraid that one day, after Lin Qingxue's death, her husband would be disgusted with her, both in her heart and around her. She has no position at all. She is even more afraid that Lin Qingxue will give birth to children in the future and compete with her children.
Before entering the imperial city, she had often heard people say that wealthy families with harems fought openly and secretly for the sake of their own sons, and that they would go to any lengths to murder the sons of others. It was precisely because she was afraid that Song Heng would have three wives and four concubines after becoming a general. Before entering the imperial city, she made him promise not to take concubines in the future. Of course, he also promised and said he would swear an oath. At that time, she couldn't bear to let him say that those days of thunder and lightning had something to say, so she stopped him and didn't make him swear. If she had known better She shouldn't have stopped her in the first place, so he could have refused with a reasonable excuse.
Song Heng just stepped into the courtyard door and heard his wife crying. He clenched his fists and clasped his hands behind his back, then he couldn't help but squeeze a little more and rushed into the house.
When the "general" saw Qiu Ju entering Song Heng's room, she hurriedly lowered her head and blessed him.
Song Heng waved his hand at her to signal her to go out. He looked at Qiu Ju, who was still lying on the couch crying, and looked at the lady, lowered her head and left.
"Madam" Song Heng sat on the low couch and called softly.
Shen Wan bit her lip to prevent herself from crying.
"Don't cry." Song Heng patted his wife's shoulder gently. "I know that I'm sorry for you, but what has happened cannot be changed. I know what you are worried about? You can rest assured even if Qingxue comes in." In my heart, you are my wife, Song Heng. I, Song Heng, will definitely not let you down in this life."
When he married her, he promised that he would live up to her in this life, and he would naturally do it. On his deathbed, Vice General Lin asked him to take Qingxue as his concubine. He refused at first, but Vice General Lin said that if he didn't If he agreed, he would die in peace, but he had no choice but to agree to let Vice General Lin die in peace.
After the war was over, when his troops returned to the court, he also stopped by Vice General Lin's home. He originally wanted Lin Qingxue to choose a good son among the generals in the army to marry him as his wife. But Lin Qingxue said that she would follow her father's footsteps. Lin Qingxue persuaded Lin Qingxue several times when she saw that he did not want to take her as a concubine. When Lin Qingxue saw that he did not want to take her as a concubine, she said If she could not abide by her father's last words, she would have to go to the temple to become a sister-in-law. He had no choice but to take her into the imperial city and live in the general's mansion a month ago.
Won't you let her down? Shen Wan sat up and wiped her tears with her sleeves. She turned her head and looked at Song Heng with red eyes: "Just remember what you said today. Song Heng, when I was pregnant with Zi Ling, sometimes you would be It was five years since I was arrested and sent to the army. My mother was in poor health and there were natural disasters for two years. The family was all supported by me. I lived those five years, and you know how miserable I was even if I didn’t tell you. .If you marry Lin Qingxue and forget about me, then you have no conscience."
Lin Qingxue wants to marry Song Heng. She has to accept it whether she wants it or not. Now she can only pray that she has a husband who will not marry someone new and forget about the old one. She wants her husband to remember that she has eaten There are those who remember her hard work and dedication for this family.
Song Heng felt distressed and guilty when he thought of the hardships his wife had endured over the years. When he went to his teacher's house to propose marriage, he once said that he would not let her suffer even the slightest injustice. However, they only got married three years ago in the north. When the war broke out, he was arrested and sent to the army. She was a woman who not only had to raise two children, but also took care of her bedridden mother. She suffered a lot and suffered a lot of injustice. What she did three years ago He didn't dare to recognize the dark, thin man with his wife after he returned home from the general's attire. It was only the three years since he entered the imperial city that Song Heng had allowed her to live a good life. I owe her some.
Song Heng reached out and put his arm around his wife's thin shoulders and repeated softly: "I know what I know, and I will never be a heartless person."
In the future, when Lin Qingxue comes in, he will be even more careful with his wife to prevent her from feeling the slightest difference.