Chapter 3: Seeking Suicide
Time flies!

In the blink of an eye, several days had passed since Cui Shuyun had quarreled with her father.

In the pavilion beside the pond, Cui Shuyun was sitting on a chair beside the pavilion, scattering rice grains and fish food into the pavilion.

The fish in the pond scrambled to hover under Cui Shuyun's hand suspended in the air, waiting to be fed.

"Xiao Wei, do you think I am like the fish in this pond? I seem to be free, but I can never get out of this small pond. I seem to be unrestrained, but I always have to fight for a bite of food." Cui Shuyun's eyes seemed to be looking at the fish in the pond, but seemed to have no focus.

"Miss! How can you think like this? The Marquis of Fu'an's Mansion is the wealth and luxury that many people dream of." The maid standing by the side did not understand the young lady's feelings.

In her opinion, the young lady's sadness about the passing of time was completely whining without any real reason.

She didn't know how happy she would be if she could take the young lady's place.

A loving and warm mother, a father who plans for himself, and a marquis who is about to marry into a wealthy family.

Why are you still unhappy, miss?

"Yes! Wealth!" Cui Shuyun smiled self-deprecatingly.

She knew in her heart that many people were secretly scolding her for not knowing what was good for her and not appreciating the good fortune she had, including her personal maid.

But she was really not happy with this marriage.

At the same time, she knew that she could not resist and should not resist.

Although she was from an ordinary wealthy family, she could still quarrel with her father and mother and argue with them based on reason.

But the royal family, Marquis Fu'an... are people that neither the Cui family nor her father can afford to offend.

Besides, her father might still be thinking about how to make further progress with this marriage and the title of Marquis of Fu'an. How could he allow her to resist and cancel the engagement?

After the initial fuss over the news proved fruitless, Cui Shuyun slowly figured things out.

My father loved her, but he loved his own future and the Cui family's status more.

If she goes against her father's future and the Cui family's honor and disgrace, her father will only shed tears and give up his daughter.

Whenever she thought of this, Cui Shuyun hated the intelligence she inherited from her father.

The feeling of powerlessness of knowing everything but being unable to change anything almost drove Cui Shuyun crazy.

Moreover, her parents gave birth to her, raised her, and loved her for more than ten years. Even if she could run away and escape the marriage, how could she push her parents and the Cui family into the abyss for her own selfish reasons without any return?
That's not what a woman should do!
Family ties bound her hands, gratitude bound her feet, etiquette controlled her eyes... Cui Shuyun had no choice but to accept her fate.

"Since I have enjoyed the wealth of the Cui family's daughter, I naturally have to fulfill the obligations of the Cui family's daughter. Maybe this is my fate!" Cui Shuyun sighed secretly in her heart.

drop!
As a piece of fish food fell from Cui Shuyun's hand.

Ripples appeared on the water in the pond.

Suddenly, a red-headed goldfish jumped up, as high as a carp leaping over the dragon gate.

Swallow the fish food in mid-air into your mouth.

Boom!
The goldfish fell, splashing water.

Boom!
A bunch of bigger and bigger splashes followed and shot up into the sky.

The maid Xiao Wei's eyes widened and she screamed, "Ah! Come on, come on! The young lady jumped into the water!"

The peace in the Cui Mansion was broken in an instant.

"where?"

"where is it?"

"Miss!"

Boom!
dong dong!

After all, it was a large family with many servants, and soon several people who could swim heard the call for help.

They jumped into the pond and worked together to pull Cui Shuyun out.

There is never a shortage of people who are good at water in the water towns of the south of the Yangtze River.

"Jun'er!"

"Yun'er, Yun'er!"

"Sister! Sister!"

At this time, the host family, who heard the news, also arrived one after another.

It can be seen that Cui Shuyun, who has no inheritance rights, is still quite loved by her parents and brother in this family.

"Yun'er, why are you so stupid? If you don't want to get married, then don't get married. Why do you want to commit suicide?" Cui's mother looked at Cui Shuyun, who was fished to the edge of the pond, with a pale face and an unknown life or death situation. She rushed over and cried heartbreakingly.

"Huh~~ Fortunately, I'm still breathing!"

The second brother Cui Rongtian walked forward, felt Cui Shuyun's breath, breathed a sigh of relief, and said so.

The eldest sister-in-law who was helping Cui's mother over glanced at the servants who were surrounding her, then silently took off her cloak and covered Cui Shuyun with it.

"What are you doing? What are you doing? My daughter isn't dead yet? You can't wait to cover her with a white cloth?" The action of Cui's eldest sister-in-law touched Cui's mother's sensitive nerves. She immediately stood up and yelled at her daughter-in-law.

Snapped!
Not satisfied with just scolding, he also slapped his eldest daughter-in-law in the face.

This big fight even stunned Cui's sister-in-law.

"Mother-in-law, Sister Shuyun is still a woman, I just care about her reputation..." After a while, the eldest sister-in-law of the Cui family came to her senses and explained in a low voice. It was September, and she didn't have much to wear.

As soon as Cui Shuyun fell into the water, her gauze dress stuck to her body!
There were so many servants around, and many male servants among them.

Cui's sister-in-law meant well, but she forgot that her gauze dress was white.

"You mean I hit the wrong person! I was wrong?!" Cui's mother was not willing to listen to her daughter-in-law's explanation.

She is panicking and is now looking for a way to vent her emotions!
My eldest daughter-in-law has walked into a trap.

"Mother, madam, second brother! Where's my sister?"

It was Cui Ronghe, the eldest brother of the Cui family, who arrived.

"Yes, yes! Your sister! Your sister!" Cui's mother finally reacted and turned to look at Cui Shuyun who was lying on the ground in panic.

Cui Shuyun was seen lying on the grass beside the pond with her eyes closed, her face pale and her body wet.

Fortunately, she was covered with a white gauze, so she was not exposed.

Cui Ronghe walked forward and also felt Cui Shuyun's breath, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright! Are you still working? Everyone, step aside! Steward Cui, give two taels of silver to everyone who just fell into the water, and give another two taels to those who rescued my sister. Second brother, immediately arrange for someone to invite my cousin, Doctor Cui."

As expected of the Cui family's eldest son, he arranges things in an orderly manner.

He knew that family disgrace should not be made public, so the doctor he invited was also a member of the Cui family.

The servants surrounding him slowly dispersed.

Those who had just jumped into the water to save people were also smiling happily.

Really worth it!

"Mom, take my sister back to her room first!" As she said that, she walked forward, picked up Cui Shuyun, and walked quickly towards Cui Shuyun's room.

Although the Ming Dynasty emphasized that men and women should not touch each other, brothers and sisters were an exception.

"Xiao Wei, go find a set of clean clothes immediately. Mother, arrange a few capable maids to change clothes for my sister later! It's not good to wear wet clothes!" On the way, Cui Ronghe felt the water droplets dripping from his sister's body and said.

"What good show is there? Boring! Boring! Que'er, let's go!"

Seeing the crowd disperse, in a corner where no one was paying attention, the second daughter-in-law of the Cui family slowly turned around and left with her personal maid.

"Miss, you..."

The voice of the maid Que'er could be heard faintly.

"Son, do you think we should inform your father about this?" When her son arrived, Cui's mother felt more confident and asked.

Cui Zongyan married Cui's mother when he was not yet rich. At that time, Cui Zongyan was just a young scholar who was suppressed by his brother. He married Cui's mother because his wife's family had some financial resources and could help him through the difficult times.

Therefore, Cui's mother's ability and scheming make it difficult for her to be worthy of the position of the eldest lady of the second branch of the Cui family.

But who can blame Cui's mother for being so pregnant and giving birth?
The eldest son Cui Ronghe was mature and steady. He helped his father and mother to keep the house in order when he was young. With the support of the Cui family and Cui Zongyan, he passed the examinations for Tongsheng, Xiucai and Juren at a young age. After getting married, he passed the examination for Jinshi and even ranked one place higher than his father Cui Zongyan.

The eldest daughter, Cui Shuyun, is smart and clever, a warm and caring person, and now she is going to marry into a high-ranking marquisate.

Relying on this son and this daughter, Cui's mother's position in the Cui family is as stable as a rock.

"Father has just returned to Beijing after his vacation, so don't disturb him for now!" Cui Ronghe thought for a moment and answered.

Although the Cui family's hometown is in Jiangnan, after Cui Zongyan passed the imperial examination and became an official, he actually did not spend much time living in the old house. He only returned to his hometown during the holidays.

In the Ming Dynasty, in order to prevent officials from being too closely involved with local powerful families, there was a rule that officials could serve in other places.

This time, because of the proposal of Fu'an Hou, the Cui family sent letters to Cui Zongyan, who was an official in the capital, for his opinion. At the same time, because Cui Zongji, the head of the Cui family, did not have a legitimate daughter of marriageable age, he also considered marrying Cui Zongyan's legitimate daughter.

Cui Zongyan and his family then returned to their hometown to discuss the matter with the head of the family and the elders.

After Cui Ronghe passed the imperial examination and was appointed a seventh-rank official in the capital, he was able to express his opinions on major matters of the Cui family.

So this time I chose to take a day off and go back to my hometown with my father.

The reason why he did not return to Beijing with his father later was because Cui Ronghe was appointed to a sinecure, which gave him more time for rest and allowed him to spend more time in his hometown and with his clansmen to avoid estrangement.

At the same time, waiting for further response from Fu'an Marquis Mansion.

In this world, there is no quick marriage or divorce among big families. It requires several visits and many considerations.

Once you get married, it is almost a lifelong thing.

The reason I say almost is that there are all kinds of birds in a big forest.

When there are too many people, there are always unexpected things.

"That's fine! Just don't disturb him!" Mother Cui nodded silently.

Don’t think about what Cui’s mother just said: If she doesn’t want to get married, then she won’t get married. Why are you trying to commit suicide?
But that was just Cui's mother's momentary excitement!
Although she was not born in a high-class family, Cui's mother had traveled around with Cui Zongyan over the years and had learned a lot from him. She had gained a lot of experience and knew the importance of this marriage.

I also know that at this point, my family no longer has much say in this marriage!

If Cui Zongyan knew that his daughter committed suicide in order to avoid getting married, it would only cause more chaos and would not help the situation.

Of course, what puzzled Cui's mother even more was that her daughter was so strong that she would commit suicide in order to avoid marrying into the Marquis's Mansion.

No matter from which perspective, this marriage should be a good one for both the Cui family and their daughter!

Cui's mother also knew that her daughter had argued with Cui Zongyan about this marriage. But in Cui's mother's opinion, under Cui Zongyan's persuasion, as time goes by, her daughter will slowly come to her senses and understand that this marriage will bring her all benefits and no harm. At the very least, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages!
(End of this chapter)