Chapter 1745: The Turmoil is about to begin, Zhou enters the family

Class stratification is the most acute problem in society.

Although Su Mingzhe demonstrated his talent through "On the Love of Lotus", "Praise of the Humble House" and "Ode to Afang Palace", in the eyes of the world, his marriage to Xie Daojun, a talented woman from the Xie family, was still considered marrying up.

After all, Xie Daoyuan is the eldest daughter of the Xie family, while Su Mingzhe is the son of a merchant.

In the general environment of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, the gap between the Yuyao Su family and the Chenjun Xie family was too big.

It is not something that can be made up by Su Mingzhe, a "young talent".

……

"Son, you must have something to do this time, right?"

After nagging for a while, Su's father asked his son the purpose of his return.

You know, even during New Year’s Day and the Spring Festival, my son didn’t come back from Wuxing County.

It's not even Qingming Festival yet, but my son has come back so many days in advance, which inevitably makes people suspicious.

Su Mingzhe raised his eyebrows. He didn't expect that his father was so sharp-minded. No wonder he could develop the Su family business so big.

"Dad, this needs to be kept secret."

Su Mingzhe hesitated for a moment, and then told his mother the secret that he had only wanted to tell his father:

"The north suffered from a severe drought last year, and there may be a locust plague this year. In our Jiangnan area, there was a winter epidemic last year, and this year we are sending troops to the north. If there is another flood in the summer, unrest may occur at any time and anywhere... I came back this time to remind my family to be more prepared!"

"Well, don't worry, my son. Your father has been prepared for this."

Father Su had long noticed that something was amiss, and in recent times he had been stockpiling food. At the same time, he had been secretly training servants to guard against any incidents.

……

The next few days.

Accompanied by his father, Su Mingzhe found the local county magistrate and arranged a place for a fortress for the Su family.

Forts appeared in the Pre-Qin and Western Han dynasties.

It first appeared widely during the Eastern Han Dynasty.

During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it also became common in the south of the Yangtze River.

This is different from the situation in the north, where a county generally has dozens or even hundreds of forts.

The forts in the south of the Yangtze River are not only few in number, but also have simple fortification walls. Most of them are fences and wooden forts built on the mountains.

Any camp of 500 people can be breached with a single attack.

Now, Su Mingzhe has obtained an official fortress quota for the Su family. Not only can they build the walls with brick and stone structures in an open and aboveboard manner, but they can also purchase leather armor and bows and crossbows from the government.

Once the servants of the Su family put on their armor and wield their weapons, they would be able to withstand an attack from not only a few hundred people, but even a charge from a few thousand people.

……

Qingming Festival passed in a flash.

When Su's mother came back from her parents' home and saw her son, she asked casually:

"Mingzhe, do you still remember that Miss Zhou?"

"How can I not remember this?"

Su Mingzhe is almost traumatized by Miss Zhou and can't forget her even if he wants to.

"Alas, I met your aunt today. It was your aunt who introduced this marriage."

Mother Su sighed and continued:

"Your aunt said that the Zhou family wanted to find another marriage for her, but Miss Zhou had run away from marriage twice in a row. With her bad reputation, no one was willing to marry her. Not only that, but the other girls in the Zhou family were also implicated... Oh, what a sin!"

"……hehe."

Su Mingzhe snorted lightly, wanting to gloat over someone else's misfortune, but in the end he said nothing.

……

The reason why the Su family could marry into the Zhou family was not only because of the equal status of the two families, but also because Su Mingzhe's aunt married into the Zhou family and was Miss Zhou's aunt.

Therefore, the marriage between the two families is not a blind marriage in the true sense.

Now that the marriage between the two parties has failed, Su Mingzhe has begun to rise to prominence with the help of three articles, while the young lady of the Zhou family has lost her reputation and implicated the entire family.

Su Mingzhe's aunt has been blamed a lot in the three families.

……

Seeing her son's bad attitude, Su's mother didn't want to say anything to spoil the fun, but she remembered her sister's pleading and said, "Your aunt asked me to ask you, if the young lady of the Zhou family is willing to be your mistress, are you willing to accept it?"

"Be my mistress?"

Su Mingzhe was stunned and looked surprised:

"Mom, she's the Zhou family's legitimate daughter, how could she possibly be my mistress?"

In this era where matching of family backgrounds is important, becoming someone's mistress is not simply determined by family background, but also by whether one is a legitimate or illegitimate child.

For example, Wang Yun's sister, Wang Yanzhi, was a concubine's daughter. Her parents died early, so she was given to Su Mingzhe by her brother to be a concubine.

Generally speaking, a daughter born out of wedlock is more likely to be sent away to be a concubine.

The case of a legitimate daughter becoming a concubine is extremely rare, even extremely rare.

In a case like Miss Zhou's, after her reputation is ruined, she will not become someone's concubine, but will choose not to marry for the rest of her life.

……

Su's mother was also the legitimate daughter of a wealthy family, so she naturally understood the rules that legitimate daughters should not behave like juniors.

Now the Zhou family is willing to let Miss Zhou be Su Mingzhe's mistress. It is very likely that they are forced to do so due to the constraints of public opinion and reputation.

"Son, just tell me, if I let her be your mistress, would you agree or not?"

"I agree. Why wouldn't I agree?"

Su Mingzhe raised the corner of his mouth slightly, thinking of the true face of Miss Zhou that he had seen that night. Although she was not stunningly beautiful, she was also talented and beautiful.

Having such a proud and arrogant lady from a noble family as your concubine is something that should be celebrated and looked forward to.

……

Taking a concubine is not the same as marrying a wife.

The various processes are very simple.

Su Mingzhe first wrote a letter to Xie Daoyuan in Wuxing, explaining the reason. After getting permission, within ten days, he took Miss Zhou as his concubine.

……

Early May.

Wuxing County, Su Mansion.

Xie Daoyuan got up early in the morning and asked several maids to put on makeup and dress her up.

Although Qingyin, who was taken in by Su Mingzhe, was not promoted to a concubine, she had her own room and maid.

When she came in to pay her respects to Xie Daoyun, she was surprised to see that her mistress was wearing a pink skirt.
"Miss, why are you wearing this old skirt today?"

"How is it old? I remember wearing it only two or three times..."

Xie Daoyun turned around beautifully twice in front of Qingyin and chuckled:
"Does it still fit?"

"It fits, not only fits, but also fits the body."

As Qingyin spoke, she smoothed the wrinkles on her young lady's curvy figure and said with a smile:

"Miss, why did you think of wearing this dress?"

Xie Daoyun did not hide it from her personal maid and said with a smile:
"My husband wrote to me a few days ago, saying that he would be back in early May. I guess it will be one or two days."

Seeing her young lady so happy, Qingyin couldn't help but joked:
"Miss, the uncle did not come back alone, he brought the young lady from the Zhou family with him."

"Ugh……"

Xie Daoyun thought of it, her eyebrows curved, with a hint of sadness between them:
"This Miss Zhou is also a miserable person. When she comes in, we should treat her better."

"Don't worry, miss, I know what to do."

Qingyin said, waving her hand to let the other maids retreat, and then lowered her voice and said:

"Miss, do you think Miss Zhou will tell your husband about her going to you?"

"Probably... not."

After hearing Qingyin's reminder, Xie Daoyuan suddenly started to panic.

At the beginning, she took in Miss Zhou who had escaped from her marriage, which was definitely a very unfriendly act towards Su Mingzhe and Yuyao Su's.

If the man brought up old issues because of this matter, Xie Daoyuan's face turned pale instantly when she thought of the family rules that the man liked to enforce.

(End of this chapter)