I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 148 Come on, girls!
In Du Ning's memory, it seemed that she had rarely seen such people in the Du family.

What she sees most often are those who curry favor with the powerful, seek profit and avoid harm, and those who rigidly follow the instructions of their family.

She seemed to have never seen a person who was so kind.

From childhood to adulthood, she rarely felt the so-called warmth and love.

Fortunately, she had been beautiful since she was young. Relying on this appearance, she was valued by her family to a certain extent. She had good food, good clothes, and decent expenses.

But sometimes when she recalled the past, she felt that it would be better for her to be born ugly, eat coarse grains, and wear linen clothes, than to be born beautiful, be valued by the family and be cultivated as a tool for marriage.

When her father was alive, she could feel some care from him, but after her father passed away, she felt no care at all from her mother.

Her mother seemed to have no relationship with her at all, treating her like a small animal and just strictly carrying out the family's requirements.

She fed her, watched her read and write, learned various skills, and also practiced dance and music, so that she could be favored by her husband in the future and become the defender of the interests of the Du family.

Then he would tirelessly instill in her some ideas about the supremacy of the Du family.

The family raised her and protected her, so she must remember the kindness of the family in bringing her up and providing her with food and clothing, and must put the interests of the family first.

After getting married, they should also keep their family in mind and try their best to fight for benefits for the Du family in their husband's family. Only when the Du family is prosperous can their status in their husband's family be more stable and their husband's family will not look down on them.

The Du family was once very glorious. Their ancestors Du Zhou and Du Yannian were both well-known figures. Although the family is not as well off as before, as long as the family members are wholeheartedly thinking about the family, they can definitely restore the family to its former glory.

To this end, men must study hard, learn civil and martial arts, and serve as officials. After achieving success, they must not forget the upbringing of their family, but must support the younger generations of the family and give back to the family.

Women also had to master certain cultural knowledge, learn needlework, dance, music, and the skills to get along with their husbands, and try their best to gain the favor of their future husbands, so that their husbands' family could become the wings or umbrella of the Du family.

Only in this way can we ensure the family's long-term prosperity, protect more clan members, and allow them to survive better.

Only when the family is good can the clan members be good. If the family is not good, the clan members will not be good, so the clan members must put the family interests first.

Young Du Ning did not doubt all this and studied hard under day-to-day supervision, making rapid progress until three years ago, when a relative's sister she was familiar with hanged herself on her wedding day.

At first, she didn't know why her sister, who always had a smile on her face, wanted to commit suicide.

Later, she heard the servants in the house talking privately, saying that her sister and a cousin were in love and had secretly decided to spend their lives together.

However, after the head of the family discussed with her father, he decided to marry her to a son of a Kanto samurai family in order to help the family member develop his career in a certain place in Kanto.

She was unwilling, but powerless to resist. After many pleas failed, she could only choose to resist the family's arrangements in the most extreme way.

From then on, the ten-year-old Du Ning began to question the dogma that she once believed in.

Doesn’t it mean that if the family is good, the members of the clan will be good too?
But why were the members of the family forced to death when nothing happened to the family?

Du Ning doesn't have a so-called sweetheart, but that doesn't stop her from having doubts about it.

After this incident, Du Ning felt that this family was like a place without a living person. From the head of the family to an ordinary illegitimate family member, they all seemed to be trying to continue the family for the sake of continuing the family and to make the family strong for the sake of making the family strong.

It was as if without this goal, all the tribesmen had lost the meaning of their existence. They were like a group of puppets hanging on threads, living aimlessly for an illusory command.

Having said that, Du Ning did not make any move to resist or have any thoughts of resistance.

She knew very well that she was powerless and resistance was meaningless. At most she would die. After she died, how many people would shed a tear for her?

Therefore, her biggest expectation is to leave this cold family, go to a new environment, and live her own life in peace and stability.

Unlike others, she had no attachment to this so-called home and just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

As for what kind of new environment she will go to...

She doesn't know either.

But she guessed that with her figure and appearance, the family would not give her away so easily.

Her guess turned out to be correct. Soon, news came from the family that she and her other two sisters would be sent to Luoyang to be reviewed by a famous figure. As long as the figure was satisfied, one of them would become his wife.

The family also kept reiterating that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. How many families fought hard for this position, and in the end it was grabbed by the Du family. This was pure luck within luck, the ultimate luck.

If the Du family can form a more friendly relationship with this family through marriage, returning to its former glory will no longer be a dream, but a reality!
This family is the Yuan family of Runan.

That important figure was Yuan Shu, the second son of the head of the Yuan family in Runan and the youngest Confucian scholar in the Han Dynasty.

Du Ning was not unfamiliar with this name, because Maoling, where Yuan Shu first caused trouble, was not far from the Du family's ancestral home in Jingzhao.

Even Yuan Shu's Yi Xin Hui had been active in the Jingzhao area, and Yuan Shu's father Yuan Feng had served as the Jingzhao Yin.

The Du family also paid attention to Yuan Shu, and there was a rumor in the family that Yuan Shu had become a classics teacher at a young age, inherited Ma Rong's mantle, and had a bright future.

Before the three sisters set out, the head of the family specially called them to his presence and gave them a long lecture, telling them to be careful and prudent in their responses and to fully demonstrate their advantages.

He also said that as long as she was chosen, she would be immediately adopted into his family and become the true eldest daughter of the Du family!

Valuable status!

From now on, the Du family will depend on you!

So, girls, come on!
The patriarch's "encouragement" did not appeal to Du Ning. She had no feelings for the Du family. However, if she could marry into the Yuan family, she would be completely separated from the Du family.

The Yuan family is more powerful than the Du family. The Du family has to rely on the Yuan family. Doesn't this mean that the Du family can no longer control her life? Although her future life does not belong to her, at least she does not have to belong to this group of cold family creatures.

Things went smoothly after that. She worked hard to show herself and was finally successfully selected, becoming the fiancée of the Yuan family.

The family was extremely surprised, and in order to ensure the stability of her position, they told her not to return to her hometown but to stay in Luoyang until she got married.

To be honest, this decision of her family made her truly happy for the second time in her fourteen years of life.

The last time was when she was six years old and her father took her away from the clan to visit Chang'an City.

Eight years between two happy events was a bit long, but it was not bad. She had not forgotten the feeling of happiness, and at least in the next four years, she would have some freedom.

Although her freedom was limited, because her mother, who was like a tool, also came with her and continued to urge her to learn needlework skills and the skills to serve her husband so that she could win his favor in the future.

In addition, in order to ensure her success in vying for favor, Du also arranged for her twelve-year-old cousin who was not chosen by Yuan to be her personal maid, intending to let the two of them grow up together, and then stick together to keep each other warm and compete for favor together.

This is the Du Yue in front of her.

However, in Du Ning's opinion, this task is difficult to accomplish. Du Yue looks a bit silly and does not look like someone who has received a "formal" education in the family.

How can someone maintain such an innocent, optimistic and open-minded mood with that level of education in the family?

Is it...

Is this the legendary heartless person?
After observing for a period of time, Du Ning confirmed his guess.

This illegitimate sister has a delicate little face. She dances well and plays the piano well. She is very capable and her needlework skills are even better than hers. She can recite "Instructions for Women" very skillfully. She also has seven emotions and six desires, and she also has times when she is sad.

But she is also a silly girl who is carefree and heartless as long as she has something to eat.

No matter how sad things happened to her, even if she was crying very hard, as long as she was given a piece of sweet cake, she would forget everything, and the weather would immediately turn sunny, and she would smile happier than anyone else.

Du Ning also asked her, isn't she sad about going from being Du's daughter to a little maid beside her, losing the chance to become a wife, and the best outcome for her in the future would be to be a concubine, and she would not have any status in the Yuan family?
Du Yue stared at her closely with his big, sparkling eyes.

"Will my wife not give me anything to eat?"

"Of course not. If I have a bite to eat, you will have a bite to eat. You will never be hungry."

"Hehe, my lady is so nice. I feel relieved now."

Du Yue smiled and threw himself into Du Ning's arms like a naughty little animal.

To be honest, Du Ning really envied Du Yue. As long as she had something to eat, she seemed to have no worries. Du Ning felt that if she could be like this, she would not have so many worries.

After living in Luoyang City, Du Ning always couldn't help but inquire about and pay attention to Yuan Shu's affairs, understand Yuan Shu's actions, and try to analyze Yuan Shu's personality and moral level.

She always asked Du Yue to bring back information about Yuan Shu so that she would have enough clues to piece together the real Yuan Shu bit by bit.

She didn't understand why she did it at first, but then she figured it out.

It turned out that she also had a desire for love, warmth, and affection in her heart. She had lacked these things since she was a child, so she longed for these things from the bottom of her heart.

But if her future husband cannot give her these, how long and painful will her future life be?

"Yuer, remember to bring back more news about Master Yuan in the future. No matter what it is, whether it's good or bad, you must bring it back. Do you understand?"

Hearing Du Ning's request, the ignorant Du Yue nodded stupidly.

In the following days, every time she went out to purchase goods, she would pay attention to inquire about anything related to Yuan Shu and bring it back to tell Du Ning.

It was a coincidence that during that period, the hot topics of public opinion in Luoyang were Yuan Shu and his school of psychology. Everyone was talking about how they saved people. You didn't even need to ask around. If you stood on the side of the road, you could hear almost everyone talking about things related to Yuan Shu.

Then Du Yue kept bringing back what he had heard and telling Du Ning.

"Madam, I heard that Master Yuan spent his own money to buy a lot of food to help the victims, and the court praised Master Yuan!"

"He's very generous."

"Madam, I heard that Master Yuan has set up a place in the Imperial College for pregnant women to live. Many pregnant women have given birth to babies and said that they want these children to work like slaves for Master Yuan in the future!"

"This... is thoughtful..."

"Madam, I heard that Master Yuan sent people to bring over 300 criminals from the disaster-stricken camp to Luoyang City to be punished!"

"Well, that's good."

"Madam, I heard that the flood outside the city has begun to recede!"

"Good thing."

"Madam, I heard that Master Yuan is helping people outside the city rebuild their houses! He is even wearing linen clothes and helping in person!"

"He...really does good things to the end..."

"My dear, it's rumored that the Empress Dowager has passed away!"

"Well...he really is...well?"

(End of this chapter)