Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 234 - 13: The Pain of Parting (Part 4)

What does Susu mean? Everyone present understood, even Seventh Miss, though young, vaguely understood what Susu meant.

Third Sister was married as the wife of the legitimate eldest son; she would be the future mistress of the Sun Family, naturally hoping for many children and prosperity, living days full of excitement.

In contrast, although Fourth Sister was married into the Imperial Family, she was merely a concubine of the Prince Mansion. She needed to bloom like the wintersweet, unafraid of cold winds and snow, blossoming brilliantly.

Besides, to put it plainly, a concubine is still a mistress, unfit to wear red; tender yellow and green would be more suitable.

Only Seventh Miss found it hard to believe, after all, Susu and Fourth Sister had a good relationship. If Susu’s affection for Sixth Sister was enviable, then for Fourth Sister, it was the connection of true soulmates.

But now she tore through the family’s pretense of dignity so bluntly and revealed the lie of Fourth Sister’s upcoming "marriage," telling her that while the symbolism of wintersweet isn’t bad, it directly implied that Fourth Sister is a mistress, unfit to wear red.

Seventh Miss’s relationship with her sisters had only begun to ease over the past couple of years, not exactly close, considering their age difference. Yet, watching Fourth Sister’s smile disappear, revealing a sense of loss, she too felt a tightness in her chest.

The people present didn’t know what to say. Third Miss sighed, pulling Sixth and Seventh Sisters along with Cousins out of Fourth Miss’s courtyard, leaving only Fourth Miss and Susu in the room.

Fourth Miss took a hairpin out of the box and played with it in her hand, smiled faintly and said: "Rarely do people in the mansion treat me well, and I haven’t enjoyed enough of this yet, but you strike, making me face reality."

Susu also said helplessly: "Haven’t you faced reality already? The Fourth Miss Song I know is not one to gloss over things. You’re benefiting from everyone’s guilt, bullying them hard until even the old lady reluctantly smiles. Should I just ignore it? How have I struck you? These few pieces of jewelry are not only precious but meaningful too. If you don’t like them, just give them back to me!"

"Look, look! Here you are to defend yourself. Besides, where’s the reason to take back someone’s wedding adornment?"

After saying this, Fourth Miss wiped the smile off her face and sighed: "If I asked them to stop, they’d feel even guiltier towards me. Better let it be. Grandmother remembered Aunt, fearing I’d follow in her footsteps!"

Fourth Miss and Susu were sincerely connected heart to heart. They would never misinterpret each other’s intentions.

They shared similar circumstances, both holding an ambiguous status; only Susu was without family burdens, seemingly better off than Fourth Miss.

Now both of them had the mindset of "if there are many lice, they don’t itch; if there are many debts, they aren’t worried," talking and laughing, momentarily casting aside all those troublesome matters.

Meanwhile, Third Miss also took two sisters and two cousins to her room to have tea.

Miss Zhao, having a simple background, had never encountered such "everything is understood without words" situations, feeling quite clueless.

The jewelry Susu gifted to the two Cousins appeared extremely precious, with novel and delicate designs, inspiring her envy. Who would have thought that just moments ago everything was fine, but the atmosphere had suddenly grown heavy.

Seventh Miss, still young, couldn’t keep her thoughts to herself and angrily said: "How could Susu be like that? I truly misjudged her."

Sixth Miss couldn’t stand anyone speaking ill of Susu, coldly snorted: "What’s wrong with Susu? If you don’t understand, don’t speak, lest you become a laughingstock."

Seventh Miss, unable to bear the embarrassment, turned to leave, only to be hurriedly pulled back by Third Miss. "Your Sixth Sister doesn’t know how to talk, just ignore her. I know you’re worried about your Fourth Sister, but Susu is absolutely not someone who would kick people when they’re down."

Saying this, Third Miss looked at the eager expressions of the Seventh Sister and Cousin Zhao, sighed: "Only with Susu’s reminder did I understand that by indulging her now, we truly hurt her heart! No wonder Grandmother said Susu has a heart with seven apertures—we all together still can’t match it. Turns out, the one who truly needs to face reality isn’t Fourth Sister, but us."

When Third Miss spoke of "her," she naturally meant Fourth Miss. Their previous actions were driven by guilt in their hearts, coddling and indulging as a form of compensation, but in reality, they underestimated Fourth Miss, forgetting that there should be no guilt between family.

Moreover, the family decided to send Fourth Miss into the Prince Ke Mansion, and now that it’s real, they feel they’ve wronged Fourth Miss. To put it bluntly, it’s somewhat like "being a prostitute yet wanting to display innocence," quite nauseating.