Chapter 281: Fourth Miss Tong Attempts to Drown Herself in the Lake

Chapter 281: Fourth Miss Tong Attempts to Drown Herself in the Lake

Concubine Zhao suddenly appeared, "How could I have given birth to such a hussy, sneaking around with men, doing such disgraceful things! Have you no shame?"

Tong Nanxia immediately looked at her in panic, "I didn't."

"If you didn't, what is this in your hand!" Concubine Zhao snatched the handkerchief from Tong Nanxia's hand, "Is this yours? Flaunting a man's handkerchief in broad daylight, how can you be so shameless!"

Seeing this, Tong Nanxia rushed forward regardless, grabbing the handkerchief back, "Mother!"

Concubine Zhao, having been bumped, looked at Tong Nanxia with even more anger, "You little hussy, still saying you don't have such intentions! You were always unfilial, siding with outsiders to bully your own mother, never thought you would be so wanton and shameless, sneaking around with men, utterly shameless!"

Tong Nanxia's eyes reddened amidst the scolding, "I didn't!"

"Still dare to argue, caught in the act!" Concubine Zhao, looking as if she had caught her by the tail, sneered, "No wonder you turned down Young Master Zhao's offer to be his concubine, you hussy had your heart set on someone else long ago, how could I have given birth to such a wanton daughter, and a lady of the house at that! I spit on your face!"

"Even I, your mother, as low as I am, would never do such a shameless thing!"

Each word harsher than the last came out of Concubine Zhao's mouth. Tong Nanxia finally couldn't bear it anymore, her mind filled with what Tong Nanyuan had told her the day before. She shoved away Concubine Zhao, who was yanking her ear, and angrily said, "Who do you think you are to talk to me like this!"

Tong Nanxia's anger stunned Concubine Zhao. She stared in shock at her daughter, who had always been as meek as a lamb.

She dared to scold her?!

It was one thing for Tong Nanyuan to defend her, but how could she dare!

Tong Nanxia, who had mustered the courage to resist for the first time, coldly looked at her, "Concubine Zhao, know your place! I am the young miss, the master, and you are nothing but a servant!"

The word 'servant' hung in the air. Concubine Zhao looked at her in disbelief. Their eyes met, and Concubine Zhao let out a wailing cry, "Ah!"

"You call me a servant!" Concubine Zhao cried and screamed, beating her chest and stamping her feet, "My own flesh and blood, the daughter I carried for ten months, calls me a servant!"

Seeing Concubine Zhao crying uncontrollably, the courage Tong Nanxia had mustered quickly dissipated. She looked at the sobbing Concubine Zhao, "Madame, Madame, mother..."

"Don't call me mother! I'm just a lowly servant, unworthy of being your mother! My life is so wretched! Back then, I suffered for three days to bring you into this world, to give birth to you, I bled all over the floor, to give birth to you, I can never bear a son in this lifetime!"

"For you, I've suffered and endured hardships, only to be seen as a servant in your eyes!"

"Mother, I was wrong, don't be like this!" Tong Nanxia panicked, she returned to her gentle demeanor.

Concubine Zhao squinted her eyes, continuing to beat her chest and stamp her feet, "My life is bitter! I was born a lowly maid, worked hard all my life hoping my child would give me a good old age, and in the end, I am just a servant in her mouth!"

"Mother, what do you want from me!"

"I want you to marry into Duke Zhao's household!" Concubine Zhao looked up, her gaze burning into Tong Nanxia, "Nan Xia, I want you to go plead with the old lady now to marry the Zhao family's eldest son!"

"Mother! That's being a concubine!"

"Is being a concubine beneath you!" Concubine Zhao looked at her, "You're just a minor daughter, what's the big deal?"

"Eldest sister and second sister were both born by you, why can they be proper wives, and I can't!"

"Because giving birth to you injured my body, made it so I can't bear a son in this lifetime!" Concubine Zhao looked at her with cold venom in her eyes, "You should be a concubine, should walk the path I walked all over again!"

Hearing her last words, Tong Nanxia met her mother's venomous eyes, her heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer.

So, so all along, her mother treated her this way, humiliated her, belittled her, because she had injured her body.

Made it so she couldn't bear a son in this lifetime!

"Do you only care about sons, mom?"

"What good is a daughter like you to me! If I had a son, I wouldn't have to grovel to everyone day in and day out! If I had a son, I'd be set for life by now. A son could honor me, support me, but you! You just gang up with others to bully me!"

"Tong Nanxia, you owe me! It's your fault I can't have a son! I want you to taste every bit of suffering I've endured in this life!"

After spilling her guts, Zhao Yiniang's eyes grew even more venomous, looking at her with disgust and satisfaction.

Like she was staring down her mortal enemy from a past life.

Before being sold as a maid, Zhao Yiniang was the eldest daughter in her family, always branded a worthless burden, a piece of trash. Her mom, dying for a son, kept popping out babies, but only daughters came. She and her mom took the beatings and curses together.

Finally, her mom bore a son, and from that day, her mom held her head high, her eyes shining. She was no longer scolded. Her mom told her, "Women are good for nothing in this life; only a son makes you worth something!"

Later, during a famine, for her brother, she sold herself into slavery without a second thought. As a servant, she worked diligently and carefully. Luckily, she became a dowry maid for the young mistress, and after the mistress became pregnant, she was bumped up to concubine to serve the master.

Her whole life, she had just one goal: to have a son.

She had to have a son; only then could she be worth something, like her mom. But she bore three daughters, and when giving birth to Tong Nanxia, she wrecked her body and could never have kids again.

She loathed Tong Nanxia, clinging to her, refusing to let her go to anyone else. She envied her. Why did she, just a girl, get such a better lot in life!

"You owe me for this lifetime! If you don't become a concubine, you'll never pay me back!" Zhao Yiniang screamed at Tong Nanxia.

Never repay, never repay...

Tong Nanxia stared at her own mother, feeling like she couldn't breathe. Her poisonous stare cut deep into her soul. She then remembered what Lu Lingyun had told her: "If kindness gets you nowhere, then ditch that worthless kindness."

But, kindness... how can it be so easily abandoned!

She's a human being! She's a human being!

That is her own mother!

Why does the world pick on someone who just wants to be kind!

Tong Nanxia bolted like the wind, and with a thud, the servants around exclaimed in shock.

"Something awful has happened! Fourth Miss Tong has fallen into the lake!"

While Lu Lingyun was in the courtyard accompanying Old Lady Lin and Tong Nanyuan, a maid rushed in to report.

"Young mistress! Fourth Miss has thrown herself into the lake!"