"No one can be relied on but oneself...
This Xu Ye was originally a dissolute playboy, with a vile habit of frequenting brothels.
Jiang Xuesui found it almost too easy to set her hook.
She spent only three thousand taels to bribe Willow Ruyan, the courtesan star of Spring Breeze Pavilion, and the scheme began to take shape.
That Willow Ruyan was born with a bewitching charm, graceful and alluring. With a few tricks, she made Xu Ye fall deeply in love.
Xu Ye wished he could settle down in Spring Breeze Pavilion for good.
And so half a month passed. Because Willow Ruyan always coaxed Xu Ye to drink the warm passion wine laced with a secret Western Region drug, and Xu Ye was a lustful man, his body soon gave out. He could no longer father children.
The Duke of Wei's mansion searched far and wide for famous doctors, but none could cure Xu Ye's impotence.
Walls have ears.
Among Willow Ruyan's patrons were some who held grudges against Xu Ye, and soon the words 'Xu Ye is useless' spread everywhere.
By the time the Duke of Wei's mansion sent men to Spring Breeze Pavilion to kill Willow Ruyan, she had already fled with silver and valuables.
That day, Lady Wei Duke, Min Shi, came to the Duke Xiangguo's mansion to formally present the betrothal gifts.
In the main hall of the Penglai Study, the atmosphere was tense.
Min Shi doubled the items on the betrothal gift list, fearing the marriage might fall through. She forced a smile as she spoke with Old Madam Wen.
A few days earlier, Old Madam Wen had learned that her second granddaughter, Wen Yuanhuan, had become pregnant before marriage due to her affairs with Xu Ye. The eldest son and his wife wanted to cover up the scandal, but the Duke and Duchess of Wei looked down on the second granddaughter, insisting that the eldest granddaughter marry Xu Ye first as his principal wife before they would allow the second granddaughter to become his concubine.
Although Old Madam Wen was a woman who had weathered many storms, she hated that her second granddaughter had no self-respect. She scolded her eldest son and his wife for several days.
Now, Old Madam Wen set down her teacup and said slowly to Min Shi, "Originally, it was my Huan girl who was foolish, rejecting the good marriage arranged by her parents and shaming both mansions with your Ye boy. But my Ai girl is truly innocent, wrongly implicated by her second sister. Now, whatever Huan girl carries in her belly, boy or girl, it will be your Ye boy's only blood heir. I think for this marriage, either let my Huan girl be your daughter-in-law, or let's not form a marriage alliance at all. I'll just have my eldest daughter-in-law feed Huan girl a bowl of abortifacient. Though it's sinful, it would be for her own good. If she insists on going to your house as a concubine, I'd rather she stay home for life. Our family can certainly provide for her well until she's old and dies."
Hearing this, Min Shi's face darkened and she said nothing.
Since entering the main hall, Lady Sang had kept her head lowered, feeling utterly ashamed before her sisters-in-law, Lady Zhu and Lady Yu.
Lady Zhu knew that her elder sister-in-law was weak-willed and couldn't be relied upon to support the old madam at this moment. So she coughed and said, "Mother, in principle, the affairs of the eldest branch shouldn't involve us, the second branch. But Shian and I watched Ai and Huan grow up. Moreover, Huan's scandal will taint the marriage prospects of our other girls. I'd rather we smash the pot to pieces, let both households lose face, than let Ai suffer any grievance. As for Huan, even if our family supports her for life, what's the cost? Even if Lady Min agrees to let Huan be her daughter-in-law, I still look down on their Ye boy."
"You..." Min Shi started to retort, but seeing Lady Zhu's features, which resembled Old Prince Chu's, she swallowed her words.
Lady Yu adjusted her hairpin and smiled, "Second sister-in-law speaks directly, but I feel the same. The young ladies of Duke Xiangguo's mansion, even those born of concubines, are noble and precious. They don't need to eat humble pie in another household. Huan girl is wrong, but it takes two hands to clap. How could Huan girl alone get pregnant? When we really apportion the blame, Eldest Young Master Xu bears the greater fault."
Old Madam Wen turned to Lady Sang, who still kept her head down, and said sternly, "Miaoyi, you are Ai girl's birth mother and Huan girl's legal mother. Say something."
Lady Sang twisted her handkerchief nervously, bit her lip, and said weakly, "I'll abide by whatever Mother decides. I was wrong; I didn't discipline Huan girl properly—"
Lady Zhu quickly pinched Lady Sang and whispered in her ear, "Elder sister-in-law, now is not the time to admit fault. We must pressure the Duke of Wei's mansion to accept Huan girl. Can you stop being so indecisive?"
Lady Sang was panicked, her face flushed red. She couldn't speak, nor could she stay silent. Her red lips trembled.
Old Madam Wen looked at Lady Sang's helpless state, sighed, and turned to Min Shi.
"Forget it. Let the marriage be called off. We've had this misfortune in our house; we'll just accept our bad luck."
Lady Min gritted her teeth, stomped her foot, and quickly said, "All of Beijing knows that today the Duke of Wei's mansion came to your Duke Xiangguo's mansion to present betrothal gifts. It wouldn't be right to take the gifts back. Let it be Second Miss Wen. She is more than enough for my worthless son."
Lady Min lowered her posture greatly.
Old Madam Wen and the three madams knew when to stop pushing.
They served fine tea and refreshments, insisted on keeping the guests for dinner and a show.
The two families thus settled the marriage between Wen Yuanhuan and Xu Ye.
To outsiders, it seemed that since Xu Ye was impotent, and Duke Xiangguo's mansion not only didn't cancel the wedding but was willing to marry Second Miss Wen into the Duke of Wei's mansion, they had done all that could be expected.
Everyone praised Duke Xiangguo's mansion for being honorable and faithful.
Just as they barely managed to smooth things over, Wen Yuanhuan created another scene.
She knelt before Lady Sang, who was recovering from illness, tears streaming down her face.
"Mother, I didn't know Eldest Young Master Xu was such a disgusting person. I beg you, plead with Grandmother on my behalf not to marry me off to the Duke of Wei's mansion. What difference is there between Xu Ye and a eunuch now? I don't want to be a living widow, nor do I want to be laughed at day and night."
Lady Sang had raised Wen Yuanhuan all these years and had some affection for her, but thinking of how Old Madam Wen had been angry with the eldest branch lately, barely acknowledging her during visits, she felt helpless against Wen Yuanhuan's pleas.
"Once you marry over, you'll be the heir's wife. When you give birth, the Duke of Wei's mansion surely won't mistreat you. What more is there to be dissatisfied about?"
"If it's so good, why didn't you let Eldest Sister marry Eldest Young Master Xu?" Wen Yuanhuan had always feared that, as a concubine's daughter with her birth mother remarried, she would suffer in marriage. That's why she tried to steal Wen Yuan'ai's good match. But now it turned out not to be a good match at all—it was a pitfall only a fool would jump into. "Aren't you afraid people will say you mistreat your concubine-born daughters, using me to curry favor with the Duke of Wei's mansion?"
"Second Sister, now you're talking about the difference between legitimate and concubine-born? In the past, when we distributed cloth and jewelry, why didn't you and Eldest Sister argue about status?" Jiang Xuesui had originally come with Wen Yuan'ai to the Fuxi Pavilion to visit the ailing Lady Sang. Hearing Wen Yuanhuan's tearful complaints at the door, she couldn't stand it anymore. "The Duke of Wei's mansion and the Duke Xiangguo's mansion are both ducal mansions. There's no currying favor. Eldest Uncle and Aunt were just trying to find a proper home for you."
"You don't even bear the Wen surname. What right do you have to meddle in Wen family affairs?" Wen Yuanhuan turned back and glared at Jiang Xuesui.
Wen Yuan'ai, standing beside Jiang Xuesui, couldn't stand it. She had initially felt some sympathy for Wen Yuanhuan, who was about to marry into the Duke of Wei's mansion. But seeing her so ungrateful, any remaining sympathy vanished.
"Second Sister, dare you go before Grandmother and repeat what you just said, word for word?"
"Eldest Sister, I admit I can't compare to you, and I accept that, since you're legitimate and I'm a concubine's daughter." Wen Yuanhuan pointed at Jiang Xuesui. "But I can't even compare to her, a girl living under our roof. Grandmother dotes on her and gives her many good things—fine. But even our parents, Second Uncle and Aunt, Third Uncle and Aunt, always think of her, an outsider, when they get something good. She doesn't bear the Wen surname; she's a Jiang. Her family isn't even a count's mansion—"
"Slap—"
Lady Sang's palm landed on Wen Yuanhuan's face. "Huan girl, have you lost your mind? Shut up at once and apologize to Yuanyuan."
Wen Yuanhuan covered her red, swollen, and painful left cheek. She let out a scornful laugh, then cried.
"You, a merchant's daughter, you can thank the Sang family's ancestral graves' auspicious feng shui for allowing you to climb up and marry my father to become this duchess. In this household, you are the least qualified to scold me. You stole my birth mother's place; your children stole the place of me and my siblings. It's only my one wrong step that led to total defeat. Everyone says I was greedy, trying to steal your daughter's marriage, and that's why I'm being punished. But many things originally belonged to me. What's wrong with taking back what's mine?"
Lady Sang's lips turned purple with anger.
Wen Yuan'ai quickly patted her mother's back to soothe her, not forgetting to retort to Wen Yuanhuan. "You're so keen on winning arguments now, offending everyone. When you face difficulties in the Duke of Wei's mansion later, and come back home, see who will care about you, who will stand up for you. Even A Yu, because of your deeds, can't hold his head up when eating in Grandmother's room. Think carefully: is it better to vent now, or to have your natal family support you for life?"
"Eldest Sister, you're too kind. Second Sister schemed against you. Why bother explaining everything to her? Just leave her to her own fate." Jiang Xuesui couldn't emulate Wen Yuan'ai's generous and forgiving nature. She shot a glare at Wen Yuanhuan and declared she would go to the Penglai Study to report this to her grandmother.
Wen Yuanhuan scrambled over and hugged Jiang Xuesui's legs, pleading, "Good Yuanyuan, spare me this time. I was just speaking in anger. If you really tell Grandmother, she'll definitely order everyone not to meddle in my affairs anymore."
"Have you truly thought it through?" Jiang Xuesui helped the disheveled Wen Yuanhuan to her feet.
Wen Yuanhuan nodded. "I've thought it through. My husband's family can't be relied on. Only my natal family can."
"Wrong." Jiang Xuesui smoothed the stray hairs on Wen Yuanhuan's forehead. "No one can be relied on but oneself. I'll ask one extra question: Do you actually want to marry that Eldest Young Master Xu?"