Chapter 93: Shame and indignation. How dare she do such a thing in such a quiet place like the temple...

As soon as Xue finished speaking, Cen's eyes were filled with astonishment that she could not hide.

"Why are you asking this, sister-in-law? Cui Shi has a twin brother named Cui Shenbo, who is still unmarried. However, Cui Shenbo was born with a weak body and was born with a poor mother. Because of Qi Shi's partiality, she even sent her own daughters to be raised in her parents' home. Sister-in-law, are you mentioning Cui Shenbo because you're thinking of marrying Xian to him?"

Mrs. Cen was a little bit unbelievable. Her sister-in-law had always treated her daughter, Cen Yuexi, as if she were the apple of her eye. How could she bear to marry her daughter to a sickly man like Cui Shenbo?

A ripple of emotion flashed in Xue's eyes. She sighed softly and said, "I was just asking casually. Seeing how favored the Crown Prince is with Cui, and how her position in the Duke's Mansion will be secure if she gives birth to a child, I thought our Cen family wouldn't necessarily have to become enemies with her. Perhaps we could find a way to ease the relationship. It would be better than you, my aunt, staying like this and being in an awkward position within the mansion."

"Besides, after the scandal between the old master and that young servant, the Queen Mother sent people out of the palace to reprimand the Cen family. Qian'er's marriage was canceled, and I'm afraid Xian's reputation will also be affected. At this critical juncture, who would be willing to discuss marriage with our Cen family?"

As she spoke, her voice choked with sobs. "Now that things have come to this, I'm thinking it would be better to marry Xian to the Ningshou Marquis's mansion and make her Cui's sister-in-law. Then, since we'll be a family, I think the Empress Dowager, for the sake of Cui's granddaughter-in-law, won't think of making things difficult for our Cen family."

"By then, Brother Qian'er's marriage will have more or less settled."

Cen didn't know how her sister-in-law Xue had come up with such an idea in just half a day. She almost crushed the teacup in her hand. After a while, she said, "Sister-in-law loves Xian'er so much, she really can't bear to..."

Before she could finish her words, Madam Xue spoke up, "What can you do if you're reluctant? The Cen family's reputation has been ruined, and they've offended the Empress Dowager. If Xian's marriage is delayed any longer, she'll be an old maid in a year or two. By then, even if she wants to arrange a marriage, will she be able to choose someone who's equally matched and hasn't yet taken a wife? She might have to settle for being someone else's second wife. Instead of that, why not use this marriage to establish good relations with Madam Cui and the Ningshou Marquis's Mansion? A marriage between the two families would not only provide Xian with a stable home, but also ease the relationship between you and Madam Cui. Isn't that better than delaying Xian for a few more years and then having her become someone else's second wife?"

Cen's expression changed again and again. Thinking of the Cen family's current embarrassing situation, she suddenly felt that her sister-in-law Xue's method was somewhat reliable.

The only bad thing is that Cui Shenbo is weak.

But Cui Shenbo is not someone who is seriously ill. As long as he takes good care of himself, his life span will probably be fine.

Thinking of this, Cen hesitated and said, "Sister-in-law, what you said is a good idea. I just don't know if the Ningshou Marquisate will agree to this marriage. I know that Qi loves Cui Shenbo the most. Now that our Cen family has been involved in such a scandal, if we discuss the marriage of our two children at this critical juncture and are rejected or even ridiculed, we will lose all our dignity."

"By then, if even a little bit of gossip gets out, Xian will be ridiculed."

Xue naturally knew the importance of this matter. She had suddenly come up with this idea after hearing that Cui and Lu Bingzhi had consummated their marriage. She thought that if Cui could give birth to a child and consolidate her position in the Weiguo Mansion, the Cen family might not always be hostile to her.

If we can become good friends and relatives, it will be good for everyone.

As her sister-in-law, she could even say that Aunt Cen owed her a big favor.

However, this was ultimately a matter of her daughter's reputation. Although she had this idea in mind, she was not very decisive. After hearing what Cen said, she still felt a little hesitant.

She thought for a moment and said, "How about you talk to Cui privately? I think Cui doesn't want to be on bad terms with you. After all, she's the daughter-in-law. If she gets out about a disagreement with her mother-in-law, it won't be good for her reputation."

"My aunt told her to go back secretly and ask Qi. If Qi agrees, I'll invite her to the temple to worship Buddha and bring Xian with her. If she doesn't have such intentions, then forget it, and just pretend nothing happened. I think Qi doesn't want this matter to become known to everyone, causing further disgrace to the Cen family and making my aunt even more disgusted with Cui as her daughter-in-law."

"In this way, there is no need to worry about the reputation of Xian girl being damaged."

Cen felt a little aggrieved. In her opinion, her sister-in-law had such thoughts just to make her, as the mother-in-law, give in to Cui, the daughter-in-law.

But recently, she and her daughter have not been in a good situation in the Duke's Mansion. If the relationship with her daughter-in-law Cui can be eased, I think Madam Dou will be happy to see it.

If the two families were to marry, and Xian Yatou became Cui's sister-in-law, even if Lu Bingzhi hated them mother and daughter, he would still have to treat them with some respect for the sake of Cui, his wife.

In this way, there will be only benefits and no harm for her and Danruo.

As long as her sister-in-law Xue was willing to marry Xian Yatou to Cui Shenbo, there was nothing wrong for her, as her aunt, to ask.

As the saying goes, change leads to progress, and progress leads to longevity. At this time, she, as the mother-in-law, had already lost face in front of her daughter-in-law Cui, and was not afraid to ask her such a question.

Thinking of this, Cen nodded and said, "Since my sister-in-law has this idea, I will find an opportunity to call Cui over and talk to her about it. Whether it succeeds or not depends on the opinion of the Ningshou Marquis' Mansion."

After hearing what her aunt said, although Xue was a little hesitant, she finally nodded.

This side

With red eyes, Cen Yuexi talked to Lu Danruo about what had happened in the Cen family in recent days.

"Now that the Jiang family has come to cancel the engagement, and the Empress Dowager has sent people out of the palace to reprimand my mother, the Cen family has lost more and more face. My brother was canceled by the Jiang family, and outsiders don't know how to laugh at him, but he is a man, and it is easier for him to get married than for us girls. Now it's time for me to discuss marriage. Such a scandal has happened in my family and I have offended the Empress Dowager in the palace. Which decent family would be willing to ask me to be their daughter-in-law or granddaughter-in-law? When I think about this, I feel very scared. Everything is fine. The Cen family and the Duke's Mansion are in-laws, and they can't go out in the past. It was respectable, and my aunt was the Duke's wife. When I, a girl from the Cen family, went out to attend banquets, those noble ladies would give me some face for my aunt's sake. How could everything change in such a short period of time? The Cen family is in a difficult situation and is ridiculed by others. My aunt and cousin are also in an awkward situation in the Duke's Mansion, being overshadowed by the newly arrived Cui family. If I had known this would happen, I would have accompanied my grandmother to visit that day and would have stopped her from using the incident of the former wife of the Marquis Kangshou to humiliate and offend Cui, the Crown Prince's wife. If that had happened, we would not have ended up in this situation."

Lu Danruo clenched the handkerchief in her hand, thinking that the last time her cousin came to visit, she was most worried that the new sister-in-law Jiang would not like her as a sister-in-law. Now, only a short time has passed, and the Jiang family has come to cancel the engagement. The situation of the Cen family has become so embarrassing. Her cousin's marriage was canceled, and her cousin was so worried and uneasy. She kept regretting that she did not stop Madam Mei from saying those words to Cui Lingyan that day, thus offending Cui Lingyan.

Her heart sank, feeling a little bitter and a little angry, as if a fire was about to start.

Seeing Cen Yueheng's red eyes saying she regretted not stopping Madam Mei that day, Lu Danruo finally couldn't hold back her anger and said, "It's not Grandmother's fault at all. Even if Grandmother really wanted to support Mother by using the matter of the late Madam of Kangshou Marquis's Mansion, she didn't bully her openly. She even gave her a valuable bracelet as a meeting gift. She just took it personally and felt that Grandmother had bullied her, so she whispered in Lu Bingzhi's ear about how Grandmother had bullied her. Lu Bingzhi was bewitched by her and used all those tricks to cause the Cen family to cause that scandal, which also caused the Empress Dowager to come out of the palace to reprimand her, and then implicated my cousin."

"If you ask me, it's because they were too petty and ruthless. It was clearly a trivial matter, but they refused to forgive me. It's obvious that they deliberately wanted to embarrass the Cen family and make my mother, the second wife, lose face and become even more disrespectful in the Duke's Mansion, making her a laughing stock!"

"Isn't it because Princess Shuning's daughter, Lu Bingzhi, is so bullying and abuses others that he's protected by the Empress Dowager and the Emperor? He's forcing my aunt to come and apologize to this junior, Cui. Isn't he afraid that it will get out and ruin my reputation?"

Seeing her cousin's grim expression but lack of confidence, and even her cousin who was full of fear and jealousy when mentioning her stepbrother Lu Bingzhi, Cen Yueheng sighed softly, thought for a moment, and advised, "Even if you think so in your heart, don't say it out loud. You also said that the prince is the son of Princess Shuning and is valued by the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. With such a stepbrother, even if you can't have a deep brotherly relationship with him, don't offend him completely. Some things are better not to be said or thought. Even if you are the legitimate daughter of the Duke's Mansion, you should know when to bow your head, otherwise you will end up like me, and everyone will despise you for wanting to find a decent marriage."

"For us girls, the most important thing is a good marriage. My cousin and aunt should bow their heads and submit to the Crown Prince and Cui. Even if it's just to ease the relationship for the sake of face, it will be beneficial to my cousin's future marriage."

After these words were spoken, Lu Danruo's face was full of embarrassment.

Cen Yuexian had grown up with her cousin since childhood, so she knew her cousin's temperament. Seeing her like this, she didn't continue to persuade her. She just stood up and said, "I think mother and aunt have finished their conversation. Mother and I won't stay for dinner. We will go back to the Cen family first. Cousin, think about what I said carefully and don't regret it."

Cen Yuexi didn't ask Lu Danruo to send her off, and went to the Peony Courtyard by herself.

After she left, Lu Danruo's eyes were filled with annoyance and anger, and he threw the teacup on the table to the ground.

......

A few days passed in a blink of an eye. Although Cen had thought about asking Cen Yuexi to marry Cui Shenbo, she did not call Cui Lingyan over immediately. She thought she would wait a few days before doing so, so as not to rush and make others look down on her.

That night, there was a knock on the door of the Xilan Courtyard in the Ningshou Marquis's mansion. Old Madam Zhai, who had already fallen asleep, was awakened. She stood up, draped in her clothes, and said with some dissatisfaction, "What happened? Can't we wait until tomorrow to report it?"

Even so, Madam Zhai knew that if it wasn't a serious matter, the servants wouldn't dare disturb her. She glanced at the head maid Daimao and asked, "What's going on?"

Daimao hesitated for a moment, then walked up and whispered a few words in her ear.

Madam Zhai's face turned pale, and she almost fainted from anger. She ordered in a deep voice, "Send someone in quickly!"

Daimao took the order and soon brought a nanny wearing a lake green jacket into the house.

As soon as the nanny came in, she knelt on the ground, kowtowed heavily and dared not speak.

Madam Zhai said in a deep voice, "Is what the eldest lady said true?"

Seeing only the head maid Daimao and the old lady in the room, the nanny hesitated and nodded, saying, "How could I dare to make up stories when it concerns the young lady's reputation? I actually saw a man enter the young lady's room the night before yesterday and didn't come out until midnight. The young lady then asked for water, so I think he was taking a bath. Today, I didn't dare show any unusual feelings, but I secretly observed the expression in the young lady's eyes and eyebrows, and I felt that the young lady might not be a virgin anymore."

"I was afraid that the young lady might be deceived by someone, so I found an excuse to come back and report to the old lady to prevent any serious consequences!"

Madam Zhai's eyes were filled with anger and shame: "She said she went to the temple to burn incense. The temple is a quiet place. How dare she do such a shameful thing!"

"Go, send someone to pick her up tomorrow morning. Tell her that I fell and fell unconscious, and ask her to come back to take care of me!"