Chapter 40 No Time
Taking advantage of her mother directly would be detrimental to her status, so she had to do such a roundabout and pretentious thing. Shen Wan hated it from the bottom of her heart.
Her mother paid the money but didn't get any benefit in return. Thanks to General Ye's kindness, everything her parents did for Ye Caiwei was her due.
If she was really her cousin, she would accept it, but she was just the second master's illegitimate daughter, so she was not worthy of it.
Shen Wan directly asked the old lady to pay the money to the public. The kindness on the old lady's face immediately disappeared. The fourth lady said, "How can we let the old lady pay this money?"
Shen Wan knew that someone would take this risk, so he immediately asked, "Then who should pay for it?"
The fourth lady was speechless when asked.
She couldn't say that it was Shen Ji and Yun Shi who should go out.
The Second Madam said that there was no need to compensate for the piano, and the Old Madam also refused to let her do so. It was Ye Caiwei who insisted on paying for it. Now that she has no monthly allowance, she is aggrieved and wants to go back to the Ye family, forcing Shen Ji and Yun to make up for the money she took out of the public treasury. This is unacceptable.
Ye Caiwei said with red eyes, "I don't want my grandmother to make up for the money I owe to the Duke of Dingguo. I have stayed in the Duke of Dingguo's Mansion long enough, and it's time to return to the Ye family."
Tears fell down my face. I couldn't bear to leave no matter how I looked at it. I had no choice but to do so.
The old lady looked at Shen Wan with displeasure, and Shen Wu said, "I think the second sister just can't stand seeing the eldest uncle love her cousin, so she deliberately forced her to return to the Ye family!"
What a great collaboration.
One of them wanted to go back to the Ye family, and the other one put the blame on her.
Chen Wan said coldly, "Third sister, tell me how I forced my cousin to do this. Did I give her my only piece of floating brocade so she could flaunt it in public? Or did I ask mother to hire Deputy Envoy Li from the Imperial Academy to force her to practice dancing, tiring her out? Or did I give her expensive jewelry, causing her to become jealous and resentful, forcing her to leave the Duke of Dingguo's mansion?!"
After a series of rhetorical questions, Shen Wu was left speechless.
Everyone in Kyoto knows how good Chen Wan is to Ye Caiwei.
But it's not something that Chen Wu can just accuse Ye Caiwei of forcing her away. If it gets out of hand and the news of paying for the piano spreads, the reputation of forcing Ye Caiwei away will only fall on her, Chen Wu.
In fact, this fire could have been directed at Shen Wu, but Shen Wan didn't do that and only targeted Ye Caiwei.
"My cousin has always been sensible and generous. She knew that if she compensated Third Sister Qin, she would not receive any monthly allowance in the future. Why would she still feel wronged about this?
Isn't this just unreasonable? It's just that she really misses the Ye family. Her parents treat her like their own daughter, but she can't say it directly, so she took this opportunity to speak. It's only natural for her cousin to want to go back to the Ye family. Grandma, don't stop her. Just stay for a few days and come back as soon as possible."
Yun said, "I also think Caiwei is not aggrieved because she doesn't have monthly allowance. The Duke and I have never treated Caiwei unfairly. Whatever Wan'er has, Caiwei has it too. If there is only one share, Wan'er is sensible and sticks with Caiwei. Caiwei just wants to go back to the Ye family. Old Madam, please don't be reluctant to let her go."
If she takes Ye's family back to force them, then she will force Ye Caiwei to return to the Ye's family.
The old lady couldn't stand it anymore.
Chen Wan and Yun kept saying that Ye Caiwei was reasonable and generous, but she still insisted that Yun make up the public funds and give Ye Caiwei a monthly allowance. This meant that they believed that Ye Caiwei was being unreasonable and causing all this trouble over the monthly allowance.
Ye Caiwei didn't say anything, so Shen Wan simply asked her directly, "Cousin, are you aggrieved because you don't have monthly wages, or do you want to go back to the Ye family to feel aggrieved?"
Ye Caiwei bit her lips and whispered, "I, I want to go back to the Ye family..."
Shen Wan said, “As expected, my cousin and I have the best relationship in the mansion, and I am the only one who can guess what my cousin is thinking.”
Listening to Shen Wan’s almost complacent tone, everyone in the room was almost suffocating.
It was obvious that the cousin was making a fuss because she didn't have the monthly allowance, but the second lady and the Duke's wife were never short of money and would not take a mere twenty taels seriously, so they thought it was not about the monthly allowance. How could the cousin admit to such a shameful thing?
The old lady said, "I'll discuss the matter of returning to the Ye family with the Duke when he's free."
My father is so busy, it is impossible for us to discuss it unless the old lady comes to him.
The matter dragged on and on until it was left unresolved.
Chen Wan knew the old lady's thoughts clearly. No one mentioned giving Ye Caiwei extra money for her monthly allowance, and Chen Wan didn't dwell on it.
A maid came in from outside, holding two invitations in her hands, one was an invitation to the birthday party of the Duke of Xingguo's Mansion, and the other was a visiting card to the Marquis of Zhaoping's Mansion.
The old lady only accepted the invitation from the Duke of Xingguo's Mansion, "There's no need to send the invitation from the Marquis of Zhaoping's Mansion in the future. Just return it directly."
Yun frowned, "This is the third visiting card sent by the Zhaoping Marquis' Mansion..."
Yun was of a gentle nature and thought that two or three times of ignoring the wife of Marquis Zhaoping was enough, and she would meet her next time she sent a visiting card. However, not only did the old lady refuse to meet her, she also refused to accept any visiting cards from then on.
The old lady said, "When the Zhaoping Marquis's family broke off the engagement, Yu'er suffered so much injustice. The Zhaoping Marquis' wife was just afraid that the Taoist's words would come true and her son would live in seclusion forever without marrying a divorced woman. She didn't really regret it. You and the Duke should be soft-hearted, otherwise Yu'er will suffer in the future."
Giving in for the sake of her son is also giving in. Back then, Lady Zhaoping came to cancel the engagement, and now she comes to propose marriage, which is already a slap in the face. I don't know how many people in Kyoto are laughing at Lady Zhaoping behind her back for tying herself up in knots. Besides, the daughter of Duke Dingguo is not someone who can be bullied by anyone who wants to.
Yun knew that her daughter liked the son of the Marquis of Zhaoping. If he still wanted to marry his children to each other, it would be enough to vent her anger. There was no need to humiliate him.
But the old lady's words were also for Shen Yu's own good, and it was not easy for Yun to speak for the Lady of the Marquis of Zhaoping.
Shen Wan didn't believe that the old lady was doing this for Shen Yu's own good. On the day of the divorce, she hoped that Shen Yu would marry the prince of Zhaoping, but she was sure that the prince of Zhaoping would not be obsessed with Shen Yu, and the wife of Zhaoping would not lose face for her son.
The old lady's love for the eldest son has always been superficial, and no one knows what is hidden inside.
Shen Wan said, “Mother, just listen to your grandmother. If Lady Zhaoping is really sincere, she will meet you.”
Even though she couldn't enter the Duke Dingguo's Mansion, her mother wouldn't stay at home all her life.
If Lady Zhaoping could ask for her eldest sister's hand in marriage on behalf of her son in public, she would definitely not care about her eldest sister's marriage in the future. After all, she couldn't slap herself in the face in front of everyone. If she couldn't do it, then the old lady's worries would be unnecessary.
Yun suddenly understood.
The old lady looked at Shen Wan in surprise. When dealing with Ye Caiwei's affairs today, Shen Wan had already made her feel something was wrong. What she said to Yun was even more assertive.
Maybe she was overthinking it. How could a girl who had just reached the age of marriage be expected to meet a master, especially since she had been spoiled since she was a child?
The old lady put down the teacup in her hand and looked at Chen Wu, "How is your piano practice going recently?"
Chen Wu said, "I practice the piano for at least two hours every day, but my piano skills haven't improved much..."
Ever since she cheated and lost face at the Princess Shunyang's Peony Banquet, Chen Wu has been trying to find a way to regain her lost face. As long as she doesn't cheat and amazes everyone with her own abilities, naturally no one will mention the previous incident again.
Among the four arts of music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry and songs, she was best at playing the zither. She could only work hard on it, but no matter how much she practiced, it was difficult to make any progress. She thought it was because the zither was not good enough, so she teamed up with Ye Caiwei to make a fuss and replaced it with an expensive zither.
But after changing it, it's still the same.
If she can't save her face, she will never be able to go out and see people again.
The old lady said, "It seems that just practicing diligently is not enough. We need to ask the skilled musicians from the inner teaching academy to come to the mansion and give us some guidance."
The Second Madam looked at Yun and said, "Excuse me, sister-in-law."
Yun smiled and said, "Your sister-in-law has to worry about this matter yourself. I really don't have time."
The old lady frowned slightly, "Are you so busy?"
Yun said, "It's all about Wan'er's marriage. The Duke said there's no rush for the engagement, but the dowry must be prepared in advance. Otherwise, if we rush and the wedding isn't grand enough, it will be a lifelong regret. I'll have to be busy with this for a while.
"There's no need to rush," said the old lady.
Yun said, "The government pays for it, so it doesn't matter who sends someone to do it. There are many people in the inner teaching house who are good at playing the qin, so it would take a lot of effort to choose. It's better for my sister-in-law to do it herself."
The old lady frowned slightly, obviously not wanting Gongzhong to pay, but it was a bit unreasonable for Gongzhong to pay for the second daughter to practice the piano, let alone asking Yun to pay.
Yun had already believed that Ye Caiwei was the second master's illegitimate daughter. That day, when Concubine Mei was punished, Ye Caiwei rushed to the South Courtyard. When she was almost there, she was called away by the old lady's people.
The second house deceived the first house so much that it even forced Chen Wan to give up the position of county lady to Ye Caiwei. Yun was not willing to spend another ounce of silver for the second house.
Using the excuse of having something to do, Yun stood up, and Shen Wan left with her.
After leaving the hospital, Yun said to Shen Wan, "Let Caiwei have lunch with you today."
Shen Wan was puzzled, "Why?"
Yun said, "You didn't get to eat bear paws and camel humps last time. Mother sent someone to order them. They were really hard to buy, so there was only one, and she asked someone to share it."
There was such a fuss about not having monthly allowance. Chen Wan had both, but Ye Caiwei didn't. Who knows how aggrieved she would be. Yun was also afraid.
When Ye Caiwei returns to the second house, she can spoil her daughter as she pleases.
Shen Wan really didn’t want to have dinner with Ye Caiwei, but for the sake of Bear Paw, she had to endure it.
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