Chapter 13 She only gave up a tree, but...
Shen Lingyue and Shen Yuanjia followed Yao Niang into the courtyard in a daze.
Yao Niang pulled the two of them inside, instructing the maidservant, "Go and lock the door. If anyone comes, just say I've gone out."
Upon entering the room, Shen Lingyue was astonished to find that the furnishings had changed drastically.
Yesterday the room was bare, but today the display cabinet is filled with rare antiques, jade and porcelain, making it truly magnificent.
Shen Yuanjia suddenly stopped, pointing to a small and exquisite double-sided embroidered table screen above, his body trembling slightly.
"This, this is my dowry?!"
When she checked the storeroom last year, she couldn't find it anywhere. She thought it had been secretly taken out and sold by the servants of the Earl's mansion, and she got angry for a long time.
At the time, Han Zhihuan comforted her, saying that her dowry was so plentiful that she could never use it all, and it wouldn't matter if she lost one or two items; harmony in the family brings prosperity.
It turns out it wasn't lost at all; he stole it to please other women!
Yao Niang was taken aback, then her face showed apology, "I'm sorry, I didn't know this was yours."
She removed the table screen. "Here, take it back."
Shen Yuanjia bit her lip, both angry and heartbroken, and turned her head away coldly, saying, "I don't want it anymore."
Yao Niang lowered her eyes and chuckled self-deprecatingly: "That's right, anything touched by a lowly woman like me is naturally unacceptable."
She carefully placed the table screen back on the shelf, her slender, pale fingers lovingly stroking the embroidered surface, her eyes filled with pure affection and appreciation.
"These are all good stuff."
Yao Niang turned around and looked at Shen Yuanjia seriously: "Before you got married, your mother must have prepared a lot of dowry for you, right? Unlike me, I have to fight and grab for whatever I want."
Before Shen Yuanjia could speak, she suddenly smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll find an excuse to send Han Zhihuan home to live with you."
He then waved his hand at the decorations and jewelry in the room, saying, "Take whatever you like, as long as you don't mind. Consider it my apology to you."
Shen Yuanjia frowned, feeling inexplicably humiliated.
Did she come here today to beg this woman to give her husband back?
Shen Lingyue couldn't stand it anymore. She stepped forward, her face hardening, and threatened, "Stop pretending to be a good person. Believe me or not, I'll gather all your lovers together and see who's the greenest of them all!"
Yao Niang shrugged indifferently, "It's okay, they all know anyway."
Shen Lingyue: ...
Is she crazy, or are these men crazy?
Shen Yuanjia suddenly spoke, as if he had finally made up his mind.
“If my husband truly loves you, I can allow you to enter the Pingxi Marquis's residence—”
Shen Lingyue and Yao Niang spoke at the same time.
"no!"
After Shen Lingyue finished speaking, she glared at her: "What do you mean?"
She glared at Shen Yuanjia again. What's wrong with my older sister?
Shen Yuanjia gave a wry smile. "Being inside the manor is better than sneaking around like this."
My mother is right; it's better to guide than to block.
Yao Niang's expression was complicated, with a hint of admiration in her voice: "To be honest, if I really wanted to be someone's concubine, I would be eager to meet a generous and understanding mistress like you."
Having spent over a decade in the world of prostitution, witnessing countless acts of wickedness and depravity, she knew the moment Shen Yuanjia appeared that this noble-born daughter of an official was not the kind of fierce, domineering woman who would come knocking on her door at the slightest provocation.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be standing here, speaking calmly and peacefully.
“Han Zhihuan is not good enough for you,” Yao Niang said firmly.
The next second she curled her lips into a glamorous smile, “What’s so good about being someone’s concubine? Men are all worthless. A wife is not as good as a concubine, and a concubine is not as good as a stolen one. It’s precisely because of this secrecy that it’s so exciting.”
Shen Lingyue was about to nod subconsciously, but then realized something was wrong and stomped her foot. "Hey, it's wrong of you to break up someone else's family!"
"Little sister, this isn't the Taizu Dynasty anymore. There are plenty of men visiting brothels now. Do you think you can arrest them all?"
Seeing her puffed-up face, Yao Niang found it both amusing and adorable, and couldn't resist teasing her, "Everyone else can do it, so why can't I?"
She lifted the hem of her skirt and twirled around, saying, "Although I gave up one tree, I now possess the whole forest."
Without these men coming one after another to her, where would she get her gold, silver, and mansion?
*
The two sisters arrived in a huff, then went home in a daze.
After hearing this, Zhao Lan curled her lips into a smile. "That's quite interesting."
Shen Lingyue complained, "My eldest sister still wants to take her into the household."
Zhao Lan waved her hand dismissively, "It's alright, she doesn't like your brother-in-law."
Shen Yuanjia held his teacup, his smile bitter: "Yes, even she looks down on him... which makes me look like I'm clinging to trash as if it were a treasure."
Not wanting to upset her elder sister, Shen Lingyue quickly comforted her, "You're different from her. You'll be a duke's wife in the future. What you cherish is the title, not your brother-in-law."
Yao Niang did not want to be a concubine, because being a concubine meant being inferior to others and being manipulated by the mistress.
If she were given the chance to be the mistress of the Earl's mansion, would she really not be tempted?
"Alright, since she has agreed to break up with Han Zhihuan, let's not dwell on it anymore."
Zhao Lan took out two contracts and pushed them in front of her eldest daughter.
"These two are people I have prepared for you. After you bring them back to the Earl's Mansion, arrange for the alluring one to stay in your mother-in-law's courtyard, and keep the honest one by your side."
First, let the alluring woman take the initiative to approach Han Zhihuan, ideally making him want to take a concubine. Then, your daughter can naturally elevate the honest maidservant beside her to the position of concubine.
With one maid openly and the other covertly involved, they were actually on the same side, keeping each other in check, and neither dared to overstep Shen Yuanjia's position.
Shen Yuanjia seemed to understand. "I see. This is what she meant by 'a concubine is not as good as a stolen one'?"
Shen Lingyue couldn't help but complain after hearing Zhao Lan devise a series of elaborate schemes in just a few words: "You're using military strategy just to deal with one of your brother-in-laws? Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut?"
But when she thought about how her mother's talent and skills in managing the household could only be used in this small inner courtyard, Shen Lingyue felt even more sorry for her.
Zhao Lan smiled faintly, clearly already used to it.
She hasn't mentioned letting Shen Lingyue bring a concubine with her when she gets married lately. Anyway, when the day comes that she really needs someone, her daughter will remember what happened today.
Shen Hang had no social engagements tonight and finished his shift early to return home. Hearing that his eldest daughter had gone back to her parents' home, he excitedly came to the main courtyard to have dinner together.
In the first few years after he and Zhao Lan got married, they were a loving and harmonious couple. Shen Yuanjia was their first daughter, and she was also coaxed and held by Shen Hang when she was a child.
“I see Jia’er has lost weight. Come on, eat more. Didn’t you used to love this steamed sea bass the most?”
Shen Hang placed a piece of fish belly meat on her plate.
Shen Yuanjia thanked his father.
Shen Hang looked at his youngest daughter a few more times and chuckled, "Yue'er has gained quite a bit of weight. She's getting married soon, so she should eat less, or she might not be able to fit into her wedding dress."
Shen Lingyue huffed angrily, "Where am I fat? This is called healthy!"
The family of four chatted and laughed, creating a harmonious atmosphere at the dinner table.
Just then, a mournful cry suddenly came from outside the door.
"Mother, I truly know I was wrong. Please have mercy and release me and my aunt!"
The group looked up and saw that Shen Songyi had rushed to the door and was tightly gripping Liu Mama's arm, shaking it back and forth.
"Don't stop me! I need to see Father! Father, don't you love Yi'er anymore?!"
Mrs. Liu was speechless. "Second Miss, you're the one who's clinging to me and won't let go! There's such a big open space in front of the door, did I stop you?"
I've never seen anything like this, she's been completely wronged!
Shen Hang frowned, put down his chopsticks, and said, "Yi'er, come in. What kind of behavior is it to be crying and sobbing outside?"
Shen Songyi immediately rushed in like a swallow returning to its nest, grabbing Shen Hang's sleeve and refusing to let go, looking at him with teary eyes: "Father, you haven't come to see me and Aunt for so long, are you still angry with us?"
Shen Hang coughed twice guiltily, "No, that's not true. Didn't Madam tell you to concentrate on copying the scriptures?"
Of course, the main reason was that he had recently become very close to the maid who served him in the study, and naturally forgot that there was a concubine named Liu who was confined to the backyard.
Shen Hang tried to change the subject, asking Zhao Lan, "Have you lifted their confinement?" Zhao Lan replied calmly, "I lifted it a long time ago. I didn't stop Master from going to see them."
"Oh dear, I must have been busy with official duties lately, I forgot."
Shen Hang pulled Shen Songyi up, looked her up and down, and nodded. "She's alright, neither fat nor thin."
Zhao Lan caught a glimpse of Shen Songyi's hesitant expression and asked, "Didn't Master say he wanted to choose a husband for the Second Miss from among those who passed the imperial examination? Now that the newly appointed probationary scholars have all entered the Hanlin Academy, I wonder if there are any suitable candidates?"
"Yes, yes, it was Madam who reminded me."
Shen Hang clapped his hands, a hint of pride in his expression. "Yi'er, your father has chosen a young talent for you, the tenth-ranked student in the second class!"
Shen Songyi's eyes lit up, and she asked hesitantly, "May I ask which family's young master in the capital you are..."
"Well, his background is quite ordinary. He's from southern Zhejiang, and he only has an elderly mother who worked hard to support his studies and the imperial examinations... But that's what makes the old woman's wisdom stand out all the more!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Songyi's face turned pale.
Shen Hang, however, was still smug and immersed in his own opinion. "I have taken advantage of my official duties to visit the Hanlin Academy several times. Qi Xiuyuan is a man of refined and elegant appearance, and his writing is also full of vigor and integrity. With such a tenacious talent, he will surely have a bright future!"
He turned his head, ready to accept his daughter's praise, but saw that Shen Songyi's eyes were red, and asked suspiciously, "What's wrong? You're not satisfied?"
"I..." Shen Songyi bit her lip in resentment, pointing at Shen Yuanjia and Shen Lingyue beside her, "My eldest sister and younger sister can marry into marquis families, so why am I left with only an orphan and a widow? Father, you are too biased!"
Even though Shen Hang doted on this daughter, he couldn't help but lose his temper.
"What's so great about a marquis's family? Your brother-in-law has nothing but a title, and your future brother-in-law is a spoiled brat who indulges in cockfighting and dog racing. How can they have a future like Qi Xiuyuan's?"
Shen Lingyue couldn't help but tap the table. "Father, even if you favor my second sister, you don't have to put us down like this, do you?"
Only Zhao Lan took a leisurely sip of soup, a barely perceptible smile appearing on her lips.
A note from the author:
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Daddy Shen: How to offend a room full of people with just one sentence [heart emoji]
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