Marquis Yongyi could not stay in the capital for long. After the New Year, even though he was worried about his second son, he had to rush back to the frontier in case war broke out.
In early February, as the snow began to melt in the capital and the weather had not yet warmed up, the triennial spring imperial examination of Daeyu began amidst the lingering chill of early spring.
The imperial examinations in Daeyu continued the system of the previous dynasty, with the examinations divided into three sessions, each lasting three days, for a total of nine days.
Ye Muling had been waiting for this day for half a year. She prepared nine days' worth of dry food and provisions for Meng Wenjin early in the morning. After watching Meng Wenjin enter the examination hall, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, as if she could see the scene of her rising to prominence with Meng Wenjin soon.
Because she married into the Meng family at a lower status, the young ladies who used to be on good terms with her gradually distanced themselves from her. Ye Muling held her breath, waiting for Meng Wenjin to return with a third-place finish in the imperial examinations so that she could finally hold her head high in front of those people.
Unlike Ye Muling's eager anticipation, Zhang Wanshu was anxiously waiting in her room.
Zhang had previously planned to marry her off to Xie Changyu. Recently, seeing that Xie Changyu had become lame and no girl was willing to marry him, Zhang brought up the old idea again, wanting to marry her off to Xie Changyu and strengthen their family ties.
However, Zhang Wanshu disliked Xie Changyu, a lazy and dissolute young man, not to mention that Xie Changyu was now physically disabled, constantly beating and scolding servants, and was irritable and easily angered. She had also heard that Xie Changyu was impotent and could no longer be a man. Zhang Wanshu was even less willing to marry him.
Zhang Wanshu was waiting when she learned that Ye Chaoxi was pregnant.
Lady Ye is pregnant and unable to continue serving the young master. Is the young master forbidden from taking a concubine? Would this allow him to see her?
Seeing that Xie Qinglan's leg had healed and she was as graceful as before, Zhang Wanshu thought that she could reluctantly become a concubine, temporarily living under Ye Shi's wing, and wait for the opportunity to make the prince divorce Ye Shi once she gained favor.
But she waited and waited, and two months passed without receiving any news that the prince was going to take a concubine.
Zhang Wanshu became anxious and locked herself in her room, secretly cursing Ye Chaoxi for being a jealous woman who forbade the prince from taking a concubine.
After she had finished cursing, she calmed down and instructed her maid to send a message to Ye Muling, asking her to help lure Ye Chaoxi out. After delivering the message, she was also to get her a packet of aphrodisiac.
The maid was timid and felt uneasy after hearing her mistress's words. "Miss, what do you need this kind of medicine for? This kind of medicine is not something a young lady like us should touch."
Zhang Wanshu glared at her coldly, "Are you my maid or not? I tell you to go, so why all this nonsense?"
The maid had no choice but to leave and carry out the task.
Upon receiving Zhang Wanshu's letter, Ye Muling instantly understood that Zhang Wanshu, like herself, disliked Ye Chaoxi. Although she didn't know what Zhang Wanshu intended to do, Ye Muling agreed without much thought, remembering that Zhang Wanshu had given her a thousand taels of silver last time.
The next day, Jinxiufang sent someone to the door, specifying that they wanted to see the Crown Prince's wife.
The gatekeeper led the people to Tinglan Garden.
Ye Chaoxi's belly was already showing, slightly protruding, but it wasn't obvious under the cover of her winter clothes. She sat lazily on a solid wood carved chair with soft cushions, her eyes lightly sweeping over the two people below.
"Jinxiufang? I don't recall ever buying anything from your store."
The shop assistant at Jinxiufang said, "You didn't buy anything, but your sister bought quite a lot of things from us. She didn't have the money to pay for them herself, so she asked us to ask you for the money."
Ye Chaoxi, “??? Who?”
Her temper flared up instantly, and she stood up abruptly. "Ye Muling?"
Then, remembering that she was carrying a child, she took a few breaths to calm herself down and suppress her anger.
"Yes, that's her," the man said.
"I have no money. Tell her to go to the Meng family, go to the Pingchang Marquis's mansion." Ye Chaoxi didn't want to get involved in this matter at all.
The shop assistant said cautiously, "The Marquis's residence also said they have no money. Besides, your sister dirtied the clothes in the shop. The shopkeeper said he could give the Marquis's residence face and not worry about these small losses, but you still need to come over to negotiate the debt."
"Why should I pay back the money she owes?" Ye Chaoxi still refused.
"Go back and tell the manager that since she can't pay back the money, and neither can the Meng family and the Earl's Mansion, your Jinxiu Workshop should keep her on to work. She can't embroider or sew, but she has plenty of strength. Let her deliver clothes for you until the debt is paid off."
"Isn't this inappropriate? After all, she's your sister, related to the Marquis's family, and the daughter of an Earl." The waiter glanced at Ye Chaoxi, who remained unmoved at the head of the table.
“What’s wrong with that? It’s only right to pay back debts. She doesn’t need to worry about the face of the Marquis’s Mansion and the Earl’s Mansion when she owes money.”
The shop assistant looked like he'd just seen something. With the promise from the young master's wife, their Jinxiufang no longer needed to worry about whether these two powerful families would be unhappy.
...
Zhang Wanshu waited and waited but Ye Muling didn't send her a message saying that she had lured Ye Chaoxi out. She couldn't wait any longer, so she went to Tinglan Garden wearing a thin gauze dress underneath a thick cloak.
From a distance, you can see Ye Chaoxi leisurely strolling and admiring the plum blossoms in the courtyard.
Zhang Wanshu slunk back home again, and then sent a message to Ye Muling through her maid, asking her what happened and why she couldn't even handle such a simple matter.
Ye Muling replied to her, asking to borrow money.
Zhang Wanshu felt a lump in her throat and ignored her completely, regretting that she had given money to such a fool in the first place.
After waiting for several more days, Ye Chaoxi finally left the Marquis's mansion with her maid and went out for a stroll.
Xie Qinglan disliked such lively occasions, so Ye Chaoxi didn't go with him. He could stay cooped up in the mansion every day, but she couldn't.
Upon receiving the news, Zhang Wanshu was overjoyed. She changed back into a light and breathable gauze dress, draped a cloak over her shoulders, and carried a bowl of cooked chicken soup to Tinglan Garden.
She had her maid lure Zhuo Qing away. The maid made up an excuse, and Zhuo Qing, unsuspecting, followed the maid to the main kitchen of the Marquis's mansion.
She had just observed that Xie Qinglan was in the study.
She carried the chicken soup to the study door, pushed it open, and walked in silently with light steps.
Xie Qinglan was processing the messages sent back by his subordinates. Over the years, he had been blind, so he created a simple set of markings. Simple things could be marked on bamboo strips, and he could identify them by touch after receiving them. For complicated things that needed to be written on paper, Zhuo Qing would read them to him.
Hearing the door open, he didn't think much of it, assuming it was Ye Chaoxi coming in.
"Didn't you say you were going out shopping? You usually complain that my study is too cold and you don't want to come in, so it's unusual today." Xie Qinglan said with a smile, reaching out to her, "Come here."
His eyes were covered by a white veil, and his gentle, smiling voice was something Zhang Wanshu had never seen before.
Zhang Wanshu was completely mesmerized.
She was excited but remained silent. She knew Xie Qinglan mistook her for Ye Chaoxi, but it didn't matter. She had put an aphrodisiac in the chicken soup. Once the young master couldn't help but taste her, he would know that she was much better than Ye Shi!
What makes Lady Ye so special that she deserves such a gentle side from the young master?! Zhang Wanshu is determined to snatch it away and force Lady Ye to step down!
Suppressing her excitement, Zhang Wanshu gently placed the chicken soup on the table, took off her cloak and hung it on the rack beside her, revealing the light pink gauze dress she was wearing underneath, which barely covered her chest, exposing large expanses of her snow-white skin. She gently and softly leaned towards Xie Qinglan.
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