“Miss, you must not mention this to Madam. At your birthday banquet last time, the Marquis’s wife slapped Madam, and I’m afraid Madam still holds a grudge. If she hears that you are going to marry the Marquis’s son, she will probably be even angrier and will probably scold you.” Granny Yan quickly advised her.
Upon hearing that she might get scolded, Wei Jiao immediately shrank back.
"That's right, Mother scolded Aunt for several days last time," she said in a low voice.
Cen Jie cursed and berated Cen Ying in front of her daughter, let alone in private. Her voice was probably hoarse for days because of all the cursing she did.
"What should I do? This won't work, that won't work. Granny just makes me worry!" Wei Jiao hugged her head, looking completely helpless.
Granny Yan chuckled softly and took her hand again to prevent her from hurting herself.
“Good girl, if I had no other choice, why would I have brought this up on purpose and caused you distress?”
"What method?" Wei Jiao immediately raised her head, looking at her expectantly.
“Miss, have you forgotten how your third cousin-in-law rose to power? If Li Chunlan married into the Marquis’s mansion because of her generous dowry, which the mansion needed to cover its deficit, then this third wife’s family background is comparable to yours. Her father is also a fifth-rank official, yet she is just a concubine’s daughter, not even as good as the hem of your robe, but she was able to marry the promising third master,” Granny Yan reminded her.
Upon hearing this, Wei Jiao's eyes lit up instantly, and she excitedly gripped Granny Yan's hand tightly, as if she had grasped a lifeline.
"Granny, you...you mean I should do what Xu Wanying did and deliberately fall into the water so that my fourth cousin will come to rescue me? Then we'll be underwater, our clothes will be wet, and he'll have already carried me, so he has to marry me."
This deliberate act of falling into the water was, after all, unconventional. Wei Jiao was both shy and embarrassed. She stammered when she said the first two sentences, but she became more and more fluent as she spoke, and even showed a hint of anticipation.
Granny Yan chuckled softly and couldn't help patting her head: "Miss's idea is good, but Fourth Master isn't fully recovered yet, so I'm afraid he can't go into the water. He needs to be on land—"
She paused here, then leaned close to Wei Jiao's ear and whispered a few words.
In just a few words, Wei Jiao blushed deeply, her whole body turning as red as a boiled shrimp.
"Isn't this a bit inappropriate? If word gets out, it will damage my reputation," Wei Jiao said hesitantly.
“I understand your fear, young lady, but you can’t catch a wolf without risking your cub. Think about it, even a merchant’s daughter can become the wife of a prince, and a cunning concubine’s daughter can marry the third master of the Jiang family. You are far better than those two scoundrels. Even if people laugh at them in private, they still have to flatter them in front of you. Don’t you want to live a life like that?”
“Whatever unpleasant things others say in private, they have to say nice things and flatter you when they’re in front of you. That makes them feel even worse,” Granny Yan said disapprovingly, as if she were presenting her fallacious reasoning as a profound truth.
"Of course, it's perfectly normal for you to disagree, Miss. You are more upright and kind than the other two, and you wouldn't do such a thing. Just pretend I never said these words today, and you never heard them either. You must not reveal anything about this to Madam, and we will not mention it again." Seeing her silence, Granny Yan immediately changed her tune, using a retreat as a means of advancing.
Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, Wei Jiao said, "No, Granny, you're right. Once I marry my fourth cousin and become the fourth wife of the Marquis of Zhongyi's mansion, no matter how much others talk badly about me, it's just jealousy. They're jealous that I've married up and can live a good life in the Marquis's mansion!"
"It's good that you've figured it out, young lady. I hope you don't mind me being nosy."
"Granny, you've done everything for me, I'm so grateful. But I'm still young and don't know how to act, so please teach me, Granny." Wei Jiao had completely changed her mindset; she had instantly abandoned all sense of propriety and shame, and was now asking Granny Yan for advice.
The mistress and servant huddled together and plotted for most of the day before Granny Yan finally left.
Once outside the room, the joy on Granny Yan's face vanished instantly, replaced by a fierce glint in her eyes, which quickly returned to calm.
The first invitation to the Wei family's flower-viewing banquet was sent to the Marquis of Zhongyi's residence.
When Xu Wanying received the notification, she frowned and couldn't help but complain, "What flower viewing banquet? I have to go so early in the morning. What kind of flowers are they going to see? Even gold-carved flowers can't make me get up early!"
“Go back and tell my mother that I haven’t been feeling well these past few days and I’m not going!” Her first reaction was to refuse.
The maid who came to deliver the message took back the invitation and immediately said, "Third Madam, the Lady of the Marquis asked me to pass on a message that there will be a great show at the Wei family's flower viewing banquet this time. If you don't go, you might regret it."
"Ah! Is there something exciting going on? I'll go!" She changed her mind instantly; as expected, Cen Shi understood her very well.
"You silly girl, why didn't you say that sooner? I'll punish you by making you pour me a cup of tea, and then I'll give you a reward!" Xu Wanying coughed lightly, feeling a little embarrassed by her sudden change of expression, and tapped the table.
When the maid heard that there was a reward, she immediately poured tea for her with a big smile and apologized repeatedly, saying, "I'm forgetful, please don't take it to heart."
"She speaks so sweetly, reward her more." Xu Wanying felt very comfortable being flattered and instructed Hongmei.
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