Chapter 16: Revealing that you are not Shen Wuyu.
After the merchant's wife came to the flower hall, since it was her first time meeting Shen Lianxiu, there was no need to exchange pleasantries. She just asked if she was being attentive and said that she was late because she was tripped by her child.
Chen Lianxiu responded appropriately to each of their questions.
However, the glimpse outside the flower hall just now has always made Shen Lianxiu feel scared.
"My name is Ye Chuyin," the merchant's wife introduced herself, and then said to Shen Lianxiu, "I think your last name is Shen?"
Chen Lianxiu said, "My surname is Chen, and my given name is Wu Yu."
"Chen Wuyu," Ye Chuyin repeated, nodded, and suddenly said to the servants around him, "It's still early for the young master, and we also need to talk. You all go to serve outside the flower hall."
At once, all the servants of the merchant family retreated, leaving only the maidservants beside Chen Lianxiu. Chen Lianxiu had a premonition of something, and after thinking about it, she dismissed them all.
As soon as the person left, Ye Chuyin's expression suddenly turned cold.
She looked at Shen Lianxiu again, and then whispered, "You are not Shen Wuyu."
Ye Chuyin's revelation shocked Shen Lianxiu, but not surprised.
Chen's plan of marrying in place of her was not very clever, and could even be said to be foolish. The Shen family was not from outside the city, but had lived in the capital for many years. Although Shen Ji was only an incompetent sixth-rank official, it was difficult for the daughters of the Shen family to socialize with higher-class families and they were not in the Zhou family's circle at all. It was true that Shen Wuyu usually interacted with the daughters of merchants that Chen was familiar with, but this did not mean that no one in the entire capital who had dealings with the Zhou family had ever seen Shen Wuyu.
Even if you have only met once by chance, there are still people with good memories.
For example, Ye Chuyin.
Even though Chen Lianxiu rarely goes out, he still can't avoid running into him.
"I met Shen Wuyu once two years ago. She was younger then, but she had grown up. She does look a bit like you, but you are definitely not the same person," Ye Chuyin said. "My memory is very good. I wasn't sure just now, but now that I've come closer and taken a closer look, I can't be wrong."
Even though she was prepared, she still panicked when Ye Chuyin said it to her face.
She had thought about the scenario of being exposed, but she always felt that no matter how she defended herself, she had indeed married in a substitute marriage and deceived Zhou Linjin and the Zhou family. It all depended on whether Zhou Linjin was willing to believe her.
Facing Ye Chuyin now, Shen Lianxiu didn't know whether she would tell Zhou Linjin, but she still had to say what she had to say. After calming down a little, Shen Lianxiu said, "I am Shen Wuyu's elder sister, Shen Lianxiu. You have never seen me because we are from different mothers. My sister... suddenly disappeared two or three months before the wedding. No one knew where she went. The Shen family had no choice but to cancel the engagement..."
"The prince is blind, so they just let you marry in his place?" Ye Chuyin said it directly for her, with a look of disbelief on her face.
Chen Lianxiu nodded: "My stepmother is reluctant to part with this wealthy in-law. She thinks that as long as I marry him, even if the prince regains his sight, he will not be able to abandon me."
After hearing what she said, Ye Chuyin was silent for a moment.
After a long time, she sighed and asked again: "Did Shen Wuyu leave because the prince suddenly went blind?"
"No," Chen Lianxiu quickly shook her head and explained, "I don't know why she left. She never told me, and my family didn't tell me about it either. But it shouldn't be because of the prince's eyes. She left before he became blind."
Hearing this, Ye Chuyin's eyes softened.
If it was really someone who deliberately planned to marry in place of her, she would have wanted to put all the blame on Shen Wuyu and would never have come to the defense of her sister. After all, they were all outsiders and didn't know whether Shen Wuyu left first or Zhou Linjin became blind first.
"Forget it," Ye Chuyin waved her hand, "Since you've already married him, I won't tell anyone. Just pretend you don't know about it. You don't have to be afraid."
Ye Chuyin asked about this matter because her husband Shang Ran was good friends with Zhou Linjin and they had close contacts. But in the final analysis, this was also Zhou Linjin's own business. Since Chen Lianxiu didn't seem to have any bad intentions, she didn't want to be the bad person. If she caused Chen Lianxiu to suffer misfortune in the future, wouldn't it be her fault?
Who would want to take someone else's place when you can marry him/her under your own name?
If Chen Lianxiu was really forced by her family to marry, then it would be difficult enough. Why would she harm her and make her life even more difficult?
Chen Lianxiu didn't expect that Ye Chuyin was persuaded after hearing a few words from her and even concealed the matter for her.
She was suddenly at a loss, blinking, not knowing what to say. After a long while, she said, "Thank you."
Ye Chuyin also smiled at her.
"They should be almost done talking. I'll take you around the garden, and then we'll go find them. Even if the prince has servants and followers, I'm afraid he can't take his eyes off you." Ye Chuyin said.
Ye Chuyin spoke in a gentle tone, and she did not despise Chen Lianxiu at all for knowing that she was marrying in her place. After the shock just now, Chen Lianxiu felt a little dizzy. She quickly stood up with her and walked as if she was stepping on cotton.
I passed this level just like that.
Just as Ye Chuyin expected, when they went over, Shang Ran was just sending Zhou Linjin out.
Ye Chuyin looked at Chen Lianxiu, who understood and nodded at her, expressing his gratitude again.
After leaving the Shang Mansion and getting into the carriage, Zhou Linjin was not in a hurry to leave. He just called Bi Cha in and gave him a few instructions.
"Go and give Cheng Lanjiang a message, asking him to give her another five or six days. My mother is ill and cannot leave my sister. Once she recovers, I will naturally let her go back."
Shen Lianxiu listened from the side. Although he knew that Zhou Linjin would never bow to Cheng Lanjiang, he was still confused.
Zhou Linjin didn't tell her what he was going to do.
The Cheng family probably thought that Zhou Linjin had given in, and did not want to continue to make things awkward with the Duke's Mansion, so they agreed to let Zhou Yishao stay for a few more days. Anyway, the time limit Zhou Linjin mentioned was not enough for Zhou Chang to go back and forth.
Just like that, just five days later, the Cheng family came again.
At that time, Chen Lianxiu was explaining a chess manual to Zhou Linjin. When he heard the report, his heart tightened, thinking that the Cheng family was coming to ask for someone.
She has been with Zhou Linjin frequently these days, and has never seen him do anything.
As if he could already see her panic, Zhou Linjin said to her: "Let's go and take a look."
As he spoke, he gently pulled her sleeve.
Lately, even if she didn't make a sound, he could feel where she was.
A thin layer of powder appeared on Chen Lianxiu's face. Although she knew that Zhou Linjin couldn't see it, she still lowered her head and didn't dare to look at him again.
My heart is beating very fast.
Because Zhou Linjin had given instructions in advance, the servants of the Duke's Mansion only brought the Cheng family members to the guest reception area in the outer courtyard.
Before they got close, they heard voices, which became louder as they walked.
Cheng Lanjiang did not come today. Instead, the cousins from the Cheng family who had been here before came, so there were quite a few people.
Zhou Rong was already receiving guests in the hall, and right after Zhou Linjin and his group arrived, Mrs. Wu and Little Mrs. Wu came.
When Wu saw Zhou Linjin, she said, "Stop making a fuss. Ask your sister to come over too. Let's go with them now. I've already prepared a gift for her to take to the Cheng family. This matter will be written off."
Chen Lianxiu seemed to see Zhou Linjin nodded, but he couldn't be sure, as if he was dazzled. He didn't say anything after hearing what Wu said.
Mrs. Wu seemed to have seen him nod, so she said nothing and walked inside before them.
When Zhou Rong saw Wu and his group coming, he hurried out to greet them.
He looked extremely embarrassed. Although the weather was not hot, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Mrs. Wu looked at him very strangely and asked, "What's wrong?"
Wu had received the news a long time ago that Zhou Linjin had asked the Cheng family to give them a few more days, and the Cheng family had agreed. Now Zhou Linjin seemed to have given in, so nothing would happen. Zhou Rong was just chatting with the Cheng family, so what was so difficult about that?
Zhou Rong wiped the sweat from his face and whispered, "Mother, they're not here to ask for my help. They're here to ask for our help to smooth things over for them... Just last night, Cheng Lanjiang was arrested by the government."
Mrs. Wu was also shocked when she heard this. She was about to ask for clarification, but when the guests from the Cheng family saw her arrival, they all came forward.
Chen Lianxiu had guessed a few things in her mind. She turned her head to look at Zhou Linjin, only to see that he looked calm, as if he was completely unaware of what had happened. He said to her, "Let's go over and sit down first."
After the uncles and aunts of the Cheng family finished talking about the whole thing, everyone finally understood.
Cheng Lanjiang was a man who indulged in sensual pleasures and loved pleasure. This time he came to the capital to pick up Zhou Yishao and stayed here for a while. Naturally, he wanted to take this opportunity to have some fun. When he was at home, he had some restrictions, but now his uncles and aunts could not control him at all.
He went to the restaurant to drink in the first few days, and then to the gambling house. In the beginning, he won and lost. Because the Cheng family was rich, it was not a big deal even if he lost some money. But later, no one knew what happened. It was probably because Cheng Lanjiang gambled more and more. After losing a few times, he saw that the money he lost was quite a lot, so he got addicted to gambling again and wanted to get back to win a game. Things became more and more out of control.
Until last night, he went to the gambling house again. Because he owed a huge debt and refused to pay it back, he not only caused trouble when asked to pay it back, but also reportedly beat someone up. As a result, he was sent to the authorities and is now in prison. The other party is also a local tyrant in Beijing, and he even threatened that it would not be so easy to let it go.
Several uncles and aunts wanted to get the man out quickly, so they counted the money overnight. However, they did not have that much money on them at the moment. If they rushed back to the Cheng family to get it, they were afraid that Cheng Lanjiang would suffer for so many days, and they were even more afraid of being scolded by the Cheng family. Moreover, Cheng Lanjiang was imprisoned not only because of debt, but also because of other lawsuits. It might not be so easy to resolve the matter by just taking the money.
So they discussed it and decided that since they were in the capital, the Zhou family would be more familiar with the connections than them and could afford the money for emergency. Besides, they were relatives and could help them to establish connections. So, they would rather ask the Duke Cheng’s Mansion for help than anyone else.
Now I just hope that Cheng Lanjiang can be pulled out of prison immediately so that he can suffer less.
After hearing this, Wu also became anxious. She looked at Zhou Rong, and finally said to Zhou Linjin, "Erlang, you should come forward to deal with this matter. Money is a small matter, and we can afford it. You know a lot of people, so go and smooth things over and ask them to release your brother-in-law. If this matter gets out, where will your father and the Duke's Mansion save face?"
Zhou Linjin remained silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. After Wu urged him a few times, he finally said to the Cheng family, "Please go back and wait for news. I'll find a way."
The Cheng family was also afraid of angering the Duke's Mansion at this time, and since they had no other choice, they followed Zhou Linjin's advice and went back first.
After they left, Wu said again, "Go quickly. This is your brother-in-law. Don't be angry about what happened before."
This time, Shen Lianxiu clearly saw Zhou Linjin nodded.
Shen Lianxiu couldn't help but lowered her head and smiled.
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