Chapter 17: A Bet
Song Yurou's aunt's surname is Zhao. She is twenty-six years old, which is the best time of a woman's life. On weekdays, she is quite favored by Song Hongzhi, who stays in her room for several days every month.
In fact, any woman who can be brought back to the mansion by Song Hongzhi and who can gain a firm foothold in the Song family is by no means an ordinary person.
When Song Yurou told Aunt Zhao about the blessing doll, she immediately said, "Don't worry, go back and make the doll openly. I will go and inquire about the situation in the Lotus Temple first.
In private, I will also make a doll, and if this doll is not good for you, we can exchange it."
"Aunt, they must have bad intentions." Song Yurou snuggled in Aunt Zhao's arms and said softly.
Aunt Zhao sighed, "In this world, except for me, no one would be nice to you for no reason. Anyone who shows kindness to you may have other intentions.
Yurou, we are weak now, so we have to suffer some losses in some things, but it doesn’t matter, there will always be a time when we are strong and they are weak."
Song Yurou nodded: "But what if the blessing doll really has an effect on me?"
Aunt Zhao didn't say anything, but just hugged her daughter tightly in her arms, thinking that there would always be a way to solve it.
As soon as Song Yurou left, Aunt Zhao immediately sent her confidant to the Lotus Temple to find out who the old lady and her group had met today.
The person who came to inquire about the news came back soon.
"I met the abbot, Master Hui. I heard the news and was about to come back to tell my aunt, but then a young monk gave me a note and asked me to bring it back to my aunt."
As the man spoke, he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Aunt Zhao.
Aunt Zhao took it. The handwriting on the paper was ancient and simple, and it was obvious that it was the work of a master.
There were four big words written on the paper: Borrow and return.
Looking at the note, Aunt Zhao put it to her nose and sniffed it, and smelled the scent of Sanskrit incense. Aunt Zhao's family was in the spice business, so she could smell that this Sanskrit incense was of the finest quality.
Therefore, this note should have been written by Master Hui.
But what exactly do these four words "borrow and repay" mean?
Aunt Zhao pondered over it, but could not understand why. Then, her wet nurse, Madam Zhao, who had served her since childhood, said, "Aunt, I think I should know what's going on."
"Mammy?" Aunt Zhao came back to her senses and looked at Mammy Zhao.
Aunt Zhao asked, "I wonder if you still remember our Fourth Madam?"
Aunt Zhao's eyes were confused for a moment, but she quickly realized: "Are you talking about my fourth aunt?"
"Yes, the Fourth Madam was just like the Second Miss. She had been married for many years but had no children. Later, she also went to the Lotus Temple and prayed for a child to be born in her womb.
At first, this matter was kept secret until the Fourth Lady became pregnant and gave birth to the child. Only then did we find out that the Fourth Lady had borrowed the child from someone else."
Aunt Zhao frowned. She heard the three words "borrow the child" clearly and understood what was going on without any explanation.
"So the old lady asked Yurou to make a blessing doll for Song Yuqing, just to ask my Yurou to lend her a child?"
Madam Zhao nodded. "That should be the case, but it's not a good idea. Borrowing a child is extremely detrimental to your lifespan. Besides, if you borrow a child, you have to return it."
Thinking of the Fourth Madam, Aunt Zhao's brows quickly relaxed.
As far as she could remember, there were two fourth aunts. The first one seemed to have given birth to her cousin and then died two or three years later. After that, her fourth uncle married a second wife.
Later, the person he was most familiar with was his fourth aunt, and this fourth aunt had a particularly good relationship with her cousin, like mother and son.
"So, my fourth aunt later was the one whose child was borrowed?"
Aunt Zhao nodded: "That's right."
Aunt Zhao lowered her head and looked at the paper in her hand. So this is what it means to borrow?
After a while, Aunt Zhao handed the paper in her hand to Aunt Zhao: "Go see Yurou in person later and tell her this note and the story just now. See what Yurou thinks."
If this is true, then Song Yuqing would probably not live long after giving birth to this borrowed child.
Once Song Yuqing passes away, the Liang family will definitely find another marriage partner for the prince. If... this would be an excellent marriage.
Master Hui must have figured out that Song Yuqing and Song Yurou would marry the same man, so he asked Song Yurou to lend the child to Song Yuqing.
As night fell, Nanny Zhao hurried and soon arrived at Song Yurou's yard.
At this time, Song Yurou had not yet woken up. She was sitting at the table, staring at the sewing box with empty eyes, as if she was lost in thought.
Hearing the noise, she came to her senses and turned around to see that the person coming was Zhao Ma. She couldn't help but feel moved and hurriedly stood up to greet her.
"Mammy, why are you here? Could it be that my aunt has already heard about it?" Song Yurou asked anxiously.
Nanny Zhao nodded slightly, told Song Yurou the story of the Fourth Madam, and handed her the note.
Aunt Zhao thought this was a good opportunity, so she asked Madam Zhao to come and tell her everything, wanting Song Yurou to make her own decision.
Liang Boyan, the son of Marquis Pingyuan, was in the prime of his life, only nineteen years old, ten years older than Song Yurou.
Two years ago, when Liang Boyan and Song Yuqing got married, Song Yurou was fortunate enough to witness the elegance of her brother-in-law.
In terms of family background and appearance alone, Liang Boyan is undoubtedly outstanding and a leader among people. Song Yurou narrowed her eyes slightly and stared ahead thoughtfully.
"Madam, this may just be a coincidence. After all, this is the only rumor you've heard. As for whether other situations are true, it's hard for you to say for sure, right?"
Madam Zhao nodded and replied, "Indeed."
Song Yurou's expression was uncertain, but she quickly made up her mind. She said seriously, "Mammy, when we get back, tell Auntie that she doesn't need to bother making the doll anymore. I will sew it myself."
No one can say for sure whether there is such a mysterious thing as borrowing a child.
However, Song Yurou was willing to take a gamble.
After all, with her status, it was simply a pipe dream for her to want to marry the prince of the marquis's mansion, not to mention becoming the prince's wife or second wife, which was almost impossible.
Now, she has an opportunity to get closer to the prince of the marquis's mansion.
If that's the case, why not give it a try? If I lose the bet, the worst that can happen is I'll just accept my fate and find someone of equal status to marry.
But if she wins the bet, she will become the future wife of the crown prince or the marquis.
Even if she lost, for her, it would be nothing more than losing an illusory child, which might not have much impact on the trajectory of her life. But if she won, she would enjoy endless wealth and glory.
I guess Aunt Zhao weighed the pros and cons and thought that this game was in her favor, so she sent Nanny Zhao over to let Song Yurou make her own decision.
When Madam Zhao heard this, a barely perceptible smile flashed across her eyes, and she said, "I will go back and report this to Auntie."
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