As dawn was breaking, a carriage stopped in front of the government office, and Wei Ping got off.
At this time, the morning mist was thick, the morning drum had not yet sounded, and there were few pedestrians on the road. She walked to the gate and saw that the yamen runners on duty had not yet started their shifts. She couldn't help but feel conflicted. She wanted to go up and knock on the door to try and see what would happen, but she was afraid that doing so would only make things worse.
After thinking it over, Wei Ping realized that she had probably arrived too early, so she paced back and forth in front of the door, waiting for an opportunity. After she had walked back and forth three or four times, she heard a noise coming from inside the door. Soon after, the two doors were pulled open from the inside by the yamen runners. The person who opened the door was the bearded man who had taken the South Sea Pearl yesterday.
Wei Ping's face lit up with joy, and she quickly stepped forward. Just as she was about to speak, the bearded man put a finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet. Then he waved and turned to walk inside.
Wei Ping quickly followed, her steps extremely light, afraid of startling someone she shouldn't at this crucial moment.
The bearded man led Wei Ping to the women's prison. Because there were far fewer female prisoners than male prisoners, the women's prison was much smaller than the men's prison. There was only one narrow path leading to the end, about twenty steps long, with prison cells on both sides, but there weren't many prisoners locked up.
Even at this hour, the prisoners were still asleep. Wei Ping followed the bearded man inside, glancing around from time to time. She saw that all the female prisoners were leaning against the wall, trembling and chattering even in their sleep.
On days like this, let alone in such a dark and damp stone cell, even in a proper room one would need a burning ember and a padded coat to barely sit still. For them, wearing only a thin prison uniform and having to lean against the cold stones was nothing short of torture.
Looking at them, Wei Ping felt sorry for Cai Die. She thought back to when the two of them hadn't been recognized by the old lady and lived in the farmhouse in the countryside, they had never been in such a miserable situation...
Just as grief overwhelmed her, the bearded man in front of her suddenly stopped, and Wei Ping, caught off guard, nearly bumped into his back. As she hurriedly stopped, she heard a hoarse and weak voice from her right: "Mother?"
Wei Ping glanced to her right and almost didn't recognize it!
The woman huddled in the corner had disheveled hair and a dirty face, but her eyes shone brightly in the dim light, casting an expression of disbelief and longing at her.
Wei Ping's eyes widened in shock, and her hands instinctively gripped the iron bars: "Die'er?"
The icy chill from the iron bars traveled from her fingertips to her palms, then along her arms to every part of her body—a bone-chilling cold. Cai Die, leaning against the wall, struggled to her feet, staggered to the iron bars, checked them again, and then, without further hesitation, called out once more:
"mother!"
Cai Die's voice was tinged with sobs, as if she was extremely aggrieved and regretful. Wei Ping tried to reach through the iron bars with her fingers and grasped Cai Die's hand. Her lips trembled slightly, but she couldn't speak for a moment.
There are so many things I want to say, but I don't know where to begin.
The bearded man cleared his throat and whispered, "I have to go back to the front gate to stand guard. Remember the time I told you before. You must come out after one incense stick's time, otherwise if someone discovers you, I will have to arrest you as someone who has broken into the prison."
Wei Ping nodded and watched the bearded man leave.
Cai Die then asked in confusion, "Mother, how did you meet him, and why did he help us?"
"Money can make the devil turn the millstone."
Cai Die instantly understood and realized the urgency of the situation, so she immediately got to the point and asked, "Mother, how is your relationship with the second branch of the family these days? Have Second Aunt and Shu Wan shown any intention of compromising or forgiving me? If I can't persuade them before the court hearing, I'll be severely punished! I heard... I heard that poisoning can result in exile..."
"Mother, Die'er doesn't want to be so far away from you!"
The mother and daughter had always depended on each other for survival. No matter how vicious they were to others, the bond between them was genuine.
Cai Die was distressed, and Wei Ping was equally distressed. She held her daughter's hand tightly and comforted her, "Die'er, don't worry, Mother has already thought of a way to mend relations with the second branch of the family."
"What method?" Cai Die asked impatiently.
Wei Ping pursed her lips, naturally unable to tell her daughter that her method was to strengthen family ties through marriage. She could only say indirectly, "Shuwan's uncle, Sun Xingjian, is still unmarried, so I was thinking of arranging a marriage for him. If this can be done, our relationship with the second branch of the family will naturally improve, and then this matter will be easier to discuss."
"Did Mother take him to see that girl?" Cai Die asked earnestly.
Wei Ping hesitated for a moment, then said, "Actually, they had met before."
Who is that?
You don't know him.
Cai Die was increasingly confused. Since coming to Shengjing, she and her mother had made very few acquaintances, and she truly couldn't believe that her mother knew people she had never met. However, that wasn't the point. The point was:
"But he's already the Marquis of Pingyang County, would he even be interested in the person Mother arranged for him?"
Wei Ping simply said, "I don't think he's the kind of person who despises the poor and loves the rich." After that, she didn't go into any more details about the matter and began to inquire about Cai Die's daily life in prison.
As Cai Die answered, she was still preoccupied with the matter, feeling that something was amiss. With the relationship between the two families so strained, how could Sun Xingjian possibly agree to a marriage arranged by his mother?
However, having hope is always better than waiting in vain.
After talking for a while, Cai Die took the initiative to persuade her mother to leave, so as not to cause trouble. Wei Ping was reluctant to part with her, and said to her before leaving, "Die'er, don't worry. After you get out of here, your mother will definitely give you a stable and wealthy home, and I will not let you suffer anymore."
Cai Die nodded with emotion, watching her mother leave the cell, and then returned to that corner, sliding down the wall little by little until she sat on the ground.
After leaving the prison cell, Wei Ping wiped away the tears on her face, her resolve to become even stronger: she wanted to become the Lady of Pingyang.
Only in this way can she and Caidie truly gain a foothold. Otherwise, after their mother passes away, why would the second branch of the family take care of them? They would probably kick them out of the Wei family immediately.
Aside from Sun Xingjian, she didn't know another young, promising, unmarried, and high-status man. So it could only be him.
Upon returning to the Wei family from the government prison, Wei Ping learned an important piece of news from Xiao Ke: because Sun Xingjian had to enter the palace early on the day of the Autumn Festival, he should not depart from Pingyang, but would come to Shengjing a day earlier and stay at the Wei family's residence, and enter the palace with Wei Shuwan the following day at dawn.
Since Sun Xingjian was planning to spend the night at the Wei residence, Wei Ping saw this as a rare opportunity. At this juncture, especially for a woman of her age, what was there that she couldn't risk?
However, given the previous incident of her daughter drugging the second wife and her daughter, she could no longer consider using drugs or similar methods. Therefore, the only way to quickly establish a significant connection with Sun Xingjian was to set a trap to force him to help her.
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