The old madam remained silent for a long while before finally relenting.
“Since you have made up your mind to leave, I will not stop you.”
However, the document releasing her from concubinage had to be written by Jiang Xuening’s father, so the old madam entrusted the matter to the First Master’s wife, Madam Zhou.
Madam Zhou nodded in agreement, then heard Jiang Xuening say to her, “I trouble Mother to give another three thousand taels of silver to my mother…”
Three thousand taels?
This girl really dared to ask. She had opened her mouth and demanded three thousand taels just like that.
One had to know that an ordinary family spent only thirty to fifty taels a year on food and daily necessities. Three thousand taels was enough to ensure an ordinary family had food and clothing for the rest of their lives.
“Ning’er,” Madam Zhou frowned unhappily. “You should know when to stop. Don’t go too far.”
Seeing that her Legal Mother refused, Jiang Xuening turned to look at the old madam instead. Her eyes were as calm as still water, without the slightest trace of fear.
“Grandmother, is it really too much for me to ask for this?”
Although the old madam was also reluctant to part with such a large sum of money, she could only grit her teeth and agree in order to prevent the girl from causing any further trouble.
“Madam Zhou, give her three thousand taels.”
“…Yes.”
Since the old madam had spoken, Madam Zhou could only comply.
Jiang Xuening had already achieved her purpose, so she did not linger. After paying her respects, she took her mother and left.
Madam Zhou also rose to take her leave. Three thousand taels was no small sum, and she needed to check the accounts and gather the money from various places.
The old madam called out to her, then glared at Concubine Xia.
“Concubine Xia has behaved improperly. Confine her to her quarters for a month. From now on, cut her monthly allowance in half. Her allowance will not be restored until the three-thousand-tael deficit has been filled…”
Concubine Xia had already been infuriated by Jiang Xuening, and now she had received the old madam’s punishment as well. She felt her blood surge violently, her vision going black, and her body immediately went limp as she knelt on the floor and cried out in grievance.
“Old Madam, I didn’t do it on purpose. It was really because seeing her reminded me of my poor child who never had the chance to be born…”
She wept pitifully, but the old madam was unmoved.
“Ning girl was indeed at fault back then, but you were not innocent either. If you dare use that matter to make trouble again in the future, don’t blame me for showing you no mercy!”
Seeing that the old madam remained indifferent, Concubine Xia could only accept her punishment. Weeping and sobbing, she knelt to take her leave before following Madam Zhou out.
After leaving Lingchun Courtyard, Concubine Xia gradually stopped crying. With a hint of resentment in her voice, she said to Madam Zhou, “Cousin, why didn’t you say a word for me just now?”
Madam Xia was Madam Zhou’s maternal cousin. Back when Madam Xia had been pregnant with her first child, her maiden family had personally chosen her and sent her over to secure her position in the household.
“Sixth Girl came prepared today. It was you who couldn’t keep your composure and became the one who stepped forward to take the blow. If the old madam didn’t vent her anger on you, then who would she vent it on?”
“She hasn’t even married into the Marquis’s Residence yet, and she is already throwing her weight around like this. Once she becomes the Heir Apparent’s wife, won’t she be riding on top of you and me?”
“We truly underestimated her. If she marries into the Marquis’s Residence and remains out of favor, then so be it. But if she wins the Heir Apparent’s favor…”
Madam Zhou’s words carried a deeper meaning.
“Then we really won’t be able to keep her in check…”
“Then what should we do?”
Madam Xia hated Jiang Xuening for causing her miscarriage back then, but it was true that she had bullied Jiang Xuening’s mother first. If that girl gained power in the future and turned around to settle old scores with her…
The more Madam Xia thought about it, the more frightened she became.
Madam Zhou saw her panic but did not offer any way to ease her worries.
“Whether she is favored in the Marquis’s Residence or not will depend on her own fate. But with such exceptionally beautiful looks, I imagine it will be difficult for the Heir Apparent not to be moved…”
Those few seemingly casual words were like oil poured onto a fire for Madam Xia.
No!
She absolutely could not let that girl gain power!
After returning to her own courtyard, Madam Xia immediately summoned her trusted maid and ordered her to arrange for people to spread rumors near Jingning Marquis’s Residence about how Jiang Xuening had harmed her siblings when she was young…
The third day of the eighth lunar month was an auspicious day under the Azure Dragon, suitable for weddings and marriage.
Red silk was draped all along the corridors of Zhongcheng Residence. When the drums and music of the wedding procession began to play, the bridal sedan chair departed through the main gate of Zhongcheng Residence.
The procession accompanying the bride joined the welcoming procession, forming what looked like a long red dragon as it proceeded grandly toward Jingning Marquis’s Residence.
The wedding ceremony began at dusk.
Amid the ceremonial official’s chants, Jiang Xuening stepped down from the sedan chair, holding a treasure vase in her arms as she crossed the saddle and stepped onto the ceremonial mat before entering the main gate of Jingning Marquis’s Residence.
After the wedding rites had been completed in the front hall, the last rays of the setting sun had already faded, and the sky had grown increasingly dark.
The groom remained in the front hall to receive the guests and pay his respects, while Jiang Xuening was supported by others and escorted to the bridal chamber in the rear courtyard.
The gilt bridal veil concealed her face. The only things visible to her were the square blue-gray stone bricks beneath her feet and the tiny pieces of pearls and jade hanging from the edge of the veil.
As she walked, the pearls and jade lightly collided, producing delicate tinkling sounds that stirred her already restless heart.
She knew nothing about the Shen Heir Apparent who had just performed the wedding rites with her.
Although Grandmother had praised him earlier as a man among dragons and phoenixes, no one had told her what kind of temperament he possessed or what life in Jingning Marquis’s Residence was like.
The night grew deep and still.
As time passed, the commotion from the front courtyard gradually weakened until the surroundings finally fell silent. Jiang Xuening guessed that the banquet in the front courtyard had ended and that the groom would soon come over.
Before long, she heard the door being pushed open.
Steady footsteps gradually approached her.
A pair of black boots embroidered with dark cloud patterns suddenly appeared within her lowered field of vision. Looking farther up, she could see a corner of the brocade wedding robe.
He stopped in front of the bed.
Before his hand arrived to lift her veil, the smell of alcohol reached her first.
He must have drunk quite a lot. The strong scent of wine enveloped her, and she disliked the smell so much that she could not help frowning.
The next moment, the gilt bridal veil before her eyes was lifted by a gold-tipped ceremonial scale.
Jiang Xuening’s vision suddenly cleared, and she raised her head to look at him.
The young man in the red wedding robes stood tall and straight, his features elegant and handsome. He truly was as strikingly handsome as Grandmother had described.
However, his refined features seemed to be covered by a thin layer of frost, radiating a cold, forbidding air.
His cold and handsome brows and eyes were lowered, his long lashes casting two faint shadows beneath them.
Expressionless, he accepted the wedding wine handed over by the maid and drank it without hesitation. He casually tossed the wine cup onto the vermilion wedding quilt, then turned around and was about to leave.
Jiang Xuening reached out and caught the corner of his robe.
“Where are you going?”
“To the study.”
“Won’t you consummate the marriage?”
According to everything the nanny had taught her the previous night, after drinking the wedding wine, the newlyweds were supposed to consummate their marriage.
The nanny had used an illustrated manual to teach her many things, telling her that only after consummating their marriage would the two of them truly become husband and wife.
Shen Yi had not expected her to suddenly ask such a question.
She could not possibly be unaware of what consummating the marriage meant.
It was clearly something deeply private and intimate, yet she had asked so directly and frankly. Her eyes were clear, her expression innocent, and there was not the slightest hint of shyness on her face, as though she were merely asking him about the most ordinary little matter.
After a brief moment of astonishment, Shen Yi pulled his robe free from her grasp.
His thin lips moved as he said coldly, “No.”
Such a merciless rejection would have made any thin-skinned woman lower her head in embarrassment and become utterly flustered.
Yet this Jiang Sixth Miss remained completely composed.
Those clear, water-like eyes continued to stare steadily at him.
“Why? Don’t you want to be husband and wife with me?”
Shen Yi’s expression stiffened slightly.
This Jiang Sixth Miss of the Jiang family was actually so… unrestrained?
After a few breaths, he let out a cold scoff.
“Jiang Sixth Miss, I have already given your family enough face by marrying you and bringing you into my household. As for anything else, don’t entertain too many fantasies.”