When her Grandmother fainted, Jiang Yunniang immediately sent someone to call her father.
Before long, Jiang Tingzhou and the household physician arrived. The physician pressed the Old Madam’s philtrum, and she finally regained consciousness.
After drinking a bowl of calming soup, the Old Madam forced herself to stay awake and ordered the servants to leave, keeping only Jiang Yunniang and the others.
Hearing his mother’s account, Jiang Tingzhou’s face turned dark, then pale. He glared fiercely at Jiang Bairou. He had already told his younger daughter to give up her hopes. One marriage alliance with the Song family through Jiang Yunniang was enough. He had planned to find another match for Jiang Bairou—like his mother suggested, Lu Jianfeng was a possibility. The Lu family’s influence had been growing in recent years, and another alliance with them would be a fine choice.
But now…
“You!” Jiang Tingzhou pointed at his kneeling younger daughter. The thought that she dared commit adultery, even on her elder sister’s wedding night, made his blood boil. How would the Song family view the Jiangs after this?
And with the Lu family present, the Jiang household had lost all face.
His elder daughter wasn’t blameless either. Why hadn’t she sent word earlier? They could have prepared. Now the Lu family had seen everything—was this deliberate troublemaking?
Jiang Bairou wept, her eyes brimming with tears. “Father, punish me as you will. I admit my fault. But please, grant me this one request.”
At this point, excuses were useless. From the moment Qiuyue produced her undergarment, Jiang Bairou knew Jiang Yunniang had trapped her. Now she only begged her father to let her enter the Song household as a titled concubine.
Song Wenling knelt beside her, echoing, “I beg Father‑in‑law to grant this.”
Madam Lu rebuked them furiously. “You claim to be in love—but what of my Yunniang? Song Wenling, you begged to marry her, and now you consort with Bairou. Are you mocking our Jiang family?”
Faced with his mother‑in‑law, Song Wenling dared not talk back, but he knelt upright, unrepentant. He did not think he was wrong. Men having multiple wives and concubines was normal. He had married Jiang Yunniang by his parents’ command, but his heart belonged only to Jiang Bairou.
At that moment, Nanny Wang spoke up. “Madam Jiang, our Second Young Master truly wishes to live with Second Miss. Young people are prone to passion. Since things have already happened, our First Madam’s view is that Second Miss should also enter the Song household.”
“She dreams too well!” Madam Lu’s anger flared. Following her daughter’s advice, she declared, “She is not of Jiang blood. Out of kindness, we kept her, yet she committed such immoral acts. And now she wants to enter the Song household? Beat her to death and throw her in a pauper’s grave!”
Madam Zhao agreed. “Aunt speaks rightly. A girl as unchaste as Jiang Bairou only tarnishes the Jiang daughters’ reputation. Better to kill her.”
Jiang Yunniang herself was willing to see this outcome, but she knew her father and grandmother would never agree.
Hearing Madam Lu call for her death, Jiang Bairou quickly crawled to her father, clutching his leg. “Father, I know I was wrong. Please help me. For more than ten years, you’ve loved me most!”
Since she was eight, and after she moved into her own quarters, her father had told her she was not Madam Lu’s daughter. From then on, she often visited her birth mother with him. He had always said that only by being raised under Madam Lu’s name could she marry into a noble family, and that she must keep her true parentage secret. Her father and birth mother had been childhood sweethearts. But her mother’s family fell into disgrace, and she became the daughter of a criminal. Her father had been forced to marry Madam Lu instead. He had told her many times that his heart belonged only to her mother.
Even after Jiang Yunniang was found and returned to the family, her father still favored Jiang Bairou, even more than Jiang Yunniang. Grandmother also loved her, often lamenting fate’s cruelty that had separated her from her mother.
It was this indulgence that emboldened Jiang Bairou to meet Song Wenling on Jiang Yunniang’s wedding night. She believed she would never be discovered. And no matter what, her father’s love for her mother would ensure he protected her.
Jiang Tingzhou sighed deeply. At this point, the only option was to let his younger daughter enter the Song household as a concubine. He was a fourth‑rank official, yet his daughter would be a concubine—if word spread, what would people say?
But she was his flesh and blood. He could never truly let Madam Lu kill her. With another heavy sigh, he said helplessly, “Let Bairou enter the Song household as a titled concubine. After all, it is a human life.”
Madam Lu’s face was full of disbelief. “But, my lord, Bairou—”
“Enough!” Jiang Tingzhou’s face hardened. “At this point, do you still want us to lose more face?”
Madam Lu was publicly interrupted and reproached, leaving her stunned. Only when the grievance surged up in her heart did her eyes instantly fill with tears.
Jiang Yunniang sneered inwardly. Her father truly was hypocritical and selfish.
“Father, if you allow Jiang Bairou to enter the Song household as a titled concubine, even if you don’t consider your daughter’s feelings, shouldn’t you at least think of yourself?” Jiang Yunniang also knelt down. She knew that if she divorced Song Wenling in the future, she would have to return to the Jiang family first. For now, she couldn’t threaten her father the way she had threatened Madam Zhang.
Jiang Tingzhou frowned. “What are you trying to say?”
“You are a fourth‑rank official. First, you marry me into the Song family, then you send another daughter there. If this spreads, it will become gossip among your colleagues.” Jiang Yunniang sighed. “If Bairou must enter the Song household, then it would be better for me to divorce Song Wenling. That way, I would have nothing left to contest.”
“No!” Jiang Tingzhou and the Old Madam spoke in unison.
The Old Madam was adamant. “I don’t care what outsiders say. A Jiang daughter cannot divorce and remarry. I will not let our ancestors be shamed. A man having multiple wives and concubines is no great matter. Bairou may wrong you, but she would only enter the Song household as a concubine. She would still have to live under your authority. What harm is there in that?”
“And what of Father’s reputation?” Jiang Yunniang looked as though she was speaking for his sake. “Would Grandmother really favor an outsider with no blood ties over her own granddaughter, and disregard Father’s standing?”
The Old Madam was left speechless. She did care for her younger granddaughter, but her son mattered more. The Jiang family was not illustrious, but it had a hundred‑year history and had never produced a daughter who became a concubine. She looked at Jiang Yunniang, then at her son, wavering. “But… but we cannot kill Bairou. Heaven cherishes life. At my age, how could I watch her beaten to death?”
Madam Zhao was nearly exploding with anger. She mocked, “Even a legitimate daughter who commits adultery would be lucky to escape with her life. In many places, she’d be drowned in a pig cage. And this one isn’t even of Jiang blood. Old Madam, you forbid Yunniang from divorcing, saying it’s family rules. Then by those same rules, letting a Jiang daughter become a concubine is also disgraceful!”
Her words were blunt, but Madam Zhao was unafraid. She wasn’t of the Jiang family. Her natal and marital families both outranked Jiang Tingzhou, and her husband was set to inherit a title. She had the standing to speak so boldly.
The Old Madam’s face grew darker, her chest tight with anger, yet she could not refute Madam Zhao. She turned to her son. “Tingzhou, what do you say?”
Jiang Tingzhou looked at his tearful younger daughter, then at his sorrowful elder daughter. Realizing that his elder daughter was still thinking of his reputation at such a time, he felt a pang of guilt. Looking back at his younger daughter, he wavered.
If the Lu family were not present, it might be easier. But with them here, if he handled this poorly, the Jiang family’s name would be ruined. Was one daughter worth it?
Jiang Bairou saw her father’s hesitation and pleaded again. “Father, I am your daughter too!”
At those words, Jiang Tingzhou’s face changed instantly. Feeling guilty, he pushed Jiang Bairou away.