Madam Bai and Swallow Holding Branch gasped in shock. Swallow Holding Branch was utterly astonished; she had never known that her grandaunt had such a fierce record.
Though not a man, Madam Bai felt a sympathetic pain. “Aunt Cunzhen was too impulsive.”
Yan Tingbai nodded. “Aunt Cunzhen said that if the Heir Apparent wanted her to live as a widow, there was no need to wait for the future—she could start right away.”
Once this incident occurred, any chance of marriage alliance between the Jingyuan Marquisate and the Wuyang Marquisate vanished, replaced instead by enmity.
The Marquis of Wuyang and the Marchioness wept before the Former Emperor, demanding justice. With the lineage of their eldest legitimate son cut off, they insisted that Yan Cunzhen pay with her life for their son.
The Old Marquis of Jingyuan at the time naturally refused. He argued vehemently before the Former Emperor, stating that the Heir Apparent had been at fault first—arrogant and unrestrained, thinking his modest talents gave him license, and failing to control his inner circle.
His daughter had merely administered a slight punishment, yet the Heir Apparent had brazenly declared that his betrothed should live as a widow.
If the Wuyang Marquis Heir did not wish to marry, why had he agreed to the engagement? What did he take the legitimate eldest daughter of the Jingyuan Marquisate for?
Who could endure such humiliation?
The two marquises quarreled noisily before the throne, eventually coming to blows. In the end, the Old Marquis of Jingyuan, relying on the Former Emperor’s favor, managed to turn the tide. He was merely fined two years’ salary as punishment.
The Wuyang Marquisate received compensation in the form of an additional generation inheriting the title, which barely appeased the Marquis of Wuyang.
As for the Wuyang Marquis Heir, whose brains had been kicked by a donkey—sorry, no compensation.
The emperor appreciated talent, but such unreliable behavior meant he would no longer be entrusted with important duties.
Unless one day, the Wuyang Marquis Heir could invent something so remarkable that it would secure the emperor a resoundingly positive legacy in the history books during his reign.
Otherwise, the Wuyang Marquis Heir could forget about making the Jingyuan Marquisate pay any grievous price.
“So Aunt went to the Jinling Family Temple because of this,” Madam Bai offered her opinion. “But that shouldn’t have condemned her to a lonely life forever! After some time passed, they could have arranged a good marriage for her far away. That would have been better than leaving her childless and desolate like this!”
“Back then, after Aunt caused this incident, the Former Emperor favored Grandfather, but Grandfather didn’t dare take that favor for granted. He naturally had to punish Aunt, so he sent her to the family temple for reflection, also to protect her, as her reputation at the time was truly tarnished.
Originally, he planned to wait a year or two for the matter to settle, then arrange a marriage for Aunt. But who could have expected…” Yan Tingbai sighed repeatedly here. No one foresaw that time would not wait for Yan Cunzhen. Just two years later, when the Wuyang Marquis Heir incident had died down and the Old Marquis was preparing to select a new husband for his daughter,
the Former Emperor fell gravely ill in his later years, with no cure in sight. In hopes of a swift recovery, he listened to the deceitful advice of alchemists and ordered the selection of women with auspicious birth charts to enter the palace and ‘ward off illness’ through marriage.
The legitimate eldest daughter of the Jingyuan Marquisate, still unmarried, happened to be on the list of candidates.
It must be understood that the Former Emperor was nearly sixty by then. Any woman entering the palace at that time, regardless of whether the emperor recovered, would likely spend the rest of her days in the Huangjue Temple.
The Old Marquis could not bear to see his eldest daughter’s future so bleakly predetermined, so he considered creating a time gap by marrying her off as quickly as possible.
But the problem lay in the fact that the Wuyang Marquis Heir still harbored deep resentment, as the two families had exchanged engagement documents when arranging the marriage.
He then publicly proclaimed Yan Cunzhen’s birth date and eight characters, even hiring Taoist priests to spread the word that her eight characters were aligned with the emperor’s destiny.
When this reached the ears of the Former Emperor, an imperial edict arrived at the Jingyuan Marquisate that very day.
At this point, the Old Marquis’s earlier schemes were completely ruined, and Yan Cunzhen had no choice but to enter the palace.
When the news reached Jinling, Yan Cunzhen had no choice but to return to the capital to prepare for her entry into the palace. Looking on the bright side, given her status, she could at least secure the title of a consort. If she were to bear a child, perhaps she wouldn’t have to end up in the Huangjue Temple in the future.
But just as Yan Cunzhen was halfway on her journey, the Former Emperor recovered from his illness.
Once he recovered, he regained his clarity of mind. The Former Emperor realized that his earlier decision to select women for the palace had been excessive, so he halted the large-scale selection and allowed the women who had not yet entered the palace to return home and marry elsewhere.
However, the situation became awkward for Yan Cunzhen because she was someone the emperor had personally decreed to be selected, which was different from the other women chosen through the general selection.
When the Former Emperor issued the edict to halt the selection, he did not grant Yan Cunzhen special permission to marry elsewhere, so she could no longer marry.
The Old Marquis pleaded for an imperial decree in the palace, but he was always interrupted at the last moment. After several attempts, the Old Marquis understood.
The Former Emperor likely still believed that Yan Cunzhen’s eight characters brought him good fortune, but due to her previous act of castrating the Wuyang Marquis Heir in a fit of rage, he did not want her to enter the palace.
In simple terms, he didn’t want to let her go but also didn’t want to give her a title. The prosperity of the Jingyuan Marquisate was entirely dependent on the Former Emperor, so they dared not oppose him.
Moreover, the Old Marquis had to consider his other children. The old couple was in an extremely difficult position, unsure how to broach the subject with their daughter.
Yan Cunzhen, however, was clever and immediately understood her parents’ dilemma. She took the initiative to propose returning to the Jinling Family Temple to become a nun.
She couldn’t stay in the capital as an unmarried old maid, as it would hinder the marriages of other girls in the family.
Thus, Yan Cunzhen left and spent most of her life there, with only the dim light of an oil lamp and ancient Buddha statues for company for the rest of her days.
Upon hearing this, Madam Bai blinked and murmured to herself, “I remember the Wuyang Marquisate was raided and exterminated over a decade ago! Could it be…”
Yan Tingbai nodded. “The Wuyang Marquis Heir ruined Aunt’s entire life, so Grandfather and Father harbored deep hatred for the Wuyang Marquisate.”
Therefore, the Old Marquis not only sent people to closely monitor the Wuyang Marquisate, waiting for an opportunity to take revenge, but also devised ways to lure the descendants of the Wuyang Marquisate into making mistakes.
Finally, over a decade ago, when the Former Emperor passed away, the Wuyang Marquisate, under the Old Marquis’s schemes and deceptions, boarded the wrong ship, leading to the entire clan meeting their demise.
Only after resolving this enemy did the Old Marquis pass away.
Madam Bai and Swallow Holding Branch listened intently, never imagining that their aunt (grandaunt) had such a tumultuous life. Half her life of glory and wealth was granted by the Former Emperor, yet she spent the other half in loneliness and hardship because of him.
Such are the dramatic ups and downs of life.
Swallow Holding Branch, however, recalled the austere days she spent by her grandaunt’s side in her previous life and said, “Madam Wang doesn’t like Grandaunt!”
“How do you know that!” Yan Tingbai pulled his daughter close, rubbed her cheeks, and explained to Madam Bai, “Madam Wang indeed doesn’t like Aunt. She thinks Aunt’s actions are unorthodox and disdains associating with her. While Grandfather and Grandmother were alive, she didn’t dare say anything, but once they passed away, she stopped sending festival gifts to Aunt. If it weren’t for the fact that the money for Aunt was managed through the front courtyard’s accounts, she probably wouldn’t have given any money at all.”
Auntie didn’t like seeing her sister-in-law’s face, so over the years, she had grown reluctant to return to the capital for family visits.
“If Father passes away, I’m afraid Auntie will have even less contact with the Marquis’s household.”
That’s right. In her previous life, after Grandfather passed away and her parents were gone, the Marquis’s household fell under the control of the second branch. Auntie had no one to rely on, and her life took a sharp downturn.
Auntie still had to find a way to raise her, a little burden, which was truly not easy.
Madam Bai immediately made a decision: “Tingbai, we must invite Auntie back. Her return will benefit our eldest branch.”
Yan Tingbai was taken aback: “Benefit? What benefit?”
“Auntie is an elder. Back then, she sacrificed for the family. Isn’t it only right that we provide for her in her old age? Moreover, forgive me for saying this, but with Old Master in this state, would you want Madam Wang to use her seniority to criticize our eldest branch in the future? If she resents us because the second branch was passed over for inheritance and starts making a scene, crying and accusing you of being unfilial, how would you prove your innocence? With Auntie here, it would be different. Auntie and Madam Wang are of the same generation, and Auntie is so capable—she would surely see right from wrong. If Auntie helps our eldest branch keep Madam Wang in check, our lives would be much easier.”
Madam Bai deliberately made the situation sound dire, startling Yan Tingbai. He said resolutely, “We’ll bring her back. By any means necessary, even if it takes three kneelings and nine kowtows, we must bring Auntie back!”