“Zhizhi greets Uncle and Aunt,” Shen Ruzhi said, performing a formal curtsy. “And greetings to the Prince of Langya.”
“Zhizhi, you’ve come?” There was both surprise and relief in Lady Zhou’s eyes.
Shen Ruzhi was the daughter of Shen Zhao, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. She and Jiang Wanning had known each other since childhood and were once as close as sisters. However, for some unknown reason, they had stopped associating with each other a year ago. Shen Ruzhi refused to attend any event where Jiang Wanning was present. Still, whenever she saw the elders of the Marquis Mansion, she would greet them politely. Shen Ruzhi often made roundabout inquiries about Wanning’s well-being in front of Lady Zhou, but since both girls were incredibly stubborn, neither would reveal what had actually happened between them.
Seeing Shen Ruzhi arrive today naturally made Lady Zhou happy.
“Aunt, Zhizhi was delayed by some matters today and arrived late. Please do not blame me.”
“I don’t blame you at all. It’s good that you’re here, just good that you’re here. Wanning was just mentioning you this morning.”
Shen Ruzhi glanced at Jiang Wanning, gave a light huff, and muttered under her breath, “She actually remembered to miss me?”
Lady Zhou heard her and gave an embarrassed smile. “Zhizhi, please, take a seat.”
“Miss Shen, I know you have always disliked me,” Jiang Wanru said, lowering her head and wiping her tears with her sleeve. “You can say whatever you like about me. Just… please do not make things difficult for Sister because of me.”
Shen Ruzhi rolled her eyes dramatically. “That acting of yours… it’s only good enough to fool the blind Jiang Wanning.” As she spoke, she didn’t forget to glare at Jiang Wanning.
Seeing her old friend again, Jiang Wanning felt a surge of happiness and excitement.
“Miss Shen, you should stop talking about Ru’er. If you speak like that, Wanning will be sad,” Pei Anqing said coldly.
“The Heir defends Jiang Wanru so fiercely—aren’t you afraid Wanning will be the one who is sad?” Shen Ruzhi spared no one. Her father was famously known as the reincarnation of the “Black-Faced Judge Bao Zheng,” a man who had offended nearly everyone in the imperial court. Consequently, she wasn’t the least bit afraid of causing trouble for her father. Even with the Prince of Langya present, while everyone else held their breath in caution, she remained fearless, saying exactly what was on her mind.
“You!” Pei Anqing flicked his sleeve. “You are simply unreasonable. Wanning won’t welcome you here. Why did you even come?”
This time, Shen Ruzhi didn’t know how to respond. She wasn’t afraid of offending people, but she was afraid of hearing hurtful words from her best friend. Just as she was struggling to find an answer, Haitang, catching Jiang Wanning’s eye, threw herself onto the ground with a loud thud.
“Master, Madam, Young Lady!”
“It is Haitang who has betrayed the Young Lady. But Haitang does not regret it!”
Jiang Wanning looked shocked. “Haitang, I have always treated you well. What have you done?”
Haitang kept kowtowing. “Young Lady, please forgive me! I know the reason you refused to see Miss Shen was that she warned you to be careful of the Second Young Lady and the Heir. Miss Shen even told you that the Second Young Lady and the Heir had long been involved behind your back. You didn’t believe her, so you cut off all ties with her.”
“So that was the reason?” Lady Zhou cried out in surprise. No wonder neither of them would speak of it. While Zhizhi was mischievous, she was certainly not one to tell such lies. This matter… Lady Zhou looked toward Jiang Wanru and Pei Anqing.
“Aunt, this is all Shen Ruzhi’s nonsense. No such thing ever happened. If it had, Wanning wouldn’t have broken off her friendship with her,” Pei Anqing argued.
“Haitang, tell me first—what did you do?” Jiang Wanning put on a display of grief, looking like a woman who had been deeply betrayed.
“When Miss Shen heard that the Young Lady was to be betrothed to the Heir, she sought me out. She asked me to go into the Second Young Lady’s room, saying… saying there was evidence that the Second Young Lady and the Heir had been together for a long time. I thought, what if Miss Shen was telling the truth? So I quietly slipped into the Second Young Lady’s room, and I truly found correspondence between her and the Heir. The contents are so explicit… I truly cannot bring myself to say them aloud. So, I brought the items here.”
Haitang reached into her robes and pulled out several letters. “This is only a portion of them. There were simply too many letters—a whole trunk full. I only picked a few that were slightly less scandalous…”
When Jiang Wanru saw the letters in Haitang’s hand, her body went limp and she collapsed onto the floor. Pei Anqing shot a sharp look at Jiang Wanru. Why weren’t they burned?! Jiang Wanru lowered her head, avoiding his questioning gaze.
Clutching her chest and supported by Shaoyao, Jiang Wanning stumbled toward Haitang. A distance of only three steps looked as if it took her ten miles to walk. With a trembling hand, she took a letter and opened it. The paper shook in her hand as if she had developed a severe tremor.
Lady Zhou immediately stepped forward, took the remaining letters, and skimmed through them. Her face turned ashen.
“Wanning, listen to my explanation—”
Slap!
The moment Pei Anqing opened his mouth, Jiang Wanning used every ounce of her strength to deliver a fierce slap to his face. She had put in a great deal of effort acting just to land this one blow.
“Since the two of you were already together, why bother deceiving me?” Jiang Wanning cried out, tears streaming down her face as she pointed at Pei Anqing and Jiang Wanru. “And you even directed and acted in today’s little scene? If you love each other, you could have just told me. Why did you have to ruin me?”
While Jiang Wanning was shrieking her heart-wrenching accusations, she didn’t forget to keep slapping Pei Anqing.
Marquis Jiang Zheng’s face was livid after reading the letters. “Prince, you need to give me an explanation for this.”
The Prince of Langya, Pei Yanchuan, glanced indifferently at the contents of the letters. “Rest assured, Marquis. I have already requested an Imperial Decree—the future Princess of Langya can only be Jiang Wanning.”
“Prince, what we care about is not the title of Princess of Langya, but Wanning’s heart!” Lady Zhou couldn’t help but roar.
Pei Yanchuan masked the heartache in his eyes. “My Langya Prince’s Mansion will certainly give you an explanation for this matter.”
Hearing this, Jiang Wanning turned and knelt. “Then I ask the Prince to give this humble girl an explanation right now.”
Pei Yanchuan’s clenched fist tightened slightly. “What do you want? I shall grant it.”
“Are the Prince’s words true?”
“This Prince has always been a man of his word.”
“Then I ask the Prince to agree to let my sister, Jiang Wanru, marry the Heir, and to grant me the position of the Princess of Langya,” Jiang Wanning said loudly.
“Jiang Wanning, have you gone mad?!” Shen Ruzhi screamed in fury. “Do you really want the three of you to live together? Doesn’t it make you sick to be stuck between them?”
“Wanning, you…” At this moment, Lady Zhou could only look at her daughter with heartache, unable to think of anything else. The others present also felt that Jiang Wanning was being far too lenient toward Pei Anqing and Jiang Wanru.
“Wanning, are you truly willing?” Pei Anqing hadn’t expected this. He thought Jiang Wanning had simply slapped him a few times and then come to terms with it. Though there were unexpected hiccups in the process, the outcome was the same as he had planned.
“Have you truly made up your mind?” Pei Yanchuan asked. A flash of disappointment and loneliness vanished from his eyes.
Jiang Wanning coldly pulled her sleeve out of Pei Anqing’s grasp. “I have made up my mind.”
“Very well. I grant it. I will order the mansion to properly arrange the marriages for the three of you.”
“The Prince misunderstands. I said I want the two of them to be married. I did not say the three of us would be married. Since they are so in love, how could I force them apart?”
“Then what did you mean just now?”