Madam Jiang’s words struck like a blade straight into the Chen family’s hearts, exposing all their hidden intentions under the bright light of day.
Chen’s mother was the first to lose her composure. Her sharp face flushed instantly, her narrow eyes widening as she shrieked in rebuttal:
“Madam Song! Don’t you slander us!”
“Our Yunli is the dignified top scorer of the county exam. Willing to marry your merchant daughter is already giving your family great honor!”
“You ungrateful people dare to slander us like this!”
Chen’s father also darkened his face and slammed the table heavily.
“This is outrageous! Marriage is decided by parents and matchmakers—how can you two women say cancel it and cancel it?”
“Song Wenmo, if you cannot control your wife and daughter today, don’t blame our Chen family for being impolite!”
Chen Yunli also raised his head.
His face was refined and carried the scholar’s inherent pride and restraint.
He first glanced at Song Nianyun, who was protected behind Madam Jiang, as if looking at an unsatisfactory commodity. Then he turned to Song’s father and cupped his hands, speaking distantly:
“Uncle Song, although my parents spoke in haste, their words are reasonable.”
“Marriage is a union of two families, not child’s play.”
“Today’s humiliation… how is my nephew supposed to stand in society afterward? I ask Uncle Song to give me and the Chen family an explanation.”
He deliberately ignored Madam Jiang and directed all pressure toward Song’s father.
Song’s father was caught between all sides, veins bulging on his forehead.
One side was his desperate wife, the other was an aggressive “in-law family,” and the other was a promising future son-in-law. He felt completely trapped.
Chen Yunli’s seemingly polite but clearly coercive words made his anger rise, yet he could not explode.
After all, Chen Yunli was the top scorer of the county exam and might rise to prominence in the future—he could not afford to offend him.
After a brief silence, he finally thought of a compromise.
Taking a deep breath, he forced down his irritation and put on a stiff smile, raising his hand to calm both sides.
“Dear in-laws, Yunli, please calm down! Calm down!”
He first turned to the Chen family, his tone deliberately soothing:
“What happened today… sigh, it is just that my wife is too anxious for our daughter and spoke rashly. If there is any offense, I apologize on her behalf.”
He even gave a symbolic bow, then immediately turned to Madam Jiang, softening his tone into persuasion:
“Madam, calm down as well. I know you are thinking of Yibai, but marriage is not something to be taken lightly or called off so easily.”
“You know Yunli’s prospects. If Yibai marries him, she will become an official’s wife and enjoy endless wealth and honor.”
“Right now there are only minor misunderstandings—why escalate things to this extent?”
He tried to stall, smoothing things over for now:
“Everyone is too emotional today. Let us end it here for now.”
“The Chen family should go home and rest. I will persuade my wife properly, and once everyone has calmed down, we can discuss this again in detail. How about that?”
On the surface, he seemed fair and neutral, but in reality he was clearly delaying and intending to convince Madam Jiang privately later.
He believed his wife was only acting on impulse and would eventually give in for their daughter’s “future” and the Song family’s “reputation.”
However, he underestimated a mother pushed to the brink—and also underestimated how clear-minded Song Nianyun had become.
Madam Jiang’s last flicker of hope vanished instantly, replaced by deeper disappointment and coldness.
Looking at her husband trying to smooth things over, she only felt that she had truly been wrong about him all these years…
“I will say it again—either annul the engagement, or divorce me. You choose.”
After saying this, Madam Jiang took Song Nianyun’s hand and left the main hall.
The Chen family also did not truly want to break the engagement. After all, Song Yibai was extremely beautiful and the Song family was wealthy, both of which were beneficial to Chen Yunli’s future.
Seeing Madam Jiang leave so decisively, they hesitated. They feared pushing too hard might ruin everything.
Chen’s father coldly snorted and threw down a parting line:
“Song Wenmo, think carefully! We will return in three days for your answer!”
Then the Chen family left in a flourish.
The main hall fell silent, leaving only shattered jade and Song’s father slumped in anger and frustration.
Madam Jiang pulled Song Nianyun straight back to her courtyard and closed the door, shutting out all outside noise.
Only then did her tense body loosen slightly. She swayed, and Song Nianyun quickly supported her.
“Mother…”
Song Nianyun called softly, looking at the woman who had risked everything for her. Her heart was full of mixed emotions.
The word “mother” no longer felt like just a title—it carried real emotion now.
Madam Jiang patted her hand and gave a tired but relieved smile.
“Don’t be afraid, Yibai. As long as I still have one breath left, I will never let you suffer the same fate as your sister.”
“Mother,”
Song Nianyun asked softly, “If Father insists on marrying me to Chen Yunli, would you really divorce him?”
Her voice was light, but it struck Madam Jiang’s heart like a stone dropping into still water.
Ripples spread endlessly.
Madam Jiang did not answer immediately.
She walked to the window and looked out at the gray sky over the courtyard, as if she could see through the high walls to the governor’s residence that had swallowed her eldest daughter.
“Yibai,” she said slowly, her voice calm with age and sorrow,
“Do you know? When I saw your sister last time, I wished I could trade my life for her freedom.”
“But I cannot. Once you enter the governor’s residence, it is easy to go in, but impossible to come out.”
She turned back, her eyes unwavering:
“In my life, I have obeyed too much and endured too much.”
“I obeyed my parents to marry your father, endured him taking concubines, and even watched him send away your sister…”
“I often wake up at night asking myself—why didn’t I fight for your sister back then?”
Her gaze softened yet remained firm as it fell on Song Nianyun:
“If I retreat again this time and watch you jump into a fire pit, I will live the rest of my life in regret worse than death.”
“Divorce sounds shocking, but compared to your future, what does leaving the Song family amount to?”
She held her daughter’s hand tightly. That hand now carried not just gentleness, but the strength of someone ready to risk everything.
“However… your maternal family is no longer what it once was.”
“Your uncle has failed the exams repeatedly and became emotionally troubled. Two years ago, during winter, he got drunk, fought with someone who mocked him, and accidentally killed a ruffian.”
“Your grandfather had to sell nearly all the family assets to save him. He was only spared exile to three thousand li.”
“Now your grandparents can only survive on meager savings, renting a small room in a poor alley in the western part of the city…”
“And my dowry was also used to support them in times of need…”
“If I truly divorce, you will no longer be the pampered young lady of the Song family. You might not even live an ordinary life—you would have to suffer hardship with me.”
She looked at her daughter, her heart aching.
Saving her daughter from a tiger’s den might mean pushing her into poverty instead. The choice was unbearably cruel.
But Song Nianyun slowly shook her head. She held her mother’s trembling hand and spoke clearly and calmly:
“Mother, the suffering you speak of—does it mean plain food and simple clothes?”