“What’s a concubine?” Shen Yiren scoffed. “It’s not even as useful as silver.”
Early in the morning, she went out to gather information, hoping to find a witness. But whether she asked or not, the responses were either ignorance or silence.
Finally, Cang Ming took out a piece of broken silver, and only then did the person say, “I saw it, but I didn’t see where they went, nor did I see any carriage.”
A wasted effort.
But it made Shen Yiren realize that silver was a useful thing.
Cen Liangxuan’s concubine? Not even worth a piece of broken silver.
“You…” Cen Liangxuan’s face darkened. Thinking it better to spend money to avoid disaster, he agreed, “Fine, how much do you want?”
Shen Yiren turned to look at him and raised a finger. “One…”
“One hundred taels, that’s fine.” One hundred taels of silver was not difficult for Cen Liangxuan.
Shen Yiren noticed he agreed too quickly and changed her demand. “One thousand taels.”
Cang Ming added, “Gold.”
Shen Yiren turned to look at Cang Ming, seemingly a bit confused.
She didn’t understand human currency. In the original body’s memory, there were only copper coins and broken silver.
“Gold is more valuable than silver.” Cang Ming knew that both Shen Yiren and Xiao Ba came from the countryside and were unfamiliar with many things, so he explained in a low voice, “The prince said that the most precious thing in the world is life, followed by gold.”
Shen Yiren immediately changed her demand. “One thousand taels, gold!”
“You’re asking for the moon. Don’t even think about it.” Shen Qingrui refused.
No matter how much the prince had, she and the prince were already married, so what was his was hers.
How could Shen Yiren dare to ask for one thousand taels of gold?
She had never even seen that much.
“Impossible.” Cen Liangxuan gritted his teeth.
“Fine, then you two can stay on the rockery for a few days.” Shen Yiren turned away. “I’ll report this to the authorities. You can’t stop me.”
Lady Shen and the Elderly Lady naturally didn’t want her to report it either, but they were no match for the sharp sword in Cang Ming’s hand.
Fei Yun even barked at the two on the rockery, causing Shen Qingrui to slip and nearly fall into the dog’s mouth.
It was like a gaping abyss.
“Fine! Fine!” Shen Qingrui changed her tune.
“Woof!” That’s more like it!
Fei Yun turned to look at Shen Yiren, raising her chin as if asking for praise.
Since Shen Qingrui had personally agreed to pay, and Lady Shen nodded as well—likely meaning the two families would pool their resources—Cen Liangxuan no longer objected.
“Write a contract.” Shen Yiren said.
Cang Ming was surprised. Miss Shen seemed naive and ignorant, so how did she know about writing contracts?
It was because the original Shen Yiren had experienced it before.
Shen Yiren explained, “Not long after I returned, Grandmother made me write a contract, saying I willingly accepted a secondary status and acknowledged Shen Qingrui as my elder sister. If I didn’t sign it, I wouldn’t be allowed into the Shen family register.”
“I wanted to go home, so I agreed.”
Even Cang Ming, who had witnessed the ruthlessness of the royal family while serving Prince Duan, felt a pang in his heart.
Old Madam Shen’s heart was truly dark, and Lady Shen didn’t stand by her biological daughter’s side at all.
Bringing up the past again, the Elderly Lady’s face darkened once more.
Lady Shen, her heart and eyes filled with protecting her adopted daughter’s safety and marriage, nodded and said, “Write it, write it.”
Shen Yiren barely knew how to read, let alone write, and she didn’t trust anyone in the general’s mansion. So, Cang Ming wrote it for her.
“I’ll dictate, you write.”
“Cen Liangxuan and Shen Yiren agree to exchange one thousand taels of gold for Shen Yiren not reporting to the authorities to expose the two of them conspiring to kidnap Shen Yiren, hiding Shen Yiren’s belongings to fake an elopement, and using Shen Qingrui as a substitute for the marriage.”
Shen Zhi’ang: “That’s not one thing! It’s clearly three!”
Shen Yiren: “Oh, change it to three things.”
After the reminder, she didn’t forget to glance at Shen Zhi’ang, as if saying thank you.
Shen Zhi’ang, realizing he had done something foolish, stomped his feet in anger, glaring at Shen Yiren as if he wanted to devour her.
Cang Ming handed the completed document to Shen Yiren for a look.
Shen Yiren nodded: “Take it to them to sign and fingerprint.”
Cang Ming approached the rockery and presented the document, but neither of the two reached out to take it.
“Lord Cen, please. Signing and fingerprinting is better than letting the matter spread.”
Cen Liangxuan couldn’t produce a thousand taels of gold. Even if they pooled their resources, he couldn’t come up with five hundred taels.
“The Court of Judicial Review can’t do anything to me.” His father was Duke Anguo, his mother was from the Mo Rong Lu clan, one of the eight great families, and his aunt was married to the current Taifu. Most officials of the Great Zhou were his grandfather’s disciples.
Cang Ming knew that Lord Cen was not someone to be offended, but neither was Miss Shen, who was about to become Princess Consort Duan.
“Lord Cen, Miss Shen is under the protection of my prince.”
That’s right, how could they have forgotten this?
Prince Duan’s personal attendant was now serving Shen Yiren, indicating a close relationship with Prince Duan.
One mountain is higher than another. Cen Liangxuan signed in humiliation.
Shen Qingrui clamored for ink paste.
Shen Yiren: “Why so much trouble? Cang Ming, give her finger a cut. Otherwise, Fei Yun, you give her a bite.”
“I’ll do it myself!” Shen Qingrui bit her finger, pressed it forcefully onto the document, and said, “Shen Yiren, if you violate our agreement today, you will die without a complete corpse.”
Shen Yiren took the document, satisfied: “Hurry up and bring the gold over, or else…”
Some things didn’t need to be said for everyone to understand.
Shen Yiren shook the document, feeling physically and mentally refreshed: “Let’s go, Xiao Ba, Cang Ming, and Fei Yun. I’ll treat you to something delicious.”
Returning to Yangshen Residence.
Xiao Ba was very confused and chased after her, asking: “Sister, didn’t we come to seek revenge? We’re taking gold, not reporting to the authorities?”
“See here, it only says I won’t report it. It doesn’t say you and Cang Ming can’t.” Shen Yiren looked at the clear sky, sighed with a smile, “Ah, they’re so slow. They still haven’t brought the gold over. They’ve broken the agreement. Cang Ming, you and Xiao Ba take the document and report it to the authorities.”
Cang Ming’s mouth twitched: “…”
It hadn’t even been a quarter of an hour since the document was signed.
He had been wondering why Miss Shen didn’t set a specific deadline—turns out it was to avoid restricting herself.
“Yes.”
Xiao Ba: “Yes!”
…
Cen Liangxuan and Shen Qingrui came down from the rockery one after the other.
Lady Shen, heartbroken for her daughter, took her hand and checked all over to see if she was injured anywhere.
“Mother, your daughter is fine.” Shen Qingrui turned her back to Cen Liangxuan, seemingly still angry about the mutual accusations on the rockery earlier.
Cen Liangxuan didn’t go to comfort her either, brushing the dust off his clothes.
“Lord Cen, today the General’s Manor has wronged you.” The Elderly Lady came over to apologize and called a servant to lead Lord Cen to change and wash up.
Cen Liangxuan raised his hand and declined, “Let’s resolve the matter of the thousand taels of gold first.”
The Elderly Lady and Cen Liangxuan understood each other tacitly, neither mentioning the truth about the switched marriage.
What mattered now was not the truth, but covering it up.
The Elderly Lady looked at the two maids, Luo Qing and Luo Xue, and said, “They are trouble.”
Cen Liangxuan understood. He would deal with them once he returned to his manor. This time, he could no longer afford to be soft-hearted.
“Elder Sister, Brother-in-law, was what Shen Yiren just said true or false?” Shen Zhi’ang asked belatedly, scratching his head. “She wasn’t running away from the marriage—was she kidnapped by you two conspiring together?”
“Zhi’ang!” The Elderly Lady signaled to Mammy Lü. “The Young Master is tired, take him to rest.”
Shen Zhi’ang was led away.
Lady Shen’s body stiffened slightly, her expression shifting repeatedly.
After a moment of hesitation, she finally uttered just one word: “This…”
“Mother.” Shen Qingrui touched her own face. “It still hurts here a bit, and I twisted my ankle on the rockery earlier—it hurts.”
“That dog was truly vicious. If it had bitten me, I would have been maimed or worse,” she said, taking her mother’s hand with a pitiful expression.
Lady Shen’s heart ached again, patting the back of her hand to comfort her. “This Yiren, she really turns against her own family, refusing to let things go.”
“Exactly,” Shen Qingrui said. “Mother, your daughter and the heir are truly in love. In this lifetime, I will only marry him. If I cannot marry the heir, I am prepared to either become a nun or go to the borderlands to accompany Father in guarding the frontier.”
“Become a nun? What nonsense! And the borderlands are no place for a young lady.” Hearing her adopted daughter’s words, Lady Shen immediately pushed aside the matter of her biological daughter being kidnapped and forced into marriage.
She raised her arms and embraced Shen Qingrui, gently patting her back.