9
The vast courtyard fell silent in an instant.
Zhenzhu and the other three maids looked utterly despairing, as if life itself had lost meaning.
If these words ever got out, would their mistress still be able to find a husband?
They truly wanted to pry open their mistress’s head to see what was inside.
With such a mistress, all they could see was a dark future ahead.
The elderly physician accidentally pulled out a few strands of his beard, the pain making his face twitch. He kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, pretending he hadn’t heard anything.
Tang Xin was dumbfounded. Tang Cheng really had no limit when it came to courting disaster. She looked at Tang Cheng with a hint of secret glee and anticipation.
She silently prayed that the Young Lord Wen would break off the engagement right then and there.
Tang Cheng didn’t deserve her idol, the Young Lord Wen!
Madam Zhang, remained calm and watched from the sidelines. With the Marquis present, it was best for her to just stay quiet.
Tang Cheng found everyone’s reactions very strange, as if she had done something utterly heinous.
If the father of her child was unwilling to use the potion to strengthen his body and improve his frail constitution, then she would simply choose someone better to marry. Wasn’t that perfectly normal?
Survival of the fittest—the people of the empire had always revered the strong.
She now had a constitution that made it easy to conceive, making her a hot commodity that everyone wanted. If it weren’t for the fact that Wen Huai’an, the father of her child, had the height and looks that pleased her, Tang Cheng wouldn’t have agreed to marry him just for the sake of the child.
At this moment, Tang Cheng had clearly forgotten the era she was in—a feudal, traditional one where men were revered and women were treated harshly, where society was lenient toward men and harsh toward women.
Wen Huai’an looked at Tang Cheng’s indifferent expression. A wave of frustration lodged itself in his chest, impossible to ease.
“Tang Cheng, I have no hobby of dyeing my own hat green.”
“You don’t want to break off the engagement?” Tang Cheng’s beautiful apricot eyes stared straight at Wen Huai’an, a trace of confusion flickering in their depths.
“That’s right.”
Wen Huai’an’s handsome face darkened. With such a willful fiancée who didn’t take him seriously and was already thinking of taking his child to find another father, even the best breeding had its limits.
In front of Tang Cheng, his composure, his gentlemanly demeanor, and his noble-born etiquette all vanished without a trace.
She had that kind of ability.
She could infuriate people to death without paying the price.
Yet deep down, Wen Huai’an had never truly considered breaking off the engagement with Tang Cheng—a fact he himself hadn’t even realized.
Tang Cheng’s apricot eyes curved, and she felt quite pleased.
See? She knew she was a hot commodity. Her fiancé was clinging on desperately—what a worry.
Since the father of her child had no intention of ending the engagement, that meant Wen Huai’an was willing to use the body-strengthening potion.
Tang Cheng decided this was for the best.
A child growing up with their biological father was always better than with a stepfather.
“So go soak in the body-strengthening potion later. You really are too weak.”
Wen Huai’an, once again being called too weak, twitched his mouth and nodded in agreement.
His future father-in-law had personally tested the potion’s effects for Tang Cheng—he had no reason to back out.
Tang Cheng was quite satisfied with her child’s father’s pragmatism, though her beautiful, delicate face was full of disdain.
“After all that circling around, you still have to soak in the potion. I really don’t know what all the fuss was about.”
Everyone: “…”
If you want to know what it means to turn blame upside down, this was it. From beginning to end, Tang Cheng had been the only one directing and acting out this whole drama, constantly adding new twists.
Everyone felt a vague sympathy for the Young Lord Wen.
Suddenly struck by a massive, undeserved accusation, Wen Huai’an didn’t want to speak and just silently accepted it.
Tang Xin looked at the Young Lord Wen, who had just conceded to Tang Cheng, with disbelief and her face was full of shock. This was clearly not how the story went in the book.
Since transmigrating, she had kept a low profile and never interfered with the development of the plot—there was no butterfly effect to speak of.
Yet Tang Cheng had, bizarrely, not aborted the child. And that meddlesome Shanhu, who had betrayed her mistress, had been disposed of by the Marquis.
The plot concerning Tang Cheng had collapsed, completely collapsed.
Tang Cheng’s future had become unknown, and there was a high probability that she would end up tied to her idol, the Young Lord Wen.
Tang Xin found this outcome hard to accept. She lowered her eyelids slightly, thinking of Zhang’s arrangements for her own marriage, and suppressed the unwillingness in her eyes.
The Marquis of Nanyang glanced at his future son-in-law’s expression, then at his precious daughter’s proud demeanor. After dismissing the irrelevant people, he stepped out of the tub. His whole body felt light and full of boundless energy.
Hmph. His precious daughter’s body-strengthening potion was a good thing, though probably few would believe it. By now, everyone should know how his daughter had refined the potion. In their eyes, her process was nothing but a childish farce, pure mischief.
The Marquis silently thanked those with ulterior motives who had spread the news so widely.
But if you’re going to put on an act, you have to do it properly.
Being secretive only invites suspicion.
The Marquis worried endlessly for Tang Cheng.
Though he had been very satisfied with Wen Huai’an, the Marquis now looked at this future son-in-law, who was getting such a great deal, and couldn’t help but feel a hint of disdain.
Wen Huai’an, once again on the receiving end of disdain: “…”
The elderly physician, who had remained silent all this time, finally made his presence known.
He took the Marquis’s pulse and conducted a diagnosis.
Wen Huai’an waited quietly for the results.
Zhang was also a bit curious about the effects of Fourth Girl’s concocted potion.
Tang Xin stared at Tang Cheng, who was so conspicuous, her hands unconsciously clenching and her lips pressing together.
The elderly physician conducted a thorough full-body examination of the Marquis, his eyes filled with wonder.
“Marquis, your pulse is strong and powerful. Your body is in excellent health.”
Wen Huai’an was astonished.
The Marquis of Nanyang burst into hearty laughter.
“All thanks to Cheng’er’s body-strengthening potion!”
“Father, don’t worry. With me here, you’re sure to live a hundred years,” Tang Cheng said, lifting her delicate face with great pride.
The Marquis of Nanyang was deeply moved. Truly, this was his precious daughter—so filial.
The Marquis turned to look at Wen Huai’an, the big bad wolf who was snatching away his precious daughter, and the more he looked, the more dissatisfied he became.
“Young man, you’re getting a bargain. You must have accumulated a tremendous amount of virtue in your past life to have the good fortune of marrying Cheng’er in this one.”
Tang Cheng nodded in agreement beside him.
“Father is right. Whoever marries me is truly blessed. How else could they possibly marry me?”
With that, Tang Cheng lifted her chin toward Wen Huai’an and said proudly:
“Wen Huai’an, you’ve hit the jackpot, you know that?”
Wen Huai’an: “…”
Once again, he was speechless.
Madam Zhang: “…”
Just how thick-skinned were these two father and daughter to say such things?
Her mouth twitched. Didn’t the Marquis feel even a shred of guilt saying that? What crime had the Young Lord Wen committed to be so unlucky as to have to marry Fourth Girl?
Tang Xin didn’t believe for a moment that her brainless Fourth Sister could casually concoct a useful potion.
It had to be fake.
She voiced her suspicions quietly to Madam Zhang: “Mother, do you really think the body-strengthening potion Fourth Sister casually threw together actually works? Could Father and the elderly physician be colluding to deceive everyone?”
A glint of shrewdness flashed in Zhang’s eyes. What Xin’er said wasn’t unreasonable—it was certainly possible.
The Marquis had truly gone to great lengths for Fourth Girl.
But to be on the safe side, Madam Zhang decided to find a physician to try refining this so-called body-strengthening potion herself. It never even crossed her mind to ask for some of the potion Tang Cheng had actually produced.
With this thought in mind, Madam Zhang had no intention of staying to witness the effects of the Young Lord Wen using the potion. She left the Peony Garden hurriedly, dragging along the reluctant Tang Xin.
No one in the Peony Garden paid any attention to their departure.
Tang Cheng ordered the servants to bring fresh hot dishes for her father. After all that trouble at noon, her father must be starving. After attending to that, Tang Cheng suddenly turned to Wen Huai’an. Remembering that she would be taking a nap soon, she had an idea and blurted out a seemingly random sentence:
“Do you want to finish soaking in the body-strengthening potion and leave quickly?”
Wen Huai’an nodded.
Tang Cheng immediately ordered the servants to prepare a large vat.
Appropriate heating would allow the body-strengthening potion to take effect more quickly.
At this moment, Wen Huai’an had no idea what he was about to face.
**