At the Xu residence, Madam Lin had finally seen all the guests off with polite courtesies and returned to the main hall.
There she saw Xu Nanchun kneeling before the Old Madam, weeping and protesting her innocence: ”Ancestress! Your granddaughter only stepped away for a moment. I don’t know who was targeting my sister, causing her to end up with that Xie Zi’an—”
“Silence!” Madam Lin, rushing in, cut her off harshly. “If it weren’t for you, who would have known my Nannan was in that room?”
Her eyes blazed with fury.
She felt that it was because she was usually too easygoing that this concubine-born daughter had dared to be so audacious as to frame her precious darling.
The Old Madam remained composed, neither confirming nor denying Xu Nanchun’s explanations. Instead, she said to Madam Lin, “It has come to this—Nansong can only marry Xie Zi’an.”
“Old Madam—” Madam Lin couldn’t believe it. She said anxiously, ”No outsider saw Nannan’s face. We can just tell everyone it was a maidservant in the room!”
The Old Madam snorted coldly. “They’re no fools. The furnishings in the room, the embroidered shoes beneath the bed—could a maidservant afford to use or wear such things? Anyone with a discerning eye would see at a glance that they belong to Nansong!”
Xu Nanchun, kneeling on the ground, slowly curled her lips into a smile.
The reason she could so easily win the Old Madam’s favor was that when Madam Lin first married into the Xu family, she bore only a daughter in the first two years, so the Old Madam gave Xu Nanchun’s father a concubine.
That concubine was a distant niece from the Old Madam’s natal family—her own mother.
But later, Madam Lin soon conceived and gave birth to a son, and her father began to neglect her mother.
Her mother had a gentle, delicate nature, and in the jealous rivalries of the inner household, she soon withered away and died not long after giving birth to her.
Xu Nanchun believed that Madam Lin had deliberately set the other concubines against her mother, leading to her early death.
In her previous life, she hadn’t known the truth. She had obediently followed her legal mother’s arrangements, married Xie Zi’an, entered that wolf’s den of the Xie family, and died young as a result.
Having been reborn, she refused to live so pathetically ever again.
Why should Xu Nansong enjoy the love of everyone in the family from the moment she was born? Even the young marquis who had once adored her had become Xu Nansong’s fiancé.
Xu Nanchun sneered inwardly. Since Madam Lin cared most about Xu Nansong, she would make her precious darling taste the same suffering she had endured in her previous life!
“Old Madam, but Nannan is still betrothed to the young marquis. How can one woman marry two husbands!”
Madam Lin absolutely refused to let her daughter marry into the Xie family. Never mind what the Xie family was like—Xie Zi’an alone was a good-for-nothing: no good at his studies, no family standing, and completely controlled by his stepmother.
How could such a man be worthy of her precious darling?
Besides, her daughter was already betrothed to the Marquis Jingyang household.
“That matter has already reached the Emperor’s ears. The betrothal cannot be broken!”
The Old Madam snorted coldly. “Have you forgotten why you brought Nansong back to the ancestral home to pay respects to the ancestors? It was precisely because she was too domineering and caused the young marquis to fall into the water and fall ill. The marquis’s wife was displeased, so you brought her back to Yangzhou to avoid trouble!”
“Nansong’s temperament is the result of you two spoiling her!”
“At home it’s fine—her siblings all indulge her. But once she marries into a prominent family, with her inability to suffer even the slightest loss, she’ll sooner or later throw the marquis household into chaos. Then the two families won’t be joined in marriage but in enmity!”
Madam Lin choked, momentarily unable to speak.
The Old Madam continued, “Besides, when the two families arranged the betrothal, it was never specified which daughter. Having a different daughter marry into the marquis household changes nothing—the Emperor will say nothing of it.”
Madam Lin’s head snapped up. Among the marriageable-age girls in the household, apart from her darling Jiaojiao, there was only Xu Nanchun.
No way was she going to watch that shameless girl—who had ruined her daughter’s reputation—marry into a noble family!
Xu Nanchun smiled. Everything was going according to her plan.
The reason she acted so brazenly was her firm belief that the young marquis would agree to the marriage swap.
At the thought of that man, a trace of sweetness swept through Xu Nanchun’s heart.
Soon, the lovers would finally be united, and she would become the mistress of the marquis’s household.
Madam Lin: “I refuse!”
Old Madam waved her hand. “When the time comes, I’ll write a letter to Hongsheng. He’ll agree with me as well.”
Xu Hongsheng was the Vice Minister of Personnel.
Madam Lin’s chest heaved with fury, but there was nothing she could do.
She knew that no matter how much her husband doted on their daughter, he would never disregard the reputations of the other women of the family for her sake.
“Think it over carefully. If Nansong marries into the Xie family, we can use our power and influence to make sure they don’t dare mistreat her. Nansong will be able to live a bit more freely too.”
Xu Nanchun sneered inwardly. Yangzhou and the capital were separated by vast distances—after a while, the Xie family would do as they pleased with her anyway. And given Xu Nansong’s temperament, once married off, she might end up even more miserable than in her past life.
Before Xu Nanchun could feel smug, Old Madam glanced at her and added, “This girl is reckless and unreliable. As her legal mother, it’s high time you properly disciplined her. Otherwise, she’ll only embarrass the Xu family once she’s married off.”
In other words, Xu Nanchun was to be left at Madam Lin’s mercy—Old Madam would not intervene.
Xu Nanchun’s face went pale. She was about to marry into the marquis’s household, so why wouldn’t Old Madam protect her?
Things had come to this. However much hatred burned in her heart, Madam Lin could only swallow the bitter pill.
As she left the main hall, she coldly ordered, “The Second Young Miss has handled matters poorly. Send her to kneel in the ancestral hall.”
Xu Nanchun’s hand trembled. Kneeling in the ancestral hall was a small matter—but Madam Lin hadn’t said for how long.
The ancestral hall of the old Xu residence was gloomy and damp. Staying there too long was harmful to one’s health.
Before Xu Nanchun could resist, the matron beside her seized her arm in an iron grip and dragged her toward the ancestral hall.
Without so much as a glance at her, Madam Lin hurried off to Xu Nansong’s courtyard.
The moment she stepped into the room, a cushion came flying at her.
“I won’t marry that bookworm! I won’t! I won’t!”
Xu Nansong was raging, hurling things about, while a whole crowd of maids tried to soothe and coax her—all to no avail.
Seeing Madam Lin arrive, they looked as if they’d seen their savior. “Madam, the Young Miss has nearly cried her eyes swollen. Please talk some sense into her!”
Hearing that her darling daughter had been crying, Madam Lin’s heart ached. She hurriedly lifted the beaded curtain, and there was her daughter—normally so lively and spirited—lying sprawled across the bed, weeping bitterly.
“Jiaojiao, Mother’s precious darling! Wipe your tears—this isn’t worth crying over!”
Xu Nansong lifted her head, her eyes rimmed red. “What do you mean by that, Mother? You mean I don’t have to marry that pedantic scholar?”
Seeing that Madam Lin said nothing, she knew there was no room for the matter to be softened.
Suddenly, life felt bleak and hopeless.
“I refuse to go suffer in the Xie family! I want to live the honored life in the marquis’s household! Mother, you have to think of something!”
Xu Nansong wept, golden pearls of tears falling one after another, hating Xu Nanchun, who had framed her, with all her heart.
That wretched Second Sister—she must have been carrying on with Zhu Liulang.
That day, she had pushed Zhu Liulang into the water in a fit of rage—all because she had seen him exchanging flirtatious glances with Second Sister!
Madam Lin hugged her daughter tenderly. Years ago, Old Master Xu and the father of Marquis Jingyang had arranged a childhood betrothal between their grandchildren. For her daughter’s sake, she had naturally let the engagement fall upon her.
But with things as they were now, this marriage was likely to fall through.
All the noblewomen who had come today were ladies of standing. The Vice Minister of Personnel wasn’t some all-powerful official who could silence every whisper and rumor.
A young girl’s reputation was everything. If the marriage to Xie Zi’an wasn’t settled quickly, the rumors might soon spread all over Yangzhou.
Just then, a servant came to report: “The Xie residence has sent someone over with a letter.”
Hearing this, Xu Nansong lifted her face from the quilt and wailed, “What, does that Xie Zi’an really think a toad can eat swan meat?”
Madam Lin sighed, wiping the tears from her daughter’s small face. “My little swan, it looks like you really will have to marry him.”
Xu Nansong immediately broke down in tears. “I don’t want a toad!”