During this period, Lin Yanran watched the various dramas unfolding in the Marquis’s residence, and she was living quite well.
Amidst these successive dramas, time passed very quickly.
Soon, Chu Yunxuan’s half-month leave ended, and he had to return to the palace to continue serving as a companion to the princes.
With Chu Yunxuan returning to the palace, the person most reluctant to let him go was none other than the young lad Chu Yunheng. During the days Chu Yunxuan was at the residence, Chu Yunheng would insist on sleeping with his older brother every night.
The bond between the two brothers improved by leaps and bounds.
Since Lin Yanran knew her eldest son was reborn, she realized he might know many things even better than she did.
Lin Yanran simply urged her eldest son to sleep early and eat well, then gave him a small box of loose silver pieces so he could easily reward people in the palace, and let him go.
When his older brother left, Chu Yunheng cried miserably, but after Lin Yanran instructed the small kitchen to prepare him a delicious meal, he had already forgotten who his brother was.
His grief was characterized by coming and going quickly.
About five or six days after Chu Yunxuan entered the palace as a companion, Wenxuan Marquis Chu Mochen’s injuries were fully healed, and he began to busy himself with attending court.
On the second day after Chu Mochen started attending court, when Lin Yanran went to pay her respects to the Old Marchioness, the drama in the residence shifted to her.
“Eldest daughter-in-law, I am fond of the granddaughter Yu’er, and since you do not have a daughter of your own, let’s have Yu’er registered under your name! It will help Xuan’er and Heng’er in the future.”
As soon as the Old Marchioness finished speaking, both Mrs. Zhou and Mrs. Wu looked at Lin Yanran, who was sitting gracefully.
Lin Yanran smiled slightly before calmly replying: “Mother, how do you know that I won’t have a daughter in the future? It won’t do for a concubine’s daughter to take the place of my daughter now.”
It was impossible for Lin Yanran to give birth, but through her words, she still had to act as if she expected a future daughter.
To the Old Marchioness, it was merely registering the girl under the eldest daughter-in-law’s name so she could marry into a good family later; the eldest daughter-in-law would not lose anything. She did not expect the eldest daughter-in-law to refuse and say such things.
“What does it matter? It would be nice to have two daughters!”
Lin Yanran did not expect her mother-in-law to act ignorant while actually understanding everything. “Mother, that is not how you put it. By then, my daughter would have a concubine-born elder sister, which is far different from having a proper legitimate elder sister. Besides, I will not agree to the ingrate that is Chu Ruoyu. My allowing her to live in this Marquis’s residence is already my magnanimity; do not even think about anything else.”
During this time, her mother-in-law kept calling Yu’er to the Deyuan Courtyard to play with the girl Chu Ruoyu. Mrs. Zhou had pondered this for a few days and had roughly figured out the implication.
If the mother-in-law’s plan worked, it would indeed benefit her son Yu’er. However, the good families a concubine’s daughter could choose were limited; if she could be registered under the eldest sister-in-law’s name, there would be more options later.
“Eldest sister-in-law, after you became pregnant with Heng’er, you haven’t been blessed with another pregnancy for five or six years, and this future legitimate daughter is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps if you register Yu’er under your name, the daughter you are expecting will arrive!”
Lin Yanran would not give face to someone who was never satisfied with taking advantage. “Second sister-in-law, if you like her so much, why don’t you register Chu Ruoyu under your name? The second branch doesn’t have any daughters anyway.”
Seeing that Lin Yanran refused to give anyone face, the Old Marchioness became angry and stated bluntly: “I am not discussing this with you; I am informing you.”
Lin Yanran would not tolerate this biased old woman. “Very well. As long as there is an extra person under my name, I will go back to the Princess’s residence and weep. I wonder if the second brother could still serve as an official if he were missing an arm or a leg?”
The Old Marchioness pointed at Lin Yanran, looking as if she were about to die of anger. “How dare you threaten me?”
“In the past, this Princess gave you face because of Chu Mochen, and I was willing to take a step back and indulge you. Now, a man who keeps a mistress outside no longer holds that merit. Therefore, it is best if we mind our own business, otherwise, if I were to fly into a rage, this Marquis’s residence might just go down with me.”
After saying this, Lin Yanran gave a perfunctory curtsy and left, taking her people with her.
The Old Marchioness looked at Lin Yanran’s departing figure, feeling dizzy with anger. Especially with Mrs. Zhou and Mrs. Wu present, she felt even more humiliated.
With her anger rising, the Old Marchioness ordered her attendants to help her change, as she intended to submit a request to the palace to seek an audience with the Empress.
As soon as the Old Marchioness took action, Lin Yanran received news of it.
Lin Yanran only sneered and went back to doing what she was doing.
When the Old Marchioness, Lady Xie, was waiting outside the palace gate for the Empress’s summons, she was hit by the cold wind and began to regret it. However, since she had made such a grand entrance and had already submitted the request, it was too late to regret.
As soon as the Marchioness entered, she began to cry. Out of respect for the Princess, the Empress quickly ordered someone to grant Lady Xie, the Old Marchioness, a seat.
“Old Marchioness, please tell me what is the matter slowly. As long as it is something I can decide, I will certainly uphold justice for you.”
Lady Xie, the Old Marchioness, did not follow the Empress’s wishes and rise. Instead, she remained kneeling on the ground, weeping bitterly.
“Reporting to the Empress, I wish to ask if it is the case that once a royal woman is married, she no longer needs to keep her mother-in-law in her eyes.”
At this sentence alone, the Empress immediately waved away the palace maids who were going to help the Old Marchioness up.
The Empress said calmly: “That depends on whether the family that married the royal woman keeps the royal woman in their eyes.”
The Old Marchioness dared not bear this accusation and quickly explained: “I have never made things difficult for Princess Yixian.”
The Empress was also speechless; the Wenxuan Marquis’s residence was truly lacking in discipline. The Marquis kept a mistress, and the Old Marchioness of the residence came to her to complain about Princess Yixian. Could she really punish Princess Yixian based on her ambiguous words?
“I know Princess Yixian; she is an excellent child. When you, Old Marchioness, encounter things you cannot understand, think about how, although filial piety is important, the Emperor still comes before filial piety. As long as you keep this in mind, many things will become clear.”
Lady Xie, the Old Marchioness, was so frightened by the Empress’s words that her undergarments were soaked through. “The Empress is right to instruct me; I have lost my sense of propriety.”
“Hmm, you may withdraw. In the future, when you encounter matters, reflect more on my words.” The Empress considered this final sentence to be a warning.
The Old Marchioness quickly climbed up and respectfully withdrew.
By the time the Old Marchioness boarded the carriage back to the residence, she was in a daze.
When the Old Marchioness arrived at the main gate of the Wenxuan Marquis’s residence, Chu Mochen, who had already received the news, was waiting at the gate.
Chu Mochen personally helped the Old Marchioness down from the carriage, and the mother and son remained silent all the way to the Deyuan Courtyard where the Old Marchioness lived.
The Old Marchioness knew that if things went wrong today, her eldest son might also hold a grudge against her, so she took the initiative to soften her stance: “Chen’er, today’s matter was Mother being impulsive.”