Chapter 146: Borrowing Hands

Chapter 146

Borrowing Hands

Today, there was major news in the capital!

Everyone was talking about the royal marriage between Princess An Le and the second young master of Yong An Hou Manor. This morning, Eunuch Gao had just brought the royal decree to announce it, and the news spread like wildfire. Many young women lamented—Second Young Master Song Ren was not only handsome but gentle as well. Which young miss in the capital wouldn’t want to marry him? Previously, many Furens with daughters of marriageable age had subtly mentioned their intentions to Xu Shi, but for some reason, the Hou Manor had never accepted any offers. It was as if the second young master already had a secret betrothal. Now, many speculated that the Hou Manor must have secretly arranged a marriage with Princess An Le long ago. How else could such a decree come about so unexpectedly?

No one would have guessed that Song Ren had originally been betrothed to Chen Yuelan. Both families had agreed to keep the engagement private until the wedding date was closer. If not for the incident during the Hou’s birthday celebration, they would be close to marriage by now. After the commotion at the party, Chen Yuelan’s parents had confined her to their residence. However, she didn’t see this as a punishment. In fact, she was glad that she didn’t have to see anyone. She couldn’t quite explain why she wanted to be alone, but she didn’t want anyone to see her cry.

Chen Yuelan had never thought she had any particular feelings for Song Ren. Compared to Song Qilin, who excelled in everything, Song Ren, being the younger sibling, seemed overshadowed. But Song Ren didn’t seem to mind. He never competed with his brother and remained the gentle, beloved second young master. At social events, his warmth naturally attracted people to him.

When Song Ren broke off their engagement, Chen Yuelan had been too angry to feel sad. Only later did she realize, far too late, that she had fallen in love with him. After the families had agreed on the match, Song Ren had once promised her that he would be a good husband. Though his words were not born of love, that promise had stayed with her until now. She knew he would have kept that promise, and just thinking about it had filled her with warmth, helping to heal the wounds and heartache left by Song Qilin’s cold rejection. Chen Yuelan had been happy, eagerly anticipating their wedding day.

But now, everything was ruined...

When she heard the news from her close maid, she was so furious she knocked over an expensive tea set, smashing it to pieces. The maid screamed in shock but dared not speak a word, standing there with her head lowered.

"Get out!"

She shouted, nearly bringing the maid to tears. Once alone, she buried her face in her hands and sobbed. A royal marriage! The original wedding date between her and Song Ren hadn’t even arrived yet, and he had already moved on? And to Princess An Le, no less. How could she possibly compete with that? Someone must be pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Since Princess An Le was close to Nie Shuang, Chen Yuelan, already biased, was convinced Nie Shuang had something to do with this. In truth, Chen Yuelan felt the entire situation was deeply unfair to her. What she had said at the Hou’s birthday party was the truth. Nie Shuang didn’t even live at the manor. If the Hou truly accepted her as a daughter-in-law, would she be living outside? And yet, when things went wrong, everyone blamed her.

Chen Furen hurried over when her maid reported that her daughter was having a fit. Upon seeing Chen Yuelan crying, she tried to comfort her with sympathy.

“A’Lan...don’t be so upset. Your father and I will surely find you a good match.”

But Chen Yuelan wasn’t in the mood to hear her mother’s consolation. Her mother’s sympathy only made her angrier.

“It’s your fault! If you had stood by me that day and confirmed what I said was true, I wouldn’t have been rejected like this!”

“A’Lan, even if it was true, it wasn’t something appropriate to say. You humiliated the Hou in front of everyone. How could he possibly swallow his pride after that?”

Moreover, Chen Yuelan had never gone to apologize to the Hou after the incident, though Chen Furen didn’t dare voice this thought, afraid of further aggravating her daughter.

“Let’s not stay cooped up inside any longer. Summer is almost here. How about we go look at some fabrics for new dresses? You’ll have beautiful outfits for future events.”

Hearing this, Chen Yuelan’s mood lightened a bit. Wearing expensive dresses to social events and seeing the envious looks of other women was something that made her feel good. Perhaps she could even persuade her mother to buy her some new jewelry. With this thought in mind, the two headed to the largest fabric shop in the capital.

While browsing through the latest fabric designs, Chen Yuelan overheard someone mentioning Song Qilin and leaned in to listen.

“Honestly, the patriarch is making too much of a fuss. Just because a concubine’s daughter is pregnant, does he really need to be that happy? But didn’t General Song go off to the border last year? How could she be pregnant, unless...”

The speaker was a sycophantic maid who had accompanied her mistress to the fabric shop. Chen Yuelan discreetly observed the pair—the mistress was a plump woman who appeared well-off, likely the wife of a wealthy merchant in the capital.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Nie Shuang is far away in Huangjing. How could we possibly know what’s happening there?”

The other woman responded as if to defend, but her words only fueled suspicion. Chen Yuelan’s ears perked up. Hadn’t Song Qilin announced that he had taken Nie Shuang with him to the border? Why were these two women saying that she was in Huangjing City...? Curiosity piqued, Chen Yuelan moved closer while pretending to browse the fabrics.

“Sigh...Look at this. When the young master was born, he didn’t receive nearly as many gifts as this. And he’s a legitimate grandson. But for this woman with a questionable pregnancy, they’re giving nothing but lavish gifts.”

The maid knew how to flatter her mistress well. The woman she was speaking to was Gao Shi, the principal wife of Nie Ran. The maid knew that her mistress deeply despised Xiao Yi Niang and Nie Shuang, the mother-daughter pair. The more the maid spoke ill of them, the more pleased her mistress would be.

“A’Lan, come look at this fabric. Do you like it? If you do, I’ll have the shop make a new dress for you,”

Chen Furen called her daughter to look at the fabric she had chosen. But Chen Yuelan wasn’t paying attention at all. She only muttered a quick response to her mother before refocusing on the conversation between the two women.

"She’s pregnant, and since it’s the General’s child, the patriarch is overjoyed. Giving her more gifts isn’t unusual. Just make sure no one in the household hears about this. If the patriarch finds out, you’ll be flogged."

Gao Shi spoke with an air of generosity, prompting her maid to further praise her as a kind-hearted person. This pleased Gao Shi, and she often had the maid accompany her everywhere. Today, she was in a bad mood because her husband had warmly welcomed Nie Shuang. Upon learning that Nie Shuang was pregnant, he had given her many gifts, which drove Gao Shi to go out shopping to relieve her frustration.

“Furen...is what you said just now true?”

Chen Yuelan, seeing her mother in conversation with the shop owner, turned and asked Gao Shi. Realizing her conversation with the maid had been overheard, Gao Shi panicked, fearing that if the news reached the Hou Manor, she might get into trouble. Gao Shi quickly denied it.

"Don’t mind what I said. My maid was just talking nonsense."

Chen Yuelan, noticing the attempt to cover up, said,

"You don’t need to worry that I’ll cause you trouble. My father is Master Chen, the Minister of Works. I just want to have a little chat with you about what you mentioned earlier."

Gao Shi had heard of Master Chen’s daughter before. Back when General Song was considering marrying Chen Yuelan as his second principal wife, Gao Shi had even secretly gloated over Nie Shuang’s misfortune. She never imagined General Song would flee from the marriage, leaving Chen Yuelan as a jilted bride, mocked by everyone in the city. Surely, this girl harbored deep resentment toward Nie Shuang. Realizing this, Gao Shi felt more at ease.

"It’s all just rumors. Don’t pay any attention to them."

The more Gao Shi said this, the more interested Chen Yuelan became. She glanced at her mother, who seemed occupied discussing tailoring with the shop owner. Seeing the opportunity, Gao Shi decided to use this young woman to ruin Nie Shuang’s reputation without dirtying her own hands. She pretended to hesitate for a moment before telling Chen Yuelan about Nie Ran’s trip to Huangjing City. Gao Shi didn’t know the details; she only knew that Nie Ran went there to visit his daughter and grandchildren. He had also promised to help Nie Shuang distribute her goods and expand her tea shop in the northern part of the region. Of course, Gao Shi didn’t mention any of the good things about Nie Shuang. She finished by pleading with Chen Yuelan to keep the story a secret.“I’m only telling you this because you seem like a kind-hearted person. I don’t know exactly what this concubine’s daughter has been up to. I only know that she went to Huangjing, had the children, and when she returned to the capital, she was pregnant again. And all the while, the General is still at the border. Like I said, I don’t know anything. Please, Miss, don’t mention me.”