Chapter 219

Chapter 219: A Joke "Mother, what do you mean?" Song Yu stared blankly at her mother. "I'm not asking you to make a decision, but rather for you to start planning for yourself." Cui Lingrong said slowly. "I've been thinking—my marriage was ultimately a failure. Do you know why your grand-aunt was so determined to marry me off to a higher station back then?" Song Yu said she knew. "Because she wanted to fight for your reputation." "Yes, indeed. Even though the Jiangyuan Marquis Mansion was hollow inside at the time, and your father was merely an ordinary Jinshi, the halo of the marquis title still made it far superior to those prominent families in Suzhou." Cui Lingrong said she had been satisfied at first. "I thought that as long as your father wasn't muddle-headed and had some ambition, combined with my own abilities, we would surely make a good life together." And things did indeed get better over time—but it couldn't change the fact that she wasn't what Song Shulan had originally wanted. Cui Lingrong looked at her daughter's youthful face and continued, "Your grand-aunt was in a hurry to marry me off, or else the Cui family would have used me to curry favor with the Provincial Governor. There was no time to carefully investigate his character, let alone understand what the Jiangyuan Marquis Mansion was really like inside. When I first married into this family, I harbored youthful admiration for your father. Later, we settled into mutual respect, and I thought that was how the rest of my life would be." But it wasn't. Song Yu watched her mother as Nanny Qiu began to wipe the corners of her eyes. Cui Lingrong smiled. "To this day, I've realized that while a husband's ambition is certainly important, his character and how he truly regards you in his heart matter just as much. Though a man's romantic feelings are what they are, there should at least be some from the very beginning." Like her and Song Shulan—there had been no love between them from the start, which was why, after he took an Equal Wife, Song Shulan showed her little respect. Afraid her daughter might not fully understand, she broke it down piece by piece. "You and Feng-ge'er and the others have had some interactions—you have some understanding of them. That's still better than a man you only meet once before being betrothed." Cui Lingrong took her daughter's hand. "Yu-jie, you're beautiful, and your birth status is higher than mine was back then. Many people have already approached me about your marriage prospects. I'm bringing this up now so you can start thinking about it, rather than being caught off guard later." She said she absolutely did not want her daughter to walk the same path she had. When they returned in the evening, Nanny Qiu finally dared to ask, "What happened to the Eldest Madam today? Did something occur?" Only then did Cui Lingrong tell her about overhearing Song Shulan and County Princess Rongjia's conversation. "You find it ridiculous too, don't you? Had I known this would happen, I would never have married into this family. It's not as if I had to have Song Shulan and no one else—yet now I've been backed into a corner with no way out." At Qiushuang Zhai, the young maidservants saw their mistress return and bowed in greeting. Among them, the newly arrived one had been handed over to the junior maidservants—just like when Caiyue had first come, she was only eight years old now. They were mostly curious, and one bold girl raised her head to steal a glance. "The Eldest Madam is so beautiful—even more beautiful than the landlord's daughter in our village!" Dongyun tapped both young girls on the head and warned, "You must not discuss your mistress. The Eldest Madam has a good temper, but mistresses in other courtyards may not be so forgiving." Caixia had married out, Caiyue had been forced to leave, and Dongyun had been promoted. Though she was young, she had become the Eldest Madam's personal maidservant and learned to follow the example of how Caixia had conducted herself before. After admonishing the two young maidservants, Dongyun went inside to pour tea. She knew she hadn't been at the Eldest Madam's side as long as Caiyue and the others, so after pouring the tea, she withdrew immediately without being nosy or talkative. Nanny Qiu watched Dongyun's nimble movements and praised her. "Dongyun is quite perceptive. She's two years younger than Caiyue, yet she seems more composed." "That's because Caixia was there before—everything went through Caixia's hands, so Caiyue never needed to be as capable. Now that they're both gone, someone needs to be able to hold things together." Cui Lingrong sighed as she spoke. "Though with Caiyue's temperament, she wasn't suited for the marquis mansion anyway. She was quick-tempered and hot-headed. If County Princess Rongjia couldn't catch her in any mistake, then that's simply County Princess Rongjia's lack of ability." "But..." Cui Lingrong paused and smiled. "But Caiyue was sincere and loyal—qualities that many people lack." Nanny Qiu agreed. With no one else in the room, she returned to the earlier topic. "Regarding the Marquis and County Princess Rongjia's matter—how is it that we never heard anything about it before?" Cui Lingrong said it wasn't surprising. "The servants of the marquis mansion aren't foolish enough to come running to me with divisive gossip. Madame Jiang and Madam Li entered the household later than I did—if I didn't know, they certainly wouldn't either. No one ever let a word slip, and we never made a point of investigating. How could we possibly have known?" "That's true. The only one who might have told us would be the Grand Aunt, but she can't visit often." Nanny Qiu said. "What are your plans now?" "To raise the three children well. As for the people and affairs of the marquis mansion—don't expect me to accommodate them in the slightest anymore. If they make me unhappy, I'll make them miserable too." At this point, Cui Lingrong thought of the affected, pretentious words of County Princess Rongjia and Song Shulan. "Have Er Shun find someone to spread the news that County Princess Rongjia cannot bear children." Nanny Qiu asked, "Does the Eldest Madam have some plan in mind?" "There's no particular purpose—I just want to disgust her. In the past, she was always the one scheming against me; this time, I'm taking the initiative. It's not like I should be crying and threatening to hang myself just because I discovered the Marquis doesn't love me, right?" At this moment, Cui Lingrong felt immensely grateful that her aunt had always told her not to place too much importance on a man's feelings for her. In this world, the easiest thing to change is a man's heart. Nanny Qiu understood and immediately went to find Er Shun. Cui Lingrong also sent someone to spread the word near the Du family—she wanted to know whether the Du family was aware of this matter. Such gossip spread incredibly fast, and it came with speculation. After all, County Princess Rongjia had been married into the Du family and then the Song family, each for a considerable amount of time, yet she had never become pregnant. The rumors were told with such vivid detail that by the time County Princess Rongjia learned of them, she immediately thought of Cui Lingrong. She stormed furiously to Qiushuang Zhai and, seeing Cui Lingrong sitting calmly in the courtyard sipping tea, overturned the tea table with one sweep. "It was you! It must have been you!" "What madness has taken hold of the County Mistress?" Cui Lingrong looked over with cold eyes. "You must have spread those words, and now the entire city of Bianjing is saying I can't bear children. Cui Lingrong, what a venomous heart you have!" County Princess Rongjia pointed at Cui Lingrong, looking as if she wanted to rush over and start a fight. But Cui Lingrong smiled. "If I say it wasn't me, would you believe it? Besides, the fact that you can't bear children is the truth—do I need to be the one to say it? This isn't something only I know; plenty of people in the Marquis's household are aware of it." "You're the one managing the Marquis's household—if you didn't let them speak, who would dare?" County Princess Rongjia remained convinced that Cui Lingrong was behind it. "That's an amusing thing for the County Mistress to say. How could I possibly have such power to control everyone's mouths?" Before Cui Lingrong could finish, she saw Song Shulan hurrying over in his official robes—it seemed Song Shulan had also heard the news. Sure enough, Song Shulan had barely stopped before he too demanded to know whether Cui Lingrong had spread the rumors. "I'll say the same thing again: if the Marquis and the County Mistress don't believe me, then investigate for yourselves. After all, no matter what I say, you won't believe it. But even if it were true, so what? The County Mistress's inability to bear children is a fact—is that false?" As she spoke, Cui Lingrong's gaze shifted to Song Shulan, deliberately looking down toward his waist and below. This was a reminder to Song Shulan: don't provoke her, or if she said a few more things, the people of Bianjing would have an even bigger joke to laugh at.