Before she finished speaking, Third Sister's expression changed drastically, and her face turned extremely ugly.
Seeing this, Lady Dingbei was already prepared for Third Sister to confront and question her.
"What do you mean? Do you want to break off the engagement?" Third Sister suppressed her anger and said with a deep look in her eyes, "If you want to break off the engagement, you have to have a reason."
In truth, Third Sister knew that it was mostly because of the rumors. But she didn't believe that the wise and sensible Lady of Dingbei would actually bring the jade pendant to annul the engagement. An Ran was currently in the eye of the storm; for the Dingbei Marquis's family to do this was simply too unethical!
“You should know that I, An San Niang, am not a virtuous and magnanimous person. With my temperament, if the rumors were true, would I still dote on Jiu Niang like this?” San Niang said, still unwilling to give up, “Can’t you tell whether the rumors are true or false?”
A hint of guilt flashed across Lady Dingbei's face. But she remained resolute, saying, "It's not anything else, it's just that the two children are not meant to be..."
Third Sister stared intently at the Lady of Dingbei. After a long while, a hint of disappointment and helplessness flashed across Third Sister's eyes. Judging from her expression, she was determined to annul the engagement. Third Sister slowly said, "Even so, I will not say anything more."
Under the surprised gaze of Lady Dingbei, Third Sister called Huaping in.
"Bring over the things that Ninth Miss sent the other day."
Lady Dingbei was taken aback by Third Sister's unusually calm reaction today. She knew Third Sister's temperament; how could she so easily let such a serious matter pass?
Before long, Huaping brought over a box made of sandalwood with intertwined branches.
Third Sister took it and pushed it in front of Lady Dingbei, opening it. "Please take a look; everything is inside."
Beneath the smooth, lustrous mutton-fat jade lay neatly arranged handwritten letters from Chen Qian and the Lady of Dingbei.
At home she was a noble lady, and after marriage she was the mistress of the household. Lady Dingbei had long since learned to keep her emotions hidden. But upon seeing this box, her face couldn't help but feel a little hot.
How ironic.
"To tell you the truth," Third Sister sighed, "I gave the jade pendant and Fang Ting's letter to Ninth Sister a long time ago. Just two days ago, Ninth Sister brought them over, saying that she was afraid the marriage would fall through and asked me to give them to you."
"I even tried to persuade her back then that things shouldn't have come to this." Third Sister chuckled self-deprecatingly and said in a low voice, "I'm not as insightful as a young girl."
Lady Dingbei was taken aback when she heard her words.
It turned out that An Jiu was the one who sent these things back first? She was in the thick of it all, yet she saw things more clearly than anyone else!
Lady Dingbei felt a pang of regret; such a bright and intelligent young girl was truly unlucky to be entangled in such rumors. If they couldn't marry her, it might be a loss for the Dingbei Marquis's household.
"Ninth Sister and Fang Ting, it doesn't matter whether they're destined for each other or not." Third Sister curled her lips into a smile, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Just pretend this never happened, it'll be better for both of us."
Ultimately, she was in the wrong, and sensing the sarcasm in Third Sister's words, Lady Dingbei could only give a vague reply.
Having achieved her goal, and knowing that Third Sister was ultimately dissatisfied with her, she took her leave and returned home.
When Third Sister returned, she was furious when she saw the brocade box on the kang table. She took out the jade pendant inside, which was carved with the Three Friends of Winter, sneered, and smashed it hard on the footstool without hesitation. The jade pendant shattered on impact.
"What kind of stinky man took it and still has the nerve to return it?" The sneer on Third Sister's face hadn't faded.
Upon hearing the sound, Huaping and Yinping hurriedly came in.
"Princess Consort, what happened?" Yinping asked hurriedly when she saw that Third Sister's face looked very bad after she left the Lady of Dingbei.
Third Sister said calmly, "Just tidy it up and throw it away. I accidentally broke a jade pendant earlier."
Accidentally broke it? The sound didn't seem like it was accidentally broken; it sounded more like someone was angry and deliberately slammed it down.
Huaping and Yinping hurriedly used their handkerchiefs to pick up the broken pieces. They noticed two bamboo leaves on a larger fragment. They exchanged a glance, seemingly understanding the reason. They recognized the jade pendant given to them by the Marquis of Dingbei; it was one they had found in the storeroom.
These fragments are probably from that jade pendant.
Sure enough, after they had all picked them up, they could piece together the general shape of the jade pendant.
The Marquis of Dingbei's mansion has returned the jade pendant... It seems the marriage between Ninth Miss and the Second Young Master of the Fang family is going to fall through.
******
On the tenth day, the young ladies of the Marquis of Nan'an's mansion got up early to wash and dress up, preparing to go to the residence of Princess Yunyang.
An Ran was woken up early by Jinping and Cuiping. It was an honor for them to be invited to Princess Yunyang's birthday banquet. Normally, the Nan'an Marquis's Mansion and the Ningyuan Marquis's Mansion had no dealings, so this time they were mostly benefiting from the presence of Third Sister and An Ran.
Therefore, both the Dowager Madam and Madam Zhao attached great importance to this. The clothes they wore when going out were all personally approved by the Dowager Madam. Third Sister had previously worried that Anran would be disliked by the Dowager Madam because of the rumors circulating in the capital.
She specifically told the Grand Madam about how Princess Yunyang had sent someone to invite An Ran again and even gave An Ran a piece of jewelry, as well as how An Ran had already gained Princess Yunyang's special favor at her flower-viewing banquet last time.
In fact, Third Sister was overthinking it. The fact that the Grand Madam could secretly hide Sixth Sister and Ninth Sister, two concubines, and personally send the two concubines who had given birth to the eldest and second sons to the family temple to practice Buddhism and never return, only shows that her shrewdness was far beyond what Zhao Shi and Third Sister could imagine.
Third Sister specially made a bright dress for Anran to match her red gold and ruby hairpin.
To make the hair ornament presented by Princess Yunyang stand out, Third Sister went to great lengths. She wasn't satisfied with the gold and ruby jewelry she already had at home, so she specially asked the craftsmen at Duobao Pavilion to draw several designs for her to choose from. In the end, she selected a few and paid extra to have them made as quickly as possible.
"Miss, Madam has sent a hairdresser over." Jinping and Cuiping had helped Anran change her clothes early in the morning, and had her eat some snacks and porridge to fill her stomach, waiting for Madam Zhao to send someone over.
On such an important occasion, although Zhao would not come to supervise in person, she would send her hairdresser to do the combing.
The same hairdresser sent by the third sister-in-law when I attended her spring banquet last time was quick and efficient, and soon she had combed my hair well.
"These will do." Anran took out the set of jewelry that her third aunt had prepared for her and handed it to the woman who was combing her hair.
The jewelry inside was all made of pure gold inlaid with rubies, but when the woman who was doing her hair picked it up, she knew that the pure gold filigree ruby hairpin was the main attraction. After a moment's thought, she made her decision.
An Ran still relied on her good skin, which was fair, delicate, and tender as if you could squeeze water out of it, so she refused to use much makeup.
After she finished getting ready, Shi Niang was already waiting in the courtyard.
"Ninth Sister is so beautiful!" Tenth Sister said with a smile, seemingly praising her sincerely. "Your usual simple clothes make you look like a lotus flower in clear water, but today you look even more radiant and beautiful."
After hearing this, An Ran shook her head with a helpless smile.