The parrot was so embarrassed that he didn't have the face to explain in detail. He pointed behind her and said, "See for yourself." Then he backed away.
Wu Wan'er pretended to be confused and rubbed her eyes as she turned to look.
With just one glance, she screamed and tumbled off the couch.
"What...what's going on? Who is he? How did he get in my bed?"
She asked a series of questions, but Lady Zhongyong remained cold, and both Yingge and Granny Sun kept their heads down, neither answering her. (www.QiuShu.cc Seeking Books Novel Website)
Wu Wan'er looked around in a panic: "This isn't my room? How did I get here?"
"Hmph, I was about to ask you the same thing. You were taking a proper rest, how did you end up like this?" the aunt retorted.
“I…I changed the bed and pillow, but I wasn’t used to it and couldn’t sleep. So I thought I’d go for a walk and maybe I’d fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.” Wu Wan’er frowned as she recalled, “The scenery at Biyun Temple is excellent. I walked and admired the scenery along the way until I reached the back garden…” She paused for a long time, puzzled, and said, “I have no recollection of what happened after that.”
"So, it was all this man's trickery?"
Lady Bo did not suspect that Wu Wan'er was lying. To her, it was an unimaginable and bizarre thing for a pure and innocent young woman to willingly engage in illicit relations with a man.
"Parrot, go and turn him over. I want to see who's so shameless."
This time, the parrot refused to go forward no matter what. It was Sun Mama and two other middle-aged women who took the initiative to help out and turned the man, who was still fast asleep, over.
Upon seeing the man's face, Wu Wan'er's eyes widened as if she had seen a ghost, and she muttered to herself, "How could it be him? Impossible, impossible..."
"Who is he? Do you know him?" the aunt asked.
"Impossible...impossible..." Wu Wan'er just kept shaking her head and muttering to herself, completely ignoring the questions from the Madam.
Madam Sun answered for her, somewhat embarrassed: "Madam, this young man's name is Xu Lang. He is a scholar who is staying at our Marquis's residence. As for whether he knows Miss Wu, this old servant does not know."
"Is he staying at your residence? Is he a distant relative?" Lady Zhongyong asked again. "I haven't seen him during holidays or festivals."
“Young Master Xu is the son of a friend of our Marquis, whom we met a few times when he was on official business in his early years. He is not a relative of the Marquis’s household.” As Yang’s dowry maid, Granny Sun knew these things better than the ordinary servants. Today, she was instructed by Jun Shu to come and guide the Lady of the House, so she naturally spoke frankly and without reservation. When appropriate, she was even allowed to embellish the story: “Young Master Xu usually stays at home reading and rarely interacts with our household. Moreover, he says that he is observing mourning for his parents and should not go out during festivals.”
"Hmph, what a filial son! He's in deep mourning and can't visit his benefactor, yet he's scheming against other people's daughters and ruining their reputations," the aunt sneered.
Mother Sun wisely remained silent in the face of Mrs. Bo's evaluation.
After a moment of contemplation, the Lady turned to Wu Wan'er and said, "Since things have come to this, you have no choice but to marry him."
Her words carried a hint of helplessness. The main reason the Wu mother and daughter had come to the capital to seek her help was to find a good marriage for Wu Wan'er. Although Wu Wan'er came from a humble background, she was still the daughter of a respectable family, and with some kinship ties to the Marquis of Zhongyong's household, she could always find a husband from a noble family, either a son of a concubine or a second son of a legitimate wife. This Xu Lang was truly beneath her.
Upon hearing this, Wu Wan'er burst into tears: "Auntie, no, I won't marry him." As she spoke, she crawled to the aunt's feet, hugged her leg, and pitifully pleaded, "Auntie, please, I don't want to marry a... a wicked man with ill intentions, please, please help me think of a way."
The aunt's tears softened her heart. A young woman whose chastity had been ruined had only one path left: to become a nun or a Buddhist nun, if she didn't marry the man who had destroyed her. But spending her life with only the lamp and the Buddha seemed like a bad choice.
Wu Wan'er had gone through all this trouble, hoping to find herself a good husband, but Xu Lang was destitute and in a worse situation than her. She had absolutely no intention of marrying him. Seeing her aunt remain silent, fearing her fate was sealed, she cried, "Aunt, please, no one saw it, nobody knows..."
She had intended to guide the aunt to help her cover things up, but her words inadvertently reminded the aunt of something—Sun Mama was a dowry maid of Lady Yang, the wife of the Marquis of Runan, and a favorite who could speak on behalf of the Marquis and his wife. If Wu Wan'er's matter wasn't handled properly, coupled with the previous incident involving her second daughter, He Shi, the Jun family might be greatly disappointed in the daughters of the Marquis of Zhongyong's household. The marriage between her illegitimate daughter, Caiqiong, and Jun Nian might also fall through. Wouldn't she then have to watch helplessly as her beloved granddaughter, Wu Hui, gained a completely unrelated stepmother?
When making decisions, everyone prioritizes those closest to them, and Lady Zhongyong was no exception. She sternly rebuked Wu Wan'er, who was still weeping, saying, "What are you saying? Are we all dead? What's done is done. If you don't marry him, how will you face anyone else in the future?"
Chapter 72 | Table of Contents
Chapter 72:
Once Lady Bo made up her mind, she refused to change it no matter how much Wu Wan'er pleaded. (Read the latest chapters at Qiuhu.cc)
Seeing that there was no room for negotiation with her, Wu Wan'er climbed back to the couch and nudged Xu Lang, trying to wake him: "Wake up, get up and tell your aunt it wasn't my fault, and that you don't want to marry me..."
Physical contact between young men and women is already improper, and Wu Wan'er's words were even more outrageous. Madam Bo glanced at Sun Mama and hurriedly stopped her, saying, "Shut up, you're getting more and more incoherent. Even if he doesn't want to marry you, can you deceive yourself into thinking you're still a pure and innocent girl?"
Wu Wan'er seemed not to hear what her aunt was saying, and continued to sob and push Xu Lang.
The lady of the house could not bear to watch any longer and instructed Parrot, "Miss Cousin has been traumatized and is behaving erratically. Go and take her away to rest."
The parrot obeyed and stepped forward, but Wu Wan'er refused to be helped away. The two were both young girls of similar age and strength, and they struggled for a while without a clear winner.
Xu Lang woke up at that moment.
He felt dizzy and his neck ached, which slowed his reactions. He frowned as he looked at the two girls in front of him. One of them was blushing and half-squatting to help the other, while the other was crying and struggling to push the other away.
It took him a long while to recognize that the one crying incessantly was Wu Wan'er, and he asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"
"Brother Xu, please tell Auntie that nothing's wrong with us." Seeing her savior, Wu Wan'er became even more uncontrollable. "I don't want to marry you, and you don't want to marry me..."
Xu Lang didn't understand what Wu Wan'er was talking about at all, but seeing her disheveled appearance, looking at the unfamiliar room, and the expressions of the people in the room, he made the worst guess.
“How…how did I get here?” he asked.
"That's a strange question." Hearing Xu Lang's question, Madam Bo's impression of him worsened. "Wan'er cried and said she didn't know how she got here, and you don't know how you got here either. Could it be that someone deliberately set a trap for you?"
“It must be,” Wu Wan’er hurriedly said, “Auntie, the fault doesn’t lie with us…”
The aunt interrupted her, saying, "Whether you are at fault or not is irrelevant now. I have already said that you have no choice but to become a nun if you marry him. Parrot, take your cousin back quickly and stop her from talking nonsense."
Seeing that her last hope was about to be extinguished, Wu Wan'er cried even more pitifully than before.
Xu Lang knew that Wu Wan'er hoped to marry a son of a noble family, so it was impossible for her to deliberately arrange for their affair to be seen. He recalled the events before he lost consciousness, and the only explanation he could think of was that the Jun family had arrived, knocked him unconscious, saved Wu Xia, and then deliberately sought revenge.
Even if he figured out the whole story, he couldn't possibly tell his wife the reason behind it.
However, like Wu Wan'er, Xu Lang had no intention of marrying her, so he tried to explain, "I think we were indeed framed."
Lady Bo had no expectations of the young man's character. Hearing Xu Lang's words, she simply said, "There's always a purpose in framing someone. What benefit could the two of you possibly gain from others?"
It may be harsh, but it's the truth.