Two young people of humble origins, living under the roof of others, will gain nothing if outsiders ruin their reputations or plot their marriage. If they want to tarnish the reputations of the Marquis of Runan and the Earl of Zhongyong, to make a laughing stock in the capital, or to profit from it, then the targets of their schemes should be the legitimate daughters and sons of the two families, not outsiders like Xu Lang and Wu Wan'er.
“Very well, I cannot be the master of Young Master Xu’s household,” said Madam Bo. “Mama Sun, please ask your Marquis to come over and see how this matter should be handled.”
Just as Sun's mother bowed and was about to leave, she heard a series of hurried footsteps outside.
As the footsteps drew closer, the half-open door of the waterside pavilion was pushed open, and Jun Shu, Pang Yuan, and Chu Ye rushed in.
Wu Wan'er hurriedly pulled her clothes up.
Seeing this, Jun Shu explained, "We were returning from the back mountain when we heard constant wailing outside the courtyard. We thought someone's daughter had been attacked, so we came in to check. We did not mean any disrespect."
"Rest assured, Your Excellency, we will not blame you." The Lady of the Countess said politely, then sighed repeatedly. "However, there is something that I'm afraid we need Your Excellency to decide together."
"Oh? What is it?" Junshu asked.
Despite their kinship, Madam Bo couldn't speak frankly to Jun Shu about such matters. Fortunately, Granny Sun was perceptive and stepped forward to whisper the whole story in Jun Shu's ear.
Jun Shu's face was originally filled with a cheerful smile, but the more he listened, the fainter the smile became, and finally his brows furrowed deeply.
“Nephew, if someone has truly framed you, I will definitely help you find the real culprit,” Jun Shu said. “However, no matter what the truth is, you should act like a man and take responsibility, and marry the Wu family girl. Don’t worry, I will help you get a house. I promised you back then that since you have come to rely on me, I will definitely help you settle down and start a family.”
The Jun family's title has been passed down for generations, and they have no shortage of money. Even a small two-courtyard house in the capital costs only about a hundred taels of silver. It's a great deal to get rid of the two treacherous people who were plotting against his brother and his beloved daughter with this amount of money.
Moreover, Junshu genuinely believes that Wu Wan'er and Xu Lang are a good match, as they are both heartless and greedy.
Xu Lang's face turned deathly pale. If he had only speculated before, hearing this, he was almost certain that Jun Shu was the one who had thrown him here to be paired with Wu Wan'er. However, he couldn't say anything. Who would believe that the Marquis of Runan would scheme against such an unknown junior as him?
Xu Lang finally understood what it meant to have something to say but no way to speak out, or to have a grievance but no way to seek redress.
That evening, Wushuang, under the pretense of visiting her younger brother, stayed in her parents' bed, but in reality, she was eavesdropping on their conversation.
She particularly agreed with her father's assessment of Wu Wan'er and Xu Lang, but she never expected that the two of them would be so unwilling to marry each other.
Didn't they claim to be truly in love in their past life?
Wu Wan'er still bore children for Xu Lang without any official status.
Could it be that it's all because they value Xu Lang's status and position?
Ha, Xu Lang will never get anything from the Jun family in this lifetime except for that small, dilapidated courtyard. Making them get married is truly the best revenge.
Wu Shuang covered her mouth and giggled happily. Jun Yu lay on the bed, looked up at the older sister, and also giggled. He even kicked off the small blanket covering him with his hands and feet.
Madam Yang came over and tucked the blanket back into place for him. Then, looking at Wushuang, she said, "Go back to your room and sleep."
"No." Wushuang flopped down and snuggled into Junyu's little blanket, pouting, "I want to sleep with my little brother. He likes to sleep with me too, right?"
Junyu: "Ya ya!"
He was only five months old and couldn't speak at all; the syllables he made were incomprehensible to anyone.
Wushuang said, "Mother, you see, my brother is right!"
Yang patted Wushuang's little bottom sticking out from under the blanket and laughed, "You can understand? Then next time come and help the wet nurse listen to whether he wants to nurse or pee."
After saying that, he pulled Wushuang out of the small quilt, spread out the big quilt, and stuffed her in: "You're so big now, you'll catch a cold if you cover yourself with your little brother's quilt."
After settling Wushuang in, Madam Yang walked around the screen and returned to the square table, sitting down next to Junshu.
Wushuang and Junyu lay face to face. Looking into her younger brother's big, bright eyes, she happily planted a kiss on his tender little face. Junyu giggled and laughed heartily, then leaned in and kissed Wushuang on the cheek as well.
Ugh, so wet. Wushuang wiped the drool off her face and realized that kissing her younger brother wasn't so harmonious.
Outside the screen, Madam Yang was telling Junshu about Wuxia and Chuye.
"The Third Prince actually confessed his feelings directly to Wuxia?" Jun Shu said. "No wonder when I arrived I saw him holding Wuxia's hand, and I thought he was going to do something improper."
From a father's perspective, trying to win his daughter's heart is no different from engaging in immoral behavior.
Inside the screen, on the large bed, Wushuang stared in astonishment, her mouth agape.
Her sister didn't even tell her about this!
Why keep it from her?
Is it because you think she's too young and doesn't know any better, or is the older sister just shy?
Does the older sister actually have feelings for Chu Ye?
"The Third Prince spoke so bluntly. What if he comes to ask for our hand in marriage one day? What should we do?" Madam Yang was no less shocked than Wuxia, so she couldn't make a decision and had to ask her husband for advice.
Jun Shu said, "He is a prince."
Lady Yang asked, puzzled, "How is the prince?"
"Do you still remember why the Emperor ended his southern tour to Beijing early?" Jun Shu asked her.
Lady Yang said, "It's because of the Crown Prince." Then, realizing something, she added, "You don't think the Crown Prince's position is unstable, do you?"
"It's hard to say," Jun Shu said. "Ever since His Majesty returned to the capital, he has no longer allowed the Crown Prince to be involved in government affairs. This blatant disrespectful punishment is obvious to everyone in the court. His Majesty is deliberately trying to undermine the Crown Prince's authority."
“Even if His Highness the Crown Prince cannot… isn’t there still the eldest prince born to Consort Yu?” Madam Yang asked again.
Jun Shu shook his head and said, "The Yu family is powerful, but the eldest prince is just a boor. The fifth prince's mother is of too low a status, and the seventh prince is too young to see what his future holds."
Yang Shi remained silent, while Wu Shuang quietly poked her younger brother from under the covers. Both of them understood Jun Shu's words: if anything happened to the Crown Prince, the Third Prince Chu Ye would likely become the first choice to inherit the throne.
"What does Wuxia think?" Jun Shu, like Wushuang, valued Wuxia's thoughts highly.