“As the legal mother of Sixth Sister and Seventh Sister, Madam should naturally make the decisions regarding their marriages.” An Yuanliang flattered her, saying, “I hope Madam will take on this responsibility and put in the effort.”
Zhao gave a vague reply, but made up her mind to seek the Grand Madam's advice.
She knew all too well what kind of person the Dowager was. She didn't expect her two illegitimate daughters to be successful enough to come back and be filial to her. If both the Dowager and An Yuanliang nodded in agreement, she naturally had no objections.
An Yuanliang deliberately ignored the Grand Madam, assuming that he had already settled things with the Marquis's mansion.
"Let me be frank from the start, Sixth Sister is doing better now, as she no longer has a concubine in the household. If Concubine Li were to wail and cry in front of you, Master, please don't be soft-hearted," Zhao said coolly, as if she had just remembered something.
An Yuanliang couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
“Aunt Li is just a concubine. You are the mistress of the house. How can she interfere with the young ladies’ marriages in the Marquis’s mansion?” An Yuanliang quickly comforted his wife and said a lot of nice things. Finally, he coaxed Zhao Shi into agreeing to mention it to the Grand Madam in a roundabout way.
Even if everything is fine at the Marquis's residence, how should we tell Chen Qian tomorrow?
An Yuanliang suddenly felt a headache coming on.
******
An Ran quickly flipped through a storeroom register and couldn't help but marvel at the sheer number of valuable items in the Pingyuan Marquis's residence.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to returning the Pingyuan Marquis's family property when his title was stripped, after Lu Mingxiu returned to the capital and was given an important position, the palace rewards poured in like water. His family was already wealthy, and with the Empress's thoughtful consideration, the rewards were comprehensive, not limited to treasures and antiques, but also including many promising rewards such as land and shops.
It took Lu Mingxiu a long time to realize that the Empress had probably been thinking about those of them who were not yet married from the beginning, how to build a family fortune and generate income in the future, instead of just having a bunch of treasures stored in the storeroom.
She closed the book and pondered, but couldn't help reaching to the bottom of a stack of books on the desk and pulling out a copy of the Book of Poetry.
The Book of Songs itself is nothing new; it's just that the things embedded within it are exceptionally important.
Seeing that Cuiping, Jinping, and the others were all busy with their own things, Anran carefully opened the Book of Songs and unfolded the letter tucked inside.
Lu Mingxiu told her to write a letter to discuss it, but unexpectedly, it was Lu Mingxiu who sent the letter first.
The two pages contained powerful, vigorous handwriting, imbued with a sense of strength and dynamism, as if carrying the fierce power of battle. Yet, once written, it transformed into a tender and affectionate message.
An Ran had assumed that Lu Mingxiu was a man of few words, and that his letters would be concise and to the point. To her surprise, he wrote two long pages and actually started chatting with her about everyday things, even asking about the injury on her hand and telling her to be more careful when playing with the cat in the future.
This feeling of being remembered is something I've never experienced before.
Anran felt a soft spot in her heart, which became warmer and more comforting.
Finally, the letter also vaguely reminded her to pay more attention to the people around her, especially her sisters.
Could it be that Sixth Sister and Seventh Sister did something inappropriate that Lu Mingxiu discovered? An Ran wasn't worried that it was Tenth Sister. Tenth Sister knew perfectly well that An Ran would wait for Sixth Sister and Seventh Sister to lose their composure and wouldn't do anything that would give Lu Mingxiu leverage over them.
An Ran already harbored a slight suspicion in her heart, but had no way to confirm it.
Before leaving home that day, as usual, he locked his suitcase and kept the key with him, refusing to let anyone else do it for him.
Third Sister invited her to her residence today so that the two sisters could have a quiet chat. If Third Sister returns, things might not go as planned.
An Ran took Qingmei by carriage to the Prince Yi's residence early in the morning. She left Qingxing at the residence, after all, it was Qingxing and Qingmei who accompanied her to the end in her previous life, and she still trusted them the most.
An Ran's status is now completely different. Now that she's in the Prince Yi's mansion, she's not just the third sister of the third daughter, but is also valued as the fiancée of the Marquis of Pingyuan.
As usual, San Niang took An Ran to see Princess Yi, where they also met Yun Fang and her two sisters.
Princess Yi was naturally pleased with Yun Shen's marriage to a man of high status. After all, the rumors had damaged Yun Shen's reputation, but women in this world often faced far more criticism than men. An Ran's acceptance of the arranged marriage naturally washed away the negative impact of the previous rumors.
Yunfang and Yunrui looked at Anran with envy and a hint of happiness. They were on good terms with Anran, and Anran's good marriage was not a bad thing for them. On the other hand, Yunlan also smiled and congratulated her, but a trace of fear and unease flashed in her eyes. She was afraid that Anran would remember the past and make things difficult for her.
An Ran saw it all, but simply smiled calmly, not taking it to heart.
When the Princess Consort mentioned sending Anran's dowry, Yunfang and the other two jokingly said they should go back and quickly make a dowry so that it could be put in when Anran sends her dowry.
An Ran blushed and refused to speak, but Third Sister and the Princess Consort helped her out with smiles.
After exchanging a few words with Princess Yi, San Niang took An Ran back home.
"Now I can finally put my mind at ease." The smile on Third Sister's face was genuine. She said with relief, "It's clear that marriage is something no one can predict. Who knew you would catch the eye of Marquis Pingyuan and even personally go to the Emperor to ask for his permission?"
Since Third Sister married into the Prince Yi's mansion, she had become a member of the imperial clan, so naturally she knew more than others. Moreover, Lu Mingxiu didn't mind letting people know that it was he who had gone to request the imperial decree to grant them the marriage.
In front of Third Sister, An Ran displayed the typical shyness of a young girl, blushing and remaining silent.
"Alright, I won't tease you anymore." Third Sister patted An Ran's hand with satisfaction, and said with a sense of relief, "That Fang Ting is so blind, he actually came to break off the engagement first. Does he think he's a hot commodity, with all the girls in the capital wanting to marry him?"
"Lord Lu is the focus of all the noble ladies in the capital!" Third Sister felt she had finally vented her anger. She said disdainfully, "He's just a junior scholar and he's already so arrogant. I'd like to see where he can get a high position after the selection examination!"
Even though it was An Ran who had been rejected in the previous engagement, she appeared more composed than San Niang. Now, she comforted San Niang, saying, "Fang Ting did nothing wrong. He finally earned his own future, so naturally he cherishes it very much. Let bygones be bygones."
Third Sister reluctantly nodded.
“Even if he doesn’t break off the engagement, you can’t marry Lu Mingxiu.” Third Sister thought for a moment and then became happy again. “In short, Lu Mingxiu is a hundred times, a thousand times better than Fang Ting.”
An Ran could only smile and nod in agreement.
Her third sister was a person with strong likes and dislikes; she would treat those she liked extremely well, and those she disliked as if she wanted to trample them into the mud. However, her sister's recent protectiveness towards her had brought An Ran much closer to her.
"Third sister, there's something I want to tell you," An Ran said, half-revealing. "I feel like sixth sister and seventh sister... seem to have a lot of opinions about me these past few days."
An Ran spoke vaguely, but San Niang understood immediately.
No wonder, even Third Sister knew that her half-sisters all dreamed of marrying the Marquis of Pingyuan. Now that their dream had come true, the one who could marry the Marquis of Pingyuan was An Ran, whom no one had ever thought highly of. How could they be willing to accept that? It was inevitable that they would make some underhanded moves!
However, this time Third Sister was very shrewd. She said to An Ran, "These next two days, pack your things and take An tide and An Ze to stay at the country estate for a while."
An Ran blinked in confusion. Was this a way of telling her to avoid it? That didn't seem like Third Sister's style at all.