As they talked, they arrived at the courtyard where Old Madam Bai lived alone.
As soon as Pang Yuan entered the main room, he saw his grandmother sitting upright on a mahogany couch, her face flushed, displaying an angry smile, and even her always meticulously combed silver hair was almost standing on end in anger.
His mother, Ms. Luo, sat in the chair on the left, her face equally stern, a rare sight for her.
Pang Yuan greeted the two in turn, and then heard Madam Bai instruct all the servants to leave. In the end, only the three of them—grandmother, grandson, mother, and son—remained in the large hall.
"There's a letter here, and the words in it..." The old lady started angrily, but then realized her wording was inappropriate and quickly stopped, changing her words to, "Anyway, you can take a look for yourself first." [www.qiushu.cc lots of great novels]
Pang Yuan respectfully accepted the letter, unfolded it, and found that, just as he had guessed, apart from the change in address, the contents of the two letters were largely the same.
He looked up and asked, "Grandmother, do you believe what's written in the letter?"
"Of course I can't believe it completely before I've verified it," Old Madam Bai said firmly. "But judging from the tone of the letter, the writer is either the third daughter of the Jun family, Wushuang, or the fourth daughter, Wuhui. These sisters are all connected by reputation; they share the same fate. If there were no such thing, how could her sister have given birth to Anbaizao? If what's in the letter gets out, it won't just ruin Wuyou's life. The Jun family's daughters' marriages will be thwarted, and even those three unmarried boys might be affected. How stupid would someone have to be to do that?"
“Grandmother is right.” Pang Yuan nodded in agreement, then took out the letter he had received earlier from his sleeve and handed it over. “Grandmother, please take a look. This is what I received at the yamen today.”
The old lady was clearly surprised that the righteous and stern informant had reported on more than one person. She exclaimed, "What do you mean? Are you afraid that you or I will side with Wuyou, so you sent a letter to both sides, determined to ruin her sister's marriage?"
“Grandmother is very perceptive,” Pang Yuan said. “Like Grandmother, I believe that ‘a sudden wind may not be without cause,’ but this person’s methods are not like those of someone who is fighting for justice; rather, they seem more like someone who wants to put Wu You to death.”
Both Madam Bai and Madam Luo, the wife of the Marquis, nodded slightly.
Pang Yuan and Wu You have been engaged for five or six years, and their wedding date is set for this autumn. It's common knowledge among the wealthy families in the capital. If the Pang family were to break off the engagement, the entire Marquis of Runan's household would lose face, and Wu You's future marriage prospects would be bleak. Furthermore, if the reasons given in the letter were to leak out, revealing that she had been stealing from her family to support a man outside the marriage for years despite the engagement, she would be undeniably accused of infidelity.
For a woman, being unfaithful was the most serious crime. While murder might be excused as self-defense and elicit sympathy, unfaithfulness was seen by the common people as inherently promiscuous. The worst fate for a woman convicted of this crime was to be drowned in a pig cage. Even if her family had some influence and could protect her life, they would not allow her to remain at home and influence her sisters. She would inevitably be sent to a nunnery to spend her life with Buddhist scriptures and lamps, never to leave the temple again.
However, people have varying degrees of closeness and distance.
Although Madam Bai and Madam Luo were reasonable and wouldn't completely condemn Wuyou based on a single letter, and immediately pressured Pang Yuan to go to the Marquis of Runan's residence to break off the engagement, for them, whether their children and grandchildren married virtuous women was definitely more important than Wuyou's future fate.
In other words, they would never turn a blind eye to the possibility of Wuyou suffering a terrible fate and marry her without investigating the truth.
This may sound cold-hearted, but it's actually just human nature.
Especially Madam Bai, who was already somewhat dissatisfied with her eldest grandson's marriage.
She was willing to be considered by the Marquis of Runan's family back then because the object of her affections was Wuxia. Wuxia was not only the eldest daughter of the legitimate wife, but her father was also the Marquis of Runan, Junshu, who held a title.
Wuyou, on the other hand, was the second wife's daughter, and her status was far inferior to that of a concubine.
Pang Yuan is the heir of the Pingyang Marquis's mansion and the future Marquis of Pingyang. At a young age, he has already made some achievements in the Lingguang Guard, which is highly regarded by the emperor. Whether based on his background or his abilities, he could marry not only the legitimate daughter of a marquis's family, but also the legitimate daughter of a duke's family.
Not only was Madam Bai dissatisfied with Wuyou's identity, but she also felt that marrying her was too much of a disservice to her grandson.
However, Wuyou had done Pang Yuan a favor. If it weren't for the fact that young Wuyou happened to meet Pang Yuan when he was under the influence of a drug and took the initiative to help him, there might be a low-born but scheming lady in the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion today.
This act almost saved Pang Yuan's life, and the Pingyang Marquis's mansion could not refuse such a favor.
Therefore, when Pang Yuan proposed to Wuyou, although Madam Bai had some reservations about her background, she agreed after consideration.
Considering family background was merely a preliminary step for ordinary families when choosing a daughter-in-law, not the final deciding factor. Old Madam Bai, having experienced much of the world, knew that while family background and lineage influenced a person's character, they were not absolute.
Don't you see that even in a century-old noble family, there are纨绔子弟 (spoiled brats) who squander their wealth, and even a poor family can produce a prime minister?
Moreover, although Wuyou was born out of wedlock, she was raised by the old lady of the Runan Marquis's mansion from a young age. Under her teaching and guidance, her manners and temperament were no less than those of ordinary people.
"Go and send a letter to the yamen, saying that you have important business at home tomorrow and need to take a day off. Then go to the Jun family." Old Madam Bai instructed, "Considering the kindness she showed you back then, we can keep this matter quiet, whether it's true or not, to save face for her. But if she has a grudge, we can't leave it unresolved. We must find out the truth of the matter."
“Grandmother, if we go directly to their door to ask and we really wrong someone, wouldn’t that displease the Jun family?” Pang Yuan originally planned to investigate secretly. If there was no such thing, there would be no need to let Wuyou know about this letter.
“I think it would be better to go and ask in person.” With her mother-in-law present, Madam Luo, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke up. “Since your engagement, our two families have been very close. Whether it’s your grandmother and the old lady of the Jun family, or me and the second lady of the Jun family, we are all very familiar with each other and can speak frankly with each other. With this relationship, there’s no need to hide anything; it’s better to talk face to face. Every family loves its own child. If Wuyou really did something wrong, it’s only natural for the old lady of the Jun family and others to cover for her. However, I think the old lady is an upright person. If we really go and ask her, she might tell the truth. Moreover, let’s be frank. If, as you said, someone intends to frame Wuyou, we must let the Jun family know. The enemy is in the dark, while she is in the light. Today it’s just a letter, and there’s still a chance to salvage the situation. But if something serious happens later and it’s too late, wouldn’t it leave both of you children with lifelong regrets?”
Pang Yuan thought his mother's words made a lot of sense, so he agreed.
Moreover, aside from clarifying the facts, he also hoped to help Wuyou find the person who betrayed her.
The two young girls of the Jun family, Wushuang had met him a few times when she was young. The little girl was innocent and charming, and she was engaged long ago. She had been away for many years and I heard that she had just returned to the capital recently. What kind of grudge could she have against Wuyou?
The other is Wuyou's half-sister, Wuhui. Over the years, Wuyou has never mentioned it, and Pang Yuan has never asked directly, but anyone with eyes can see that the two don't get along. Wuyou is gentle and mild-mannered, while Wuhui is very willful. Most of the time, Wuyou has to suffer, so it's impossible for her to offend Wuhui.
So who exactly betrayed them?
That day, Wushuang got up very early, full of excitement.
She had already chosen her residence in Baifangyuan, which was Furongli, the courtyard closest to Wuyou Yunhaijian.
The old lady had someone choose an auspicious day for moving from the almanac, which is today. Wushuang can finally officially move in.
The trunks and trunks had been packed and ready last night, and the maids and servants had carried them around, so Wushuang didn't need to worry about anything. She just needed to dress up, have breakfast leisurely, and then stroll over.
Wuyou waited in Furong Lane early in the morning. When Wushuang arrived, the two held hands and talked together. Wuyou also took the opportunity to check if Wushuang's things were properly arranged.
Around 9:00 AM, Qingxing, a maid from the old lady's side, came skipping over to deliver a message.
"Second Miss, the old lady and madam of the Pang family, as well as the future second son-in-law, have all arrived. Our old lady invites you to come and pay your respects."
Wuyou blushed and said, "They're visiting Grandmother, why should I go see them? I'm not going. You go and tell Grandmother that I'm helping Third Sister move and I don't have time."
Wuyou was always gentle and kind, and the maids on the old lady's side were used to joking with her often. Who would have thought that Wuyou would get angry today?
Qingxing was only eleven or twelve years old, and she understood some of the awkwardness between unmarried couples. However, she was not very clever, and when she saw Wuyou get angry, she was stunned and didn't know what to do.
Fortunately, Wushuang came to her rescue, advising, "Second sister, it's alright if you don't see Brother Pang, but you can't avoid seeing Old Madam Pang and Madam Pang. Think about it, when you marry into the family, Brother Pang will be working in the Lingguang Guard, leaving early and returning late, only able to spend a little over an hour with you before going to bed after dark. You'll have to spend those long days with Old Madam Pang and Madam Pang. If they misunderstand you before you're even married, thinking you're arrogant and rude, and you refuse to even see them when they come to visit, wouldn't you suffer a lot of grievances in the future? As for me, the two of us here are just watching, we can't help, so it doesn't really matter whether we're here or not."
After saying that, he pulled Wuyou up and dragged her outside.
Wuyou twisted her sash and lowered her head. Although she was still shy, she felt that Wushuang's words made sense, so she let her pull her out.