Old Madam Chen’s voice grew lower and lower: “You can no longer marry Prince Dongping. Now, even if they wanted your grandfather’s silver, they wouldn’t grant you such a position. But don’t be sad…” Old Madam Chen looked at the obviously dazed Chen Mingyu and pressed on in one breath: “However, both the Qin family and the Fan family are within your reach.”
Chen Mingyu lowered her head and thought for a moment before understanding why the Qin family had been cautious toward her these past days, yet didn’t dare be overly cautious. She asked her grandmother: “You’ve had plans all along?”
“In this lifetime, I’ve always held on to one breath of defiance, always losing to that old woman from the Earl of Changning’s estate in everything.” Old Madam Chen smiled faintly: “I told you before—when you lose face before Song Chuyi, it’s like me losing face before Old Madam Song. That’s what I meant. I’ve never gotten along well with her. This time when Eunuch Feng suggested I die at her family’s gate, I originally wanted to die, but later I suddenly didn’t want to anymore. If I died and your grandfather muddled through and was merely demoted, what of it? He’s old now—after this incident, he’ll probably fall to rock bottom and never rise again. The Song family won’t allow him to live either.”
Chen Mingyu didn’t quite understand. She looked at Old Madam Chen in confusion, not knowing what Old Madam Chen was really trying to say.
Old Madam Chen paused to catch her breath before continuing: “Later I thought it through carefully and finally came up with a solution. We have no hope left—we’re all old like this anyway, so it doesn’t matter whether we die or not. What your grandfather did has precedent from previous dynasties. Since his collusion with Huangjue Temple hasn’t been exposed, he only has those offenses that Censor Shi mentioned. At most, he’ll be beheaded, and it won’t implicate children who are still young. The Chen family can at least preserve some bloodline.”
After speaking for so long, Old Madam Chen finally stopped these seemingly incoherent words and began explaining the plan that had kept Chen Mingyu’s heart suspended: “I’m planning to make a transaction with Fan Liangdi.”
The person Old Madam Chen had gone to see today was the wife of Vice Minister Wang—both being part of the Eastern Palace faction, they’d had dealings before. Old Madam Chen knew the Wang family had deep connections with the Fan family. She sought out Madam Wang hoping she would carry a message to the Eastern Palace for her.
Chen Mingyu was shocked. After hearing Old Madam Chen explain the whole cause and effect, she felt goosebumps rising. She grabbed Old Madam Chen’s hand, somewhat frightened and worried: “Grandmother, right now Fan Liangdi is probably like a clay Buddha crossing a river—unable to save herself! The Huangjue Temple incident—wasn’t that all caused by Fan Liangdi? Though the Crown Prince doesn’t want the matter exposed, he must be thoroughly disgusted with Fan Liangdi, right? What use is it for you to petition Fan Liangdi at this time?”
Old Madam Chen glanced at Chen Mingyu and couldn’t help but laugh: “You’re truly a foolish child. If she were simple, could she have squeezed out the Crown Princess all these years? Rest assured, she’s far shrewder than you imagine.”
“So you want Fan Liangdi to arrange a marriage for me with the Fan family?” Chen Mingyu still felt this was somewhat earth-shattering: “But wouldn’t this attract too much attention? Wouldn’t Fan Liangdi worry about the Song family?”
Old Madam Chen narrowed her eyes: “You’re still young and don’t know what a massive sum we’re talking about. You don’t know how much Fan Liangdi needs silver…” She gave a scornful laugh: “Even if you were an evil ghost from hell, at this moment in her eyes you’d probably look no different from a fairy maiden. Rest assured, she’ll agree.”
Old Madam Chen spoke with such certainty, yet Chen Mingyu still felt the matter was illusory and ethereal.
In contrast, after her initial shock, Fan Liangdi in the Eastern Palace came back to herself and asked Nanny Qi in puzzlement: “You said who?”
Nanny Qi answered with lowered brows and eyes: “Old Madam Chen.”
Fan Liangdi furrowed her brow. Previously, Qian Ying had advised her to agree to Old Master Chen’s proposal to betroth Chen Mingyu to Prince Dongping. Now Old Madam Chen was petitioning her to betroth Chen Mingyu to her own elder brother’s legitimate eldest son? How dare she even think it!
She rubbed her forehead and was about to speak when she heard Nanny Qi continue: “Vice Minister Wang said Old Madam Chen also has gifts to present to Your Ladyship—it’s also a token of Old Madam Chen’s sincere intentions.”
Fan Liangdi’s brow furrowed slightly as she pondered. She assumed it was letters and tokens from past dealings with the Chen family, and her heart filled with annoyance and gnashing fury. But when she opened the thick stack of envelopes and took a look, she immediately closed the box containing the envelopes again.
The Chen family actually still had such financial resources! She recalled that the northwestern business had been managed by Elder Chen ten years ago. Then thinking of the bribes from Zhang Run in the Yangzhou corruption case and Zhang Tianshi’s downfall in that northwestern affair, she had to calm herself for a while before looking at Nanny Qi again.
With such a massive sum of silver, she could accomplish so many things. The dividends Han Zhengqing had sent back this year were actually only one hundred thousand taels. She herself had written letters to persuade her parents in every way possible, and they had only managed to scrape together seventy thousand taels from the family. Even then, they’d had to sell quite a few things—houses and groves. Now with such a massive sum of silver…
She turned and instructed Nanny Qi: “Go fetch paper and brush.”
Actually, it wasn’t really such a major matter. Her mind quickly weighed the pros and cons—her younger brother was far away in Fujian, and her nephew was in Xingyang, both thousands of miles from the capital. Sending Chen Mingyu there to marry wouldn’t attract anyone’s attention at all.
And when the time came for the Shuntian Prefecture to investigate the Chen family’s household members, they could say Chen Mingyu had long been betrothed to the Fan family and had gone to Xingyang before heading to Jinling…
Though full of holes, who would fixate on a girl who had barely reached her hairpin ceremony? As for the Song family… a shadow fell across Fan Liangdi’s eyes. The Song family had never thought of boarding her ship and had consistently opposed her. If she worried about the Song family, she might as well not live at all.
Therefore, the next day when Old Madam Chen went to see Madam Wang again and returned, she finally showed the first smile she’d worn in this period. She held Chen Mingyu’s hand and looked at her carefully for a long time, both reluctant to part and extremely gratified as she instructed her: “From now on, you’ll have to rely on yourself. Grandmother has planned this far for you—I’ve done my utmost.”
Chen Mingyu hadn’t expected it would actually succeed, and that it was even arranged with the Fan family’s legitimate eldest son. For a moment she couldn’t process it, clutching Old Madam Chen’s hand, bewildered for quite some time.
It wasn’t until Old Madam Chen had someone pack her bedding and luggage that she finally awakened as if from a dream, falling to her knees before Old Madam Chen and weeping bitterly.
Old Madam Chen was instead quite philosophical about it, smiling with immense satisfaction: “From now on when there’s conflict, it will be between these two ladies of the Eastern Palace. You and Miss Song the Sixth are perhaps naturally born to oppose each other—I only hope you won’t lose again in the future. No matter what, we must win once and let them taste the suffering our family has endured…”
Chen Mingyu stared in shock, her nails digging into her palms.