The Xie Family ancestral hall.

Xie Xian knelt on a prayer cushion, her eyes vacant as she stared at the dozens of spirit tablets before her, her heart numb without any emotion.

She had been kneeling here for over half a month, unable even to see Mother off on her final journey.

She stood on the opposing side of the entire Xie Family. She didn’t know what awaited her.

With a creak, the ancestral hall door opened.

She knew it was a maid bringing her food. Although Father had punished her with confinement in the ancestral hall, he wouldn’t actually starve her to death.

“Miss…” The maid who had grown up with her knelt beside her and said in a low voice: “People in the residence say that the master has arranged a marriage for you, Miss.”

Xie Xian pressed her lips together and said nothing.

Before the new year, marriage discussions had already been underway. It was a family Mother had selected for her, but the marriage had been delayed when the Yun Family’s troubles arose.

The other party was a concubine-born son from a third-rank family, a xiucai, with no other women in his household—his back courtyard was very clean. If she married over as the legitimate wife, this would be an excellent match for her.

Just as she was thinking this, she heard the maid continue: “It’s not the Qi family that the madam contacted before the new year. It’s the Ge family.”

Xie Xian froze: “Which Ge family?”

The little maid didn’t know which Ge family either and said with a crying tone: “The master wants Miss to go to the Ge family as a concubine…”

“As a concubine…” Xie Xian’s voice was ethereal.

Her mother was a concubine. No matter how good this matriarch mother was, being a concubine always meant being lower than others.

Her mother had told her that a concubine in a wealthy family was inferior to a wife in a small household.

She had always kept this in mind and had told Mother that she hoped to marry into a family of lower status as a legitimate wife.

Mother had carefully selected the Qi family for her.

Now Mother was gone, and it had become the Ge family concubine.

“I need to find Father!”

Xie Xian suddenly stood up but felt dizzy and nearly fell to the ground.

“Miss, don’t go. It’s useless…” The little maid couldn’t help crying. “The eldest young master and his wife quarreled over this matter. The whole residence knows about it, which is how this servant learned of it… Even when the eldest young madam intervened, it was useless. How could Miss possibly change the master’s and eldest young master’s decision?”

The little maid’s words had just fallen when footsteps sounded outside.

Immediately after, Xie Shiwei strode in: “It seems you already know about your marriage arrangement. I won’t say more. The marriage is set for three days from now. At that time, the Ge family will send people to receive you. Prepare yourself well.”

Xie Xian closed her eyes: “I won’t marry.”

“When is it your turn to say no?” Xie Shiwei sneered. “Lord Ge is a proper third-rank official. Marrying over to be his beautiful concubine—you’re not losing out.”

Only then did Xie Xian know which Ge family it was.

That Lord Ge was the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, indeed a proper third-rank official, but he was already in his thirties or forties with a courtyard full of concubines and mistresses. Having her become a concubine to such a person—she might as well die.

She pressed her lips together and said nothing.

“Don’t play dead here!” Xie Shiwei’s expression grew colder. “Don’t forget, your Concubine Jiang is still locked in the woodshed, sustained by one bowl of thin gruel a day. If you dare commit suicide or flee from the marriage, I’ll grind your concubine mother’s bones to dust!”

Xie Xian’s heart sank.

She believed Xie Shiwei capable of such things. If Xie Shi’an was a hypocrite, then Xie Shiwei was a thorough devil.

Several maids had been tormented daily by Xie Shiwei and, unable to bear the humiliation, had jumped into wells and died.

“Stop kneeling in the ancestral hall. Return to your courtyard and prepare properly.” Xie Shiwei said coldly. “Serve Lord Ge well, and the Xie Family will be your backing, letting you establish yourself in the Ge family.”

Xie Xian gritted her teeth hard, not letting herself speak words of begging for mercy.

The entire Xie Family began busying themselves with the second young miss’s marriage.

For the Xie residence’s second young miss to marry a third-rank official as a concubine—no matter how one put it, this wasn’t glorious.

So the Xie Family sealed the servants’ mouths, found a low-key sedan chair, and quietly carried Xie Xian out through the back gate. That counted as marrying off their daughter.

After sending off Xie Xian, Gao Shi could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

She was Xie Shiwei’s wife. After the mother-in-law’s death, the household should have been managed by Song Yin, her elder sister-in-law. But for some reason, elder brother and sister-in-law quarreled daily, and sister-in-law had thrown down her burden and refused to work. So it could only be her, the second branch’s daughter-in-law, who managed the household. For her, this was a good thing. Who wouldn’t want to be the managing matriarch?

At this time, at Qingsong Pavilion.

Xie Shi’an looked at the woman before him. After so many days, she had finally taken the initiative to find him and speak, but what she spoke of was someone else’s matter.

Song Yin pressed her lips together and asked in a cold voice: “You’re already the current Grand Chancellor. Why do you still need to use Xie Xian to facilitate connections? She’s your own younger sister. How can you send her into a pit of fire?”

“I’ve already said that this matter wasn’t my decision. It was Father’s intention.” Xie Shi’an stepped forward and pressed down on her shoulders. “You’ve been angry for so many days. You should let it go. However you want to punish me, I’ll accept it.”

“But you didn’t stop it.” Song Yin said word by word. “Although father-in-law is still here, everyone in the Xie Family knows that actually you’re the one managing the entire Xie Family. As long as you objected, no one would dare make Xie Xian become a concubine in the Ge family. In the end, you were happy to see this happen. As long as someone can bring you benefits, you can unhesitatingly have that person pave the way…”

“Song Yin!” Xie Shi’an interrupted her words. “In your heart, am I such a despicable person?”

Song Yin continued: “If one day, sacrificing me could secure your official career, you would definitely do the same, wouldn’t you?”

Xie Shi’an clenched his back teeth: “Song Yin, do you have no heart? Search your conscience—since you married into the Xie Family, have I done anything to wrong you!”

“Not in the past doesn’t mean not in the future.” Song Yin shook off his hand. “Forget it. I don’t need to ask you these things. Whatever the answer is doesn’t matter.”

Even if the person beside her pillow was a hypocrite, what could she do? She still had to maintain the marriage for a lifetime.

She turned around and slowly walked forward, unconsciously walking to Concubine Jiang’s courtyard.

After Xie Xian agreed to marry, Concubine Jiang was released from the woodshed. However, people stood guard at the courtyard gate, not allowing Concubine Jiang to come out.

“Eldest Young Madam!”

The gatekeeper bowed respectfully.

Everyone knew that the eldest young master feared his wife. Within the Xie Family’s internal affairs, it was the eldest young madam who had the final say.

Song Yin walked in without obstruction.

“Eldest Young Madam!” As soon as Concubine Jiang saw her, she rolled off the bed, crawled to Song Yin’s feet, and said: “I beg eldest young madam to help, save Xian’er, save her…”

Song Yin lowered her head and saw Concubine Jiang’s haggard face, her eyes swollen like peaches, her cheekbones protruding high, her entire person without any vitality.

She shook her head: “I’ve tried persuading them, but couldn’t move them. I have no way either. But Concubine Jiang, rest assured, I’ll often go to the Ge family to see Xian’er and do my best to let her live better…”

Concubine Jiang sobbed: “I’ve implicated her. If I weren’t still in the Xie Family, Xian’er definitely wouldn’t have agreed to marry. I might as well be dead…”

“Concubine Jiang, please don’t think that way.” Song Yin urged. “If you died, Xian’er would have no attachments and might also take her leave. Stay alive. Only if people stay alive is there hope for everything…”