The maids in the courtyard all turned their heads away. Only Lin Jiayue cried: “I didn’t know it would turn out like this. I really didn’t know it would be like this.”

Xiang Cao glared at her fiercely and returned to the room in a few quick steps.

Inside, Song Wan still held the Golden Silk Tiger and wouldn’t let go. Heng Wu stood to the side with red eyes, not daring to speak persuasively.

“Miss…”

Heng Zhi brought over a nanmu wood box containing small mattresses, cloth bells, and other items that Song Wan had personally sewn. Each piece had the three characters “Golden Silk Tiger” embroidered at the corners.

Hearing a roomful of maids calling “Miss, Miss,” Jiang Xingjian felt displeased but couldn’t express it.

He wasn’t unable to imagine what kind of life Song Wan had lived these past six years.

A woman from her early teens to eighteen years old—this should have been the age to most enjoy the protection of her father and brothers and the affection of her husband. Yet she had remained a lonely widow with only an animal as her companion. It truly was rather difficult for her.

“Don’t be sad. Later I’ll go find one exactly the same for you.”

Jiang Xingjian had barely spoken these words when Song Wan couldn’t help but turn her head away, refusing to look at him again.

After a long while, holding the body that had grown stiff and cold, she said with a choked voice: “Show the young master out.”

Having been given the order to leave, Jiang Xingjian had to stand up. Walking to the carved window, he happened to see Lin Jiayue also sitting outside, covering her face and crying bitterly.

Jiang Xingjian stopped and said in a low voice: “Jiayue didn’t mean to. I asked the little maid who delivered the medicine. She misunderstood Jiayue’s meaning and went to the stables to get medicine for deworming horses…”

“Young Master has had a long day. Please return to Xiuyan Pavilion to rest.”

Heng Zhi stood before him, blocking Jiang Xingjian’s entire view.

Jiang Xingjian raised his eyebrows, but seeing that the room full of young ladies all had red eyes, he could only force himself to suppress the anger in his heart.

After he left, only then did Song Wan, under Xiang Cao’s comfort, place the Golden Silk Tiger into the nanmu wood box.

“Miss, please don’t cry anymore.”

Nanny Zhao also had red eyes, but said: “The young master’s return is a great joy. You must not shed tears before others. At best, you’ll earn a reputation for not knowing proper conduct. At worst, you might be blamed for bringing bad luck. If word reaches Old Madam and the mistress’s ears, it would be even worse.”

“Those who know would say Miss is kind-hearted. Those who don’t might fabricate stories that you’re unhappy about the young master’s return to the manor.”

“Nanny, let Miss rest alone. You all come with me.”

Heng Zhi beckoned everyone in the room to leave the bedchamber. Only in solitude could Song Wan cry freely.

She placed the Buddhist sutras and eulogies she had written for the Golden Silk Tiger, along with the little creature’s toys and the dried fish just baked in the kitchen, into the box. She also placed the small jacket she had been sewing recently but hadn’t finished inside.

Only when the sky darkened did Nanny Zhao repeatedly urge her to eat, and finally she closed the box and instructed Heng Zhi to bury the Golden Silk Tiger in the flower bed beneath her window.

Song Wan leaned halfway by the window, numbly watching the two sisters fill in the earth.

Looking up at the remaining eleven wood carvings, she randomly grabbed three and tossed them out the window.

The next day, Song Wan waited early at the courtyard gate. Seeing her expression was normal, with only slightly reddened eyelids, Jiang Xingjian couldn’t help but sigh inwardly—truly worthy of being a young lady raised by the Song family.

“Husband, please go first.”

Song Wan curtsied and asked Jiang Xingjian to go ahead. As they neared Fuhe Hall, she suddenly said: “A few days ago, husband mentioned wanting Miss Lin to learn more propriety. Were those words sincere?”

“Naturally.”

Lin Jiayue’s ignorance of etiquette had caused so much embarrassment that even he felt it was rather unseemly.

“Wan’er understands.”

Song Wan accompanied Jiang Xingjian into Fuhe Hall. After the two paid their respects to Old Madam Jiang and Mother Jiang, Old Madam Jiang first brought up the Golden Silk Tiger: “What a terrible sin… Such a pity about that little creature. But since it’s gone, perhaps you only had these few years of fate together. Wan’er, remember not to be too sorrowful. Take care of your health—that’s what matters.”

“Grandmother speaks truly. Wan’er understands.”

Hearing this, Mother Jiang was quite indignant: “Isn’t it a sin indeed? That thing from a small, insignificant household—how can she not control her hands? When she sees Wan’er’s garment and thinks it’s good, or sees a raised cat and also thinks it’s good, with such shallow vision—I’ve rarely seen the like in my entire life.”

Jiang Xingjian remained silent. Hearing this, Song Wan said: “Since Miss Lin has already entered the marquis manor, it’s not proper for her to continue residing with the status of an outside guest day after day. This manner of keeping someone in the household without giving them proper status truly lacks dignity. If word spreads, people will only say the marquis manor has no proper conduct.”

Mother Jiang nodded: “These words are reasonable.”

“Though husband has never given Miss Lin status, as the legitimate wife, Wan’er cannot sit by and watch, letting her continue without propriety.”

Song Wan raised her head and said indifferently: “By rights, since Miss Lin saved my husband, she should be given a high position. But unfortunately, she made a private pledge with husband without a matchmaker…”

Before she could finish speaking, Mother Jiang frowned: “A high position? A base creature who eloped with someone—what high position could she want? If every woman with such loose and wanton behavior could enter the marquis manor and receive a high position, what would the marquis manor become?”

Jiang Xingjian hadn’t expected Song Wan to suddenly propose taking Lin Jiayue as a concubine. Caught off guard, he had no rebuttal.

His private conduct with Lin Jiayue was indeed improper. He had nothing more to say.

Without Song Wan, he could have persuaded his grandmother and mother to let him marry Lin Jiayue as his wife. But now… to discuss it further would only further sully Jiayue’s reputation.

“So Wan’er thought, why not take advantage of husband’s return to the manor—this great joy—and handle the matter of taking concubines all at once. This way it would also be lively.”

Song Wan took out two thin cards from her sleeve with women’s names and birth dates written on them: “Since we’re taking Miss Lin as a concubine, Huai Su’s status should also be formalized.”

Old Madam Jiang sighed: “Let them both be taken at once. That child Huai Su’s wait has been no easier than Wan’er’s.”

In noble families, young ladies who personally served the young masters usually had to take this path.

Song Wan handed the two pink cards to Mother Jiang, who looked at them with delight: “Wan’er’s virtue goes without saying. Yi’er must have cultivated much merit to marry such a fine match.”

Mother Jiang continued: “By rights, Huai Su could be elevated to servant concubine, but since she came from Old Madam’s quarters, it wouldn’t be proper to give such a low status. I was thinking of promoting Huai Su to good concubine. What does Wan’er think?”

Song Wan said: “Huai Su has a gentle temperament and has always been meticulous. Mother’s intention couldn’t be more appropriate.”

Mother Jiang smiled and nodded: “This Miss Lin lacks womanly virtue and is truly unworthy of a high position. If we also gave her the position of good concubine, wouldn’t that be saying Huai Su’s character is similar to hers?”

“That won’t do, that won’t do.”

Mother Jiang waved her hand and gave the pink cards to the person serving beside her: “Promote Huai Su to good concubine and take Lin Jiayue as a lowly concubine. Give them both the usual allowances and monthly silver according to the manor’s past regulations.”

“Mother.”

Jiang Xingjian looked at Mother Jiang disapprovingly, but she smiled and said that men shouldn’t interfere in inner courtyard affairs, brushing him off.

Women from small, insignificant families always thought they could rely on a man’s favor to suppress the legitimate wife. They never realized that in marriages between established families, what mattered was never just one person alone. She had been too lazy to bother with Lin Jiayue before, merely feeling that though the other party was reckless and improper, she ultimately didn’t affect her. Only yesterday did she realize she truly shouldn’t have been soft-hearted.

Lin Jiayue’s talk of “one lifetime, one pair” was shameless and laughable.

Glancing at Jiang Xingjian’s expression, Song Wan thought to herself that she hadn’t even mentioned today’s true purpose yet, and he already felt distressed?

Thinking this, Song Wan spoke indifferently: “Grandmother, Mother, Wan’er has one more matter to request.”