Old Madam Song was getting on in years and had no desire to continue entangling herself with a granddaughter whose mind was clearly muddled over such matters. Because now, no matter how much they tried to reason with her, in Song Chumi’s heart they were nothing more than villains blocking her path to happiness.

But the Song family could never grant her wish—not for her future, and not for the Earl Manor’s reputation. Absolutely not! To send the Earl Manor’s legitimate daughter, the granddaughter of the current Elder Cabinet Minister and Minister of Personnel, to become a co-wife to another Elder Cabinet Minister’s grandson—how would the people of the capital view the Earl Manor? What would His Majesty think?! What would the Crown Prince think?!

They had just pledged loyalty to the Crown Prince’s side, and now to turn around and marry off their granddaughter to someone from Prince Duan’s faction, and as a co-wife no less, right when the Crown Prince was gravely ill—it would inevitably make the Crown Prince’s supporters think they were duplicitous fence-sitters playing both sides.

Song Chumi screamed and refused to yield. She glanced at Song Chuyi, who sat quietly to the side as if she didn’t exist at all, and suddenly a strange emotion appeared in her eyes. Immediately after, she crawled forward a few steps and threw her arms around Old Madam Song’s legs: “Grandmother! I’m not your only granddaughter—Little Six isn’t the only one, I am too! You were able to force Second Aunt and Eighth Sister until one died and one left for her sake, so why can’t you show me mercy just this once? I only want to marry someone I like. Back then, Aunt was the eldest legitimate daughter and an only daughter too, but she was still able to choose her own—”

“I said don’t mention your aunt again!” Old Madam Song heard her words becoming more and more outrageous and felt that every word and sentence was implying that she hadn’t taught her daughter properly. Her head ached terribly as she had Nanny Huang pull Song Chumi up. She sighed and calmed her anger for a moment, then spoke earnestly: “Originally I wanted your mother to come back and talk to you about these things, thinking you might listen better that way. But now it seems you’ve misunderstood my meaning. Your aunt did indeed choose her own husband, but what was the result? How many times has she returned to the capital in total? Have you ever met your cousin even once?! Besides returning to the capital every three years for performance reviews, when has your uncle-in-law ever visited our home?! In your eyes, is this what a good husband looks like?”

Not to mention that Young Master Zhang already had a wife yet still flirted around—his character was fundamentally problematic.

After what happened with Song Chuxuan, the Song family had become even more strict when selecting husbands for their children. They not only investigated the families but also inquired about the boys’ daily reputations and studies. Yet Song Chumi refused these carefully selected, decent, clean, and well-off young men, insisting on playing Zhuo Wenjun instead! Old Madam Song looked at Song Chumi, her heart and eyes full of disappointment. At this moment, she suddenly felt that Song Chubin’s timid and refined nature was actually a good thing—at least she wouldn’t be like Song Chumi, wildly impulsive with shockingly bold ideas.

Unfortunately, the muddle-headed Song Chumi couldn’t hear a single word. She shook her head over and over, stubbornly refusing to relent: “No, he’s different from Uncle-in-law…”

She kept repeating the same things over and over. Song Chengru had no patience to continue listening. With a stern face, he told Old Madam Song to keep Song Chumi there: “Her mother hasn’t returned yet. Keep her here with you for now.”

Old Madam Song immediately understood Old Master Song’s meaning—he was worried she would find a way to contact that Young Master Zhang again. But she still couldn’t help feeling puzzled. The young ladies of the Song family never stepped outside their inner quarters and rarely went out—when on earth had Song Chumi encountered this Young Master Zhang?

She glanced at First Madam Song, who understood immediately and nodded.

They needed to interrogate Song Chumi’s personal servants. She refused to believe that Song Chumi’s personal maids knew nothing about these activities.

After First Madam Song turned and left with Ziwei, Old Madam Song looked down at Song Chumi, then took Song Chuyi’s hand: “Originally we were going to wait until after the audience with the Empress Dowager to have you move out, but now it’ll have to be moved up.”

Although Ningde Courtyard still had the side chamber with gauze curtains, Old Madam Song couldn’t bear listening to Song Chumi crying and wailing every day. She still wanted to settle her in the small annex.

As it happened, both Song Chuyi’s courtyard and Song Yan’s courtyard were nearly finished being furnished. It would be good for them to pick an auspicious day and move in.

Hearing that Old Madam Song intended to give Song Chuyi’s small annex to her, Song Chumi’s tears fell even harder—they were planning to keep watch over her and had no intention of granting her wish. To her ears, Old Madam Song’s earlier words sounded perfunctory and superficial. She couldn’t listen to them at all. Old Master Song had been cold and distant from beginning to end… Thinking that Old Master Song and Old Madam Song must now consider her a disgrace to the Song family’s moral standards, she felt even more wronged. She and Brother Zhang’s relationship had been emotionally proper and physically restrained—they had absolutely not done anything to shame the Song family. Yet Grandfather and Grandmother wouldn’t even listen.

She knelt on the ground silently shedding tears. Song Chuyi found it painful to watch but had no standing to speak, so she simply took her leave from Old Master Song and Old Madam Song: “Grandfather, Grandmother, just now A’Yan said he wanted to eat the lotus pastries that Nanny Xu makes. I’ll take them to him, and while I’m at it, I can take him to see the new courtyard.”

Both Old Master Song and Old Madam Song nodded in agreement, and Song Chuyi left with her head lowered.

Outside, bamboo shadows swayed in the beautiful autumn light. The slightly cool weather added a touch of comfort, yet Song Chuyi felt both her hands were terribly cold—she had just witnessed First Madam Song ordering Nanny Jin and Nanny Qiu to escort Song Chumi’s two head maids away. Their expressions were icy and severe, and both maids’ faces had turned deathly pale, their eyes brimming with tears.

The mistakes made by the master were often borne with greater consequences by those beneath them.

In her previous life, she had been the same—how many maids and nannies had she harmed?

Qing Tao sighed and couldn’t help shaking her head: “These next few days, Yushan and Yuyan can still get by somewhat. But when Third Madam returns, that’s when they’ll truly suffer…”

Third Madam Yun Shi always loved shifting blame onto others, especially in such a major matter concerning her daughter’s lifetime reputation and happiness. She would definitely vent her anger on the two head maids. When that time came, Yushan and Yuyan would be lucky to escape with their lives, let alone avoid severe punishment. Moreover, given Third Madam’s narrow-mindedness, she would never be satisfied with just punishing them alone—their parents would likely be implicated as well.

This was the fate of serving a master whose mind wasn’t clear. If the master did something wrong, they would bear the brunt of it first. Qing Tao felt somewhat sympathetic, shaking her head with low spirits tinged with relief. Fortunately, Song Chuyi was reliable and clear-headed.

“Go tell those junior maids to keep their mouths shut,” Song Chuyi said, watching the small groups of junior maids gathered here and there. She couldn’t help shaking her head. “Otherwise they’ll bring disaster upon themselves.”