Among those gossiping behind others’ backs, few were interested in hearing anything positive. They all wanted to dig up some scandalous news; that would be more exciting to talk about.
So someone asked in a low voice, “When the Second Young Madam stayed in the mansion for quite some time back then, do you think she and the Second Young Master had already…”
Upon hearing this, Shen Yun, the eldest daughter of the Shen family who had been silent until now, furrowed her brows and glared at the person who asked the question. “Don’t you all know what kind of place our mansion is? I’ve seen people gossiping behind others’ backs, but I’ve never seen anyone willingly putting a shit bucket on their head.”
Shen Yuan also spoke up, “If there had been anything like that, you keen-eyed and sharp-eared folks would have heard the rumors long ago. Why wait until now? Saying such baseless things, aren’t you afraid of going to hell for having your tongue pulled out? When Sister Cheng stayed at our house back then, I never saw anything improper.”
Shen Qian was also anxious. She knew these people were talking nonsense because of her second brother’s bad reputation. She wanted to defend him, but given her status, anything she said wouldn’t be very credible. Thankfully, Shen Yun and Shen Yuan had spoken up. Shen Qian gave them a grateful smile.
Shen Yuan patted the back of Shen Qian’s hand to comfort her, but then heard Shen Qian mutter, “Their hearts are dirty, so they think everyone else is dirty too.”
Hearing this, Shen Yun turned her head and glared at Shen Qian again. Shen Qian quickly covered her mouth playfully.
With this, everyone lost interest in talking further.
However, people have a habit of only believing what they want to believe. At the same time, even if they know what they’ve said is wrong, they stubbornly persist, eventually convincing themselves. So, despite the Shen sisters’ earnest assurances, those watching the drama still believed that Ji Cheng and Shen Che must have had a prior relationship, leading to today’s marriage.
Surprisingly, sometimes wild guesses can stumble upon the truth. However, they firmly believed that Ji Cheng was too cunning and had seduced Shen Che, refusing to acknowledge that Shen Che might have taken a liking to Ji Cheng.
Not just these womenfolk, but even Shen Che’s group of drinking buddies were shocked when they heard about his engagement to Ji Cheng.
Chu De hadn’t had a chance to interrogate Shen Che for the past six months. Now, seeing the groom come to toast, he and his group of friends enthusiastically poured drinks for Shen Che.
Shen Che was unusually good-tempered, letting them carry on. On any other day, the Second Young Master would have dealt with them one by one.
Chu De held a wine jar and complained to Shen Che, “You’re something else. After getting engaged, you just disappeared. You left us to dodge all your female friends. Remember Wang Liniang? She’s been crying at my doorstep for days. My tigress of a wife even thought I had done something to her. Today, you must come clean…”
Chu De lowered his voice and whispered in Shen Che’s ear, “After all that choosing, you ended up picking the most poisonous one?” Chu De still remembered how miserable Shen Che looked when he returned from the Western Regions, a first in his life.
Shen Che chuckled, “Doesn’t the saying go: ‘To die under a peony flower, even as a ghost, one would be romantic’?”
Chu De gave Shen Che a thumbs up, “Good, you’ve got courage.” Soon, Chu De changed to a more lewd expression and said, “Your peony flower is indeed beautiful enough to be worth becoming a romantic ghost for.”
“Next time you dare to glance carelessly, watch out for your eyes,” Shen Che warned.
Chu De quickly made an exaggerated gesture of protecting his eyes, “How would I dare?”
Shen Che snorted coldly, and Chu De hurriedly punished himself with three cups of wine, “My mouth is foul, let me wash it with wine, alright?” Chu De was so submissive because he had no choice. Shen Che was known for his vindictiveness. How could Chu De have known that Ji Cheng would one day become his sister-in-law? That’s why he had said those nonsensical things before. Now, if he didn’t quickly admit his mistake, he was sure Shen Che would settle scores later and beat him until he couldn’t tell east from west.
No, Chu De thought, he felt like he had already been punished. Otherwise, why would he have been thrown to that godforsaken place in the Northwest where not even birds defecate? Forget about women being rare, even female horses were coveted. Over these years, he had lost over ten jin of the fat he had painstakingly put on, and the days he had touched women could be counted on his fingers.
Chu De cursed inwardly. This couple was a perfect match – one cruel, one poisonous. Who knows what trouble they’d stir up in the future? At this moment, Chu De was cheering for Ji Cheng from the bottom of his heart, supporting her in finishing off that bastard Shen Che.
When the music ended and the feast was over, as Chu De and his tigress of a wife shared a carriage back home, she pinched his ear until he yelped, forcing him to sober up from his drunken state. “Wife, what’s the matter now? I didn’t even touch a single maid’s hand tonight.”
Madam Cui frowned and said, “Who wants to know about that? I’m asking you, did Shen Er and that Ji woman have a relationship before? How did he suddenly marry her? Old Madam Shen has always looked down on Third Madam Ji, how did she agree to engage her niece to Shen Er?”
It turns out that Chu De’s wife, Cui Yue, also came from the Cui family of Qinghe, and was a cousin of Cui Long, Shen Yu’s second wife.
Cui Long had always known that Chu De and Shen Che were close friends. After hearing everyone’s discussions earlier, she wasn’t sure what to believe, so she thought of asking Cui Yue to find out more about Ji Cheng’s background. This led to the scene of Cui Yue interrogating her husband.
Chu De yelped in pain as Cui Yue pinched him, begging for mercy repeatedly, but not saying a word he shouldn’t. Although Chu De indeed knew about Shen Che and Ji Cheng’s past – how Ji Cheng had fallen under the spell of the Magpie Bridge Immortal, which ended up benefiting that bastard Shen Che, and how the two later became lovey-dovey and fought fiercely – it was quite a spectacle.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell any of this to Cui Yue. Chu De knew all too well what kind of person his tigress of a wife was. If he told Cui Yue, it would be almost the same as telling the entire capital. Chu De touched his neck, thinking that if that happened, he probably would never be able to touch a beautiful woman’s hand again.
Although Chu De’s mouth was both cheap and poisonous, he had one excellent quality – he was tight-lipped. If it weren’t for Shen Che’s keen eye for talent that had promoted him, who knows where Chu De would be mixing now?
Prince Qin’s mansion sounded as prestigious as royal relatives, but unfortunately, the princes of Da Qin were the most pitiful. They weren’t given any real work to do, just receiving salaries and being kept idle. But it had been so many years since the country was founded, that prices had skyrocketed, yet salaries hadn’t increased at all. The prince’s household had many relatives and guests to entertain, and they had to keep up appearances. That little silver was barely a drop in the bucket – just thinking about it brought tears to one’s eyes.
Even so, it might have been bearable, but Chu De was a younger son. The title and family property had little to do with him, and the salary he could get was even less. Forget about enjoying himself in brothels, even supporting a family was a bit tight.
Fortunately, Chu De was quick-witted. He could find clues in tangled threads that others couldn’t unravel. Later, when he joined Shen Che’s ranks, he finally found his element.
As such, Shen Che was both a brother and a benefactor to Chu De. How could Chu De dare to reveal his and Ji Cheng’s secrets? Not only could he not speak of it, but he also had to cover for them.
After rescuing his ear from Cui Yue’s grasp, Chu De said, “You women just love to gossip about nonsense. The Shen family’s current situation is like oil being poured on a raging fire. The Emperor has no more titles to bestow on their family; the next step would be to make them princes. When the Shen family’s eldest son returns triumphantly in a while, their prominence will be even greater. How could the Shen family dare to marry a daughter from a great clan?” Chu De raised his chin towards the sky, implying that if that were to happen, Emperor Jianping might not be able to sleep at night.
Cui Yue fell silent. Then Chu De continued, “Since they can’t marry into great clans, isn’t it good to marry a wealthy bride? You’re a housewife too, you know how expensive daily necessities are.”
Cui Yue nodded, “It’s just a pity that Long’er has to be sisters-in-law with a merchant’s daughter.”
The family history of the Cui clan of Qinghe could be traced back several hundred years. Although they had fallen on hard times in between, the Cui family’s pride had never diminished. As noble ladies from such an ancient and prestigious family, it was natural for them to look down on Ji Cheng’s background. So it wasn’t surprising that Cui Yue could say such things.
Chu De was afraid that Cui Yue might offend Ji Cheng in the future with her words. Ji Cheng wasn’t one to be trifled with, and as a man, Chu De was well aware of the power of pillow talk. The couple lying in their warm quilt, whispering sweet nothings, and the next thing you know, Shen Che might come to deal with him. “What’s wrong with being a merchant’s daughter? Don’t they all have two eyes and a mouth? Would the Shen family’s great-grandmother approve of a daughter-in-law who was lacking? You should talk less nonsense. That Shen Che is most protective of his own.”
Cui Yue frowned and said, “I understand.” Whether she truly understood in her heart was another matter entirely.
Let’s leave this couple aside. In the Shen mansion, there was another couple currently arguing about Ji Cheng’s matter.
Shen Che, the groom, hadn’t gotten drunk despite people vying to pour him drinks. On the contrary, Shen Jing was completely intoxicated. Li Rui pinched her nose with a handkerchief as she helped Shen Jing take off his shoes and get into bed.
“If you can’t hold your liquor, you should drink less. Why did you accept every drink offered? It’s not even your wedding, why were you competing to drink?” Li Rui complained.
Shen Jing showed no reaction, just frowning, looking extremely uncomfortable.
“I’m talking to you. Drinking so much, who knows how many days it will take to recover? Mother asked me to supervise your studies, how am I supposed to do that now? It’s already May, and the exams are in August. How can you not be anxious at all? If you’re not taking this seriously, do you want to fail again?” Li Rui nagged.
It turned out that three years ago, although Shen Jing had participated in the autumn provincial examinations, he had failed to pass. Later, Ji Lan arranged for him to marry Li Rui, the daughter of the Loyal and Martial Marquis’s family.
Shen Jing was already feeling unwell from the alcohol, and watching the person he had been pining for marry his brother made him feel even worse. In the past, he could tolerate Li Rui’s nagging, but at this moment, he just wanted some peace. Li Rui, however, was buzzing like a fly.
When she mentioned the autumn examinations, it touched on another of Shen Jing’s sore spots. Add to that Li Rui’s tactless mention of his failure, and Shen Jing’s anger flared. He suddenly sat up and roared, “Can’t you let me have some peace?”
Li Rui was so startled by Shen Jing’s outburst that she nearly fell backward off the bed. Li Rui was the granddaughter of Princess Zhenping. Although her appearance wasn’t as good as her cousin Li Hui’s, she had been pampered since childhood. After marrying Shen Jing, with her mother-in-law Ji Lan protecting her from above, and Shen Jing being good-natured, life had been very smooth. She might not have been imperious, but she had never suffered any grievances.
Now, suddenly being yelled at by Shen Jing, Li Rui immediately felt wrong. Pointing at Shen Jing’s nose, she said, “Fine! You drink a few cups of horse piss and come to take it out on me? What kind of man are you? I take care of you with good intentions, and you get all worked up? If you can’t stand the sight of me, have you taken a fancy to some maid? Tell me, come on, tell me!”
Women can be truly unreasonable when they want to be. Shen Jing immediately realized his foolishness. What was the point of arguing with Li Rui? It would only make things noisier. So he simply turned his back to her, lying on his side and burying his head in the crook of his arm, choosing to neither see nor hear.
Although Li Rui was full of anger, she knew it wasn’t the right time to make a scene. Today was a joyous occasion for the eldest branch of the family. If anything happened in their room, the Old Madam would surely be displeased, thinking that she was deliberately not giving face to Ji Cheng.
After nagging for a while and seeing no response from Shen Jing, Li Rui assumed he had given in. She stopped making a fuss, washed up, and lay down to sleep beside Shen Jing.
Little did she know that in the middle of the night, Shen Jing would go crazy, grabbing her hand so tightly it hurt. Li Rui woke up and was about to shake off Shen Jing’s hand when she heard him muttering, “Sister Cheng, Sister Cheng.”