Of course, Ji Lan harbored hatred for the Wang family in her heart. Taking a daughter-in-law was different from marrying off a daughter. Once Chen Qian entered their household, wouldn’t she have to obey Ji Lan? If something were to happen to the Wang family in the future, wouldn’t it be easy to dispose of a daughter-in-law?
Ji Lan’s calculations were precise, under the noble guise of: “Endure present hardships to avenge oneself later. A gentleman’s revenge can wait ten years.”
But Shen Cui couldn’t understand her mother’s thinking. Although she wasn’t sure if her kidnapping was Wang Yue Niang’s doing, she simply didn’t want Chen Qian to become her sister-in-law.
Ji Cheng, after her initial surprise, immediately guessed Ji Lan’s intentions. She inwardly sneered, thinking her aunt could swallow any bitter pill.
“What’s wrong with Chen Qian? Not only is she outstanding in character and appearance, but her family background is also first-rate. When your brother takes office in the future, he’ll have in-laws who can support him,” Ji Lan said to Shen Cui. These words were also meant to warn Ji Cheng not to have any inappropriate thoughts.
“But Mother, I feel that this incident involving me and Sister Cheng was Wang Yue Niang’s doing. How can you let Brother marry Chen Qian?” Shen Cui still protested.
Ji Lan immediately put on a pained expression and said, “Cui’er, Mother has no choice. Consort Wang Shu gets whatever she wants in the palace. Even if we know it was Wang Yue Niang’s doing, what can we do? Can we do anything for her? Do you think your First Uncle and Second Uncle would offend the Wang family just for your sake?”
“I don’t believe it!” Unable to accept Ji Lan’s words, Shen Cui turned and ran out. Ji Cheng hurriedly followed, saying, “Aunt, I’ll go check on her.”
In truth, the turmoil in Ji Cheng’s heart was no less than Shen Cui’s. She had originally thought the Shen family was unwilling to stand up for Shen Cui and herself, after all, Shen Cui was Ji Lan’s daughter. But after hearing Ji Lan’s words today, Ji Cheng suddenly realized that the one most unwilling to offend the Wang family was likely Ji Lan herself.
Otherwise, why would Ji Lan suddenly think of taking Chen Qian as a daughter-in-law? If her hatred was truly urgent, she wouldn’t be able to remain as calm as she was.
Sometimes Ji Cheng really couldn’t understand Ji Lan’s actions. Her later statement about the first and second branches being unwilling to help – was she trying to sow discord between Shen Cui and her uncles? How could this benefit Shen Cui?
In reality, it was all due to Ji Lan’s selfish heart. She always felt that the third branch couldn’t compare to the other two, constantly suspecting that her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law were marginalizing her. This resentment buried in her heart wasn’t enough; she had to make Shen Cui share in her grievances.
Ji Cheng sighed inwardly. What could be said about her aunt? Yet she still had to rely on Ji Lan. After all, Ji Cheng was merely a guest in the capital, with Ji Lan being her only true elder relative. If anyone wanted to arrange a marriage for her, they would have to speak with Ji Lan first, so Ji Cheng’s marriage prospects were essentially in Ji Lan’s hands.
But now Ji Cheng felt that others, seeing she had such an aunt as Ji Lan, might be unwilling to take her as a daughter-in-law.
When Ji Cheng found Shen Cui in the garden, she was crying. Ji Cheng walked over without saying a word. Having gone through hardships together, their relationship was somewhat better than before, and Shen Cui’s words were no longer as hurtful as they used to be. Seeing Ji Cheng approach, Shen Cui stopped crying and said, “Sister Cheng, if First Uncle and the others really won’t stand up for us, what can we do? Are we just supposed to endure this? Wang Yue Niang is truly despicable. If you hadn’t helped me escape that day, we would both have been ruined.”
Looking at Shen Cui’s state, Ji Cheng felt sorry for her. “The Old Madam loves us, she won’t ignore this. I think the Duke and the Lords aren’t the type to neglect the younger generation. Don’t resent them. The inner workings of this matter are too complex; they might be discussing other solutions as we speak.”
“Really?” Shen Cui looked up at Ji Cheng.
Ji Cheng nodded, “A gentleman’s revenge can wait ten years. Just be patient.”
Shen Cui finally nodded, forcing a smile, “Actually, even without you saying it, I understand the difficulties the adults face. It’s just that I still feel upset. But I’ve decided, isn’t Wang Yue Niang just jealous that I won the Central Altar selection? Even though she used underhanded methods, I’m still fine, aren’t I? I’ll give her a good slap in the face on the day of the Central Altar performance. Otherwise, she’ll keep thinking she’s the only young lady in the world.”
“Mm,” Ji Cheng gently patted Shen Cui’s hand.
“Sister Cheng, can you help me?” Shen Cui asked. After the events of the previous night, Shen Cui seemed to have matured overnight, no longer as affected.
How could Ji Cheng refuse Shen Cui? She naturally agreed.
However, old habits die hard. Ji Cheng would rack her brains to give Shen Cui advice, only for her to complain that this wasn’t good or that was too troublesome, being picky about everything. Even Ji Cheng, with her good temper, sometimes frowned in frustration at Shen Cui’s behavior.
As the saying goes, “Like mother, like daughter.” While Shen Cui was causing trouble for Ji Cheng, her mother wasn’t idle either.
The news that Hao Ren wanted to see Ji Cheng was relayed by Willow. Ji Cheng wondered if it was about the matter she had entrusted to him earlier.
Sure enough, as soon as Hao Ren saw Ji Cheng, he said, “Third Miss, I’ve fulfilled your request. The matter you mentioned last time finally has some leads.”
Seeing Hao Ren’s excited expression, rubbing his hands together, Ji Cheng knew it was more than just a lead.
Hao Ren didn’t keep her in suspense and told Ji Cheng all the details of the matter.
“To be honest, Third Miss, even if you hadn’t asked for my help, I would have helped you get revenge. Your aunt is truly despicable, wanting to send you to that old emperor’s bed. It’s like a pear blossom crushing the sea – a waste of beauty,” Hao Ren said, looking as if he was indignant on Ji Cheng’s behalf.
Ji Cheng almost choked on her tea at Hao Ren’s “pear blossom” comment. Indeed, you can’t expect pearls from a dog’s mouth – how vulgar. But Ji Cheng had no way to deal with Hao Ren.
“This plan won’t work. Any sensible person would know it’s impossible. How could the old emperor secretly leave the palace? How could my aunt believe it?” Ji Cheng said.
“Third Miss, you don’t understand. Your aunt didn’t just come up with this plan today. She’s been trying to find connections in the palace for a while now, wanting to make you a consort. I’ve been keeping this from you. At the time, I thought it might work, but you’re right, this whole thing is absurd. How could anyone believe it? So I just took the attitude of ‘the willing angler gets the fish,’ letting her believe what she wanted without pushing. Your aunt didn’t make any moves for over a month, so I thought it wasn’t going to happen and was about to think of other ways. But then she suddenly came to me, looking very anxious, as if she had no other options,” Hao Ren explained.
“When did she come to you?” Ji Cheng asked.
“The eighth day of the seventh month. I remember it clearly.” The seventh day of the seventh month was the Qixi Festival, and Hao Ren had spent a memorable night with his favorite concubines, so the impression was particularly strong.
Ji Cheng let out a cold laugh. Her aunt was unwilling to openly confront the Wang family to avenge Shen Cui, but she turned around and wanted to quickly send Ji Cheng to the old emperor’s side to get revenge for both of them?
No wonder Ji Lan had been talking about the Wang sisters in front of her these past few days. Was she trying to provoke Ji Cheng into jumping into the old emperor’s bed? Her calculations were truly meticulous.
“Is the person who contacted her Li Degao’s adopted son? This kind of thing can be easily verified,” Ji Cheng said.
Li Degao was currently the head eunuch by Emperor Jianping’s side, most trusted by the emperor. Ordinary people couldn’t even dream of approaching him, let alone finding a way to use his connections.
Hao Ren chuckled, “How could we fake this? Your aunt is the Third Madam of the Shen family. He Changsheng is indeed Master Li’s adopted son, but Master Li has several such adopted sons, so he can’t take care of them all thoroughly. This He Changsheng, though he’s lost his manhood, still yearns for feminine companionship. He’s taken up with a palace maid, not only buying her ornaments but also supporting her old father and younger brother. So he’s always short on money. This situation suits us perfectly.”
“Is there anything I need to do?” Ji Cheng asked.
Hao Ren quickly replied, “Third Miss is clever and knows the old emperor values his life too much to secretly leave the palace in search of pleasure. So we have to find someone to impersonate him. But we haven’t seen the old emperor’s appearance, and although He Changsheng has seen him, he can’t draw a likeness. I wanted to ask if Third Miss has any ideas.”
Ji Cheng could certainly draw Emperor Jianping’s appearance.
“Where will you find someone who looks like the old emperor in such a short time?” Ji Cheng asked.
“Third Miss need not worry about that. This world is full of talented individuals. While we can’t achieve a perfect likeness, seven or eight parts of similarity shouldn’t be a problem,” Hao Ren seemed very confident.
Ji Cheng nodded.
“There’s one more thing I need to ask of Third Miss. When your aunt tries to lure you out, you need to cooperate a bit. We agreed that the money would only be given after seeing the Third Miss enter the room,” Hao Ren said.
“I understand,” Ji Cheng said calmly. “How much silver did she promise?”
Hao Ren showed Ji Cheng five fingers.
“Fifty thousand taels?” Ji Cheng sneered, “What a generous sum.” Even wealthy families only gave ten thousand taels when marrying off a daughter. Ji Lan was willing to spend a fortune for her sake.
Ji Cheng did some calculations. Although the Ji family had given Ji Lan half of their assets at the time, Ji Lan had been spending lavishly these past few years. The last time with the Seven Treasures Alliance, she had spent five or six thousand taels of silver. Even a mountain of gold and silver couldn’t withstand such spending.
To withdraw fifty thousand taels in such a short time, Ji Lan must have gathered all the available silver from her shops. If not now, when would be a better time to empty the coffers?
When Ji Cheng returned to the Shen mansion and saw Ji Lan, her expression remained unchanged, showing the same respect as usual towards Ji Lan. Perhaps because she had no expectations, there was little disappointment. Ji Lan was scheming against her for the sake of her husband and children, while Ji Cheng was scheming against Ji Lan for her future. There was no distinction between right and wrong; it was just each person acting in their interests.
Ji Lan seemed truly anxious. Just a few days after Hao Ren had informed Ji Cheng, she heard Ji Lan say to her, “These past few days have felt unlucky. Cheng’er, come with me to the temple tomorrow to burn some incense.”