Chapter Thirty-Five: The Wedding

  Because of the loss of title, Zining was depressed and gloomy at home. Chen Jiu, who usually liked to go out, was now sulking at home, feeling down and frustrated for several days, drowning his sorrows in wine, and ended up getting drunk and making a fool of himself in front of two maidservants. Madame Ma was both angry and resentful, and with her period coming, she lay in bed unable to move, except for scolding the maidservants or calling Chen Jiu over to vent her frustrations on him. At this moment, lying there letting Chen Jiu massage her legs, she saw Chen Bing standing by the window staring blankly, and suddenly shifted her anger onto Chen Jiu's head again.

  "Have you finished making all the shoes, socks and clothes for me?"

  Chen Huan was taken aback at first, then realized that the words were directed at him. He hastily shook his head and said: "These past few days have been too busy, it's not bright yet and I still need to go to Shuijing Hall, my daughter can't stay up late, really can't make it..."

  "What's the hurry, I think you just want to show off?" Chen Bing cut her off impatiently and sat down next to her mother, still sulking. "Mother, it's all because of this lazy girl who doesn't do her needlework, which is why I couldn't even leave the gate of our residence! Otherwise, I would have been able to go to the East Changhou Mansion to gather some information..."

  "Don't mention the East Changhou Mansion!" Madam Ma was so angry that she couldn't help but slap the bedboard, "Blessed Mother went there twice, but not even the master of the house could be seen. And yet they don't think about how our family helped them get their title in the first place! Seeing your father lose his title and hiding behind is simply outrageous!"

  As Chen Yu heard the conversation between the mother and daughter, he had already hung his head in silence. At this moment, a maid rushed in, curtsied and said: "Madam, Green Orchid sister from Old Madam's place has arrived, saying that she is passing on Old Madam's message, there are guests at home, asking Second Miss and Fourth Miss to go out together to meet them."

  "Guest?"

  The Second Mistress lost her title, so Zhu ordered Chen Jiu to reflect on his mistakes and shut himself in. The others in the Purple Tranquility Residence naturally didn't dare to go out either. As for the remaining servants in the Marquis's household... it's human nature to curry favor with those in power, now that the Second Mistress has fallen, no one dares to come here anymore. Consequently, the people inside the house, including Madam Ma and the Chen sisters, are completely unaware of the guest who has arrived. After exchanging awkward glances for a while, Madam Ma's expression changed, and she ordered the maid to inform Green Orchid to come over soon. Then, she stared at the two sisters.

  "Hurry back to your room and dress up properly, change into some nice clothes, pick out some exquisite hair accessories, and choose two reliable maids to follow you. It's not often that the old lady allows you to meet guests, so don't lose face! Remember, let people see that our second house hasn't lost its dignity just because we've lost our title. If you're going to be a noblewoman, give people a good impression - after all, your marriage prospects depend on it!"

  The two sisters naturally shouldn't be slow to react, so after Chen Huai bowed and left the house, Chen Bing was about to follow when Madam Ma stopped her. She ordered another trusted maid in the room to go watch the door, then called someone over to sit on the edge of the bed before speaking in a low voice: "What I just said was only for Si Yatou's benefit, so let her take credit if she wants. Now that Old Lady is clearly being cruel to your father, what good things would she think of for you two? Today's events are clear to me... I don't know about the others, but a few days ago Old Lady had Zheng Mama send a box of hairpins to San Yatou and Wu Yatou, yet somehow forgot about you!"

  "What!" Chen Bing's originally happy face instantly fell, and she immediately stood up, "One has no father or mother, one was raised by an aunt, why did they surpass me?"

  "Alright, stop shouting, what else can you do besides shouting? If it weren't for your previous two outbursts, people wouldn't have something to hold against you!" Mrs. Ma pulled her daughter down to sit beside her and pointed to a three-layered lacquered sandalwood box on the bed, then said in a low voice, "The Lantern Festival is just two days from now, no matter what, you must go to the Wang estate. Mother has managed to find out that the Princess of Jin cannot bear sons, and the Imperial Concubine Shu has some complaints, already planning to select a secondary consort from among the virtuous ladies of good families. It's said that on Lantern Festival day, they will send an official lady to inspect you. You must be careful that day, as long as you succeed..."

  "Next empress? You must be crazy, if I really get chosen, it would mean being inferior to others for the rest of my life!"

  Seeing Chen Bing getting angry and anxious, Madam Ma suddenly frowned and scolded: "What a dwarf you are! You don't understand anything! The king establishes the queen, takes concubines, this is the usual system. This time the queen is not ordinary, only when the queen has no children or to grant favors to meritorious nobles will they establish a secondary wife. Where is it comparable to an ordinary concubine? When you see the queen, you just need to kneel and pay respects, as for other madams and concubines, when they see you, they all need to kowtow. If tomorrow you have a son and the king ascends to the throne, who knows what will happen to the status of the children? Besides, do you think the old lady is being kind to San Yingtou for nothing? Isn't it just to send her into the Jinwang Fu?"

  Chen Bing was somewhat moved, but when Madam Ma mentioned Chen Lan, she suddenly sneered: "Her? She's a few months younger than me, although her face is okay, but she's an orphan, and her figure hasn't developed yet. Just looking at her doesn't seem like someone who can give birth to children. Old Lady Ma really has poor eyesight, how could she choose her?"

  The words were not finished, and Mrs. Ma heavily pounded the bed board: "What nonsense are you talking about? You're a young lady from a good family, how can you say such things? However, it's not like the old lady wants her to give birth! As long as someone occupies the position of secondary wife, even if it's just temporary for one or two years, that buffer period is enough for Princess Jin to turn around. Ice, you're different, your father's current state of being disheartened you've seen, and I don't have a son, if you can't be more promising, our future days will be even more miserable than the eldest house in the past! The eldest house at least has a young fourth! As for the third house, with Duke Wei there, who knows when he'll make his move."

  After a lesson from Mrs. Jing, Chen Bing and Chen Huan sisters appeared in front of the Lianxiang Institute's main hall, which surprised the maids. In the past, Chen Bing was always dressed up in a gorgeous manner, while Chen Huan was like a green leaf accompanying her. But today, the situation was reversed. Chen Bing wore a plain lotus-colored silk shirt and willow-patterned skirt, looking pale and simple, with her face lightly made-up, revealing an unusual neatness; Chen Huan, on the other hand, wore an embroidered silk undershirt with a large red satin jacket with golden threads, over a long skirt with intricate patterns, and a pair of exquisite phoenix-shaped hairpins on her head, all carefully selected to showcase her elegance and beauty.

  The two sisters followed Yatou to the main house, Chen Hu looked at Chen Bing's simple dress and felt a bit uneasy in her heart. Unexpectedly, Chen Bing seemed not to have noticed her transgression and didn't say a word of sarcasm.

  Until they entered the main hall and turned over the screen, they saw that Chen Lan was already sitting next to Zhu Shi. On one side, Chen Tai was sitting on the third chair in the west, wearing a dark green jacket, light blue dress with embroidery, plus jade hairpin and jade bracelet, looking refreshing. When Chen Bing saw Chen Tai's appearance, she felt that her mother's guess should be correct, and then went forward to pay respects.

  Zhu said to them, pointing to Chen sitting at the eastern end of the chair: "Go and see your aunt and cousin."

  Chen Bing and Chen Hu immediately turned their heads to look over, seeing that although Chen Shi and Su Wanyu were still dressed in luxurious clothes, they didn't seem like any wealthy relatives. They hesitated for a moment before approaching them. After exchanging greetings, they discovered that Chen Shi hadn't even prepared a gift for the meeting, which made the two sisters suspicious. But that wasn't all - as soon as they sat down, Chen Shi chatted about some trivial matters and then suddenly threw out a remark that almost made them jump up.

  "Sister-in-law is really blessed, with so many grandchildren under her knees, unlike me who only has these two. These four granddaughters are all as precious as gold and jade, I don't know if anyone else can get one besides our family."

  The Zhu family had just been chatting with the Chen family, and they had already noticed that this elderly woman, who was older than themselves, was extremely sharp-tongued and clever, not at all like a seventy-year-old. She was so shrewd that it was unbearable. If there was anything lacking, it was that she seemed to have a petty air about her, as if she was afraid of being taken advantage of. However, even with these traits, they could still tolerate her, but when she said something like this, even if she had the best temper, her face would not be able to hold up, let alone the fact that she was originally not a kind person. Therefore, she took a deep breath and smiled at Chen Lan.

  "Your sister-in-law is visiting our house for the first time, you and your sisters should take her around to have a look, it's not in vain that she came out on such a cold day."

  As soon as Chen Huai entered the door, Chen Lan noticed that Chen Shi's gaze fell on her magnificent attire, almost without noticing anyone else. So, at this moment, Chen Shi made a surprising remark, and she didn't feel surprised at all, following Zhu Shi's words to stand up, and smiled to greet Su Wan'er and others. Chen Bing, Chen Huai, and Chen Quan had different tastes in their hearts after hearing Chen Shi's words, and they quickly covered it up, and the crowd laughed and walked out from behind the screen.

  As soon as they left, Zhu's smile on her face disappeared, and she asked faintly: "Sister, is that why you came here today?"

  "Ah, sister-in-law, this was decided by my elder brother many years ago. Now that our Yiru is growing up, it's only natural to settle this matter early on. I suppose the Hou family, being so large and prosperous, wouldn't go back on their word? The eldest daughter of the Hou family should be given to us."

  PS: Tomorrow is New Year's Day, today is the last day of 2010, wish you all a happy new year, think what to get what, wow, and also ask for various new year's person value clicks collection recommendations rewards etc...

  Here is the translation:

  The following is a book I've been reading all along, and it's full of surprises.