Chapter 207: Chapter 193: Just Wait! I’ll Come to Marry You in a Grand Sedan Chair
After buying the groceries, Wen Wan, holding a basket, walked out of the market, planning to visit the fabric store for some cotton cloth to make winter clothes for her in-laws.
Just as she was about to enter the fabric store, she saw two people in front of her.
A man and a woman.
The man she knew; it was Hao Yun, whom she hadn’t seen since the last provincial exam.
As for the woman, she had a beautiful face, dressed like a wife, wearing a light purple jacket and skirt made of fine quality fabric.
Even if one wasn’t knowledgeable about jewelry and jade, Wen Wan could tell that the adornments on her head were quite valuable.
The woman didn’t recognize Wen Wan, and just glanced over her briefly before moving her gaze and walking straight ahead.
However, Hao Yun, upon seeing Wen Wan, had a somewhat awkward expression on his face.
But eventually, he came over and greeted Wen Wan, "Out to buy groceries, sister-in-law?"
Wen Wan assumed he would pretend not to know her, smiled, and nodded.
She didn’t plan to let Hao Yun know about her recovery.
Hao Yun originally wanted to ask about Song Wei. But considering Wen Wan was mute, asking her would not lead to any answers, so he dismissed the idea.
Su Yu, who had walked ahead, turned back when she saw Hao Yun talking to a strange woman, looked at him expressionlessly, and asked, "What are you talking about?"
Wen Wan looked at the woman in confusion.
Hao Yun introduced, "This is my wife, from the Su Family."
Upon hearing this, Su Yu let out a cold laugh, "Why didn’t you introduce yourself as the son-in-law who married into the Su Family?"
Hao Yun’s expression stiffened for a moment, but he managed well, quickly regaining his previous smile, and introduced to Su Yu, "This is the wife of the third-place scholar in this year’s exam; we knew each other back in Ningzhou and just happened to bump into each other today for a quick greeting. — Oh, by the way, Miss Song cannot speak; just greet her casually."
Su Yu, who had been looking at Hao Yun with mockery, turned sullen upon hearing Wen Wan’s identity.
Wen Wan somewhat sensed that as soon as Hao Yun introduced her identity, his wife’s gaze at her carried hostility.
Su Yu indeed held hostility toward Wen Wan, or rather, towards the wife of this year’s third-place scholar.
The reason—
Su Yu and her mother went to recognize relatives at the Prime Minister’s Mansion, and after much effort, the Prime Minister accepted them, only for her to turn from a proper girl without a father to an unwelcomed concubine daughter at the mansion.
To escape the fate of a concubine daughter, she racked her brains to climb up.
During the parade where the Three Top Scholars rode through the streets, she was one of the girls who threw the embroidered ball to the third-place scholar.
But no one expected that the third-place scholar, thinking of his wife who endured hardships with him, avoided all the embroidered balls.
Su Yu’s embroidered ball was even tampered with, yet it still failed to hit Song Wei.
Annoyed, she disregarded all the mansion’s rules and went straight to a small tavern where she wouldn’t be recognized, planning to drink away her frustration.
Who would have thought that after getting drunk and waking up, she’d find herself in bed with that bastard Hao Yun, naked, with the glaring red stain on the sheet blatantly revealing what had happened while she was in a stupor.
This incident couldn’t be hidden from the Su Family. After being discovered, Hao Yun didn’t deny responsibility and even volunteered to marry into the family to take responsibility.
Su Yu certainly was not willing, as she wanted to marry the third-place scholar, Song Wei, but her so-called biological father, Prime Minister Su, insisted on having Hao Yun as the live-in son-in-law.
The reason was simple: Hao Yun was a candidate in this year’s imperial exam and although he only got in the top three, having a Prime Minister as a father-in-law would make staying in the capital and seeking a position feasible.
The Su Family spared no effort in cultivating ties with influential families, treating all the daughters as pawns.
And as a disregarded concubine daughter, she was the first pawn, providing the Prime Minister and the Empress with a son-in-law who would remain wholeheartedly loyal to the Su Family.
The incident left an indelible mark of resentment in Su Yu’s heart.
There is an old saying: Birds of a feather flock together.
Another old saying goes: Families are bound by ties of blood.
Su Yu, like Hao Yun, was a twisted individual driven by deep-seated insecurity.
She was even more so than Hao Yun, blaming Song Wei for all her misfortunes; after all, if Song Wei had not dodged the embroidered ball and married her, she would not have ended up with a scoundrel.
Furthermore, she believed Song Wei didn’t marry her all because of the woman in front of her, who seemed to possess nothing but a face.
More importantly, the other woman turned out to be mute!
No matter how lacking she was, she was still a young lady from the Prime Minister’s Mansion.
Song Wei actually preferred not to marry her over a mute woman?
The thought was a severe blow to her self-esteem!
In just a few moments, Su Yu’s attitude towards Wen Wan escalated from hostility to hatred.
Hao Yun secretly glanced at Su Yu and noticed a fierce glow in her eyes, a sign that satisfied him, curling the corners of his lips.
Originally, he intended to set up a trap for leveraging his way into the Su Family through this woman.
Upon joining, he found Su Yu incredibly intriguing, as she seemed to harbor a deep-seated hatred for Song Wei.
Hao Yun suddenly thought being married to someone like her might actually be beneficial.
At least, they shared a common enemy, allowing them to stand united against Song Wei in the future.
...
Wen Wan was unaware of the hidden story between Hao Yun and Su Yu, so she couldn’t foresee the entire plot and was oblivious to the fact that Hao Yun had instigated the person setting off the firecrackers.
Hao Yun had three reasons for opposing Song Wei.
First: He wanted to avenge the failure at the exam.
The second reason: it was the Prime Minister’s intention.
Prime Minister Su heard that Hao Yun and Song Wei were from the same hometown and acquaintances, so he assigned a task to Hao Yun to win over Song Wei and pull him into the Su Family’s camp.
Hao Yun did nothing and told his father-in-law the next day that Song Wei was stubborn and would rather die than submit.
Prime Minister Su waved his hand grandly: Then let him die!
The third reason: Song Wei knew too much of his "dark history," especially knowing he was previously married, so he had to find a way to silence him.
Therefore, today’s plan to have someone prepare firecrackers to startle the horse along the way was hatched.
He just never expected that Song Wei’s carriage would be delayed, and he didn’t even see a shadow of him.
...
After Hao Yun and his wife left, Wen Wan did not linger at the marketplace and quickly returned to the small courtyard in the alley.
That evening, when Song Wei returned from the Lower Court, she told him she ran into Hao Yun on the street and also informed Song Wei that Hao Yun had become the Su Family’s live-in son-in-law.
After hearing this, Song Wei frowned imperceptibly.
Wen Wan looked at him, "What’s wrong?"
Song Wei remembered Xu Shu’s gossip from before, "A few months ago, Xu Shu told me that a girl from the Su Family was sullied by a fellow candidate from our session after he got drunk. To redeem himself, that candidate willingly became a live-in son-in-law at the Su Family. I never wanted to stir up trouble, so I never inquired who the Su Family’s son-in-law was. Now knowing it’s him, it’s both unexpected and reasonable."
Just based on Hao Yun’s ruthless mind to incite his Ningzhou classmates to burn down the inn to deal with him, it’s conceivable that he would try anything to stay in the Capital, even to sully a Su Family girl and climb up the Su Family’s tree.
In fact, Song Wei should have thought of it earlier, but he didn’t want to think of people as too sordid without seeing it himself.
Wen Wan analyzed, "From what it sounds like, it’s likely that he was the one who prepared firecrackers to startle the horse and harm you."
Song Wei neither confirmed nor denied, then looked at Wen Wan, "Thanks to Wanwan, otherwise this calamity today might have been unavoidable."
Once a horse is spooked into a frenzy, the chances of the person in the carriage getting hurt are high, and in severe cases, it could lead to death or serious injury.
Song Wei was grateful that his young wife happened to arrive in the Capital yesterday; otherwise, if she were a day later, he might never have seen her again.
——
Song Fang left Hongwen Academy after school, unsurprised to see Xu Shu waiting outside.
As soon as he saw her, Xu Shu rushed up, grinning from ear to ear, "Wife."
Song Fang glared at him, "We’re outside, what nonsense are you shouting?"
Xu Shu said, "My mouth is on my body, I’ll shout when I’m happy!"
Song Fang was too lazy to argue with him, "Waiting for me is useless, I still have to go back to my third brother’s house."
"Can you not go home today?" Xu Shu followed after her.
"Why?" Song Fang turned her head to look at him.
"I... I’m not feeling well today. In this situation, you can’t just leave your husband aside, can you? What would the old lady think if she found out?"
Song Fang saw through his act at a glance but didn’t rush to expose him, "Where are you uncomfortable?"
"Everywhere is uncomfortable."
Song Fang sneered lightly, "Cooperating with you for a moment, did you really get into it?"
"Hey, can’t you see that I’m genuinely in a bad mood today?"
Song Fang scrutinized him carefully, "No, I can’t see it."
After speaking, she turned on her heel to leave.
"Song," Xu Shu gritted his teeth, staring at her back, "Is the General Mansion really so bad, am I really so unwelcomed by you?"
Song Fang was a bit bewildered, did this guy take the wrong medicine today?
Seeing her about to leave, Xu Shu could no longer hold back, swiftly stepping forward to block her, "Give me a straight answer, will you marry me?"
Song Fang raised her eyes to look at him, "Marry whom?"
"Who do you think?"
"I don’t know."
"..."
"If there’s nothing else, I have to go, I’m in a rush!" Song Fang gently pushed him aside.
Xu Shu grabbed her wrist, signs of anger overly evident, "After two years of picking you up and dropping you off at school, even a stone should have warmed up by now, right?"
"So?" Song Fang blinked.
"So I forbid you from marrying anyone else!"
"Reason?"
"No reason. Two years ago, you were already the daughter-in-law of the General Mansion; if you dare to turn around and marry someone else now, it would be unchaste." Xu Shu was firm in his stance with a strong tone.
"Ridiculous, your family hasn’t even gone through the proper matchmaking and bridal customs, why shouldn’t I be able to marry someone else?"
"Testing me, huh?" Xu Shu gritted his teeth.
"Yes, and what about it?"
"Fine, I’ll rise to the challenge today, you just wait at home; it won’t be long before I come to marry you with a grand procession, and if I don’t, I’ll be a grandson!"
"Fine, if you dare not marry me, then you’re my grandson, and when we meet later, remember to call me ’Grandaunt’."