Translated by: Jellylynn

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Edited by: Lynn

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Names mentioned in this chapter (which can also be found in the glossary):

-虞襄(yú xiāng)- Yu Xiang, the female lead

-虞品言(yú pǐn yán)- Yu Pin Yan, the male lead

-虞思雨(yú sī yù)- Yu Si Yu, the female and male lead’s sister

-老太太(lǎotàitai)- Old Madam

-方志晨(fāng zhì chén)- Fang Zhi Chen, Pei Shi’s son

-裴氏(péi shì)- Pei Shi, the Old Madam’s good friends’ daughter in law/current guest in the Yu Manor.

-倩儿(qiàn ér)- Qian’er, Fang Zhi Chen’s maternal cousin/Pei Shi’s niece.

As soon as Fang Zhi Chen returned to the small courtyard that he resided in, he hurriedly asked someone to call Pei Shi. 

Pei Shi walked in with a dejected expression and said, “Son, I’m afraid your marriage with Eldest Young Miss Yu will not work out.” 

Fang Zhi Chen’s face, who was originally filled with anxiety, smiled when he heard this and he asked, “Did something happen?” 

“Both of your bazis are incompatible. If you still marry regardless of this, there will be continuous calamities or even worse, it will harm the offspring in the future. Therefore, the marriage is not possible, and the Yu family returned the Gengtie^[1].”

“Why don’t mother send your son’s Gengtie again to check if it’s compatible?” 

“What is there to check? The person who read both of your bazis is Baiyan temple’s master, known as the living immortal and his readings are accurate.” Pei Shi waved her hands repeatedly. 

“Son is asking you to take the Gengtie and check if it is compatible with the Yu family’s di Young Miss.” The tips of Fang Zhi Chen’s ears were flushed. He muttered, “Son just saw her once by the lake. I really like her a lot. Son begs mother to fulfill this son’s wish.” 

Pei Shi was happy at first and then hesitated, “Son, it’s good that you are willing to marry the di daughter, but she can’t walk. Who will take care of your inner affairs? Who will give birth and raise your children? Who will serve you? These are big problems. You can’t make a decision on impulse! No matter how good she looks, you can’t use it to live, right?” 

Fang Zhi Chen was troubled, but he couldn’t forget Yu Xiang’s beautiful and charming face. After deliberating for a long time, he said, “Mother, let’s take Cousin in first. Let her help take care of my inner affairs and bring up my children. Miss Yu will just need to be my di wife with a peace of mind.” 

If it wasn’t for the fact that the imperial court had made an investigation into the salt tax, Pei Shi would have ordered his son to marry her niece, and would not have attempted to use his marriage as a business transaction. When Pei Shi heard that, she was overjoyed and had even clapped her hands continuously and said, “Excellent, excellent. Let’s do that. I will write a letter to my elder sister and ask her to prepare it as soon as possible.” 

Pei Shi’s brother-in-law passed away early, leaving her elder sister and her di daughter to struggle to survive. Because Pei Shi and her elder sister’s relationship were very close, Pei Shi built a manor nearby to help and take care of her. Her niece was also brought up as if she was her own daughter. Even though the two sisters did not explicitly say so, they both had the intention of marriage. Although now she would be brought in as a concubine, Yu Xiang would merely be a decoration.  She had explained clearly to her elder sister so she would definitely agree. 

Fang Zhi Chen pondered for a moment, then hesitated and said, “Let’s not. It’s better to wait for Miss Yu to marry into the family before marrying younger cousin, so that the Yu family wouldn’t be dissatisfied.” 

Pei Shi wasn’t happy, and sneered, “For what reasons would the Yu family be dissatisfied? The fact that we are willing to take in that crippled is their family’s blessing for generations. You are the third place candidate appointed by the Emperor. You are not only talented and handsome but you also have a promising future ahead of you. Why can’t you marry the person you wish to marry? Instead, her family should be overjoyed that I’m willing to let my remarkable son marry their family cripple.” 

Pei Shi patted her son on the shoulder and continued, “Son, don’t look at how great their family is. With Yu Xiang’s condition, I’m afraid nobody would want her in this life. It’s only a stop-gap measure for us to marry her. In the future, when your father gets out of this predicament and you have achieved meteoric success in your career, this position as a Madam in the house should not be occupied by a disabled person. Since you are quite popular amongst ladies, mother can also send a letter to the clan elders to fight for the position as a pingqi^[2] for Qian’er. When she is in our hands, she would be at our mercy.” 

After listening, Fang Zhi Chen still didn’t feel confident. He waved his hand and said, “No, no.  If Marquis Yongle knew about this, wouldn’t he just pay a visit and cause a fuss instead?” 

“If he wants to ruin Yu Xiang’s reputation and have no one dare to marry her for the rest of her life, he can pay a visit and cause a fuss for all he wants. Why would we even be scared of him? Don’t worry, I have asked around. He spoils and protects Yu Xiang so much like she was the apple of his eye. When Yu Xiang is in our hands, that would be equivalent to us holding onto his weakness. Even if he wanted to exterminate the mouse, he had to worry about the jade vase, right? At that time, whether you want to be appointed to a post outside or inside the capital, or be promoted or transferred, you can go to him and negotiate with him. For Yu Xiang’s sake, there’s no reason why he would refuse.”

Pei Shi, who was counting her chickens before they hatched, started to snigger. 

Fang Zhi Chen thought about it and felt it was right. A daughter that has been married is like spilt water, something that was not retrievable^[3]. If they wanted their daughter to live well, wouldn’t they have to treat their son-in-law really well? Even though Yu Xiang’s family was prestigious and it would be easy for her to divorce, her situation was very different from others. She was a maimed person. If she really divorced the Fang family, her life would be over and she could end up being alone for the rest of her life. In any case, Yu Pin Yan pampered her immensely, he would also be reluctant to cause her to suffer.  

The more they thought about it, the more they felt it was feasible. They immediately wanted to exchange Gentie with the Old Madam, but they suddenly felt it wouldn’t be good if they appeared too anxious so they had to endure with it for a while. 

On the other side, Yu Si Yu found out that her exceptional predestined marriage had come to an end. She hated the Old Madam to the bones and hid in her room for a long time before she finally worked out a plan. 

　　—————————————————————

^[1] 庚帖(gēng tiě)- Gengtie. A card with the horoscope of a boy or a girl sent as a proposal for betrothal. 

^[2] 平妻 (píng qī)- It can be translated directly to equal wife. It has similar standing to the legitimate wife. However, by law, they are still concubines. However, the children that ping qi gives birth to are regarded as legitimate (di) and have inheritance rights. 

^[3] 嫁出去的女儿泼出去的水(jià chūqù de nǚ’ér pōchūqùdeshuǐ)- A daughter that has been married is like spilt water, something that was not retrievable. This phrase has been used in a classical novel in the 18th century named Dream of the Red chamber. It refers to once girls marry they would not show concern to their parents’ home. 

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