Extra chapter (1/1) from us, AerialRain! Buy us a koffee on ko-fi for more chapters. Thank you for your support!
It goes without saying that no one was happier than Shen-shi and Mu Rou to see the engagement finally called off. However, in the effort to ‘clear’ Mu Wan’s name, they had made a fool of themselves and even gained notoriety as a wicked stepmother and a vixen who seduced her own sister’s fiance. To salvage their image, they had to pretend to be wronged victims, which meant they couldn’t celebrate and even had to feign sorrow over the dissolution of Mu Wan’s engagement.
Mu Rou even declined an invitation from Li Yichen.
Probably feeling too constrained and seeking to reclaim some dignity, the mother and daughter suddenly came to Mu Wan, eager to flaunt their ‘victory.’
When they arrived, Mu Wan was in her courtyard, reviewing information sent by the manager of Qingfeng Pavilion. Her dangerous encounter with Xie Heng made her realize that the capital might not be as peaceful as it seemed, and trouble was sure to be brewing in the coming years.
Normally, court struggles didn’t affect commoners, but merchants were an exception, especially wealthy ones. All machinations required money, and throughout history, merchants had always been tapped as financial resources for those in power. Mu Wan didn’t want to get involved in their power struggles, so she changed her marriage prospects from capital officials to provincial—not only to avoid Xie Heng, this lunatic man, but also to distance herself from the upcoming political turmoil.
‘With enough money in hand, being a local bigwig is also a good choice.’ Mu Wan thought silently.
And so, it was when she was busy evaluating these ‘job prospects’ that Shen-shi and Mu Rou entered the Wutong Courtyard. Maintaining a facade of gentle and kind stepmother, Shen-shi handed Mu Wan a stack of papers with a polite smile, “These are some eligible bachelors I’ve recently selected. Please take a look.”
Mu Wan glanced over the content, which was similar to what she held, except it lacked critical information such as age, family background, and more. At first glance, the choices weren’t bad—there were wealthy merchants of equal standing to the Mu family, promising scholars who had passed the imperial examination, and even a fifth-rank official.
Shen-shi explained with a beaming smile, “I know it’s somewhat a step down from the Li family, but the annulment has had a huge impact. Although it was the Li family’s fault, your handling this engagement affair personally is indeed seen as inappropriate in high society. You don’t know, a proper boudoir lady should never…”
“Have you shown these to father?” Mu Wan interrupted Shen-shi’s so-called superiority of the high society, “Did father ask you to arrange this?”
Shen-shi immediately shut up. Ever since Li Yichen came to break off the engagement with Mu Wan, Mu Xingde had never visited her courtyard. Besides instructing her to give Mu Wan an extra three thousand taels for monthly expenses, he hadn’t said another word to her.
Following behind Shen-shi, Mu Rou suddenly said, “Eldest Sister, perhaps you should just enter the palace?”
Mu Wan raised an eyebrow.
While Mu Rou maintained the facade of elegant calmness, she failed to hide the scorn in her voice, “Given the current situation, it seems impossible for Eldest Sister to find a family more prestigious than the Count of Zhongyong’s. If you feel unwilling, why not enter the palace? With your abilities, you would certainly have a promising future.”
Provocation was clearly at play here—for a split second, Mu Wan wondered what she had done in the previous to make Mu Rou so determined to push her into the palace.
Too bad she had failed with Lord Wu! Now, with the Mu family being under the limelight along with the fact that Mu Xingde, the head of the family, firmly disagreed, it was impossible for Mu Rou to force Mu Wan into the palace.
Still, just in case, Mu Wan decided to keep Mu Rou busy with something else.
“Why am I unwilling? An unequal match is not what I seek. Moreover, what I pursue is not power,” Mu Wan smiled at Mu Rou, “As long as I have more than you, that would be enough.”
Shen-shi’s face changed, and then she looked disdainful, “Eldest girl, do you really think you can find a family higher than the Count of Zhongyong’s?”
Mu Rou was able to keep her composure, probably because she felt she had already won and didn’t need to argue with a sore loser. “Then I wish Eldest Sister achieves what you desire,” she smiled magnanimously.
Mu Wan returned the smile, “I don’t see it as particularly challenging. After all, Second Sister, your reputation is even worse than mine. My marriage was delayed through no fault of my own after my engagement was broken, while you are already notorious for coveting your sister’s fiancé. As for the Li family…” She glanced meaningfully at the mother and daughter; her smile twisting into a sly smirk, “What makes you think the Li family’s engagement will fall to you once I call it off?”
Seeing Mu Rou momentarily stunned, Mu Wan kindly reminded her, “You probably forgot, initially the Li family didn’t want to cancel the engagement with the Mu family because they didn’t want to appear snobbish after achieving success. So, among the only two daughters of the Mu family, they thought you were the more suitable match for him.”
“But now that he has broken off the engagement with the Mu family, the scope of potential marriages includes the entire capital. Not to mention that an imperial Junzhu1 is eyeing him, can Second Sister even compete with the daughter of Minister Sun?”
Mu Wan pointed to the papers in Shen-shi’s hand, “The marriage matches you’ve selected with such effort must be excellent, Madam, but you perhaps should save them for my younger sister…”
“No, wait, if Li Yichen’s marriage doesn’t happen and my sister carries a reputation for being a vixen, perhaps these families might scorn her. I know you’re concerned about me, Madam, but perhaps you should focus on your daughter.”
“You!” Shen-shi was so angry her face turned green, yet Mu Wan’s words had clearly shaken her. Indeed, now that the Li family had lost face, they certainly would wish to regain their footing, and compared to the daughters of aristocrat or official families, Mu Rou’s family background was starkly inferior…
Mu Rou suddenly spoke up, “Eldest sister, have you never been in love? Or been loved by someone?” She said with a pitying look, “To think that marriage should be bound by interests.”
This time, it was Mu Wan’s turn to be startled; someone who had lived a second life actually believed that marriage could be sustained by love alone?
“What should it rely on if not interests? When father was with my mother, they were in love. But in the end, didn’t he still bring Madam home? He would rather divorce than separate with you—that should be true love, isn’t it? Yet he brought concubines one after another.” Mu Wan asked Shen-shi, “What do those concubines mean? Proof of my father’s love for you?”
Shen-shi: “…”
The mother and daughter, who had come with great fanfare, now clearly had lost their initial spirit and hurriedly left in a huff.
Shortly after, hearing that Mu Rou had started to make some moves secretly, Mu Wan couldn’t help but laugh. “It seems she isn’t so confident in her so-called true love, after all.”
Yunling scoffed, “If she doesn’t look for interest, then why did she specifically set her sights on Fool Li? Isn’t it because he’s the highest-ranking bachelor within her reach?” She huffed, “Why is she so impatient? Our Miss has very kindly given her a good suggestion, but she can’t even keep her cool. Even if she does get engaged, she’ll still be looked down upon.”
Although the suggestion to have Mu Rou refuse Li Yichen was prepared for Mu Xingde, it was also Mu Wan’s way of testing how Mu Rou, having lived a second life, would handle things.
Now, it seemed that apart from becoming more ruthless, this younger sister of hers hadn’t grown much in temperament.
But regardless, with something to keep them busy, the mother and daughter were too occupied to bother her, and Mu Wan welcomed the peace.
“Miss, what method do you think the Second Miss will use this time?” Yunling pondered, curious.
In fact, Mu was also a bit intrigued—how would Mu Rou plan to quickly secure Li Yichen?
< Previous | TOC | Advanced TOC | Next >
Wants more chapters?
Click this page for the status of sponsored chapters.
Click this page for advanced chapters TOC.
My guess, Mu Rou will go with drugging the Li guy and being caught in bed together. Mu Rou seems like that type of people.
Drugging is so cliche, but I guess it’s always like that in Cnovels or Cdramas. Anyways, I’m glad I found this novel again. I totally forgot about it and I’m glad to read the updates.Thank you for translating!