Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Jiang Chun heard Lady Zhang say she would apologize to her, but she didn’t feel truly happy about it.

How can the person who was beaten possibly apologize to the one who beat them?

If so, it indicates that the person who was beaten must have some significant ulterior motive.

More precisely, it suggests that the person behind the one who was beaten has significant ulterior motives.

Clearly, Lady Zhang was merely a pawn sent by the Cheng family to test her.

If she had followed Jiang He’s advice, like the original owner, and changed her formerly fierce and aggressive manner after entering the Imperial City, trying her best to avoid quarrels and endure as much as possible—

Seeing their failure to humiliate the original owner, the Cheng family would certainly devise other schemes.

Actually, on the way to the main courtyard, Jiang Chun had been pondering something.

Did the original owner really betray Song Shian just because her shop was next to Fan the Butcher’s and she developed feelings for him over time?

Could the Cheng family be involved in this?

After all, whether in a small town or the Imperial City, although butchers couldn’t become exceedingly rich, they lived a relatively comfortable life compared to common folk.

If Fan the Butcher wanted to marry any young woman, he could. Why would he involve himself with a married woman?

That is secondary.

The most important point is that the merchants in the West Market were all shrewd operators, and information circulated quickly among them. Fan the Butcher could not have been unaware that the original owner was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Song family and the sister-in-law of the Crown Prince.

Is he courting death? How dare he provoke such a major trouble?

But if he had something compromising or if someone from his family was in the Cheng family’s hands, his actions would make sense.

When Jiang Chun wrote this book, since the protagonist was Zhong Wenjin and the original owner rarely interacted with this sister-in-law, many details were hearsay for Zhong Wenjin, and the relevant plots were glossed over.

How the original owner became involved with Fan the Butcher, neither Zhong Wenjin nor Jiang Chun, the author herself, knew.

However, based on Jiang Chun’s two years of experience living in this world, many unmentioned details in the original story are automatically filled in by the laws of heaven and earth or the rules of the world, making everything reasonable and logical.

So, the original owner's affair was mostly likely a scheme orchestrated by the Cheng family.

The purpose was to oust the original owner, the Song family’s Eldest Madam, to clear the path for Cheng Wenyuan, the Eldest Miss of the Cheng family.

As for why the Cheng family didn’t try to persuade Song Shian?

That’s because Song Shian was impervious to their tactics, regardless of their approach, whether gentle or forceful. He paid them no heed.

Thus, the Cheng family turned their attention to Jiang Chun.

They underestimated Song Shian’s character and didn’t expect that even after successfully removing the original owner, Song Shian would still decline to marry Cheng Wenyuan.

He never remarried throughout his life.

It is unknown if the Cheng family ever regretted their despicable tactics, which caused Song Shian to lose faith in all women.

As for the reason for their apology visit today, Jiang Chun likely had an idea.

The Cheng family likely did not anticipate her acting so impulsively, without a word, she beat Lady Zhang without hesitation, and even took out her anger on Lady Wang, giving her a few kicks as well.

This matter suddenly became difficult to handle.

The Cheng family was still plotting to win back Song Shian, the ideal son-in-law, so the relationship between the two families couldn’t become too strained. Therefore, they couldn’t risk prompting an imperial censor to impeach him.

The only solution was for the women to step in.

However, if Madame Cheng led Lady Sun and Lady Zhang to demand an explanation from Jiang Chun, Jiang Chun might lose face, but it would also worsen the relationship between the Cheng and Song families.

After careful consideration, they ultimately decided to adopt a strategy of retreat to advance, choosing to visit and apologize as a way to demonstrate their magnanimity and ease the tension caused by the broken betrothal between the Cheng and Song families.

Was this course of action unfair to Lady Zhang?

This was clearly not a concern for the Chengs.

Even Madame Cheng, the paternal aunt of Sun Chengyuan, did not consider her daughter-in-law’s humiliation a significant issue.

Compared to her daughter-in-law’s honor, her daughter’s happiness and the Cheng family’s bright future were undoubtedly more important.

It is worth noting that King Yan has been named Crown Prince, and Song Shian has become the Crown Prince’s brother-in-law. When the Crown Prince ascends the throne, Song Shian will become the imperial uncle.

If the Cheng family were to marry into the Song family, the Cheng family would become the in-laws of the emperor's brother-in-law. Even the new emperor would be more inclined to extend patronage to the Cheng family.

Just thinking about it makes one's heart race with excitement. The future would be filled with glory and prosperity.

Once she understood these complex relationships, Jiang Chun didn't give Lady Zhang a friendly look, but instead sneered, "You're like a weasel offering New Year greetings to the chickens—with no good intentions!

Tell me, are you intending to play the 'make friends through conflict' card with me, trying to cozy up and become my best friend, all while secretly giving me fertility drugs or slow-acting poison?

Or are you hoping to use me, a rough woman, as a stepping stone to establish yourself as the most cultured and virtuous lady in the entire Imperial City?"

Everyone stared in shock as Jiang Chun slapped her hand down on the high table beside her.

The table splintered, and the teacup lid rolled onto the floor, breaking into several pieces with a sharp crash.

She said coldly, "Are you taking me for a fool?"

Lady Zhang shrank back in fear, hardly daring to breathe, worried that Jiang Chun's next slap might land on her.

Cheng Da Gu Niang, confident in her abilities, spoke up to explain on behalf of Lady Zhang, "Miss Jiang, you've misunderstood. Lady Zhang is genuinely here to apologize..."

Jiang Chun gave her a sideways glance and said with a half-smile, "If Lady Zhang is here to sincerely apologize to me, then why is Miss Cheng here?

If my memory serves me right, when the Song family was raided and its members were either imprisoned or thrown into the Heavenly Prison, what did the Cheng family, as relatives, do?

The Cheng family hurriedly used their connections to send the engagement token and the eight characters of birth to Song Shian in the Heavenly Prison, just to annul the engagement with Miss Cheng, to avoid getting involved.

I can understand that—it's human nature to seek wealth and despise poverty.

But one should know their place. As Song Shian's former fiancée, how dare you show your face at the Song family's doorstep today? Do you think the Songs are so kind that they won't turn their backs on you?

Or do you have some hidden agenda, perhaps to snatch my husband?"

Jiang Chun sized her up, her gaze lingering particularly on Cheng Da Gu Niang’s flat chest.

Then she scoffed contemptuously, "You should consider—is your small, childlike body a match for my fist?"

Cheng Da Gu Niang's smile froze, her cultivated demeanor crumbling as her expression darkened.

Jiang Chun ignored her and turned to Madame Zhuang, saying with a grin, "Mother, if you don’t tell the servants to escort the guests out, do you plan to keep Miss Cheng, the former fiancée who broke off the engagement with your son, around as my sister-in-law?"

"I don’t mind; having another concubine to wash my feet and attend to my needs would save me the money to buy a maid. But I don't know if Miss Cheng would be willing to take on the role of a concubine?"

Before Madame Zhuang could reply, Eldest Miss Cheng abruptly stood up and said angrily, "Jiang Niangzi, don't go too far. How can you humiliate me like this?"

Madame Cheng also glared at Madame Zhuang angrily. "Sister Zhuang, are you really going to let your daughter-in-law speak such vulgar words in front of us elders? If others found out, wouldn’t they laugh at the Song family for lacking manners?"

"Oh dear," Jiang Chun mocked with a sarcastic tone, amused. "It's clearly you who have these shameful schemes, and yet you have the nerve to blame me?

If there were nothing to gain, would you ladies humble yourselves to apologize to a village butcher’s daughter like me?"

Seeing that Jiang Chun was going too far, Madame Zhuang lightly coughed and interrupted. "Chunniang, that's enough."

Jiang Chun pouted. If she wasn’t allowed to speak, then fine; she was tired anyway.

Zhong Wenjin timely handed over her teacup. "Sister, have some tea. This cup is clean; I haven't touched it."

Jiang Chun took it and lifted the cup lid to gulp down a big mouthful of tea, then gently touched Zhong Wenjin’s hair with a smile. "Second sis-in-law, you're so thoughtful."

Madame Zhuang’s lips twitched, and she turned her gaze away, forcing a polite smile at Madame Cheng. "This apology business, Madame Cheng, you’re making too much of it.

That incident the other day, it was Lady Zhang who insulted my son first, and Chunniang hit her afterward, so they’re even.

But today, you’ve brought Lady Zhang to apologize, which puzzles me. Chunniang dares not accept it.

If others found out, they might say Chunniang is unforgiving despite being in the right.

So, for Chunniang’s reputation, please don’t mention this apology again."

Before Madame Cheng could respond, Madame Zhuang immediately lifted her teacup with a forced smile. "With so many things to handle at home, I won’t keep you any longer."

Madame Zhuang’s repeated use of "our Chunniang" made Jiang Chun feel quite pleased.

Regardless of what she truly thought, at least in front of others, she was still very protective of her daughter-in-law.

It seemed the jujubes and white fungus she gave were not wasted.

"Why don't we send her a package of bird's nest later?

This is what they call ‘returning a favor with a favor.’

Accustomed to flattery, Mrs. Cheng had never before encountered someone urging her to leave, and she immediately flew into a rage.

Just as she was about to explode, Cheng Wenyuan tugged at her sleeve.

Cheng Wenyuan, now composed, calmly said, 'Mother, since Elder Madam is busy, we shouldn’t disturb her any longer. Let’s take our leave.'

Hearing her daughter’s words, Mrs. Cheng calmed down somewhat and suppressed her anger. She said to Madame Zhuang, 'Since Elder Madam has matters to attend to, we won’t disturb you any further. Take care.'

*

In the carriage on the way back, Cheng Wenyuan wiped her tears with a handkerchief and lamented, 'When the Song family ran into trouble, I initially opposed the decision to break off the engagement. But you were afraid of being implicated and hastily called off the wedding. If you hadn’t acted so rashly, I wouldn’t have ended up being humiliated by a country butcher’s daughter.'

Mrs. Cheng, forcing a smile, quickly shifted the blame to her husband. She also wiped her tears with a handkerchief and said, 'You know how timid your father is. I did try to persuade him to wait since you were still young and there was no rush to call off the engagement, but he wouldn’t listen.'

Cheng Wenyuan wept without a word.

Breaking off the engagement had not been her wish. At the time, she had been too timid and thought, as a young girl, she couldn’t defy her parents.

But later, by using the method of fasting, she rejected one marriage proposal after another arranged by her family and realized that she could defy her parents if she were willing to go to extremes.

If she had had that courage when the Song family faced trouble, she could have married Song Shian in a grand wedding now that the Song family had been exonerated. As his loyal fiancée, she would have held a prominent position in the Song family.

But there were no 'what ifs.'

Still, things could be changed through effort.

Wiping her tears, she silently vowed to reclaim Song Shian.

Song Shian was betrothed to her; he originally belonged to her and could only belong to her.

To reclaim him, she first needed to remove Jiang Chun, the obstacle who had taken the position of the Song family’s Eldest Madam.

After the Cheng and Sun families left the Song household, Madame Zhuang gave Jiang Chun a sideways glance and said, 'Running around all day, what does it look like? Be careful not to get taken by human traffickers.'

*

Jiang Chun, with a good-natured smile, said, 'Thank you for the reminder, mother. Don’t worry, I'll be wary of the Cheng family.'"

She isn’t afraid of them coming directly. After all, she will soon start practicing martial arts, which will take her self-defense capabilities to a new level.

Besides, in the important capital region, patrols by the Shuntian Prefecture constables and the Five City Martial Command soldiers are stationed every few blocks.

She isn’t stupid. If she can handle it, she will fight; if not, she can run and find reinforcements.

Abducting her in the capital would be extremely difficult, almost impossible.

She believes the Cheng family wouldn’t be foolish enough to use such methods against her.

But she can’t rule out desperate measures, so she must start practicing martial arts.

Zhong Wenjin gently reminded her from the side, “We should be wary of underhanded tactics. Elder Sister-in-law, you can’t be too careless.”

Jiang Chun certainly wouldn’t take it lightly.

She suspected that, like in the original story, the Cheng family might have Butcher Fan seduce her to force her out of the picture.

Thinking of this, she smirked.

She wasn’t afraid that Butcher Fan would come; she was afraid he wouldn’t.

If he dares to make advances, she will make him pay!

Jiang Chun patted Zhong Wenjin’s arm and said with a smile, “Second Sister-in-law, don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”

Zhong Wenjin pursed her lips, a determined look on her face. After a moment, as if having made up her mind, she said, “Elder Sister-in-law, I have a bottle of medicine given by a wandering monk physician in my luggage. It can be used to unexpectedly injure others. I’ll give you a bottle for self-defense later.”

If this straightforward and kind-hearted Elder Sister-in-law, who has taken care of her, were to be harmed and replaced by the Miss Cheng she met earlier, Zhong Wenjin felt her good fortune would likely come to an end.

The thought of being dragged into constant competition with a sister-in-law like Miss Cheng made her wish she could pack up and flee back to Seven Mile Valley right away.

Scheming and plotting are just too unfriendly for someone like her.

Jiang Chun twitched the corner of her mouth.

Is Zhong Wenjin planning to give her a bottle of pepper spray?

This girl is really too honest, to actually bring out something as powerful as pepper spray. It seems her efforts to raise likability over the past two days haven’t been in vain.

Indeed, hugging the protagonist’s leg tightly pays off. I need to keep working hard to increase her favor towards me.

Whether I can live a life with modern conveniences depends on how much favor I earn.

Jiang Chun put on an emotional act, wiped her dry eyes with the sleeve of her robe, and said with feeling: "Second Brother's wife, you are so good to me! I am truly moved that you would give me such a valuable gift!

Rest assured, if Second Brother dares to bully you, just send someone to tell me. I'll immediately go to Qingzhu Courtyard to back you up and teach Second Brother a lesson, so he won’t dare to bully you again!"

"Ahem, ahem, ahem." Madame Zhuang coughed a few times and said with annoyance: "What nonsense are you spouting? As a sister-in-law, how can you get involved in your younger brother and sister-in-law’s matters? That’s out of line."

Jiang Chun leaned back in her chair and acted brazenly: "No matter if it’s out of line or not, Second Brother’s wife is under my protection. Whoever dares to bully her, I’ll beat them up, including Second Brother."

Zhong Wenjin was moved to tears, wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, and choked: "Big Sister-in-law, I don’t know how to repay your kindness."

Jiang Chun smirked and thought: "If you don’t know how to repay me, just buy more modern items for me. Anything will do; I won’t turn anything down."

Madame Zhuang really couldn’t bear to look.

Other families' daughters-in-law fought like cats and dogs, which was distressing for the mother-in-law; in her own family, the two daughters-in-law were too close, which was also distressing.

She always felt that when these two got together, nothing good would come of it!

Madame Zhuang let out a cold snort. "Shanhu, tell your elder madam about the value of the rosewood high table and the Ru kiln pink porcelain lid bowl you smashed with one slap just now."

Shanhu glanced at Jiang Chun and truthfully said: "A carved rosewood tall table is worth about 130 taels of silver; a set of Ru kiln pink porcelain lid bowl and its matching tray is worth about 40 taels of silver, so together, they’re worth about 170 taels."

Jiang Chun suddenly covered her ears, looked horrified, and said: "Oh no, I can’t hear a thing.

It must be because I was too busy today and didn’t take a nap, so I’m worn out. I need to go back to Dangui Courtyard and rest."

As soon as she finished speaking, she stood up and walked out.

In the blink of an eye, she was gone.

Even Gui Zhi, the usually sharp-witted maid, didn’t react in time.

Madame Zhuang laughed, finding the situation amusing.

*

When Song Shian returned from his duty and had dinner in the main courtyard, Madame Zhuang mentioned the visit and apology from Madam Cheng the elder and others. His expression immediately grew serious.

He said coldly, "How can the Cheng family still have the nerve to show up at our door? Do they think the Song family is so mild-tempered that we won't drive them out with a big stick?"

Madame Zhuang said calmly, "Rest assured, your wife gave them a thorough scolding that was more humiliating than being beaten out with a stick."

Song Shian turned his head to look at Jiang Chun, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, and praised, "Well done, wife. That’s precisely what needed to be done. No need to spare them any face."

Jiang Chun's lips curled up high, her chin almost touching the sky.

Although she had never doubted that Song Shian had feelings for Cheng Wenjin, hearing him speak about the Cheng family with such indifference, even a hint of disgust, made her feel quite pleased.

Hmph, daring to compete with me for my man, why don’t they look in the mirror and see if they can meet Song Shian's standards!

Jiang Chun’s triumphant look left Song Shiran, the younger brother who had been out all day trying to secure a position in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, completely stunned.

He had never seen a woman so transparent with her emotions; she was excessively dramatic!

Yet his elder brother still had a doting expression, gently hooking her nose, and said softly, "If they dare to provoke you again, go ahead and deal with them. I'll back you up."

Song Shiran: "..."

Is my big brother losing his mind?

Otherwise, why would he say something so outrageous? Is this still my mature and steady elder brother?

He opened his mouth to speak, but a piece of braised pork was stuffed into it.

Zhong Wenjin tilted her head and smiled at him, "Husband, want some meat?"

The last time she smiled at him like that was when the daughter of the village head in Qiligou had asked her husband for guidance on academic matters. She had hurried over, tilted her head, and smiled, "Husband, are you interested in Miss Xu? If you are, I'm willing to step aside and let her have it."

Song Shiran quickly lowered his head and chewed the braised pork, not daring to utter a word.

Jiang Chun said happily, "Don't worry, husband. If they dare to provoke me again, I'll make sure they know why the flowers are so red!"

Madame Zhuang was briefly puzzled, "Why are the flowers red?"

As a modern person, Zhong Wenjin promptly answered, "Because it’s a glory stained with blood."

Madame Zhuang: "..."

She shouldn't have spoken at all.

Jiang Chun: "..."

When she said "Why are the flowers so red?" she immediately regretted it, feeling that she had definitely blown her cover.

However, the carefree Zhong Wenjin didn’t notice anything unusual and even excitedly chimed in with an answer.

It seems like she could maintain this disguise for a while longer?

Mentally, Jiang Chun didn’t want to be exposed.

Because although both she and Zhong Wenjin were modern people, they each had a cheat skill.

People with such advantages would definitely feel very insecure if someone discovered their significant secret.

She hadn’t even hinted at it to someone as close as Song Shi’an, let alone an ‘outsider’ like Zhong Wenjin.

But sometimes, it wasn’t entirely up to her whether she got exposed or not.

While Jiang Chun was making an effort to adapt, as a modern person, she often inadvertently slipped modern phrases into her conversation.

Over time, Zhong Wenjin, also a modern person, would definitely start to notice.

Thus, regarding the matter of being exposed, Jiang Chun maintained a laid-back attitude.

Of course, it would be best if she stayed under wraps.

But if the day came when she was exposed, there would be no need for regret. So what if she got exposed? She wouldn’t be the only one; they’d be on equal footing.

And once exposed, could she then ask Zhong Wenjin to be her personal shopper, buying items she needed from the Pinxixi Mall?

Given their relationship and the fact that transactions on Pinxixi Mall earned experience points, Zhong Wenjin probably wouldn’t refuse, right?

Thinking about this, Jiang Chun even began to look forward to being exposed.

She couldn’t help but let out a mischievous "hehehe."

Song Shi’an reached out and gently poked her cheek, leaned in by her ear, and chuckled softly, "My lady, laughing so wickedly, what good thing are you thinking about?"

Jiang Chun glared at him and hissed under her breath, "Don’t slander me!"

Song Shi'an twisted the facts, saying, "It crossed your mind."

Jiang Chun fumed, "No, I didn’t."

They began to bicker quietly at the dining table.

Madame Zhuang felt her sight go dark, finding herself speechless.