coobybook Chapter 271 Your marriage, your mother will arrange it for you.
Chapter 271 Your marriage, your mother will arrange it for you.
Chapter 271 Your marriage, your mother will arrange it for you.
Chunyu Yang did not stay at Lanxin Courtyard for long. After Gongsun Yuan "approved" of teaching Ye Pianran martial arts, he was very happy, but he knew his limits and soon took his leave.
After seeing Chunyu Yang off, Gongsun Yuan did not rush back to her room. Instead, she sat at the tea table, her eyes lowered as she fiddled with the teacup.
Ye Pianran knew that she still had something to say to her, so she didn't urge her and sat quietly to the side to wait.
Watching the moon's reflection in the tea become shattered, Gongsun Yuan sighed softly and asked, "Ran'er, do you know the identity of the woman who caused a scene at the Marquis's mansion when they held a banquet to celebrate Xun'er's success in the provincial examination?"
This was the first time Gongsun Yuan had ever mentioned Ye Yingrou to her, and Ye Pianran was momentarily at a loss as to whether it was better to know or not.
In her previous life, before Gongsun Yuan's death, she was unaware of Xu Pingyue's existence and Ye Yingrou's, nor did she know who Ye Yanxun's birth mother was. She only knew that Ye Yanxun and she were not siblings born of the same mother. It wasn't until shortly after Gongsun Yuan's death, when Marquis Anshi hastily married Xu Pingyue as his second wife, that she learned she had a half-sister in this world.
When Xu Pingyue and Ye Yingrou first entered the Marquis's residence, they treated her with utmost care. Furthermore, because of Ye Yanxun, she became very close to the three of them. But little did she know that it was precisely because of her naiveté that she would ultimately fall completely at their hands.
—Even the deaths of her mother, her younger brother, and her maternal grandfather's family were all inextricably linked to these three!
Such a deep-seated hatred is truly unforgettable.
Although Gongsun Yuan was unaware of Ye Pianran's thoughts, she noticed her expression suddenly turn extremely cold, and her eyes held an unconcealable hatred. She sighed inwardly and said:
"So you already knew."
"How could I not know that she is so eager to return to the Marquis's mansion?" Ye Pianran said coldly. "But Mother, rest assured, I will never let that mother and daughter step into the Marquis's mansion! Even though Father is increasingly relying on my elder brother and even intends to hand over the position of the Marquis of Anshi's heir to him, as long as Gongsun's power remains, Xu Pingyue and her daughter will never be able to step into the Marquis's mansion and will never be able to harm you in the slightest!"
Gongsun Yuan paused, her brows furrowing slightly, and her tone became more serious:
"It seems that I have indeed neglected to discipline you lately, allowing you to utter such rebellious words!"
Ye Pianran felt a burning pain in her heart, as if she were being tormented by fire, when she recalled how Ye Yingrou had almost pushed Ye Yankang into the pond to drown him that day.
"Mother, how much grievance and suffering have you endured over the years because of that Xu woman? If it weren't for her, how could you and Father have become so irreconcilable? She is only a concubine now, yet she can have such an impact on the Marquis's mansion. If she were to actually enter the family, the consequences would be unimaginable!"
“I know all that you’ve said,” Gongsun Yuan said earnestly. “But you just said that I’m not only the mistress of the Marquis’s mansion, but also a member of the Gongsun family. And Xu Pingyue…”
After a pause, Gongsun Yuan continued:
"As for Xu Pingyue, she should have been your father's principal wife, but due to that muddled account, she became his concubine by mistake and even gave birth to the Marquis's eldest son. For both reason and emotion, I cannot object to her entering the Marquis's mansion. Otherwise, at best, people will say she is jealous, and at worst, they will say she is abusing her power. Either way, it is not a good thing for your mother and me, and it may even affect your maternal grandfather's reputation in the court. The complexities involved are not as simple as you think."
Upon hearing this, Ye Pianran felt even heavier in her heart.
"I'm saying all this so that you know that if that day ever comes and your father insists on bringing her into the family, no matter what position he promises her, even if they do something outrageous, you can't treat them coldly. Instead, you have to be polite to them. Only in this way can you fulfill your duty as the legitimate daughter and prevent others from finding any fault with you."
“The eldest daughter…the eldest daughter…” Ye Pianran smiled bitterly, “Being the eldest daughter of this Marquis’s mansion is really not easy.”
Gongsun Yuan chuckled, shook her head helplessly, and said, "Do you think it's easy for your mother to be the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister's mansion? Everyone has their own destiny. From the moment you are born, the path you will take is set. Whether the path is full of hardships or smooth sailing, you have to grit your teeth and persevere."
"The reason why people always say that it is better to be a legitimate son than a concubine's son is because as a legitimate son, you will always get something a thousand times better than others. Those concubine's sons and daughters fight desperately to climb up the social ladder, isn't that what they are after? If you marry someone in the future, you will be the legitimate wife of the Third Prince through proper channels. That is a position that many women dream of."
Ye Pianran hadn't expected her to suddenly bring up this topic, and her face flushed red. She quickly buried her face in Gongsun Yuan's chest and said reproachfully:
"mother!"
"Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore," Gongsun Yuan gently hugged her, patting her back as she did when they were children, and said with a smile, "I will keep your secret about you secretly going up the mountain to practice martial arts."
"By the way, Mother, how did you know that I was taking Kang'er to learn martial arts from the Third Prince?" Ye Pianran asked curiously as she lifted her head from Gongsun Yuan's arms.
Gongsun Yuan brushed the stray hairs behind her temples and said softly, "Today, the young master of the Northern Martial Prince's Mansion suddenly ran to his mother for help, asking her to stop the Fourth Prince from proposing to you before the Third Prince. Perhaps afraid that his mother would not believe him, he revealed the whole story about how you were learning martial arts from the Third Prince."
Jingxuan, this child, is really... Ye Pianran was both amused and exasperated.
"Even if he hadn't said anything, I had already guessed some of it. Kang'er has become much healthier lately, and his appetite has increased. How could I not see such an obvious change?"
makes sense.
"But I really didn't expect you to be so popular." Gongsun Yuan pinched her nose and laughed, "When you insisted on breaking off your engagement with Shaoyu, I was worried, but now I'm not. There's no one else here, so tell me honestly, do you really like the Third Prince?"
Ye Pianran's eyelashes trembled slightly, her eyes like rippling water, captivating and enchanting.
"Ever since he stood up for his mother and solved the problem of Aunt Meng's 'cat poison,' I have no room for anyone else in my eyes."
Seeing the determination in her eyes, Gongsun Yuan said solemnly, "Alright, Mother understands. I will make the decision for your marriage."
"Mother, I would like to accompany His Majesty on this autumn hunt in Xingzhou," Ye Pianran suddenly said.
Gongsun Yuan was taken aback, then her brows furrowed immediately: "Autumn hunt? The journey from the capital to Xingzhou is so long, what would a young lady like you do there?"
“The royal autumn hunt is not only for men to participate in. Daughters from other official families also accompany the hunt. My daughter has never traveled far from home before, so she naturally wants to go and broaden her horizons this time,” Ye Pianran said with a smile.
“That may be true, but…” Gongsun Yuan didn’t want her to go too far away from him, but then she thought that Chunyu Yang would definitely be going to the autumn hunt, so she raised an eyebrow knowingly:
"Alright, Mother knows. You don't want to leave your lover for even a moment. Fine, fine, go if you want."
After saying that, she suddenly remembered something and frowned again:
"But I'm afraid your father won't agree to let you come along."
Ye Pianran laughed and said, "Mother, you don't need to worry about this. I have my own way of handling it."
At this very moment, in the study of the Left Prime Minister's residence, Gongsun Zhan was looking down and repeatedly flipping through the account book rubbings that Feng Ling had brought, his brows furrowed and his face solemn.
Feng Ling stood quietly to the side, watching without daring to make a sound and disturb his thoughts.
A moment later, Gongsun Zhan raised his head, looked at Feng Ling, and sighed:
"This case is indeed difficult to handle."