Chapter 8: Her Or Me

Deep crimson maple leaves drifted across her sight, fell onto the river, accumulated into a scene that did not look lively, but instead made the place feel even more solemn.

Everyone held their breath, faces stunned.

Was this woman scolding the Second Prince? Or mocking him, looking down on him? How dare she!

Tang Wanning knew what everyone was thinking and knew her words would inevitably have that effect, but… what was there to be afraid of? She’d come through into a hellish life, bullied and used as a substitute bride. If she hadn’t been a little sharper, that night’s fire in the manor would have burned her and she might have lost her life. Had anyone even asked about her grievances? She had intended to keep a low profile and muddle through the bad situation, but since these people insisted on making such a big fuss, she was going to play this game by her own rules.

Having been beaten down by society many times, she understood all too well: kind people get bullied, gentle horses get ridden. Sometimes being firmer in character wasn’t a bad thing. Besides, it wasn’t as if she had no trump cards. Just because the previous owner of this body didn’t realize what she had on hand didn’t mean that she was blind to them now!

Hoping to have both sisters as his wives, huh? She wanted to see how the Second Prince would respond to that!

“Wretched child, wretched child…”

A hurried voice came, full of anger, disappointment, and an urgent desire to save face. It was none other than Madam Zhou, the matron of Earl Xuanning’s household and Tang Wanlan’s birth mother, who had arrived.

Tang Wanning inwardly thought it a pity: Madam Zhou’s timing was too precise and too timely.

Madam Zhou snapped, “Kneel down this instant!”

The scolding wasn’t directed at anyone specifically, but Tang Wanlan, aware of her fault, immediately knelt. Tang Wanning… if it was her old self, she would have kneeled at once by default, but now she stood firmly, not moving. She hadn’t done anything wrong, so why kneel? Scolding the Second Prince was something he deserved!

Madam Zhou narrowed her eyes.

“Mother…” Tang Wanlan looked over weakly, tears welling, looking incredibly pitiful. She knew exactly how to play along. This kneel was especially earnest, guaranteed to be heard clearly by all around, her body trembling as if about to fall.

Madam Zhou stepped forward and delivered a slap.

The crisp “smack” told everyone how hard the slap was.

Madam Zhou’s expression was full of disappointment and pain, her voice trembling, “Child, how could you do such a thing? How could you behave this way!”

Tang Wanlan cried even harder, “Mother, I was wrong… I know I was in the wrong, I really didn’t mean to… Mother…”

Madam Zhou slapped her again. “Shut up! After such an ugly deed, how dare you argue?”

That slap was also heavy.

Tang Wanning watched and understood perfectly: this wasn’t punishment, it was protection. Why is it that when a child misbehaves or has faults in public, the parents’ first move is to blame their own child, to say their child is bad? Because once the parents themselves scolded and hit them, others could not possibly dare to add to the scolding. If someone dared to act they would be in the wrong, and the parents could turn around and blame them instead. As for the severity of the punishment, it would be much better for the parents to get to decide that instead of letting someone else decide on the punishment.

It was nothing more than a parent’s heartfelt concern.

Madam Zhou struck especially hard, which was not hard to understand. If she didn’t hit hard, how could others feel sympathy?

Sure enough, Zhao Yan could not bear it and went over to help Tang Wanlan up, even offering his handkerchief for her to wipe her tears. “My Lady, please don’t be angry.”

Madam Zhou closed her eyes and bowed slightly to the Second Prince. “I was momentarily flustered and lost my manners in front of Your Highness. I beg Your Highness’s forgiveness.”

Zhao Yan responded, “No matter. I and the House of Earl Xuanning are closely related, we are one family. My Lady, you needn’t be so formal.”

Tang Wanlan murmured softly, “Mother…”

“Calling on me won’t help! Whether you did it on purpose or not, you still shouldn’t have done such a thing, bringing shame on the household, hurting your sister’s reputation, and troubling His Highness Prince Ping to worry about you! Prince Ping and your sister are kind and won’t want your face to be damaged in public. You may escape this time, but you’ll still have to kneel when we return home!” Madam Zhou’s expression was icy. “Tang Wanlan, I’ll speak plainly: the family discipline in the ancestral hall has already been prepared. The House of Earl Xuanning cannot tolerate someone like you!”

“No… no…”

Tang Wanlan went pale with fear and knelt again. “Don’t drive me away, Mother, I really didn’t mean it! I did it for the family’s sake too…”

Madam Zhou closed her eyes and turned her face away.

Tang Wanlan turned to Tang Wanning, “Sister, please save me, save me! You know that room in the ancestral hall…I can’t stand it! If I go in there I won’t be able to come out again! I’m your favorite sister… you always indulge me, give me the good things, stand by me through anything… We swore to be good to each other for life… Sister…”

The scene was heart-wrenching. Those who watched shed tears.

“You call that being good to one another? You steal someone else’s husband and then play the victim, then make the actual victim in this whole thing look like they’ve committed a terrible sin by not speaking up for you? ‘For life’? Tsk, not even a new palace maid would buy that sort of nonsense.”

Eunuch Tian could see through everything clearly. Tang Wanlan was acting so flawlessly in front of so many people, not even wearing the pretense of modesty. She wasn’t here to sincerely admit guilt and have her sister bring her home to settle things. She was escalating the matter so it couldn’t be covered up, planning how to secure a position in the harem of Prince Ping’s residence!

A prince can indeed have secondary consorts.

Eunuch Tian clasped his hands, standing beside his lord’s wheelchair, his tone full of pity and drawn out, “With such a worrying younger sister and a biased aunt, Miss Tang’s life is not easy. Who knows how she’ll be bullied in the future.”

Zhao Cong ignored him, his long fingertips lightly tapping the chair, lost in thought… or perhaps not thinking at all.

The true victim, Tang Wanning, watched this grand performance with a slight curl at the corner of her lips, thinking how entertaining it was. She understood perfectly: mothers know their daughters best, and Madam Zhou was a shrewd woman. She couldn’t have been ignorant about what Tang Wanlan was thinking or what she planned to do. This “substitute marriage” scheme looked flawless, but to carry it out silently and flawlessly wouldn’t be as simple as bribing a few servants. A young lady in seclusion like Tang Wanlan couldn’t control every detail. She would need someone to smooth things over and to wrap it up.

What Madam Zhou did best was to do everything yet act as if she had done nothing. She washed her hands of it cleanly, then turned around to shield her daughter, control the scene, and steer the direction.

It made sense: since the Second Prince was marrying a daughter of the family as a substitute, why let someone else’s daughter enjoy the benefits instead of her own? After all, if Tang Wanyan were still alive, that honor should have belonged to her daughter. She should have been the prince’s mother-in-law in the first place!

Tang Wanning snorted inwardly and turned to the kneeling Tang Wanlan, “Sister, what you say is wrong. I’m neither an elder nor an official, just an incompetent cousin. If I could be sent away in a muddle the night before my wedding, unable to protect myself, what ability do I have to save you?”

Tang Wanlan protested, “But I didn’t do it on purpose… I just explained it to you, I really didn’t mean to!”

“Shut up!” Madam Zhou looked at her daughter, voice icy. “Your sister has said she won’t forgive you. Come home with me and accept your punishment!”

The onlookers gasped, utterly stunned into silence.

What a ruthless matriarch! Such strict, hard-line conduct!

Tang Wanning then said, “Aunt, please don’t be angry. This is not simply a matter of whether I forgive her or not.”

Tang Wanlan brightened and quickly looked at her mother. Could this be a way out? But Tang Wanning continued, “After all—it’s only a misunderstanding.”

Those words were full of sarcasm. There was no intention of settling things innocently or without consequence!

Madam Zhou was far more composed than her daughter. However tense she felt inside, she didn’t show it. She took Tang Wanning’s hand and sighed faintly. “When I heard what happened this morning, I nearly fainted. Your second uncle had already summoned a doctor and couldn’t leave the house immediately. In any case, we truly owe you an apology. Your sister committed a mistake and your second uncle and I failed to notice in time. You are not wrong to be angry. Perhaps it is Heaven’s punishment, perhaps it is fated that I should not have daughters… I am destined to lose them while I am still alive.”

As she spoke her eyes reddened, and Tang Wanlan’s tears flowed even harder. “Mother…”

Tang Wanning replied, “Then this niece must persuade you, Aunt, given that this concerns a life, you must think carefully. If you send my younger sister to her death, then you will never see her again for the rest of your life.”

Madam Zhou’s hand froze and she shut her eyes. “But what can be done? Your sister did such a foolish thing and treated you like this. Even if my heart is soft, I cannot save her. I leave this matter to you, be it beating or killing, your sister’s life is now in your hands. My daughter, I can no longer make the decision!”

Tang Wanning thought to herself: Unfortunately she’s no longer just your daughter. She’s someone else’s woman now.

Sure enough, Zhao Yan spoke up, “My Lady… Lan is already one of mine.”

Madam Zhou was stunned for a moment, as if she had not noticed the kiss marks on Tang Wanlan’s neck at all and truly didn’t know about this matter. In her anguish she raised her hand to strike Tang Wanlan again, but Zhao Yan stopped her. “My Lady, please calm yourself. This was also an accident.”

“How could you do such a thing… how could you! You, a young maiden, behaving shamelessly like this…” Madam Zhou seemed unable to bear it. She leaned on a maid behind her for support, lips trembling, seeming on the verge of fainting.

Tang Wanlan flung herself at her. “Mother, please don’t be angry… I didn’t mean to… I really didn’t…”

The mother and daughter clung to each other, one wept silently, the other in torrents, creating an especially pitiful scene, as if they had suffered the greatest injustice, and those who refused to forgive them were villains.

Zhao Yan showed reluctance, sighed deeply, and once more looked at Tang Wanning. “What has passed cannot be undone, a wrong is a wrong. Lan will bear her responsibility, and I will too. We did not come here today to argue, but to sincerely resolve the matter. Ning’er, state any thoughts or requests plainly. The Countess is here to witness, and everything can be discussed with me.”

Tang Wanning said, “Your Highness is frank, and I won’t be pretentious. It’s simple: Prince Ping’s house, between my sister and me, you can only choose one.”

Madam Zhou narrowed her eyes.

Tang Wanlan was stunned. What did this mean?

Zhao Yan frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

Tang Wanning smiled faintly, her slender fingers pointing at Tang Wanlan. “Of course it means: if she’s there, I won’t be; if I’m there, she won’t be. It’s either her or me!”