Binding Spring Love

"Miss, the Marquis has arrived."

Hengzhi frowned as she reported this, and Song Wan put down her book and lightly patted her forehead, quite annoyed.

She pursed her lips and murmured, "I knew I couldn't escape it."

I don't know why Jiang Xingjian didn't ask her why he came over at noon, which made her have to drink that melon stalk water again and suffer from that annoying feeling once more.

When Jiang Xingjian entered the room, he saw that Song Wan's face was even paler than before. She was leaning against the back of a dark blue brocade chair, her brows furrowed in obvious discomfort.

Have you seen the family physician?

Song Wan nodded, but did not speak.

Seeing this, Jiang Xingjian was very worried and hurriedly asked Hengzhi to find the family physician.

"No need. The physician from the prefectural hospital just examined me and there's nothing seriously wrong."

Song Wan stood up, and Hengzhi came over to help her.

"What brings you here, Lord Marquis?"

"I have something to ask you."

Looking down at the list of servants to be sold off in his hand, Jiang Xingjian suddenly found it difficult to speak.

"Please speak freely."

Song Wan extended her hand to invite Jiang Xingjian to sit down and poured two cups of hot tea.

Jiang Xingjian's expression softened slightly as he pushed the list in front of Song Wan: "These are the servants in the manor who were sold off. I've already sent people to find their whereabouts, but there should already be some rumors circulating outside the manor..."

"Moreover, today Lord Sun and Madam Sun came to the mansion and canceled the marriage between the two families."

Song Wan frowned, but quickly recovered.

She had spent a great deal of money on the marriage to the Sun family, and she did not want to see it end up like this.

"Do you have a way to ensure the Marquis's family is not implicated?"

Song Wan lowered her eyes, concealing the emotions within them.

Jiang Xingjian assumed she was pondering a solution, but when she looked up again after a moment, her face was frighteningly pale, and she clearly appeared to be enduring pain. Cold sweat beaded on the girl's forehead, but she still forced herself to remain calm and picked up the list to examine it carefully.

"Alright, your health is the priority. You should rest first. I'll figure out a way to handle things in the manor myself."

Taking the list from Song Wan's hand, Jiang Xingjian said with a worried expression, "Go to your room and rest first."

Song Wan didn't try to be strong, and with difficulty got up and walked back to her room.

Summer days are usually spent wearing light clothing. When she turned around, Jiang Xingjian noticed that her clothes were soaked with cold sweat and stuck to her skin.

Jiang Xingjian pursed his lips, hesitated, and then followed.

"I'll have the royal physician examine your pulse."

Hengzhi said, "These past few days, the family physician has come every day to take Grandma's pulse, but he hasn't been able to find out what the problem is. He just says to rest more and not to overexert yourself."

"A few days ago, three or four doctors from the manor took turns coming, which made Grandma change her clothes many times a day. I noticed that she was even heavier than when they came."

"If Your Excellency has pity on your grandmother, then you should treat her less harshly."

Hengwu said coldly from the side, "How can there be no commotion? The manor is in such a mess, Miss, you have to crawl out and clean up the mess for others, even if you have to."

The two whispered and made veiled remarks for a while, and Jiang Xingjian, with a stiff face, left Lan Courtyard after only saying "Take a good rest".

As soon as he left, Song Wan curled up and snuggled into the blankets.

"Miss, let me give you some hot water to warm you up."

Holding the hot water bottle in her arms, Song Wan finally felt a little more at ease.

"Miss is the mistress of the Marquis's mansion. She can't escape the matter of managing the household forever. You can't keep hurting yourself like this."

Song Wan closed her eyes and sighed softly, "Rumors are flying everywhere outside, and the Song family will surely take action. I want to see what Father... will do."

She harbored a longing in her heart, knowing it would not be easy, but ultimately she yearned for it.

Hengzhi and Hengwu could also see through her thoughts, and couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness, so they served her even more carefully.

Because Song Wan was still ill, Jiang Xingjian had to handle the chaos in the Marquis's mansion himself. He worked during the day and had to manage the inner quarters like a woman after his shifts, which was too much for him. Fortunately, Huaisu could still help him share the burden. Seeing that Huaisu was handling things fairly well and was familiar with the stewards in the mansion, he gradually handed the reins over to her.

Lin Jiayue was very dissatisfied with this, but Jiang Xingjian was avoiding her everywhere, leaving her with nowhere to vent her anger.

"Auntie, Madam Chen requests an audience."

"What is she doing here?"

Qianbi shook her head to indicate that she did not know. Lin Jiayue had no choice but to greet the guest, but she was stunned by what Madam Chen said as soon as she saw her.

Lin Jiayue was shocked: "Ten thousand taels of dowry?"

"Indeed, who in the capital doesn't know that the third young lady of the Marquis's mansion spends her days in her boudoir reading erotic and unorthodox books? What family would dare to want or marry such an unchaste and unruly woman?"

"What kind of miscellaneous or heretical books?"

Lin Jiayue looked completely puzzled.

Madam Chen scoffed, "The rumors outside... well, they can hardly be called rumors. Didn't the Marquis's mansion sell off its servants? Some servants have said that the Marquis's third daughter, at such a young age, loves to read all sorts of books and usually reads them aloud in her room. At such a young age, she has already changed her nature. For the Chen family to still be willing to marry such a girl who doesn't know how to be chaste is already a great injustice."

"But considering that our two families have already exchanged birth charts, I'll just accept this as a loss I can't bear to admit. But as for the dowry, let's not even talk about the shortfall of ten thousand taels."

Lin Jiayue pursed her lips, only now beginning to understand why Song Wan and Jiang Xingjian both said that servants should not be sold.

only……

"Are you threatening me?"

"Aunt Lin's words are rather harsh. How can it be our fault that the young ladies of the Marquis's mansion don't know the proper etiquette?"

Lin Jiayue narrowed her eyes and said disdainfully, "I'd like to know, what kind of heretical or miscellaneous books are worth ten thousand taels of silver?"

Madam Chen glanced at her sideways and said, "Perhaps it's something like 'The Story of Yingying' or 'The Peony Pavilion,' how would I know?"

"I think you're blinded by greed, trying to threaten me with something like this? Go ahead and go out there and see if anyone's willing to talk to you. As for the marriage between the Marquis's mansion and the Chen family, take it or leave it. I want to see if the Marquis's daughter can't get married without your Chen family!"

"Okay, okay."

Mrs. Chen was so angry that she almost fell backward.

She abruptly stood up, her narrow eyes gleaming with calculating intent: "Don't say I didn't tell you today, if a young lady's reputation is ruined, there's only one path left. Have you thought it through?"

"Even if my daughter is from a lowly family, I will not marry into your Chen family."

Lin Jiayue sneered and turned to leave, feeling that Madam Chen had truly gone mad.

Just because you watched Yingying's Story and Peony Pavilion, you're saying you lost your chastity? If word gets out, who will laugh their heads off?

Already enraged by Jiang Xingjian's scolding, Madam Chen's arrival to threaten her only fueled her anger. Had she not wanted to cause any more trouble, she would have certainly splashed hot tea all over Madam Chen's face.

She had previously strongly advocated for the Chen family and arranged the marriage between Jiang Jing and the family, but now that Madam Chen had suddenly turned against her, she felt it would be inappropriate to add fuel to the fire at this critical juncture. Moreover, she was certain that the other party was merely there to take advantage of the Marquis's misfortune, so she did not tell anyone about the matter.

Unexpectedly, the Chen family turned around and swaggered over to break off the engagement, using the excuse that the third young lady of the Marquis's mansion was not chaste and did not study "Biographies of Exemplary Women" or "Four Books for Women" in her boudoir, but instead read indecent things.