Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After drinking the medicine, Shen Jin’s mouth was filled with bitterness. She had the maid pour her a cup of water, then asked in passing, “After Eldest Aunt returned, did she say anything?”

The young maid sighed. “Miss, your illness gave both the First Madam and the Old Madam quite a fright. The First Madam said you simply have no fortune. Today was the Old Marquis’s birthday banquet at Jingnan Marquis Manor, and who knows how many scions of noble families, high officials, and honored lords attended. If you had been there, Miss, you might have found yourself a fine marriage.”

Marquis Jingnan had the Crown Prince at his back and was enjoying unmatched glory. The dignitaries of the capital all gave the Old Marquis face; Shen Jin knew that much.

But she also knew that the splendor before them now was nothing more than a flower blooming for a single night. Once the Crown Prince was deposed and the reckoning came, the entire Jingnan Marquis Manor would be dragged into disaster, unable even to protect its innocent young children.

Her Eldest Aunt could only see the glory before her eyes. That was why she had wanted to bring Shen Jin to Jingnan Marquis Manor, hoping to trade Shen Jin’s marriage for a smoother official career for her Eldest Uncle.

Shen Jin’s parents had died early in an accident, and her grandmother was advanced in years. She had no choice but to rely on her Eldest Uncle and Eldest Aunt to get by. One more mouth to feed and one more dowry to prepare meant one more burden.

Originally, Shen Jin had also thought that after she married, she would help support the Shen Family as much as she could.

Never had she imagined that her Eldest Aunt would be so impatient as to scheme at the birthday banquet of Jingnan Marquis Manor and arrange for her to marry up to Marquis Dingbei.

Yet no one knew that while the Dingbei Marquis Estate looked splendid on the surface, it was rotten to the core within.

Her mother-in-law was unkind, her sister-in-law unruly, her husband cold and ungrateful, and there was even a dependent female cousin living in the estate, constantly waiting for the chance to push Shen Jin aside and become the Marchioness herself.

At first, in gratitude for the Dingbei Marquis Estate preserving her reputation, Shen Jin endured every grievance she could and did every task she was able. But as time went on, she realized that some people would not treat you better because you endured in silence. They would only become harsher.

Shen Jin had never expected that after all her painstaking work managing matters inside and out, what she received in return was the Old Marchioness and her daughter scheming over her meager dowry and trying to incite Marquis Dingbei to divorce her so he could marry the dependent cousin instead.

After accidentally overhearing them through the wall, she made a swift decision. Using a visit to her maiden family as an excuse, she loaded all her dowry onto carriages. Only once everything had been properly arranged did she send a divorce agreement to the Dingbei Marquis Estate.

She had thought the separation would be difficult. To her surprise, Marquis Dingbei, Lu Chenzhou, still had a trace of conscience. He agreed to her terms and hurried to the Shen Family Villa to sign the agreement.

Who would have thought that after everything had settled and she was simply waiting to live peaceful days from then on, some damned wretch would drive a carriage wildly through the road and slam straight into her, sending her back to the day three years ago when she had first encountered Lu Chenzhou?

Fortunately, she had reacted quickly. The moment she sensed something was wrong, she immediately put her mind to work and took action, successfully avoiding a meeting with Lu Chenzhou.

She patted her chest and let out a breath. Then, all of a sudden, she remembered: since she had not gone to Jingnan Marquis Manor, what had happened to the young lady who had fallen into the water, the one she had rescued back then?

“Did Eldest Aunt not mention anything unusual that happened at the birthday banquet in Jingnan Marquis Manor? Did anyone fall into the water?”

She asked the maid, who cried out in surprise, “Oh my! Miss, you really are divine. How did you guess someone fell into the water at the banquet? When the First Madam returned, she kept clicking her tongue in front of the Old Madam. She said some young lady from a vice minister’s family, in order to marry into a powerful household, went so far as to jump into the water herself, staking her own chastity on the gamble. And in the end, she actually won. Her bet paid off, and her engagement to the Hereditary Prince of Jingnan Hou was truly settled.”

That young lady who had fallen into the water was now engaged to the Hereditary Prince of Jingnan Hou-and she had schemed it herself?

Shen Jin was rather astonished to hear it. She remembered that the time she had gone to Jingnan Marquis Manor to offer birthday congratulations to the Old Marquis, her Eldest Aunt had used tightness in the chest as an excuse and insisted on dragging her to the lotus pond in the manor to get some air. As soon as Shen Jin arrived, she had encountered a young lady who had fallen into the water.

Shen Jin had grown up with her parents in Jiangnan and was quite a good swimmer. Seeing that the young lady was about to sink to the bottom, she had hurriedly jumped in and pulled her out.

Her eldest aunt was both frightened and distressed. She pulled the girl into her arms, saying she would send her to see a physician, but then had a maid lead her to a side room by the lotus pond to change her clothes.

In the end, the girl had only half changed in the inner chamber when Lu Chenzhou pushed the door open and came in. Seeing half her body exposed, he panicked and hurried to leave-only to turn around and run straight into her eldest aunt and the others.

In broad daylight, beneath a clear and honest sky, she and Lu Chenzhou, a lone man and a lone woman, had been alone in a room with their clothes in disarray. No matter who saw it, they would think there was something illicit between them.

Lu Chenzhou could not explain himself clearly, and her own defense sounded feeble and useless. In the end, the Dingbei Marquis Estate had no choice but to swallow the loss and marry her into the family.

Thinking back on it afterward, she could never understand how someone as short-sighted as her eldest aunt could have laid such a meticulous trap inside the Jingnan Marquis Manor.

Only now did she realize it was not that her eldest aunt had been clever. She had merely overheard the Daughter of the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial’s plan. That was why she had tricked Shen Jin into going to the lotus pond, making her take that young lady’s place in the scheme to marry into a powerful family.

However, if that young lady’s plan from the start had been to marry Lu Chenzhou, how had she ended up betrothed to the Heir of Marquis Jingnan in the blink of an eye?

Seeing Shen Jin’s confusion, the little maid said, “That’s exactly what happened. Whenever Madam brings it up, she can’t stop praising that young lady for being impressive. Originally, the young lady had wanted to reach above her station and marry Marquis Dingbei. Who would have thought that the Old Madam of the Marquis Dingbei Estate would feel unwell, and Marquis Dingbei would escort her up the mountain for recuperation first thing in the morning? The moment that young lady heard Marquis Dingbei wasn’t coming, she immediately had someone lure the Hereditary Prince of Jingnan Hou over instead.”

So that was it!

Enlightenment dawned on Shen Jin. She had thought as much-Marquis Dingbei’s status was far higher than the Heir of Marquis Jingnan’s. Why would that girl abandon Marquis Dingbei right in front of her and scheme against the Heir of Marquis Jingnan instead? It turned out Marquis Dingbei simply had not come.

But then, how had she run into Lu Chenzhou at the Jingnan Marquis Manor that time?

Could it be that because she had returned to three years ago and had not gone to the Jingnan Marquis Manor, certain events had changed along with it?

Shen Jin did not dare think further. The safest course now was to use illness as an excuse to hide in her room for the time being and not go out. No matter what, she had to avoid Lu Chenzhou.

Lu Chenzhou still had no idea about the story behind the birthday banquet at the Jingnan Marquis Manor. Since he had finally been given a chance to start over, he naturally took precautions before trouble could arise.

The first matter was to conceal his edge and bide his time. He would not become too involved with the Crown Prince or Prince Lang, instead watching Prince Jin’s actions from the shadows.

The second was to put his marriage on the agenda.

Since he knew Shen Jin had not gone to the Jingnan Marquis Manor, he was deeply afraid that if he ran into her one day, he might fall into her trap again. He simply discussed it with his mother and sent a letter to the Liu Family in Yangzhou to propose marriage.

Liu Wanrou’s father served as Assistant Prefect of Yangzhou. Though he was only of the sixth rank, he had been personally appointed by the emperor to assist in governing the prefecture. His rank was low, but his authority was substantial, and his pride was high as well.

Not a single wealthy or influential family in all of Yangzhou had ever caught Assistant Prefect Liu’s eye. The moment he saw that the Dingbei Marquis Estate had come to propose marriage, Assistant Prefect Liu sent someone riding through the night at full speed with a reply. The two families compared the birth characters and set the wedding date then and there, agreeing on a wedding at the end of the sixth month-almost the same time as his marriage to Shen Jin in his previous life.

Lu Chenzhou, the Young Marquis of the Dingbei Marquis Estate, had always been an ideal husband candidate among the young ladies of the capital. Originally, every family had been waiting for Lu Chenzhou’s coming-of-age ceremony to pass so they could find a suitable opportunity to send a matchmaker to make connections. No one had expected that as soon as Lu Chenzhou’s ceremony ended, he would already have a fiancée.

For a time, noble young ladies throughout the capital all clutched their chests and furrowed their brows, both jealous and envious.

Only Shen Jin let out a great sigh of relief when she heard the news. She had known there was something unclear and unspoken between Lu Chenzhou and his cousin Liu Wanrou. Otherwise, why would Lu Chenzhou have so often spent the night in the study after their marriage, allowing only Liu Wanrou to bring him tea and water?

Fortunately, this time she had not gone to the Jingnan Marquis Manor. Lu Chenzhou and Liu Wanrou, a pair of lovers, could finally be together. And she could finally go out with peace of mind.