Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Yan’er used her dowry to help cover the household expenses while carefully raising the illegitimate son Jiang Yuheng had with his mistress. She waited bitterly for seven long years.

Who would have thought that when Jiang Yuheng returned victorious, the first thing he did was demote his wife to concubine and use his military merits to petition for that mistress to become his lawful wife?

He even revealed the truth: the adopted son Yan’er had raised was, in fact, his child with that woman.

By then, Yong’an Marquis Manor had already fallen into decline, its gates cold and deserted, no longer what it had once been.

Yan’er had no powerful maternal family to rely on. She could not compare to Jiang Yuheng, who was at the height of his glory, and could only endure in silence.

In the end, her illness went untreated, and she died with hatred in her heart.

And I, her grandmother, had to send off a child of the younger generation with my own white-haired head.

Whenever I thought of how Jiang Yuheng appeared so upright and honorable on the surface, while in truth he had been scheming against our Marquis Manor’s dowry all along…

How every vow he had made when proposing marriage had been a lie…

I was so furious I could have died all over again.

But the Yan’er before me now still seemed unaware that her fiancé was actually a heartless, ungrateful scoundrel. As her grandmother, I could not very well expose it outright.

So I only said, “Yan’er, you are still young, and you are my only granddaughter. I truly cannot bear to see you marry away.”

“Stay by Grandmother’s side for another two years, all right?”

In my previous life, it was precisely because Zhenguo General’s Manor could no longer hold on that Jiang Yuheng had been in such a hurry to marry Yan’er.

Once Yan’er married into the Marquis Manor with a large dowry and he no longer had anything to worry about, he immediately went to the battlefield to earn military merit.

If I delayed Yan’er’s marriage by two years, the Jiang Family would not last even half a year before their true state was exposed.

When that time came, I would like to see what face they still had to come knocking and demand that our Xie Family honor the engagement!

Yan’er was filial as expected. Hearing this, she nodded shyly.

“Yan’er wants to spend more time with Grandmother too. A few days ago, if Grandmother hadn’t come looking for me, Yan’er might have gotten into real trouble!”

“Grandmother is Yan’er’s savior. Yan’er will listen to Grandmother. I’ll write to Brother Yuheng right away and tell him we are postponing the wedding!”

I hugged her tightly in delight. “Good girl. Grandmother’s love for you has not been in vain…”

As long as my Yan’er did not marry into that den of wolves and tigers, she would not have to suffer injustice and humiliation.

As for that whole brood of heartless, ungrateful ingrates who bit the hand that fed them-whether they went bankrupt or fell into ruin, what did it have to do with our family?

When my son and daughter-in-law learned that I had made Yan’er postpone her marriage, they were overjoyed.

The couple came privately to request an audience with me.

As soon as my son sat down, he got straight to the point.

“Mother, did you do this because you heard something?”

“I heard that the Jiang Family fell into decline long ago and has only been relying on Old Duke Zhenguo’s reputation. Now they are nothing but an empty shell. I heard they are almost unable to pay even their servants’ monthly wages. Only our Yan’er is so honest and sincere that she insists on honoring the engagement and marrying over there to suffer.”

My daughter-in-law, Wang Shi, also said, “Exactly. Yan’er is my only daughter. How could I bear to let her suffer?”

“Mother’s decision is perfect. In another two years, once Yan’er’s feelings have faded, we can choose another fine husband for her, and the two of them can be filial to you together. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

Seeing that my son and daughter-in-law were of one mind with me, I could not have been happier.

“Good. As long as you understand what is right!”

My husband and I had only one son, and we cherished him dearly. When his father passed away, he was only twelve. I was the one who raised him through hardship and toil.

His wife, Zhang Shi, was the daughter of my maternal cousin. Although she came from a merchant family, her household was enormously wealthy, and she had a gentle, agreeable temperament.

She was a perfect match for my honest, dutiful son.

In my previous life, Wang Shi and I were afraid Yan’er would suffer after marrying over, so we gave her almost all of both our dowries.

Otherwise, Yong’an Marquis Manor would never have fallen into decline.

This time, we would never let those parasites from the General’s Mansion spend our hard-earned money.