The flower-viewing banquet came to an end.
Jiang Zhaohua’s heart raced and her cheeks flushed whenever she recalled Duan Jinxing’s gaze.
Both the Marquis of Anping and Lady Hou were thoroughly impressed after meeting Duan Jinxing.
Previously, the Marquis had only half-believed his daughter’s dream, but now he was eighty percent convinced.
Duan Jinxing, despite his youth, possessed remarkable strategic insight and eloquence.
Even Lady Hou’s dissatisfaction with the marriage arrangement faded considerably after meeting him.
Duan Jinxing’s character and appearance were indeed outstanding. The Duan family’s poverty didn’t matter—she would prepare a lavish dowry for her daughter. As for his difficult widowed mother, that was no concern either. After the wedding, Duan’s mother would rely entirely on Zhaohua’s dowry for her livelihood. Lady Hou refused to believe the woman would dare to act arrogantly in front of her daughter!
Thus, the six wedding rites were hastily arranged after the banquet.
Betrothal gifts, name inquiries, divination… all were completed in a single day.
Jiang Yunshu was stunned when she heard the news. "Why the rush?"
"Could it be that Eldest Sister is trying to marry before I enter the palace?"
Unintentionally, Jiang Yunshu had guessed correctly.
Jiang Zhaohua was rushing the wedding rites to ensure her marriage took place on the very day Jiang Yunshu entered the palace!
In this lifetime, Jiang Yunshu’s entry into the palace coincided with the day Jiang Zhaohua had entered in her previous life.
The emperor would die suddenly on that very day!
After the emperor’s death, commoners would be forbidden from holding weddings for three months, while the imperial family and nobility would observe a three-year prohibition.
If Jiang Zhaohua didn’t marry before the emperor’s death, she would have to wait three years.
Too many things could go wrong in that time—she couldn’t afford to wait.
The Marquis of Anping and Lady Hou had initially chosen a date a few days before Jiang Yunshu’s entry into the palace.
But Jiang Zhaohua insisted on the same day.
She wanted to marry on the very day Jiang Yunshu did!
Jiang Yunshu would marry an emperor who would die that night, while she would wed the future chancellor, steadfast and loyal!
On this day, she would swap their fates.
The day that had once plunged her into an abyss would now become the day she soared to greatness.
The Marquis and Lady Hou, doted on Jiang Zhaohua, and considering that the date had been deemed auspicious by the imperial astrologers, agreed.
Thus, Jiang Zhaohua’s wedding was set for the same day Jiang Yunshu entered the palace.
At the Duan residence, when the matchmaker arrived to inform Duan’s mother of the wedding date, the woman was utterly bewildered.
"Why such haste?"
The matchmaker, too, was taken aback. In all her years of matchmaking, she had never encountered such a situation.
A noble family’s legitimate daughter rushing to marry a poor scholar—there was something deeply suspicious about it!
Though uneasy, the matchmaker knew to speak favorably in front of Duan’s mother. "Though the timing is tight, this is an auspicious date chosen by the imperial astrologers."
"Even the emperor is taking a consort on this day!"
"If we miss this opportunity, we’d have to wait three years. The Marquis’s Mansion couldn’t bear to delay, so they chose this date."
She then casually added, "Though the wedding is hurried, the dowry for the eldest young lady has been prepared for years."
"The Marquis’s Mansion has only one legitimate daughter. They’ve been accumulating her dowry since she was a child, adding to it year after year. It’s been ready for ages!"
Hearing this, Duan’s mother finally relaxed slightly.
Yet after the matchmaker left, the more she thought about it, the more uneasy she became. When Duan Jinxing returned from the academy that evening, she immediately called him over.
"Did you know the Marquis’s Mansion set the wedding for this month?"
"Could it be that the eldest young lady is carrying a bastard and wants to pin it on our family?"
Duan Jinxing’s expression darkened instantly. "Mother, watch your words!"
"The reputation of the Marquis’s legitimate daughter is not to be slandered!"
"Do you wish to turn an alliance into enmity?"
"Our family is of humble means. If we become enemies of the Marquis’s Mansion, what fate awaits us?"
"Such baseless accusations must never leave your lips again, or you’ll bring ruin upon us all!"
Duan’s mother paled, hastily replying, "I understand! I’ll never speak of it again—not a single word!"
Seeing his mother sufficiently chastened, Duan Jinxing relaxed. "I’ll go study."
After he left, Duan’s mother sat alone in the room, alternating between tears and gritted teeth.
Her son had always been filial, knowing well the hardships she endured as a widow raising him. He had never once raised his voice at her…
Yet his first harsh words were in defense of his betrothed!
If he was like this before the wedding, what place would she have in the household once the bride arrived?
After a moment of weeping, Widow Duan wiped her eyes fiercely with her sleeve. She was no weakling who only knew how to cry!
So what if her daughter-in-law was a nobleman’s legitimate daughter? Once married, she would be the wife, and Widow Duan the mother-in-law!
A daughter-in-law obeying her mother-in-law was only right and proper!
With this thought, her heart eased somewhat.
In his study, Duan Jinxing flipped through his books but absorbed nothing.
His mother’s words had struck a nerve.
His outburst hadn’t been because he believed she was slandering Jiang Zhaohua—but because he had already harbored the same suspicion!
Why had the Marquis’s Mansion initially proposed a match with the illegitimate second daughter, only to suddenly switch to the legitimate eldest?
Though the arrangement with the second daughter had only been in preliminary discussions, with no formal meetings or betrothal, Duan Jinxing was certain—the initial proposal had been for the second daughter!
The Duan family was humble, barely suitable for an illegitimate daughter. Why would the Marquis’s Mansion offer their only legitimate daughter?
Unless… unless the eldest daughter had some grave flaw.
A flaw so severe that she couldn’t marry into a prestigious family, forcing her to wed a poor scholar who could be controlled by the Marquis’s Mansion!
Yet everyone knew Jiang Zhaohua was a celebrated talent, flawless in appearance.
After much deliberation, Duan Jinxing could think of only one possibility—a woman’s most critical virtue: her chastity.
Now, with the wedding date set so urgently, Duan Jinxing and his mother shared the same suspicion—Jiang Zhaohua might already be with child!
But while his mother had blurted it out recklessly, Duan Jinxing buried the thought deep within.
His fists clenched, veins bulging—no man could endure such humiliation!
His mind drifted to the second daughter he had seen at the banquet. Though illegitimate, she surpassed her elder sister in beauty, pure and untainted like a lotus rising from clear waters…
If the arrangement hadn’t changed, and he were to marry the second daughter instead…
His thoughts wandered for a long moment—but no! The legitimate eldest daughter was still the better choice!
Even if she had lost her virtue, even if she carried another man’s child, the Marquis and Lady Hou’s treasured daughter was infinitely more valuable than the second.
Marrying the legitimate daughter would truly bind him to the Marquis’s Mansion.
To ensure their beloved daughter’s happiness, they would surely support him!
And if she had indeed cuckolded him, their guilt would only mean greater compensation.
As for the child… Duan Jinxing closed his eyes, forcing himself to accept it.
To reach heights others could not, he must endure what others would not.
He would feign ignorance and raise the child as his own.
Bringing a child into this world is easy, but raising them safely to adulthood is the true challenge...
Yet he must not act too soon. He must endure—endure until the eldest daughter of the Marquis's Mansion bears him two more children...
Only then can he remove that illegitimate son, clearing the way for his rightful heir.
