If one were to speak of Wen Ye's smooth-sailing life in her second reincarnation, the only thing that could be marginally considered an 'obstacle' was her birth mother, Concubine Chang.
And even to call it an obstacle would be an exaggeration.
It was just that ever since Wen Ye's fourteenth birthday, Concubine Chang had begun to worry about her future daily.
At first, she feared Wen Ye would marry into an unsatisfactory family. Now, she feared Wen Ye wouldn't marry at all.
In the main room, as a maid served tea, Madam Shen raised her eyes slightly, her gaze subtly sweeping outside the room. She asked, "Has Concubine Chang not left yet?"
Nanny Han, who was waiting at her side, replied, "The Fourth Miss is also there, seemingly trying to persuade Concubine Chang to return."
Madam Shen raised her hand to rub her forehead, which seemed to be starting to ache again. Even the joy brought by her youngest son's successful marriage couldn't offset this.
Madam Shen understood Concubine Chang well enough. Only that Wen Ye, the fourth daughter, had the ability to make her so reckless and inconsiderate.
Looking at the entire Sheng Jing City, Madam Shen had never seen any young lady whose marriage was as difficult to arrange as Wen Ye's.
After a long pause, Madam Shen finally spoke, "Go call the Fourth Miss in."
Her words couldn't help but contain a hint of resentment.
Nanny Han responded, "Yes."
In the courtyard, Concubine Chang seemed determined this time, unmoved no matter how Wen Ye tried to persuade her.
Wen Ye thought for a moment and finally said, "How about this, Aunt, you go back first, and I'll go see Mother."
Concubine Chang didn't say much, just stared at Wen Ye with her round, honest eyes. "You brushed me off like this last time too."
Wen Ye: "......"
Just as she was thinking of what else she could say to temporarily deceive the person in front of her, she caught sight of Nanny Han, Madam Shen's attendant, approaching them.
Nanny Han came before the mother and daughter, her gaze falling on Wen Ye as she said formally, "Fourth Miss, the Madam requests your presence."
Before Wen Ye could react, Concubine Chang's eyes suddenly lit up. She hurriedly pushed Wen Ye forward, "Go quickly, I'll leave right away."
After saying this, she nodded to Nanny Han and immediately turned to leave the main courtyard without looking back.
Wen Ye watched Concubine Chang's retreating figure, which showed no lingering attachment, and slightly pursed her lips.
The attitude of the lady of the house was indeed much more effective than her own words as a daughter.
Nanny Han suppressed a smile at the corner of her mouth, slightly turned her body, and said to Wen Ye, "Fourth Miss, please."
Wen Ye silently sighed, had no choice but to quickly tidy herself up, straighten her posture, and step into the room.
Nanny Han followed closely behind, raising her eyes to look at Wen Ye a few times as they walked.
She was Madam Shen's personal maid who had been with the Wen family for over twenty years. She believed she understood the young ladies of the household quite well. The eldest miss was dignified and self-disciplined, personally cultivated by Madam Shen, with every move befitting a young lady from a noble family.
The other concubine-born daughters, though lacking somewhat in appearance and temperament compared to the eldest miss, had generally not made any mistakes.
Only the one in front of her now - Nanny Han had only belatedly realized in recent years that the Fourth Miss of the household seemed to have two different personas in public and in private.
In front of others, she appeared to be a well-mannered young lady, but once back in her own territory, away from others' gazes, she would suddenly become as if boneless - if she could lie down she wouldn't sit, if she could sit she wouldn't stand.
Now, entering the hall, Nanny Han looked up to see the Fourth Miss curtsying to Madam Shen. As soon as Madam Shen said "Sit down," the Fourth Miss's bottom was already glued to the chair.
Nanny Han, long accustomed to this: "......"
This Fourth Miss always managed to make herself as comfortable as possible within the bounds of proper etiquette. Yet every time she took these shortcuts to laziness, she never gave anyone grounds to find fault. She grasped the boundaries more precisely than anyone.
Madam Shen's motion to pick up her teacup paused, her gaze flicking to the person sitting properly on her right. After a moment of silence, she said, "You should know why I've called you here."
Wen Ye inwardly heaved a long sigh. Of course she knew, but her face remained as docile as when she had arrived, and her brow showed a timely trace of remorse: "My marriage has caused Mother to worry."
Madam Shen used the action of lowering her head to sip tea to conceal her slightly twitching lips. When she raised her head again, she had resumed her usual stern and solemn image, and spoke directly: "If you weren't the only unmarried young lady of marriageable age in the household, I'm afraid the Wen family would have long been the subject of gossip in other households."
"If not for yourself, you should think of your younger sister," Madam Shen's expression grew more severe as she spoke, heavily placing her teacup on the table. "Do you really intend to drag this out until Wen Five comes of age?"
"I wouldn't dare," Wen Ye lowered her head.
At this moment, her honest appearance looked extremely similar to her aunt.
It was almost unbearable to look at.
Madam Shen averted her eyes for a moment: "...Your aunt came to me a few days ago, hoping I would quickly arrange a marriage for you."
Wen Ye suddenly raised her eyes, meeting Madam Shen's gaze.
That look seemed to ask: Why aren't you pretending anymore?
Although she knew that her stepmother had long seen through her true nature, being suddenly exposed like this was still a bit embarrassing.
However, over the years, she had developed quite a thick skin.
After a few breaths, Wen Ye returned to normal and said, "I understand. I will certainly advise my aunt when I return."
Madam Shen's eyebrows moved, seemingly unclear: "Advise her about what?"
Wen Ye faced Madam Shen's gaze with a calm and composed face, replying, "Mother has to manage various affairs of the household daily. It's wrong of my aunt to frequently come and disturb you."
"......"
She certainly knows how to shift blame onto others.
In the more than twenty years since Madam Shen had married into the Wen family, everything had gone smoothly. She had never been stymied by anyone. But ever since she had seen through Wen Ye's true nature years ago, whenever she faced her, she often found herself with words of rebuttal on the tip of her tongue, yet unable to voice them.
This concubine-born daughter, she didn't know how Concubine Chang had given birth to such an oddity.
"Your aunt might not understand, but I see clearly," Madam Shen said heavily after a long silence. "It's because you don't want to marry and become someone's wife."
Wen Ye's face showed surprise, and she was about to argue: "Mother, I—"
"You don't need to explain." Madam Shen slightly raised her hand to interrupt her. "Five years ago, you passed up the third son of a perfectly good family of an official from the Ministry of Rites, insisting instead on choosing Qin Silang, whose mother had been ill for a long time. As a result, just two months after the engagement was set, Qin Silang's mother passed away. He had to observe a three-year mourning period for his mother, and your marriage had to be called off."
Seemingly having her old secrets exposed, Wen Ye's downcast eyes flickered, and she chose to remain silent.
Madam Shen glanced at her and continued, "Later, when Young Master Zhang came to propose, you agreed. The wedding was just waiting for the national mourning period to end. But less than half a year after the engagement, you fell seriously ill three times, each time taking more than a month to recover. It scared Concubine Chang so much that she came to me, begging me to help you break off the engagement with the Zhang family."
Wen Ye rubbed her fingers.
"Not long after, the Liu family expressed interest in a marriage. Who would have thought that when the six etiquette gifts were almost complete, news spread throughout Sheng Jing City that Young Master Liu had impregnated a servant girl during the national mourning period."
Madam Shen paused here for a moment, slowly looking at Wen Ye, who was now 'channeling Concubine Chang', and asked, "Do you have anything else you want to say?"
Wen Ye thought to herself, as expected of the mistress of a household. Most of those previous incidents were the result of her own machinations, with her barely lifting a finger, yet Madam Shen had still managed to uncover some clues.
However, she probably didn't have any concrete evidence, otherwise Madam Shen would have presented it in front of her already.
Without evidence, Wen Ye would not admit to anything. She maintained an attitude of complete ignorance as she looked up and asked, "What does Mother mean by saying all this?"
"Hah." Madam Shen let out a cold laugh. "At a time like this, you still want to play dumb with me?"
Hearing the tone was off, Wen Ye immediately became submissive, her words filled with sincerity: "This time, I'll listen to whatever Mother says."
A rebellious nature, yet able to be both unyielding and flexible.
How did Concubine Chang raise her?
Wen Ye's sudden compliance left Madam Shen with nowhere to vent the anger that had been building in her heart.
This Wen Ye always knew how to be the most infuriating.
Wen Ye had never thought about not marrying in this life. If she absolutely refused to marry, she would be left with only two options:
One, to die from illness.
The real kind.
Two, to become a nun, eating vegetarian meals daily and praying for blessings for the family, never able to leave the nunnery for the rest of her life.
In this life, she had already become accustomed to being a homebody in ancient times, unable to go anywhere, which she could barely accept. But if she wasn't allowed to eat meat to her heart's content, sorry, she couldn't accept that.
Neither of the above choices was what she wanted.
Wen Ye was also quite self-aware. Although being reborn with memories from a past life was a rare and extraordinary experience, she never thought of herself as the first person to travel through time and change the course of history.
Nor did she believe that her beauty in this life would earn her a soulmate who would love only her for a lifetime.
Men who loved only one woman for life and never strayed were rare even in modern society, let alone in ancient times where the law and customs allowed men to have three wives and four concubines.
Her initial reluctance to marry was simply because she was too young at the time. She couldn't bring herself to marry and bear children at just fifteen or sixteen years old.
However, given the choice between "If it's inevitable, might as well accept it" and "Avoid it for as long as possible," she would definitely choose the latter.
Wen Ye's eyes darted as she thought. Since she had broken off three engagements in just a few short years, rumors had spread that this fourth daughter of the Wen family had a fate that brought misfortune to potential husbands.
Adding to that, she was now getting 'old' by their standards, making her marriage prospects increasingly difficult. Considering this, Wen Ye said with apparent thoughtfulness, "If Mother finds it troublesome, why don't I try to persuade the concubine?" As she spoke, she made to stand up.
"Did I say you could leave?" Madam Shen spoke, her eyes stern.
The bottom that had just left the chair settled back down. Wen Ye sat up straight, her eyes conveying confusion and bewilderment right on cue.
But Madam Shen knew that Wen Ye's current demeanor was entirely an act.
Outwardly obedient and compliant, but inwardly full of rebellious spirit.
Therefore, she said, "Though I'm reluctant to manage your affairs, for the sake of the future Wen family daughters, your marriage must be settled within three months."
She didn't want her future granddaughters to face difficulties in their marriages because of Wen Ye, this concubine-born aunt.
Seeing that Madam Shen had made up her mind, Wen Ye knew she couldn't avoid it this time, so she said, "I'll leave everything to Mother's discretion."
Madam Shen stared at her for a long while, knowing that this time she wasn't pretending. Her expression softened a bit, and she continued, "Don't worry, although your situation is a bit difficult, I won't carelessly choose a husband for you. When the time comes and we have candidates, you can choose one from among them."
Wen Ye blinked. She actually had a choice?
