Chapter 244: Chapter 97: Broken Promise_3 Chapter 244: Chapter 97: Broken Promise_3 Old Madam glanced at Qiao Hui, “You’re getting married in half a month. Go and embroider your dowry! Qiao Xue is enough here.” Despite having announced her grand wedding and having set the date, Qiao Hui hadn’t left. She embroidered her dowry in the yard, which was to preserve her dignity.
July was not an ideal time for weddings due to the hot weather which made the festive arrangements quite dreadful. However, Old Madam wanted to see Qiao Hui married off during her lifetime. On the other hand, she was superstitious, believing that joyful events could bring blessings.
Old Madam lay on her bed and sighed helplessly, thinking back on recent events. She didn’t care about the increasing income from new ventures, as they were merely money-making schemes, but felt they should have been managed privately. Now, the entire Capital City and the estate were aware. The Lian family, despite being a scholarly family, was now openly engaging in merchant activities and had become a joke in Capital City. Yet her son did nothing to stop it; nothing was more distressful than this.
As Old Madam was deep in thought, Qiao Hui walked in and said, “Old Madam, the Chen family has arrived. They’re here to discuss the Eldest Miss’s marriage.”
Back then, when both families were negotiating the marriage, Old Madam had fallen unconscious for several days, which distracted the Lian family from discussing further, thus stalling the Chen family’s marriage proposal. Now that Old Madam’s health showed signs of improvement, Madam Chen naturally came to finalize the marriage earlier.
Lady Mo also wanted to finalize the marriage soon, but now that Yueying was being taken care of by Old Madam herself, she couldn’t make decisions alone.
Old Madam was very dissatisfied with the second young master of the Chen family, knowing his secret afflictions. Such matters couldn’t be discussed openly. Declaring the potential groom unfit due to his secret health issues could lead to strife and not only bring shame to the Chen family but also compromise Yueying’s reputation and her prospects for future alliances. The best course of action was to claim a misalignment in the children’s astrological charts.
Madam Chen found it odd that Yueying’s and her second son’s astrological charts were not compatible since she had matched them herself and found them perfectly aligned.
Old Madam responded indifferently, “I recently had the esteemed monks of Zhaohua Temple match their charts, does Madam Chen think I am fabricating all this?” To establish a marriage, both sides must be satisfied and there are many considerations, but to refuse a marriage, there is always a list of excuses.
Madam Chen, looking at Old Madam’s cold eyes and thinking about her son’s issues, suddenly got tense; perhaps Old Madam was aware, otherwise why would the attitude vary so much? Feeling guilty, Madam Chen said, “Since the astrological charts do not align, it must be that their fates do not intertwine. Old Madam, please rest well; I shall take my leave.” Regardless, using the astrological incompatibility as an excuse, the Chen family had a way out, and both families wouldn’t turn hostile over the failed marriage negotiations.
With their family’s status, finding an equal and satisfying match was difficult, but to find a slightly lesser match was still easy. If not the Lian family, there were other families.
Old Madam watched Madam Chen leave, her expression fluctuating. If it were not for the potential public fallout that could damage Yueying’s reputation and hinder her from finding a good match, Old Madam would not have swallowed her pride, wondering which other family the Chen family would harm next.
Yueying felt saddened knowing that her astrological chart did not match with the second young master of the Chen family. She had secretly met the young master of the Chen family and was quite pleased; she had not anticipated the astrological discord, and felt a subtle sense of loss. What she thought was a nearly settled marriage arrangement had unexpectedly fallen through.
Maternal Aunt Chen, upon hearing that such a favorable match had not materialized and catching wind of rumors blaming Yueyao for meddling, was furious. Already highly dissatisfied with Yueyao for not helping her send Tingchao to the Li family, and after an earlier incident where her son was beaten, her resentment towards Yueyao was second only to that of Lady Mo. Convinced by the rumors, she blamed Yueyao for speaking ill of them to Old Madam, “Third Young Lady just can’t see you happy.”
Yueying softly retorted, “Maternal Auntie, how could third younger sister do such a thing? Moreover, she mentioned the second young master of the Shen family, a man of many fine qualities; how could he be jealous of me?”
Maternal Aunt Chen was momentarily stumped, “Am I wrong to say she can’t stand to see you happy? If not for her, Old Madam would surely cherish you more.”
Seeing Maternal Aunt Chen becoming increasingly irate, Yueying felt distressed. Since her brother had become worse and more disobedient, Maternal Aunt Chen’s temper had grown fiercer with age, losing the composure she once had. Yueying was very worried about such a mother.