The proposal from Lady Mu Bai left Cai Wei extremely taken aback. She never thought this old pious woman and her family could be so brazen. Even her big 8-inch cap couldn’t penetrate through their thick skin! Upon this thought, she couldn’t help but laugh, not concealing the scorn on her face: "You flatter me too much, I don’t have the ability of Ma Liubo to act as a go-between; besides, the young master is already aware of the incident with Cai Ping yesterday. Even if she marries as she wishes, how can she receive attention from his family? It’s better to quietly marry her off to a stranger from another region."
In the beginning, she was satirizing Lady Mu Bai, implying that she was acting as the go-between Ma Liubo. But her last sentence, was a decent proposal. The ancient people viewed a woman’s chastity as more critical than life. If Cai Ping married a man from an unknown background, she might at least have some respect. Perhaps, if she behaved well, she might even have a decent future.
However, Lady Mu Bai scorned Cai Wei’s proposal. Even Lady Li, who was eavesdropping behind the curtain, was very indignant. She believed that Cai Wei had selfish intentions and was reluctant to help Cai Ping, hence made these cruel remarks to belittle Cai Ping.
Lady Mu Bai sneered, uttered an "hmph," and said, "There are numerous rich and powerful families that also marry kiln sisters from brothels with great fanfare. Sister Ping is just an unfortunate victim who lost her chastity. She is hundreds, even thousands of times cleaner than those kiln sisters. Why couldn’t she marry? Moreover, we’re not asking her to marry the young master as the official wife, but to become a concubine like you, to solidify your position. Why are you so ungrateful and putting up resistance?"
Lady Mu Bai’s shamelessness disgusted Cai Wei, who had had enough. Seeing her dead parents, she no longer wanted to indulge them in pretense and save their face. Therefore, she coldly mocked, "I can’t believe that you, as an elder, would make such a disgraceful comparison between your granddaughter and a kiln sister, so eager to debase yourself for the sake of wealth and power, and push your own granddaughter to become someone’s concubine? You’ve truly opened my eyes!"
Instantly, Lady Mu Bai, feeling angry and embarrassed by Cai Wei’s mockery, slammed the table in fury, stood up, and pointed at Cai Wei, scolding, "You unfilial creature, how dare you defy and insult your elders. I put so much effort into planning for you, kneel, and apologize to me!"
At this juncture, Lady Mu Bai attempted to put on an air of authority. Cai Wei, however, found her naivety amusing. She stood up, dusted off her sleeves, and said slowly, "Apologize? Are you even worthy of it? You should know very well whether you deserve the word ’elder.’ As for your hard work and plans, keep them for your precious granddaughter! Don’t waste them on me."
With that, she sneered, turned around, and walked towards the door.
"You stop right there!"
Lady Mu Bai, trembling with anger at Cai Wei’s arrogant attitude, slammed the table again and shouted, "You little bitch, you disrespectful thing! If you dare to walk out of that door today, the Mu Family will disown you. I will erase your name from the family records and see how you survive."
Without turning back, Cai Wei replied, "Thank you for granting me this. I couldn’t have asked for more. You should erase the entire family’s records."
With that, she continued walking out.
Lady Mu Bai, outraged, collapsed onto her chair, her face turning green. Mu Liankui and Mu Zhongli, Mu Chongcai and Mu Chongfu emerged from the Eastern Room only to realize that their plans had failed and they had been mocked and insulted by that little cheap hoof, which put them in a foul mood.
Lady Li also emerged from behind the curtain in the kitchen, cursing angrily, "That slut! Just because she seduced some rich and powerful man, she became so arrogant, even disowning her own ancestors..."