Chapter 62: The Double Ninth Grand Gift (Part Two)

The woman in red, as if she had long anticipated that someone would step forward to hurl abuses at her, knelt down at Wang Ziyu’s feet and said pitifully, “Young Master Wang, this humble girl knows full well that she is far from being as noble as the prefect’s fifth young lady, nor has she ever dared to compare herself to her. It would be enough for this humble girl simply to remain by Young Master Wang’s side and wait upon you. This humble girl truly does not mind lacking any official status, and is even willing to write out a deed of servitude for Young Master Wang. I only beg Young Master Wang not to sell this humble girl into one of those brothels!”

At this, everyone present froze, immediately pointing and whispering about Wang Ziyu. Even Tantai Xuan looked at Wang Ziyu in disbelief. What on earth did this woman in red mean by comparing herself to her? On what grounds could she?

Wang Ziyu was equally shocked. He had never laid eyes on this woman before in his life, and had no idea why she would utter such preposterous claims. “What nonsense are you spouting? I don’t even know you!”

“Young Master Wang, how can you turn your back and deny everything so callously! If not for Young Master Wang, how could this humble girl have fallen to such a state? If not for Young Master Wang sharing intimacy with me and ruining my chastity, why would I ever have been sold to a pleasure house by my own father?” The woman in red raised her face, and as the crowd took a closer look, they saw she indeed possessed a certain striking allure: phoenix eyes, willow-leaf brows, and cherry lips. As she lifted her chin, her chest heaved outward prominently—truly a femme fatale.

All the male scholars and onlookers instantly understood what was happening, casting knowing, mocking smiles at Wang Ziyu before them.

Wang Ziyu was sixteen, unable to resist temptation and having tasted forbidden fruit, which was perhaps excusable in the context of a youthful romance between a talented scholar and a beauty. Yet, driving the poor girl to ruin in a brothel was undeniably ruthless and dishonorable!

“I do not know you, and I never did anything with you!” Wang Ziyu turned to Tantai Xuan, swearing to the heavens, “Fifth Young Lady, you must believe me. I have absolutely nothing to do with this woman!”

Even Tantai Xuan was stunned in place, her mind echoing with the phrases “shared intimacy” and “pleasure house”!

The woman in red wept even more bitterly, choking out through her sobs, “How can Young Master Wang be so cruel? That day, when this humble girl accompanied my father to the academy’s back garden to tend to the plants, I happened to catch sight of Young Master Wang. You were so gentle and considerate toward me that I lost my heart to you. After meeting a few more times, you poured your heart out to me, saying that while you were obliged to marry the fifth young lady later, I didn’t mind and merely wanted to stay by your side!”

“Yet, once news of you and the fifth young lady spread through the academy, you grew worried that I would ruin things and wanted to cast me aside completely. You actually advised my father that my chastity was ruined, and because he could not bear the loss of face, you suggested he sell me into a brothel! How can someone as heartless and faithless as you not fear divine retribution?” Righteous indignation flashing in her eyes, the woman in red pointed straight at Wang Ziyu and cursed him.

Wang Ziyu’s tongue was no match for the sharp-witted courtesan, and he could only stammer helplessly, “You, you, you…” utterly unable to form a coherent defense!

The woman in red whirled around, facing the fifth young lady Tantai Xuan, and said, “Fifth Young Lady Tantai, I, Hongling, am not someone to be toyed with at whim. Since Young Master Wang is so heartless, I will simply chalk it up to my own blindness in misjudging a man, and I shall never pester him again. I merely offer the fifth young lady one piece of advice: once you and Young Master Wang are married in the future, you must keep him on a tight leash to prevent him from going out and ruining other girls!”

“You… you talk nonsense!” Tantai Xuan pointed at the woman calling herself Hongling and scolded her.

“Nonsense?” Hongling laughed coldly. “If I hadn’t shared a romance with Young Master Wang, how could I possibly know about his engagement to the fifth young lady? In our city of Zecheng, no matchmaker has even formally visited with a proposal yet, I daresay! Young Master Wang even told me that the prefect’s wife looks down upon his humble background and is trying to find a way to break off the match!”

Tantai Xuan was taken aback. Upon hearing these words, even if her lips denied it, she believed seven or eight parts of it in her heart. An outsider could not possibly know such details; if Wang Ziyu had not spoken of them himself, how else could anyone have known?

With a spin, Hongling turned and left, leaving behind a crowd still pointing and whispering about Wang Ziyu and Tantai Xuan!

Some even immediately followed in Hongling’s footsteps, eager to find out which particular brothel she belonged to.

Hongling’s subsequent business would be exceptionally brisk—a story for another time. For this “passionate and loyal” performance alone, Song Wenxian rewarded her with five taels of silver, making Hongling the greatest beneficiary of this entire farce.

As for the sixth young lady Tantai Zhizhi, she did not say a word, instead pulling Tantai Xuan directly into their carriage and returning to the Tantai Estate!

Once the crowd dispersed, before Tantai Jing could even open her mouth to ask, Ouyang Miaozhen poured out words like peas from a bamboo tube: “Wasn’t Eldest Cousin’s idea brilliant? After this, that scoundrel Wang Ziyu will probably never dare to pester any woman again; the mere sight of a female will likely send him fleeing three hundred paces away! Furthermore, his engagement to the fifth young lady Tantai Xuan has been proclaimed in such a bustling street, so it’s now set in stone. He’ll never be able to break off the marriage!”

Song Jiayali, however, asked with some concern, “What if your stepmother decides to break off the match? Wang Ziyu hadn’t officially betrothed the fifth young lady yet when such a scandal broke out, giving your stepmother a ready excuse to call off the wedding, wouldn’t she?”

Tantai Jing shook her head. Even if Lady Ye wished to dissolve the engagement, neither the sixth young lady Tantai Zhizhi nor her father Tantai Changshan would ever consent!

Seeing Tantai Jing shake her head, Ouyang Miaozhen and Song Jiayali believed her. It seemed Eldest Cousin had truly done a good deed this time. From now on, Tantai Jing’s life would be much smoother; she would no longer suffer from her stepmother’s tyranny in that household, nor would she be pestered by irrelevant scoundrels!

Tantai Jing looked up toward the second floor of the teahouse where Song Wenxian was hiding, and a smile bloomed on her face. She could not help but admire Song Wenxian. She had originally thought of him merely as a ringleader of mischievous youths, yet she never expected him to possess such ingenuity, calculating the minds of everyone involved so precisely.

What Tantai Jing did not know, however, was that all of this stemmed from Dong Junhao’s assistance. Yet at this very moment, Dong Junhao was already by the side of the Third Prince in the capital, and naturally could not concern himself with these trivial matters in Zecheng.

Upon returning to the Dong Residence, Tantai Jing took her leave of Old Madame Dong, preparing to head back to her own estate. Having spent a month idling away in the Dong Residence, she ultimately had to return. The Tantai Estate was her true home, and Tantai Jing would never allow herself to hide away and let others usurp her rightful place.

Old Madame Dong had her own informants and had long since heard of the events that transpired outside the teahouse that day. Seeing Tantai Jing bid farewell now, she took her hand and said, “Go back to the estate and handle the aftermath with a steady mind. Lady Ye and that fifth young lady have suffered such a massive loss, they will certainly not let the matter rest. If that Lady Ye dares to lay a hand on you again, use this old woman’s name to crush her. I should like to see just how many lives she has to dare strike you!”

The more Old Madame Dong spoke, the angrier she grew. Pointing at Nanny Jiang and Nanny Gui, she instructed, “From now on, whenever you go to the main courtyard, both of you must follow her. If Lady Ye dares to resort to violence, do not stand on ceremony—beat them first before anything else!”

Nanny Jiang and Nanny Gui chimed in together with a respectful assent. With Old Madame Dong backing them up, what did they have to fear?