Chapter 5: Blocking the Regent's Way
Yun Yi's face changed drastically when she heard this. She turned back to look at Su Wanyu in horror and said, "Miss, we are blocking the Regent's way!"
Whenever the Regent travels, it is as if the emperor himself is present. People along the way all make way for him and no one dares to offend him in the slightest.
If the carriage collided with it, the consequences would be disastrous.
"Miss, what should I do?"
"Don't panic, we'll just make way." Su Wanyu's expression was slightly gloomy, and she pulled open the curtain and looked forward.
In front of her, she saw a magnificent golden carriage with five horses. It was indeed very noble. At just one glance, Su Wanyu felt an overwhelming pressure coming towards her.
At this time, a slender hand stretched out from the curtain of the golden chariot.
With a flick of his finger, a man's deep and magnetic voice rang out: "Forget it, let's go to East Street."
Su Wanyu's gaze fell on the man's drooping purple sleeves, and she couldn't help feeling a little dazed.
On the fine silk, clusters of autumn osmanthus flowers were embroidered with gold thread. The embroidery was unique and extremely rare. She seemed to have seen something similar somewhere.
Just as Su Wanyu was puzzled, the Regent's carriage had already changed its route and left.
Yun Yi slumped down on the ground, patted his chest and said, "It was a close call. If we had offended him, we would probably not have survived."
Su Wanyu retracted her gaze, calmed down, and comforted her: "The Regent has left, don't worry anymore, let's go back to the mansion, today is a festive day, we can't delay."
"Yes, miss." Yun Yi stood up, straightened her clothes, and bowed slightly.
The carriage continued to move forward and finally stopped in front of the gate of Changping Marquis Mansion.
Su Wanyu entered from the main door, while Jiang Yingying's green sedan stopped at the side door.
At the same time, Mrs. Zheng and Mrs. Guo were already waiting in the front hall.
Although they were somewhat dissatisfied with Su Wanyu, they did not dare to blame her at this moment.
Last night, Su Wanyu hid all her dowry overnight. The Zheng family still wants her to continue to support the entire family, so they are not ready to openly become her enemy yet.
After Su Wanyu entered the mansion, she went to the front hall to pay her respects to Old Madam Zheng and Guo.
Taking a concubine was not a big deal, so not many people came. In addition to the two of them, there was also Wang from the first wife, who was Su Wanyu's sister-in-law.
Wang had been a widow for many years, raising three daughters. She had always looked down on Su Wanyu and fought with her on everything, all for the sake of controlling the stewardship of the Zheng family. She was both greedy and stupid.
Su Wanyu bowed to them one by one and sat down aside.
Wang said sarcastically, "Second brother's wife is really virtuous. She was busy marrying a concubine to my second brother early in the morning. You may not know that my second brother almost smashed your yard this morning."
Old Mrs. Zheng's eyes darkened and she winked at her.
Wang rolled her eyes at Su Wanyu: "The old lady is biased. When she went to the Jiang family today, how could she destroy the Jiang family's reputation? She clearly ruined the reputation of our Zheng family!"
Old Mrs. Zheng's face turned pale. When she learned about this incident today, she was also shocked, but she had no choice but to stop Zheng Chengyan first to prevent the matter from getting further out of hand.
At this moment, Zheng Chengyan had been persuaded by her to go to the backyard, and she just hoped that this farce would end quickly.
During the whole process, Su Wanyu did not speak a word. She just sat there with a smile on her face, slowly sipping her tea.
At this time, Jiang Yingying entered the mansion from the side door.
She had just stepped into the courtyard, holding a silk handkerchief in her hand, and had not taken a few steps when four burly old maids came forward and blocked her way.
These old maids were brought as Su Wanyu's dowry, and each of them is a tough guy.
One threw down the brazier and the other held a willow branch.
Jiang Yingying looked confused: "What do you want to do?!"
The two old maids grabbed her arms and held her down tightly.
Before she could resist, a pair of shiny scissors was raised, and with a click, Jiang Yingying's beautiful long hair was cut off neatly by the old maids, and scattered all over the floor, which was shocking.
Jiang Yingying was horrified: "My hair..."
Before she had finished her words, the old maid had picked up the lock of hair and threw it into the fire.
Flames rose, the hair curled up and burned instantly, and a pungent burnt smell filled the yard.
Jiang Yingying watched her hair turn to ashes in the fire and screamed in despair: "How dare you cut my hair without my permission! Who gave you the courage? I'm going to complain to the Second Young Master!"
Women in the capital considered it beautiful to have long, black and shiny hair as white as silk.
Jiang Yingying usually likes to let her hair hang naturally, and occasionally picks out a few strands and fixes them casually with a jade hairpin.
The nanny cut her hair just now and made it shoulder-length.
Jiang Yingying grabbed the little hair left on her head, pushed the old maid aside, and rushed into the house.
The woman blocked her way and said, "Second Miss Jiang, according to the rules of our Zheng Mansion for taking concubines, since you are unmarried and pregnant, you must cut off a strand of your hair and burn it to ward off evil spirits, and then use willow branches to drive away the evil spirits. This will be good for you and the child."
"Rules? How come I have never heard of such rules? Go, call the Second Young Master out!"
Jiang Yingying's eyes were red, and she was anxious to find Zheng Chengyan to tell him about her grievances.
The woman replied, "The matter of taking a concubine is handled by the inner court. The second young master is busy preparing for the exam. You just need to wait for him to call you in the evening."
"No, I have to see him now!" Jiang Yingying's voice was hoarse, her slender fingers tightly grasped the hem of her skirt, and her joints turned white due to the force.
The woman pointed to the door behind her and said, "Second Miss Jiang, if you don't want to follow the rules, then please do as you please. The Zheng Mansion will not keep anyone."
Jiang Yingying looked back at the Zheng family's gate, her clenched fists slowly loosened, her trembling shoulders drooped, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath: "Okay, since this is the Zheng family's rule, then I will naturally abide by it."
"That's good. Miss Second should be mentally prepared!" Another woman raised a willow branch and was about to hit her.
Although willow branches are thin and soft and do not hurt when they hit your body, they are a great insult.
Every time she was whipped, the woman would scream loudly, just like how women who made mistakes were punished in the countryside.
Snapped!
"The second daughter of the Jiang family will enter the family with a hundred taels of silver. From now on, she will be a concubine of the Zheng family!"
Snapped!
"Once you enter the house, you must serve your master, respect the principal wife, and greet and perform formalities every morning."
Snapped!
"I want to give birth to a son for the Zheng family."
"If you violate these instructions, you will be expelled from the Zheng Mansion!"
Snapped!
The willow branch fell, and Jiang Yingying's pale little face was full of pain. She pinched her long nails into the flesh, and her once charming eyes were now filled with resentment.
After all the effort, she was just a concubine.
She not only hated Su Wanyu, but also hated the entire Zheng family.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Su Wanyu signaled the woman to bring Jiang Yingying into the main hall.
When Mrs. Zheng and Mrs. Jiang saw Jiang Yingying like this, they were both shocked.
I thought she was some fairy-like figure, but she turned out to be just a little woman in plain white clothes with messy hair.
Mrs. Zheng was immediately displeased: "Although it is a concubine, it is also a happy event. How can you dress like this? It's not time for our Zheng family to hold a funeral yet!"