Tang Zhuyun felt that it would be a fool for her to believe Xiu'er's words.
"I'll only bet five hundred taels; I advise you not to bet it all."
It wasn't that she didn't trust the Prince of Jin, but rather that she simply couldn't imagine what it would be like for the Prince of Yong to stand out from the crowd.
"It's alright." Xiu'er took the thousand taels of silver and happily went off.
Because she had too much money, she was worried and dragged Song Jingyang along with her.
Song Jingyang's lips twitched when he learned the amount the master and servant had bet.
Xiu'er squinted at him. "What's wrong? You're definitely hiding something from me!"
"Alas, the Prince went to great lengths to help Prince of Yong win, probably spending over ten thousand taels of silver. Even if the Princess Consort bets this little bit, she won't be able to recoup the investment!"
Moreover, this shows a complete lack of respect for the prince's efforts!
Xiu'er: "There's nothing we can do about it. The prince is just someone no one can trust!"
Song Jingyang sighed – the prince's road to winning back his wife was far too long.
Tang Zhuyun had no idea she was being criticized; the midwife arrived as soon as Xiu'er left.
Lüzhu brought in the midwife. After asking a few questions, Meng Yulan waved her hand and said, "Then let's go with her. Lüzhu, take her away."
Lüzhu agreed and led the midwife downstairs.
Tang Zhuyun felt something was off. "Sister-in-law, have you found out anything about this midwife?"
This seemed somewhat out of character for her usual cautiousness.
"I met her through Yingxue," Meng Yulan said calmly.
Tang Zhuyun: "Sister-in-law, are you going to play along? What if she causes trouble at this crucial time of childbirth? Maybe we should just forget about it."
Meng Yulan said, "I didn't just play along; I found this person."
Tang Zhuyun: "..."
My family helped me find a partner.
"Why?" Tang Zhuyun was even more confused.
"Because when my mother came to deliver the gift to urge me to have a baby a few days ago," Meng Yulan said calmly, "I told her that although I didn't go with Jiang Beihan, the marriage between the Marquis's mansion and Jiang Beihan might still count."
"You mean, you want to give one of your sisters to Jiang Beihan? As a wife or a concubine?"
"What they do is up to their own abilities; I've done my part in helping them."
Tang Zhuyun blinked. "Sister-in-law, are you targeting your particularly annoying half-sister Meng Yuqian?"
A few days ago, Meng Yuqian came with the Duke Meng's Wife. She spoke in a sarcastic tone, implying that Meng Yulan's refusal to marry delayed her marriage prospects, and now that Meng Yulan had a chance at marriage, what was she to do?
Meng Yulan retorted, saying that the Duke Meng's Wife had arranged several marriages for her before, but she herself disliked them, yet now she was blaming her.
Unexpectedly, Meng Yuqian dared to argue with her. In the end, it was Duke Meng's Wife who smoothed things over, and the sisters' dispute finally came to an end.
Afterwards, Xiu'er asked bluntly, "Madam, why didn't you deal with Meng Yuqian properly before? How come she still dares to act so arrogantly in front of you?"
Meng Yulan smiled and shook her head, saying, "She wouldn't dare in front of me."
"And what about her today...?"
"My mother is here. She's exploited my mother's weakness; my mother is afraid people will say she's not virtuous, so she doesn't dare to speak up," Meng Yulan said. "She thinks that since I'm not home now, I can't control her, so she's become even more arrogant."
Tang Zhuyun had always remembered this matter, so when she heard Meng Yulan say today that she wanted to find a younger sister to send to the Marquis's mansion, her first thought was Meng Yuqian.
"I can't make that decision," Meng Yulan, "But I suspect it's most likely her, because she's trying to climb the social ladder."
Tang Zhuyun realized that Meng Yulan was plotting against Yingxue, framing Yingxue for harming her, and then taking advantage of the estrangement between Yingxue and Jiang Beihan to bring up the marriage again. Given that Yingxue had indeed acted improperly back then, there might actually be a chance that it would work out.
Even if things really don't work out, the two of them causing a huge scene would at least vent their anger.
"A-Yun, don't worry about me. I've already prepared a reliable midwife," Meng Yulan added. "Besides, you're here!"
"Yeah, whatever you do, sister-in-law, I'll support you."
Tang Zhuyun got angry just thinking about Jiang Beihan and Yingxue; she had long disliked that despicable couple.
They live a harmonious and happy life; what kind of justice is that?
Meng Yulan touched her belly and said, "I'm not afraid of anything; these things are normal for me. My only worry now is that it's a girl, and I'm even more afraid that she'll be born on the Dragon Boat Festival."
Tang Zhuyun comforted her, saying, "Tomorrow is the Dragon Boat Festival, and I don't see any signs of labor starting, so you should be fine."
Song Jingyang called Xiu'er from outside. Xiuer went out for a moment and then came back in, looking utterly dejected.
"What's wrong?" Tang Zhuyun had a strong intuition that the scoundrel next door was up to something again.
He's been incredibly bored lately, making noise next door every day to get attention. It's really something.
Sure enough, Xiu'er said, "You'll see for yourself when you go out and see for yourself."
Meng Yulan chimed in, "Can I go and join in the fun too?"
Xiu'er came over to support her. "Madam, we agreed not to laugh."
Meng Yulan said, "Okay, I'll hold back my laughter."
Tang Zhuyun suddenly had an even worse feeling.
Sure enough, when she arrived in the courtyard and saw the things on the stone table, she was horrified.
"Did you redeem this from a pawn shop?" she asked Song Jingyang.
Because those were things she pawned at the pawnshop at the beginning of her transmigration in order to pay off her loan shark debts.
These things belong to the aesthetics of the predecessor, which are flashy and extremely exaggerated.
Now piled up on the stone table, it only reminds her of the "Shamate" subculture.
Song Jingyang nodded.
Tang Zhuyun's heart trembled at the thought of the pawnshop's shady dealings. "How much silver did it cost?"
Five hundred taels.
Tang Zhuyun wanted to die.
The Prince of Jin has plenty of money, he can give it to her! Why waste this silver? She can't use these things anyway!
Aaaaaaah!
"Your Highness, this is the Prince's token of his affection for you. Are you happy?"
Song Jingyang couldn't see any surprise on Tang Zhuyun's face, so he had no choice but to ask her, otherwise he wouldn't be able to explain himself.
Tang Zhuyun took a deep breath, "Do you think I'm happy?"
Song Jingyang exclaimed loudly, "You're so happy you can't even speak, right!"
Tang Zhuyun: "... Yes!"
She didn't want to say another word. Five hundred taels of silver bought a pile of junk... And what about Huaishang?
Does Huaishang know that the Prince and Song Jingyang are spending money so extravagantly?
Prince of Jin was eavesdropping next door: Tang Zhuyun is really happy. It wasn't for nothing that he thought about it for several days!
Song Jingyang scratched his head. "Whatever makes you happy. How about you add a dish for the Prince tonight?"
It was getting dark, and he was starving after running for so long.
Tang Zhuyun: How about we chop up the prince and serve him as sashimi?
Although it wasn't her money that was wasted, it was Linlin's money!
Meng Yulan saw Tang Zhuyun's expression clearly and held back her laughter until her Zidu hurt.
As the pain intensified, she realized something was wrong...
"A-Yun," Meng Yulan cried out, gripping the doorframe in a panic, "I think I'm going into labor!"