Farmhouse Green Plum

Xiao Xiang nodded repeatedly, "Yes, my family is from Xinghua Village. Before I got married, I was best friends with Song Ying and Luo Yanxing from the Shu brocade shop."

One of the guards whispered, "I heard that Doctor Song has a good relationship with a girl from her village. Brother, should we make an exception for her?"

The leader thought for a moment, then said, "Go to the Yuan residence and invite Doctor Song over."

After saying that, he asked Xiao Xiang, "What's your name?"

"Zhao Xiaoxiang, a commoner!" Xiaoxiang saw hope and was overjoyed.

"You just wait."

After uttering this sentence, the city wall fell silent.

Xiao Xiang was a little worried that they were just trying to appease her, but she had no other choice. So she walked to the roadside, sat down against a tree, and silently calculated the round trip time from the city gate to the Yuan family.

With half an hour to go before the estimated time, she heard Song Ying's anxious voice: "Xiao Xiang, is that you?"

Xiao Xiang's nose tingled, and she almost burst into tears. All the fear and anxiety she had endured along the way suddenly seemed to find a place to rely on. She sniffed and said, "It's me, it's me."

Upon hearing this, Song Ying immediately became anxious, leaning half her body out of the city wall: "What happened? Why are you here at this time? Hey, did you come alone?!"

She shrank back and said to the head guard, "Brother guard, she is indeed my friend. She must have something important to tell me at this time. Could you please do me a favor?"

Yuan Qing handed over a purse, saying, "Thank you for your trouble."

The guard, all smiles, readily agreed: "What are you saying, Master Yuan? If she is truly a friend of Doctor Song, then there is no problem. It is late at night and the dew is heavy, and this lady is pregnant. I will open the door now, and you should take her back quickly."

This woman is just a weak woman, and she is pregnant. Since it has been confirmed that she is Dr. Song's friend, she will not pose any danger.

Helping others is helping yourself. Doctor Song has superb medical skills, and Minister Yuan has a bright future. They are more than happy to do this favor.

At night, the city gates would not be fully opened; only a small gap would be left for people to pass through.

Song Ying crawled out and took Xiao Xiang's hand: "What happened? Your hands are so cold. You didn't walk all the way here, did you?"

"I—" Xiao Xiang began urgently, but stopped abruptly when she caught sight of the guard opening the door beside her.

The guards were very tactful and pretended not to have noticed anything, saying only, "It's late and the dew is heavy, you should hurry into the city."

"Thank you for your help, Brother Guard." Song Ying thanked him and pulled Xiao Xiang into the city. "Come on, let's talk in the carriage."

Yuan Qing thought that Xiao Xiang might not be able to speak up while he was there, so he didn't follow her. Instead, he thanked the guards again.

Before they even got on the carriage, after walking a short distance, Xiao Xiang said with trembling lips, "I overheard your second aunt saying that Chen Yunze is the only son of the Chen family, and Yanxing's mother didn't refute it. I remember you guys saying before that he's the second son in the family."

Song Ying's tense heart relaxed. "You're here for this? I thought something had happened to you. Oh, you scared me to death."

"Is Chen Yunze really the only son of the Chen family?" Xiao Xiang pressed.

"You could say that. He originally had an older brother, but he passed away a long time ago. Now he only has two half-sisters."

"So that's how it is!" Xiao Xiang breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling a weight lifted from her shoulders. "That's good, it's good that everything's alright..."

As she spoke, her voice trailed off, "That's not right. With Aunt Wang's personality, how could she not show off after Yanxing married so well?"

In the half year since Song Ying got married, she has rarely returned to Xinghua Village. She really doesn't know if Luo Yong and his wife have shown off about Yanxing's marriage.

She paused for a moment, then said, "Tell me in detail, why do you feel something is wrong?"

Xiao Xiang described the day's events in detail, and Song Ying's expression grew more and more solemn as she listened.

Everything went smoothly with today's wedding ceremony. Judging from our interactions, Chen Yunze is a genuine person with good business acumen and a strong moral compass.

But something was definitely wrong with Wang.

Song Ying leaned out of the carriage window and called out, "Husband, Xiao Xiang has a fever. We need to go back quickly."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Qing thanked the guards again and then walked over.

Once he was in the carriage, Song Ying immediately asked, "Did you notice anything amiss at the Chen family's place today?"

Yuan Qing looked at Xiao Xiang with surprise, "Is it about Yan Xing?"

Song Ying nodded and explained in detail the strange things about Wang Shi.

Yuan Qing thought back on the day's events and shook his head after a while: "The Chen family is indeed a large and powerful family, and their wedding customs are somewhat different from those in our countryside, but there's nothing strange about it."

He paused for a moment, then added, "This matter concerns Yanxing's entire life, and we must get to the bottom of it before we can have peace of mind."

"What should we do? Should we go to the Chen family to find Yanxing now?" Xiaoxiang frowned. "It's not proper for the bride's family to go to the bride on her wedding night. Besides, we're just Yanxing's friends. To outsiders, we have no status or position."

This is indeed a problem, and if we go directly to Mr. and Mrs. Chen, even if there is a problem, we won't get any answers.

Song Ying frowned, quickly thinking of a solution: "The servants of the Chen family must still be awake tonight. Let's go ask them!"

Yuan Qing added, "If there really is a problem, the servants will definitely be silenced. We can't get anything out of them by asking directly. We have to think of a way to trick them."

Well, let's sort this out first. If there are problems with the marriage, there are two possibilities: either the person you married is not right, or the person is not the legal wife.

The elaborate betrothal ceremony with matchmakers, a grand sedan chair carried by eight men, is the proper way to marry a principal wife. If it's just a superficial gesture to fool everyone, what's the point? If he wants to marry his real wife later, he'll face criticism, and who would dare marry him? Therefore, this possibility is very small.

“But the Chen family only has one male heir, Chen Yunze. If he doesn’t marry her, then who will? It can’t be his father who wants to marry her, can it?” Song Ying frowned. Madam Chen was very satisfied with Yanxing. How could it be that she was taking a concubine for her husband, and it was the proper way for a principal wife?

"Could it be that Master Chen is dying and urgently needs a wedding to bring good luck? Is Yanxing's birth chart suitable?" As soon as she finished speaking, she felt that it was absurd. Master Chen had a son to carry on the family line. Even if it was a wedding to bring good luck, it should be for his son to get married.

Yuan Qing looked at her and gently reminded her, "The Chen family still has a male member."

"Besides Chen Yunze, who else..." Song Ying suddenly fell silent, her face turning deathly pale, "...a ghost marriage!"

Yuan Qing nodded, "Only this explanation makes sense."

"But his older brother died a long time ago. To arrange a ghost marriage with a living person is just too outrageous!"

"And Wang and her family must be out of their minds! They're doing much better now, they're not starving, why would they agree to this marriage?!"