Chapter 241 - 240: Ghost
Wang Sanlang was taken to the old lady’s Hengshou Pavilion in the late afternoon, disguised as a distant relative from the countryside. He was hidden in a small room in the backyard. The person who received him, hid him and relayed his messages was Mrs. Tan, the old woman who limped and served the old lady.
Initially, Mrs. Tan instructed him to sneak into the Rose Courtyard at night. He was to use sleeping powder to subdue everyone and consummate the marriage with that young maid. She mentioned, once they were bound by the fact of marriage, the old lady would arrange for her to marry him, and would add a generous dowry as well.
Yet tonight, Mrs. Tan subtly changed her instruction: she commanded him to hang Chen Afu from a beam, to make it seem like she had committed suicide after their consummation. He was told to hurry back to Hengshou Pavilion to hide afterwards. As the first light of the morning approached, they would find a way to secretly remove him from the house. In return, the old lady would reward him with 500 taels of silver...
Upon hearing this, Chen Shiying was so infuriated that his body shook uncontrollably. He nearly passed out. Mrs. Jiang immediately got up to comfort him, rubbing his back and saying, "Calm down. The good thing is we were prepared for this eventuality in advance, so Afu wasn’t harmed."
Wang Sanlang was taken away. Chen Shiying then ordered Mrs. Tang’s wet nurse, Mrs. Ding, to be fetched along with Mrs. Tan, who served the old lady. He had both Mrs. Tang’s residence and the Hengshou Pavilion watched over, restricting anyone from entering or exiting.
The first to be questioned was Mrs. Ding. As soon as she arrived and realized their actions had been exposed, she was so scared her legs turned into jelly. She kneeled down, kowtowing and pleading for mercy.
Chen Shiying said, "Tell me the truth. If you do not speak honestly, not only will you lose your life, but your entire family will also be executed."
Mrs. Ding confessed that it was the old lady who had sent Mrs. Tang over to Hengshou Pavilion to discuss the plan. The scheme was also the old lady’s idea. She thought of Chen Afu as nothing more than a country girl, who, once she lost her virginity, would not dare hold fanciful dreams of marrying above her station. Furthermore, Chen Shiying would never dare to allow his daughter to marry into a more prominent family, leaving no choice but for Chen Yuhui to take her place.