"That would be best, then the family can talk it over properly."
Song Mingjian had originally thought it would take a great deal of persuasion to convince Yun Feiwan, and hadn't expected her to be so agreeable this time. His brow immediately relaxed, and he motioned for Yao Yun'er to sit down, then feigned an air of solemnity as he roughly outlined the matter concerning Song Jingcheng.
Upon hearing this, Yao Yun'er wore a look of deep concern and repeatedly shook her head.
"If I may say so, Second Sister-in-law, this is where you are wrong. That is a woman from a pleasure house; how could she possibly enter the Song Estate?
"We are a Marquis's Estate. Even taking a woman from a pleasure house as a concubine requires keeping it under wraps, let alone making her the mistress of the house. You actually agreed to this—it is simply out of the question.
"Reasonably speaking, when husband and wife quarrel, each has their own argument, but in this matter, since you call me Sister-in-law, I must presume to speak frankly: you are in the wrong."
Yun Feiwan cast a glance toward the partitioned alcove, looking troubled as she let out a long sigh.
"How could I not know that women from pleasure houses have a bad reputation? But Chenger likes her, so I stopped trying to block it."
Seeing this, Yao Yun'er straightened up and looked at her, about to retort, but Yun Feiwan gave her no opening at all and continued pouring out her grievances:
"You don't know, Eldest Sister-in-law, on the very first day Chenger brought this up, I refused. For the days that followed, it was the same—the maidservants all know.
"During this time, I appealed to his emotions and reasoned with him, saying everything there was to say, but I simply couldn't stop him. Just yesterday, Chenger even said that if I didn't agree, he would no longer acknowledge me as his mother.
"I... ah, you tell me what I should do. Eldest Sister-in-law, I truly have no other choice. I cannot bear to watch Chenger grow estranged from me; he is my only child..."
As she spoke, Yun Feiwan began to weep piteously. Yao Yun'er's features crumpled, and her expression turned very ugly.
Ever since she stepped into the room, she had been observing Yun Feiwan's expression. Her attitude toward Song Jingcheng and the whole situation seemed no different from before, with no discernible change. She figured she must have been overthinking things; otherwise, given Yun Feiwan's temper, if she knew this wasn't her biological child, she would surely have raised absolute hell.
Listening to what Yun Feiwan had said, it was indeed something Song Jingcheng was capable of doing. She had also caught wind of the detailed circumstances, so Yun Feiwan's reaction was entirely plausible.
However, she could not allow Yun Feiwan to just wash her hands of the matter.
She knew full well how infatuated Song Jingcheng was with that pleasure house woman, and she had already made her own plans.
Even if Yun Feiwan fought tooth and nail against it, she would step in to play the peacemaker and let the pleasure house woman enter as a concubine.
In that way, she would fulfill Song Jingcheng's wishes, preserve his reputation to the utmost extent, and drive a wedge between mother and son.
Three birds with one stone—it couldn't be better.
Yet now, Yun Feiwan had actually agreed straight away, leaving her at a complete loss for what to do.
She opened her mouth, and looking at Yun Feiwan, who had cried into a tear-soaked mess, she adjusted what she wanted to say. Though her tone became much gentler, her stance remained clear: she simply could not agree.
"This matter is of the utmost importance and should not be handled so rashly. Doing this ruins Chenger's future; no matter what, you shouldn't have agreed..."
By the end, Yao Yun'er's tone carried a hint of reprimand.
Yun Feiwan glanced at her, said nothing, and simply continued to weep.
Annoyed by her crying, Song Mingjian let his tone turn somewhat impatient.
"No matter what, I will never agree to that pleasure house woman entering the estate. Forget being a wife, she can't even be a concubine! I don't care what method you use, this matter must be resolved."
Yao Yun'er chimed in, "Indeed, Second Sister-in-law. If you let a pleasure house woman into the estate, our Song Estate will become the laughingstock of the entire Capital. Chenger is going to enter official service in the future. He's young and hot-headed now, throwing a tantrum in the heat of the moment. If you don't stop him, once he understands the truth later on, he will surely blame you. That will be the true estrangement between mother and son..."
Seeing that Yun Feiwan offered no refutation, Yao Yun'er talked all the more, terrified that some point she missed would lead Yun Feiwan to ruin her son through excessive indulgence.
"Thud..."
At that very moment, a sound came from the doorway.
Yao Yun'er instinctively looked back, and at a glance, she saw Song Jingcheng storming in from outside, her expression changing instantly.
"Chenger, why are you here?"
Ignoring her, Song Jingcheng strode over to Yun Feiwan's side and let out a cold scoff. "Of course I had to come. If I hadn't, I would never have known that Eldest Aunt was actually putting such pressure on Mother."
"No, I wasn't," Yao Yun'er explained with a panicked look.
Song Jingcheng, however, could no longer see a trace of her former maternal warmth, seeing only her duplicity.
"Earlier, Eldest Aunt said she supported my marriage, but now she's singing a completely different tune to my mother. I truly never imagined Eldest Aunt could be such a two-faced person."
Seeing Song Jingcheng's attitude, Yao Yun'er was consumed with frantic anxiety. She scolded herself inwardly for letting her anxiety cloud her judgment—she hadn't even noticed when Song Jingcheng arrived, nor did she know how much of what she'd just said he had overheard.
"Chenger, things aren't the way you think."
"Then how are they? I just want to ask: does Eldest Aunt agree or not?"
Yao Yun'er fell mute, staring at Song Jingcheng and unable to get a word out. She could only turn her gaze toward Song Mingjian for help.
Wearing a stern face, Song Mingjian reprimanded Song Jingcheng harshly:
"Your Eldest Aunt is only doing this for your own good. Just think about what kind of household our Song Estate is. As the descendants of a noble marquis, if you let a pleasure house woman become the mistress of the Marquis's Estate, how will we ever show our faces to our ancestors?
"How did your grandfather teach you in the past? Look at the great noble families of the Capital—is there a single young master among them who would take a pleasure house woman as his wife? Forget a primary son, not even a secondary son would do such a thing! Yet you chase after idle pleasures and disregard the reputation of the Song Estate..."
Hearing these words, Yun Feiwan gave a cold laugh. So Song Mingjian had known everything all along, and was quite the eloquent speaker at that. She had truly been blind and ignorant in the past.
Only, their son was not someone so easily reasoned with.
In her past life, she had exhausted her heart and soul trying every argument under the sun, but Song Jingcheng simply refused to listen. Filled with anger and grief, she fell gravely ill, and mother and son grew estranged. Now, it was time to let them taste that very same bitterness.
By this point, Song Mingjian could no longer care about maintaining a good image in front of Song Jingcheng. He proceeded to analyze the pros and cons of the matter for him. Listening along, Yao Yun'er nodded repeatedly, though she didn't dare chime in, keeping her eager eyes fixed on Song Jingcheng.
A flicker of guilt crossed Song Jingcheng's face as he listened, but it vanished in an instant.
As the primary son of the Song family, a Marquis's Estate in the Capital, he was looked down upon by the young masters of other estates. None of them liked playing with him, calling him brainless and a creature living in the shadow of his parents. He wanted to do something that other scions of great families wouldn't dare to do, just to show those young masters in the Capital that he, Song Jingcheng, was also a man with backbone.
"Grandfather never taught me to take a pleasure house woman as a wife, but Grandfather also taught me that a man's word is worth its weight in gold. Since I promised Yanran that I would bring her into the estate, I must keep my word, or else I truly would be too ashamed to face Grandfather. Yanran is different from ordinary pleasure house women. I believe in my own judgment, and I ask Father to grant us your blessing."