The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family-Chapter 664: The Concubine Enters the Door First (4)_1

Chapter 664: Chapter 664: The Concubine Enters the Door First (4)_1

Bai Jinyan stood up and walked to the window, "I have already waited for you for five years, almost six now. Speaking of these things now, it’s already too late."

Yang Boyan was silent for a long time.

Bai Jinyan turned her head to look at him, "Is the engagement arrangement ready? When will it be settled?"

Seeing that she still wanted to help him with the arrangements, Yang Boyan pursed his lips and let out a breath, "She hasn’t agreed yet."

Bai Jinyan pursed her lips and smiled, "Can’t a young girl endure even this? I’ve waited five or six years and didn’t say anything even when forcefully broken off the engagement."

Yang Boyan remembered Pei Qian’s angry eyes, "She made a request, asking me first... to let you enter the family first."

Bai Jinyan raised her eyebrows, her smile growing deeper, "She’s afraid that when I enter the household, I will overshadow her and she will lose face, so she wants to enter later, right!?"

"She’s still young; I hope cousin will not take it to heart with her." Yang Boyan had already agreed to this matter.

Bai Jinyan looked at him deeply and nodded, "I will make allowances for her!"

"Thank you, cousin." Yang Boyan stood up and bowed to her.

Having settled the matter, Yang Boyan returned to Taiping Town. Seeing that Pei Qian was still ’angry’, he left her many gifts, saying that he would handle the matter she had requested as soon as he got home.

Pei Qian didn’t say much, "I will send someone to Cangzhou to oversee it."

Yang Boyan tried to cheer her up, so he approached her with a smile, "Why don’t you come with me? To see it with your own eyes!"

Pei Qian’s face darkened, and she gave him a cold glare as she stepped back.

Yang Boyan pulled her into his embrace, taking a deep breath, "What you said, as long as I can do it, I will do it all for you! Just as long as you are happy, joyful! After all, cousin has wasted her youth because of me; I feel guilty but have absolutely no romantic feelings for her. You must believe in the steadfastness of my heart for you! I don’t want her presence to affect our relationship. We are supposed to be together for life, to have a lifetime of happiness!"

Pei Qian’s tears welled up unexpectedly, and she wanted to tell him: the happiness he spoke of, he could no longer provide! Even marrying him, she could not find happiness!

Yang Boyan was wiping her tears again and coaxing her not to cry.

Pei Qian pushed him away and wiped off her tears with her hand, "I will wait."

Yang Boyan saw her eyes red and swollen, and he bowed his head, wanting to kiss her.

Pei Qian dodged it.

"Then wait for me to come back!" Yang Boyan said with a smile, reaching out to pinch her face.

Pei Qian dodged slightly, but not completely.

A flicker of bad premonition passed through Yang Boyan’s heart. Since his return this time, Pei Qian had rejected his advances, deliberately avoiding him. But seeing how stubborn she was, her eyes red and swollen from crying, he shook his head, "I will be back very soon!"

Pei Qian sent him out the door, watching him leave in the heavy snow, unable to hold back her tears once again.

The snowflakes kept falling without pause, and Yang Boyan simply packed up and left with Bai Jinyan to return to the Cangzhou Residence.

Pei Qian borrowed two guards from Chang Yonglin and packed up all the things Yang Boyan had given her in boxes, including the jade pendant passed down through his family and the set of red coral Little Chili jewelry. She had everything packed up and then sent it with the two guards to the Cangzhou Residence, planning to return it to the Yang family when the time was right.

When the Yang family saw how quickly Yang Boyan had returned, they thought Pei Qian was unwilling to even accept Bai Jinyan as a concubine and had sent Yang Boyan back home to cause a commotion. But upon inquiry, it turned out he had set forth demands, insisting on splitting the family after marriage to live separately, and requiring that Bai Jinyan enter the household first without overshadowing his principal wife in terms of prestige and dignity. These demands angered both Madam Yang and Old Master Yang, "She hasn’t even entered our family, and she’s already causing trouble about splitting the household. If she does become part of our family, what chaos will she bring to the Yangs!?"

"Mother! You just don’t understand her yet, she’s not like what you think," Yang Boyan said.

"Don’t understand? We understand enough already!" retorted Madam Yang. This woman was forcing her younger son to break off his engagement with a niece whom she thought highly of as a daughter-in-law. Coming from a family of lesser standing, an upstart of no noble birth, and yet so full of demands, who did she think she was!

Pei Qian hadn’t yet become part of the family, and the household was already so resistant and displeased. Yang Boyan could only say, "I have agreed to the separation after marriage. The family doesn’t need me to succeed, my older brother will suffice. And isn’t my second brother away from home all year round, hardly returning home, which is almost the same as being separated. After my marriage, it will be better for both parties to live separately and in peace!"

Madam Yang was about to speak further, but Old Master Yang stopped her, telling her not to say so much. The Pei family was also a family of scholars and officials, now an imperial merchant, and thus a good match for their family. It shouldn’t be any worse than marrying Bai Jinyan. Now that Bai Jinyan was still entering the family, it was already the best outcome. freёnovelkiss.com

Yet Pei Qian insisting on Bai Jinyan entering the family first was truly a self-inflicted loss of face.

Bai Jinyan had always been favored in the Bai family, managing the family business for many years. Not just the dowry prepared by her family, but she also had her own private wealth. Some had said that when Bai Jinyan got married, it would probably be like those grand wedding processions in Jiangnan with a dowry stretching ten miles long.

Now though she was taking a concubine’s place, the marriage between the Yang and Bai families would undoubtedly bring countless people to offer their congratulations. Her dowry, not all brought over at once, would also be turned into cash and transferred over, or brought over in installments.

The Bai family was furious and advised Bai Jinyan to call off the marriage and seek another auspicious match.

But Bai Jinyan was adamant, so they had to comply with her wishes.

The two families quickly chose an auspicious date, and Yang Boyan welcomed Bai Jinyan into the household.

Because she was a secondary wife, she avoided the formalities reserved for the principal wife, yet the ceremony she received lacked none of the necessary grandeur.

Bai Jinyan touched the bright red wedding dress she had prepared years earlier, her expression gloomy. Now, she could no longer wear her favorite red, and her wedding dress was useless. She had to wear a hastily prepared pink one that didn’t at all resemble a bridal gown. There was no formal and solemn wedding ceremony, no ancestral rites.

Sitting in the festively decorated bridal chamber, Bai Jinyan, wearing the pink wedding dress that signified her position as a concubine, listened to the boisterous festivities outside, and her heart filled with hatred that reached its peak. Pei Qian, once you marry into this family, we shall see how you manage to live under my hand!

Meanwhile, all the members of the Yang and Bai families were thinking that although Bai Jinyan was a concubine, her presentation still outshone that of other families who took principal wives, including Pei Qian. How would she surpass Bai Jinyan’s flair when she got married, how would she be more dignified!

Yang Boyan also worried that the Bai’s extravagant gestures would put Pei Qian in a difficult position. Even if Pei Qin’s family was generous in marrying off her sister, they wouldn’t strip their family assets bare for Pei Qian.

After discussing in Cangzhou Residence, everyone envied Yang Boyan. Cangzhou Residence was also part of Bei Zhili, not far from the capital. The affairs of Pei Qin had also reached Cangzhou Residence. Such a formidable figure, who could have the young master from the Shen family and Young Master Mojiu from the Mo family vying for her favor, turning disaster into safety and misfortune into fortune. Her sister would surely not be far behind in merit.

Yang Boyan marrying Bai Jinyan was already good fortune, and now to take in a daughter from an imperial merchant family, he would be enjoying the best of both worlds, both wealth and beauty, truly the envy of others!

After returning from the visit to his home, Yang Boyan was getting ready to set off for Taiping Town.

The two guards from Chang Yonglin delivered the trunk Pei Qian had entrusted to them to the doorstep.