I've Got This Cannon Fodder Trope Covered!

Chapter 8

Madam Jiang waved her hand, dismissing the two concubines. Holding her daughter's hand, she asked, "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Everything was fine," Wei Hanzhang smiled, feeling a deep sense of connection with Madam Jiang. "How did you sleep, Mother? You need to get well soon."

"My dear Ranyan, your presence has already made me feel much better," Madam Jiang stroked her daughter's hair, then asked softly, "Why were you so focused on your father's concubines earlier?"

Wei Hanzhang couldn't exactly say she was examining the female lead, so she smiled and replied, "It's my first time home, everything feels new."

Her casual comment brought a flash of guilt to Madam Jiang's eyes as she remembered the pain of their separation.

"All my fault for not securing my pregnancy with you. You were born so weak that you couldn't even cry. Your grandfather called for the imperial physicians multiple times, but they were at a loss. It was a wandering monk who suggested sending you to be fostered elsewhere."

As she spoke, Madam Jiang grew emotional, "When your grandmother heard of your condition, she sent your second uncle with a personal letter. You were less than a year old when he took you to Xuzhou, and now he has brought you back."

From a fragile infant on the verge of death, they had returned her a healthy, excellent daughter. Madam Jiang was deeply grateful to her maternal family.

Reflecting on the past brought tears to her eyes again, but Wei Hanzhang comforted her. Looking at her daughter, who was back by her side and approaching womanhood, Madam Jiang's expression shifted.

In a mock-severe tone, she exclaimed, "That boy from the Gu family! How dare he want to marry my Ranyan off so soon."

Her delicate daughter had just returned, and now she was to be married off? The more Madam Jiang thought about it, the more annoyed she became. She sternly said, "Ranyan, you must listen to me. Stay at home for a few more years and consider marriage after you turn eighteen."

Wei Hanzhang was taken aback to hear Madam Jiang mention Gu Yunran.

"What, did you think you could hide your relationship with the Gu boy from me?" Madam Jiang gently tapped her daughter's forehead and smiled. "Your grandmother told me everything. I'm not one to break up a loving couple. When the Gu family approached us last year, I agreed to the match. But there's no rush for the wedding; let's wait three more years."

The Gu family is an official family, and Gu Yunran is the eldest son of the main branch. His father is the governor of Xuzhou, a powerful regional official, so marrying the youngest legitimate daughter of the Marquis's second branch is not considered a climb.

Even the Marquis of Zhongyong has approved this marriage.

Wei Hanzhang was taken aback by this sudden information, "You agreed to this marriage?"

Madam Jiang, seeing her surprise, smiled, "Yes, he's the eldest son of the Gu family. He's over seventeen and at the age to arrange a marriage. Naturally, their family asked people familiar with both families to inquire about our intentions. Since I agreed, we're now waiting for them to prepare the betrothal gifts and formally propose."

Even if they were childhood sweethearts, they still had to follow the six rites to formalize the engagement. Without formalization, what if the bride-to-be ran away? Madam Jiang fully understood the Gu family's position.

Seeing her daughter's stunned expression, she sensed something was wrong and quickly took her hand, "What's the matter? Did you have a quarrel with him?"

Twenty days ago, hearing about her marriage to Gu Yunran being in progress would have made Wei Hanzhang happy, but now...

Wei Hanzhang looked down, leaning into Madam Jiang's embrace, and said sullenly, "A few days before I came to the capital, I learned that he has two concubines, chosen by his mother."

"Oh, is that all?" Madam Jiang sighed in relief and laughed, "They're just maidservants. Why bother with them? When you marry in, you'll be the main wife of the Gu family. A wife brings order; he wouldn't dishonor you for two maidservants."

The same old words...

Just playthings...

Treating them as objects...

They won't be in your way...

Even though she had grown up in this world, Wei Hanzhang still couldn't accept referring to a living, breathing person—a woman who shares her husband's bed—as merely an object.

"Mother," Wei Hanzhang called softly, raising her eyes and asking, "I noticed yesterday that Father also has quite a few concubines. Does it really not bother you at all?"

"What's there to be bothered about?" Madam Jiang, pleased with the rare opportunity to teach her daughter, patiently replied, "Ranran, take Concubine Lin and Concubine Shen, who were just here, for example. Not only do they have to serve your father, but they also serve me. If they don't do their duties well, I can sell them off without needing your father's approval."

Madam Jiang smiled and added, "When their lives and status are in my hands, why should I care?"

This...

Wei Hanzhang smiled bitterly. They weren't even talking about the same thing.

She decided to be frank. "All I know is that anything I truly love, I won't let anyone else touch, not even a little. Let alone someone like Gu Yunran, who grew up with me. He's not even allowed to look at another woman."

She had always been possessive. With other things, it wasn't as important, but once she had set her heart on something, there was no intention of sharing. If it were an arranged marriage without feelings, she could probably bear not caring and only focus on the respect that comes with being a wife.

But this was Gu Yunran, the one she had deep feelings for since childhood.

The room fell into a long silence. Madam Jiang looked at her daughter's tender face and felt a pang of worry. She hadn't realized that her family had spoiled their daughter into becoming so naive about the world.

"Where in the world is there such a man?" she said earnestly. "Even a common farmer, after a good harvest, will spend a few days at a pleasure house. As for the sons of noble families like ours, who among them don't have women by their side by the age of sixteen or seventeen?"

"My dear, don't get too fixated on this. For a wife, a husband's respect is far more reliable than any fleeting feelings of love."

Madam Jiang's tone remained gentle. "You've known each other since childhood, and that bond is different. Plus, you're from a Marquis family. Once you marry, he won't dare treat you poorly. As long as you stand firm, what does it matter how many concubines he has in his courtyard?"

"If you respect each other and support one another, you can live out your lives that way. Those concubines won't be in the family records when they're alive, nor will they be buried in the ancestral tomb when they die. Does it matter if he likes them?"

Wei Hanzhang was silent.

Madam Jiang continued, "If one of them becomes difficult, you can simply sell her off and find a few more obedient ones to take in. That will ensure peace in the household."

"You saw Cocubine Shen just now, didn't you? She's given birth to two sons and a daughter, yet every day she's here before dawn to serve me, as obedient as ever. Your father is somewhat fond of her, but he's never treated me poorly because of a concubine."

Wei Hanzhang listened to her mother's words and couldn't find a response.

For these noblewomen, finding women for their husbands was as natural as buying clothes. Was she supposed to willingly bring concubines into Gu Yunran's life in the future?