May Parker's Threat
Cynthia Wu shot to her feet, grabbed the wooden box at hand, and hurled it at May Parker, cursing furiously: "Get out of here! You think everyone is as shameless as you? You think I care about your gossip? I wouldn’t dirty my mouth with your nonsense!"
May Parker jumped aside to dodge the box and said, "And you, Lily Evans, you better remember—if you dare to spread rumors and I get in trouble, I’ll make sure Cynthia Wu suffers for it!"
May Parker ran off, leaving Cynthia Wu trembling with rage. What a mess—clearly it was the Evans siblings who set her up, yet she had to swallow her grievances in silence.
Lily Evans was angry too, but for the sake of Cynthia Wu’s reputation, she had no choice but to let the matter drop. Otherwise, with the Evans siblings working together to smear Cynthia Wu, even if she had eight mouths she couldn’t clear her name.
"Caiwei, let’s not get worked up. The dirty tricks May Parker pulled will never be respectable. And that Benjamin Zhang isn’t any good either. Arthur Evans and May’s little scheme might not work out. Who knows, maybe they’ll lose both the bride and the money!" Lily Evans said.
"True, Benjamin Zhang wouldn’t have set up this whole thing if he were easy to deal with. May Parker wants to marry into the Miller Estate, but I think that’s a long shot," Cynthia Wu nodded.
After threatening Cynthia Wu and Lily Evans, May Parker felt a weight lift off her chest and headed home in high spirits.
Seeing her mother, Helen Parker, May Parker was too ashamed to mention sneaking into someone’s bed. Instead, she said she’d spent the day with her brother and met a wealthy young man from the academy, who promised to propose soon.
"Oh my, my daughter is such a blessing! She brings honor to her mother!" Helen Parker was grinning from ear to ear, pulling May Parker close and boasting loudly, "My girl is pretty and has a good temperament. I’ve always said May Parker is destined to marry into a wealthy family and become a proper lady!"
Helen Parker couldn’t wait to brag to Susan Evans. "Did you hear that? My daughter is about to be the lady of a rich family! Tsk tsk, just look at your Lana Evans—so dark and skinny. But our May Parker is generous; she remembers sisterly love and will help Lana in the future. When the Miller Estate has some respectable servant boys, we’ll pick out a good match for Lana too!"
Susan Evans flew into a rage and snapped, "Give me a break! Your daughter wants to be a lady of the house? Where’s the betrothal money? Has the matchmaker even come knocking? There’s not even a hint of a formal proposal—aren’t you afraid people will laugh at you? Maybe that rich young man is just playing around, looking for something new. And you actually believe it? Have you even looked at your daughter? She’s just a village girl dreaming of marrying up. Stop dreaming!"
Helen Parker and Susan Evans started squabbling again, their voices rising as they hurled insults back and forth. Arthur Evans looked at the two quarreling women with utter contempt, stuffed the silver Benjamin Zhang had given him into his sleeve, and went off to find Grandma Evans.
"Grandma, here’s fifty taels of silver. The Zhang family gave it as betrothal money for May Parker. Take it and go arrange the proposal with the county magistrate’s family." Arthur Evans set the silver in front of Grandma Evans.
Grandma Evans paused in surprise, picked up the silver, and examined it—fifty taels, just as Arthur Evans said.
"Ah, our Arthur Evans really is the most capable! Studying in the city makes all the difference—he knows all the wealthy young men, the cream of the crop, and even found a fine match for his sister. From now on, I’ll just wait to bask in Arthur’s glory!" Grandma Evans praised him repeatedly, put away the silver, and resolved to visit the Zhang family the next day to settle the engagement, so she could rest easy.
News of Arthur Evans’s engagement spread like wildfire through Clearwater Village. As for the source of the betrothal silver, Lily Evans just curled her lip in disdain—she didn’t buy any of it.
But just as Arthur Evans’s engagement was sealed, yet another explosive piece of gossip about the Evans family swept through the village...