I've Got This Cannon Fodder Trope Covered!

Chapter 87 and 88

"His Highness the Crown Prince?" Wei Hanzhang looked startled, displaying just the right amount of surprise before carefully thinking it over. "Since returning to the capital, whenever I went out, it was either to accompany Mother to gatherings or to go with Sixth Sister to spend time with other noblewomen. I never encountered His Highness and all my outings can be traced."

"Oh?" Wei Ping's eyes lifted sharply, looking straight at her. "So you're saying that today was the first time you met His Highness, and he personally helped you up?"

Without hesitation, Wei Hanzhang replied, "I don't know why His Highness extended his hand to help, but it was indeed the first time I've met him."

Wei Ping closed his eyes, seemingly deep in thought, without saying another word. Old Madam Liu took over the conversation, scrutinizing her granddaughter from head to toe before saying slowly, "Then, Ranran, in your opinion, did His Highness have any other intentions behind his gesture today?"

"Mother!" Wei Heng, seated nearby, couldn't hold back. "Ranran is still an unmarried girl, and it's not proper to ask such questions."

"Why not?" Old Madam Liu replied, "If His Highness had no other intentions, we can proceed with the match for Ranran and Fourth Young Master Qian. If otherwise..."

She paused, sighing, "Then it seems our Wei family may indeed be harboring a true phoenix."

Her words left the room in silence for a few moments, filled with faint disappointment. But deep down, they couldn't say they hadn't anticipated this outcome.

After all, His Highness had always shown indifference to women. It seemed unlikely he would have such thoughts about a girl who had yet to come of age, especially after a single encounter.

The silence was broken by Wei Hanzhang herself.

"I don't wish to marry Fourth Young Master Qian," she said firmly.

Wei Ping, still with his eyes closed, paid her no mind. Having confirmed the Crown Prince had no particular interest in this granddaughter, he was no longer concerned with other matters. Old Madam Liu also dropped her kind façade, sipping her tea without a word.

With neither her parents nor her elder brother speaking up, Wei Hanzhang felt trapped in the silence and indifference. Just then, a gentle voice came from the side.

"What's wrong?" Her father, Wei Heng, asked. "What about Young Master Qian displeased our Ranran?"

Hearing his question, Wei Hanzhang's nose stung slightly, but she quickly held back her emotions. She took a breath and recounted, in detail and with composure, how Qian Chengyun had brought his mistress to their meeting.

In conclusion, she said resolutely, "I will not marry a man who has already prepared to indulge his concubine and neglect his wife before even taking a bride."

"A concubine is still a concubine; no matter how favored, she can't surpass the wife," Old Madam Liu interjected before Wei Heng could speak. "He has an outside woman now, but who knows how long she'll be favored? Don't be so narrow-minded, comparing yourself with someone of lowly status."

"Which nobleman's household doesn't have a few concubines and maids in the rear court? Is it that your maternal uncles in the Jiang family don't, or is it that your father's household is clean? Why make such a fuss over it?"

Old Madam Liu, still upset from earlier criticism, vented her frustration on this granddaughter who hadn't been raised by her side. She continued coldly, "Refusing this match and that one—do you think, as a girl whose engagement was called off, you still have the right to be so selective?"