The atmosphere in the room went silent for a moment, then erupted like a boiling pot.
“Yun Xuesheng, you’ve lost your mind! You actually want to be adopted by a cripple?”
Yun Ting clearly couldn’t accept Yun Xuesheng’s choice. He didn’t understand why she had been gnashing her teeth and cursing Yun Hong just yesterday, yet today she wanted to be adopted by him. But what he couldn’t accept was Yun Xuesheng calling Yun Hong “Father.”
“Father!”
Yun Xuesheng raised her voice slightly. “Second Uncle’s leg was crippled for the sake of Great Wei. He is a hero of Great Wei. Now everyone knows Second Uncle has returned in triumph, but on the very day he comes home, Second Aunt remarries.”
“And she marries his own elder brother. Father, have you considered that once word of this spreads, what will people say about you tomorrow?”
If Yun Hong had died, Yun Ting marrying his younger brother’s wife would have been tolerated—people might gossip a little, but it would pass.
Whose household didn’t have some dirty laundry in the back courtyard?
But Yun Hong wasn’t dead, and that made Yun Ting’s situation troublesome!
Yun Xuesheng lowered her eyes. She knew exactly what Yun Ting was thinking.
It was because Yun Hong wasn’t born to Old Madame Yun, but to a maidservant.
Yun Hong’s birth mother had been Old Master Yun’s chambermaid. She died in childbirth giving birth to him, and Yun Hong grew up in the Yun household like a servant until he was ten, when he went to the military camp.
After that, Yun Hong distinguished himself in battle time and again, earning promotions and noble titles.
The irony was that when Yun Hong earned his military merits, the imperial title of nobility was conferred upon Old Madame Yun—his so-called legitimate mother who had never treated him well.
In order to keep a grip on the concubine-born son, Old Madame Yun forcibly arranged for him to marry her own niece from the Tang family—the very Tang Lian who had now remarried Yun Ting.
At the same time, the declining Chengen Bo Fu, riding on Yun Hong’s coattails, once again rose to prominence among the powerful families of the capital. Even Yun Ting, that good-for-nothing, was placed in the Ministry of Rites as a Yuanwailang.
One could say that the reason Yun Ting could now be sincerely addressed as “Lord Bo” in the capital was entirely thanks to Yun Hong.
But Old Madame Yun and Yun Ting didn’t see it that way. After Yun Hong returned home with his crippled leg, they squeezed out the last bit of value from him. Once they obtained the imperial rewards granted to him, they tossed him into a small courtyard and forbade anyone from attending to him.
To the outside world, they claimed he had been poisoned and needed quiet recuperation.
But Yun Xuesheng knew that was just an excuse from the Yun family. In the previous generation, the Yun family had only one legitimate son, Yun Ting, and one concubine-born son, Yun Hong. Yun Hong’s very existence was a thorn in Old Madame Yun’s eye. In Old Madame Yun’s words, Yun Hong was a vicious, ungrateful wolf who could never be tamed.
In her previous life, Yun Xuesheng had hated her Second Uncle Yun Hong because of Tang Lian. But it was also Yun Hong who had stood up and fiercely opposed when she was forced to marry into the Donggong to ward off illness.
He said the daughters of the Yun family need not enter the Donggong—he would go and negotiate with the imperial family himself. But her father, fearing he would offend the royals, had him bound and restrained.
Later, she died, and because of that, Yun Hong had exposed his hand. He couldn’t have lived much longer.
She and Yun Hong had both died at the hands of their own flesh and blood. What similar fates they shared!
Yun Ting’s face suddenly darkened. He stared hard at Yun Xuesheng, as if he couldn’t believe that his usually obedient and sensible youngest daughter had suddenly become so bold.
Or was it, as Manman had said, that her previous obedience had all been an act!
“Sister, Father and Mother’s marriage was calculated by a master and approved by Grandmother. As the younger generation, we really shouldn’t be discussing our elders.”
Yun Man, who had been standing with the Yun brothers, suddenly spoke up. “As for taking care of Second Uncle, there are plenty of servants in the household—it’s not like they’re idle.”
Yun Man’s words seemed to suggest that Yun Xuesheng was meddling in other people’s business. She didn’t notice that because of her form of address, Yun Hong—who had remained as calm as an ancient well—suddenly had a flicker of self-mockery rise in the depths of his eyes, and his will to live faded a little more.
Yun Man had always been favored by Old Madame Yun. Hearing her words, a trace of satisfaction appeared on Old Madame Yun’s face. Good—this was truly a child of the Tang bloodline, not siding with that bastard.
Her gaze toward Yun Xuesheng became especially displeased.
Even if she knew Yun Xuesheng made a valid point, Yun Xuesheng carried her son’s blood. For her to go and become that bastard’s daughter touched a raw nerve of fury.
“Hmph, your own father is still alive, and you’re already rushing to be someone else’s daughter.”
“Quite the filial daughter you are!”
“Mother, please don’t be angry. I’ll send her right back to kneel in the ancestral hall!”
Yun Ting was very filial.
Yun Xuesheng’s fists clenched tightly beneath her sleeves. She knew that if she didn’t succeed today, she would have no good days ahead, and her grandmother would never agree to the adoption again.
She couldn’t fight them head-on!
Yun Xuesheng suddenly lowered her head, her expression meek and obedient. “Grandmother, Father, your daughter is precisely thinking of Father’s best interests that I wish to request adoption by Second Uncle.”
“Sister has already married Father along with Second Aunt. Those in the know will say Sister is being filial, but those who don’t know will only say that Father has seized his younger brother’s wife and daughter.”
“Moreover, Second Uncle’s legs are already ruined. In the future… if Second Uncle has no one to carry on his line, what will outsiders say about Father?”
“Our family has only just begun to recover. Your daughter simply cannot bear to see Father troubled by gossip and slander, which is why I thought to resolve this dilemma for Father.”
“But if you do not agree, your daughter suggests that Sister remain under Second Uncle’s name instead.”
“That would also silence the wagging tongues and keep Father free from criticism!”
Yun Xuesheng’s words fell, and the sound in the room quieted. Old Madame Yun’s angry expression softened slightly.
Yun Ting also relaxed his furrowed brows, and even Yun Hong opened his eyes to glance at her.
Yun Xuesheng knew what they were thinking—they must have assumed she was jealous of Yun Man, which was why she didn’t want Yun Man to stay in the main branch.
But Yun Xuesheng knew that Yun Man would absolutely never agree to remain in the second branch.
Sure enough, the next moment, Yun Man panicked. Seeing the hesitation on Old Madame Yun’s face, she burst into tears. “Grandmother, I want Uncle to be my father. After all these years, only Uncle has treated me the best. I want Uncle to be my father.”
Old Madame Yun genuinely doted on Yun Man. Watching Yun Man cry, she found herself at a loss for how to choose.
After all, what Yun Xuesheng said made sense.
“Ah Ting, what do you think?”
Yun Xuesheng didn’t raise her head, quietly waiting for Yun Ting’s decision.
She already knew the outcome from her past life, but having come around again, a faint thread of hope still crept up from the depths of her heart.
In her past life, it had been a matter of life and death. This time, it was only about keeping Yun Man in the second branch. Her father had just been angry that she chose her second uncle—could it be that he might want her to stay by his side?
Yun Ting opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the voices of his sons came from beside him.
“Father, Manman never had a father before. She’s finally felt a father’s love—can you bear to send her back to the second branch?”
“That’s right, Father. Manman is so filial to you—just let her stay in the main branch!”
The third son even said directly, “I only recognize Manman as my sister.”
Yun Xuesheng’s fingers suddenly clenched tight, her nails digging deep into her flesh, a dense ache spreading through her heart!
Then she heard her father’s words, “Mother, let Manman stay in the main branch.”
After that, Yun Ting’s voice suddenly turned cold. “As for Yun Xuesheng, since she’s so eager to be Second Brother’s daughter—”
“Then consider that I never had a daughter like her!”