So… even before Second Aunt married into the family, Father and the others had never liked her?
Yun Xuesheng was stunned for a moment, the color draining completely from her face, leaving only her eyes, which were extraordinarily bright.
She should have realized this at the moment she died, shouldn’t she?
She didn’t look at the members of the main branch. She only stared at Old Madame Yun, who sat at the head of the hall.
Old Madame Yun hesitated for a moment, then said, “In that case, Yun Man will go with Tang Shi to the main branch and be registered under A Ting’s name. Yun Xuesheng will be adopted into Second Brother’s line.”
“Tomorrow, we will invite the clan head and open the ancestral hall to announce this to our ancestors.”
Old Madame Yun left, and the members of the main branch left as well. Yun Xuesheng could even faintly hear the brothers of the main branch softly coaxing Yun Man.
From beginning to end, they never once glanced in her direction.
Only the newly formed father-daughter pair remained in the flower hall.
Yun Xuesheng walked over, stood behind Yun Hong’s wheelchair, and gave it a push.
The wooden wheelchair rolled with some resistance, and she had to exert a bit of force to get it moving.
“I am a dying man. I have nothing to give you.”
A low, cold voice sounded. Yun Xuesheng pressed her lips tightly together. Was he lumping her in with the rest of them?
She felt a flash of annoyance at being underestimated, but it disappeared in an instant.
For all these years, the Chengen Bo Fu had stood in the capital on the strength of his military achievements. Everyone in the household, herself included, had basked in his glory.
It was only natural for him to think that way.
But now that she was his daughter, she didn’t want him to misunderstand.
“I don’t want anything from you.”
Yun Xuesheng paused, then said in a muffled voice, “I can support myself. I won’t be a burden to you.”
Her gaze swept over the blanket covering Yun Hong’s legs, and she added, “I can even take care of you.”
But Yun Hong didn’t respond. He closed his eyes, his resistance clear.
Before Yun Xuesheng could push him out of the courtyard, someone came to take over.
“Thank you, Eldest Miss. Just leave Second Master to me. Please go back and rest, Eldest Miss!”
Yun Xuesheng’s grip on the wheelchair tightened abruptly. She looked at the man who had appeared suddenly. “You are…”
“I’m Second Master’s servant. Just call me Wu Zi.”
Wu Zi took over the wheelchair and pushed the man away into the darkness of the night.
“Miss, Second Master is gone. Should we still follow?”
The early spring night was cold. Banxia rubbed her arms. She didn’t quite understand her mistress’s choice, but no matter what her mistress did, she would follow her.
“Follow!”
In the northwest corner of the manor, there was a small courtyard that had been abandoned for years.
Wu Zi pushed Yun Hong into the courtyard, chattering away. “Second Master, I did a quick clean-up here earlier. Just stay put for a bit while I go to the main kitchen to fetch you some hot water.”
“I’ll have a doctor come see about your legs tomorrow.”
“Ah! Eldest Miss, why are you here!”
Wu Zi turned around and saw Yun Xuesheng and her maid standing at the door.
Yun Xuesheng ignored him. She walked up to Yun Hong and called out, “Father!”
That single word startled Wu Zi. “You… you… what did you call Second Master?”
Yun Hong opened his eyes. In the darkness, his gaze was startlingly sharp, laced with a cold gleam as he looked at Yun Xuesheng, as if he could see through to the deepest secrets in her heart.
“Is Yun Ting really willing to go this far now?”
A mocking smile tugged at the corner of Yun Hong’s mouth. “Giving me a daughter for free?”
His tone was utterly contemptuous.
Yun Xuesheng was annoyed as well. If it hadn’t been for taking his daughter’s place in marrying the Crown Prince to ward off illness in her last life, would she have died?
At that thought, Yun Xuesheng glared back at him fiercely. “Who told you that you couldn’t even keep an eye on your own daughter? She stole my father, so of course I’m going to steal hers!”
With that, Yun Xuesheng crouched down, grabbed Yun Hong’s wrist, and began feeling his pulse with practiced ease.
“What are you doing?”
Yun Hong tried to pull away, but Yun Xuesheng shot him a glare.
“Just checking when you’re going to die, so I can be prepared. I don’t want your death to force me into mourning and delay my marriage.”
Yun Hong laughed in spite of himself. “I never asked you to be my daughter.”
He’d had a day where his wife had run off with another man, and his daughter refused to acknowledge him. Well, no—he’d gained a free daughter out of it, and one from his elder brother, who wished him dead more than anyone.
With a daughter like this around, he’d probably be dead before he knew it, whether he wanted to be or not.
Yun Xuesheng had no idea what he was thinking. Her brow furrowed, then relaxed, then furrowed again.
After a long moment, she withdrew her hand and said with absolute certainty, “I can cure your legs!”
“What did you say?”
“Is that true?”
A voice suddenly cut in. The two of them turned in unison to see, where Wu Zi and Banxia had been standing moments before, a figure in a cloak with a hood.
Seeing them look over, the newcomer raised a hand and pushed back the hood, revealing a pale face.
Handsome and refined, exuding an air of noble elegance!
His frame was frail, yet he carried a bearing that could not be ignored. A flash of imperial yellow was visible beneath the cloak. The moment he appeared, Yun Hong couldn’t help but straighten in his wheelchair, as if to bow.
The man raised his hand, silencing Yun Hong. Yun Xuesheng stared at the other’s face, her gaze probing, not noticing the man’s gesture or Yun Hong’s strange expression.
The person before her was losing vitality, nearing death, clearly gravely ill and surely in pain—yet his expression didn’t change at all.
A true man!
While she was lost in thought, the man came before her, his thin lips parting slightly. “Young lady, you said just now that you could cure General Yun’s legs—is that true?”
Yun Xuesheng instinctively glanced at Yun Hong, and seeing that he was also staring at her, she couldn’t help but nod. “His legs became weak because the poison wasn’t treated in time after he was poisoned. As long as the toxin in his legs is expelled, he’ll naturally be able to walk again.”
“Easy to say. That poison has no antidote.”
Yun Hong looked away in disappointment.
What was he thinking? A mere young girl couldn’t possibly cure the poison in him.
His dear elder brother would stop at nothing to win his trust.
Yun Xuesheng wasn’t offended. In her past life, she had practiced medicine and saved people, and she had seen such looks many times. “I never said I could cure the poison. Didn’t you want someone who could heal your legs?”
“I can heal them!”
She produced a set of silver needles from her sleeve. “I just need to force the toxin out of your legs using these needles.”
The silver needles Yun Xuesheng brought out were left to her by her mother, and they were clearly no ordinary items—both men had discerning eyes.
“My medical skills all come from my mother.”
Yun Hong recalled that his elder sister-in-law had indeed been a physician, and his breathing unconsciously quickened.
Heaven knew how much he had suffered during the time he couldn’t stand.
As a general, he would rather die on the battlefield wrapped in horsehide than live like a cripple, unable to take a single step.
If not for his wife and daughter, he wouldn’t have wanted to return at all—but he never expected to face such a scene upon coming back.
Now it seemed, however, there was an unexpected blessing.
Seeing Yun Hong’s reaction, the man beside him knew the young lady had real skill, and spoke again. “Then I’ll trouble you with the general’s legs, young lady. If you can heal them, I… will surely reward you handsomely.”
Yun Xuesheng shook her head at the man. She wasn’t treating Yun Hong for gratitude—she simply had something she needed to guard against.
With that thought, Yun Xuesheng looked at Yun Hong with solemn seriousness. “Father, you are my father now. If I make you stand again, I hope you will agree to one request of mine.”
So that was it!
Yun Hong wasn’t surprised. After all these years, he had grown accustomed to this—this convenient daughter was indeed sent by Yun Ting.
They had gone to great lengths to put on such a show.
Yun Hong gave a self-deprecating smile, ignoring the faint discomfort in his heart, and looked at Yun Xuesheng with mockery. “Go on, what do you want?”
Yun Xuesheng shook her head. “I don’t want anything.”
“I only ask that you promise me.”
“In the future, don’t let them marry me off to the Crown Prince to ward off his illness!”