“You knew full well that Grandmother favors Yun Man, yet you openly struck her. You were caught red-handed and reported, and you still didn’t know how to defend yourself.”
Yun Xuesheng’s face flushed crimson. “I did defend myself, but Grandmother wouldn’t listen to me. She only listens to Yun Man.”
“Can’t you use your head? If you were on the battlefield and knew you were outmatched, would you still charge in recklessly like that, seeking a moment of glory, only to end up losing everything?”
Yun Hong’s tone was mocking. “Is that what you want?”
Yun Xuesheng refused to concede. “But I got back Mother’s things, and I gave Yun Man a beating.”
“What would you have done, then?”
“Heh, I would have lured her out and beaten her where no one could see.”
Yun Hong’s face was expressionless. “And even if she went crying to the old lady, given her usual willful behavior, the old lady would only think she was lying. Even with her favoritism, she wouldn’t punish you too harshly.”
“So, do you still think what you did was right?”
Yun Xuesheng was dumbfounded, staring at Yun Hong in disbelief.
So this is the kind of person you are, Second Uncle!
“If you were this reckless on the battlefield, you’d have died eight hundred times over!”
After scolding Yun Xuesheng, Yun Hong gestured for Wu Zi to push him inside.
Yun Xuesheng paused for a moment, then returned to her room with Banxia.
“Miss, you scared me to death! If not for Second Master, you would have been punished by the old lady again today.”
Banxia clutched Yun Xuesheng’s arm, still feeling the lingering fear.
“Bang!”
The thing in Yun Xuesheng’s hand fell onto the table—an exquisite dagger.
Banxia picked up the dagger, her face turning deathly pale in an instant. “Miss, what are you planning to do with this!”
“Please don’t do anything foolish!”
“I’m not going to do anything foolish.”
Yun Xuesheng pressed her lips together and said in a low voice, “I’ve thought about it. Whoever tries to hit me, I’ll make sure they’re dead.”
Having been given a second life, she didn’t want to live so spinelessly anymore. But Second Uncle was right—charging head-on like that wouldn’t get her anywhere either.
Still, she didn’t regret hitting Yun Man today. She’d wanted to beat Yun Man for a long time.
“Miss, you can’t be so impulsive. Just endure it for now!”
Banxia put the dagger away and urged, “You’re already fourteen this year. In a few months, after your birthday, you’ll have your Ji Ji ceremony, and then you can marry.”
“Once you marry into the Yang family, you won’t have to suffer the old lady’s temper anymore.”
When Yun Xuesheng’s mother was still alive, she had arranged a marriage for Yun Xuesheng with Yang Ningen, the second son of the Marquis of Dingguo’s household.
Yun Xuesheng had grown up with him as childhood sweethearts, and they were only waiting for her Ji Ji ceremony before he would take her as his bride.
But in her previous life, the Yun family had swapped the marriage arrangement to Yun Man instead, and the Yang family had raised no objection.
If Yang Ningen had spoken up even one word back then, she wouldn’t have ended up being strangled to death.
If Banxia hadn’t mentioned it, she would have almost forgotten about this engagement.
She would definitely dissolve it when the opportunity arose. For now, the most pressing matter was to cure Second Uncle’s legs.
From what she could see, Second Uncle was still a man of integrity. As long as he remained this fair, he could shield her from the fate of her previous life.
Yun Xuesheng had Banxia bring paper and a brush, and she wrote out a list of things that needed to be purchased.
Banxia looked at the long list and said with difficulty, “Miss, our monthly allowance is only two taels of silver this month. That’s nowhere near enough to buy all these things.”
“Why don’t we ask Second Master for some? After all, it’s for treating his legs.”
“No!”
Yun Xuesheng put away the list and took out the jewelry box she had retrieved from Yun Man, picking through it. “He already suspects I have ulterior motives. If I actually ask him for money, I’ll never clear my name.”
But speaking of money, it reminded her—although her mother had been an orphan with no family, she had still brought some shops as her dowry when she married into the Yun family.
When her mother passed away, she had divided those shops into four parts—one for each of her three older brothers, and one for her.
What was left to her was a medical clinic.
In her previous life, Third Brother had managed that clinic, but in reality, the consultations and the sale of the finished medicine pills were all done by her—she was the one who made them.
But all the profits from the clinic had been taken by Third Brother to curry favor with Yun Man.
Fortunately, in this life, Third Brother had only just taken over the clinic, and she hadn’t yet agreed to any of his conditions. Everything could still be changed.
In the end, Yun Xuesheng picked out an unremarkable gold hairpin—one she had bought herself, not one her mother had given her.
Because this hairpin was extremely plain, Yun Man hadn’t wanted it, so she had been able to keep it.
In the past, any good thing that came into her hands would be taken by Yun Man before she could even warm it. If she refused, Yun Man would go tattle, and her brothers would only say that as the older sister, she should yield to Yun Man.
Except for her mother’s things, she had yielded everything else.
But from now on, she wouldn’t yield anything. She was even going to take back what belonged to Yun Man!
Yun Xuesheng picked up the hairpin. “Come on, let’s go shopping.”
…
Baicaotang was the largest herbal medicine shop in the capital. Not only did it carry all kinds of rare and exotic herbs, but it also had various tools for processing medicines.
Yun Xuesheng first took Banxia to pawn the gold hairpin before heading to Baicaotang.
Before they even reached Baicaotang, they ran into Yun Sumu and Yun Man.
The pair across from them also spotted her.
The moment Yun Man saw Yun Xuesheng, she suddenly shot her a provocative smile, then swiftly ducked behind Yun Sumu, saying, “Sister, don’t hit me, I was wrong.”
Yun Xuesheng: “…”
Fine, fine, so she was putting on an act, was she!
Yun Sumu’s expression darkened, however. He pulled Yun Man close and coaxed, “Don’t be afraid, Third Brother will get even for you.”
Then he strode over in large steps and, without even asking what had happened, lashed out, “As the elder sister, how dare you hit your younger sister! Where are your manners!”
“Yun Xuesheng, you’ve disappointed me so much!”
You’ve disappointed me so much!
The words from her past life merged with the scene before her in Yun Xuesheng’s mind.
Back then, after Yun Man had married into the main branch following Second Aunt, whenever she and Yun Man had a dispute, if she didn’t lower her head, Yun Sumu would say this to her.
With her mother gone, her closest kin were her brothers. She was afraid of losing them, afraid of seeing the disappointment in their eyes, so whatever her brothers said, she would do.
But only later did she realize that her forbearance only invited more severe humiliation from them—she was merely a plaything for them to curry favor with Yun Man.
They had never truly cared about her, nor had they ever treated her as a sister.
Yun Xuesheng suppressed the pain surging from the depths of her heart, silently admonishing herself: Don’t be sad, don’t be sad. It’s not worth being sad over them!
“Third Brother, you didn’t even ask what happened, and you’ve already decided it’s my fault?”
“I’m disappointed in you too, Third Brother!”
A flicker of surprise passed through Yun Sumu’s eyes. What was wrong with Yun Xuesheng?
Wasn’t she supposed to obediently admit her mistake?
Yun Sumu’s tone grew heavier. “Yun Xuesheng, who taught you to speak to me like that? Apologize to Yun Man right now, and give her something as compensation.”
“Otherwise, I won’t talk to you anymore.”