Huo Jun exhaled a long breath of turbid air, only feeling that Lady Yin was even more shrewd, pungent, and difficult to deal with today than before. Not only had her gaze changed, but even her tongue had grown glib.
However, he could not care about that much right now, and hurriedly followed her out the door.
On this side, as soon as Yin Weiyue stepped into the entrance of the Old Lady’s courtyard, she heard the noisy squabbling coming from inside the house.
“Third Aunt, please go back for now. Everything that could be said was already said by Grandmother and Mother just now. Repeating the same arguments back and forth won’t accomplish anything. The only thing we can do is wait—wait until the day our grievances are cleared.”
“Yes, Third Aunt. The Emperor hasn’t handed down the execution order at present, which proves that the Emperor also knows our Huo family was wronged. Tormenting Grandmother further won’t change a thing. If you anger her into falling ill, we juniors would be guilty of great filial impiety.”
The ones who came forward to block the way were the wives of the First Branch’s eldest son, Huo Yuan, and second son, Huo Jian—Lady He and Lady Su.
“Get out of my way! Filthy trash dipped from the marketplace, you two daughters of low merchant families dare to drive me out? Even your mother-in-law wouldn’t dare treat me like this! The three sisters-in-law of the First Branch are truly competing with one another to see who is more low-class!”
The one cursing directly was none other than the Third Lady, Lady Chen. She was never an easy person to deal with, possessing an entire repertoire of unreasonable harassment, and now harbored even greater resentment due to being implicated by the First Branch, having her home ransacked, and being placed under house arrest. After dragging the original owner back to her courtyard today, the more she thought about it, the angrier she became, making a detour straight to the Old Lady’s place.
The Old Lady had a head full of white hair and a face covered in wrinkles, but her facial features clearly belonged to a kindly elderly woman. Sitting in the only armchair in the main hall, her chest heaved violently, and an unnatural flush was on her face, likely from being enraged.
First Lady, Lady Feng, stood to the side, continuously patting her back to ease her breath. Hearing Lady Chen insult her two daughters-in-law, even the best of tempers could endure it no longer.
“Third Sister-in-law, although Zixiao and Junrong hail from merchant families, both sets of in-laws were deeply righteous. During the war at the border, they donated provisions for an army of one hundred thousand, enabling us to repel the enemy troops. They have rendered great service to the nation and the state.
My two daughters-in-law have also been well-versed in women’s virtues and precepts since childhood, raised to be sensible and refined, not inferior in the least to daughters of official households. They are legal wives married into my family with proper etiquette of three matches and six rites. Ever since entering our door, they have strictly observed womanly virtues without a single fault. Even if you want to put on airs as an elder, you cannot insult them as you please!”
Being subtly mocked by Lady Feng for lacking the dignity of an elder, Lady Chen sneered coldly, saying, “Eldest Sister-in-law, you are ever so adept at framing things. What family’s proper daughter-in-law would go seduce her husband’s elder brother, rushing forward insisting on being his concubine? I have worked hard without complaint for so many years since marrying into the Huo family, and now not only has our home been completely ransacked, but who would have thought that in the end, I wouldn’t even have the right to speak?” After saying this, Lady Chen covered her face with both hands and began to wail aloud in a singing tone.
The moment the issue of the original owner’s conduct was raised, the First Branch had no words left to offer. This was truly handing over a handle for others to seize. Moreover, this great disaster falling upon the Marquis Residence was indeed the First Branch implicating the entire family. Even if Lady Feng had a stomach full of arguments, she had no ground to defend herself.
Yin Weiyue clicked her tongue in amazement at the doorway.
The book mentioned that the Third Lady was adept at all forms of throwing tantrums and acting shamelessly. When Yin Weiyue read the book, she was puzzled; although Lady Chen was born of a concubine, she still came from an official household and was a young lady of a prominent family after all. Furthermore, she was the mother of the male lead, so her tantrums could not possibly be the kind of tantrums she envisioned.
Yet having witnessed the live-action version today, she finally had her answer: Lady Chen’s tantrums were precisely the kind she had envisioned, and even surpassed what was described in the book.
Back in those days when she had nothing to do in the deep mountains, Yin Weiyue had discussed this novel with her Eldest Sister, complaining: Why did the female lead have to end up with such a mother-in-law?
Eldest Sister thought for a moment and said: Probably the author wanted to create some twists and turns on the emotional path of the male and female leads, thinking that a clever daughter-in-law fighting an evil mother-in-law would be more engaging, which was why they created such an oddball like Lady Chen.
However, watching someone throw a tantrum in a book and having someone throw a tantrum right in front of oneself were two completely different feelings.
Although Yin Weiyue had entered the deep mountains in her first year of high school and seemingly lacked life experience, the person who lived with her day and night was her Eldest Sister.
Eldest Sister was decisive in action, generous in personality, quick-witted, and eloquent. While she might not be like Zhuge Liang debating a group of scholars, engaging in a shouting match with a shrew was second nature to her.
Over fifteen years, even if Yin Weiyue had not mastered ten tenths of her skill, she had at least six. She hated unreasonable people like Lady Chen the most. Just as she was about to step forward to engage in a grand battle, she was attracted by a slender, beautiful silhouette bursting in from behind.
The newcomer was tall and slender, estimated to be over 1.7 meters, styled in a simple single-spiral hair knot, with the only piece of jewelry on her entire body being the silver crabapple hairclip swaying atop her hair.
The woman had two strands of hair hanging in front of her forehead, her skin an unnatural deathly pale, and she too was pitifully thin. Yet her steps were light like lotus petals, and the silver-white hairclip trembled slightly with a luster. Although there was an urgent matter, she displayed no hasty posture, appearing all the more dignified, quiet, gentle, and elegant.
Yin Weiyue’s heart trembled. If she hadn’t suffered physically from two years of undernourishment, what a breathtaking beauty this would be!
Wasn’t this the person who had left the deepest first impression on her in the text? Not the male lead, not the female lead, and certainly not the fragile Huo Jun, but Lady Feng’s fifteen-year-old daughter who was soft on the outside yet firm on the inside—Huo Wanying.
In the book, Huo Wanying died even earlier than little Huo Dong, and her death was extremely tragic, which was also a major regret for Yin Weiyue when reading the novel. Although her appearance had deteriorated after being imprisoned for two years, her spirit and vigor remained undiminished.
Yin Weiyue had a very good impression of Huo Wanying while reading the book. Seeing the real person now, her favorable impression instantly skyrocketed, giving her the sensation of meeting an online friend in real life.
What a pity that such a lovely person had died so tragically.
Upon seeing Yin Weiyue, Huo Wanying’s body paused. Within a split second, her expression changed repeatedly. Although she opened her mouth, the words “Seventh Sister-in-law” remained stuck in her throat, unable to come out.
The book recorded that the First Branch of the Huo family had always believed that Huo Jun was the one who had wronged the original owner, so after the original owner married in, the whole household was extremely tolerant of her. Especially this younger sister-in-law, who as a woman could best understand the lethality of rumors against women. Even though the original owner was acrid, harsh, and picked trouble everywhere, she had always shown her respect.
It was not until what transpired in the back garden of the Third Branch around 3 to 5 PM today that she realized the person who had been humiliated and wronged all along was her Seventh Brother. With the sudden reversal of events, Huo Wanying was at a loss for a moment as to what attitude to adopt toward this sister-in-law.
However, Yin Weiyue was incredibly excited upon seeing the beauty, saying softly right away, “Fourth Sister, don’t panic, Seventh Sister-in-law is here.”
Huo Wanying’s heart skipped a beat.
Having her here was even scarier! Third Aunt was always overbearing and shrewish, while Seventh Sister-in-law was no pushover either. If those two collided, the roof would probably be torn off, and Grandmother would be angered to death!
On this end, Lady Chen was still wailing dryly. Knowing that no one in the First Branch could handle her, her mouth became even more unscrupulous, shouting directly at the Old Lady:
“Mother, even if I have to shoulder the reputation of being unfilial today, I must ask you to give me an explanation. Eldest Brother and my two nephews were involved in treason and have been thrown into the imperial prison, while our entire household has been implicated and kept under house arrest for two years. It is only natural and right for the First Branch to suffer punishment themselves—it wouldn’t be excessive even if they were dragged out and beheaded. Yet now, the high and low of the Marquis Residence are all taking the rap for the First Branch’s family!
Pity my Kai’er, who was the new top scholar three years ago, on the verge of displaying his great talents in the Hanlin Academy, only to be implicated and locked up in this courtyard! Every single belonging was confiscated, not to mention having no serving handmaidens or pages, even food supplies cannot keep up!
A fourteen-year-old top scholar, unique in the whole world, was ruined by the First Branch just like this! We accept this as our lot, but you are determined to destroy Kai’er completely! Today you actually indulged Old Seventh’s wife to openly run to our courtyard to seduce—”
“Oho Third Aunt, putting on a big opera show, are we?” Yin Weiyue cut off Lady Chen’s words before anyone else in the room could speak. Her voice was remarkably resonant and loud. A whole room of eyes turned toward her all at once, only then realizing that she had arrived as well.
Lady He and Lady Su instantly felt a headache coming on. Before one troublemaker could be sent away, another one had arrived. They both looked toward their mother-in-law, Lady Feng, in unison. Lady Feng also had a face full of helplessness, only wishing she possessed the martial skills of her husband and sons to kick these two out with her fists and feet.
Yin Weiyue did not care about everyone’s gazes in the slightest; her attention was entirely on Lady Chen. It was none of her business when this shrew cursed the original owner in the past, but now that she had transmigrated here, the insults were directed at herself.
This could not be tolerated.
Thinking thus, her feet nimbly stepped over the threshold. Just as she was about to display her prowess, suddenly, both of her palms and knees felt as if they were heavily rubbed against coarse gravel. Immediately afterward, her back felt as if it had rolled over on the ground, and finally her right shoulder blade collided heavily with an object.
This unexpected pain made her stumble. Her legs went soft, and she pitched straight forward.
In the next instant, Yin Weiyue was down on all fours with her head facing the ground, her face right in front of Lady Chen’s feet. The purple tassel dangling from the other party’s turned-up shoes was swaying back and forth with the wind stirred up by her dramatic movement.
Awkwardness, like bamboo shoots after rain, emerged endlessly.
The main hall instantly became so quiet that a dropped pin could be heard. Everyone present looked at one another, having no idea what performance this woman was putting on today.
Yin Weiyue appeared very calm on the surface, but internally she had already gone crazy. Was that Huo Jun made of paper? Could he really fall down just by walking!