On the other side of the estate, Yun Juan was also stunned by the long train of more than ten carriages loaded with return-home gifts.
With a complex expression, she said, “Xiao Lanting, you really didn’t need to prepare so much…”
She was concubine-born, and her dowry was only a quarter of Yun Xiu’s. The items Xiao Lanting brought today, combined with the lavish betrothal gifts he had sent before the wedding, easily amounted to fifty or sixty thousand taels of silver.
Her father, Yun Cengguang, would probably wake up laughing from his dreams. Marrying off a daughter had brought back over forty thousand taels of silver in profit, which was enough to match the earnings of his shops for several years.
Xiao Lanting didn’t even blink. “They’re just things lying around taking up space. If you like them, go ask Changfeng for the warehouse keys and go pick some for yourself.”
Yun Juan fell silent. She had seen plenty of fine treasures in her past life; she wasn’t greedy for these valuables, she just felt that giving them to her father was a waste.
In her father’s heart, Yun Xiu was his only daughter. He had treated Yun Juan as a stepping stone solely for the sake of Yun Xiu and the Yun family’s future.
In her previous life, Yun Juan had already fulfilled her filial duties by taking care of her father, her stepmother, and her birth mother, Concubine Rong, until their deaths. The debt of her birth and upbringing had already been repaid in her past life. In this life, she only hoped to draw a clear line between herself and the Yun family, living without interfering with one another.
But she couldn’t possibly tell Xiao Lanting any of this. In the Great Zhou dynasty, filial piety was paramount; Xiao Lanting would definitely not approve of her thoughts.
There was no telling how much longer it would take to unload the gifts. Xiao Lanting dismounted his horse and said to Yun Juan, “Come down, I’ll take you inside.”
In the front hall of the Yun estate, Yun Cengguang looked at the chest after chest of treasures, his smile stretching practically from ear to ear.
Beside him stood his primary wife, Madam Xu, her face dark and gloomy. Behind the couple stood a timid-looking woman. She possessed a pair of doe-like eyes very similar to Yun Juan’s. This was Concubine Rong, Yun Juan’s birth mother. Yet, looking at the treasures, there was no joy on her face—only a look of deep anxiety and apprehension.
“Master! Both young ladies and the sons-in-law have arrived!”
Yun Cengguang strode out of the hall to welcome them. “My two worthy sons-in-law have finally arrived! It must have been a tiring journey. Quick, come inside and have some tea!”
The Yun family was a family of merchants. The only person who had any connection to a scholarly or official path was the Eldest Young Master, who had passed the xiucai exam and currently served as a literary retainer under the Prime Minister’s son. But such a connection was leagues away from Xiao Lanting’s formidable status. Therefore, even as the father-in-law, Yun’s father did not dare to show the slightest neglect.
“Father, Mother.”
“Father-in-law, Mother-in-law.”
The two newlywed couples paid their respects together, but the expressions of the Yun family members were a study in contrasts. Yun’s father was grinning so widely his eyes were practically shut, while Madam Xu looked at her daughter Yun Xiu with eyes full of worry. As for Concubine Rong…
She kept her head lowered, not daring to spare a single glance for her daughter, let alone Xiao Lanting.
“Come in and sit down.”
Yun Cengguang gestured for them to enter, inviting Xiao Lanting and Xiao Mingyu into the main hall. He then turned to Madam Xu and Concubine Rong, saying, “I will have a few words with our two worthy sons-in-law. You two take Xiu’xiu and the third girl to the east wing. Come back when it is time for lunch.”
“Yes, Master.”
Once Yun’s father had left, Madam Xu pulled Yun Xiu along, completely ignoring Yun Juan and Concubine Rong. She brought her daughter into the east wing and shut the door behind them.
“You! Oh, you! Are you trying to anger me to death?”
Madam Xu looked at Yun Xiu with deep frustration, wishing her daughter would live up to her expectations. “What is wrong with you? Once you had performed the wedding bows, you would have been the firmly established Eldest Young Madam. How could you let your bridal veil drop! Do you have any idea how terrified your father and I were when the Marquis of Yingchuan’s estate came to question us?”
“Alright, Mother, stop lecturing me.”
“You aren’t usually such a clumsy person. Tell Mother the truth—what exactly happened!”
“I dropped it on purpose. I didn’t want to marry Xiao Lanting anymore!”
“You—” Madam Xu clutched her chest, looking as though she might faint.
Yun Xiu calmly stepped forward to support her into a seat. Madam Xu gasped for breath. “You are truly going to be the death of me! You didn’t want to marry Xiao Lanting? Did you see the grand display Yun Juan returned with today? All of those things should have been yours! You threw them away. Has your brain gone soft?”
“Mother, don’t worry. I will tell you the truth. I refused to marry him because I heard that Xiao Lanting is sick! He won’t survive past next winter!”
Madam Xu’s voice caught in her throat, and she sat up abruptly. “Is that true?”
She then had a second thought. “No, wait! How could you know about something like that… And even if you did, why didn’t you tell me before the bridal swap? You needlessly handed a grievance to the Marquis of Yingchuan’s estate.”
Yun Xiu rubbed the tip of her nose, unsure of how to smooth over her lie. She simply said, “In short, I just know. You don’t need to fret over how I found out. Just watch this time next year! I guarantee Xiao Lanting will be dead! Besides, Mingyu will definitely achieve great things.”
“Great things…? He can’t even pass the xiucai exam. He’s not even as capable as your eldest brother.”
Yun Xiu smiled and said, “In the future, he will not only pass the xiucai exam, but he will also pass the juren exam and even become a Minister of a grand department!”
Madam Xu massaged her temples, utterly unable to swallow the lofty promises Yun Xiu was feeding her.
“Since things have already reached this point, there’s no use dwelling on it. Let me tell you, your father threw a massive tantrum over this. When he questions you later, you had better have a good explanation ready!”
“Father dotes on me the most; he won’t blame me. Besides, sooner or later, both you and Father will realize that I was the wisest one.”
Madam Xu shook her head indulgently. “You… Oh, right, Li Wang is still at the Marquis’s estate. Have you dealt with him? We cannot allow him to blabber.”
“Don’t worry, Mother, I have people keeping an eye on him. Li Wang has been locked up in the Marquis’s estate’s woodshed. No one has gone to see him these past three days. Once the estate relaxes its guard, I’ll find someone to slip some poison into his food and silence him permanently.”
On the other side, Concubine Rong and Yun Juan walked along the corridor. Seeing that there was no one around, Concubine Rong recovered her composure and said in a soft, gentle voice, “You were far too flashy today.”
Her gentle expression was filled with reproach. “You are a concubine-born daughter. You shouldn’t have made such a high-profile return to your maiden home, giving your legitimate sister such a difficult time. Go and apologize to your sister in a moment.”
Yun Juan had been pricked by such gentle, hidden daggers countless times in her past life, and she had long since grown accustomed to it.
With an unchanged expression, she asked, “Do you have anything else to say?”
“Now that you are married, you can’t keep a cold face all day like you used to. You must smile more in front of your husband… I heard from Chuang’er that Eldest Young Master Xiao is the Commander of the Brocade Guards. The Brocade Guards just patrol the streets with their blades all day; it’s a leisurely job with no real danger. Your younger brother is currently idle. Why don’t you ask your husband if there are any openings in the Brocade Guards…”
“If there’s nothing else, I would like to walk around on my own,” Yun Juan said.
Concubine Rong wasn’t angry at being interrupted. She nodded and said, “Lunch will be served soon. Make sure to return within an hour.”
Yun Juan bypassed Concubine Rong and walked deeper into the rear chambers of the Yun estate.
In truth, before she had even met her mother, Yun Juan had already guessed what she would say. Therefore, even though her mother hadn’t uttered a single word to ask if she had been mistreated at the Marquis’s estate after her “forced” marriage swap, Yun Juan didn’t feel sad. Her heart had long since grown numb.
Thinking of the person she was about to see, Yun Juan’s footsteps grew considerably lighter.
Winding her way through the estate, she arrived at a small courtyard. The yard wasn’t large; on the left was a small vegetable patch, and on the right was a trellis draped in vines, beneath which hung a swing that had clearly seen many years of use.
Suppressing her excitement, Yun Juan called out, “Nanny! I’m back!”