Forget about the deceased wife, just talking about this biological son alone.
Su Youen wanted to know: how could a eunuch possibly father a child?
That old scoundrel had spun such an elaborate lie and even dragged her into this mess, forcing her to act out this role for a lifetime.
Su Youen didn’t know how many times she had cursed him in her heart.
Yet on the surface, she still had to wear a cheerful smile.
After all, she was still under the watchful eyes of the Su family’s second son, and she intended to freeload off them for the rest of her life.
This act had to go on.
“Brother, where’s my father?”
Su Yang replied, “If nothing unexpected happened, Uncle should still be sleeping.”
“Still sleeping?! He went to bed at yesterday’s You hour (5-7 PM), and it’s already Mao hour (5-7 AM) now. He’s been sleeping for eight hours straight. Even the roosters that crow have changed shifts twice, and they still couldn’t wake him up?”
“Perhaps Uncle is too exhausted from the recent journey.”
Hearing this, Su Youen suddenly began to feel some sympathy for Su Yang.
What a kind, foolish child.
Clearly being completely deceived by that scoundrel Su Ting, yet still making excuses for him.
She really wondered how Su Yang would react when he eventually learned that during those twenty years his uncle was away from home, he had actually become a eunuch in the palace and was doing quite well among the eunuchs.
A warm breeze brushed past as Su Youen lowered her gaze, somewhat helplessly glancing at the light blue crane cloak she was wearing.
She had come out to lie down specifically to cool off, yet Su Yang had just draped this garment over her.
The summer heat hadn’t subsided yet, and she was genuinely feeling quite warm.
Su Youen pouted, looked at the clothing she was wearing, and asked:
“Big brother, don’t you have a goose-yellow crane cloak? The clothes I’m wearing are goose-yellow, but you gave me a light blue one. It doesn’t match, it really doesn’t match.”
As she spoke, she was about to remove the crane cloak he had just draped over her.
Just then, Su Yang said: “Most of the clothes at home are either white or black. This is the only one with a nice color, and it belongs to A’Yan.”
It was Su Yan’s.
Her hand, which was about to remove the crane cloak, suddenly paused.
She lowered her gaze again, carefully examining the light blue crane cloak.
“Although it doesn’t match, it’s extremely beautiful.”
With these words, she draped it over herself again.
Four big words kept circling in her mind:
Beauty clouds judgment, beauty clouds judgment.
Su Yang suddenly stood up, as if preparing to go out.
Before leaving, he didn’t forget to remind Youen: “I need to go to the street for a while. If you get hungry, help yourself to the sugar cakes in the room. I’ll be back soon to cook.”
“Wait, big brother!” She climbed up from the lounge chair and asked Su Yang in a soft voice: “Is today second brother’s birthday?”
A fatherly smile appeared on Su Yang’s face. “You actually remembered.”
“Of course I remember, big brother. Are you going out now to buy something for second brother?”
“We’re out of eggs at home. I’m going out to buy some eggs to cook A’Yan a bowl of longevity noodles.”
“Can I come with you? I’ve been in Suzhou for so many days, but I’ve never stepped outside the Su family gate.”
As she said this, her large, dewy eyes were filled with anticipation.
Su Yang naturally couldn’t refuse her.
Everlasting Light Street was particularly lively today.
It was said to be the wedding day of the Prefect’s daughter.
Since learning about the celebration in the city today, Youen seemed particularly interested in it.
She kept looking around, first peering here, then glancing there, as if searching for something.
After several unsuccessful attempts to find what she was looking for, she had to turn to Su Yang for help: “Big brother, shouldn’t there be a wedding procession for marriages?”Su Yang nodded, taking the freshly wrapped eggs from the vendor as he replied, “Judging by the time, they should be arriving soon.”
Youen leaned out again to peer toward the street corner, and sure enough, she spotted the wedding procession emerging into view.
She quickly said, “Brother, why don’t you go ahead? I’d like to stay and watch the excitement.”
Su Yang always indulged her in everything.
“No problem. If you want to watch, you can stay here. I need to stop by the Academy to pick up a few things.”
As he spoke, he handed the cloth bag containing the eggs to Youen.
“Hold onto these eggs for me until I get back.”
Since he was heading to the Academy to retrieve something, carrying the eggs would be rather inconvenient.
Youen nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll stand right here and won’t go anywhere.”
Hearing this, Su Yang felt reassured and left.
Su Youen indeed stood quietly in place, not moving an inch.
Holding the cloth bag in one hand and steadying herself against the old locust tree with the other, she fixed her gaze on the wedding procession.
According to the original plot, around this time, the male lead of this book was supposed to make his appearance.
His entrance would be marked by fleeing from a wedding, arriving here in Suzhou.
As per Ergou’s storyline, the male lead, while escaping the wedding, would hide in the Academy where Su Yang studied.
It was there that Song Qingqing would encounter him, fall in love at first sight, and later devise various ways to get close to him.
Though it was called “getting close,” in reality, it was nothing but harassment.
Using the most vulgar methods under the guise of affection, she shamelessly harassed others.
Song Qingqing herself detested this kind of plot.
She didn’t believe in love at first sight and couldn’t stand to see a woman degrade herself.
To avoid triggering such a storyline, she chose to steer clear of the male lead’s path entirely.
As long as she didn’t go to the Academy and never had that first encounter with him, she should be able to avoid him for the rest of her life.
She refused to believe that, standing completely still here and avoiding the Academy all day, she would still run into that unlucky fellow.
As long as she didn’t cross paths with him, she could live her life peacefully.
She had already begun fantasizing about her future bliss.
With so many eggs bought today, she could even ask Su Yang to make her a sunny-side-up egg.
Just as she was happily imagining how to enjoy the eggs, something suddenly slammed into her. A flash of dazzling red crossed her vision, followed by the crisp sound of shattering eggs:
Crack!
Her eggs were smashed to pieces on the ground.
What echoed in her ears now seemed not just the sound of broken eggs, but the shattering of her own heart.
Steamed egg custard—gone.
Sunny-side-up eggs—gone.
Scrambled eggs with tomatoes—also gone.
Suddenly, she felt as though her entire day had lost all meaning.
“Come back here!!!” Su Youen roared in fury, yanking back the person who had crashed into her and tried to flee.
But the moment she pulled him back and saw the wedding robes he was wearing, she was filled with instant regret.
It’s over. Everything is over.
What kind of cursed luck is this?
The person she was now tightly gripping was none other than the runaway bridegroom from the wedding procession.
The male lead of this book, whom she had been desperately trying to avoid—Jiang Yunnan.
If heaven gave her another chance, she would have chosen to let go sooner.
No one could fathom how much she regretted this now.
But letting go now was likely too late.
Even so, she released her grip as quickly as possible, pretending to be composed as she scrutinized the man who would eventually kill her in the future, from head to toe.
Hmm, not bad-looking.