Gu Yan looked at Yun Xiangye, who was still standing in place, stepped forward to take her hand, and led her to his parents. “Father, Mother, this is Yun Xiangye.”
Following Gu Yan’s steps, Yun Xiangye approached Princess Shengzhao and softly said, “Father-in-law, Mother-in-law.”
Yun Xiangye noticed a fleeting look of surprise in the eyes of the couple before her, as if they had never expected her to be their daughter-in-law.
She glanced down at the clothes she was wearing—the most fashionable fabric she had chosen for herself. Yet, in the presence of the most esteemed people in the world, they paled in comparison even to the attire of the maids beside the Princess Royal.
No wonder the Princess did not recognize her as her daughter-in-law when she saw her.
This only made Yun Xiangye resent Gu Yan even more. If he had revealed his identity earlier, she would have had time to prepare her attire.
Princess Shengzhao smiled gently and said, “Xiangye, you must be tired from the long journey. Let’s return to the manor and rest. Today, our family is finally reunited.”
Yun Xiangye replied softly, “Yes.”
Princess Shengzhao stepped forward and took the pink, chubby little bundle from Gu Jingyu’s arms. “Is this Nuonuo?”
Gu Yan smiled faintly. “Yes, this is Nuonuo. Nuonuo, this is your grandmother.”
Little Nuonuo spoke in a sweet, childish voice, “Grandmother.”
Princess Shengzhao held the child and smiled lightly. “What a well-behaved little Nuonuo.”
A maid beside Princess Shengzhao handed over a pair of gold bracelets. The Princess said gently, “Little Nuonuo, these gold bracelets are a gift from your grandmother.”
Yun Xiangye watched as the maid beside the Princess removed the silver bracelets from Nuonuo’s wrists and replaced them with the gold ones.
Seeing the Princess’s eyes filled with affection for her daughter, Yun Xiangye felt slightly relieved. She did not mind being looked down upon herself, but Nuonuo, though not yet two years old, was remarkably perceptive. If others disliked her, little Nuonuo would surely notice.
Gu Jingyu smiled faintly and said, “Brother, Nuonuo is so adorable, even more so than Jingru. Nuonuo is a hundred times more well-behaved than her.”
“Who is Jingru?”
Gu Yan looked at his sister, unaware of who Jingru was.
Gu Jingyu explained, “Our younger sister. Not long after you left Chang’an, Mother discovered she was pregnant. Jingru is still young, which is why Mother hasn’t been able to visit Sister-in-law and Nuonuo in Jiangnan these past three years.”
Gu Yan looked at his parents in surprise. In their letters over the past two years, they had never mentioned that they had a little sister almost the same age as his daughter.
Gu Jingyu continued to complain to Gu Yan, “Jingru often fell ill when she was one year old. By the time she was two, she started throwing tantrums. Now that she’s over three, she’s getting even worse. Everything has to go her way. Mother says I was the same when I was little, but I was never this unruly.”
Gu Yan chuckled. “You were indeed just as unruly when you were little.”
Standing nearby, Yun Xiangye watched Gu Yan and Gu Jingyu chatting and felt somewhat out of place.
She caught a gaze directed at her and looked over to see the young woman who had called Gu Yan “cousin” still scrutinizing her. The cousin’s eyes held undisguised contempt and mockery…
Princess Shengzhao said with a faint smile, “Let’s get into the carriage and return to the manor. It’s been a long journey, so rest well once we’re back.”
Yun Xiangye, hearing the Princess Royal’s words, followed closely behind Gu Yan and entered the carriage with him.
Only upon seeing the spacious interior of the carriage did Yun Xiangye remember that her daughter was still with Princess Shengzhao. “Nuonuo.”
Gu Yan took Yun Xiangye’s hand and said, “Nuonuo is in Mother’s carriage. You can rest assured. It will take about half an hour to reach the Princess Royal’s residence. Why don’t you rest for a while?”
Yun Xiangye looked at Gu Yan and said, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier that you have a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old sister? I didn’t prepare a meeting gift for her.”
Gu Yan smiled. “There’s no need for such formalities with my own sister. Besides, she has been pampered and raised in luxury since childhood. She lacks nothing, and it would only waste your thoughtful intentions.”
Yun Xiangye frowned slightly. Was Gu Yan implying that her taste was poor or that her humble background meant she couldn’t offer a meeting gift befitting his sister’s status?
Noticing Yun Xiangye’s displeasure, Gu Yan asked, “Why are you still upset? You’ve met my parents and seen that they don’t seem to look down on your background, right?”
Yun Xiangye lowered her head in silence. What she cared about was never her in-laws’ disdain but Gu Yan himself.
Gu Yan whispered, “You don’t have to fear your humble status. My mother grew up among commoners and wasn’t always a lofty princess. Like you, she lost her adoptive father at a young age and had to support her family.”
“When my mother was young, she wasn’t a princess. Because of her merchant background, she suffered greatly in her first marriage. She only married my father after remarrying, so no one in our family will look down on your origins.”
Listening to Gu Yan’s words, Yun Xiangye remained silent.
She had thought she was merely entering the household of a wealthy merchant, but now she was told she was stepping into the residence of a princess. It was difficult for her to accept this all at once.
Earlier, when Gu Yan’s family looked at her, it was clear they hadn’t expected the girl he married to be so ordinary.
When the Princess Royal saw her, she even asked where Yun Xiangye was, indicating that the Princess Royal had mistaken her for a servant or maid.
Moreover, Gu Yan’s cousin looked at her with disdain. Yun Xiangye truly didn’t know how she could endure such a life.
Her heart was in turmoil, filled with thoughts of retreat. How could the gates of royalty and noble families be so easy to enter?
In the last carriage returning to the Princess Royal’s residence.
Wei Nian held a warming pan in her hands and smiled faintly at the maid beside her.
“I thought she must be some great beauty for Yan cousin to overlook her lowly status and choose her for a marriage for good luck. But it turns out her appearance is so plain, with an air of the common streets and no understanding of etiquette.”
The maid beside Wei Nian quickly added, “Miss, when it comes to being the wife of Prince Ning’s heir, there is no one in all of Chang’an more suitable than you.”
The maid’s face was full of contempt. “That Yun Xiangye is merely a temporary measure for the heir’s marriage for good luck. With such a lowly background, the heir will surely divorce her one day and marry a wife from a noble family. It would be Yun Xiangye’s fortune just to become Prince Ning’s heir’s concubine.”
Wei Nian chuckled softly, holding the warming pan. “Indeed, after all, there was no proper matchmaking or betrothal in Chang’an. If you really consider it, this marriage hardly counts. If Yun Xiangye could become a concubine of the Gu family, it would truly be her good fortune.”
When the carriage Yun Xiangye was riding in came to a stop, she lifted the curtain and examined the grand entrance of the princess’s residence before her. The vermilion gate was exceptionally imposing.
The main gate was wide open, and a noblewoman around forty years old, holding the hand of a little girl who appeared slightly older than Nuonuo, stepped out.
After Gu Yan alighted from the carriage, he extended his hand to help Yun Xiangye down.
Gu Yan led Yun Xiangye to Madam Gu and said, “Grandmother, this is Xiangye.”
Yun Xiangye looked at the noblewoman before her. The woman was exceptionally well-preserved, not looking at all like Gu Yan’s grandmother. Following Gu Yan’s lead, she also called out, “Grandmother.”
Madam Gu gazed kindly at Yun Xiangye. “What a good girl.”
“Mother!”
The little girl beside Madam Gu, upon seeing Princess Shengzhao alight from the carriage while holding Xiao Nuonuo, toddled over on her short legs to stand before Princess Shengzhao.
“Mother, Ruru wants to be held too.”
Princess Shengzhao, Xie Zhixuan, smiled gently and crouched down while holding Xiao Nuonuo in her arms. “Jingru, this is your niece, Nuonuo. You are the elder, so you must play nicely with Nuonuo.”
The three-year-old Princess Jingru clearly didn’t understand what “elder” meant, but seeing a little sister of similar age before her, she felt she had gained a new playmate.
Jingru reached out and took Nuonuo’s small hand, asking, “My name is Jingru. What’s your name?”
Nuonuo only repeated the last two words to Xiao Jingru: “Name…”
“I’m asking what your name is!”
Xiao Nuonuo continued, “Name.”
Xiao Jingru lost her patience. “I’m not telling you to say ‘name’—I’m asking what your name is! You’re so silly!”