“Sister-in-law, I told you long ago that this Luoyang Princess is an ungrateful wretch who can never be tamed.”
“Who told you to spoil her like that before? Now look what’s happened—the family is ruined, the daughter-in-law has run off, and soon the grandson will be gone too!”
“Hahaha—”
As Shang Yueli opened the door, she saw a woman dressed in gaudy colors laughing hysterically outside.
“Man Niang, stop talking nonsense! Our Yueli would never abandon her husband and child like that!”
Shang Yueli’s mouth twitched.
Sorry to disappoint, but your Yueli absolutely would have done exactly that.
However, since she was here now, she would never let those things happen.
The woman throwing the fit was Man Niang, presumably the concubine of the second branch, Lin Zhiman.
She was only twenty-five, yet for the sake of wealth and status, she had married Mu Tairan, who was already over forty.
The unfortunate part was that she had married into the family just a month ago.
Instead of gaining the luxury she sought, she had been “blessed” with a house confiscation package—who wouldn’t go mad over that?
“Yueli, you’re out. Are you hungry? I saved some food for you—why don’t you eat before you leave?”
Seeing them emerge, Wang Shi immediately stopped bickering with Lin Zhiman and hurried over to show her concern.
“Feeding her is a waste—we should save that food for our journey instead.”
“She’s the grand Luoyang Princess, after all. She’d never stoop to our plain fare!”
Lin Zhiman shot Shang Yueli a venomous glare.
“Mother, I’m not hungry.” Ignoring Lin Zhiman, Shang Yueli took Wang Shi’s hand and said sincerely, “Mother, I’ve thought it over. I was wrong before. I won’t seek a divorce from my husband, nor will I get rid of this child. I want to accompany all of you to Fangling.”
Wang Shi’s eyes reddened, but her tone grew more agitated. “No! You can’t come with us.”
“Life in exile is so harsh, and you’re pregnant. If anything were to happen to you on the road, how could I ever face the ancestors of the Mu family?”
Though she was touched that Shang Yueli wanted to follow them, how could she bear to let this delicate princess suffer through exile while carrying a child?
They saw it as suffering, but Shang Yueli didn’t share that view.
In the novel, the emperor had exiled the Mu family to Fangling.
From what she knew, Fangling was rich in resources and had a humid climate, making it quite livable. Since ancient times, it had been a place where nobles and royalty were exiled.
Sending the Mu family there was also a way to keep them under closer surveillance, since Fangling was surrounded by dense forests and had poor transportation—once you went in, it was hard to get out.
Shang Yueli patted Wang Shi’s hand reassuringly. “Mother, don’t worry. Since I married into the Mu family, I won’t leave easily. Besides, isn’t my husband here? He’ll surely protect me and spare me any hardship.”
“Right, husband?”
Mu Yunsheng’s heart trembled at her repeated use of “husband.”
Throughout their marriage, she had never once called him that. Now, it was as if her personality had changed—”husband” this, “husband” that.
Clearing his throat to mask his unease, Mu Yunsheng said to Wang Shi, “Mother, don’t worry. I’ll take good care of Yueli.”
“Good, good. Since you both feel this way, I can rest easy.”
Tears welled in Wang Shi’s eyes—this was the first time she had smiled so happily since the family’s downfall.
“Hey! Are any of you even listening to me?”
Seeing that everyone was ignoring her, Lin Zhiman began throwing another tantrum.
Why should the entire second and third branches have to suffer exile just because the main branch had committed a crime?
The gold bracelet on her hand hadn’t even warmed to her touch yet!
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you—this woman is definitely pretending! Just wait until we reach our destination, you’ll get what’s coming to you!”
“Shut your mouth.”
Shang Yueli didn’t want to waste words arguing with her, but she couldn’t tolerate being insulted like this either.
“You… you’re scolding me?”
“I am your aunt-in-law, after all! How dare you treat me this way?”
“Don’t think being a princess means you can act lawlessly! The emperor’s laws apply to commoners and nobility alike. Besides, you married into the Mu family—in life, you’re a Mu; in death, you’re a Mu ghost. Now that the Mu family has been convicted and demoted, you’ll be exiled just like me!”
“Man Niang! I’m not dead yet! As long as I’m alive, this household won’t be ruled by a concubine from the second branch like you!”
Wang Shi tightly grasped Shang Yueli’s hand, as if suddenly emboldened, leaving Lin Zhiman speechless with her scolding.
What did it matter if she successfully married into the family? As long as she remained unconverted to the official wife, she was just a concubine!
“Old Madam, it’s terrible! People from the palace have arrived! They’re already on Xuanwu Street, about the time it takes to burn one incense stick away!”
Xiao Fu stumbled over, his face full of urgency.
Damn!
Shang Yueli’s eyebrows twitched—she hadn’t expected the palace officials to come so quickly.
Although the Mu family wasn’t extremely wealthy, they still possessed many treasures. If everything were truly confiscated by the authorities, wouldn’t that be a huge loss!
Shang Yueli glanced at Lin Zhiman, whose hair was adorned with pearls and jade and wrists laden with gold bracelets, and immediately decided to return to her old ways—to pull off a big heist!
“Aunt, you’re wearing so many valuable items. When the soldiers arrive, they’ll inevitably be confiscated. Shouldn’t you find a place to hide all your treasures now?”
“You’re right! I’ll go hide them right away!” Lin Zhiman had a sudden realization and hurried off to conceal her treasures.
Shang Yueli remembered from the novel that the second branch had hoarded many treasures but refused to spare even half a bowl of coarse rice when the first and third branches were starving.
She needed to see exactly where this aunt was hiding her treasures, so she could store them all in her space later!
Shang Yueli rubbed the space ring on her pinky finger that had traveled through time with her, a trace of regret flashing in her eyes.
In the past, she had only focused on stockpiling novels—there wasn’t a single valuable item in her space!
If she had known this would happen, why hadn’t she prepared differently!
Shang Yueli sent Wang Shi and Mu Yunsheng away on errands and quietly followed Lin Zhiman. She watched as Lin Zhiman took out many more treasures from her room, stuffed them into a bundle, and hid them under the old elm tree in the courtyard.
After Lin Zhiman left, Shang Yueli deftly retrieved the bundle. With a wave of her hand, all the gold, silver, and jewels vanished into her space.
Feeling it was inappropriate, she took out many well-worn novels from her space, stuffed them into the bundle, and hid it back in its original place.
Out of conscience, she left a thin layer of jewelry for Lin Zhiman.
After finishing this, she ran to ask Mu Yunsheng where the family’s private treasury was located.
“Why are you looking for the private treasury?” Mu Yunsheng looked at her suspiciously.
What trick was she trying to pull now?
Could it be that she regretted following him?
Seeing Mu Yunsheng starting to overthink again, Shang Yueli quickly explained, “Husband, what are you thinking? I just want to check if there’s anything valuable in the private treasury that we can hide. Otherwise, when the house confiscation really happens, we’ll have nothing left!”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No!” Shang Yueli immediately refused.
“Well… What I mean is, the people from the palace will be here soon. As the head of the household, you can’t possibly appear later than them, right?”
“Then where will you hide the things you take?” Mu Yunsheng took out the key to the private treasury, but paused mid-air as he was about to hand it over.
Shang Yueli patted her own belly.
“I can hide them in my belly.”
Mu Yunsheng: “…”
“Don’t worry, husband. I am a princess after all—they wouldn’t dare actually search me. Rest assured!”
Shang Yueli took the key from Mu Yunsheng’s hand and gazed at him with pleading eyes: “Where is the private treasury?”
Mu Yunsheng thought she looked like a little cat sneaking a treat, yet he couldn’t bring himself to scold or punish her.
Mu Yunsheng sighed, “In the hidden room to the south.”
“Great! I love you so much, husband~”
With that, Shang Yueli turned and left without looking back, leaving Mu Yunsheng standing alone in a daze.
Mu Yunsheng touched his burning cheeks, suppressing the peculiar emotions in his heart, then turned and headed toward the main gate.