They were Madam Yao’s people, and most had witnessed what happened on the wedding day with their own eyes.
The Shizi Furen’s words and actions—switching husbands in public on her wedding night—had shocked everyone.
By now, who didn’t know that the relationship between the Shizi Furen and the Madam of the Marquis’s residence was strained?
After entering the household, aside from the tea ceremony on the first day, she had never once come to the Main Courtyard to pay her respects to Madam Yao.
Why would such a person suddenly come to visit the sick Madam today, and even put on such a display of concern?
Even Zhao Fu was somewhat surprised. She thought it would be good enough if Ji Yunshu just showed up, but she hadn’t expected her to be so sincere in her visit.
Thus, Zhao Fu followed suit and asked, “That’s right, how did she suddenly fall so ill? What did the doctor say?”
Madam Yao’s face, pale as paper, stiffened for a moment, and she felt a wave of stifling frustration in her heart.
She had been watching Ji Yunshu’s behavior over the past few days. If word got out, a reputation for being disrespectful to one’s mother-in-law and unfilial to one’s elders would be unavoidable.
Even if Zhao Heng’s behavior on the wedding day was somewhat absurd, if Ji Yunshu’s own reputation was flawed, it wouldn’t matter much.
Who could have expected that at this moment, Ji Yunshu would come to visit her in her illness?
However, as the matriarch of a great household, Madam Yao was naturally adept at maintaining appearances. She said weakly, “It’s likely just exhaustion from the busy schedule lately. A few days of rest will suffice. I’m sorry to have troubled you both to come see me.”
Ji Yunshu acted the part of a perfectly filial descendant. “What are you saying, Mother? As your juniors, it is only right that we come to see you. I’ve only just married into the family and have been so flustered these past few days that I forgot my manners. It was only thanks to First Younger Sister’s reminder that I learned you were ill. It is thanks to your generosity, Mother, that you don’t hold it against me.”
Since she had put it that way, how could Madam Yao possibly hold it against her? “I am an elder, after all. How could I hold a grudge against children?”
That night, she had already felt that Ji Yunshu was not easy to deal with. After all, there weren’t many young girls of noble birth who were willing to cast aside their pride so completely.
Seeing Ji Yunshu say happily, “It’s good that Mother doesn’t blame me,” Madam Yao realized she had still underestimated this girl who had been pampered by the Ji family.
Madam Yao couldn’t help but feel regret. If only Ji Yunshu had dutifully married Heng Ge’er that day…
Then how could Heng Ge’er have reached a point of irreconcilable conflict with her for the sake of Yao Ruolan?
Thinking of how Heng Ge’er, despite having a body seriously injured by Family Discipline, was still acting as if his life depended on Yao Ruolan these past few days, she felt a tightness in her chest from anger.
Her sudden illness was, in no small part, caused by that same anger.
But how could she dare let her son defy the Empress Dowager’s Imperial Decree to marry Yao Ruolan as his wife?
Seeing that Madam Yao was indeed frail and unable to keep up the conversation, Ji Yunshu and Zhao Fu took the opportunity to excuse themselves.
Upon leaving the Main Courtyard, Zhao Fu bid Ji Yunshu farewell and returned to her own quarters.
As Ji Yunshu walked back, she pondered: was Zhao Fu’s behavior a gesture of goodwill from the Second Branch, or was it her own idea?
Just then, someone approached from the opposite direction. Ji Yunshu looked up and saw it was actually Yao Ruolan.
This was the first time she had seen the female protagonist since the wedding night.
Yao Ruolan’s complexion was not much better than the ailing Madam Yao’s. She wore a plain white dress and very few pieces of jewelry, yet she looked like a lotus emerging from water—fresh and refined.
At this moment, Ji Yunshu felt that the novel’s descriptions of the female lead’s appearance and temperament were not an exaggeration.
However, the two of them were essentially strangers, and unlike with Madam Yao, Ji Yunshu wasn’t bound by the weight of filial piety. She felt she had nothing to say to Yao Ruolan.
Thus, she gave a brief glance and moved to pass by.
To her surprise, after taking only a few steps, a voice suddenly came from behind her: “You look down on me, don’t you?”
Ji Yunshu looked around and, seeing no one else, turned back and asked in confusion, “Are you talking to me?”
Yao Ruolan had already stopped. Standing a few paces behind her, the expression on her face was one of humiliation upon hearing those words.
Ji Yunshu said bluntly, “Does Miss Yao feel that her own actions are worthy of respect?”
Yao Ruolan’s expression remained relatively calm, her voice light as she said, “I came to the Marquis’s residence as a child. I ate and lived alongside Cousin Heng. Since we were small, he said he would marry me when he grew up. I did not intend to interfere in your marriage.”
Ji Yunshu was thoroughly incensed by these words. “So, are you trying to say that I was the one who interfered in your relationship?”
Yao Ruolan said stubbornly, “If not for the marriage contract with you, he definitely would have married me.”
Ji Yunshu sneered. “But he agreed to this marriage himself. I didn’t force him. Besides, I’ve already married someone else now and have nothing to do with him. Why hasn’t he married you yet?”
Yao Ruolan frowned. “The Empress Dowager’s Imperial Decree…”
Ji Yunshu couldn’t be bothered to listen to her and interrupted directly, “What does that matter? Doesn’t he love you truly? Isn’t he willing to die for you? Why can’t he give up his status and position to elope with you? As long as he is no longer the young master of the Marquis’s residence, would the Empress Dowager really bother herself with who he marries?”
Yao Ruolan reflexively argued, “How could he? And there’s Aunt… if we leave, what would happen to Aunt?”
Ji Yunshu threw up her hands. “Do you see? The person blocking you from being together was never me. Without me, he still wouldn’t have married you.”
Yao Ruolan stood frozen on the spot.
Ji Yunshu ignored her and turned to leave.
After standing there for a long time, Yao Ruolan seemed to have realized something. She didn’t go to see Madam Yao but instead turned back the way she came.
Ji Yunshu hadn’t expected that her few words would stir up such a big mess.
In the evening, while she was discussing what to have for dinner with Lürü, Zhao Heng suddenly burst in.
Compared to a few days ago, Zhao Heng looked as if he had lost a significant amount of weight, and his movements were still stiff. He looked at Ji Yunshu with eyes that seemed ready to devour her. “What did you do to Ruolan?”
Ji Yunshu was completely bewildered. “What are you talking about? What do you mean, what did I do to her? What could I have done to her?”
Zhao Heng said viciously, “You wicked woman, why act innocent? She disappeared today right after talking to you. Who would believe it has nothing to do with you?”
Disappeared.
Upon hearing this, Ji Yunshu recalled a plot point from the book. So, because she hadn’t married Zhao Heng, the “tortuous love plot” of the leads chasing each other and running away was playing out earlier than expected?
But what did that have to do with her?
She rolled her eyes and said, “What do you mean she disappeared after talking to me? First of all, she was the one who wanted to speak to me. Secondly, I came straight back after we spoke and didn’t do anything to her. The servants in the courtyard can testify to that. What evidence do you have to say her disappearance is related to me? Do you think I can perform a magic trick and make a person vanish?”
Zhao Heng’s emotions calmed slightly, but the gaze he directed at Ji Yunshu was still full of hatred. “She left on her own accord, but why would she leave when everything was fine? You were jealous of her, so you drove her away, didn’t you?”
Suppressing the urge to curse him out, Ji Yunshu sneered, “What do I have to be jealous of? Jealous that she committed illicit acts before marriage and was caught in adultery? A girl following you around without status or title, being looked down upon and despised—you call that ‘fine’?”
Zhao Heng’s eyes instantly turned red. “If you hadn’t made the Empress Dowager issue that Imperial Decree, we could have been married.”
“Can you really blame me for that? You should blame yourself! If your heart belonged to someone else, why did you agree to the marriage with me? Why did you want to marry me? If you had married her from the start, would the Empress Dowager have been bored enough to issue such a decree?”
Faced with the type of person who never looks for the cause of a problem within themselves, Ji Yunshu had no intention of coddling him and went straight for the jugular.
“You sharp-tongued wretch…”
Unable to win the argument, Zhao Heng’s face contorted with rage. He raised his hand, intending to give Ji Yunshu a slap.
Just as his hand swung upward, his wrist was struck dead-on by a flying pebble.