Shen Yunyue saw Fu Xuanheng half-lying beneath the tree. She knew they had to buy a carriage.
"Mother, I'll go buy a carriage."
"Wait. Yuebao, let's carry Xuanheng instead. If you have silver to buy a carriage for this twenty-li road, aren't you just inviting those people to resent us?" Mo Yiran called out to stop Shen Yunyue.
She had arrived at Hefeng Pavilion earlier today, and though she had been crying the whole time, her ears had not been idle.
Those people clearly harbored hatred toward Taizifu.
Now Taizifu only had Fu Xuanheng, one younger half-sister, one younger half-brother, and the secondary consort Feng Xiao'e.
The He and Shen families were in-laws of Taizifu, and the others would likely resent them all the same.
"Mother, they'll resent you whether you spend the silver or not. As long as Fu Xuanheng stays with us, we'll be a thorn in everyone's side—unless we hand him over to his maternal grandfather's family."
"That won't do. You're his wife—how can you abandon him? The He family has many people, but look at them, they're in complete chaos. I don't think Xuanheng would fare well there." Mo Yiran had witnessed the He family's internal strife firsthand.
How could she not understand what would happen to a half-dead Fu Xuanheng in that place?
The poor son-in-law was only seventeen, and her daughter barely thirteen.
What were these half-grown children supposed to do?
"The He family is Xuanheng's maternal grandfather's family. I'll take Xuanheng, Xuanting, and Xuansheng to the He family." Feng Xiao'e looked around and saw that the He family had strength in numbers—Elder He and the Old Madam even had several concubines attending to them.
In comparison, the Shen family's situation was pitiful, the whole family weeping and wailing.
Before her death, the Crown Princess had repeatedly instructed her to bring Fu Xuanheng to follow the He family.
Along the way, they would have someone to rely on and wouldn't live too miserably.
"Dear in-law, if you take Xuanheng away, what about my Yunyue?" Mo Yiran was a crybaby, not a fool. She had greeted Feng Xiao'e with proper courtesy earlier to save face.
But now it was clear this woman had no sense of propriety.
"Aren't they still young? They can live together once Miss Shen comes of age and they can consummate the marriage."
All of Feng Xiao'e's jeweled hairpins had been confiscated, leaving only a plain silver pin and a wooden pin to hold up her hair.
"Xuanheng, let's go to your maternal grandfather's family. We'll say goodbye to them."
Feng Xiao'e walked over and tried to help Fu Xuanheng up.
The words spoken moments ago had all fallen into Fu Xuanheng's ears.
He had noticed from the moment he arrived that the He family looked at him with hatred in their eyes.
His maternal grandfather's family knew he was here, yet no one had come to greet him.
"I'm not going. If you want to go, go yourself."
"Why won't you listen, child? What good is there in following the destitute Shen family?" Feng Xiao'e wanted to wash her hands of him and go to the He family, but the He family wouldn't even acknowledge her.
"That's your maternal grandfather's family. Your grandfather and grandmother will surely dote on their grandson."
"Concubine Feng, you are an old servant by my father's side. I address you respectfully as Concubine Feng, but that doesn't mean you can make decisions for me. Shen Yunyue is my wife. It is only natural for me to stay with the Shen family." Fu Xuanheng's words were cold, cutting into Feng Xiao'e's heart like knives.
She held back her tears and left with her daughter in her arms.
She would need to find an opportunity to speak with the He family.
Little Fu Xuansheng, only six years old, silently crouched beside Fu Xuanheng. His timid eyes dared not look around, and he didn't know where to go.
His birth mother had died in childbirth.
At such a young age, he had already learned to read people's expressions.
Old Master Shen leaned on his cane and came to sit beside Fu Xuanheng. "Xuanheng, treat the Shen family as your own home. We're bound to encounter many troubles on this journey. As long as the family stands united, there's no obstacle we can't overcome."
"Don't lose heart. I've lost two sons, but I still have to live. There's a whole family here—it's easy for us to die, but what would they do?"
Old Master Shen would never have dared speak such words to Xiaojunwang before, but now he gathered his courage to offer comfort.
"Thank you, Grandfather." Fu Xuanheng looked into the distance with a complicated expression.
Shen Yunyue still went to buy a carriage.
There were no carriages with good horses along the road, so she had to make do with what she could buy.
She also bargained hard and spent five copper coins on two bundles of straw to spread on the carriage floor.
When no one was looking, Shen Yunyue retrieved an inconspicuous but thick mattress from her Space and placed it inside.
A quilt made of fine cotton cloth with hidden patterns and a cotton wadding was laid in the carriage.
The quilt weighed a full ten jin—surely enough to keep the carriage warm during winter.
Shen Yunfeng was only nine years old, but he learned to drive the carriage on the spot from the seller.
He and Shen Yunyue fumbled their way back, driving the carriage together.
"Second Brother. I heard you've benefited from Fu Xuanheng's good fortune and gotten a carriage quota. Your elder brother and I are old and frail—we might as well hitch a ride in your carriage." The woman speaking wore a dark-patterned padded jacket; she was Old Master Shen's eldest sister-in-law.
Her sons and grandsons had also been executed, though her eldest son, Shen Citong, had just passed fifty.
He had narrowly escaped with his life.
Old Master Shen stood hunched beside the carriage. After a moment's thought, he nodded and said:
"Elder Brother, Elder Sister-in-law, you should indeed ride in a carriage. But this is Fu Xuanheng's carriage. I must inform them properly according to the rules."
"Rules? The rule is to respect your elders. If not for his family, would I be suffering the grief of burying my own children?" Madam Ma Shen wiped her tears and sobbed mournfully.
The Shen family's main branch also had over a dozen people.
Old Master Shen's heart couldn't bear it—after all, you can't write the character "Shen" with two different strokes.
Moreover, he believed what Madam Ma Shen said was not wrong.
Because of Taizifu, these people had fallen into misfortune.
"Fine. I'll make the decision to let the eldest brother and his wife ride in the carriage." Old Master Shen let out a sigh from his deeply wrinkled face. This journey would not be easy.
Madam Ma Shen's eyes revealed a smug expression.
She had to gain control over the second branch first—only then would she have good days ahead on this trip.
On the other side.
Feng Xiao'e found an opportunity to strike up a conversation with the He family, but no one paid her any mind. When she finally tried to squeeze her way over to Old Madam He, she was shoved back by several of the He family's daughters-in-law.
"Why are you coming over here? If it weren't for the trouble at Taizifu, would our He family have ended up in this state? Tell that good-for-nothing that the He family has noted this debt."
"My husband was only in his thirties, and he lost his life just like that. My eldest son was only eighteen, and his head was chopped off too. You people from Taizifu better not expect to live well—I curse you day and night."
The He family's aunts-in-law, who had once been so obsequious, were now just as venomous.
Feng Xiao'e kept wringing her hands and pleading: "Ladies, Xuanheng is the Old Madam's grandson. You can't just stand by and watch him die. Just let us follow alongside the He family."
Upon hearing this, He Luxue's mother smiled: "Concubine Feng, the He family isn't one to refuse people. Considering that Xuanheng is the bloodline left by the He family's eldest daughter, you may come over—if you're willing to serve as servants."
Feng Xiao'e was stunned.
The He family wanted them to be servants?
"We're all commoners now—why should we be your servants?" Feng Xiao'e's expression turned sour, her hands clenched tightly.