The four siblings wailed and wept, tumbling over one another until the Marquis of Huainan’s rod could find no clear target. Several blows landed on the delicate and frail Meng Yu Tang, who rolled her eyes and fainted.
Meng Ruan held his sister tightly, his voice choked with sobs as he cried out, “Uncle, how can this all be our fault!?”
“It was Yun Guan who brought the princes here. She knew full well how esteemed they are, yet she made them wait outside the mansion together—clearly, she intended to harm our marquis’s mansion! If Uncle must punish, it should be fair to punish Yun Guan as well. Otherwise, your nephew refuses to accept this!”
“Your nephew refuses to accept it too!”
“Your nephew refuses to accept it too!”
The Marquis of Huainan’s eyes darkened.
How could he not want to punish Meng Yunwan? That wretched creature was the true instigator of it all.
Ever since the new emperor ascended the throne, he had been subtly and overtly reprimanding him. After each court session, the emperor would keep him behind a little longer, ostensibly to discuss state affairs, but in reality, he was left standing there, saying nothing—enough to make him tremble with fear.
These days, he had been treading on thin ice, terrified that a single misstep might cost him even his noble title. At such a critical juncture, his three nephews had delivered a blunder right to his doorstep—how could he not be furious!
Three days later, the Huainan Marquis Mansion invited Meng Yunwan to return for a visit, but she refused without a second thought.
“I’ve said it before—I will not return to the marquis’s mansion.”
The maid who came to deliver the message was from the marquis’s mansion. Upon hearing this, her face flushed with anxiety, on the verge of tears. “Fourth Miss, if I fail to bring you back, the master will surely punish me…”
Meng Yunwan frowned slightly.
She had also heard about the censure the Huainan Marquis Mansion had received from the imperial censors.
She had also heard that after returning to the mansion, the Marquis of Huainan had administered family discipline to Meng Ruan and the others. Even the usually favored Meng Yu Tang had been beaten unconscious, a clear sign of how deeply angered the Marquis was this time.
Under such circumstances, what good could come from inviting her back to the mansion?
“My studies are overwhelming, and I truly have no time to spare. If the Meng family wishes to reminisce, they are welcome to come to the palace to find me. Yun Guan will certainly welcome them.”
Her tone was gentle yet firm. When the news reached the marquis’s mansion, Meng Ruan and the others were all taken aback.
Yun Guan… refused to return?
Why wouldn’t she come back?
This had originally been their uncle’s idea. He said Prince Yi’s illness had come suspiciously.
It was only the eleventh lunar month, with just a few light snowflakes drifting down. If it were the delicate and esteemed Crown Prince who had fallen ill, it might be understandable—but how could Prince Yi, who had ridden horses since childhood, be felled by the cold?
Their uncle believed there was something strange about the situation. Yet, no one could pinpoint exactly what was amiss.
After all, the marquis’s mansion had no prior dealings with Prince Yi, much less any reason to offend him. A prince of such stature would have no need to feign illness.
So, they were told to invite Meng Yunwan back to the mansion. Once there, they could probe for information, take turns apologizing to Yun Guan, and trap her with moral pressure, making it known to all how aggressive and oppressive she was toward her own cousins.
But who could have guessed that Yun Guan would simply refuse to engage?
If they couldn’t even see her, how could they apply moral pressure?
Meng Fan, hot-tempered, shouted angrily, “She’s really giving herself airs! We invited her with sincerity, and she dares to put on airs. I’ll go to the palace right now and ask her—does she think she’s too good for her own cousins now that she’s climbed to a higher branch?”
He strode toward the door but was stopped by Meng Ruan, whose face was dark with anger. “Fool, stop right there.”
Meng Fan was taken aback. “Elder Brother, are you talking to me?”
Meng Nan pulled him back, sighing helplessly. “Second Brother, you really need to learn to read the room. It’s obvious Yun Guan is angry now. If you go to confront her, won’t you just push her further away?”
“Are you kidding me!”
Meng Fan scoffed, completely unconcerned. “Yun Guan has been following us around like a shadow since she was little, never daring to go against our word. How could she possibly be angry with us? She—”
He suddenly paused.
Remembering something, his brow furrowed tightly.
Yun Guan had indeed been clingy in the past.
But how long ago was that?
Ever since Yun Guan entered the palace, she seemed to have drifted further and further away. Now, she wouldn’t even come home.
Finally, a belated sense of panic dawned on him. “Big brother, third brother, what should we do?” Matters requiring thought were never his strong suit.
“Enough, she’s our own sister. What else can we do but coax her?”
Meng Ruan sighed helplessly, rubbing his temples. “Tomorrow, we’ll go to the palace ourselves to see Yun Guan.”
“And bring a few small gifts from the warehouse. Yun Guan is sure to be delighted.”
Meng Yunwan had just finished washing up. Ling Shuo was bedridden with a cold, and her classmates had agreed to visit him today.
Now, watching these people swaggering into the hall, she felt a pang of regret. If only she had left earlier.
“Yun Guan, we were worried you might not be adjusting well to life in the palace, so we came specifically to see you,” Meng Ruan said gently.
Meng Yunwan pursed her lips and remained silent.
Meng Nan followed closely behind, magically producing a Night-Luminescent Pearl, an Eternal Bloom, and a Goat Hair Brush.
“Yun Guan, these are the gifts the three of us prepared for you, carefully selected from the warehouse. Do you like them?”
His smiling face was filled with certainty, as if convinced Meng Yunwan would forgive them.
Meng Yunwan lifted her eyelids slightly.
In the center of the tray lay a Night-Luminescent Pearl, enormous in size, its lustrous glow faintly visible even in daylight.
She gave a strange smile.
“This pearl is indeed beautiful.”
She slowly sat back down on the couch, a peculiar smile curling at the corners of her mouth. “I remember there was a willow tree in Yu Tang’s courtyard, swaying in the summer breeze. So you went out of your way to find one hundred and eight Night-Luminescent Pearls from the East Sea and strung them on the willow tree. At night, they shimmered like fireflies, as if it were a divine tree.”
Under their increasingly awkward expressions, she gently picked up the Night-Luminescent Pearl and smiled.
“Next time you gentlemen give gifts, remember to polish them properly. At least brush off the dirt on the pearl. Otherwise, it’s obvious at a glance that it fell from a tree. Wouldn’t that be laughable?”
Meng Fan, who had initially looked somewhat guilty, suddenly turned stern upon hearing this. “Meng Yunwan, don’t you dare—”
Meng Nan tightly grabbed his arm.
Apologetically, he said, “This pearl was prepared by Second Brother. He’s always been careless. Please don’t hold it against him. Yun Guan, this Eternal Bloom is my gift to you. It blooms perpetually through all seasons. You asked me for it many times before. I’m giving it to you now, hoping you’ll let bygones be bygones and that we siblings can continue to live in harmony.”
Meng Nan was the most low-key, humble, and cunning of the three brothers.
Though he tried hard to suppress it, Meng Yunwan still detected a sense of superiority in his words.
She nodded. “I did love this Eternal Bloom dearly in the past. I just never understood why Third Brother refused to give it to me, even saying…”
“Yun Guan,” Meng Nan interrupted, somewhat flustered.