“Today, Yun Guan truly stole the spotlight,” Meng Ruan said bitterly.
Meng Nan did not respond to this remark. Instead, he turned to ask Meng Yu Tang, his voice also low and sullen, “Yu Tang, didn’t you say the Empress Dowager was particularly strict? Why does it seem to me that she and Meng Yunwan are as close as grandmother and granddaughter?”
Meng Yu Tang clenched her teeth, a flash of ruthlessness in her eyes. “Third Brother, why the rush? There’s plenty of time. With Meng Yunwan’s temperament, isn’t it only a matter of time before she offends someone important? If not this time, there will be a next.”
That was true.
The three brothers nodded in unison.
Meng Yunwan had always been dull and unlikable at home, far less endearing and well-behaved than Yu Tang. The palace was full of shrewd people; given time, they would surely see Meng Yunwan’s true nature.
Retribution would come—it was only a matter of time.
Thinking this, they felt somewhat better. At that moment, Meng Yu Tang added, “Tomorrow is the Winter Moon Reunion Day. My sister will return to the marquis’s mansion. I can tell you with full confidence that she will return in tears tomorrow, having suffered a great humiliation in the palace.”
Hearing this, the three immediately perked up. “Really?”
“Absolutely true!”
…
When the palace carriage arrived at the Huainan Marquis Mansion, it was midday, and the mansion’s gates were tightly shut.
A maidservant knocked on the door for a long time before a gatekeeper slowly emerged, saying that the masters were away on business and asking Meng Yunwan to wait a moment.
A quarter of an hour passed.
Meng Yunwan frowned. “When will they return?”
The gatekeeper shook his head. “I don’t know the masters’ affairs.”
After a pause, he couldn’t help but smirk. “Since the young lady rarely returns home, what’s the harm in waiting a little longer? Yesterday, the young masters and Fifth Young Lady wanted to enter the palace to attend your Returning Pearl banquet, and they also waited a long time before being allowed in.”
Hearing this, Meng Yunwan understood—this was to vent Meng Yu Tang’s grievances.
Since childhood, whenever Meng Yu Tang had something good, it was never her turn. But if Meng Yu Tang suffered any misfortune, she was always made to share in it.
It had been this way for so many years that she was used to it.
She nodded. “If that’s the case, then I’ll wait.”
A contemptuous smile appeared on the gatekeeper’s face.
Wait, wait. On the young masters’ orders, today, Fourth Young Lady would wait until the end of time.
Meng Yunwan turned to the two men dressed as ordinary young masters beside her and said, “Crown Prince Brother, Prince Yi Brother, it’s cold. Please return to the carriage first. I’ll call you when the gate opens.”
“No matter. I’m thick-skinned and can withstand the cold!”
Ling Qianche crossed his legs and sat down boldly at the entrance of the marquis’s mansion, looking as though he intended to wait forever.
Ling Shuo, dressed in dark brocade robes, stood calmly before the mansion and said plainly, “No matter. I’m not afraid of the cold either. Let’s wait.”
The gatekeeper was terrified out of his wits.
The young masters had only instructed him to stop the eldest young lady—they hadn’t said the Crown Prince and Prince Yi were coming!
With two princes present, if they were to catch a chill, would the lives of over a hundred people in the Huainan Marquis Mansion be spared or not?
Seeing the gatekeeper’s face turn ashen as he dashed into the mansion, Ling Shuo sneered. What a fickle opportunist.
He turned back and saw the young woman’s face, pale from the cold, and felt a stir in his heart.
At that moment, Ling Qianche chattered away as he took off his fur cloak and handed it to Meng Yunwan. “You must be freezing, Yunwan Sister. This fox fur cloak of mine is incredibly warm!”
Warmed in body, the heart followed suit. Meng Yunwan smiled, revealing two dimples. “I told you not to come along, brother. Now you’ve ended up freezing with me.”
Early this morning, before she had even risen, Ling Qianche had come to Lin Hong Palace and insisted on accompanying her back to the Meng family, claiming he had nothing to do on his day off.
No matter how much she tried to dissuade him, he wouldn’t budge, so she had no choice but to bring him along. On the way, they ran into Ling Shuo, and Ling Qianche dragged him along as well.
Who would have thought it would lead to this?
Ling Qianche didn’t mind at all. “What’s a little cold to me? The Huainan Marquis Mansion treats you like dirt. If I hadn’t come with you, I wouldn’t have known you used to live such a hard life.”
Meng Yunwan quietly wiped away the tear at the corner of her eye.
She had suffered for so long that this rare moment of sweetness felt almost like a dream.
Ling Shuo remained silent the entire time.
Only his usually calm and detached eyes seemed particularly cold in the winter air.
Meanwhile, in the inner courtyard of the marquis’s mansion.
“At least she knows to come back. Hah, I thought once she entered the palace, she’d really forget about us, her brothers.”
As soon as Meng Fan finished speaking, Meng Nan chimed in with a laugh,
“Alright, let’s keep that talk among us brothers. If outsiders hear it, they’ll accuse us of favoritism, treating one better than the other.”
Meng Ruan spoke calmly, “How can this be called favoritism? Even the palm and the back of the hand have their differences. Yu Tang is sensible, so it’s only natural we dote on her more. If we insisted on treating Yunwan the same despite knowing her unruly temperament, that would be true favoritism—and unfair to Yu Tang.”
“Big brother always knows just what to say.”
The three brothers chatted happily, but Meng Yu Tang seemed anxious. “Sister was just punished by the Empress and must be feeling terrible. We should let her in quickly!”
Meng Fan asked curiously, “Yu Tang, how did you know she would be punished by the Empress?”
Of course Meng Yu Tang knew. In her past life, on the day she returned home in winter, she had been driven out in a rage by the Empress for sending the Crown Prince a few steamers of dumplings, accused of harboring ulterior motives. Dressed so lightly in the middle of winter, who was she trying to seduce?
And so, on what should have been a joyous family reunion day, she was practically chased back to the marquis’s mansion.
On the way back, she hid in the carriage, wiping away tears, her heart filled with resentment. Yes, she had indeed laced those dumplings with medicine, but so what? At the time, she was a princess, and the Crown Prince was a prince—a match made in heaven.
Yesterday, when she entered the palace, she heard that Meng Yunwan had also sent the Crown Prince a steamer of dumplings.
Now she was waiting to see Meng Yunwan’s humiliation, waiting to watch her suffer the same fate—ten strikes on the palm and being driven out of the palace!
Seeing Meng Yu Tang’s insistence, Meng Ruan reluctantly relented.
“Fine, let her stand for just one hour then. No less. Yu Tang, if she were half as kind-hearted as you, why would we treat her this way?”
No sooner had the words left his mouth.
A panicked voice came from outside the door. “N-no, it’s terrible!”
“The Crown Prince, the Crown Prince…”
Overjoyed, Meng Yu Tang stood up excitedly. “What about the Crown Prince? Did Meng Yunwan get punished because of him? I knew it! She—”
The doorman hastily interrupted, “No!”
“It’s the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince… he, he, he came back with the Fourth Young Miss!”
“He’s waiting right outside the mansion gates right now!”