Eldest Sister has gone mad—gone mad for no reason at all.
If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, Yan Changfeng would never have believed it to be true.
Eldest Sister had a gentle and cheerful personality. She usually spoke in a soft, low voice and never lost her temper. Yet at this moment, she was screaming and wailing frantically in her room.
Shrinking into the corner of the bed, she allowed no one to approach. As soon as someone came near, she would grab the pillows and quilts beside her and hurl them out. When she ran out of things to throw, she would slam her head against the wall, using her life as a threat. She struck herself until she was bloodied and bruised, seemingly oblivious to the pain, as if a malevolent spirit had taken residence in her fragile body.
It was heart-wrenching to watch. Yan Changfeng could only tell the maids to retreat into the courtyard first.
Once the door was closed, the person inside finally quieted down temporarily.
“How did this happen so suddenly?” she asked Eldest Sister’s Wet Nurse with a frown.
The Wet Nurse was so anxious she was on the verge of tears. “Eldest Miss woke up from her nap and suddenly became like this. None of us can get near her, not even the Mistress. No one knows what’s wrong with her!”
“How is my Mother?” Yan Changfeng had run straight to Eldest Sister’s courtyard the moment she returned to the manor, having no time yet to check on her mother. Her mother was delicate in both body and spirit; she likely couldn’t handle such a shock.
The Wet Nurse said with a face full of worry, “After seeing Eldest Miss like this, the Mistress nearly fainted from crying. We had to call a physician to prescribe her some calming medicine before she finally settled down. If it weren’t for the fact that there was no one else to manage the household, we wouldn’t have dared to call you back in such a hurry… Tell me, did this interfere with the business at the shops?”
Yan Changfeng’s Father had been away on a cargo transport for the past few days, so the family business relied on her supervision. While she was busy, it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. However, there was one thing weighing on her mind.
Father should have sent a safety report via Flying Pigeon this morning, yet there had been no news. The family’s carrier pigeons had never missed a beat, so she was worried that something might have happened on Father’s end.
But no matter how anxious she felt, she couldn’t voice it to the family, lest it add to the chaos.
“It’s no trouble,” she said, patting the Wet Nurse’s hand reassuringly. “You’ve worked hard looking after my Mother all afternoon. You should go down and rest; tell everyone else to rest as well. Even though it’s autumn, the sun is still harsh; standing in the courtyard for too long is unbearable. I’ll handle things here.”
The Wet Nurse’s fluttering heart finally found an anchor. With such an incident occurring, the Family Head absent, and the Mistress of the Household unreliable, thank goodness there was still the dependable Second Miss.
In Yangzhou Prefecture, everyone envied the good fortune of the Head of the Yan Family for marrying the Eldest Miss of the Northern Capital Marquis Mansion. They believed this was why the family flourished externally and remained peaceful internally. Little did they know that the Mistress of the Household was born for a life of leisure—she had a capable husband to earn money and support the family, and a precocious daughter to manage the household and affairs. She truly didn’t have to worry about a single worldly concern.
The Second Miss was only fifteen or sixteen, yet she was already more capable than many who had lived half their lives. Whether it was the external business or the internal household matters, she could uphold it all.
It was only a pity that such a capable person was a daughter. Had she been born a son, the Mistress of the Household wouldn’t have needed to take the Young Master raised by the Concubine to her side for security.
The Wet Nurse suppressed her ill-timed sentimentality, nodded in agreement, and followed the order to dismiss the maids and old matrons in the courtyard.
Yan Changfeng watched everyone leave, then let out a sigh of frustration, not knowing what to do herself.
Eldest Sister’s current state was something she had never seen before; it was far beyond her understanding. She had no idea where to even start.
After hesitating at the door for a long while, she decided to find a way into the room first. The sisters had always shared everything; perhaps Eldest Sister had some secret she couldn’t tell others but could tell her.
She raised her hand and knocked lightly on Eldest Sister’s door, asking, “Yan Xiaoying, can I come in?”
Eldest Sister’s name was Yan Changying; “Xiaoying” was the informal name Yan Changfeng used for her, regardless of seniority. Perhaps because this playful sibling nickname felt intimate, the screaming inside ceased for a moment.
Yan Changfeng pushed the door open gently and glanced into the inner chamber. Eldest Sister had somehow gathered the pillows and quilts from the floor and arranged them around herself like a shield. Her hair was disheveled, her face was covered in blood, and her bloodshot eyes were fixed intently on the door, as if ready to pierce two holes in whoever entered.
“Yan Xiaoying? Sister… ow!”
It was rare for Yan Changfeng to call her “Sister.” She had intended to build some rapport, but she must have touched a nerve. The other girl grabbed a pillow and hurled it with such hatred it felt like she wanted to hammer her into hell.
“Get out, you honey-tongued, dagger-hearted bitch! Don’t you dare try to plot against me or my child!”
Yan Changfeng dodged the pillow by a hair’s breadth, but she couldn’t dodge Eldest Sister’s words. She was stunned senseless by the word “child.”
What child? Who was a bitch? What on earth was Eldest Sister talking about?
“Yan Xiaoying, don’t you recognize me? I’m Xueyi.”
Yan Changying’s hateful expression froze. “Xueyi?”
Xueyi was the nickname Yan Changying had given her younger sister. It meant “snow garment,” referring to a pigeon. She felt her sister was free-spirited and unrestrained, just like a pigeon. This familiar name finally cracked her defensive shell, revealing the uncontrollable terror in her heart.
“Xueyi… is it really Xueyi? You’re finally here… sob… why did you take so long? I almost didn’t get to see you…”
Partially confused and partially heartbroken, Yan Changfeng hurried to the bedside and took Eldest Sister’s hand. “It’s me, I’m here. I’ve always been here. How could you not see me?”
“I…” As if remembering something terrifying, Yan Changying let out another shriek, pushing her sister away and shouting, “Go! Xueyi, leave quickly! Pei Yu and that bitch won’t let you go! They’ve joined forces with Yaoniang and Third Sister to harm us sisters!”
Who? Pei Yu?
And how did Yaoniang and Third Sister get involved?
This Pei Yu was none other than Eldest Sister’s fiancé. The two were betrothed by their parents’ orders and hadn’t even met yet. Where did these stories come from, and how was there even a child?
For a moment, Yan Changfeng suspected Eldest Sister had read too many idle novels and had projected some heartless man’s story onto herself.
“Where did you see Pei Yu? What does he look like?” she asked tentatively.
“He’s a contemptible bastard! He seized my dowry and ignored both me and our daughter. Even now that I’m pregnant, he doesn’t care. He even…” Yan Changying’s eyes burned with hatred, but then, as if thinking of something, her expression turned to sudden horror. She wrapped her arms tightly around her chest and tried desperately to retreat. “Don’t come over! Don’t you dare come over! I am the Wife of the Heir, a Daughter of the Yan Family! My sister is a master of martial arts; if you dare touch me, you will surely die a miserable death!!”
Yan Changfeng’s brow furrowed deeply. This sounded like a group of people were trying to do something untoward to Eldest Sister.
She began to feel that things were not simple. A reaction like Eldest Sister’s could only be displayed if she had experienced it firsthand. For instance, if a person has never seen a ghost, a wolf, or a tiger, even if you tell them those things are terrifying, they cannot imagine them out of thin air.
Yet Yan Changfeng truly couldn’t think of when Eldest Sister could have experienced such things. Her head felt like it was splitting. She could only follow along with her words to soothe her: “Sister, don’t be afraid. I’ve already cut Pei Yu down.”
All of Yan Changying’s terror froze instantly. Her wide eyes stared at Yan Changfeng for a long time before she asked uncertainly, “Cut him down? You killed Pei Yu?”
Yan Changfeng keenly sensed that she had accidentally stumbled upon a way to calm her. She continued to make things up: “Yes. He treated you poorly, so naturally, I wouldn’t let him off.”
“Good, it’s good that he’s dead… I’m finally free. I want to leave the Duke’s Mansion, leave this hellhole…” Yan Changying spoke incoherently, her chest heaving rapidly and heavily, as if she were consumed by a lingering fear.
Leave the Duke’s Mansion? Eldest Sister wasn’t supposed to go to the Northern Capital to prepare for the wedding until the end of the year, and the marriage wasn’t until next year. This sounded as if she had already been married.
Yan Changfeng’s confusion grew even deeper.
Then, a thought suddenly struck her, and she asked, “Eldest Sister, what year of Yuanlong is it currently? I’ve suddenly forgotten.”
Yan Changying was stunned by the question. her dull eyes moved stiffly, as if she couldn’t immediately recall the current time. “It’s Yuanlong… the twenty-fourth year, right? My daughter is two years old, so I must have been married for three years.”
Yuanlong… twenty-fourth year?
It was clearly only the twentieth year of Yuanlong! How could she have pushed the date forward by four years?
“Sister, do you still remember the twentieth year of Yuanlong?” Yan Changfeng grabbed her shoulders, trying to find some clue in her vacant eyes.
“The twentieth year of Yuanlong…” Yan Changying’s slightly settled complexion suddenly changed again, and she began to wail. “What should we do? Father is dead, Mother followed him in death, and the family property has been stolen by Yaoniang. We sisters are about to be kicked out by that bitch! What are we going to do… sob…”