Yan Zhuxing brought Pei Mingjing back to the Dingyuan Marquisate.
The servants in the Marquis’s Mansion were immediately thrown into chaos.
Why wasn’t the eldest young lady locked up? Instead, she had brought back that Lord Pei from the Metropolitan Prefecture—the one even the Emperor found troublesome.
Yan Mingyue bit her lip, momentarily unsure of what to do.
“You fool!” Wen Rushuang, upon waking and learning that her daughter had actually sent Yan Zhuxing to the Metropolitan Prefecture, nearly fainted again from anger.
“When one prospers, all prosper; when one suffers, all suffer. The reason we never publicly disclosed Yan Zhuxing’s true identity was to protect the Marquisate’s reputation. She is your sister. If she ends up in prison, how could you possibly marry into a respectable family?”
Yan Mingyue was scolded until her eyes welled up with tears.
At the time, she had only thought about making Yan Zhuxing lose face and hadn’t considered any of that.
“Mother, I know I was wrong. I just wanted to scare Sister, to make her apologize to Mo’er. I never imagined it would turn out like this,” she sobbed in her own defense.
Wen Rushuang looked at her daughter, who was crying uncontrollably, and could only force herself to get up and deal with this mess.
Upon learning that Yan Zhuxing had taken Pei Mingjing to the courtyard where she lived, Wen Rushuang quickened her pace.
It was over. Her carefully cultivated reputation as a loving mother over the years was about to be ruined.
“Lord Pei, this is the courtyard where I live,” Yan Zhuxing introduced, pointing to the drafty courtyard for Pei Mingjing and his entourage.
Not only Pei Mingjing, but even the bailiffs following him showed expressions of surprise.
The courtyard wall was so crooked it seemed on the verge of collapse. Half of the door hung loosely, revealing a gap as wide as a fist. One of the window screens had long since torn into tattered strips, rustling noisily with every gust of wind.
It was hard to believe that within the opulent Marquis’s Mansion, there could be such an incongruous place.
Yan Zhuxing said nothing, simply leading them inside for a walk around.
Back when Yan Mingyue was found and brought home, under the brainwashing of Wen Rushuang and others, Yan Zhuxing felt deeply guilty.
She gave up her own courtyard to Yan Mingyue and moved to a small one instead.
But Yan Mingyue was still unsatisfied, constantly crying in front of her about how difficult her life had been before and how dilapidated the place she lived in was.
Each time Yan Mingyue cried, the expressions of the Dingyuan Marquis, his wife, and her two brothers grew more disgusted when they looked at Yan Zhuxing.
She couldn’t understand why her parents and brothers, who had doted on her for ten years, had changed overnight.
So she tried everything to win their favor.
She suggested wanting to experience the life Yan Mingyue had once lived, so that everyone would have suffered equally, making it fair.
The Marquisate household happily agreed, moving her to this abandoned courtyard.
It originally belonged to one of the Old Marquis’s concubines.
Later, that concubine went mad, and the courtyard gradually fell into ruin.
It was agreed that she would only experience it for a month, but afterward, no one mentioned letting her move back. She ended up living in this dilapidated courtyard for over four years.
“Can people even live in this dump?” muttered the young bailiff at the back, earning an elbow jab from his companion.
Wen Rushuang, who had just arrived, overheard this, and her face turned even paler.
She offered the excuse she had prepared on the way: “Xing’er has admired her grandfather since she was little. She deliberately moved here to remember hardship and appreciate comfort. After all, when the Old Marquis was at war, he lived in conditions even harsher than this. I tried to persuade her several times, but this child just wouldn’t listen and insisted on living here.”
Then she looked at Yan Zhuxing, her gaze carrying a warning.
“Xing’er, isn’t that right?”
Following closely behind, Yan Mingyue also spoke up: “Sister, you must stop being angry with Mother. Today you insisted on taking this matter to court, and we went along with it. Now that we’re home, please don’t make any more trouble, lest you delay the important matters of the officials.”
Yan Zhuxing remained silent, merely pulling her cloak tighter around herself. She glanced at Pei Mingjing with a mix of shock and fear, then her eyes reddened. Without uttering a word, she timidly nodded.
Wen Rushuang was furious.
This girl said nothing—it would have been better if she had argued back.
Her hypocritical demeanor was clearly announcing to the world that they were bullying her.
Pei Mingjing watched the confrontation between the mother and her two daughters and spoke unhurriedly: “Oh? It seems the Marquis is so preoccupied with state affairs that he has failed to manage his household, allowing wicked servants to humiliate his legitimate daughter. I shall draft a memorial tomorrow to report this to His Majesty, requesting that the Dingyuan Marquis be ordered to remain at home and rectify his household affairs.”
Upon hearing that this matter would be brought before the Emperor and could result in the Dingyuan Marquis being confined to his home for reflection, Wen Rushuang and Yan Mingyue turned deathly pale.
After speaking, Pei Mingjing gave them no chance to explain. He turned and prepared to leave with his subordinates.
Yan Zhuxing quickly caught up with him and pointed to the cloak she was wearing. “Lord Pei, after the cloak is cleaned, I will personally visit to express my gratitude and return it to the Second Miss Pei.”
Pei Mingjing halted his steps and lowered his voice. “Miss, if the act is overdone, it becomes unseemly.”
Yan Zhuxing stiffened.
He had seen through her tragic performance!
Just as Yan Zhuxing thought he would ignore her, he turned his gaze to Wen Rushuang and her daughter and raised his voice. “Very well, I will have Aru wait quietly at the Duke’s Mansion for you, Miss. If you do not come, I will have her personally visit to retrieve it.”
“Thank you, my lord.” Yan Zhuxing let out a soft sigh of relief, bowed to him, and watched as they departed.
Next time, she would definitely not reveal any flaws.
As soon as Pei Mingjing and his group left, Wen Rushuang, having regained her composure, walked over and raised her hand to slap Yan Zhuxing.
But as her hand came forward, Yan Zhuxing caught it.
Her eyes were calm and unruffled, but her words made Wen Rushuang tremble with rage.
“Mother, do you want me to visit the Weiguo Duke’s Mansion in a couple of days with a swollen face from being slapped? I’m afraid Lord Pei would then submit another memorial against Father.”
“You… you unfilial daughter! Are you trying to ruin our Dingyuan Marquisate?” Wen Rushuang fumed.
Forgetting all about the dignity of a matriarch, she immediately raised her voice and called for people.
“Seize her and administer family discipline. Let’s see if you’ll live long enough to visit the Weiguo Duke’s Mansion.”
With Wen Rushuang’s words, Yan Mingyue immediately became haughty as well.
“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and seize her!”
But Yan Zhuxing moved faster than her voice.
As soon as Yan Mingyue finished speaking, she was kicked down by Yan Zhuxing.
Yan Mingyue cried out in shock and tried to help her mother up, but Yan Zhuxing turned and kicked her hard, leaving her doubled over in pain.
The maidservants who had stepped forward to seize Yan Zhuxing upon the order were all dumbfounded at the sight.
They watched helplessly as Yan Zhuxing pounced on Wen Rushuang with lightning speed, pulled the hairpin from her hair, and stabbed it fiercely into her palm.
“Ah—”
Wen Rushuang let out a piercing scream.
At that moment, she finally believed what the maids had said: Yan Zhuxing had truly gone mad.
“What are you doing? Are you trying to kill me?” she stammered, staring at Yan Zhuxing in terror.
“Of course not. You are my dear, dear mother,” Yan Zhuxing enunciated each word slowly.
“I just want to live peacefully. If you push me, I’ll set the Marquis’s Mansion on fire, and we can all die together.”
Wen Rushuang was terrified by her fierce gaze. The pain in her palm kept reminding her that she couldn’t truly provoke Yan Zhuxing.
She really would take her life.
“Then… then what do you want?” Wen Rushuang stammered.
“I want to continue being the eldest daughter of the Marquis’s Mansion,” Yan Zhuxing stated her condition unhurriedly.
“That goes without saying. You are my daughter, of course you are the eldest daughter of the Marquis’s Mansion,” Wen Rushuang forced a smile.
“Words alone are not enough.” Yan Zhuxing rummaged on herself and pulled out a pill the size of a grain of rice, directly stuffing it into Wen Rushuang’s mouth.
Before Wen Rushuang could react, Yan Zhuxing pinched her chin and made her swallow it.
“What did you make me take?” Wen Rushuang exclaimed in horror.
“A poison I stole earlier from Lord Pei. If you dare go back on your word, I won’t go to Lord Pei for the antidote,” Yan Zhuxing said with a smile.
In truth, it was just a mud pellet she had casually picked up from the ground earlier while showing Pei Mingjing and the others around the courtyard.
Hearing this, Wen Rushuang fainted on the spot.
Yan Zhuxing stood up and swept her gaze over everyone present.
They all stepped back in unison.
Yan Zhuxing randomly pointed to one of Yan Mingyue’s maids, instructing her to prepare hot water for her.
She wanted to bathe and change clothes.
“Yes,” the chosen maid dared not disobey.
The eldest daughter had gone so mad as to poison the mistress—a lowly maid like her couldn’t afford to provoke her.
“Just you wait. When Father and Brother return, they will definitely punish you severely,” Yan Mingyue angrily threatened.
Yan Zhuxing ignored her as if she were a barking dog and went straight to her courtyard. She picked out a newly made dress that Yan Mingyue hadn’t yet worn, then went to bathe and change.
At dusk, the Dingyuan Marquis returned to the Marquis’s Mansion in a rage.
Yan Mingxiu and Yan Mingyuan, who were studying at the official academy, followed behind him.
The events of the day’s court hearing had already spread throughout the capital—it was impossible for them not to know.
As soon as the Dingyuan Marquis returned, Yan Mingyue rushed up to him, embellishing everything Pei Mingjing had said at the Marquis’s Mansion that day and shifting all the blame onto Yan Zhuxing.
The Dingyuan Marquis’s face grew darker and darker. The first thing he did upon finding Yan Zhuxing was to hurl a teacup from the table at her: “You rebellious girl! Why did you insist on going to the Metropolitan Prefecture today? Do you want to disgrace our Marquis’s Mansion completely?”
Yan Zhuxing dodged it, looked up at him, and remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
This way, he wouldn’t end up fainting from anger like Wen Rushuang later.
That would be far too time-consuming.
Xie Yining, who was secretly watching from the rooftop, caught a clear glimpse of Yan Zhuxing’s face the moment she looked up.
He shuddered instantly.
That face—he had seen it before!
Though younger than in his dream, this eldest daughter of the Yan family was undoubtedly the girl who had saved him on the battlefield.
After searching far and wide, here she was, right before his eyes.
No need to go to the border frontier to look for her anymore—the person he was searching for was right here.
“Tingyun, there’s no need to go to the border frontier to find her,” he turned and instructed.
Tingyun: ?
Ever since the Prince woke up, he had been acting strangely.
First, he told him to go to the military camp to find a female soldier disguised as a man, and now he insisted on personally coming to the Dingyuan Marquisate to eavesdrop.
He somewhat regretted telling the prince about the incident of the Yan family’s eldest young lady appearing in court.
Xie Yining was unaware of his inner thoughts, merely staring intently at Yan Zhuxing’s face, pondering why a dignified legitimate daughter of the Marquis’s Mansion would appear at the border frontier in his dreams.