More than twenty heavily loaded carriages finally rumbled out of the street in a grand procession.
Soon, rumors began circulating in the neighborhood: during her stay at the Pingyang Marquisate, Divine Physician Su Mingyue had suffered a massive theft of her belongings! To cover up the family scandal, Madam Liu had nearly emptied her dowry to barely compensate for the losses!
The Pingyang Marquisate had one Tai Furen and three madams… Why was it that Madam Liu, and no one else, had paid such a steep price to compensate Divine Physician Su?
Heh, even a fool could guess what had happened!
Utterly shameful!
As the rumors grew wilder, not only the Marquisate but the entire Xiao clan lost face. Some elders even proposed removing Xiao Hongyi’s branch from the clan registry!
Yet Xiao Lin never expressed his stance—not even mentioning expulsion, let alone dividing the family!
Everyone assumed he still held hope for the third branch.
In the end, the matter was left unresolved.
Xiao Hongyi, who had always prized his reputation, felt utterly humiliated. For the first time, he took leave from his duties and shut himself indoors all day.
Having grown accustomed to a life of luxury over the years, the four members of the third branch stared at their nearly depleted account balance and fell into unprecedented panic.
Xiao Yanning no longer dared to mention her own losses and fled the Marquisate as if escaping.
Though she used to visit her maternal home every few days, this time she waited half a month before returning once.
Xiao Yunhe seemed deeply affected, hanging his head in dejection all day, his spirits thoroughly crushed!
As for Liu Lingyi, who claimed to have received proper upbringing since childhood and never cared for material possessions… forget about delicacies like the “Eight-Treasure Bird’s Nest Soup”—even her daily medicinal decoctions now pained her to drink!
Upon learning that the third branch had even lost their decent change of clothes to Su Mingyue as compensation, Old Madam Xiao pretended to know nothing.
It was the fourth branch that kindly sent over a few bolts of old fabric to help them cope temporarily…
Seeing the poor-quality, outdated patterned cloth, Xiao Hongyi’s face darkened instantly, and he violently overturned the table!
“He’s my own brother!”
“Is he pitying me?!”
“What, even he now dares to look down on me openly?”
Furious, Xiao Hongyi smashed the last set of presentable tea ware in the Western Courtyard. The steward looked at the shattered porcelain scattered across the floor, his heart aching…
“That son of his is useless! I’ve been telling him to ‘cook the rice’ and he still can’t manage it… A perfectly good daughter-in-law, just gone like that!”
When Su Mingyue was with the third branch, hadn’t their food and clothing been better than any other branch’s?
How many years had it been since they last wore such ordinary fabric?
Utterly infuriating!
On sleepless nights, the image that haunted all four of them was the long convoy of carts transporting Su Mingyue’s belongings that day.
After enduring a month of financial strain, Liu Lingyi—who had always disliked Su Mingyue—was the first to crack!
Xiao Yanning was a miser! She was her nemesis… only taking in, never giving out!
As for the father and son, aside from squandering money, they couldn’t even handle simple tasks like managing the farmlands and shops from her dowry.
Relying solely on the meager monthly allowance from the family coffers, the entire third branch would sooner or later be left with nothing!
In the past, she had done everything to prevent Xiao Yunhe from marrying Su Mingyue. Now that the other party no longer wished to marry, she had instead “come to her senses.”
She called for Xiao Yunhe, her eyes darting away, her words still carrying a hint of reluctance. “Don’t just mope around the estate all day. Seeing you so gloomy and dejected… it breaks my heart!”
“Fine, go and bring that girl Su back. She’s lived in our courtyard all these years, and now that she’s suddenly gone, everyone feels out of sorts…”
She stole a glance at Xiao Yunhe’s expression. “Tell her that if she agrees to marry you as an Equal Wife alongside Ying’er, I’ll allow her into the household.”
Seeing Xiao Yunhe’s troubled look, she added, “She’s just an orphan from the countryside. If it weren’t for her medical skills, she’d never be allowed to stand on equal footing with Ying’er!”
“…” Xiao Yunhe felt utterly overwhelmed. “Mother, she’s hiding in the palace now and won’t come out. Where am I supposed to find her to say all this?”
He sighed heavily. “If you hadn’t stubbornly stood in the way all these years, my child with Yue’er… would probably be calling for me by now.”
Liu Lingyi’s eyes widened in shock, her voice rising in anger. “So now you’re blaming me? If you were truly obedient, why didn’t you marry Ying’er when I told you to before?! Cough, cough, cough…”
“Mother…” Xiao Yunhe quickly patted her back to soothe her. “Don’t get upset. I understand. I’ll go wait outside the palace gates right away… I refuse to believe she’ll stay inside forever.”
“And one more thing,” Liu Lingyi said, catching her breath. Remembering how Su Mingyue used to humble herself in the past, her tone hardened again. “She’s humiliated us this time and hurt both your heart and mine… Tell her that after the wedding, her dowry must be handed over to me for safekeeping!”
She had seen how Su Mingyue was carelessly generous and indifferent to wealth, and she was certain Su Mingyue couldn’t let go of her son, Xiao Yunhe.
After a pause, she leaned closer to Xiao Yunhe and lowered her voice. “If she gets stubborn and tries to manipulate us… consummate the marriage with her first. I refuse to believe Xiao Lin would still marry her after that!?”
Xiao Yunhe looked uneasy. “Mother, it’s easier said than done. It’s not that simple…”
He had tried before to force the issue, but it had never worked out.
“Just do as I say. She’ll surely compromise… Go now.”
Xiao Yunhe sighed and left.
Day after day, he waited outside the palace gates for a full half-month before finally seeing Su Mingyue emerge from the palace in a carriage.
In a flash, he rushed forward recklessly, blocking Su Mingyue’s carriage. Fortunately, the coachman reacted quickly.
“Whoa—”
“Neigh—!!”
The horse reared up high, letting out a startled whinny.
Inside the carriage, Su Mingyue abruptly pulled back the curtain, her eyes red as she glared at the reckless Xiao Yunhe, gritting her teeth. “How dare you! You’re like a lingering ghost!”
“What do you want from me?” she asked impatiently, her tone dripping with anger.
“You have the nerve to ask?!” Xiao Yunhe glared at her, his voice filled with fury. “When you emptied the third household, did you ever think of me? Did you ever care about how I felt???”
???
Su Mingyue nearly laughed in disbelief. “I was only taking back what was mine. Why should I care about your feelings?”
Xiao Yunhe clenched his teeth, thinking to himself that only today did he realize how stubborn and defiant she could be!
He closed his eyes tightly for a moment, then took a step closer, lowering his voice. “Su Mingyue, I was wrong before… I shouldn’t have been so hesitant and never firmly rejected Ying’er, letting her come between us.”
“I apologize to you, and I also give you a chance to make amends.”
“Mother has already agreed to our marriage… The Emperor values you highly. As long as you break off your engagement with Xiao Lin and return all the assets taken from the third branch, even if they are not as luxurious as before, I will act as if nothing ever happened and still marry you as my principal wife.”
Su Mingyue found it utterly laughable. She had already gone to such lengths, yet they could still be so confident!?
She couldn’t even be bothered to get angry.
Slowly lowering the carriage curtain, her voice remained calm and steady: “This person has openly blocked the carriage with the intent to rob. Beat him!”
The guard glanced at the shabbily dressed Xiao Yunhe across from them and stepped forward as ordered.
Soon after, the coachman raised his whip once more.
The dull thuds of fists and feet, along with groans of pain, were quickly left behind by the turning wheels.
Su Mingyue pressed her fingers firmly against her temples—she had to find a way to keep that scoundrel Xiao Yunhe far away from her!