He missed her.
The young maid tending the incense in the inner chamber confirmed that she had indeed returned home this afternoon. In the evening, someone from the Pu Family had come, saying that Madam Pu had been feeling unwell these past couple of days and had asked Pu Jinyu to stay at home for two days.
Yan Chiyun frowned, somewhat skeptical. He glanced out through the moon gate window; the night was already deep. Even if he wanted to go to the Pu Family, he couldn’t disturb them at this hour.
Just as he was speaking, Siyan, the maid he had assigned to serve Madam Pu as her personal attendant, also came to report. She confirmed that it was indeed due to Madam Pu’s illness. “The Pu Family sent for a physician and had someone escort me back to deliver the message.”
After hearing this, Yan Chiyun pondered for a moment before nodding faintly. Since the maids couldn’t attend to him personally, they withdrew.
After bathing, he entered the study to review the dossiers presented by the Northern Pacification Office. There weren’t many matters to handle, and soon he left the study and went to bed alone.
After lying down, Yan Chiyun remained awake for a long time. He didn’t know what was wrong tonight, but even while flipping through the dossiers in the study, he had felt the surroundings were excessively quiet.
In truth, when Madam Pu was here, it was also quiet—because she herself was a quiet person. While entertaining guests at home, she was all smiles and meticulous, but once back in the courtyard, unless necessary, she rarely spoke up on her own.
She managed all the affairs of the household’s inner quarters with great competence. Even when uncertain about something, she would seek advice from his mother, seldom taking the initiative to come to him.
In all these years of marriage, his interactions with Madam Pu had actually been quite limited. Moreover, since entering officialdom, he had been constantly busy with court duties, leaving early and returning late. He rarely saw her, and for three years, they had maintained a relationship of mutual respect.
Was it because these past few days, following his parents’ urging to have a child, they had been intimate too frequently? So now, with the sudden cooling off, he felt unsettled?
In any case, with no one beside him, the bed felt empty.
Just yesterday, she had clung to him, kissing him, unwilling to let go for even a moment. After bathing, they had rested together, embracing. Yet today, she had suddenly returned home.
Was Madam Pu truly unwell, or was it because of the matter of changing her personal maid?
His thoughts were somewhat disordered. He frowned, closed his eyes, and tried to calm himself.
He disliked this feeling of tangled thoughts. A chaotic mind would affect his judgment—how could he remain calm while investigating major cases in Zhaoyu Prison? So he made every effort to calm himself, to sort out the confusion.
Yan Chiyun suppressed the emotions in his heart. After a long while, he indeed felt much calmer.
He thought, perhaps it was for the best that Madam Pu had returned home these two days. The excessive intimacy had left him distracted. He needed to quiet his mind; he couldn’t afford to be consumed by personal affections.
Perhaps it was after cooling down that his thoughts settled. Recalling how, upon hearing that Pu Wange had not returned after going home, he had actually entertained the absurd notion of going to find her in the dead of night—it was truly ridiculous.
It was merely a matter of changing a personal maid. The replacement maid would explain things to the Pu Family. Even if Madam Pu had really called her back over this matter, at most she would just ask a few questions—what more could she do? She certainly wouldn’t punish Madam Pu.
Thinking this, Yan Chiyun’s heart grew even steadier.
He put the matter out of his mind and turned his thoughts to the dossiers the Northern Pacification Office needed to close, ensuring there were no omissions in the documents for his audience with the emperor tomorrow.
“…”
Pu Jinyu had knelt like this the entire night. Her knees ached terribly and had grown stiff, and her back had begun to bend slightly.
The slap mark on her cheek had swollen to the size of a steamed bun, and the blood at the corner of her mouth had long since dried. Yet she hadn’t uttered a single sound, nor cried out in pain.
Madam Pu’s anger had not yet subsided; she wanted to make Pu Jinyu continue kneeling, wishing she would kneel until death, just like that, to accompany her daughter in the afterlife and serve as an ox or horse for her Wange in the underworld.
The old nanny advised her against this, reminding her that Pu Jinyu had now married out under the identity of the eldest young lady. She was not just Pu Wange but also a woman of the Yan Family. No matter how great the anger, they had to consider the Yan Family’s interests. “A small impatience can ruin great plans, Madam.”
The Pu Family had few offspring, and the main branch lacked male heirs. They still needed the Yan Family’s support. If Pu Jinyu died, where would the Yan Family find another daughter to marry into their household?
“My heart is so bitter.” Facing the old nanny who had accompanied her for many years, Madam Pu could no longer hold back the redness in the corners of her eyes, and the hatred in her gaze was impossible to conceal.
“This servant knows your heart is bitter, but the eldest young lady has already passed. You must still restrain your grief. The days ahead are long, and what happens in the future is uncertain.”
The old nanny wrung out a handkerchief to wipe Madam Pu’s face, helped her with her makeup, and barely managed to stabilize her emotions.
“That wretch has been starved for several days. Since the little wretch has returned, let the mother and daughter meet.” Madam Pu sneered.
Pu Jinyu knew Madam Pu would not make her continue kneeling because they still had to consider the Yan Family’s side. Therefore, she was not surprised by the arrival of the young maidservants and allowed them to help her back to her courtyard.
The young maidservants left after setting down the medicinal wine. Pu Jinyu moved her wrist, supported herself against the edge of the table, and lifted her skirt to apply the medicine. Just then, accompanied by the creaking sound of the door being pushed open, she heard a long-unheard yet familiar wail.
Instantly, her fingers paused. As her expression stiffened, she clenched the medicine bottle in her hand tightly.
But the beautiful woman who pushed the door open and entered while crying and cursing did not notice her change.
She wailed as she scolded Pu Jinyu, “What on earth is wrong with you again? Why won’t you listen! Why must you oppose that venomous woman and drive away all her people?”
Concubine Ruan began crying as soon as she entered. She poured out to Pu Jinyu how bitterly she had suffered these past days. Ever since that old hag Nanny Wu was carried back to the Pu Family, Madam Pu had blamed the incident on her, refusing to give her food and only keeping her alive with a little spoiled rice porridge.
“Your mother is starving to the point of skin and bones. Do you know how difficult it is for me to be standing alive before you now?” Even while wailing, Concubine Ruan cried in a moving manner.
Pu Jinyu looked at her face, at the tears streaming down, and thought of how she had cried like this when she died in her previous life. But back then, her cries were even more pitiful, and fine wrinkles had already appeared at the corners of her eyes.
“Why are you staring at me—” Concubine Ruan noticed that despite her long lament, Pu Jinyu remained silent. Just as she was about to ask, she stopped her tears and looked over, only to see Pu Jinyu’s cheeks severely swollen. Immediately, she flared up in anger. “Did that venomous woman hit you?!”
Pu Jinyu looked at her without speaking, the medicine bottle still clenched tightly in her hand. She realized her emotions were somewhat out of control, unsure if it was because she had seen through the facade of this person she had once trusted most.
Her anger seemed so genuine, her flaring up as if she were about to stand up for her. But in truth, it wasn’t out of pity for her being beaten—it was only because she feared that if her face were ruined by her Legal Mother, she would become useless and lose her value.
Thinking of this, Pu Jinyu lowered her gaze, tears welling in her eyes, drowning the surging mockery and resentment within.
Concubine Ruan anxiously examined her face, still oblivious to her unusual mood.
Approaching and lifting Pu Jinyu’s chin, she carefully inspected the side of her face, finding it severely swollen with a split at the corner of the mouth, but no damage to the facial bones from the beating. Concubine Ruan reluctantly breathed a sigh of relief, snatched the medicine from Pu Jinyu’s hand, and scolded her in frustration.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed? When someone hits you, you don’t even dodge? How much power can that venomous woman possibly wield now? She tells you to kneel, and you kneel; she hits you, and you just take it. Have you truly come to think of yourself as her dutiful daughter?”
“If your face were ruined, how would you survive?” Seeing her sit there like a fool without uttering a word, Concubine Ruan grew so angry that she pressed heavily on Pu Jinyu’s injured cheek.
But she noticed that Pu Jinyu didn’t even furrow her brow, let alone make a sound. Finally, Concubine Ruan sensed something was amiss.
“You… what’s wrong?” She lightened her touch, watching the side of her face.
Pu Jinyu lowered her eyes without speaking. Concubine Ruan grew frantic, shaking her, even suspecting that Madam Pu had given Pu Jinyu a drug to render her mute—otherwise, why wouldn’t she speak?
If this had happened before, when she complained about the mistreatment she suffered in the Pu Family, Pu Jinyu would have surely comforted her. But today, she remained unmoved, as if she were a different person—even chillingly indifferent.
“What happened?” Since she remained silent, Concubine Ruan didn’t dare speak recklessly again.
After a while, Concubine Ruan lost patience and was about to force her to speak, to stop acting as if her parents had died. But who could have expected Pu Jinyu to suddenly lift her lips into a smile and speak?
“Concubine, did you know that my elder sister is still alive?”
Concubine Ruan’s pupils instantly trembled. “Y-you… what did you say?!” Her face filled with disbelief, and the medicine bottle in her hand fell to the ground.
Pu Jinyu savored her loss of composure, watching her panic, observing her unease—even trembling, though she tried desperately to hide it.
She repeated her words with a smile.
Seeing that Pu Jinyu wasn’t joking, Concubine Ruan swallowed hard, first glancing around to confirm the door was tightly shut before asking nervously,
“Is it true? That venomous woman’s daughter is still alive? How do you know?” Concubine Ruan urged her to speak quickly!
“Jing Chun let slip the news. My elder sister is alive; she didn’t die.”
“Where is she now?”
Concubine Ruan’s heart nearly leaped into her throat. How could Pu Wange still be alive? Wasn’t she gravely ill and deceased? Did Madam Pu know about this?
Pu Jinyu repeatedly insisted she was alive—it couldn’t possibly be a joke, as it would do her no good.
How could Pu Wange be alive? If Pu Wange hadn’t died and were to return, would there still be a place for her and Pu Jinyu in the Pu Family?
No, she would never allow such a thing to happen.
“Hurry up and tell me! Are you trying to worry your mother to death?”
“My elder sister faked her death to elope with her lover. I don’t know the exact location.” In her previous life, she only knew her elder sister was alive but never discovered her whereabouts.
Who in this world would least want her elder sister alive? It was her dear concubine. Pu Jinyu sneered inwardly.
“Eloped?” Concubine Ruan was stunned. After a long pause, she also sneered. “So this is the well-bred lady that venomous woman raised—outwardly noble and peerless, but at her core, just as lowly and shameless!”
Pu Jinyu listened to her laughing and cursing, saying nothing.
She took a new medicine bottle and silk handkerchief from the side, wiping her face and knees before the mirror.
Only after she had applied the medicine did Concubine Ruan barely manage to stop her voice, continuing to ask her about the details regarding Pu Wange. Pu Jinyu told her everything she knew.
After listening, Concubine Ruan instructed her, “I will secretly send someone to investigate this matter. Don’t alert the enemy.” Fortunately, Madam Pu still didn’t know that Pu Wange was alive.
“Rest assured, if that Pu Wange is truly still alive, I will make sure she never returns. No one can shake our mother-daughter position in the Pu Family and Yan Family, or obstruct our path.”
Pu Jinyu looked at her determined profile, lowered her eyes to drink tea, concealing the thoughts in her gaze.
Not long after, Madam Pu sent someone to summon her. As they were about to part, Concubine Ruan gave many more instructions. Having learned that Pu Wange was still alive, she no longer mentioned Jing Chun’s matter, only telling her to keep an eye on things. Besides that, she urged her to get closer to Yan Chiyun and conceive a child as soon as possible.
“It’s just a pity that your face still can’t be revealed. The time isn’t right yet…” At the very least, she needed to wait until she was pregnant and had leverage before negotiations could begin.
“This is the little booklet I found for you. Look at it more in private, learn from it!”
Concubine Ruan stuffed an erotic picture book into her hands. Pu Jinyu’s expression remained unchanged as she flipped through it, but she accepted it nonetheless.
The medicine had worked well; the slap mark on Pu Jinyu’s face had mostly faded. Madam Pu looked at her, curling her lips into a cold smile. “Have you seen your mother?”
After paying her respects, Pu Jinyu did not respond, merely standing quietly with her eyes lowered.
Madam Pu looked at the exquisite, jade-like face before her, feeling another surge of annoyance. It had to be said, this little wretch’s appearance was truly exceptional. Even with a fierce slap mark marring her face, she did not appear disheveled; instead, it evoked a different kind of moving, pitiable beauty.
No wonder Jing Chun said that Yan Chiyun had been frequently consummating their marriage lately. What man in the world could escape such a beauty trap? The wretch in this household was a prime example.
“I told you not to covet what isn’t yours, not to seduce the head of the Yan Family. Did you take my words as mere wind past your ears?”
If she weren’t still useful, Madam Pu would have gladly used a red-hot branding iron to ruin Pu Jinyu’s face.
“Mother misunderstands your daughter. The matter with Nanny Wu has nothing to do with me, and Jing Chun wasn’t sent back by me either.”
“What do you mean?” Madam Pu narrowed her eyes, studying her expression.
“From the way my husband spoke, it seemed Jing Chun deliberately tried to seduce him, which is why he…”
Pu Jinyu knew very well that after Jing Chun was sent away, she would certainly report every detail of recent events to Madam Pu.
No matter what excuse she gave, Madam Pu would blame the incidents involving Nanny Wu and Jing Chun on her.
She spoke so plainly because she was certain Yan Chiyun would not easily bring up this matter, and Madam Pu would not go directly to the Yan Family to question Yan Chiyun.
She was deliberately muddying the waters.
“Are you saying that little hussy Jing Chun had ideas of climbing into bed?”
Pu Jinyu deliberately repeated to Madam Pu the few probing questions Jing Chun had asked her beside the bathtub the night before she was sent away.
“When your daughter woke the next day, Jing Chun was already gone, and the personal maid had been suddenly replaced. That’s why I found an excuse to return home and ask what exactly had happened,” she stated calmly.
Madam Pu recalled how Jing Chun had been sobbing when she was sent back yesterday, the things she had said, and the first statement Pu Jinyu made when she entered to plead her case—she claimed it was a misunderstanding.
Back then, the soup Pu Jinyu had given Nanny Wu to drink had been tasted by all three of them. If Pu Jinyu was innocent and Jing Chun had harbored ill intentions, then Nanny Wu might also have been harmed by Jing Chun.
So, who was telling the truth?
Just as Madam Pu was pondering this, a servant hurried in from outside to report that Yan Chiyun had arrived.
【Author’s Note】
Here we go! Randomly dropping a Luck-piecing red envelope in this chapter~
By the way, thank you, dear readers, for feeding me with nutrient solutions [rainbow farts].