Clothes, jewelry, bedding, and quilts—everything was packed into trunks and bundles, each labeled with tags for easy identification.
The eldest uncle had traveled through the night to reach the capital, and by morning, everyone was preparing to return home by land.
Sheniang wore a padded jacket underneath with mourning clothes over it, and because the garments were so bulky, walking was somewhat inconvenient. She rode in the same carriage as Liniang, accompanying Madam Yu, while father and son Pei Yiqing and Pei Ji rode in the carriage ahead.
Once in the carriage, Sheniang clung to Madam Yu's arm. She wanted to keep a close watch on her mother—this way, she could prevent her mother from dying. She was certain she could.
"Mother, is Grandfather's family also from Hedong?" Sheniang asked.
Madam Yu smiled. "Yes, our Yu family is from Jiang County. There's a noodle dish there called 'gujia'—crispy golden on the outside, soft and fluffy inside, and the more you chew, the more fragrant it becomes. We always bring some when we travel."
"Daughter wants to try it." Sheniang sniffed.
Madam Yu tapped her daughter's nose. "Little glutton, you want to eat everything. Be careful you don't wear your teeth down. You're already nine, and by nominal age, ten—it's time to be a bit more refined."
Seeing Madam Yu talking with Sheniang, Liniang took out a string of colored rope and asked Madam Yu to play cat's cradle with her. Madam Yu pointed to Sheniang. "Let your younger sister play with you."
Sheniang then played cat's cradle with Liniang to pass the time. When they grew tired, the two leaned against the carriage wall, closed their eyes, and rested.
On the other side, Shunniang couldn't sleep. Old Madam Pei was watching her with affectionate eyes. "There's lily pastry in the food box beside you. If you're hungry, take some out to eat."
"Granddaughter isn't hungry." Shunniang was simply tired, yet unable to sleep.
"You, child, are upright in character, unlike your sisters." Old Madam Pei doted on the granddaughter she had raised at her knee, who didn't have the many small flaws of the other girls.
This child wasn't greedy, loved reading, and had an upright character—everything about her was good.
It was only her fate that was ill-starred.
Old Madam Pei had originally been the daughter of a Marquis of Dingbei. At fourteen, she had come into possession of a book called Chronicles of Generations through a twist of fate. The book foretold her destiny—and each time she altered her fate as written, a new one would appear.
According to the book's original account, she was to marry the eldest son of the Duke of Fuguo, also a noble family. Unfortunately, that man was not only a philanderer but also short-lived, leaving her widowed for years and ultimately forced to endure the insolence of a concubine-born son.
In that book, Pei Shuo was destined to be Grand Chancellor—young and accomplished. That was why, when the Pei Shuo brothers were cast out by their stepmother and lodged at their uncle's home in the capital, she not only had her father host a banquet but was determined to marry him.
And indeed, it came to pass. The woman who married into the Duke of Fuguo's household was widowed, while she bore two sons, and her husband Pei Shuo was on the verge of entering the Grand Secretariat.
However, thirteen years ago, Chronicles of Generations revealed a new prophecy: Pei Shuo would not enter the Grand Secretariat and would even face mortal danger. She began to devote herself to Buddhism, never imagining that her husband would still pass away.
The Chronicles of Generations had reached its final page. It stated that the daughter of the eldest son, Pei Yiheng, would marry the Prince of Jin and eventually become Empress—only to be deposed due to palace intrigue, causing the Hedong Pei clan to even strip their branch from the family genealogy.
But it also said that after the Eastern Branch of the Pei family was deposed, twenty years later, the daughter of Pei Yiqing would rise through her husband's status, entering the palace as Empress, and the Pei family would flourish once more.
This was why Old Madam Pei had wanted to betroth Liniang early. As long as Liniang had no connection to the imperial clan, she could never become Empress through her husband's position as a prince's consort.
She had originally planned to settle Liniang's marriage early, but she hadn't expected Old Master Pei to die so suddenly.
And the only way she could control Liniang's marriage was to first avoid dividing the family—if the family were divided, she would easily lose control.
Of course, her Shunniang could not enter the palace either, but she had to stop Liniang first. That way, even if Shunniang couldn't become Empress, Liniang couldn't either.
As for Sheniang, she hadn't considered her at all. In her eyes, Liniang had inner cunning beneath a delicate, coquettish exterior, with an easygoing temperament and extraordinary beauty—surely the type men would adore. As for Sheniang, that child was "three years old, and you can see the adult"—she had been talkative since childhood, with a temperament too shrewd and outwardly sharp. Such a person would easily put others on guard, and in dealing with people, her kindness would breed resentment. Ordinary men likely wouldn't like her, let alone those of royal blood.
The Pei family traveled for two days before stopping to rest at a temple. Sheniang washed herself, loosened her hair bun, and washed her hair. Liniang went even further—not only washing her hair but also taking a full bath.
Sheniang said, "Be careful you don't catch a chill. I'll head out first."
"I simply cannot bear being unclean." Liniang shivered.
Sheniang left the washroom first and returned to the room to eat. The meal was provided by the temple—three vegetarian dishes and a bowl of soup. She ate about half, then said to Nanny Xia, "Take a qian of silver and ask the temple masters to prepare some baked cakes, date pastries, taro cakes, and white crispy biscuits. Also, when we entered the temple, I saw vendors selling snacks outside—have a servant boy buy me two qian of silver worth of meat oil cakes, shortcakes, sesame pastries, bean-stuffed balls, and a jar of salted duck eggs."
These were meant to be eaten on the road, but just two days into the journey, she truly couldn't bear it anymore.
Especially while traveling in a hurry—it wasn't like they were a family out on their own; nothing was convenient.
Nanny Xia might not have the same abilities or connections as Nanny Chen, but she had strong execution skills. Whatever Sheniang said, she would immediately go out and have someone handle it. The sisters now had limited conditions and shared a single room. The food stored in the room had its smell scorned by Liniang, who pinched her nose.
"Then don't eat my food," Sheniang said, turning over to sleep. She hadn't been able to sleep at all on the carriage, and now she could finally get a good night's rest.
Liniang was the type who got more energetic the less people paid attention to her, finding things to say out of nowhere: "Sheniang, don't sleep yet. Do you know? Yiniang also went to curry favor with the old lady, but the old lady doesn't think much of her."
Sheniang yawned: "That's to be expected. Wasn't she already serving at the old lady's place long ago?"
"Oh right, I forgot." Liniang felt as if she'd forgotten something.
Sheniang shook her head: "Go to sleep quickly. We have to get up early tomorrow to continue the journey."
Liniang couldn't fall asleep smelling the food, but she was also very tired, and before long, she dozed off.
In the dead of night, Madam Cao's stomach was in great discomfort. Her pregnancy had never been stable to begin with, but she dared not say anything—otherwise, her husband and family would blame her for being careless, for losing the child so easily.
Madam Lu had taken over the household management, and that was one thing, but she had deliberately found several faults with Madam Cao's people, dismissing some on the spot. Now that Madam Cao was pregnant, Madam Lu didn't even send anyone over with miscarriage-preventing medicine.
And then there was that Yiniang—she was a jinx. Nothing good had happened since she came back.
Madam Cao had her maid brew some ginseng tea and drank a cup, finally letting out a sigh of relief. Little did she expect that the next day on the carriage, she would suffer a miscarriage directly.
…
Because the Fifth Branch's carriage was right in front of the Sixth Branch's, Madam Yu quickly learned of it. Cuilan was whispering in her ear: "The Fifth Madam is cursing the Second Madam for taking advantage of her poor health to deliberately berate and beat her people, deliberately harming her. She's also calling Third Miss an ill-omened person, saying Third Miss is a lapdog who only knows how to climb up the social ladder, not even putting her own mother in her eyes. She's made Fifth Master order Third Miss to kneel."
Madam Yu patted her chest: "If I were the household manager, Fifth Sister-in-law would definitely have become my enemy today."
She certainly wouldn't say it was because her own body was weak that she lost the child—she would absolutely blame someone else.
Such a big matter naturally reached Sheniang's ears as well, but she felt that Fifth Uncle also had some issues. Just because Fifth Aunt blamed Yiniang didn't mean Yiniang was truly at fault. In her view, Madam Cao and Yiniang had no blood relation, but Fifth Uncle was her biological father, and he showed not a shred of compassion—he wasn't much of a person either.
On the other side, Yiniang indeed deeply resented Madam Cao's harshness, which was worse than even a miserly village landlady. Though her sisters sympathized with her, no one could do anything to help, after all, Madam Cao was like a giant python.
Nanny Chang was heartbroken: "The Fifth Madam is really something. Her own child was lost—what does that have to do with you?"
"She's just unhappy herself and taking it out on me." Yiniang bit her lip.
Nanny Chang sighed: "In such cold weather, kneeling like that in the carriage—with all the jostling, her knees will be ruined. How can these people bear to do this? Young miss, let me go beg Fifth Master."
But before Nanny Chang could leave, Old Madam Pei had already sent Nanny Xiang over to say to Fifth Master: "The old lady's intention is for me to deliver some nourishing supplements, and she's also sending someone to fetch a physician. Whatever medicine is needed, no matter how expensive, use it. But Third Miss is still just a young girl—let her punishment wait until they reach the ancestral home. Otherwise, it won't look good for people to see on the road."
Fifth Master Pei thought this made sense, and only then was Yiniang spared from kneeling as punishment.
Madam Cao was far from satisfied, going on and on about how the old lady was shielding Madam Lu and so forth. It was Madam Huo who advised her: "Say a few less words. As the saying goes, when under a low eave, one must bow one's head. If you want to fight with Second Branch's wife, fine, but if you offend the old lady too, you'll be the one to suffer in the end."
If there was anyone Madam Cao was closest to, it was none other than Madam Huo. She knew Madam Huo meant well, so she didn't make a bigger scene.
As for the food Sheniang had prepared, at first no one ate it, and Liniang even turned up her nose at it. But after two days, Liniang started asking for it: "Sheniang, can you share some of those pastries with me?"
"Who was it that scorned them in the first place?" Now that Madam Lu was being criticized by Madam Cao, she herself was distracted, and naturally wasn't as thorough with the family's meals. So the dried provisions and pastries Sheniang had prepared in advance really came in handy.
Liniang wheedled: "I was wrong, okay?"
Only then did Sheniang take them out to share. Madam Yu also took a few pieces to fill her stomach.
While they were dividing up the food, Sheniang also had the driver sitting outside help roast meat pies on the small stove. The aroma of the meat pies even attracted her father, Pei Yiqing, over.
Seeing her husband, Madam Yu quickly said: "Sheniang, take out some food for your father. He can't go hungry—otherwise his body will go weak, and he'll tremble and feel faint."
Sheniang quickly handed it over. Only after Pei Yiqing finished a piece did her expression return to normal. Sheniang also asked her to bring some meat-oil cakes for her brother, Pei Ji.
Pei Yiqing joked with Madam Yu, saying, "Our Sheniang is truly the little lucky star of the family—she thinks even more thoroughly than us adults."
Though said in jest, the words did not ring false, and this was plain for all to see.
Sheniang could also sense that her parents were increasingly valuing her opinions, and that was a good thing.