The road from the West Courtyard to the main courtyard seemed unusually long.
The bluestone pavement had been heated by the scorching afternoon sun, and waves of burning heat rose from the ground beneath their feet.
Su Jinse walked very slowly, each step seeming to measure the weakness of her body.
Inside her, the blocked meridians were being repaired bit by bit by the gentle medicinal power. The faint pricking pain mixed with a long-lost sense of comfort, allowing her to sense this broken body more clearly.
Walking ahead of her, Su Lingwei kept turning back. Her carefully drawn brows gradually knitted tighter.
“Can’t you walk any faster?”
Her voice carried undisguised irritation, like someone urging along an annoying animal.
Su Jinse did not respond. She simply lifted her eyes slightly, her calm gaze passing over Su Lingwei and landing on the increasingly nearer luxurious courtyard.
Unlike the desolate and dilapidated West Courtyard, every pavilion and building in the main courtyard was exquisitely crafted. Even the birds kept beneath the corridors were sleek and well-fed, their chirping bright and clear.
The sharp contrast made the faint trace of ridicule at the corner of her lips flash and disappear.
Su Lingwei’s impatience was almost overflowing. She strode forward and, ignoring Su Jinse’s stagger, grabbed her wrist.
“Dawdling like this—how long do you want Mother to wait?”
At that moment, a heart-wrenching cry pierced through the courtyard walls. It carried despair and grief, crashing violently into their ears.
“My poor Chen’er!”
It was their mother, Madam Liu.
Su Lingwei’s expression changed instantly. The composure she had deliberately maintained shattered in an instant. Without another word, she suddenly pulled hard, almost dragging Su Jinse as she yanked her into the main hall.
Inside the room, the rosewood furniture glowed with a dull sheen, and the air was filled with the scent of expensive incense and a heavy, oppressive atmosphere.
Madam Liu, the Marchioness of Jing’an, was leaning over the table. She wore a luxurious brocade gown, but the golden hairpins in her hair were somewhat disheveled, and her shoulders trembled continuously.
Hearing the noise, she slowly raised her head.
It was a well-maintained face now covered with tear marks, and her beautiful phoenix eyes were swollen red.
When her gaze landed on Su Jinse, who had been dragged in by Su Lingwei, all the grief on her face froze in an instant—then exploded into overwhelming hatred.
Bang!
Madam Liu slammed her hand on the table and abruptly stood up.
She stared fixedly at Su Jinse. Her eyes were like poisoned blades, as if she wished to slice her to pieces.
“You still have the nerve to come here?”
Madam Liu’s voice was hoarse, every word squeezed out from her throat.
“Do you know why your brother was rejected by the Zhang family today?”
All the maids and old servants in the room lowered their heads, even softening their breathing, afraid of being caught in the coming storm.
Without waiting for anyone to answer, Madam Liu had already walked up to Su Jinse. Pointing at her nose, she shouted with all her strength.
“Because of you!”
These two words exploded like thunder inside the room.
Madam Liu’s chest heaved violently, the hatred in her eyes almost turning tangible.
“Because of you, you shameless fool! The Zhang family’s messenger made it very clear—there is absolutely no reason for their daughter to marry into a family only to serve a foolish sister-in-law!”
“This is the third time! Su Jinse, this is already the third time your brother’s marriage negotiations have failed because of you!”
The humiliating words fell one after another like hailstones.
The entire room was terrifyingly silent. Everyone’s eyes focused on Su Jinse—pity, disdain, and schadenfreude weaving together like an invisible net that threatened to swallow her whole.
She had become the family’s sinner, nailed to the pillar of shame.
Yet at the center of this storm, Su Jinse merely lowered her eyes.
Her long eyelashes concealed every emotion in her gaze and shut out all the malice from the outside world.
Inside, there was no ripple—only a cold clarity.
For half a year, she had already grown used to scenes like this.
Her calmness formed a sharp and glaring contrast with Madam Liu’s collapse.
In the suffocating atmosphere, Su Lingwei stepped forward at just the right moment and gently supported the swaying Madam Liu.
“Mother, please don’t get angry. Be careful not to harm your health.”
Madam Liu’s body stiffened. Then, as if she had found her only support, she collapsed fully into Su Lingwei’s arms.
The suppressed sobs finally found an outlet, turning into even more miserable crying.
“My son… my Chen’er…”
Her tears soaked the expensive cloud brocade on Su Lingwei’s shoulder as she wept bitterly.
Su Lingwei patiently patted her mother’s trembling back again and again. Every movement displayed filial piety and care.
The maids and servants in the main hall, watching this scene, all showed traces of emotion.
The eldest young lady was truly filial and sensible.
Su Jinse watched coldly at the scene of deep mother-daughter affection, watching the flawless gentleness on Su Lingwei’s face. In the depths of her heart, she only felt absurdity.
A perfect performance.
Sure enough, Su Lingwei subtly shifted the direction of her words and glanced faintly toward Su Jinse.
“The Zhang family has gone too far.”
Su Lingwei’s voice lowered, filled with shared indignation.
“Brother is such an outstanding man, with limitless prospects ahead. Yet the Zhang family dares to use such words to insult the dignity of our Yong’an Marquis Residence.”
Her words made Madam Liu’s crying pause for a moment.
Madam Liu lifted her head. On her tear-stained face, hatred and humiliation intertwined.
“They look down on us! They look down on our marquis residence for having produced a fool!”
“Mother…”
Su Lingwei sighed softly.
“But… what they said is not entirely unreasonable.”
The sentence was very light.
Yet those lightly spoken words pierced precisely into Madam Liu’s heart.
She continued in that slow tone, guiding her step by step.
“I also think the Zhang family was excessive, but think about it. Among the great noble families in the capital, which one doesn’t hold their head high? When they marry off their daughters, they are marrying away their entire lifetime of honor and fortune.”
“Brother’s character and talent are naturally one in ten thousand. But no matter how good the family is, when they send their daughter here, once they think that after entering the household she must face a… a sister-in-law who might lose control at any time, which family would not hesitate?”
She paused, giving Madam Liu enough time to digest every word.
Su Jinse stood there without moving.
She could feel that the anger Madam Liu had just begun to calm was being reignited by Su Lingwei in a far more insidious way.
The blade was aimed at her alone.
What skillful tactics.
Compared to Madam Liu’s straightforward shouting, Su Lingwei’s bloodless words were the true attack on the heart.
She had completely removed herself from the situation, adopting the stance of “I am only thinking for the family,” and then carefully analyzed how Su Jinse’s existence was the family’s “original sin.”
Madam Liu released her grip on Su Lingwei’s hand, her gaze once again focusing on Su Jinse.
At the corner of Su Lingwei’s lips appeared a faint curve that no one noticed.
She knew the moment was right.
So she dropped the final straw—and the heaviest one.
“With Third Sister in her current state, staying in the capital is indeed…”
Her words stopped there, revealing just the right amount of hesitation and reluctance.
That hesitation was more lethal than any blunt statement.
A burden.
A burden to the entire family.
The greatest stumbling block on the bright future of her heaven-favored brother.
Su Lingwei stepped forward, lowering her voice further, yet making sure every person in the room could hear clearly.
“As long as she remains in the residence for even one more day, which family in the capital would dare marry their daughter into this household?”
Madam Liu raised her head blankly and looked at her eldest daughter.
“Mother, I have an idea.”
“One that can both find a quiet place for Third Sister to recuperate… and also secure Brother’s marriage.”