The three sisters chatted and laughed as they walked forward, with Su Ci following behind with a smile, his gaze intentionally or unintentionally lingering on An Ruofei.
Xiaoyu had long been waiting at the door, personally lifting the curtain for them and saying with a laugh, "Our dear guests, please come in quickly. The mistress and the aunts have been waiting anxiously."
An Ruofei flicked her handkerchief at Xiaoyu's shoulder and chided, "When I was at home, Xiaoyu and I were the closest. Not only do you not help me, but how can you lead the way in teasing me?"
After the four of them entered, Xiaoyu stepped forward to support An Ruofei, protesting her innocence: "This is truly snow in June—I must cry out to heaven for injustice. When the eldest young lady returns home for the first time with her husband, it’s inevitable that she’ll be teased. Rather than letting others take the lead, it’s better for me to say it first, so others won’t have much more to add. My heart and mind are entirely for the eldest young lady. If she doesn’t reward me, that’s fine, but how can she wrong me like this?" Everyone laughed at her words.
An Ruofei reached out to pinch her mouth: "Let me see, has fangs grown in your mouth after just two years apart? You’ve become even sharper than before." Xiaoyu quickly begged for mercy, pleading with An Ruoyu and An Ruosu to intercede on her behalf.
After a round of laughter and banter, they reached the inner room’s entrance. An Ruofei could no longer contain her emotions; she pushed aside Xiaoyu, who was supporting her, her expression filled with irrepressible urgency. She rushed inside in a few quick steps, tears in her eyes, her gaze shifting repeatedly between Zhou Shuyu and Aunt Wu.
The maids hurriedly brought two red velvet cushions and laid them on the floor. Despite her eagerness, An Ruofei had to wait briefly for Su Ci. Once he caught up, the couple knelt together, first kowtowing to Zhou Shuyu, then paying their respects to the two aunts.
Zhou Shuyu and the others reluctantly accepted their greetings before eagerly calling them to rise, impatiently beckoning An Ruofei forward. The three women surrounded her, examining her carefully. Though she appeared slightly thinner than when she was at home, her complexion was rosy, and her spirits were high. Only then did they show genuine, heartfelt smiles.
"Second Young Lady, Third Young Lady, come quickly and greet your elder sister and brother-in-law," Zhou Shuyu beckoned to her two daughters standing at the inner room’s entrance, smiling. "It’s been nearly two years since we last parted, hasn’t it?"
An Ruoyu then led her younger sister forward to greet their elder sister and brother-in-law, each receiving a gift: a length of fabric, two fashionable Gonghua, and two auspicious Yinkezhi.
Just then, Liu Er's wife came in and said, "Mistress, the master has sent someone to invite the young master to the study for a chat."
Su Ci, who had been feeling uncomfortable staying there, felt as if he had been granted a reprieve upon hearing this. He hurriedly bowed to Zhou Shuyu and the others, saying, "Mother-in-law, esteemed aunts, your son-in-law will now go pay his respects to Father-in-law." He then exchanged farewells with An Ruoyu and An Ruosu before following Liu Er's wife out.
Once he left, though no one said it aloud, everyone felt much more at ease. Zhou Shuyu pulled An Ruofei to sit on the footrest, while An Ruoyu and An Ruosu sat beside their mother and eldest sister, all of them close and intimate.
Zhou Shuyu anxiously asked, "Eldest girl, I see you’ve grown much thinner than before. Could it be that the Su family has been mistreating you?"
Aunt Wu watched with concern, tears already welling in her eyes.
"What's all this talk of torment? Isn't it just the same old story?" An Ruofei sneered, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Everyone loves climbing the high branches, afraid of going downhill."
"Both my father-in-law and second uncle-in-law are convinced that in the struggle between the two dragons, the Sage Emperor will inevitably prevail. Naturally, they fear my father might not see the situation clearly or be too concerned with face, and still serve the Old Sage Emperor."
Ever since the news of An Jieshan's promotion and transfer to the capital came from the Libu, An Ruofei had noticed some awkwardness in her dealings with the Su family.
To be precise, none of it was major—many things weren't even worth mentioning—but they were inexplicably irritating. Bringing them up seriously would only make her seem petty.
An Ruofei had been carefully nurtured by her family since childhood and understood the situation perfectly. She knew there was no use dwelling on it, so she simply pretended not to notice.
After all, her father was still a high-ranking third-grade official. After arriving in the capital, he would serve as a senior official in an important department like the Ministry of Revenue, making it easy for him to cause trouble for any ministry. As long as An Jieshan remained in power, the Su family wouldn't dare to truly mistreat her.
Despite An Ruofei's efforts to downplay the situation, Aunt Wu couldn't help but curse angrily: "Those damned Sus! When they came to propose marriage, they were a thousand times careful, practically treating you like an ancestor to be carried on their heads. Now that they've lured you over and borrowed our family's influence in the official circles, they feel secure and start tormenting you."
Concubine Zhu also cursed bitterly: "If it weren't for the letter the master wrote back then, how could their second master have so easily gotten that lucrative post in Huguang? They truly eat from the bowl and then curse the mother who fed them—finish reciting the sutras and then beat the monk!"
Zhou Shuyu was also furious, but she knew that marriages among official families were often far more ruthless than those among ordinary households.
Even ordinary families followed the "seven grounds for divorce and three prohibitions." If a bride's family fell into decline after her marriage, her in-laws might give her a few disdainful looks but wouldn't dare to mistreat her outright.
But in official families, if there were no more benefits to be gained, many illnesses that sounded incurable would suddenly befall the bride. While the Su family's behavior was disgraceful, switching to another family might not be much better.
She sighed softly, pulling An Ruofei into a tight embrace, repeating over and over: "My poor eldest daughter!"
As for An Ruoyu and An Ruosu, both were unmarried young ladies. Allowing them to listen in was already pushing the boundaries, so naturally, they had no place to speak. One gently patted her elder sister's back, while the other held her sister's hand across their mother, both wearing expressions of indignation.
After a long while, Zhou Shuyu asked again: "How does your husband treat you?"
Mentioning her husband, An Ruofei's expression softened considerably, and a faint smile appeared in her eyes. "He's quite considerate and sensible. When he comforts or supports me, he never does it in front of his mother, to avoid making her jealous."
Zhou Shuyu nodded slightly, smiling at the two concubines. "I always thought that boy was good, and now it seems I was right. Whether a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law get along may seem like a matter between two women, but in reality, it depends on whether the man in between knows how to mediate."
Concubine Zhu laughed. "That's true. When I was still in my own family as a child, I often heard the elders talk about men caught between their mothers and wives. The smart ones keep things from both sides, while the fools get tangled up with both."
Aunt Wu sneered coldly, "Don't you really think men are fools. How could they not understand this principle? It's just that when mother and wife compete, both are trying to win his favor. He's secretly delighted in his heart."
An Ruosu couldn't help but glance at Aunt Wu, surprised that women in ancient times could also see things so clearly. Looking at Zhou Shuyu and Concubine Zhu, both wore expressions of agreement. She suddenly understood: women of any era aren't foolish—it's just that autonomy isn't in their hands, forced by circumstances to act as they must.
An Ruofei comforted instead, "It's all in the past, let's not mention it anymore. The Su family never openly made things difficult for me. Ever since the Sage Emperor personally praised Father as a pillar of the state in Qianqinggong, my mother-in-law hinted that she was getting old and lacked energy, wanting me to help manage the household—but I refused."
Aunt Wu anxiously said, "Silly child, why did you refuse?" Then turning to the two younger ones, "You two mustn't learn from your eldest sister in the future. Only when a woman holds household management authority can she truly stand firm in her husband's family. Things like affection and love are all illusory—having household management power in hand is what's truly substantial."
The two sisters exchanged glances. An Ruoyu said, "Aunt, don't be anxious. Eldest sister must have her reasons for doing this."
"Yes, Aunt," An Ruosu also chimed in to persuade. "Eldest sister is your own daughter—don't you know her? I often hear Madam say that eldest sister has had her own ideas since childhood, far surpassing Second Sister and me by who knows how many times."
Zhou Shuyu showed no trace of surprise. After they finished speaking, she asked with a smile, "Fei'er, tell us what you were thinking."
An Ruofei sneered coldly, "Madam, Aunt, you don't know everything. Ever since the Old Sage Emperor's health gradually recovered, and the two Sage Emperors competed to place their people in Jiangnan's official circles, my mother-in-law hasn't been well. Every few days she calls me over to attend to her illness, often making me stand for half a day at a time—so exhausted I barely have time to breathe, let alone husband and wife…"
Here she suddenly remembered her two unmarried younger sisters were present and hurriedly swallowed the words unsuitable for children, changing her phrasing.
"My mother-in-law also pities her son, so she had him move to sleep in the front courtyard study. And she was very considerate of me—not allowing a single maidservant to follow, all attendants being uniformly young male servants. Only after news of Father's promotion came out did her illness gradually improve."
This time, even Zhou Shuyu's face completely darkened.
—No wonder the eldest young lady has been married nearly two years without any good news. With the mother-in-law personally sabotaging things, never letting the couple sleep together, how could she possibly get pregnant?
Being older, An Ruoyu was already at marriageable age. Although the adults spoke vaguely, it didn't prevent her from understanding—she just pretended not to.
As for An Ruosu, she had studied physiology in her previous life—everyone present combined probably didn't understand as much as she did in this regard. But now she was still a child and naturally shouldn't understand these things, so she also pretended not to comprehend, exchanging blank looks with her second sister.
An Ruofei stroked her youngest sister's face and patted her second sister's hand, smiling first herself. "I know Aunt is concerned for me, but Aunt should think: now I have no children, sooner or later I'll have to consider the matter of heirs."
Even assisting the mistress in managing household affairs is no simple matter. The Su family has two or three times more members than ours, with dozens of matters awaiting resolution every single day.
Their family rose to prominence as far back as the great-grandfather's generation. With generations of family servants and the dowry attendants of various mistresses and ladies, the household is a complex web of people beyond description. As a young daughter-in-law without children, they would undoubtedly take advantage of my inexperience, openly or covertly creating obstacles to mock me."
At this point, she paused and sneered, "Moreover, my mother-in-law only mentioned having me assist in managing the household, but never once spoke of delegating authority. If I were to rashly take it on, wouldn't I just become the head maid before the mistress—holding the keys without any real power? Rather than that, it would be better to use 'preparing for childbirth' as an excuse to push aside this troublesome responsibility first. It would also annoy her, leaving her unable to retort."
—Why am I in such a hurry to have children? Isn't it because you, as the mother-in-law, are so unreasonable, meddling directly in your son and daughter-in-law's private affairs?