Aunt Yao went on and on, but Murong Dan’s heart grew strangely calm.
She heard her aunt telling her to hire some strong, sturdy matrons—so that even if Dong Bing drank, he couldn’t bully her.
She also said she would find her a capable steward skilled at cooking the books—if Dong Bing ever eyed her dowry, she could just pretend to be poor.
Dong Bing was lustful and loved gambling. She must never, ever give him money!
To Murong Dan, these words sounded somewhat unorthodox, yet she could feel the deep maternal care behind them…
Suddenly, she felt a sharp pang of sorrow and guilt.
When she was little, her aunt had always told her to stay away from Murong Yan. At first, she listened.
Later, when she was around three or four, her aunt became pregnant again, but sadly had a miscarriage.
During that time, her aunt was recuperating and didn’t have much energy to watch over her.
And Murong Yan often played with her.
She got to taste delicious pastries she’d never had before, wore the latest styles of clothing and jewelry…
The servants treated her with more respect than ever…
Back then, she was too young to understand. She thought Murong Yan was a wonderful elder sister and grew closer to her.
Moreover, she increasingly looked down on her own aunt’s background, feeling her aunt knew nothing.
She didn’t want to listen to her aunt’s advice; it just annoyed her…
So by the time her aunt had recovered her health, she had already become Murong Yan’s little follower, spending her days trying to please Murong Yan.
As she grew older, she even said the things Murong Yan wanted to say but couldn’t, and did the things Murong Yan wanted to do but couldn’t—
In short, she charged ahead for Murong Yan, offending many people over the years and earning herself a rather unpleasant reputation.
She felt she had done more than enough, hoping Murong Yan would remember her efforts and give her a helping hand.
But when Murong Yan went out to attend banquets, she rarely took her along—
Murong Dan couldn’t help but wonder: if she had obediently listened to her aunt, would things have turned out differently today?
Over these years, could she have lived peacefully, depending on and supporting each other with her aunt, without having to flatter anyone…
Life might have seemed a bit harder, but she would have had her aunt’s company and the freedom to be her true self…
When she came of age, her family would have arranged a suitable marriage matching her social status.
The character of that person might not have been guaranteed, but she would never have disgraced herself before marriage, leaving her forever feeling inferior to others…
“Aunt, I was foolish when I was young… I wasted all your heartfelt efforts…”
Tears also fell silently from Aunt Yao’s eyes as she gently patted her daughter’s back.
“Everything will be alright…”
——-
Not many days after the Dowager Murong’s birthday banquet, the common folk all learned that the Murong family’s fourth young lady was engaged to the Dong family’s second young master.
No unfavorable rumors seemed to have spread—likely thanks to considerable effort from the Third Princess.
Meanwhile, at the city gates, several ragged “beggars” arrived, their bodies emitting a sour odor.
Among them were two middle-aged men with crippled left legs, and two young men with sinister eyes, their right hands bent at eerie angles.
There was also an old couple and two older women who looked to be in their fifties.
The guards at the gate thought there had been too many beggars in the capital lately and were about to chase this group away.
Then the old man took out household registration documents and a letter specially written by their village chief from his robe, explaining that they had come to the capital only to seek relatives…
With the paperwork and proof, the guards had no choice but to let them enter the city.
This group was none other than the Feng family from Taohua Village.
Five years ago, the Feng family had been “robbed” in the capital, and the men were beaten into disability. Old Lady Li had reported it to the authorities—
After Old Man Feng woke from his coma and learned Old Lady Li had gone to the authorities, he was frightened all over again.
Old Man Feng had always believed the family’s misfortune was a warning from the Sheng family.
He didn’t know that, in fact, Huang Yaning had been the one pulling the strings behind the scenes.
And his other two precious granddaughters, hoping to stay in the Sheng mansion, had tipped off some beggars about their family having money, which led to the disaster…
In any case, Old Man Feng was scared out of his wits and took his family back to Taohua Village as fast as possible.
These past few years, the Feng family had barely scraped by, selling off fields and land, living in utter hardship.
The family went from eagerly awaiting Peach Niang’s return every day, hoping Sheng Mingzhu would give them a hand, to gradually giving up hope, cursing Peach Niang and Sheng Mingzhu daily—
Old Man Feng, worn down by the daily hard labor, slowly felt his fear of the Sheng family fading.
Now he was old and didn’t have much longer to live. Did he really have to spend his remaining days living a life worse than a dog’s?
A few days ago, he happened to hear that Sheng Mingzhu had returned, and Old Man Feng could sit still no longer.
He had long since understood: since Sheng Mingzhu bore the Sheng surname, she had nothing to do with the Feng family anymore.
But Peach Niang was still a Feng daughter-in-law—
Peach Niang had been taken away by Sheng Mingzhu for five years. Now that Sheng Mingzhu was back, surely there was no harm in asking about Peach Niang’s whereabouts?
He wouldn’t go asking to see Sheng Mingzhu; he would only look for Third Ya.
Third Ya was back now too. They could just wait near the main gate of the Sheng mansion for Third Ya, couldn’t they?
Surely the Sheng family wouldn’t give them trouble just for looking for a maid?
Old Man Feng didn’t think the Sheng family could be that “vicious.” Even if they plotted something behind his back, he didn’t want to think about it anymore.
He was just too tired now. So very tired.
All he hoped was that Peach Niang would take good care of the family and be filial to him.
He only asked for daily warmth and full bellies, without having to toil in the fields—
The group slowly made their way toward the Sheng mansion.
Xiazhi, at that moment, had no idea her nightmare was about to arrive.
Right now, she was in the main kitchen, fetching the freshly prepared bird’s nest soup for Sheng Mingzhu.
A junior maid could handle such a task, but she liked going to the main kitchen. It was spacious, full of people, and she could hear all sorts of news.
Like right now, she overheard two vegetable-washing maids chatting excitedly in a corner.
“I heard the Eldest Young Master ordered a midnight snack last night… and called for water once too…”
“I know about that too. The matron on duty was woken up from sleep. Seeing it was someone from the Eldest Young Master’s courtyard, she didn’t dare get angry—”
“The people from the Eldest Young Master’s courtyard even gave a huge silver ingot! Pity I’m too young and haven’t learned a proper skill yet. If I had, running into such a job could’ve earned me a nice sum—”
The other maid giggled. “You’ll have your chance someday— Oh, and I also heard Qingxin didn’t leave until this morning… and when she left… she was leaning against the wall…”
The two chattered on, eyes sparkling, but their voices grew softer and softer until Xiazhi could no longer make out the words.
