On the carriage ride back to the mansion,
Xue Ling looked at Chu Ruoyan with concern. "Are you really alright? You even coughed up blood..."
"You know my constitution, cousin. It's just an old ailment—nothing serious."
Xue Ling shook her head. "You... you took too great a risk today. What would you have done if I hadn't been there?"
Chu Ruoyan smiled faintly. "If you hadn't been there, there were plenty of noblewomen present. Surely one or two would have ties to the Yan Family and couldn't stand to watch... Even if no one spoke up, gossip spreads fast. By now, the whole city must know what happened."
Once the rumors spread—a high-and-mighty county princess versus a helpless widow from a family of the bereaved...
Even if County Princess Kanghe had eight hundred mouths, she wouldn’t be able to defend herself!
Xue Ling sighed. "You were always so cautious back at the Duke's Mansion, and now in the Yan Family, you still have to tread carefully. Ah..."
Chu Ruoyan quickly changed the subject. "Enough about that. Cousin, I haven’t asked—who is this with you?"
"Oh, this is my second uncle’s sister-in-law’s son, Xue Baiqing. My sister-in-law wasn’t feeling well today, so she asked me to pick him up from school. Baiqing, this is Aunt Chu, and this is Brother Wenjing. Greet them properly."
Though young, Xue Baiqing bowed with practiced grace. "Greetings, Aunt Chu. Greetings, Brother Wenjing."
"Brother Wenjing was so amazing today! That Gu Hongzhi is always bullying people at school, and Hua Yan and Tao Zilang follow his lead. Everyone’s been putting up with it for ages!"
The childish praise made Yan Wenjing puff up with pride again.
Chu Ruoyan’s eyelids twitched—she couldn’t let the little lord get any more inflated. Hurriedly making an excuse, she bid Xue Ling farewell.
Once Xue Ling and Xue Baiqing had disembarked, she pulled Yan Wenjing aside. "Wenjing, do you know what you did wrong today?"
Yan Wenjing bit his lip and stayed silent.
Chu Ruoyan pressed, "If it hadn’t been me who came today, but your second aunt, what would have happened?"
Yan Wenjing froze.
If it really had been his second aunt facing County Princess Kanghe’s accusations...
His small face turned solemn. "I was wrong."
Chu Ruoyan nodded, pleased. "If you want to play the hero, you must consider the consequences. If you can’t bear them, you can’t let others bear them for you."
Yan Wenjing said earnestly, "I understand. I’ll never act so recklessly again!"
Chu Ruoyan rarely saw the little schemer so obedient. On impulse, she pinched his cheek. "No need to be so serious. If you’d just used the same tricks you pull on me—playing innocent, acting pitiful—they wouldn’t have stood a chance."
Yan Wenjing’s face flushed crimson.
He turned away awkwardly before mumbling, "I thought... you didn’t like my third uncle..."
Chu Ruoyan paused. "Do you like your third uncle very much?"
"Yes!" Yan Wenjing nodded vigorously. "My father said Third Uncle is the best person in the world. Even if everyone hates him, I must always like him and trust him, because he would never hurt me!"
Chu Ruoyan bit her lip.
She nearly asked, Was it your father or your mother who spoke so highly of him?
But reason prevailed, and she patted his head instead. "Don’t worry, not everyone dislikes your third uncle. At the very least, I don’t."
Yan Wenjing hummed in agreement, then added sheepishly, "Then... about today... can you not tell Third Uncle?"
Chu Ruoyan: "..."
This little schemer knew exactly how to work people!
"Even if I don’t say anything, he’ll find out."
Yan Wenjing’s face crumpled like a bitter melon.
Amused, Chu Ruoyan teased, "Afraid he’ll punish you?"
"No! Third Uncle would never punish me." He cupped his cheeks mournfully. "I just don’t want him to think I’ve turned bad... In his eyes, I’ve always been very, very well-behaved."
Chu Ruoyan was at a loss for words.
Back at the mansion, after settling Yan Wenjing, she went to find Yan Zheng.
Today’s incident wasn’t catastrophic, but it wasn’t trivial either. County Princess Kanghe was the daughter of Prince Yu and Princess Yongyang, married into Chancellor Gu’s household—a family of immense influence.
This spectacle had ruined her reputation and offended all those powerful families.
She needed to discuss it with Third Yan.
But when she reached his study, he wasn’t there.
Upon asking, she learned Grandma Yan had summoned him.
"Grandma Yan is lucid again?"
The old lady had fallen ill on their wedding night, and the physician had ordered complete rest, so Chu Ruoyan hadn’t visited yet...
If she was truly awake, Chu Ruoyan needed to pay her respects.
However, the servant Wu An reported, "Madam, Grandma Yan woke up in good spirits this morning. I believe Lady Xue from the second branch visited her, and then our lord returned and was called in."
Lady Xue of the second branch?
Chu Ruoyan immediately recalled the earlier dispute over changing the funeral date. Her brows furrowed.
Was the second branch still scheming, daring to bring this matter before Grandma Yan?
She hurried toward Shou’an Hall.
Before even entering the courtyard, she saw all the servants had been dismissed.
"Greetings, Third Madam."
The servants bowed hastily. Chu Ruoyan asked, "Where is the lord?"
A matron ventured, "The lord entered half an hour ago. Now—"
Before she could finish, a teapot came flying out and shattered.
Chu Ruoyan’s expression darkened. Dismissing the servants, she entered alone.
"You fiend! Was it not enough that you killed your father and brother? Must you drag the entire family to ruin?"
"We should have listened to Master Liaokong and thrown you out at birth... Oh, Xun'er, why did you have to protect this heartless, ungrateful brother of yours?"
"Heavens, why don’t you take me too?"
Grandma Yan’s accusations came one after another, punctuated by the sound of objects being hurled.
Chu Ruoyan stood in the courtyard, watching through the window paper as Yan Zheng sat motionless, like a statue.
The old woman, exhausted from her tirade, pointed a trembling finger at him. "You—you will change the funeral date back at once—"
"No." The word was cold. Grandma Yan trembled with rage. "What did you say?"
"If Grandmother is done reprimanding me, Yan Zheng takes his leave."
He turned his wheelchair to leave. Grandma Yan lurched to her feet. "Yan Zheng! If you don’t change the date, I’ll dash my old bones against these walls and let the world know you drove your grandmother to her death!"
Chu Ruoyan’s heart pounded.
Even in its current state, the Yan Family’s matriarch would resort to such threats...
But she soon realized her mistake.
In the suffocating silence, Yan Zheng suddenly chuckled. "Grandmother wishes to die? How would you prefer it—hanging, slitting your wrists, poison, or dashing your head? Whichever you choose, I can assure you, everyone in Shou’an Hall will follow you shortly after."
Grandma Yan gasped. "You—you dare threaten me—"
"I wouldn’t dare. I merely wish to remind you that this calamity of a man does not yield to threats."
With that, Yan Zheng exited—only to pause at the sight of Chu Ruoyan in the courtyard. Then, as if nothing had happened, he left.
From behind came Grandma Yan's heart-wrenching wail: "You scourge! You curse! The Yan Family is doomed… utterly doomed!"
