Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Four
"She wants to marry Yunxuan, doesn't she?" Huo Yunyao set down her teacup, her eyes filled with disdain. In her view, Li Zhiwei was simply not good enough for her fine younger brother.
"No, I disagree!" Huo Yunlan rejected the idea without a second thought.
Let Huo Yunxuan marry Li Zhiwei?
Wouldn't that be letting Li Zhiwei off too easily?
She would not agree.
"Are you stupid? Who said you actually have to agree?" Huo Yunyao felt frustrated by her elder sister's lack of cunning.
Agreeing now didn't mean Li Zhiwei would be married into the family immediately.
Thinking her elder sister might not be on the same page, she explained, "We agree for now. Once this marriage alliance is settled and she enters our Huo family, won't she be completely at our mercy? As for that little brat she has, he likely has no significant background. Dealing with him would be easy."
"No, what if she clings to Yunxuan for real?" The thought of Li Zhiwei actually marrying into their family displeased Huo Yunlan immensely. In her eyes, only Meng Xin'er was a suitable match for her brother.
"Then we wouldn't lose out either. Although the Li family's assets have halved, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. Once Li Zhiwei enters our Huo family, won't all that property become ours? Life, old age, sickness, death—who can guarantee there won't be an accident?" Considering this, Huo Yunyao felt that marrying Li Zhiwei wouldn't be a bad deal for the Huo family.
"You have a point there." Huo Yunlan nodded, thinking her second sister was indeed cleverer, able to plan so far ahead.
"Where's our third sister?" Not seeing Huo Yunzhi, Huo Yunyao asked curiously.
"Replying to Second Young Miss, Third Young Miss has likely gone to the Chen family by now," a maid promptly stepped forward to answer.
"To the Chen family again?" The thought of her younger sister constantly running to her fiancé's family before the wedding irritated Huo Yunyao; it was utterly degrading.
"Third Young Miss said Old Madam Chen is unwell, and she went to attend to her," the maid whispered.
"What? She's not even a married daughter-in-law yet. Why should she be attending to the sick?" Huo Yunlan said disapprovingly.
Hearing this, the maid stood to the side, not daring to say more.
After all, Third Young Miss had a terrible temper. If she decided to do something, how could servants like them dare to comment?
"It is indeed improper," Huo Yunyao agreed, her eyes full of disapproval.
The daughters of the Huo family were not like girls from other families; they each had their own unique talents and skills.
This was something daughters from other families did not possess.
Now, the Chen family actually expected her sister to go and attend to the sick? It was practically an insult to the Huo family.
"Go and fetch Third Young Miss back at once!" Huo Yunlan scolded the maid.
The maid had no choice but to hurry off to the Chen family to find Huo Yunzhi.
The Chen family was only considered middle-class in Li'an County. However, the third son of the Chen family was exceptionally handsome and had caught the eye of the Huo family's third daughter, leading to their betrothal.
In truth, the Chen family was not satisfied with this match, but they were in no position to refuse.
The eldest branch of the Chen family had come up with the idea of having Old Madam Chen feign illness and making Huo Yunzhi attend to her, hoping she would retreat in the face of difficulty.
But Huo Yunzhi did not play by the usual rules. Not only did she come, she attended to everything meticulously.
"No... water..." Old Madam Chen's heart was full of bitterness. There was originally nothing wrong with her.
But the eldest daughter-in-law had said that to make this Huo family's third young lady back off, they needed to find ways to make things difficult for her.
She was deliberately pretending to be ill, but this third young lady never left her side, making Old Madam Chen unbearably uncomfortable.
Finally, she couldn't hold it any longer. She had been thirsty for a long time but had been afraid that drinking too much water would mean needing the toilet, so she had endured it.
"Aunt, here's some water." Huo Yunzhi brought a bowl of water to Old Madam Chen.
Looking at Huo Yunzhi's harmless, smiling face, Old Madam Chen felt something was off, but she couldn't quite place it.
However, seeing the offered water, she couldn't care about anything else and lifted the bowl to her mouth.
"Ah!"
Old Madam Chen felt the water was not only scalding to her mouth but also to her throat.
"Mother, what's wrong?" The Chen family's eldest daughter-in-law, Niu Shi, had been watching from the side.
Hearing her mother-in-law's cry of shock, she assumed Huo Yunzhi was deliberately making things difficult.
"Hot!" Old Madam Chen gasped for breath a few times before managing to speak weakly. By now, she felt a stinging pain in her mouth and throat.
"Miss Huo, how are you taking care of someone?" Niu Shi shot an unhappy glare at Huo Yunzhi. Seeing her mother-in-law's reddened, scalded lips, she felt a twinge of guilt.
"I'm so sorry, Aunt. I didn't know that sick people shouldn't drink hot water. I promise it won't happen next time." A hint of triumph flickered in the corner of Huo Yunzhi's eyes, but her face wore an expression of utter innocence as she looked at the old lady.
"Don't blame Yunzhi. Cough..." Old Madam Chen felt as if she had swallowed bitter herbs; the bitterness could only be swallowed down.
This Huo family young lady wasn't here to care for her; she was practically here to end her old life!
A daughter-in-law like this, she dared not accept!
"Yunzhi, I have your eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law here. That's enough. You should return home earlier. If outsiders found out, they might gossip about you." Old Madam Chen advised Huo Yunzhi with a gentle expression.
Right now, Old Madam Chen just wanted to send this troublesome presence away as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, she was truly worried Huo Yunzhi might come up with other ways to torment her.
"How could that be? Since I am to be Third Lang's future wife, it's only natural that I come to attend to you when you're ill, Aunt." Huo Yunzhi, however, was unwilling to leave.
"Sister-in-law, your intention alone makes Mother very happy. But if you truly stay to attend to her, what would the people of Li'an County think of you, and what would they think of our Chen family?" Niu Shi forced a smile as she tried to persuade her.
This scheme had been her idea in the first place. The reason was that Third Lang was originally supposed to be betrothed to her niece from her maiden family.
Unexpectedly, Huo Yunzhi had intercepted the match. The plan was to have the mother-in-law make things difficult for her, but who could have guessed? Whether Huo Yunzhi was genuinely that clumsy or was doing it on purpose, not only did the mother-in-law get blisters in her mouth from the scalding water, but medicine had also been spilled several times. Keeping her here was truly perilous.
Upon hearing this, Huo Yunzhi's eyes welled up with tears.
She stood there, looking as if she had suffered a great injustice, refusing to leave.
The three women in the room exchanged glances.
For a moment, they didn't know what to do. Forcing her to leave would make them seem too harsh.
But letting her stay also worried them for the old lady's safety.
"Old Madam, Eldest Young Madam, Second Young Madam, a maid from the Huo family has arrived outside. She says she has urgent business looking for Third Young Miss Huo."
The servant's voice was like music to their ears.
"Sister-in-law, look, perhaps there's some urgent matter at your family home? You should return today." Fang Shi, catching the look from her mother-in-law, also quickly said with a smile.
Huo Yunzhi frowned. She had given clear instructions about her visit to the Chen family. Why was she being summoned back?
Could it be that Second Sister had returned?
