Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 116
Chapter 116 - You May Return Slowly
Yun Chu stroked the young girl's cheek, noting that she was indeed far too thin.
The little girl instinctively burrowed into her embrace, while Chu Hongyu chimed in from the side: "Changsheng, Auntie Yun was injured right here, so be careful not to bump into it."
The little girl nodded obediently, shifted her body downward slightly, pursed her lips, and gently blew upon Yun Chu's injured spot.
Yun Chu's heart completely melted.
"Qianqian, did you notice? The little princess and Yun Chu look so much alike," Lady Lin said, lowering her voice. "Especially their eyes."
Liu Qianqian glanced over and was also taken aback: "It is indeed a bit similar. Still, this is perhaps just the fated connection between Chu'er, the little princess, and the little prince."
It was rare for these two children to grow so close to Chu'er, and Chu'er liked them both dearly; such a bond was something to be cherished rather than forced.
"I heard that Second Miss Tan's marriage match with the Prince of Pingxi didn't work out," Lady Lin murmured in a barely audible voice. "Madam Tan is such a gentle woman, so Second Miss Tan should be quite capable as well. The Prince of Pingxi will likely find it very difficult to ever locate a consort more suited to be a stepmother than her."
Liu Qianqian nodded in agreement.
That Second Miss Tan had presumably been meticulously handpicked by Consort Yin; unfortunately, she failed to catch the Prince of Pingxi's eye.
For the next several days, Chu Hongyu and Chu Changsheng visited the Yun residence daily. At first, the Prince of Pingxi accompanied them, but later on, he simply sent his attendants along instead.
Unrestrained by adults, the two children would arrive at the Yun residence early in the morning and only leave after nightfall. Had they not feared provoking their father's displeasure, Chu Hongyu would have gladly brought his younger sister along to sleep over at the Yun estate.
Xie Jingyu dropped by every other day, but Yun Ze consistently turned him away at the doors.
Days passed by one after another, and soon enough, the auspicious day for the Dai family to send over betrothal gifts arrived. According to the customs of the capital, betrothal gifts were presented one month prior to the grand wedding.
Watching chests upon chests of betrothal gifts being carried inside, Yun Chu couldn't help but sigh at how fast time flew. When she was reborn, it had been the end of March, and in the blink of an eye, it was already July.
Seeing Yun Ran and the young master of the Dai family exchanging distant glances across the crowd, with blushes blooming across both of their faces, she couldn't help but smile.
At that moment, however, an unharmonious voice drifted to her ears.
"Why on earth did Sister-in-law find such a match for Ran'er? Only a fifth-rank official—the family status is simply too low."
Glancing over, Yun Chu spotted a lavishly dressed woman from a collateral branch of the Yun family. She addressed this woman as Third Aunt. This aunt's father-in-law had been full brothers with her own grandfather, though he had perished on the battlefield many years ago, and the aunt's husband was her father's third paternal cousin.
Third Aunt Yun continued to mutter: "I really don't know what Sister-in-law was thinking. Back then, when she married Chu'er off to the Xie family, at least Xie Jingyu was a top-ranking palace graduate and considered a prized catch. But this Second Young Master Dai is merely a scholar—how is he worthy of a daughter of the Yun family?"
Another woman let out a sigh: "Our Yun family relies entirely on past military achievements to sustain itself. With none of the younger generation pursuing a military career, who knows who will uphold the Yun family's reputation in the future?"
Third Aunt Yun shook her head: "Zhe'er is the eldest legitimate son of the main household, yet in his twenties, he's merely a seventh-rank imperial official. He truly cannot shoulder the weight of the Yun family... He's far inferior to our Run'er..."
She didn't dare voice these words too loudly, limiting herself to soft, disgruntled murmurs.
Her own son, Yun Run, had relied on his own efforts to pass the imperial examinations and become a jinshi. Initially, he had been assigned as an obscure ninth-rank sesame seed official.
Later on, she secured a fine marriage match for him. Leveraging the Yun family's name, securing a daughter from a third-rank official's household wasn't actually all that difficult; through careful maneuvering, the match was successfully arranged. Following his marriage and with his father-in-law pulling strings for him, Run'er was already a fifth-rank official in the imperial court. If luck favored him, he might even be promoted to the fourth rank by the end of the year... Surely that made him far superior to Yun Ze.
A child's marriage was nothing less than a ladder. Whether that ladder led upward or downward depended entirely on the judgment of the household's matriarch.
In her view, her sister-in-law's vision was still far too shortsighted...
With a brief sweep of her eyes, Yun Chu withdrew her gaze.
The collateral branches of the Yun family were deeply rooted and intricately connected, each individual harboring their own private agenda. As long as these collateral branches committed no grave offenses and did not tarnish the Yun family's reputation, even the elders of the Yun clan would not interfere in their personal choices.
On the day the Dai family delivered the betrothal gifts, there was no need to host a grand banquet; they simply invited the closest family members to share a meal together as witnesses.
Since the Xie family were in-laws, they theoretically shouldn't have come, but Xie Jingyu still made the trip to the estate.
This was the first time Xie Jingyu had laid eyes on Yun Chu in roughly half a month. Throughout all their years as husband and wife, this was the longest they had ever been apart.
"My wife's complexion looks much better." A refined and cultivated smile graced his face. "The spring flowers bloom along the path; you may return slowly."
Yun Chu smiled faintly.
Such a romantic and poetic phrase, yet uttered from Xie Jingyu's lips, it completely lost its charm.
Still, having stayed away for so long, it was indeed time to return.
She nodded: "Alright."
Yun Chu bid farewell to her family members one by one.
Lady Lin was filled with reluctance, yet she knew that a married daughter being able to stay at her maternal home for half a month was already a rare privilege; staying any longer would inevitably strain her marital relationship.
Although she was gradually beginning to despise Xie Jingyu as a son-in-law, Chu'er clearly still intended to continue living with him, so she chose to respect Chu'er's choice.
Amidst the watchful gazes of her family, Yun Chu steadied herself with the support of Qiutong's hand and boarded the carriage.
The moment the carriage curtain dropped, she caught sight of Tingshuang standing below, gazing toward someone standing at the foot of the Yun estate's steps—none other than Yu Ke.
A trace of a smile unconsciously blossomed at the corners of Yun Chu's lips.
No sooner had she settled inside the carriage than Xie Jingyu climbed in right behind her.
Staring at Yun Chu's profile, he spoke in a measured tone: "Does my wife know what has transpired over these past few days?"
Yun Chu turned her head, wearing an expression that invited him to continue.
"My official rank has been demoted by one level," Xie Jingyu stared intently at her. "Simply because you stayed so long at your maternal home, my official rank was reduced."
Among all the women in the capital, even princesses, once wedded, there was simply no precedent for staying at their maiden homes for so prolonged a period—unless they had no intention of continuing their marriage.
Yun Chu's half-month stay at the Yun residence had sparked countless gossipy whispers across the capital, with everyone claiming that the Yun family was preparing to force a divorce.
Initially, he had paid no heed to such talk. However, those officials in the imperial court were accustomed to trimming their sails with the wind and stepping on the weak while currying favor with the strong; they had actually deliberately set a trap for him. Having carelessly stepped into it and committed a major blunder, the Minister of Revenue had flown into a rage, resulting in his immediate superior, Official Yu, being docked a year's salary, while his own official rank plummeted directly from the fifth rank to the lower fifth rank.
He simply could not comprehend it: even if he and Yun Chu truly divorced, he would still remain the future Fourth Prince's father-in-law.
Wasn't an imperial prince's father-in-law far more prestigious and formidable in deterring those people than the mere status of a Yun family son-in-law?
"Oh, that is a rather interesting remark," Yun Chu's lips curled into a mocking sneer. "By that logic, whether you are promoted or demoted entirely depends on me, a mere woman?"
These words left Xie Jingyu practically unable to lift his head in shame.
Yun Chu was practically saying to his face that he was relying on a woman.
Clearly, it was he himself who had spent over a decade studying by the cold window, climbing all the way from a mere scholar to a top-ranking palace graduate, and carving out a foothold in the imperial court... He conceded that his rapid rise in rank had been aided by the Yun family, but a greater part of it was due to his own efforts.
He simply could not accept that after finally reaching the fifth rank, he had been demoted by half a grade simply because of such a trivial matter as Yun Chu visiting her maternal home. By what right?!
Yun Chu tugged at the corners of her lips.
If he couldn't even stomach being demoted by half a grade, how on earth would he ever endure what was about to happen in the future?