Her birth mother died early, and her stepmother was unkind. Yun Wu was always cautious, only wishing to marry the Ye family's young master, to whom she was betrothed since childhood, once she c...
Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Send her away and become a widow! ...
Hearing the sound of people talking outside, Yun Wu immediately woke up and opened her eyes.
Several maids were talking outside the door, and a few vague shadows flashed across the doors and windows.
Yesterday was her wedding, and today she should serve tea to her parents-in-law. It was bright outside the window, and she didn't know what time it was, but it was obviously late.
Thinking of this, Yun Wu subconsciously sat up, but was stopped by an arm across her waist.
She was stunned for a long moment, her gaze meeting that stern face, pale as ice, before she finally realized that the arm belonged to her husband. They had clearly occupied separate sides of the bed before they fell asleep, but now, inexplicably, they were touching each other. Xie Yi domineeringly occupied two-thirds of the bed, even extending his arm.
Yun Wu carefully grabbed his arm, wanting to save herself. She tried her best to move lightly, for fear of waking him up. But just as her fingertips touched, Xie Yi beside her moved, grabbed her wrist with his backhand, and then opened his eyes.
Yun Wu: “…”
He was startled awake from his sleep. He was still dreaming the moment before, but the next moment his eyes were clear and his gaze shot over sharply, like a sword piercing through, and Yun Wu froze immediately.
When she saw Xie Yi last night, he had already closed his eyes and rested. This was their first official meeting. However, the scene of this first meeting was not very decent. His hair was loose, his face was unwashed, and he was still lying on the bed. Her wrist was grasped tightly, as if he was being held for some inappropriate behavior.
Yun Wu felt a little pain. Facing his cold and sharp eyes, she did not dare to cry out in pain. She called out to him, "Husband, husband?"
Xie Yi has not yet woken up from the nightmare.
He lowered his eyelids. The face of the person standing right next to him was unfamiliar and had never appeared in his dream. His almond-shaped eyes were wide open, like a frightened bird. He stared at him for a long time before he vaguely remembered who the person was.
She was the young wife he had just married yesterday.
Xie Yi released his grip on her wrist, closed his eyes again, and let out a short, dull response from his throat.
Yun Wu took the opportunity to get up, inexplicably feeling as if she had escaped death.
She rubbed her aching wrist and looked back in confusion, but Xie Yi had already closed his eyes again. He showed no intention of saying anything more to her, and his profile was cold. She had no choice but to turn her head back.
This frail husband seemed different from what she had imagined.
She had only come into contact with one seriously ill person: Madam Yun. Madam Yun was old and afflicted, and she felt powerless to do anything. Her hands were weak, unable to even hold a bowl; they were constantly shaking. Xie Yi's grip on her was firm, and his palms were warm, unlike Yun Wu, whose hands and feet were always cold.
However, thinking of how he walked in sideways last night, Yun Wu put aside the strange feeling in her heart.
It was already late, so she hurried to wash and dress. After the maid helped her to tie her hair into a bun, Yun Wu looked at herself in the mirror before walking to the bed.
"Husband," Yun Wu called him softly, "I'm going to pay my respects to my mother."
The cloud-covered bed curtains fell, revealing the figure lying inside, motionless. Only a dark shadow could be seen. After a long moment, a response came from inside: "Hmm."
Yun Wu then tiptoed out.
The sun was shining brightly outside, and it was a beautiful spring day. I went out, and my whole body was bathed in the sunshine, and it seemed as if even the depression in my heart was swept away.
Yun Wu got up late and was in a hurry. The little maidservant who followed her was the same one from last night, Chun'er. She kept chattering beside Yun Wu all the way, "Don't worry, Third Young Madam. Our Madam is kind, and the First Young Madam is also a good person. She never makes things difficult for anyone and is also very generous to us servants. But if you run into Second Young Madam..."
"What happened to the Second Young Madam?"
Chun'er lowered her voice, "Second Young Madam is a bit fierce, and sometimes she even fights with Er Langjun. I think you, Third Young Madam, are a kind person. If you get into an argument with Second Young Madam, you will definitely not be able to win the argument with her."
Yun Wu was speechless.
She never quarrels with others.
"However, even if you have a quarrel with the Second Young Mistress, it doesn't matter. You can go to Madam and ask for justice. Everyone listens to Madam the most. Madam is fair and never partial. Even if the eldest and second young masters fight, she will always stand on the side that is right."
Yun Wu was surprised: "Is that so? But..."
But she remembered that only the eldest son of the Xie family was born to Madam Xie, and the remaining two or three were all sons of concubines and concubines. How could Madam Xie not help her own son?
This is different from what Yun Wu has seen since he was a child.
Chun'er has a noisy temper. Although she says that the Second Young Madam is fierce, she never says a bad word. In her words, everyone in the Duke's Mansion is a good person, each with their own good qualities. The Madam is especially good, and there is no better place than this.
After listening to her talk more, Yun Wu's nervousness subsided a little.
As they were talking, they had already reached the main courtyard.
The courtyard door was wide open, and voices could be heard from inside, and it sounded like there was more than one voice.
Xie Yi, a bastard son born to a concubine, was of humble status, yet he was more respected in the Xie family than Yun Wu was. Sitting in the main hall were not only the Duke and his wife, but also several female relatives of varying ages. Having been introduced by Chun'er, Yun Wu quickly glanced around and knew that everyone was present, save for the two gentlemen who had already held official positions.
Seeing so many people waiting for her, Yun Wu suppressed her panic and walked in stiffly to greet them.
Duke Xie and his wife sat in the main seat, drank the tea she offered them, and presented a greeting gift. Lord Xie casually asked, "Where's Sanlang?"
Yun Wu answered truthfully, "Sanlang Jun is still resting."
"Still resting?" Lord Xie, "What time is it? He's still sleeping?"
"It's not Sanlang's fault." A young woman sitting next to Mrs. Xie spoke. Seeing Yun Wu looking over, she smiled at Yun Wu gently. Based on Chun'er's previous introduction, Yun Wu guessed that this was the wife of Mr. Xie, the eldest lady Meng Qingtong.
"Yesterday, Sanlang got up early to prepare for the wedding. He was busy all day and collapsed as soon as he got home. Doctor Hua drank alcohol at the wedding banquet and was taken to see him. I heard that he even had to be escorted into the house by servants." Meng Qingtong said gently, "Sanlang has always been weak. It was not easy for him to last a whole day. He also rode a horse yesterday. I'm afraid he used up too much energy."
Lord Xie's eyelids twitched: "He asked someone to move him over there?"
"That's right!" This time, it was Chen Qiutang, the Second Young Mistress, who Chun'er had described as difficult to deal with, who answered. Her outspoken nature drew everyone's attention as soon as she spoke: "Sanlang collapsed just after arriving home yesterday. Even the guests in the front yard were entertained by my two brothers. My Erlang had been drinking all night, so I wanted to ask Doctor Hua to see him, but I heard that Doctor Hua was busy treating my third brother and couldn't leave."
Lord Xie: “…”
Lord Xie asked again, "What did Doctor Hua say?"
Everyone looked at each other.
Xie San has been in poor health since childhood, and everyone is used to him seeing a doctor every few days. Yesterday, there were so many things to do that no one forgot to show any concern.
Yun Wu said softly, "Doctor Hua said it's an old problem, nothing serious."
Mr. Xie nodded.
He finished drinking the tea offered by his third daughter-in-law, and had nothing to say to the group of female relatives, so he stood up and said, "I'll go see the third sister." Then he walked out.
As soon as the person left, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became much more relaxed.
Yun Wu secretly looked at everyone and found that even the eldest young lady's neck, which seemed to be straight, was slightly bent.
Second Young Mistress Chen Qiutang said bluntly, "As long as Dad is around, I dare not even breathe a word. If it weren't for visiting Third Young Mistress, I wouldn't have come so early today."
As she spoke, she originally sat next to Aunt Cui on the other side, but now she made a big circle and sat down in the empty seat next to Yun Wu, leaning her upper body over and looking her over intently.
Yun Wu had never been looked at like this before, and she couldn't help but shrink back, but she was afraid of being misunderstood as displeased, so she straightened her back as if it was tied with a ruler.
"I was about to say this yesterday. It's such a shame that my third sister-in-law is paired with San Lang." Chen Qiutang shook her head and said, "It's a pity that my third sister-in-law is so pretty, and San Lang is in poor health. Even with a beautiful woman by his side, he can only watch."
Yun Wu: “…”
Meng Qingtong sat on the other side of her and clearly saw her face slowly turn red, and her white jade earlobes were stained with rouge. She was so amused by her second brother's wife's straightforward words that she wanted to rest her chin on her chest.
She smiled and tried to smooth things over, saying, "Third sister-in-law is shy, don't tell her that."
"When I met her for the first time, if I didn't talk about Sanlang, what else could I talk about? Even if I talked about Sanlang, there wouldn't be much to say. We don't see each other often, and the whole thing would be about his health. If I said more, it would make people sad..." After speaking, Chen Qiutang stopped talking.
She looked around and the atmosphere became silent for a moment.
Everyone present knew what she meant.
Yun Wu married into the Duke Zhenguo's mansion for the purpose of bringing good luck. Everyone in the capital knew that Xie San didn't have much time left, and after marrying into the Xie family, it was only a matter of time before she became a widow.
But she just got married yesterday, and bringing up these things today seems a bit too hurtful.
Meng Qingtong sighed and patted Yun Wu's hand gently as a comfort.
Mrs. Xie, who was sitting on the main seat, looked over and said calmly, "I know this has wronged you, but we're not forcing you. You knew all about Sanlang's situation before you married in. Now that you've married into the Xie family, just take good care of Sanlang."
Yun Wu lowered her head and replied softly, "I know everything."
She obediently married into the Xie family and accepted this fate.
Unexpectedly, the Xie family's attitude towards her was surprisingly kind, not as unkind as she had imagined the wealthy families to be. The two sisters-in-law also seemed easy to get along with, and even the second young lady, who was said to be fierce, would talk to her.
However, Yun Wu also knew that the reason why the Xie family was so kind was all because of Xie Yi.
This cheered her up. The people in the Duke's Mansion were kind and tolerant. After her husband passed away, perhaps they would remember their old friendship and give her a place to stay.
Although she didn't know her husband's temperament or what kind of person he was, it didn't stop Yun Wu from cheering up. She made up her mind and arranged the major events in her future life: take good care of Xie Yi, send him on his last journey, and then she could be a widow with peace of mind!
Seeing her obedient, Madam Xie said with satisfaction, "Master Huizhen said that you and Sanlang have a good relationship, and he even read your fortune, which is very auspicious. You are a blessed person, and I hope that your good fortune can also benefit Sanlang."
"This is actually quite surprising," Aunt Cui said, "Master Huizhen is a highly respected monk, yet he actually said that you two are a match made in heaven!"
Meng Qingtong agreed gently, "Master Huizhen said so. Perhaps Sanlang will recover soon."
Yun Wu nodded and listened, confused and curious: "What's the hexagram?"
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