Chapter 8. Wei Yin stared at He Wen expressionlessly…

Wei Yin stared blankly at He Wenqing's back until it disappeared from sight. After a long while, she thoughtfully picked up the hair that he had just touched, feeling as if the affection between husband and wife in the past years was like a dream.

However, she didn't really reflect on her five years of marriage with He Wenqing; instead, she thought about her parents' marriage.

Wei Yin's parents were once a celebrated couple in the capital. Both came from prestigious families and were originally engaged to other people. However, one day, they fell in love at first sight during the Lantern Festival and made a huge fuss over being together.

In order to marry my mother, my father shaved his head and became a monk.

The mother also severed ties with her parents in order to annul the engagement.

In the end, they got married as they wished, and a year later they had a loving daughter, Wei Yin.

At the height of their love, the father even disregarded societal norms and wrote a solemn vow to his mother in front of the clan that he would never take a concubine in his life.

Originally, it was thought that this would be a marriage where all the hardships would eventually be over and the lovers would be united. However, while the mother was pregnant with her second child, the father was drinking at a colleague's house. After drinking, he couldn't control himself and had an affair with a beautiful dancer at the colleague's house, which resulted in her getting pregnant.

At first, the father tried his best to hide it, but the matter still reached the family. For the sake of the dancer's unborn child, the grandfather had no choice but to let the father take the dancer into the mansion.

On her father's wedding night, her grandfather, fearing that her mother's fiery temper might cause her to miscarry, had her locked in the room. However, the usually strong-willed mother didn't utter a single word that night. After being locked in the room, she silently used a hairpin given to her by her father as a token of their love to end her life and the happy marriage she had always believed in.

But what the mother didn't know was that Xiao Weiyin also slept in her room that night.

When Xiao Weiyin woke up in the middle of the night, she was locked in the room all night with her mother's blood-covered corpse.

From then on, Wei Yin was terrified by her mother's corpse and developed the habit of having to carry a talisman with her wherever she went before daring to leave the house.

With her parents' regrettable marriage before her, Wei Yin had long since become indifferent to her husband's feelings. As long as he was good-looking, virtuous, and from a good family, she didn't care about anything else.

When her grandfather arranged for her to marry He Wenqing, she had no expectations of him.

Wei Yin had long been prepared for He Wenqing's intention to take in people, but when the day finally came, she couldn't help but feel a little sad.

She glanced outside the door, where the maids and servants were whispering amongst themselves.

They were simply discussing He Wenqing's intention to marry Chen Xuanhua.

Wei Yin ignored them and left on her own to see what breakfast Liu Mama had prepared for her.

However, as soon as she stepped out of Old Master He's courtyard, she saw Chen Xuanhua standing at the gate with her brows tightly furrowed, as if she had been standing there for a long time.

Seeing Wei Yin come out, he hurried over and called out, "Sister-in-law."

Wei Yin smiled and asked, "Xuanhua, what's wrong?"

Chen Xuanhua originally thought that Wei Yin would definitely give her a hard time after learning about this, thinking that she was shameless and seducing her cousin. Even the most magnanimous and kind woman would probably not be able to accept sharing her husband with another woman immediately. However, Wei Yin's smile stunned her for a moment.

Wei Yin looked at Chen Xuanhua in front of her and pondered for a while before asking, "Didn't Mother ask you to go and buy a wedding dress? Why are you still here?"

Chen Xuanhua said with a wry smile, "I've already taken the measurements, and the embroiderers are working on it."

Wei Yin nodded and said, "We need to hurry. Father's illness can't be delayed. Go back and see if there's anything else that needs to be prepared. If not, just tell your cousin."

Upon hearing these words, Chen Xuanhua lowered her head in shame.

Seeing her like this, Wei Yin didn't say anything. Chen Xuanhua silently watched her leave, her hands clenching tightly into her palms.

In the first two years after He Wenqing got married, her aunt and Grandpa He also arranged several other marriages for her.

But Chen Xuanhua couldn't forget all the moments she had spent with He Wenqing over the past ten years, and she always made excuses to avoid him. Even so, she no longer dared to have any illusions about He Wenqing. But she never expected that her aunt and Grandpa He would make such a decision this time.

Her cousin also agreed to marry her.

She... really didn't want to miss this opportunity.

Even if from now on, her sister-in-law will dislike her, give her a cold shoulder, and they can never go back to their former sister-in-law relationship.

Chen Xuanhua arrived at He's father's place with a heavy heart. He's father was completely exhausted today and had not woken up since falling into a deep sleep last night.

He Wenqing was at the bedside, holding a bowl of ginseng soup and feeding her father. It took her a long time to get him to swallow two mouthfuls.

Chen Xuanhua took the opportunity to walk over and get a handkerchief to wipe He's father's mouth. He Wenqing was taken aback when he saw her. The two had always been cousins, and now she was suddenly going to become his woman. He Wenqing took a moment to process it before his expression returned to normal: "Why did you come from Grandfather's place?"

"Just now at my grandfather's place... I spoke a few words with my cousin-in-law."

He Wenqing whispered, "She's probably not in a good mood these days, so you'd better not go near her. If she comes to you, just bear with it and don't argue with her."

Chen Xuanhua stared at him blankly for a long while before lowering her eyes and saying, "Cousin, don't worry, Xuanhua understands."

Having grown up together, He Wenqing realized that his words were a bit off. After all, Xuanhua was always gentle and respectful to Wei Yin without him having to say anything. Thinking of this, he changed his tone: "Xuanhua, now that you have married me, I will treat you well and will not make you suffer too much."

Chen Xuanhua looked up again, moved, tears welling in her eyes: "Cousin..."

He Wenqing hesitated for a moment, but finally reached out his fingertip to gently wipe away her tears, his voice unusually tender: "Go back to your room and enjoy the celebration."

In the desolate state, there is a wedding custom that the bride cannot leave her room before the wedding; she must remain in her boudoir to celebrate.

While the cousins ​​were talking, Wei Yin had already returned to her room.

She went to pay her respects to Old Master He early in the morning, and hadn't even had breakfast yet. While Liu Mama was at this end, news from Old Master He's courtyard had already reached her. When she saw her return, she greeted her with a solemn expression: "What's going on? Why did Madam and Old Master think of having Eldest Son marry Miss He to bring good luck?"

Wei Yin smiled at her and asked in return, "Is breakfast ready?"

"It's ready already." As Liu Mama sent someone to serve the meal, she chattered on and on, "Madam had been thinking of having Miss Biao as her daughter-in-law, and now her wish has come true."

After she finished speaking, she carefully examined Wei Yin's face, afraid that she might not be able to accept the situation: "Young Madam, don't be sad. Men will have to go through this sooner or later. Although you are a secondary wife, the good thing is that this time you married a cousin. The cousin is a good girl and will only respect you. She won't affect your status."

Wei Yin listened quietly without making a sound.

"Actually, this Miss Liu is quite pitiful," Liu Mama sighed. "She was an orphan since childhood. If it weren't for Madam raising her, I don't know how she would have ended up serving Madam in the mansion. Madam has no daughters, only one son, Dalang, who was raised by the old master from a young age. Miss Liu is the only one who is so caring and dutiful to Madam. No wonder Madam likes her."

After listening to all this, Wei Yin smiled helplessly and said, "I understand, wet nurse. I'm taking it easy."

Granny Liu couldn't figure out what Wei Yin was thinking, but since she had already said that, it wouldn't be good to bring it up again and upset her. So she quickly changed the subject to breakfast: "Knowing that the young mistress has been traveling these past few days and hasn't eaten well, I specially made some good dishes for you. I got up at dawn to supervise the preparation. After you finish eating, I'll send some to the eldest son."

Wei Yin thought for a moment, "I'll go deliver it. I also need to go see my father anyway."

...

When Wei Yin arrived at He's father's place with the food box, the people sent by Madam He were talking to He Wenqing. Upon seeing Wei Yin's arrival, He Wenqing seemed slightly uncomfortable, but quickly recovered and calmly instructed Madam He's people, "I understand, I'll go over later."

After everyone left, he immediately pulled Wei Yin aside: "You've come at the right time, I was just getting hungry."

Wei Yin let him hold her hand, and asked with a puzzled look on her face, "Young master, what does Mother want with this?"

He Wenqing's hand froze for a moment, then he quickly downplayed the issue, saying, "It's nothing, they just cleaned up the wedding hall and asked me to go take a look."

Wei Yin remained silent for a moment, then smiled gently: "Let's eat first, my lord."

While He Wenqing was eating, Wei Yin didn't pester him as usual, asking him to feed her whatever she wanted to eat. Instead, she sat to the side, resting her chin on her hands, and stared blankly at He's father lying on the bed.

Seeing her like this, He Wenqing guessed that she was still unhappy and waiting for him to coax her. He chuckled helplessly to himself and then took the initiative to pick up a piece of his wife's favorite dessert and feed it to her: "The jujube pastry made by the wet nurse is very good. You should try it."

Wei Yin rested her chin on her hand and shook her head. "My lord, you can eat by yourself. I've already eaten."

Seeing that he had been rejected, He Wenqing had no choice but to eat by himself. After finishing his meal, he sat quietly with Wei Yin for a while and tried to start a conversation with her, but Wei Yin seemed uninterested. So he fell silent again until Madam He sent someone to invite him over again, at which point he left for the wedding hall.

Wei Yin watched He Wenqing's departing figure, then casually picked up a cup of tea and lazily sipped it twice. This man was usually very aloof, and whenever she tried to talk to him, he would only give her a few perfunctory replies. Today, however, he had surprisingly found so much to say to her.

And so, He Wenqing and Chen Xuanhua's marriage was quickly arranged.

On an auspicious day two days later.

Although it was done in a bit of a rush, Madam He gave a generous dowry in order to bring honor to her niece and prevent her from being outshone by Wei Yin.

She also specially ordered someone to clean up a west courtyard next to Wei Yin's house and set up a bridal chamber in a grand manner. At night, the west courtyard was busy with lanterns and decorations and setting up a big red wedding tent. Liu Mama was afraid that Wei Yin would be unhappy if she saw it, so she took it upon herself to order the servants to close the courtyard gate.

These past two days, He Wenqing has been preparing to become a groom and has to stay with his father at night, so he can't go back to his room to sleep. Therefore, he asked Granny Liu to accompany Wei Yin back to sleep at night. As a result, He Wenqing and Wei Yin haven't had much of a chance to speak to each other in private.