Chapter 10 Him? No good?!

As expected, Sheng Yunche did not return all night after leaving.

The next day.

Ye Mingzhu ordered her men to load all the gifts for the three-day homecoming onto the carriage, and prepared to depart, but Sheng Yunche was still nowhere to be seen.

At the entrance of the East Mansion.

Princess Ronghua helped her onto the carriage, her face serious. "Although Junzhao was delayed by official business and couldn't accompany you back to your parents' home today, it was still wrong. When he returns, I will make sure he apologizes to you properly. If you miss home, it's alright to come back a little later tonight."

Ye Mingzhu smiled and said with her almond-shaped eyes curving upwards, "Thank you, Your Highness. Please don't blame my husband. My parents will understand. My husband is sharing the Emperor's burdens, and you have prepared three large carriages of gifts for my return visit. Such generosity has already given me a lot of face."

The carriage slowly drove away and disappeared around the street corner.

Princess Ronghua stood there for a while, then suddenly asked Yaqin beside her, "This child doesn't seem afraid of me at all?"

She had been a widow for many years, was stern and strict with rules, and the younger generation always respected and feared her. Yet Ye Mingzhu was very composed in front of her.

Yaqin chuckled: "The Princess isn't a man-eating monster, why is Madam afraid of you?"

Princess Ronghua's serious face slowly revealed a slight smile: "As long as she and Junzhao can live a good life, I will be at ease."

The carriage moved forward.

Baozan was also talking to Ye Mingzhu.

"Miss, your husband didn't accompany you back to your parents' home today. Won't the guests laugh at you and say that the Duke doesn't value you?" she asked with a worried expression.

Ye Mingzhu smiled calmly and said, "No."

"Really not?"

"Hmm." Ye Mingzhu nodded and said calmly, "So what if they do? I am now the Duchess of the State. They are too busy trying to curry favor with me to dare to say anything bad about me."

Baozan's eyes lit up: "That's right! Besides, the Duke has military affairs to attend to, it's not like he doesn't value you, Miss. Outsiders can't say anything."

Ruyi also said, "These past few days, I've noticed that the Duke is still very willing to be close to Miss. It's not that he's deliberately not coming; he really has official business to attend to."

Ye Mingzhu nodded with a smile.

She appeared calm, but her hands, hidden in her sleeves, clenched tightly, a little worried about how to answer her mother and sister-in-law's questions later.

She had a different groom on her wedding day, and Sheng Yunche didn't accompany her back to her parents' home today. She didn't care what outsiders thought, but she was afraid that her family would worry and be anxious.

However, her status and Sheng Yunche's were vastly different; they were merely business partners. If it was inconvenient for him, she couldn't force him.

...

Ye Mansion.

Ye Chengji and his wife Zhen, their eldest son Ye Yu and his wife Wang, their young daughter Ye Baozhu, and many other guests who came to attend the homecoming ceremony stood at the door, eagerly awaiting their arrival.

Upon seeing a carriage with vermilion wheels and an ornate canopy, bearing the wooden plaque of the Duke of Wei's mansion, slowly approaching, everyone's faces lit up with joyful smiles.

"Young Miss has arrived!"

"Still calling her Miss? She should be called Duchess!"

"If you ask me, Mingzhu is really lucky to have married. I don't know what kind of good fortune she has accumulated over her past lives."

"The son-in-law is handsome and talented, and deeply in love with Mingzhu. The two are a match made in heaven!"

"..."

The guests chimed in, as if Ye Mingzhu hadn't been abducted by Sheng Yunche, but rather that their marriage had been arranged long ago.

Only the Ye family members wore smiles, but their eyes betrayed their worry.

The carriage stopped in front of the Ye residence.

Ye Mingzhu adjusted the exquisite golden hairpin adorned with a fairy pavilion in her hair, placed it on the arm of the hairpin, and stepped down from the carriage unhurriedly.

She wore a jade-white cross-front blouse with cloud and water patterns, a bright red horse-face skirt with intertwined floral patterns, and her hair was adorned with pearls and jade. She was radiant and extremely beautiful, and it was clear that she was living a very comfortable life.

But after she got out of the car, everyone looked back at the car, but the person they were waiting for didn't appear.

Many guests looked at each other in bewilderment: Why didn't the Duke of Wei come?

Ye Chengji and Zhen Shi's expressions changed, not to mention Ye Yu and the others.

"Father, Mother, let's go inside and talk," Ye Mingzhu said with a smile.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Madam Zhen realized what was happening and quickly said with a smile, "What kind of behavior is it to stand at the door? Come inside and talk!"

Upon entering the Ye residence, Ye Mingzhu first visited her seriously ill and bedridden grandmother before following Madam Zhen to Lanfang Pavilion.

After having the servants stand guard outside, Madam Zhen pulled Ye Mingzhu into the inner room and anxiously asked, "Zhuzhu, has Sheng Yunche been treating you badly? Has he made you angry or hit you?"

Ye Mingzhu couldn't help but laugh: "No, he's very good to me."

As a partner, although Sheng Yunche is a bit eccentric and unpredictable, no other shortcomings have been found so far.

Outsiders said he was just as ruthless as Wei Ji, but she didn't think so.

"Then how come you're still a virgin and haven't consummated your marriage with him? How come he forcibly took you and then treats you so coldly?" Zhen asked anxiously and worriedly.

Ye Mingzhu: "..."

I was careless!

She forgot that her parents were both doctors and could tell the difference at a glance.

In her previous life, it was the same. When she returned to her parents' home, her mother asked her why she was still a virgin, why she hadn't consummated her marriage with Sheng Huai'an, and whether she had been wronged.

She endured three whole days of torment, going from the joy of her new marriage to the pain and confusion of being neglected by Sheng Huai'an. She was in a very bad mood, and when Zhen asked her about it, she burst into tears, which worried Zhen a lot. Zhen held her and cried for a long time.

The homecoming banquet, which should have been a joyous occasion, instead caused Zhen Shi to develop a deep-seated anxiety.

But Sheng Huai'an ignored her, and the Ye family couldn't do anything about it.

The two families were too far apart in social standing, so he could only swallow his grievances.

Later, Lady Jia forbade her to return to her parents' home, and she had not seen her family for two years before her death. During those two years, she wrote to Lady Zhen, simply saying that she and Sheng Huai'an had consummated their marriage and were living happily together.

Madam Zhen thought that she had finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel, so every month or two she would send her a cartload of tonics and medicinal herbs to help her recover, hoping that she would give birth to a son and have a better life in her husband's family.

In this life, Ye Mingzhu didn't want her mother to worry about her anymore, so she started to make up stories, half true and half false.

“It’s Sheng Yunche…” she explained, “He has been weak since childhood and has headaches, so his health isn’t very good. We’ve agreed that we’ll wait until I’ve helped him get better before we have sex, and we’ll wait until he’s fully recovered before we have children.”

Madam Zhen looked as if she had been struck by lightning, shocked and anxious: "People outside say that the Duke is impotent, which is why he doesn't like women. Is that really true? He doesn't look that weak and frail, so how come he can't be a man?"

"What?! The Duke is no good? Then you'll be living like a widow, little sister? He wouldn't marry you because of this, and he's taking advantage of the fact that our Ye family are merchants so he won't cause him any trouble, would he?" Suddenly, a shrewish voice rang out at the door. It was Ye Mingzhu's sister-in-law, Wang Shi, who had arrived.

Ye Mingzhu: "...?"

She hadn't expected her mother and sister-in-law to misunderstand, but... so be it.

On the one hand, her collaboration with Sheng Yunche is difficult to explain; the more she says, the more mistakes she'll make.

On the other hand, if she told the truth, her family would definitely be even more worried about her marital problems.

Thinking that Sheng Yunche couldn't possibly know about their private conversations, Ye Mingzhu nodded stiffly: "He... does have some issues. But it's because of a congenital weakness and being poisoned. Once his health improves, he should be fine."

"Poisoned?" Zhen and Wang asked in unison, utterly shocked.

Ye Mingzhu was eager to change the subject and hoped that Sheng Yunche could live a little longer, so she immediately described his pulse to her mother and sister-in-law.

If Sheng Yunche is indeed poisoned, as long as he detoxifies as soon as possible and is treated with the Zi Gu, he should be able to avoid death in three months, right?

Oh, right, she should wear the jade flower that her aunt gave her later.

The Jade Pearl Flower is rare and magical, with leaves like jade and blooming once a month, making it very suitable to "impersonate" the offspring of the Longevity Gu.

...

The sun sets in the west.

A horse-drawn carriage sped along the road, kicking up clouds of dust.

However, Sheng Yunche, sitting in the car, still felt it wasn't enough and urged in a cold voice, "Faster."

After finally arriving at the Ye residence, he sat quietly in the carriage for a while before straightening his clothes and getting out.

But to his utter surprise, upon entering the Ye family home, he wasn't met with Ye Mingzhu's reproachful gaze, nor with his in-laws' cold words, but rather...

"This way, Your Excellency..." Ye Chengji warmly and sympathetically pulled him to a chair in the study and took his pulse.

After a while, he honestly sighed, "He does seem a bit weak! But he doesn't look like he has erectile dysfunction; on the contrary, he's extremely aroused..."

Before Sheng Yunche could answer, he continued, "No matter what, don't worry. With proper care, it won't be difficult for you to regain your virility. I'm absolutely certain!"

Sheng Yunche: "...?"

Is he weak?

He needs some time to recover before he can regain his former glory.

Veins throbbed on his forehead. He tried hard to keep his expression from turning too ugly and to avoid getting up in a huff, but he couldn't help gritting his teeth inwardly.

Ye Mingzhu! It must have been her doing!

She really didn't know if he was capable.