Chapter 84
Four years ago, on a similar day when the weather was warm and the weather was cold, Yueming came to Yunxiang from Kunming. However, compared to the confusion she felt when she first came to Yunxiang, now that she had someone she cared about in Yunxiang, her heart was filled with anticipation.
The car's arrival in Yunxiang City caused a sensation. People who had been to Menning City pointed at the black car and proudly said to passers-by who craned their necks to look at it with an air of knowledge, "This is a car! It runs on its own, without the need for mules or horses."
Passersby uttered a sound that seemed to understand: "Oh——"
Seeing that the driver was Lan Yingde, those knowledgeable people exclaimed in admiration: "It has to be Master Lan! Even the chieftain has rarely ridden in this car, and Master Lan can actually drive it."
He looked like a man who was proud of himself, and completely forgot that Lan Yingde was just a Han Chinese from another place.
The children ran after the car out of curiosity. Yueming, fearing danger, scattered handfuls of candy to the roadside, far away from the car. The candy wrapped in cellophane sparkled in the sunlight, and the children rushed over to grab it.
Back at the door, Yueming deliberately refused to get out of the car and didn't let Lan Yingde get out, honking the horn at full blast. Changsheng came out upon hearing the noise and was also amazed at the sight of the new car. He knew Lan Yingde had bought a new car, but he hadn't expected him to actually drive to Yunxiang.
He asked in surprise: "Our car!"
Yueming rested his arms on the window, raised his chin and said proudly, "Of course it's ours."
Changsheng was happy for a moment, then worried: "But where can I get the gasoline?"
The man behind driving the military vehicle agreed, "Don't worry about that. Our commander said if you run out of gas, just come to us in Mengning."
The car ran out of gas, and we had to take a horse-drawn carriage to Mengning to get it. Changsheng felt that it would be better not to drive the car!
The man driving the military truck, after helping to carry the luggage, insisted on leaving. Lan Yingde had no choice but to force a few yuan into his pocket, just as he had done on the Kunming trip. He thought this was a lucrative job, with not only good food and drink along the way, but also dozens of yuan for the round trip. Feeling a little embarrassed to accept the money, he promised to send two barrels of gasoline over in a couple of days if he had time.
After seeing off the military vehicle, Lan Yingde asked Changsheng to go to the Tusi Mansion and tell him that since he had returned, he should come to pay his respects in the evening.
When Yueming heard that they were going to the Tusi Mansion in the evening, she felt very excited and hurriedly asked Yehu and Aiye to help her pack her luggage and take out the clothes she was going to wear as soon as possible, iron those that needed to be ironed and air-dry those that needed to be aired, so that she would not wear clothes that were wrinkled like pickles just taken out of the jar.
Ye Hu and Ai Ye knew she was excited to see the Second Young Master because she hadn't seen him for a long time, so they giggled as they unpacked the suitcase. The clothes were neatly folded in the suitcase; if there were any wrinkles, they could just be fixed by hanging them up. Why would they need to iron them with charcoal?
The clothes she bought in Kunming were spread out on the bed. Yueming stood in front of the mirror and tried them on one by one. After choosing and choosing, she decided that the plum-red cheongsam she wore when she visited Wuye's house was the best.
The Kunming sun wasn't as scorching as Yunxiang's, and she'd spent the past two months there looking even fairer. Wearing this plum-red cheongsam with pearls, she looked even fairer, like a shimmering pearl.
After dinner, the family drove to Prime Minister Yun's residence, bringing their gifts. The Lan family lived only three blocks away. They drove not to show off, but because Yueming was wearing high heels and worried her heels would get stuck in the cracks of the cobblestones, and she couldn't climb up the carriage in her cheongsam.
After entering the palace, Lan Yingde went to the study as usual with Han Tusi to talk about the situation he had learned in Kunming. Yueming and the other ladies looked at the gifts brought back for them.
Thin, sambo satin makes a light and cool summer top, and the patterns are pretty, perfect for ladies. Jacquard heavy satin is bought specifically for the wives of the young ladies. Baoxianghua, with its solemnity and richness, is most suitable for their status.
The Third Wife touched the material with the fiery red poppy print and praised it, "The things from this big village are indeed more exquisite than those from our small place. This material is so good that even the wives of the chieftains of Ganya and Xianggeng, let alone Prime Minister Yun, have never seen it before."
Yueming and the Third Madam had maintained superficial courtesy over the past few years. Seeing that she understood his feelings, he also said politely, "As long as the Third Madam likes it."
Everyone got a gift, and the Third Young Master even got a toy car. He thanked Yueming in a baby voice, "Thank you, Second Sister-in-law."
Yueming blushed when she was called "Second Sister-in-law". It was also when she called her "Second Sister-in-law" that everyone realized that Yueming had been in the mansion for a while, but Yunkai had not appeared.
Yin Tai called Feng Er to ask where Yun Kai had gone. Feng Er glanced at Yue Ming secretly and said with a smile, "My cousin wanted to go out to play in the street, and the second young master took her out."
Cousin? Where did this cousin come from?
Seeing Yueming's confusion, Yin Tai smiled and said, "Se Manli is the daughter of Uncle Yunkai, my niece. She came to see me when Yunkai came back."
After hearing Yin Tai's explanation, Yue Ming didn't care about her cousin named Se Manli. But when she looked up, she saw the sneer flash across the corner of the Third Madam's mouth, and her heart was immediately alarmed.
This time in Kunming, Zhaoqing lent her a lot of mandarin duck and butterfly novels. Aren’t cousins the ones most likely to have an affair in the books?
Senior Brother Changsheng had come to the mansion at noon and said he'd come that evening, but Yunkai had taken his cousin out for a stroll. Thinking of his telegram, which could be considered the shortest in history, Yueming felt a surge of sour anger.
Haha, this cousin is really charming! His fiancée, whom he hadn't seen for over two months, came back after so much trouble, but he didn't even bother to pay any attention to her.
Looking at the piece of dark blue peony-patterned material on the table that was bought specifically for him, Yueming now wished he could cut it into pieces with scissors.
She was angry in her heart, but she still put on an innocent smile and said to Yin Tai, "My cousin finally came here, so I should take her out for some fun. I didn't know she came and didn't prepare a gift for her. I'll prepare another one when I get back and have Ye Hu send it over."
Yin Tai said that family members didn't need to be so polite. Yue Ming said, "Yes, yes, I'll go back and take a look." After saying that, he winked at Yin Tai again, leaned closer and whispered, "Actually, I haven't taken all the gifts for you and the eldest young lady yet. Tomorrow, when they are not around, I will send more to you and the eldest young lady."
Yin Tai laughed at Yue Ming's stingy look, winking at her and imitating her whispering, "I've also hidden some good things Uncle Yun Kai sent you. I don't dare let your sister-in-law know. I'll give them to you quietly when you come over tomorrow."
The affection between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law made the eldest young lady feel uncomfortable. Her mother-in-law was usually very kind to her, but the difference in her attitude towards Yueming was obvious to anyone with eyes.
She consoled herself by saying that the elders favored their youngest sons and treated their daughters-in-law differently, but she still felt wronged. Last time, Li Yang had gotten so angry about the betrothal gifts, and she didn't dare to say anything to him. After Yueming left, she had her maid take the gifts Yueming had given her and returned to her own courtyard.
Li Yang had just returned from outside. Upon hearing Lan Yingde arrive, he returned to his room to change his clothes and prepare to go see his father in his study. The eldest young lady entered the room and saw him putting on his coat, and hurried forward to help him button it.
The maid placed the things on the table and left. Li Yang saw her and asked with a smile, "Is that little girl Yueming back?"
The eldest young lady said softly, "He's back. As soon as he got back, he came to pay his respects to mother and brought gifts to each room. He even gave gifts to my third brother. How thoughtful of him."
Li Yang nodded: "Mother is happy when she comes back, and she has someone to talk to."
When the eldest young lady heard this, she couldn't help but say, "Mother treats Yueming like a mother-in-law treats her daughter-in-law."
Li Yang didn't hear the hidden meaning in her words and said indifferently, "Of course, Yueming is the best at pretending. In front of Yunkai, she is as fierce as a tigress, and in front of her mother, she is like an unweaned lamb, the only thing missing is bleating. She only does things that her mother likes and says things that her mother likes. Of course, her mother treats her specially." Originally, they were just chatting, but as they were talking, he couldn't help but lecture the eldest young lady, "You should learn from that little girl and stop being so pretentious. There's nothing wrong with flattering your mother and doing things that make her happy. We are all close relatives, what's wrong with living happily?"
His wife wasn't a bad person, but she wasn't sweet-talking. She acted too much like a young lady. She knew exactly what her mother-in-law liked, but she just couldn't bring herself to cater to her.
After hearing her husband's words, the eldest young lady felt even more aggrieved. Yueming, that little girl, was not of good birth, so of course she had to please her mother-in-law to have a good life in the future. But she was the Xiangkan lady of the Tusi Mansion, so naturally she didn't need to be servile and fawning to please others.
Besides, Yueming's innocent demeanor is because she is really young. I am already my mother's wife, so isn't it disgusting to act so pretentiously like her?
Yueming had just left Yintai's yard when she met Feng Xiaosai, who had been waiting for her at the door for an unknown period of time.
He smiled and patted Yueming's waist: "Miss Yueming, the second young master asked me to pick you up."
Yue understood him at a glance and said in a cold tone: "Where are you taking me? Go shopping with my cousin? I'm busy." After saying that, she walked around him and prepared to leave.
Feng Xiaosai quickly reached out to stop her and said anxiously, "The young master didn't go shopping with the cousin. He has been waiting for you at the pond for quite a while."
After much persuasion, Yueming finally relented. Yueming asked Yehu and Aiye to wait for Lan Yingde at the Tusi Mansion, and told him that he was going to look for Yunkai.
When they arrived at the pond, Yunkai was nowhere to be seen. Yueming stared at Feng Xiaosai with a bad look on her face: "Where is your young master? Are you two teaming up to make fun of me?" She almost broke her ankle in her high heels on the way from Tusi Mansion to the pond. Now that she had arrived but saw no one, she was extremely furious.
Feng Xiaosai scratched his head, looking confused: "The young master said he was waiting for you at the pond. Don't worry, I'll go look for him nearby." After saying that, he left Yueming behind and ran away.
Yueming felt like her legs were about to break, so she found a rock to sit on by the pond. Just as she was settling into her seat, she heard the sound of water splashing behind her. Turning around, she saw a dark figure emerging from the water. She was terrified, and before she could scream, a stream of water spurted out from the figure's mouth, spraying her cheeks with a chill.
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