Song Chumi finally chose a day and was quietly brought back home. To outsiders, they only said her health had been poor and she’d been recuperating at the estate for these two years.
Though only two years had passed in between, it felt as if a lifetime had separated them. She had thought she would spend her entire life cold and lonely at the estate as a solitary person, never imagining there would be a day she could return. The moment she opened her eyes, she threw herself into Third Madam Yun Shi’s arms and cried.
Having learned this lesson, she now understood the severity of things and knew even better her birth mother’s suffering—if Yun Shi hadn’t spent these three years humbling herself, speaking every kind word and thinking of every possible method, her life would have been completely ruined.
When Song Chuyi and Xiang Mingzi encountered her at Old Madam Song’s place, she stood up to exchange pleasantries with them. Her words and manner were completely different from the former Fourth Miss Song, though when looking at Song Chuyi, her eyes still flickered.
Deep in her heart, she still harbored resentment. Old Madam Yun might have had grand schemes, but she herself had truly only wanted to live a peaceful life with the man she loved. Who knew that Song Chuyi wouldn’t give her any face at all, directly exposing the matter before Old Master Song and Old Madam Song? If not for this, her days wouldn’t have been so miserable.
People always easily forget the pain once the wound heals. When she was at the estate, she felt she had no other desires, hoping only for the day she could leave the estate and return to the capital—that would fulfill her wishes. But once back in the capital, she began wanting more—even Song Chubin had obtained such an excellent marriage match with a prominent family from Jiangyin, her divorced second sister also had found a decent family, and Xiang Mingzi, an outsider, was being cherished like a precious pearl. Yet she could only marry down to a scholar with no foundation.
Once this thought arose, it couldn’t be extinguished. It festered in her heart until she felt feverish, and several canker sores grew on her tongue—even drinking water caused pain.
How could Old Madam Song not perceive these subtle expressions? Seeing that Song Chuyi didn’t argue back, she felt even more uncomfortable. She summoned Yun Shi and spoke plainly, “That I can allow her to come out is already my wrongdoing toward the Song family, taking the risk of bringing shame to the Song family. If she still won’t behave peacefully for me, she should return to the estate sooner rather than later. Don’t make me unable to face the Song family’s ancestors after I die!”
The words were so harsh that Yun Shi’s eyes immediately reddened. Her heart alternated between sighing and resenting. The thoughts she used to have about competing for glory, showing off, and trampling on others—she absolutely didn’t dare harbor such thoughts anymore. What Old Madam Song said wasn’t wrong either. In ordinary families, a young lady who committed such a grave error—which one wasn’t quietly strangled to death and thrown into a reservoir in the wilderness to sink in a pond? That she spared Song Chumi’s life was already a grace. Now allowing her to come out and still marry was even more worthy of a thousand thanks.
Fortunately, Old Madam still gave her face and didn’t say these words in front of the Grand Madam. But this was clearly already a warning. Yun Shi’s heart pounded anxiously as she left. Looking at her daughter, she felt she had a thousand sentences she wanted to scold her with, but seeing her sunken cheeks, she ultimately couldn’t bring herself to scold. She embraced her and in a gentle voice tactfully conveyed Old Madam’s meaning. Seeing Song Chumi’s face turn pale, she added at the end, “Even if you don’t think of yourself, think of me and your father. If you do anything foolish again, where will I, your mother, have any path to live?”
Song Chuyi could roughly guess Song Chumi’s thoughts. Seeing her cold expression, she simply pretended not to notice. This fourth sister had never harbored bad intentions toward her in the past. Moreover, given her current state, she could hardly stir up any more trouble.
Qing Ying, however, vaguely felt worried for her. When no one was around, she whispered to Ziyun, “The way Fourth Miss looks at our young lady—how is it simply just a bit of resentment?”
Ziyun was helping Song Chuyi tie decorative knots. Hearing this, she looked around, and finally still nodded, “If she continues like this, who knows what she might do? We should still remind the young lady to be on guard.”
As the two were whispering, Bilian came laughing from the corridor. Seeing them, she first called out “Sisters” with a smile, then said Old Master had returned.
This was major news. Although they had already sent people to wait at the docks for several days, there had been no news for days in a row. Hearing this now, Ziyun immediately stood up and asked her, “Really? How do you know?”
Bilian had a clever appearance and spoke cleverly too, “The young servants at the main gate are carrying boxes inside one after another. I even saw Second Young Master. Since Second Young Master has returned, hasn’t Old Master also returned? I thought the sisters surely hadn’t received the news yet, so I came back to report.”
Previously, it was Qing Tao and Luyi who gathered information, but both were visibly growing older, and being first-rank head maids, it no longer made sense for them to go out frequently.
Hearing this, Ziyun looked at her once and nodded with a smile, “You’re quite clever indeed.”
Not long after, Ziwei indeed came in person, smiling as she told Ziyun and Qing Ying to quickly attend to Song Chuyi and go to Ningde Courtyard, saying Old Master Song had returned.
When Song Chuyi went over, Xiang Mingzi hadn’t yet arrived—she had moved to Cuiming Pavilion to live last year, which was quite a distance from Ningde Courtyard. The Grand Madam had also gone out busy arranging dinner and ordering people to organize things, so there were only Old Master Song and Old Madam Song in the room.
As soon as Old Master Song saw her, he smiled. After she paid her respects, he immediately spoke up, “Yangzhou doesn’t have much else, but things like face powder, rouge, and jewelry for girls are made more delicately and exquisitely than in the capital. I brought some back for all of you. I heard you’ve already started learning the qin, so I specially bought you a guqin from Changyin Pavilion. You can see later if it suits your hand.”
Though he’d traveled such a long distance, his spirits still seemed quite vigorous. Old Madam Song felt relieved and asked him, “How did this matter end up causing such a huge commotion?”
That old lady of the Zhang family had nursed the current Emperor. His Majesty had even specially given her an imperial mandate of super rank for this. How did they fall so suddenly?
Old Master Song sighed, “Originally the memorial was just held back and not released, but those eyeing this position—which one isn’t envious? Even if His Majesty didn’t want to intervene, he had to. Besides, the Zhang family truly was too greedy. With ready-made evidence in others’ hands, how could anyone let them off?”
He paused, took a sip of tea, and shook his head, “All of that aside, when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. The Zhang family hadn’t even been raided yet when the Han family sent someone to break off the engagement. Acting like this—to put it nicely, it’s righteously severing family ties, but privately, who doesn’t know what intentions the Han family harbored? The Zhang family’s young lady hanged herself with a white silk ribbon the very next day. The Han family… in the end, they were too heartless.”