Yun Chu touched the little girl’s face—she really was too thin.

The little girl nestled obediently into her embrace. Chu Hongyu said from the side, “Changsheng, Aunt Yun is injured here, be careful not to bump into it.”

The little girl nodded obediently, shifting her body downward a bit, then pursed her lips and gently blew on Yun Chu’s injured area.

Yun Chu’s heart melted completely.

“Qianqian, have you noticed? The young county princess looks quite similar to Yun Chu,” Lin Shi lowered her voice. “Especially the eyes.”

Liu Qianqian looked over and was also startled. “It’s true, they do look a bit alike. But perhaps this is just the fated connection between Chu’er and the young county princess and young lord.”

It was rare for these two children to be so close to Chu’er, and Chu’er also liked these two children very much. Such a connection was something that could be encountered but not sought.

“I heard that the marriage discussion between Second Miss Tan and Prince Pingxi fell through,” Lin Shi’s voice was extremely low. “Madam Tan is a gentle woman, so Second Miss Tan shouldn’t be bad either. Prince Pingxi will probably have a hard time finding a princess consort more suitable to be a stepmother than Second Miss Tan.”

Liu Qianqian nodded.

This Second Miss Tan should have been carefully selected by Imperial Concubine Yin, but unfortunately, she didn’t catch Prince Pingxi’s eye.

For the next several days, Chu Hongyu and Chu Changsheng would come to the Yun family home. At first, Prince Pingxi would come along, but later he just had servants accompany them.

Without supervision, the two children would come to the Yun family in the morning and only leave in the evening. If it weren’t for fear of making their father angry, Chu Hongyu would have loved to bring his sister to stay overnight at the Yun family home.

Xie Jingyu would come every other day, but was consistently turned away at the door by Yun Ze.

Days passed one by one, and soon it was the day for the Dai family to send their betrothal gifts. According to the capital’s customs, betrothal gifts were sent one month before the wedding.

Watching the palanquins of betrothal gifts being carried in one after another, Yun Chu couldn’t help but sigh—time really flew by. When she was reborn it was the end of March, and in the blink of an eye it was already July.

She saw Yun Ran and the young master of the Dai family gazing at each other from across the crowd, both their faces flushed red, and couldn’t help but smile.

At this moment, however, she heard a discordant voice.

“How could Sister-in-law find such a match for Sister Ran? Only fifth rank—the family status is too low.”

Yun Chu looked over and saw a woman from a Yun family branch line dressed in jewels and finery. She called this woman Third Aunt. This aunt’s father-in-law and her own grandfather were blood brothers, though he had died on the battlefield many years ago. The aunt’s husband was her father’s third cousin.

Third Aunt Yun was still muttering, “I don’t know what Sister-in-law was thinking. When she married Chu’er off to the Xie family, at least that Xie Jingyu was the top scholar—he could be considered a catch. This Second Young Master Dai is only a successful candidate at the county level. How is he worthy of a Yun family daughter?”

Another woman sighed, “Our Yun family relies on those military merits to maintain our standing. Among the younger generation, no one has joined the military. Who knows who will be able to uphold the Yun family’s prestige in the future.”

Third Aunt Yun shook her head. “Brother Ze is the eldest legitimate son of the family, already over twenty, and only a seventh-rank official in the court. He really can’t uphold the Yun family… He’s not as good as our Run’er…”

She didn’t dare say this loudly, only dared to mutter quietly.

Her son Yun Run had also passed the imperial examination on his own merit, starting as an insignificant ninth-rank official.

Later she found him a good marriage match. With the Yun family backing, marrying a daughter from a third-rank family wasn’t actually that difficult—with sufficient maneuvering, the match was made. After the marriage, with his father-in-law’s help, Run’er was now already a fifth-rank upper official in the court. If his luck was good, he could be promoted to fourth rank by year’s end… Wasn’t he much better than Yun Ze?

Children’s marriages were like ladders—whether the ladder went up or down depended entirely on the judgment of the family matriarch.

In her view, Sister-in-law’s perspective was still too shallow…

Yun Chu glanced over once and withdrew her gaze.

The Yun family’s branch lines were deeply entangled, each person with their own thoughts. As long as these branch members didn’t commit major errors or damage the Yun family’s reputation, even the Yun family elders wouldn’t interfere with their choices.

On the day the Dai family sent betrothal gifts, there was no need for a large banquet—they just invited the closest family members to share a meal together as witnesses.

The Xie family were in-laws, so strictly speaking they shouldn’t have come, but Xie Jingyu still came to the door.

This was the first time Xie Jingyu had seen Yun Chu in about half a month. As husband and wife for so many years, this was the first time the two had been separated for so long.

“Madam’s complexion looks much better.” His face bore a refined and elegant smile. “The flowers on the paths bloom—you may return slowly.”

Yun Chu smiled faintly.

What a romantic and beautiful phrase, but coming from Xie Jingyu’s mouth, it completely lacked that feeling.

However, having been away so long, it was indeed time to return.

She nodded. “Alright.”

Yun Chu bid farewell to her family members one by one.

Lin Shi was very reluctant to part, but she also knew that for a married daughter to stay at her maiden home for half a month was already quite rare. Any longer would affect the marital relationship.

Although she was gradually beginning to detest this son-in-law Xie Jingyu, Chu’er clearly still wanted to continue the marriage, so she respected Chu’er’s choice.

Under the gazes of the Yun family members, Yun Chu, supporting herself on Qiutong’s hand, boarded the carriage.

The moment the carriage curtain fell, she saw Tingxue standing below, looking toward someone at the bottom of the Yun manor steps—it was Yu Ke.

The corners of Yun Chu’s lips couldn’t help but curve into a smile.

She had just sat down in the carriage when Xie Jingyu followed and climbed in as well.

He looked at Yun Chu’s profile and slowly began, “Does Madam know what has happened these past days?”

Yun Chu turned her head, assuming an expression of attentive listening.

“My official rank has been demoted one level.” Xie Jingyu stared at her. “Just because you stayed so long at your maiden home, my official rank was demoted.”

Among all the women in the capital, even princesses, once married, had no reason to stay at their maiden homes for so long, unless they weren’t planning to continue the marriage.

Yun Chu returning to the Yun family for half a month sparked countless rumors in the capital, all saying the Yun family was planning a divorce.

Originally he didn’t care about these rumors, but those people in the court were accustomed to following the prevailing wind, fawning on the powerful and trampling the weak. They actually deliberately set a trap for him, and he carelessly stepped into it, making a major mistake. The Minister of Revenue was furious, his superior Minister Yu was fined a year’s salary, and his official rank dropped directly from fifth rank to fifth rank lower.

He didn’t understand—even if he and Yun Chu truly divorced, he would still be the future Fourth Prince’s father-in-law.

The father-in-law of a prince—shouldn’t that status be more prestigious and make those people more wary than being the Yun family’s son-in-law?

“Oh, that’s interesting.” Yun Chu’s lips floated with mockery. “According to this logic, whether you get promoted or demoted all depends on me, a mere woman?”

These words almost made Xie Jingyu unable to lift his head.

Yun Chu was all but saying outright that he relied on women.

Clearly he himself had studied diligently for over ten years, working his way from successful candidate all the way to top scholar, establishing himself in the court… He admitted that his rapid promotions had something to do with the Yun family, but it was more due to his own abilities.

He just couldn’t accept that having already reached fifth rank, just because of such a small matter as Yun Chu returning to her maiden home, his rank would be demoted half a level. Why?

Yun Chu pulled at the corners of her mouth.

Being demoted just half a rank and already unable to bear it—how would he possibly endure what was about to happen in the future?