Yan Yunning: “…”

“Would you steal my husband?” Yan Yunning rested one hand on her shoulder.

Yan Shiyao lifted her reddened eyes to look at her. “No.”

She would not compete with her for Yu-gege.

“Then I won’t hit you. Don’t worry.” Yan Yunning wiped away her tears.

Yan Shiyao froze for a moment. “Ningning, are you saying Miss Shen was beaten because she was trying to steal the Manor Lord?”

No wonder that maidservant had said she deserved it.

Yan Yunning pressed her lips together and said nothing.

Yan Shiyao sniffled. “Then she really did deserve it!”

Yan Yunning: “…”

——

The Alchemy Chamber.

Shen Ruoyi took the brocade cushion from Yuncai’s hands and sat down before Shen Ruochu, carefully resting her head on Shen Ruochu’s lap.

Yuncai let out a sigh and quietly withdrew from the Alchemy Chamber.

Shen Ruochu’s lashes trembled. The hand that had reached out to touch her hair drew back.

“A’Jie.” Shen Ruoyi clasped her hand, tears sliding from the corners of her eyes. “I want to talk to you about the night everything changed at the Charitable Hall.”

Shen Ruochu closed her eyes and bit down hard on her lips.

“A’Jie, that night, Father, Mother, and I had just returned home when a gang of mountain bandits stormed in. You had only just taken over the Charitable Hall. Father, Mother — all of us assumed you weren’t home. Father fought with everything he had so we could escape…” Shen Ruoyi struggled to hold back her sobs, her voice trembling uncontrollably.

A’Jie had surpassed even Father in her knowledge of medicine and elixirs, and so she had naturally taken over the Charitable Hall. Back then, A’Jie spent nearly every day and night at the Hall and rarely came home.

Shen Ruochu’s lips quivered. They assumed she wasn’t home?

But that very night, she had come home…

And she had taken the calming incense and fallen into a very deep sleep…

“After we escaped, Father took Mother and me to the Charitable Hall. When we found you weren’t there, Father told me to go to the County Magistrate’s office to fetch the Magistrate while he and Mother went back to look for you. But by the time the Magistrate and I arrived, Father… Mother had already been… and you were nowhere to be found…”

Shen Ruoyi wept until she could no longer form words. A’Jie had vanished — she hadn’t even known where A’Jie had been taken.

Shen Ruochu’s fingers curled into a fist, tears flooding from her eyes. All this time, she had believed that her father and mother had abandoned her — that they had only thought of saving Yiyi and fled, leaving her to be dragged away by the mountain bandits, night after night…

Shen Ruochu’s heart clenched. Her chest was so tight she could barely breathe, and she had bitten her lips until they bled.

Later, when she became pregnant, one of the bandit leader’s concubines had ordered her to dance in the frozen river in the dead of winter — cracking open the ice just for her. Not only did she lose the child, but her legs were left unable to stand from that day forward.

It was around that time that Jiang Zhibai had led his men to slaughter that bandit den and brought her back to Yuanjin Manor. When she saw Yiyi — happy, radiant, untouched — she had been consumed by a madness of envy. Why? Why did Yiyi get to be so happy? Their parents had protected her. And when their parents were gone, she had found Jiang Zhibai — who even refused to take concubines for her sake. She had hated her with every fiber of her being…

She had hated her parents for only watching over Yiyi and abandoning her…

And so, from that moment on, she had resolved to use Jiang Zhibai to make Yiyi suffer.

But now — now Yiyi was telling her that their parents had died trying to come back for her…

That they had never abandoned her for Yiyi’s sake…

“A’Jie, I never told you because I was afraid you’d be heartbroken.” Shen Ruoyi held her hand and pressed it against her cheek.

When A’Jie had first been brought back by A’Bai, her body and spirit were both in a terrible state. If she had learned then that their parents had died because of her, Shen Ruoyi feared she wouldn’t be able to bear it.

Once a smile had finally returned to A’Jie’s face, she hadn’t been able to bring herself to cause her pain again — so she stayed silent…

If Ningning hadn’t prompted her, she never would have known that A’Jie had been scheming against A’Bai and against her because of what happened all those years ago.

“Ah…” Shen Ruochu clutched her head, the pain so great she couldn’t breathe. “Get out. Get out.”

“Alright, alright — I’ll go. I’ll go.” Shen Ruoyi forced herself to hold back her sobs.

Shen Ruochu curled into herself on the wooden wheelchair, shoulders trembling as she murmured, “They didn’t abandon me… they never let me go…”

Shen Ruoyi pressed a hand over her mouth, terrified of making even a sound.

Shen Ruochu wrapped her arms around herself and wept as though her heart were being torn apart. She had been wrong. She had been so wrong…

She should never have hated Yiyi…

After a long while, Shen Ruochu’s hoarse, tear-thickened voice broke the silence. “I was never truly with A’Bai.”

She had only wanted to cause Yiyi pain. She had never genuinely wanted to be with A’Bai.

“I know.”

A’Bai had come to his senses and explained everything to her.

“A’Jie, Mother, Father, me — none of us ever abandoned you.” Shen Ruoyi’s trembling hands reached out and carefully drew her into an embrace.

“Yiyi, I’m sorry.” Shen Ruochu’s voice was thick with suppressed anguish.

“It’s alright, A’Jie. It’s alright now. It’s over.” Shen Ruoyi patted her gently on the back.

Shen Ruochu buried her face in her arms and tried with all her might not to let herself cry out loud.

——

Outside the Alchemy Chamber, Yan Shiyao dabbed at her tears with a handkerchief. “Ningning, let’s… let’s go.”

The wooden door did little to muffle sound. Yan Yunning lifted her gaze to the door of the Alchemy Chamber, her expression deeply troubled.

Shen Ruochu had believed her parents cared only for the Manor Lord’s wife — and so she had come to hate her. And the Manor Lord’s wife, for her part, had never told her the truth in time, and a misunderstanding had taken root.

In the original story, the cost of that misunderstanding had been far too great…

The following morning.

Shen Ruochu had a maidservant deliver the medicine. Qi Qingchen took it without a word and returned to the capital in silence.

Yan Yunning was pulled away by Jiang Zhibai and Shen Ruoyi to share a meal — and a maidservant was sent to invite Xuan Yanyu and the others to join them.

Yan Yunning was seated between Jiang Zhibai and Shen Ruoyi. Xuan Yanyu’s thin lips pressed together, a trace of displeasure crossing his face.

“Ningning, thank you.” Shen Ruoyi smiled and raised her cup.

Yan Yunning lifted her cup and clinked it lightly. With a playful wink, she said, “It was nothing, really.”

Shen Ruoyi laughed. “Ningning, why don’t you just stay at Yuanjin Manor? I really do like you.”

Yan Yunning tipped her chin toward Xuan Yanyu. “See? I told you I was likeable — that’s exactly why the Manor Lord’s wife wants me to dine with her.”

He had said she wasn’t particularly likeable. Said she was talking nonsense.

Xuan Yanyu looked up at her, his voice carrying a lazy ease. “Yes, yes, yes — you’re the most likeable of all.”

“Oh~” Shen Ruoyi’s eyes curved with amusement. “And do you like her?”

“Ahem…” Yan Yunning awkwardly lowered her head.

Xuan Yanyu’s throat moved almost imperceptibly. Did he like her?

“Yiyi, stop teasing them.” Jiang Zhibai said, helpless. Then he turned his gaze downward to Yan Yunning, who was staring fixedly at the floorboards. “Ningning, from this day forward, you are a daughter of Yuanjin Manor — my sister. You are welcome here whenever you wish.”

“Ningning, when the time comes for you to marry, Yuanjin Manor will prepare a dowry for you.” Jiang Zhibai added with a smile.

“Brother!” Yan Yunning looked up and called out the word without a moment’s hesitation.

Marriage could wait — but this brother was generous. He had already mentioned a dowry.

Xuan Yanyu narrowed his eyes. She was this excited?

If she wanted a dowry, whose could possibly compare to his?

He would prepare one for her himself.

Then again, no — she would be marrying him. He would be the one preparing the betrothal gifts. No matter. He would put everything together at once.

“Ningning, how can you just go around calling people your brother? It breaks all propriety.” Yan Shiyao sighed and gently reminded her.

Father was the current Chief Minister. If Ningning casually acknowledged someone as a brother, it would effectively be giving Father an adopted son.