Eldest Madam Su had returned to her maiden home today specifically to discuss her children’s marriage arrangements. Originally, as an elder from the bride’s side, she shouldn’t have been the one to bring up the topic first. However, since the Yun family was her maiden home and Old Madam Yun was her birth mother, such taboos no longer applied.
But Old Madam Yun’s current attitude clearly showed she didn’t want to give a definitive answer, leaving Eldest Madam Su somewhat embarrassed.
“Mother, family shouldn’t speak as strangers. What are your true thoughts? Can’t you give me a straight answer?”
When Eldest Madam Su had been an unmarried daughter, she too had been Old Madam Yun’s precious darling, held in the palm of her hand. Back when Eldest Madam Yun had first entered the household as a daughter-in-law, she couldn’t compare to this biological daughter’s standing with Old Madam Yun. Now, with times changed, being brushed off by her mother in front of her sister-in-law left her unable to maintain her usual dignified composure, no matter how formidable she normally was.
Old Madam Yun, however, remained blind to her daughter’s grievances, saying only in a flat tone, “Since when have the Su and Yun families become one family? How is it that I don’t know about this?”
Eldest Madam Su’s face stiffened, while Eldest Madam Yun breathed a sigh of relief, unable to suppress a slight upward curve at the corner of her mouth. Eldest Madam Yun had been worried that Old Madam Yun might carelessly agree to the match with the Su family out of consideration for her daughter’s face. Compared to allying with the Su family, she was more inclined toward establishing ties with the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion. Although both Eldest Madam Su and the Princess Consort of Yanbei were her sisters-in-law, the Su family belonged to the faction of the former Princess Consort of Yanbei. Rather than trying to please all sides, it was better to take a firm stance.
Still, she was her biological daughter after all, so Old Madam Yun couldn’t let Eldest Madam Su lose too much face. She softened her voice slightly: “Wenfang is my most beloved grandson, and his marriage cannot be treated lightly. It’s not something I alone can decide. Let’s wait until your father and elder brother return to discuss it.”
Eldest Madam Su’s expression improved somewhat. Recalling the instructions from Old Master Su and her husband before she left home, Eldest Madam Su sighed and turned to Eldest Madam Yun: “Sister-in-law, do you think I would suddenly bring up the marriage between Fangfei and Wenfang for no reason? Although my daughter has only ordinary beauty, she is still the legitimate eldest daughter of the Su family. Even though she hasn’t yet reached the age of hairpinning, many have already made discreet inquiries about her. Do I need to send her to my maiden family? Tell me honestly, if Fangfei marries Wenfang, would Wenfang be getting the short end of the deal?”
Eldest Madam Su spoke with confidence, and indeed, her words held truth. The Su family’s eldest daughter had both good looks and character, so marrying into the Yun family as the second young master’s wife wouldn’t be considered the Su family reaching above their station.
Eldest Madam Yun quickly replied, “Fangfei is naturally excellent, and it would be our Wenfang who would be fortunate to have her.”
Eldest Madam Su smiled and shook her head: “Sister-in-law, you needn’t speak such pleasantries. You know my temperament—if Wenfang were fortunate to have my daughter, I wouldn’t have brought up this matter at all.”
At this point, Eldest Madam Su sighed: “Sister-in-law must have heard about what happened to our Su family’s horse ranches some time ago.”
Eldest Madam Yun glanced at Old Madam Yun and said thoughtfully, “I heard your elder brother mention it once, saying that two horse ranches were raided by Tangut people.”
At these words, Eldest Madam Su let out a cold laugh: “Tangut people? If the Tangut people had such capability, even the one sitting in the Golden Luang Hall would probably be unable to keep his throne secure.”
Eldest Madam Yun was startled: “Such words cannot be spoken carelessly.”
Although the court’s influence in Yanbei was far inferior to that in Jiangnan, Eldest Madam Yun had lived in the capital during her youth and still harbored great wariness toward the Li Dynasty. However, as she carefully considered the implications of Eldest Madam Su’s words, she immediately understood what Eldest Madam Su was hinting at.
“Could it be that those who raided the Su family’s horse ranches weren’t Tangut people? Although the Wu family’s army in Ningxia doesn’t match up to the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion, we haven’t heard of any bandits capable of raiding the Su family appearing either.”
“Bandits? What bandits in Yanbei would have such capability? Indeed, one can guard against everything except inside traitors. The fear is of those who abuse their positions for personal gain—how could external bandits compare to official bandits?” Eldest Madam Su said disdainfully.
Eldest Madam Yun mentally processed Eldest Madam Su’s words and was suddenly shocked, no longer daring to continue the conversation. The meaning in Eldest Madam Su’s words was too obvious—in Yanbei, the “official bandits” capable of “abusing their positions for personal gain” could only be either the Wu family of Ningxia or the Xiao family of Yanbei.
Old Madam Yun frowned and scolded: “Hold your tongue! Do you think this is just any place where you can speak such nonsense?”
Eldest Madam Su’s eyes reddened: “Mother, of course I know what kind of place this is—this is my maiden home. Present here are only my birth mother and sister-in-law. Can’t I even speak a word of truth? Even if a married daughter is like spilled water, when I die, my memorial tablet will still read ‘Yun Shi of the Su family’!”
Seeing her in such a state, Old Madam Yun could only close her eyes and sigh.
Eldest Madam Su continued: “After the old prince drove the Liao people out of Yanbei, Yanbei was left in ruins with chaos everywhere. The old prince selected our Su family and the Yun family from among Yanbei’s many prominent families to take the lead. Over these years, our two families’ contributions to Yanbei need not be elaborated upon, and we’ve served the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion with utmost dedication. But there’s a saying: ‘When the birds are gone, the good bow is put away; when the cunning rabbits die, the hunting dogs are cooked.’ There’s also the saying about ‘achievements that overshadow the master.’ In recent years, the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion’s attitude toward our two families is far from what it used to be. I needn’t say much about our Su family’s situation, but I don’t believe the Yun family hasn’t noticed anything. Take Wenting and the princess’s marriage for example—would the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion have had such an attitude in the past? The Prince of Yanbei’s mansion is forcing our two families to retire gracefully from our achievements!”
When it came to Yun Wenting and Xiao Jinglin’s marriage, Eldest Madam Yun had nothing to say.
The Yun family had intermarried with the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion for several generations. Originally, the Yun family had wanted Yun Qiuchen to marry the heir apparent, Xiao Jingkang, and back then, the Prince of Yanbei had indeed secretly promised the Yun family the position of heir apparent’s consort. Unfortunately, after Xiao Jingkang went to the capital as a hostage, the court immediately arranged his marriage. The Yun family then settled for second best, hoping to have Yun Wenting marry Xiao Jinglin.
However, as Yun Wenting reached marriageable age and the Yun family had mentioned the marriage between Yun Wenting and the princess several times before the Prince of Yanbei, there had been no response from the prince’s side. Although the current Princess Consort of Yanbei came from the Yun family, the relationship between the Yun family and the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion was far from what it had been in the past.
Seeing Eldest Madam Yun’s expression, Eldest Madam Su continued: “Retire gracefully from our achievements? That sounds simple enough! We, too, would like to retire gracefully, but over these decades, how many people have our two families offended for the sake of the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion? We’ve been the ones playing the villain while the mansion takes the benefits. When the day comes that we fall from favor, we’ll probably be devoured until not even our bones remain! Moreover, our two families have reached our current positions where any small move affects the whole situation. Even if we wanted to retire, would those families who depend on us be willing to let us go?”
Eldest Madam Su had once received a focused education from the Yun family. She was quick-witted and eloquent. Even Eldest Madam Yun, who had never liked her, couldn’t help but feel some resonance after hearing these words.
Old Madam Yun, however, spoke up: “Then what would you have us do? Rebel against the Xiao family?” Her voice was neither sad nor joyful.
Eldest Madam Su knew the Yun family’s position and naturally wouldn’t speak of rebelling against the Xiao family at this moment: “Mother, your words are too serious! Although the Xiao family is merely a prince’s mansion, in our Yanbei, they’re equivalent to the court in the south. The Xiao family is our rulers, we are their subjects. Unless necessary, who would willingly commit treason? It’s just that we’ve done nothing wrong, yet they want us to stretch our necks for execution—there’s no such logic! My return to the Yun family today to propose this marriage alliance is merely for self-preservation. As long as the Su and Yun families are united through marriage, even the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion would have to show consideration and wouldn’t easily abandon our two families as pawns. This would be beneficial and harmless to both our families.”
Old Madam Yun remained silent for a long while: “This matter is of great importance and cannot be decided by us, inner courtyard women. When your father returns, I’ll tell him about it. Since you don’t wish to stay for dinner, you should return home early.”
Having heard Eldest Madam Su’s words, Eldest Madam Yun was also heavy with thoughts and had no mood to detain guests.
Seeing that she had achieved her purpose in returning to her maiden home today, and that the Yun family indeed needed time to consider, Eldest Madam Su readily took her leave.
Eldest Madam Yun personally escorted Eldest Madam Su out, then returned to Old Madam’s courtyard.
Old Madam Yun had been sitting there with her eyes closed in meditation ever since her daughter left. Eldest Madam Yun looked at her mother-in-law, wanting to speak several times but holding back.
Though Old Madam Yun hadn’t opened her eyes, she seemed to know that Eldest Madam Yun had something to say. Leaning against her pillow, she asked, “What do you want to say?”
Eldest Madam Yun very much wanted to ask Old Madam Yun about her attitude toward the Su-Yun marriage alliance. However, Eldest Madam Su was Old Madam Yun’s biological daughter, while she was merely a daughter-in-law. When she had first married into the Yun family, she’d had several confrontations with Eldest Madam Su, this competitive sister-in-law. Although Old Madam Yun hadn’t shown favoritism openly back then, she had secretly supported her daughter. So she wasn’t sure whether she should ask certain questions.
As Eldest Madam Yun remained silent in contemplation, Old Madam Yun laughed: “What are you afraid of? You are the Eldest Madam of the Yun family, my legitimate eldest daughter-in-law. No matter how beautifully Shuhe speaks, she’s still a member of the Su family. Are you still worried I’ll show favoritism? Though I’m old, I’m not yet confused. I can still distinguish between family and outsiders.”
Eldest Madam Yun was startled and quickly said, “Mother, I wasn’t—”
Old Madam Yun waved her hand: “Enough. I favored her back then because she was my daughter and not yet a Su family daughter-in-law. Naturally, she was closer to me than you were, so I favored her.”
Having her thoughts exposed, Eldest Madam Yun felt somewhat embarrassed.
Old Madam Yun opened her eyes and looked at her for a while before saying: “I hope that when the time comes for the Yun family to be handed over to you, you’ll still remember my words today. I know you dote on Qiuchen and hide nothing from her, but when the day comes that you must distinguish between closeness and distance—between daughters-in-law and biological daughters—you must think clearly about who truly belongs to the Yun family.”
Eldest Madam Yun was silent for a moment, then lowered her head: “Your daughter-in-law will remember.”
Old Madam Yun nodded: “You want to ask about Fangfei and Wenfang’s marriage, don’t you? I don’t agree.”
After a pause, Old Madam Yun emphasized: “It’s not that I don’t agree—the Yun family won’t agree. The Yun and Su families have never been in a relationship where one prospers and the other prospers, one suffers and the other suffers. They weren’t before, and they won’t be in the future.”