Jiang Yuanniang had hidden under the bed one step ahead before Yun Qiufang and the others burst in, so when those people entered earlier, they hadn’t discovered her.
It must be said that this Miss Jiang was quick-witted. Even in such circumstances, she didn’t just panic and cry blindly, but thought to minimize the damage to herself.
Since no one had seen her just now, even if rumors spread later, they would merely be rumors. Seeing is believing, while hearing is empty speculation—Wu Yiyu was the one people had witnessed with their own eyes in disheveled clothing, involved with maids.
After Nanzhu helped Yun Qiufang outside, Wu Yiyu stared intently at Yun Qiuchen with an unclear meaning.
Yun Qiuchen felt somewhat intimidated under her gaze, afraid she might vent her anger indiscriminately. She softened her voice as much as possible: “Yiyu, you should tidy yourself up first. I’ve already had someone fetch a light cloak—you can drape it over your clothes later.”
Wu Yiyu seemed not to hear Yun Qiuchen’s words. She threw down the feather duster in her hand and looked at Yun Qiuchen, asking word by word: “Where is Yun Wenfang?”
Yun Qiuchen was stunned: “What?”
Wu Yiyu repeated: “I’m asking you where Yun Wenfang is.” She practically bit out each word, filled with intense fury and hatred.
Yun Qiuchen said carefully, “My second brother isn’t at the hot spring manor today. Why are you asking about him?”
Wu Yiyu sneered coldly: “Why am I asking? Why am I asking?” As she spoke, having nowhere to vent her anger, she lifted her foot and kicked the maid who had just crawled up. The maid let out a muffled groan and didn’t dare move, enduring the pain.
“You might as well ask what good deed he did!”
Yun Qiuchen didn’t understand at first, but after thinking carefully, her heart jumped in alarm. Surely it wasn’t what she was thinking? She looked at Wu Yiyu, then at the maid lying on the bed, and instinctively shook her head: “Princess Consort, isn’t there some misunderstanding here?”
“Misunderstanding?” Wu Yiyu turned around and took two steps to the bed. Amidst Qiuxiang’s cry of alarm, she bent down and reached out to pull Jiang Yuanniang out from under the bed.
“Whether it’s a misunderstanding or not, ask her and you’ll know!”
Jiang Yuanniang was also disheveled and in complete disarray. Her cheeks and forehead were smudged with dust. She looked at Yun Qiuchen with trembling lips and a face full of humiliation, then turned her head away and buried herself in Qiuxiang’s arms, sobbing softly.
Yun Qiuchen was so shocked she couldn’t speak. She had thought before that Wu Yiyu had been schemed against, but she hadn’t imagined that the instigator would be her second brother, Yun Wenfang. But why would Yun Wenfang do such a thing?
Yun Qiuchen’s gaze lingered on Jiang Yuanniang. Jiang Yuanniang’s crying was very quiet, as if she was still trying her best to restrain herself, but this only made her seem more pitiful.
Yun Wenfang treating Jiang Yuanniang this way was perhaps because he knew the Yun family wanted him to marry Jiang Yuanniang, but why did he drag Wu Yiyu down with her? Yun Qiuchen had previously only thought her second brother was willful, domineering, and recklessly bold, but she had never imagined he could be so lawless.
Yun Qiuchen’s first thought was how this matter should be resolved, whether Wu Yiyu would be willing to let it go. If Old Princess Consort and Madam Wu found out, how should they respond? What impact would this have on the Yun family? How should they explain to the Jiang family…
The more she thought, the more Yun Qiuchen’s head ached.
“Yun Wenfang—I will kill him, definitely kill him!” Wu Yiyu said viciously.
At this moment, footsteps sounded outside again. Jiang Yuanniang’s body stiffened, and she instinctively wanted to hide under the bed again. But this time it was Yinzhu outside saying: “Miss, madam has brought people over.” So Jiang Yuanniang didn’t move.
Hearing that her mother had come, Yun Qiuchen couldn’t worry about Wu Yiyu anymore and hurried out to meet her.
Eldest Madam Yun entered hurriedly with a cold, grim expression. When she saw Yun Qiuchen, her expression didn’t soften. She only said in a low voice: “That wicked beast! How dare he! How dare he!”
This one sentence made Yun Qiuchen understand that Wu Yiyu’s accusations against Yun Wenfang were not wild claims.
Eldest Madam Yun asked Yun Qiuchen about the situation and learned that Wu Yiyu and Jiang Yuanniang were still in the room. She had the nanny beside her take in the two sets of clothes she had brought.
Mother and daughter stood outside, both speechless for a long while.
Eldest Madam Yun paused, then said to Yun Qiuchen: “Don’t go in later. I heard that Qiufang and the others barged in just now—sigh! Every one of them is trouble. You help clean up outside. Don’t let this matter spread further, especially don’t let outsiders know that your second brother he… or it will be even more troublesome.”
Yun Qiuchen glanced toward the room and said softly: “If this was the second brother’s doing, the trouble won’t be small.” Yun Wenfang had stripped those young ladies of their clothes, which meant he had ruined their reputations. She really couldn’t understand her second brother—did he intend to marry both Wu Yiyu and Jiang Yuanniang? If he refused to marry them, how could the Wu and Jiang families possibly let the matter rest?
Eldest Madam Yun understood Yun Qiuchen’s meaning and couldn’t help but shake her head: “That’s why Old Madam said this matter can only be minimized.”
“How do we minimize it?” Yun Qiuchen was puzzled.
Eldest Madam Yun looked at her daughter, somewhat hesitant about whether to explain. After all, explaining would involve matters between men and women. But after thinking it over, she said: “Never mind the Jiang family—just speaking of the Wu family, Wu Yiyu is their only legitimate daughter. Would Old Princess Consort and Madam Wu be willing to let Wu Yiyu marry Fang’er in such a humiliating way?” If it were Yun Wenting, there might still be a possibility, since Yun Wenting was the Yun family’s legitimate eldest son who would inherit the family in the future.
Yun Qiuchen frowned: “Mother means…”
Eldest Madam Yun sighed: “Our Yun family has always taught daughters to be dignified in speech and conduct, proper and graceful, so no one dares gossip about such messy things in your ears. This kind of thing between two women has appeared several times before in Yanbei. In the end, when they came of age, didn’t they all marry separately? It doesn’t affect anything. But if a man ruins their reputation, finding a good family becomes difficult.”
Though Eldest Madam Yun spoke vaguely, her meaning was quite clear. Rather than let people know that Yun Wenfang had stripped Wu Yiyu and Jiang Yuanniang naked and put them together, it would be better to let people think it was the intimate friendship between women. After all, the former would affect the women’s marriages, while the latter would not.
Whether among prominent families or common people, pure bloodlines were valued. But no matter how close two women were, they couldn’t muddle bloodlines—this was why society was relatively tolerant of intimate relationships between women. After all, no matter how much they carried on, they would still obediently marry and bear children in the end.
Although this approach left the Yun family at fault, it was currently the best solution that could minimize the damage to the women involved.
Yun Qiuchen was speechless for a long while.
Eldest Madam Yun said, “After all, Fang’er can only marry one person. We can’t expect either to accept being a concubine, can we? Even if we were willing, would the Wu and Jiang families agree?”
Yun Qiuchen understood Eldest Madam Yun’s meaning—the Yun family would probably have Yun Wenfang marry Jiang Yuanniang. Jiang Yuanniang had originally been the bride candidate that Old Madam Yun and Eldest Madam Yun had chosen for Yun Wenfang anyway, so there was nothing much to say about it. It was just Wu Yiyu’s side…
At this moment, the nanny who had delivered clothes to Wu Yiyu and Jiang Yuanniang came out. Eldest Madam Yun sighed and gestured to Yun Qiuchen before walking into the room.
Wu Yiyu had put on her clothes and walked out, nearly colliding with Eldest Madam, who was about to enter.
Eldest Madam Yun steadied Wu Yiyu, but Wu Yiyu instinctively shook off her hand. When she saw it was Eldest Madam Yun, the fury on her face finally subsided somewhat. She pressed her lips together and glanced at Eldest Madam Yun.
Eldest Madam Yun looked at Wu Yiyu with great remorse: “The clothes are Chen’er’s—they might be a bit small on you…”
Wu Yiyu interrupted Eldest Madam Yun: “Today’s matter is a private grudge between me and Yun Wenfang. It won’t implicate the Yun family, so you needn’t trouble yourself wondering how to persuade me.”
Eldest Madam Yun was startled, then delighted. She hadn’t expected Wu Yiyu to be so reasonable. Just as she was about to say something, she was choked by Wu Yiyu’s next words.
Wu Yiyu said with a face full of murderous intent: “Once I kill Yun Wenfang, this matter will naturally be settled.”
“Yi, Yiyu…” Eldest Madam Yun wanted to call Wu Yiyu back, but Wu Yiyu walked out of the courtyard without looking back.
Wu Yiyu’s two maids supported each other as they followed her out and left as well.
Eldest Madam Yun was also frightened by Wu Yiyu’s appearance. She quickly turned and called to Yun Qiuchen, who hadn’t left yet, grabbing her hand: “Quickly, quickly go notify your eldest brother. Have him find Fang’er and tell him not to come back for now.”
Eldest Madam Yun hadn’t misread the look in Wu Yiyu’s eyes. She believed Wu Yiyu was serious about killing Yun Wenfang. Moreover, Wu Yiyu could kill Yun Wenfang. As the daughter of the Governor-General of Ningxia, she had several martial arts-trained attendants with her. No matter how skilled Yun Wenfang was, two fists couldn’t match four hands.
Eldest Madam Yun had also heard about Miss Wu’s temper—she was also someone who acted without regard for consequences. No matter how angry she was at her son’s despicable behavior, she couldn’t watch him be killed by Wu Yiyu.
After Yun Qiuchen left, Eldest Madam Yun took a deep breath, relaxed her facial expression somewhat, and entered the western wing. She hadn’t forgotten there was still someone waiting inside.
Jiang Yuanniang had already dressed properly and was sitting in a chair, letting her maid Qiuxiang redo her hair. Her eyes were red, and there were still tear stains on her face, but her body was already tidied up cleanly, showing no signs of impropriety.
When she saw Eldest Madam Yun enter, Jiang Yuanniang even managed to stand up and curtsy to her. Her etiquette remained impeccable without fault, showing the bearing of a proper young lady from a prominent family.