Abnormal

By the time they returned to the separate residence, it was nearly noon.

An Ziran called Qiulan over and asked about An Yuzhi.

"Young Master, Miss had an excellent appetite this morning and drank two bowls of porridge," Qiulan replied. Ever since returning from their outing two days ago, Miss's complexion had been poor, and she had eaten far less than usual at all three meals. Last night, she had only managed one bowl of porridge.

An Ziran had only asked casually, yet he received an unexpected answer. His steps toward the inner rooms immediately halted as he asked inscrutably, "When you saw Miss this morning, how was her complexion?"

Qiulan thought back for a moment. "Miss looked quite well. Her cheeks were a little rosy, unlike how pale she had been over the past two days. So this servant had the kitchen make some extra porridge for Miss. Miss did not say anything, and unlike the previous two days, she did not resist it. She drank two bowls."

An Ziran nodded. "That will be all. You may leave."

Qiulan curtsied and departed.

After lunch, An Ziran returned to the study. Steward Su was inside grinding ink and waiting for him. Not noticing what was on his mind, he merely said, "Young Master, the ink is nearly ready. Shall we draw up the dowry list today?"

The wedding date had not yet been finalized, as they still needed someone to select an auspicious day. During this time, An Ziran needed to prepare the dowry list. An Yuzhi was the legitimate daughter, and she was marrying into a prince's manor, so the dowry could not be too meager. Losing face was a minor matter; if An Yuzhi was looked down upon after marrying into Prince Fu's Manor, the An Family would also be implicated.

As early as the day before yesterday, when the account books had been delivered, An Ziran had already drafted part of it.

The An Family was made up of landowners, with the most land and quite a few shops under their name. Most were rice shops, with only a small portion selling jewelry, cloth, and the like. Their business scope was not especially broad. Given the An Family's circumstances, they truly were reaching above their station by marrying into Prince Fu's Manor.

There was not much An Ziran could take out. Since making those two decisions, the An Family's assets had shrunk considerably. Their total monthly income was not even half of what they had earned when An Changfu was alive. An Changfu's three concubines had long held grievances, especially the second and third wives. They both had daughters, whose future dowries would have to come from the An Family. If the family assets shrank, their dowries would inevitably shrink as well.

However, they did not know that An Changfu had actually prepared dowries for his eldest and second daughters while he was still alive. Both had already reached marriageable age, but their weddings had been delayed because Liu Meixiang was pregnant with An Ziming. An Ziran had only learned of this later, after gaining access to the An Family's account books and hearing it from Steward Su. The second and third wives knew nothing of it.

A sheet of red paper lay spread across the desk, with the brush Steward Su had prepared beside it.

An Ziran sat down and picked up the brush. He plucked away the stray bristles at its tip, dipped it in ink, and began writing the dowry list.

After several months of practice, his handwriting had begun to take shape. Though it had not yet reached the level of a true master, his Ouyang style was already sharp and angular, vigorous yet slender, much like the man himself.

Every time Steward Su saw the Young Master's writing, he wore a gratified expression. He had the deepest understanding of how the Young Master's handwriting used to be—so terrible it was embarrassing, beyond description. Now that he could finally write such fine characters, the Master and First Madam would surely be delighted if they saw it from the afterlife.

An Ziran suddenly put down his brush and stood.

Steward Su was slightly surprised. "Young Master, what is it?"

"Rest for now. It will not matter if we make the list a little later." As An Ziran spoke, he seemed to recall something and added, "Go out and tell Qiulan to invite Miss to the study."

Steward Su did not ask further. He nodded and left.

Qiulan moved quickly. An Ziran had only just finished the cup of tea Chunlan had poured when he heard several sets of footsteps approaching. Before long, An Yuzhi appeared at the doorway.

An Ziran looked at her. Just as Qiulan had said, An Yuzhi's complexion was rosy. She did not look ill at all. He could not help feeling puzzled. Since she was not sick, why had she lied that morning, claiming she felt unwell and refusing to accompany him to Prince Fu's Manor? He still remembered how An Yuzhi had looked when she said she wanted to marry Fu Wutian. The shy sweetness of a young woman could not be faked.

"Brother, what did you want to see me about?" An Yuzhi walked up to him and asked on her own initiative. After spending time together, she was no longer as distant as before when speaking to her brother.

An Ziran set down the cup in his hand and said, "This morning, I discussed the matter with Prince Fu. He has agreed to take you as his princess consort, so you will not have to marry him as a secondary consort. He will marry you into his household within a month at the latest. I will handle this matter properly, so you need not worry. Come by tomorrow, and Brother will give you some silver to buy some beautiful jewelry and dress yourself up. Prince Fu's Manor is, after all, part of the imperial family. We cannot let others look down on the An Family."

As he spoke, An Yuzhi's face grew increasingly pale. Her previous joy had long vanished. Beneath the table, her hands twisted tightly together, though it was unclear what she was so uneasy about.

An Ziran watched her without showing it. "Yu Zhi, are you not happy?"

An Yuzhi jolted back to herself. Seeing her brother looking at her with concern, she hurriedly pretended to support her forehead. "No, I am very happy. Perhaps I have not fully recovered yet. My head feels a little dizzy."

"If you are unwell, return to your room and rest. We can discuss everything else in a couple of days," An Ziran said calmly.

An Yuzhi immediately replied, "Then your younger sister will take her leave first."

Having said that, she left impatiently.

An Ziran watched her retreating figure, his expression darkening slightly. He could tell that An Yuzhi was lying. Although she had covered it up in time, such concealment was useless before him. Her guilty, wandering gaze had already betrayed her. To get to the bottom of it, he summoned Qiao'er and Xing'er, the two maids who attended An Yuzhi.

"Did anything happen when you accompanied Miss into town two days ago?"

Qiao'er and Xing'er exchanged glances. Qiao'er replied, "In reply to Young Master, that day we accompanied Miss to a jewelry shop to buy jewelry. Nothing unusual happened."

An Ziran asked again, "Then did Miss seem any different from usual?"

Xing'er said, "There was one small incident. When Miss came out of the jewelry shop and was going down the steps, she accidentally fell. But it was nothing serious. Other than that, everything was normal."

Seeing that he could get nothing more from them, An Ziran dismissed them. From what the two said, there seemed to have been no problem during that outing. It could not have happened at any other time either, because An Yuzhi had not gone out again afterward and had remained obediently in the separate residence. Could it be pre-wedding jitters?

For no apparent reason, he thought of this fairly common pre-wedding phenomenon from the twenty-first century.

If that was the reason, then An Yuzhi's abnormal behavior could be explained. Perhaps that was truly it. A young woman's thoughts were always especially difficult to fathom. He could only think so.

There will be another update tonight. Today is the day for branch releases—look at my starry eyes! Everyone, give me some support! And recommendation votes too. I'm climbing the rankings and need everyone's support!