There was still plenty of time after dinner, so Yunjian took Wenren Luoshui and Yun Fei back to her room.
Honestly, Yun Fei was terribly thin. Her clothes looked as though they had simply been slipped over her frame.
Once they reached Yunjian's room, Yunjian couldn't help asking Wenren Luoshui a question.
"Little Shui, do you still refine pills?"
"I'll look for some medicinal herbs when I get back. Your niece really needs proper nourishment. She's severely malnourished and anemic. If we don't nurse her back to health, even her height will be affected later."
Yun Fei was ten that year, but she was only 1.2 meters tall and looked as though she weighed less than twenty-five kilograms.
Even in ancient times, a height and weight like hers were rare.
Yun Fei remained silent while Wenren Luoshui and Yunjian talked.
In all her years, no one had ever considered her needs like this. Never mind worrying about whether she would grow tall-if she didn't do her chores properly, she would not only go hungry but get beaten too.
When she had run away that day, her original plan had been to escape, find a river, and jump in to end it all.
"Don't be sad, Feifei. If your parents don't love you, just treat them like friends you barely know. There are plenty of people in this world besides our parents. All we need to do is live our own lives well."
Seeing her keep her head lowered, Yunjian worried that she was upset over Madam Ye's attitude toward her and quickly comforted her.
"A... Auntie, I don't blame them. It's just that no one has ever thought of me like this before..."
As Yun Fei spoke, she began to cry, great drops of tears tumbling down her cheeks.
Honestly, she looked rather ugly when she cried, but it was very genuine.
Compared with the silent tears most noble young ladies shed, hers were far more vivid.
Yunjian hugged her and gently patted her back.
Meanwhile, after dinner, Yun Shuang learned that Minister Yun was in his study. She snatched a tray from a maid, intending to bring him tea there.
She didn't even knock. Relying on the Alluring Gu inside her, she swaggered up and pushed open the study door.
Minister Yun was discussing matters with his three sons when someone suddenly pushed the door open. He frowned impatiently.
Who trained this servant? How could they have so little regard for the rules?
When the intruder drew closer, he saw that it was the second branch's adopted daughter, walking confidently toward them with a smug expression.
Before Yun Shuang even had a chance to display her charms, the angry Minister Yun ordered servants to throw her out of the study.
Wenren Luoshui and Yunjian were enjoying the spectacle in their room. Watching the system's broadcast of what had happened to Yun Shuang, Yunjian laughed so hard she slapped the table.
[Yunjian: Hahahahaha! Seriously, compared with my stepsister and the others, her little tricks don't even qualify as beginner-level!] [If she were smart, would she have landed her parents in exile in her first life?] [Yunjian: True. Is that the only gu she has?] [That's the only one I've found. I just don't know whether she'll exchange for more through the system bound to her later.] [Yunjian: Doesn't matter. If she dares exchange for more, we'll call your youngest martial uncle over and have him deal with this woman.]
Someone reported Yun Shuang's unauthorized intrusion into Minister Yun's study to Madam Yun. While Yun Shuang was pondering her next move, one of Madam Yun's attendants summoned her.
Although Madam Yun was usually kind, that didn't mean she lacked the means to manage her household.
Seeing Yun Shuang's indifferent expression, Madam Yun couldn't be bothered to waste words on her and simply ordered her to copy books in the ancestral hall as punishment.
Yun Shuang refused to accept it. Although she had never visited the ancestral hall, her years of watching films and television dramas had taught her that, aside from ancestral rites, anyone sent there was going to be punished.
She was the daughter of destiny!
She was the protagonist of this world!
What right did this old hag have to punish her?
Yun Shuang was indignant in every way and defiant in every respect.
When a matron came forward to escort her to the ancestral hall, she shoved the woman away.
"What right do you have to punish me? Oh~ don't tell me you're worried your man will fall for me? Hah! With that decrepit old appearance of his, only an old woman like you would treasure him. But, well, they just adore me. They insist on holding me at the very tip of their hearts, and there's nothing I can do about it! You're already halfway into the grave. How have you still not learned to let go?"
Yun Shuang's outrageous words sent Madam Yun's blood surging with rage!
Even a brothel prostitute couldn't utter something so shameless. How dared she?
Madam Yun walked up to her, raised her hand, and slapped her twice.
"I don't care how your mother normally teaches you. You're living in the Yun Residence now, and when you go out, you represent the Yun Residence..."
"Hah! You old woman! Who gave you the damned nerve to hit me? You old witch! Why aren't you dead yet? Do you have to watch your husband and sons become my dogs before you'll finally die? Just you wait. By tomorrow at the latest, your sons and husband will be the three most obedient dogs at my side! You dregs of the feudal age will be cast aside by them without a shred of mercy!"
"Once your husband's family divorces and discards you, let's see how you keep your footing in Capital City!"
With her system and gu to rely on, Yun Shuang believed she could become the queen who ruled this world in this lifetime.
What queen would let herself be bullied?
None, of course!
So how could mere arrogance possibly describe her attitude toward Old Madam Yun?
"Second Sister-in-law, you certainly have raised a fine daughter!"
While Wenren Luoshui and Yunjian were watching the live broadcast in their room, they had a bad feeling when they saw Madam Yun summon Yun Shuang.
The two of them therefore called all three daughters-in-law of the Yun Residence and went to Madam Yun's quarters together.
They arrived just in time to catch Yun Shuang going berserk in front of Madam Yun.
"Shuang'er, what are you doing? No, wait, were you bullied? If someone bullied you, tell Mother. I'll get justice for you!"
Even after the gu inside Yun Shuang was gone, Ye Qianyi still favored her. With those words she had just spoken, was she trying to say that Madam Yun had bullied Yun Shuang, a child?
[Hehehe, has she lost her mind? I've seen crazy people, but never anyone this crazy. Yun Shuang insulted her grandmother right in front of her, yet she still thinks someone else is to blame! If Yun Shuang murdered someone in front of her, would that be someone else's fault too? Would it be because that person should never have been alive in the first place?]
Everyone nodded inwardly. None of them knew how Madam Ye had become like this.
Before, they had only known her as rather meek. When others teased her, she would merely lower her head shyly.
But how was she any different now from those parents who indulged their children without restraint?
Faced with Madam Ye's loving concern, Yun Shuang showed not the slightest sympathy for her. Instead, she told her,
"This old witch insulted me. If you still want me as your daughter, go kill her for me!"
"Ah!"
With a vicious gleam in her eyes, she pointed at Madam Yun, who was trembling all over with anger. Her gaze brimmed with malice.
But the moment she finished speaking, Wenren Luoshui stepped forward and kicked her. Yunjian moved at the same time, but her kick struck Madam Ye.
That muddleheaded fool, Madam Ye, had actually lunged toward Madam Yun without the slightest hesitation after hearing Yun Shuang's words, intending to strangle her with her own hands.
To tear her own family apart for an adopted daughter-among women throughout the ages, Madam Ye truly stood in a class of her own!