Chapter 012
Chapter 12: She Truly Exhausts Herself for This Family
Yun Wan Yao froze. Her heart felt struck by lightning under a clear sky. Mo Yuan Hao’s words echoed in her ears, yet no sound came from her lips. The blush of expectation drained from her face.
Behind the rockery, Yun Zheng’s eyes darkened.
Just as Little Fourth had foreseen, this brat truly dared to propose a formal betrothal.
Once again, her heart voice was completely accurate.
“What is wrong, Yao’er?” Mo Yuan Hao asked gently, his brow creasing as he looked at her.
Yun Wan Yao lowered her head to hide her turmoil. She forced a small smile and said with care: “It was too sudden. I was not prepared.”
Mo Yuan Hao chuckled, thinking she was shy. He said: “Every young girl grows up and marries. Our marriage was arranged by my royal father long ago. It is only natural you will become my wife.”
In truth, the late emperor had meant Duke Ning’s daughter to be the crown princess, mother of the nation. It was Mo Yuan Hao himself who had knelt before the emperor and begged for the engagement. Yun Wan Yao had never known this.
Now that once cherished secret felt tight as a noose.
Her heart was tangled in Yun Wan Ning’s warning. She could not respond as she once would have. Her face looked calm, but her thoughts were a storm.
“Marriage is no small matter,” she said at last. “We should speak with my parents first. Once they give their blessing, I will give you my answer.”
She needed time. Time to think. Time to speak with her mother.
Her mother could also hear Little Fourth’s heart voice. Surely they could find a path together.
Cold sweat broke across her back.
If she had not heard her sister’s voice, if she had been lost in her feelings, she might have agreed on the spot and stepped onto a road of ruin.
Her heart twisted.
This man had been her childhood sweetheart.
He had once been the future she imagined.
Yet this very man would one day turn from her, fall for another, and cast aside all they once shared.
“All right,” Mo Yuan Hao said softly. “I will wait for Yao’er, but you must not disappoint me.”
His smile was gentle. His tone tender.
Yet Yun Wan Yao’s heart ached as if pierced by thorns.
Outside the study, Lu Wu stood tall and still at the base of the steps.
Footsteps sounded firm and steady. Yun Zheng approached with hands clasped behind his back, his face stormy and cold.
“My lord,” Lu Wu said with a quick bow. Ever since Little Fourth’s birth, His Grace had worn nothing but smiles. What had soured his mood so suddenly?
“Come inside,” Yun Zheng said as he swept past him into the study.
Lu Wu followed at once.
“Is it done?” Yun Zheng asked, his voice low and edged with steel.
“Yes, my lord. Yang Xin’er has been properly handled,” Lu Wu said. “These are the two confession letters you ordered, and a third, delivered from the rear courtyard.”
He presented two folded documents and a letter with both hands.
The confessions were written by Yang Xin’er under duress, imitating Madam Yun’s handwriting. They detailed how she had exchanged letters with Lin Wei’an while posing as Madam Yun.
Both versions were identical and damning.
The third letter had come from Lin Wei’an himself.
After discovering the forged letters, Yun Zheng had seized every servant involved in the scheme. This newest letter had fallen straight into his hands.
He skimmed it.
Fury roared up like wildfire.
That shameless old dog.
He had a household, children, and a reputation, yet he dared harbor feelings for another man’s wife.
Disgusting.
Yun Zheng seized his brush and wrote at speed, pouring rage into scathing lines. Stroke after stroke filled ten full pages before his chest eased a little.
He let the ink dry, then folded the letters, Yang Xin’er’s confession and his own blistering reply, and handed them to Lu Wu. He said: “Find that turtle Lin Wei’an. Hand these to him in person. Give him a message from me.”
The message was venom from start to finish, a warning to abandon every delusion and never send another letter to Ye Xi Wei. If he dared, mercy would end.
Lu Wu winced. Scolding the Vice Minister of the Secretariat in person was not a task he craved.
He steeled himself.
“Yes, my lord,” he said.
Yun Zheng added with a chill in his tone: “When you are done, take Ming Zhan with you and keep a close watch on Prince Qi.”
Lu Wu’s face fell. Watching Lin Wei’an was bad. Watching Prince Qi was worse.
Still, he gritted his teeth and withdrew.
Yun Zheng stood a moment in silence. He burned Lin Wei’an’s letter to ash, tucked the second confession away, and strode toward the main courtyard.
In the inner chamber, Yun Wan Ning had already awakened. Her belly was full, her bottom clean, her tiny face bright.
Her eyes sparkled as she lay in her mother’s arms and listened to her sister speak.
She was a newborn, yes.
But she was already exhausting herself over this family.
“Mother,” Yun Wan Yao said in a soft voice to the woman at her side: “Prince Qi intends to send betrothal gifts in the coming days. Once I complete my coming-of-age ceremony, he wishes to marry me.”
Madam Yun had prepared herself. She stayed calm and quiet.
But Yun Wan Ning flailed inside.
[Just as I feared. The plot master is fierce. Mo Yuan Hao is already scheming.]
[In seven days, the female lead will appear. Once she arrives, Elder Sister will become a thorn in the male lead’s side.]
[What to do? If only I could send dreams. I would warn her in her sleep. I would carve it into the walls if I had to.]
“How did you reply to Prince Qi?” Madam Yun asked in an even tone.
“I told him marriage is a serious matter,” Yun Wan Yao answered. “I said I would speak to you first.”
[What? That was not in the original plot. Elder Sister did not agree?]
[Is the plot collapsing again? Or have I transmigrated into a knockoff novel?]
[Or, wait, did Elder Sister transmigrate too? Or maybe she is reborn like me?]
Yun Wan Ning’s eyes grew round with shock. Her thoughts spun.
She remembered it clearly. In the book, when Prince Qi brought up marriage, Yun Wan Yao had been overjoyed. She had agreed without a second thought, bewitched by love.
Three days later, the betrothal procession had arrived, drums pounding, banners waving, white horses before a line of ornate carriages. Seventy-two lavish gifts, all delivered in grand ceremony. The entire capital had watched in awe.
It was exactly that spectacle that made their final break so hard, so painful, so humiliating.
But now her sister had paused.
She had hesitated.
She had brought the matter home to discuss with Mother.
Had the plot truly begun to unravel?