Chapter 073
Chapter 73: Who Is He Putting on This Act For?
[So the ones I suspected of being reborn… it really is elder sister and mother?]
[If that’s true, then everything makes sense. No wonder the plot kept collapsing at every critical moment.]
[How interesting. A transmigrated female lead facing off against a mother-daughter duo with past life memories—this battle’s bound to spark fireworks. The story ahead is going to be so exciting!]
[…]
Madam Yun said nothing.
Yun Wan Yao also remained silent.
So… they’d somehow been labeled as reborn?
Well, fine. Let her believe what she wants, as long as she’s happy.
Though, if that were truly the case, wouldn’t it mean they no longer had to tiptoe around the original plot? Wouldn’t they be free to tear it apart however they liked?
That wasn’t a bad outcome. Let her believe they were reborn—given the boost from the heart voice listening, they might as well be.
“Alright, Mother, I understand. I’ll head back now to work on the account book. I’ll record everything Prince Qi sent over, down to the smallest item.”
Yun Wan Yao gathered the robes and hair ornaments from the table and carefully packed them away.
“Good. I’ll have someone escort you.” Madam Yun’s tone softened with concern. The head ornaments were heavy—hundreds of pieces, each priceless. She couldn’t bear the thought of even a single piece getting chipped or lost.
Fearing her daughter might drop something along the way, she called over Little Tao and another maidservant to help.
Back in her own courtyard, Yun Wan Yao cautiously laid out every gift Mo Yuan Hao had sent. As she stared at the mountains of boxes threatening to fill the entire room, her heart felt as if it were stuffed with cotton—suffocating and painfully tight.
“Yao’er, this bracelet was Father Emperor’s token of love for Mother Empress. There are only two. Before she passed, she gave one to Imperial Elder Brother and one to me, asking that I pass it on to my future wife.”
“I will marry no one but you, Yao’er. So now, this bracelet is yours. It carries Mother’s wishes. I hope you’ll treasure it well.”
His voice from that day echoed in her ears—the day he slipped the bracelet onto her wrist. He had spoken with such certainty, with such sincerity.
Back then, she’d been filled with joy, holding the bracelet as if it were a precious treasure.
But now, everything had changed.
He had become someone else’s destined husband.
Even though he hadn’t entangled himself with that girl yet, and even now continued to treat her well, she felt no sense of security.
She was lost—utterly lost—and didn’t know how to handle this relationship anymore.
A wave of bitterness washed over her. Unable to stop herself, Yun Wan Yao clutched the bracelet and collapsed onto the desk in silent sobs. She cried all the way into the evening, until her eyes swelled like peaches. Only then did she sniffle and try to regain her composure, pulling out an account book to begin her task.
But her focus shattered again and again. She kept writing down the wrong entries, and in less than the time it took to burn one stick of incense, she’d ruined three account books. Enraged, she hurled them to the ground and stomped on them with all her might.
Hua Wu had never seen her like this—so furious, so heartbroken. She curled up at the side, too frightened to even breathe.
“Hua Wu, go call my big brother and second brother here.”
“Yes!”
As if granted a royal pardon, Hua Wu fled the room. Not long after, Yun Wan Ye arrived, pushing Yun Wan Chen in his wheelchair.
The moment she laid eyes on Yun Wan Chen sitting there, Yun Wan Yao couldn’t help twitching at the corners of her mouth.
[Seriously? Big Brother is still keeping up the act?]
[His legs are clearly healed, and he’s still rolling around in that thing. Doesn’t it get in the way? Who’s he putting on this show for?]
“Yo, what happened to you? Why do your eyes look like walnuts—did you cry?” Yun Wan Ye pushed the wheelchair into the room and strode over. One glance at her swollen eyes and blotchy face, and his brows drew together in concern.
“Who bullied you? Tell me.”
“No one bullied me,” Yun Wan Yao sniffled and answered softly.
Yun Wan Ye rolled his eyes, clearly unconvinced. “No one bullied you, and you cried like this? Since when did you turn into such a crybaby?”
“Forget it. If you don’t want to say, fine. Then why’d you call Big Brother and me over?”
“I have something I want to ask the two of you to help with.” Yun Wan Yao pointed at the boxes scattered across the floor, her voice weary. “Mother told me to account for everything Prince Qi sent, but my head is throbbing. I already ruined three books. You two don’t have anything better to do, so can’t you help me?”
“Hah. You cried over this? That’s really pathetic.”
Yun Wan Ye casually opened a box and saw it filled with glittering jewelry. He scoffed with no attempt to hide how annoying he was.
Yun Wan Yao pretended not to hear him and instead walked over to Yun Wan Chen, handing him a fresh account book.
“Big Brother, your handwriting is fast and neat. You handle the recording, and we’ll do the counting. Please?”
“Alright.” Yun Wan Chen had no objections. He took the book and said, “Push me over to the desk.”
“…”
Yun Wan Yao stared at him. “Big Brother, are you addicted to pretending? It’s just us three siblings here, and you’re still keeping up the act?”
“If you’re going to act, then act thoroughly.”
Yun Wan Chen replied in his usual calm tone.
“…”
Fine. You win, Big Brother!
She pushed him over to the desk and then moved the brush and inkstand in front of him, diligently grinding the ink for him.
“Huh? Aren’t these the Eastern pearls from the Eastern Cold Lands’ tribute?” Yun Wan Ye picked up a box of pale purple pearls and looked over suspiciously. “These came from Prince Qi? Why bother making an account for this all of a sudden? Did something happen?”
Seeing her eyes still puffy and red, he suddenly understood. The tears weren’t because of the bookkeeping. It was clearly something to do with Prince Qi.
Yun Wan Yao’s emotions had calmed a great deal by now. She gave a quiet nod and said, “Yes, he sent them. Mother told me to make a clear account of everything he sent and to try not to use any of it.”
Hearing this, the two brothers exchanged a look. Their eyes narrowed slightly as they pieced things together.
It must be because of that female lead. Mother was probably worried the engagement might fall through, and so she wanted to keep everything carefully catalogued.
If things went wrong in the future, these gifts from Prince Qi would naturally need to be returned in full.
Yun Wan Chen spoke softly, his tone even, “Then Yao’er, do you still remember what you’ve used over the years?”
Anything already used would also need to be noted. If it could be repurchased, they’d replace it with the same item. If not, they’d have to compensate with something of greater value—or gold and silver as a last resort.
Yun Wan Yao nodded and brought out an exquisitely crafted little box. She opened it and pulled out a thick stack of crimson-red gift lists.
“Every time he sent something over, he included a gift list. I’ve kept them all.”
She continued, her tone serious: “Big brother, let’s first go through the items on the floor. Once we finish accounting for them, we’ll cross-check with the gift lists. Anything that’s missing, we’ll list separately.”
“Alright,” Yun Wan Chen responded. He picked up the thinnest brush available and dipped it firmly into the ink.
“Wait a moment,” Yun Wan Ye said as he placed the box of eastern pearls onto the table. Narrowing his eyes at Yun Wan Yao, he spoke with a glint of mischief: “You’ve probably sent him quite a few things too, haven’t you?”
“Don’t tell me you just accepted gifts without giving any in return.”
Yun Wan Yao bit her lip, her voice puffed with indignation: “Do I look like that kind of person? Every time he sent something, I made sure to send something back. Maybe my gifts weren’t as lavish, but in terms of value, they weren’t any worse.”
“Then did you keep records of what you sent?”
“Of course I did.”
“Good. Bring them out. Since your big brother and I are here today, we’ll settle every account between you and Prince Qi, nice and clear.”
“We won’t take advantage of others,” he said, his tone cold as frost, “but we’ll never allow ourselves to be taken advantage of either.”
Yun Wan Ye’s bottom line was clear: he could endure not gaining, but suffering a loss was absolutely unacceptable. If, one day, something really did go wrong with Yun Wan Yao and Prince Qi’s betrothal, then when she returned his gifts, every single item from their own household must be reclaimed as well.
Yun Wan Yao didn’t object. “Alright, I understand. But let’s finish accounting for these first—no point mixing everything together.”
The three siblings worked through the night, not sleeping a wink. It wasn’t until the afternoon of the following day that they finally sorted everything out.
Yun Wan Chen double-checked the account book, then closed it and handed it to Yun Wan Yao.
“Yao’er, you must take good care of these ledgers, do you understand?”
“I do, big brother. Don’t worry, I’ll keep them safe.”
Taking the book in both hands, Yun Wan Yao nodded solemnly.
“Good. Then we’ll be off. Eat something and get some proper rest.”
After giving that reminder, Yun Wan Chen turned to Yun Wan Ye: “Ye’er, come send me back.”
“Oh, alright.”
“Wait, wait, big brother!” Yun Wan Yao suddenly recalled something. She quickly stepped up to him and said seriously, “Tomorrow is the winter banquet. Did you take care of what I asked you to handle?”
“This is very, very important. Not even the smallest mistake can be allowed.”
Hearing this, Yun Wan Chen smiled slightly, but before he could speak, Yun Wan Ye gave a low snort and raised his brow with a roguish smirk.
“With both your big brother and I working on it, do you still not have faith in us? Rest assured—it’s already done. Not even the slightest hitch will appear.”
Indeed, the two of them had prepared for everything. If their first choice didn’t work out, they were ready to activate their backup plan immediately.
“Oh, that’s great, that’s great! Oh, right, big brother, I’m bringing little sister with me to the winter banquet tomorrow. Are you going?”
Yun Wan Chen’s brows furrowed as he replied helplessly, “Little sister is still so young. Why are you suddenly taking her to a crowded banquet? What if something happens?”
That question made Yun Wan Yao feel a bit guilty.
To be honest, this whole thing really was her fault. If she hadn’t mentioned the banquet to little sister just to fish for information, then the child wouldn’t have been so eager to go. But she didn’t dare admit it.
“But little sister really wants to go, and Mother already agreed. She even told me to ask Father for a few more people to go along. So big brother, are you going or not?”
“I’ll go,” Yun Wan Chen said, after a moment of thought. “But I’ll go in another identity.”
He wasn’t ready to publicly reveal that his legs had recovered, so he hadn’t planned on showing himself at the winter banquet. But now that Yao’er was taking little sister, there was no way he wouldn’t go—he had to be there, even if it was only from the shadows, to protect them both.
“Alright then.” Yun Wan Yao didn’t mind what identity he used. As long as he went, that was enough. Her big brother was always dependable and steady. With him there, she felt completely at ease taking little sister along.
She then turned to look at Yun Wan Ye, her gaze teasing as she covered her mouth with a soft giggle.
“And what about you, Yun Wan Ye? The princess is definitely attending tomorrow—you’ll be there too, won’t you?”
Yun Wan Ye raised an eyebrow. “Of course I’m going!”
“But this young master isn’t going because of some princess. With looks like mine, I naturally have to give the noble ladies something pretty to look at.”
Yun Wan Yao: “…”
Alright, fine. Just keep pretending.
That afternoon, the three siblings retired to their own rooms to catch up on sleep. Not one of them came down to eat.
Staring at the empty dining table, Madam Yun sighed helplessly.
“These three siblings are getting more and more outrageous. They didn’t come to dinner last night, and now they’ve skipped an entire day again.”
“So let them be,” Yun Zheng replied as he diligently finished his meal, occasionally picking out a few dishes she liked and placing them in her bowl. “It means I get some peace and quiet.”
Madam Yun glanced at the pile of empty bowls in front of him, then at his focused eating, and couldn’t help sighing again.
“Chen’er is probably preoccupied with that young lady in his courtyard. Yao’er is likely still busy with the accounts. But what about Ye’er? What could he possibly be doing? He hasn’t shown up in so long. Don’t tell me he’s out stirring up trouble again?”
Ever since she heard, through Little Fourth’s heart-voice, that in the original storyline Yun Wan Ye ended up exiled to the frontier as a criminal for causing trouble, Madam Yun hadn’t been able to calm down. As long as she didn’t see him for more than two days, unease twisted in her chest.
“Nothing of the sort,” Yun Zheng reassured her. “Don’t let your imagination run wild. Ye’er has been quite well-behaved lately. The last few days he was helping me with things, and yesterday Yao’er called him to assist with the accounts.”
“He and Chen’er spent the whole night helping Yao’er. They’re resting now. Eat, before everything gets cold.”
So that was how it was.
Hearing this, Madam Yun finally relaxed. As long as he wasn’t out causing trouble, everything was fine.
The next morning, the three siblings woke early.
After freshening up with meticulous care, Yun Wan Chen made his way to the side room to check on Su Qian Yue.
She had been in deep sleep, but stirred at the sound of footsteps. Her senses slowly clearing, she opened her eyes and saw that refined and striking face.
“Heir… Heir Apparent?”
She blinked in a daze for a moment. Then, at last, her awareness returned fully.
“Yes. I have to go out today. I may not be back until late,” he said, his tone gentle. “At mealtime, Cang Yan will bring you food. If there’s anything you need, you can speak directly to him.”