Chapter 322: Chapter 322: Am I Dead to You?
Her response like this made the Governor’s wife’s anger rise from five to eight.
"Are you deliberately defying me?"
"Your daughter dares not."
Dares not? She clearly dares a lot!
The Governor’s wife raised her hand towards the girl’s beautiful face, her beautiful eyes swirling with anger, yet she didn’t strike in the end. It was not out of pity, but because tomorrow she was to go to the Wei Family, and Yan Mi could not show her face bearing injuries.
"Why do you repeatedly disappoint Mama? Don’t you realize the good intentions Mama has for you? Could it be possible that I would harm you?
She coldly scolded, "Look at you, reeking of alcohol. How is this behavior of a proper girl! I forbade you to associate with those kinds of girls, was I wrong?"
Yan Mi finally spoke up, "Which kinds of girls?"
Her calm eyes looked over, "All the noble ladies in Shengjing City wear a layer of skin. Beneath the hypocrisy of appearing good, they harm each other in the dark. Lady Shen has a carefree and straightforward nature. I’m afraid you cannot find a second one like her in the world."
"Everyone says she is not good, but when your daughter is with her, I finally feel like I am not just an object, but a person."
The Governor’s wife, infuriated, kept repeating the word ’good’ three times.
She spoke condescendingly.
"Fine! It seems impossible to reason with you! If you love kneeling, then go kneel at the ancestral hall of the Yan Family!"
"Tell the kitchen, no need to prepare meals for her today! Let her starve and reflect on her actions!"
Just as she finished speaking, before the servant could respond, a voice came with a laugh.
"My dear sister-in-law, why are you punishing Mi again? Every time, repeatedly finding faults with her, only you can be so cruel."
"What of a little drink? Who decreed that girls cannot?"
Upon hearing this voice, the Governor’s wife held back her anger, "The affairs of the main house, it’s best if the second sister-in-law does not interfere."
Second Madam, supporting the towel-wrapped head of Dowager Yan, came over. Once she approached, she ignored the Governor’s wife and personally went forward to tenderly help Yan Mi up.
Whether it was sincere pity or not, that remained unsaid. But her words were the most pleasing to hear.
"Let your auntie see, you’ve lost weight again? I heard you haven’t been eating well these days, was it your mother angering you again? This body is yours to care for yourself. If you’re upset, go to your grandmother, she cares about you the most. Don’t be estranged from her."
"That’s why, as soon as I heard your mother was bringing you back, I hurried over here immediately."
Dowager Yan silently looked at Yan Mi, letting Second Old Lady keep talking.
Second Old Lady then said: "Today, I specially asked the small kitchen to prepare some appetizers for you, perhaps later you could dine in your aunt’s room?"
The Governor’s wife wanted her to kneel, but she helped her up instead. She wasn’t allowed to dine, but she even more so did the opposite by inviting her to her room.
The Governor’s wife was livid with her face ashen. She and Second Old Lady were not on good terms, but the latter dared to speak like this, evidently with Dowager Yan’s approval.
Dowager Yan, seeing Yan Mi’s face flushed and her legs too weak to stand steady, finally spoke, "Second family, you take Mi downstairs to sober up first."
As soon as they left, she sternly smashed the teacup on the coffee table.
With a ’clang’, tea splashed everywhere.
"Do you think I’m dead?"
This phrase scared all the servants in the room into kneeling down.
Madam, please calm down, your daughter-in-law dare not."
Dowager Yan: "You kneel down too."
If there were just the two of them in the room, kneeling would be enough. But with many servants around, and she being the Family Head, how could she kneel and rise to command again?
"Mother-in-law..."
Dowager Yan just looked at her: "Realizing the disgrace now? You punish Mi in public, how could you disregard her dignity?"
She tapped the ground hard with her cane: "The girls she can truly confide in can be counted on one hand, only including those from the Minister of Industry Mansion, and also from the Marquis Yangling Mansion. She is fostered in my house, I know you don’t care for her. I don’t ask for you to pay more attention to her. But the Yan Family has already driven her to a dead end, are you trying to drive her insane too?"
This marriage, she had also agreed, what could be done? The Yan Family was held by the hands of the Wei Family. If made a big fuss, it could be a crime of deceiving the emperor. It might bring disaster to the whole family!
Of course, Duke Wei Mansion also provided many benefits.
They could only abandon Yan Mi.
This is what she, as a daughter of the Yan Family, ought to do.
"Dowager."
The Governor’s wife’s confidant said, "Our Lady has good intentions too. That Lady Shen is not virtuous—"
Dowager Yan lowered her eyes and fiddled with the prayer beads on her wrist, while an old woman attending to her stepped forward and slapped the speaking servant.
"In front of the Dowager, how dare you act out of turn? The master hasn’t spoken; what right do you have to interrupt? Who gave you the audacity?"
"Since she was young, our Lady has been taught under the Dowager’s care, and also received instruction from the palace nannies about proper conduct. Even if Lady Shen is as you say, could our Lady fail to see through her and learn bad habits? She’s from the Marquis Yangling Mansion; who are you, a lowly servant, to gossip?"
"Setting these matters aside, our Lady’s marriage has been settled, and the Dowager cares for her, simply wishing her to be happy before her marriage. Regardless of what Lady Shen or Miss Wei do, if our Lady is happy, that suffices."
"Lady, if you cannot control your servants, this old servant can certainly take pains to help manage them."
Dowager Yan continued to fiddle with her prayer beads, appearing to those unaware of her formidable younger days as a gentle old lady.
With every word from the old woman, the Governor’s wife’s face turned a shade uglier.
She forced a smile.
"Mother-in-law, what you said is indeed true, but Mrs. Wei cannot tolerate any imperfections. When the Wei Family chose Mi because of her stability and ability to take on the responsibilities of a Madam, how would it be if they knew she indulged in drinking to oblivion?"
Dowager Yan raised her eyelids slightly.
"A few drinks with close friends, and in your mouth, it becomes drunken debauchery?"
"If Mrs. Wei regrets her decision, I, as an old woman, would be rather pleased."
But would the Wei Family regret it?
They would never.
A person like Yan Mi, who wouldn’t she be better off marrying than Wei Xiheng?
It’s just that she has no choice.
The Governor’s wife sheepishly said, "I have been taught a lesson, I will certainly not constrain her in the future."
She stepped forward to apologize and had the old woman make tea again. Personally delivering it to Dowager Yan.
"She is my daughter, naturally, I am also reluctant to part with her."
Dowager Yan did not accept it.
After so many years, she still harbored resentment towards this daughter-in-law. If not for her, her son would have married the noble Miss Xie long ago.
She stopped fiddling with the prayer beads. She waved the Governor’s wife over.
The Governor’s wife leaned in close.
Only to hear Dowager Yan mockingly say in her ear.
"You really think I’ve become senile?"
"You are not her biological mother."
————
At dusk, the sky was veiled in a thin gauze. As the sun sank, the landscape was bathed in twilight. The sound of horse hooves gradually approached. Cui Yun dismounted, tossing the reins to the doorman.
He headed towards the Sui Courtyard.
Unexpectedly, just as he approached, he saw a soft chair placed at the entrance of the Sui Courtyard.
The girl sat quietly, holding a book in her hand. Hearing the noise, she slightly raised her eyes.
Cui Yun walked over, somewhat surprised.
"Do you need me for something?"
Shen Hua closed the book and asked him calmly and politely, "Shall we fight? The kind where we both perish."