Chapter 44

The truth of the matter told Yan Ting that whether one could bear it the question. The question was whether one was willing to bear it.

The servant who left to report quickly returned, bowing and saying: “The lord duke isn’t willing to see the eldest miss.”

Yan Ting’s expression turned rigid.

Shen Yi Yao asked urgently: “Then what about my mom?”

“Madam, madam also isn’t willing.”

“You’re speaking nonsense, you’re lying to me!”

Shen Yi Yao couldn’t quite accept this, her eyes turning red. “Dad and mom wouldn’t be so ruthless. I am their daughter….”

That servant looked troubled, giving Yan Ting a glance before lowering her head.

“The lord duke and madam truly gave these instructions, eldest miss.”

“Go ask again….” This time her voice was a sob.

“This…..”

“Hurry and go!”

That servant hesitated and didn’t move. Shen Yi Yao’s face was covered with tears. Her hands gripped her sleeves helplessly as she looked nervously at Yan Ting. Seeing this, Yan Ting pulled her into his arms and lightly patted her in comfort.

Shen Yi Yao tightly grabbed onto Yan Ting’s collar, looking extremely ruffled: “Husband, dad and mom are still angry at me…what should I do? Just what should I do?”

After a long while, Yan Ting let out a sigh: “How about we go back first. Father and mother-in-law won’t really stay angry at you.”

“Really?” Shen Yi Yao seemed as if she grasped onto a lifeline.

Yan Ting’s eyes were obscure as he nodded, “This time their anger hasn’t faded yet. Let’s go back first and return after a couple of days.”

It wasn’t clear who he was trying to convince.

He attentively wiped away Shen Yi Yao’s tears and tidied up her appearance before supporting her outside. Shen Yi Yao was disturbed and preoccupied.

On the way back, Yan Ting chose not to ride the horse and sat in the carriage comforting Shen Yi Yao continuously instead.

He heard from Shen Yi Yao what happened when she went to mediate at her family’s place.

Yan Ting knew Shen Yi Yao wasn’t a smart person, but to think she hadn’t been bothered by such a big conflict that day, and thought nothing was wrong? Was she so certain that the Zhenguo Duke who had always cherished her was merely angry for a short while?

The truth had slapped her in the face, and Yan Ting wanted to add his own slap as well! If he had known about this earlier, he could have still rectified things in advance. But as of now….

“That day dad scolded me for being muddled, saying I wasn’t able to distinguish right and wrong, and that I’m not worthy to be his daughter…..” Shen Yi Yao mumbled, her tears continuing to flow.

Having been pampered from birth, she was already used to being cherished by her parents. Her biggest conflict in the past was when her dad was against her desired marriage. At that time he had also been extremely angry, and had even grounded her. But after a while, he still let her have her way, and still cherished her.

Yan Ting shut his eyes and forcibly suppressed his anger. He kissed her forehead and comforted gently, “Don’t cry. Father-in-law’s anger just hasn’t faded yet. Once it does in a few days, everything will be fine.”

Yan Ting wasn’t surprised at today’s outcome. He was already prepared to accept the Zhenguo Duke’s rage. However, he had just left them sitting there, giving them the cold shoulder. Thinking of the Zhenguo Duke’s words according to his wife, he felt a little chill in his heart. Did they discover something?

Yan Ting felt a little regret at indulging the people back home in their disrespect, whether intentional or otherwise. But who would have expected such a minor thing to make such large waves? He had thought the Zhenguo Duke was venting his granddaughter’s anger, but it seems things weren’t quite so simple.

“But it’s already been so long. During this time, Ah Yan had even gone over twice. I thought dad’s anger had already faded.”

“It’s fine. Let’s come again in a couple of days. It’s normal for elders to have short tempers. As their juniors, it’s proper to empathize with them.”

This was all he could do at the moment. Before he figured out the truth, Yan Ting didn’t dare make any moves.

Hopefully his guesses were merely guesses in the end.

Shen Yi Yao rubbed her nose. “Husband, you’re so nice.”

…….

Right around lunchtime, the lord marquis and madam returned. The servants merely thought it odd, but those who received the news all sensed something was wrong.

The old madam couldn’t hold back and wanted to call her son over. However, Yan Ting was busy comforting Shen Yi Yao and said he would come later.

Yan Yan wasn’t surprised at this result. She was eating lunch with Yan Mo, and merely continued eating the rice in her bowl.

She had always had a big appetite due to her training. While other girls ate one bowl, she needed to eat two. Therefore, after she finished one bowl, she had Mei Xiang refill it. Yan Mo had been eating more recently. At first he only ate a few bites of rice. Then he started eating half a bowl and as of now, he could eat an entire bowl.

The dishes were all made by the small kitchen according to what the two of them liked to eat. Yan Mo was very satisfied, and drank a little soup after he was done.

After the meal, he asked. “Should we go see mom?”

Yan Yan asked: “What do you think?”

He muttered to himself and shook his little head. “Probably better not to.”

“Let’s sit for fifteen minutes before taking a walk to digest. Then you can take a nap.”

Little Ah Mo nodded obediently.

………

After listening to Yan Ting’s account, the old madam couldn’t help but slam her table in anger and curse “foolish woman”.

The mother and son pair had something in common. They both felt Shen Yi Yao was an unspeakably foolish person. However, both of them never reflected on their own actions and considered themselves to blame.

“Then what do you plan to do?” The old madam’s gaze was complicated and a little distressed.

Yan Ting sat there, his expression calm. “What else can I do? It’s impossible for parents to be forever angry at their daughter.”

The old madam’s lips trembled in sympathy and said in disappointment: “Does this mean we’re back to square one? This Zhenguo Duke is really something! I didn’t approve of you marrying her to begin with, look…” She pointed in the Jinse Pavilion’s direction. “She only knows how to cry, and even tied up my son in comforting her. She also came along with such a difficult dad! We shouldn’t have listened to your dad back then. How good it would have been to just marry Yu Jin!”

Yan Ting didn’t speak.

His dad was born of the principal line, but his health had always been poor. The succession of nobility prioritized bloodline. Therefore, his dad succeeded the Weiyuan Marquis title despite his health. In theory, it wasn’t advisable for someone with poor health to assume the title. However, his grandmother was stubborn and she only gave birth to a single son. She wasn’t willing to let others get the benefit.

From an individual perspective, it was naturally better to inherit the title. But from the perspective of the Weiyuan Marquis Estate’s succession, it was better for the title to be inherited by someone capable.

His dad’s health wasn’t good so he wasn’t able to take up a posting. His grandmother was intolerant and sent out all the concubine born members of the family after his grandfather passed away. The estate had been cleaned up, but they also had no one left to help them. His grandmother wasn’t a good person and did things harshly. She had thoroughly offended all her relatives and in-laws over the past few decades.

As for his dad, due to his health he could only cling onto the title without making any contributions.

Nobility was just nobility. True power still required influence, an official posting or favor from his majesty. The Weiyuan Marquis Estate had none of the above. By the time Yan Ting was grown, the Weiyuan Marquis Estate, which had already been declining, was on its last legs due to the current marquis’s inability.

The lowest noble family wasn’t even worth as much as an official’s household. An official at the very least could improve himself, and could take the imperial exam. They had several paths to take. Yet merit-based nobles were restricted by the court. They could only receive their salary and take an idle posting or enlist in the military.

He didn’t deny that he had purposefully approached Shen Yi Yao to gain her favor. That was the Weiyuan Marquis Estate only shortcut, and he wouldn’t let it pass him by.

The old madam naturally understood all this, so her complaints were merely complaints. Everyone felt like complaining sometimes, and she was no different.

“It’s all that little thing messing around. Since you’re back, you must control her properly!” The old madam hadn’t forgotten the “root cause”. If it weren’t for Yan Yan making a fuss, all these things wouldn’t have happened.

Control? So that she could go tattle again? Wouldn’t he be losing his chances for good?

Yan Ting revealed a bitter smile. “Mom, no need for you to worry about all this. I will deal with it. As for that side, just pretend they don’t exist. Your son’s matter is the most important for now.”

Ten years ago Yan Ting had been filled with confidence. Now, ten years later, he was still filled with the same confidence. But time waited for no one and he was no longer young. It wasn’t clear if he would still have the same patience as he did in his youth.

The old madam nodded and wiped her tears, patting her son’s hand.

“Good son, your mom understands. Your mom doesn’t feel wronged. For your sake, your mom is willing to do anything.”

He had a good mom!

~~o(>_<)o~~ This sort of expression wasn’t something that would appear on Yan Ting’s face.

After leaving the Rongan Hall, he muttered to himself: you people messed up my plans. How should this be repaid in the future?!

***

Autumn arrived in the blink of an eye. The weather in autumn was different from the summer. It was a little cold in the morning and evening.

Yan Mo’s health wasn’t good, so Yan’er and Ying’er had started making his autumn clothing a while ago. Yan Yan saw the few maids all doing needlework in their idle time. She realized she had never made anything for her younger brother, and grabbed some cloth and needles to join in on the fun.

But her needlework had always been extremely bad. The maids would take care of any clothing that needed repairing, and she never had to do it personally. She started feeling regret after grabbing everything, but seeing Yan Mo’s expectantly gaze, she could only do her best.

On her first try, she pricked herself with the needle. She herself wasn’t panicked but the maids hurriedly took everything away. The second time she didn’t prick herself, but the thread got tangled up and she was unable to untangle it again. Then she grew annoyed and admitted to her younger brother that she wasn’t suited for such things.

Little Ah Yan expressed understanding, and patted his older sister’s hand comfortingly.

His sister was very beautiful and also good at martial arts. Such manual labor could be left to the servants. Being unable to do it wasn’t a big deal. This was what little Ah Mo told Yan Yan comfortingly. The depressed Yan Yan felt very satisfied at hearing his words.

During this period of time, Yan Ting had “accompanied” Shen Yi Yao a few more times to the Zhenguo Duke Estate. Based on their expressions, Yan Yan guessed that her grandfather still refused to see them. Actually she had known about this long ago, but she couldn’t help make the observation.

Shen Yi Yao’s emotions weren’t stable and Yan Ting’s mood wasn’t good. They naturally didn’t have time to bother with the others in the second branch. Yan Yan stayed inside the Ningxiang Chambers with Yan Mo. Training, going to class, eating and sleeping every day was rather leisurely. Concubine Pei was very well behaved recently, and she hadn’t been jumping about. Even Yan Qian and Yan Hong had been forced to behave themselves.

The second branch was unprecedentedly harmonious.

Author’s words:

There is a saying: Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.

Although this saying isn’t quite suitable here, it’s close enough. The Zhenguo Duke doesn’t need to do anything at the moment. It’s fine if he refuses to see them. His heart may waver if he sees her, and not seeing them is sufficient to make Yan Ting anxious.