Chapter 9

Is Yu Youyao Worthy?

Old Madam Yu held Yu Youyao’s hand. “Since your third sister has apologized to you, it naturally means that she has done something wrong. Just accept her apology.”

Yu Youyao nodded her little head, then turned around and looked at Yu Jianjia with a serious expression. “I forgive you.”

After saying that, she hesitated for a moment and then took off the jade Buddha pendant she had picked out yesterday. She pursed her little mouth slightly and put the pendant into Yu Jianjia’s hands a bit reluctantly.

Yu Jianjia was so shaken that she had forgotten to refuse politely.

She only heard Yu Youyao say gently, “Third Sister, I’ve thought about it carefully. Although the jade pendant of the child Buddha sitting on a lotus flower is a keepsake from my mother, as the eldest sister, I should take more care of my younger sister, so I shouldn’t have gotten angry at you that day. I’ve already lost that jade pendant, but Grandmother said that this jade pendant is also one of the mementos left behind by my mother. I’m giving it to you now.”

Yu Jianjia stood frozen.

There was nothing wrong with Yu Youyao’s words when she first heard it, but on careful thought, it seemed to be implying that she was deliberately s.n.a.t.c.hing away items that had belonged to Yu Youyao’s mother. It made her seem disrespectful, like she had no sense of propriety.

Yang Shuwan also realized this, and she was so angry that she clenched her handkerchief tightly.

Meanwhile, everyone else looked like they were watching a show.

Old Madam Yu, on the other hand, hugged her granddaughter and praised, “My Yao Yao is really sensible. However, you have to remember in the future that you can’t give away the gifts from your mother so easily. Even if others ask for them, don’t allow it. Do you understand?”

Old Madam’s words were like a slap to the faces of Yang Shuwan and her daughter. They were so embarra.s.sed that they could no longer maintain their expressions.

Everyone in the mansion knew that the late Madam Xie was not an ordinary woman.

The Xie Residence of Quanzhou was one of the nine Minyue clans. It was a large clan during the Pre-Qin period and a remnant of the Minyue kingdom, with a very long-standing legacy.

The Xie family lived in Quanzhou for generations. They were deeply rooted in the area, controlling the water and land trade routes.

Back then, when Madam Xie married into the Yu family, it had been a huge and glamorous affair. After she had pa.s.sed on, who in the Yu family didn’t eye her dowry?

However, she was also shrewd. She had entrusted all the land, shops, and other businesses that were under her name to her maiden family for management. Every quarter, the profits were deposited under Yu Youyao’s name at the bank. With the token, she could withdraw up to 20,000 taels of silver every month. For amounts more than 20,000 silver taels, the Xie family’s official private seal would be needed to complete the withdrawal.

There was also a huge remaining collection of antique jade pieces, calligraphic works, ancient books, jewelry, and fine cloth. They were all handed over to Old Madam for safekeeping.

No one else was allowed near any of it.

When Yang Shuwan first entered the family, she had made use of her status as the mistress of the household to secretly pocket a lot of money from the Xie family businesses. Eventually, she was exposed by the old servants of Madam Xie. Upon learning of this, Old Madam was furious.

She immediately sent all the servants who had worked for Madam Xie straight to manage those storefronts, not letting anyone in the Yu family get involved.

Meanwhile, Yu Youyao did not think too much of it and merely replied obediently, “I understand, Grandmother.”

About ten minutes later, Old Madam Yu dispersed everyone.

Yang Shuwan helped Yu Jianjia back to the main courtyard.

As soon as they entered the house, Yang Shuwan waved the servants away unhappily and flared up. “Old Madam is too biased. Yu Youyao is just a disobedient child with no manners. How can she compare to my Jia Jia? Why should Jia Jia have to apologize to her? That Yu Youyao is not worthy of it!”

Yu Jianjia bit her lip, then said in a soft and hushed voice, “Mother, don’t be angry. Being angry will harm your health. It’s not the first time that Grandmother has been biased towards Big Sister. I-I’m already used to it. Moreover, Big Sister has indeed suffered because of me. It’s all my fault.”

Yang Shuwan was incensed when she heard her daughter’s aggrieved words. She suddenly raised her voice. “What’s wrong with you? Yu Youyao knew that you were frail and weak, yet she still shook you off. What was that if not on purpose? Did the servants say anything wrong? Old Madam pushed all the blame onto Zhi Zi just to make excuses for Yu Youyao, then she even had Nanny Liu fight with me for the right to manage this household…”

Thinking back to what had happened the day before, Yang Shuwan let out a loud cry. She felt a cold, sharp pain in her knees. She hit them lightly with clenched fists.

“Mother, what’s wrong?” Yu Jianjia asked with a trembling voice.

At the mention of this, Yang Shuwan felt angry and aggrieved. “It’s all because I had to kneel as punishment yesterday, in front of all the servants in the side courtyard, so that Old Madam would feel appeased on behalf of Yu Youyao. I’d knelt until my legs felt broken.”

Old Madam Yu had made her kneel for a long time. What’s more, she was called over so urgently that she didn’t have time to change into thicker clothes. She was wearing such thin fabric, and the ground was cold and hard. As soon as she knelt down, she felt the cold seep into her legs. Very soon, her legs felt iced and numb, and she had lost all sensation in her legs.

Nanny Liu had helped her back to the main courtyard, then lifted her clothes to take a look. Her knees were badly bruised. After the doctor examined it, he said that the cold had entered her body, then prescribed a few sets of medicine for her feet and a medicine bag for external application. It took her a long time to feel her legs again, and she still seemed to feel the cold in her legs frequently.

“Mother, I’ve implicated you and caused you to suffer.” Tears welled up in Yu Jianjia’s eyes. She covered her mouth with her handkerchief and coughed a few more times.

This made Yang Shuwan’s heart ache terribly. She quickly forgot about her leg and rushed to pat her daughter’s back. “Jia Jia, don’t let your imagination run wild. As long as you’re well and your body recovers, what’s a little grievance to me? It’s fine even if Old Madam is biased towards Yu Youyao. Your father will always side with us.”

Yu Jianjia nodded lightly.

Yang Shuwan asked the maidservant to send her daughter back to her room to rest.

Yu Jianjia left hesitantly, turning to look back every few steps. Nanny Liu brought in the brewed medicine and squatted on the ground. She took off Yang Shuwan’s shoes and socks, raised her legs, then soaked them in the wooden basin.

The hot medicinal bath made Yang Shuwan feel a little more comfortable. “As soon as Master came back yesterday, he said that he would be working in his study, so he wouldn’t be returning to the main house that day. To think that I believed he had important work matters to handle, but it turned out that ‘handling official business’ was just a lie. In reality, he was fooling around with that other woman, Concubine He.”

Nanny Liu said nothing, and only ma.s.saged her legs to help loosen her muscles.

The more Yang Shuwan spoke, the angrier she became. She clenched her teeth as she said, “Look at how coquettish that Concubine He is. I can tell that Master had exerted a lot of energy on her last night. To think she claimed to be a young miss from the family of an official, who’d just become down-and-out. Which official’s family would raise such a shameless thing?”

Upon saying this, she felt a sudden surge of resentment.

She had been blamed by Old Madam’s yesterday, but the Master had not even bothered to comfort her. Instead, he had gone to spend time with the concubine. That really hit a nerve.

Nanny Liu could not help but say, “Madam, why bother to bear a grudge with that insignificant thing? You’re the first wife, and you even helped Master give birth to a legitimate son. No one in the residence can compete with you.”

Of course Yang Shuwan understood all of this, but still, how could she swallow her anger? “But that b*tch, Concubine He, is getting more and more arrogant just because Master dotes on her!”

Nanny Liu stopped talking.

Yang Shuwan pulled at her handkerchief and cursed, “It’s all that b*tch Xie Roujia’s fault. Even on her deathbed, she still caused me trouble.”