Chapter 12

The bridal chamber was not the same room Ying Yue had been in earlier; it was a different place.  

But Ying Yue wasn’t paying attention to any of that. The ceremony was over, and she didn’t know what else she could do to resist. After leaving the Hall of Celebration, once she had caught her breath, she began to cry in sorrow.  

If asked what exactly she was grieving, she couldn’t say. She only felt she had done something terrifying—marrying herself off in a daze, and from now on, everything would be different.  

Her tongue still hurt, so she couldn’t cry too loudly for fear of aggravating it. She could only sniffle, letting out a soft whimper now and then.  

Fang Han Xiao ignored her at first, but she didn’t stop. After listening to her the entire way, he finally couldn’t help but glance sideways at her red head covering.  

What was going on under there? A girl of fifteen or sixteen, crying like a baby.  

At least she wasn’t making a fuss. He tugged her along, and she followed, stumbling unevenly behind him.  

They arrived at the bridal chamber.  

Normally, there should still be rituals like lifting the head covering and drinking the nuptial wine, but Fang Han Xiao ignored all of it. After leading Ying Yue inside, he turned and left.  

His footsteps were light. Ying Yue sat blankly on the edge of the bed for a while before tentatively reaching up to pull off her head covering. No one stopped her. When she finally removed it and looked around, the bright red bridal chamber was empty—he had already left.  

—The emptiness of the bridal chamber was actually unusual. There should have been Wedding Attendants, female relatives of the Fang family observing the ceremony, and serving maids present. But Madam Hong, in her anger, had skipped the main ceremony and gone straight to the bridal chamber to take everyone away. The eldest branch of the family had no one to intervene—these arrangements had all been hers to begin with. Now that her mute nephew was clearly intent on ruining her plans, she withdrew all her arrangements in retaliation, both to vent her anger and to put the newlywed niece-in-law in her place.  

Ying Yue didn’t think about any of this yet. She only felt relieved. Facing a room full of strangers would have made her even more nervous.  

Perhaps the bedding wasn’t laid out properly—something was poking her from underneath. Ying Yue wiped her tears and shifted slightly, only to find the spot beside her even more uncomfortable. She reached back and felt around, pulling out two peanuts.  

“…”  

She swallowed hard at the sight of them. She hadn’t had a single drop of water since leaving home, and now she was starving.  

Since there was no one in the room anyway, Ying Yue cracked open the peanut shells and carefully placed the plump red kernels in her mouth, chewing slowly to avoid aggravating her injured tongue.  

The peanuts were fragrant and slightly sweet. After finishing all four, she—was even hungrier.  

The gnawing hunger flared up even more fiercely. Remembering that something had poked her from the side earlier, she hurriedly lifted that section of the bedding—and her eyes brightened instantly.  

Beneath the spot she had lifted, there weren’t just peanuts but also red dates. Further in, something else seemed to be hidden. She lifted another corner, and a few longans rolled out.  

Delighted, she gathered all the food she had found, feeling like today had finally brought her a small bit of good fortune.  

*Gulp.*  

Perhaps to avoid disturbing Old Master Fang, who was recuperating from illness, the firecrackers and drums had only been set off outside Marquis Pingjiang Manor. Inside the estate, not a single sound was made—even the bridal chamber was quiet. So the sound of someone swallowing behind her was especially clear.

Ying Yue froze in surprise, then slowly turned her head in nervousness. While she had been busy searching for fruits, a little girl had somehow approached and now stood behind her. The child appeared to be about seven or eight years old, dressed in a Crabapple Red Jacket and Skirt, with her hair styled in two Maiden Buns. Her round face was framed by a golden necklace around her neck.

Relieved, Ying Yue relaxed. Children naturally evoked tenderness and didn’t inspire wariness, even if they were strangers. She smiled at the girl, wanting to ask who she was, but the movement of her tongue caused pain, forcing her to abandon the attempt. Instead, she pointed to the small pile of fruits she had gathered, signaling that the girl could help herself.

Caught off guard, the girl’s large eyes betrayed a hint of nervousness. She shook her head and declared in a clear voice, “I won’t eat them. These aren’t anything special, and I don’t like them.”

Despite her words, the fleeting glance she cast at the fruits revealed her true feelings. Ying Yue found her stubbornness endearing and gently pulled her closer, offering her a longan.

The girl hesitated before silently accepting it, then began struggling to peel it with little success. Observing her difficulty, Ying Yue realized that the child, judging by her fine attire, likely came from a privileged background and wasn’t accustomed to such tasks. She took another longan, peeled it, and handed it to the girl.

The girl shook her head. “No, I want to peel it myself. It tastes better that way.”

Her tone was oddly mature, making Ying Yue chuckle. She didn’t insist and instead popped the peeled longan into her own mouth.

They ate at a similar pace—Ying Yue slowly, the girl painstakingly peeling. Once the girl finally finished her longan, Ying Yue, worried she might feel too shy to take more, proactively picked a red date for her.

Again, the girl refused, grabbing a peanut instead and resuming her laborious peeling. She seemed to prefer nuts with shells—or perhaps enjoyed the challenge of cracking them. Ying Yue noticed she consistently chose peanuts or longans, avoiding the dates altogether.

Ying Yue contentedly ate the red dates, as she was only concerned with filling her stomach and didn’t mind which fruits she consumed.

The small pile of fruits dwindled quickly, and soon, they were gone.

Ying Yue felt a twinge of regret. Having shared half with the girl, she hadn’t eaten much and was still hungry. The girl, too, seemed unsatisfied. Her large eyes wandered to the bed as she asked, “Sister-in-law, may I touch your bed?”

Ying Yue nodded—then froze mid-motion. What had the child just called her?

S-sister-in-law?!

The girl, having received permission, had already flung herself onto the bed, stretching her short arms to reach beneath the bedding.

Peanuts, longans, red dates—she scooped them out in handfuls. Noticing Ying Yue’s stunned expression, she paused, mistaking it for amazement at her haul. With a hint of pride, she explained, “I saw them stuffing the bed earlier. There’s so much! But they said this wasn’t a place for me and wouldn’t let me in.”

Ying Yue: “…Oh.”

The girl blinked. “Huh?” She stopped gathering fruits and twisted to look at Ying Yue, still sprawled on the bed. “Sister-in-law, you can talk.”

Unsure how to respond, Ying Yue simply nodded.

She hadn’t expected this to be Fang Hanxiao’s younger sister, but the age matched, so it wasn’t too surprising. Yingyue knew that this little sister was a posthumous child—Old Madam Fang had died in childbirth while delivering her. In effect, the couple from the eldest branch of Marquis Pingjiang Manor had passed away almost simultaneously. Because of this, Old Master Fang pitied Fang Hanxiao deeply and bestowed the Heir Apparent Position upon him.  

This detail, being related to Fang Hanxiao’s inheritance, had been mentioned several times by Madam Xu at home, so even Yingyue had heard of it.  

“They said your family looked down on my elder brother and swapped in a new bride for him. Since you never spoke, I thought they’d replaced him with a mute too,” the little girl said bluntly, her words innocent and unfiltered.  

Yingyue wanted to explain, but the words stuck in her throat—because wasn’t that exactly what had happened? Except, of course, she wasn’t mute.  

At a loss, she could only part her lips slightly and gesture to indicate that her silence was due to injury.  

The girl understood and nodded. “Oh—so you didn’t hit your head.”  

She must have picked up bits and pieces of gossip here and there, some true, some not. But overall, she seemed to know quite a bit. She then asked Yingyue, “They also said you didn’t want to marry my elder brother. Is that true?”  

Yingyue hesitated. It didn’t seem right to criticize a child’s brother in front of her. She tried to find a concise yet accurate way to phrase it without causing misunderstanding, but before she could settle on the right words, the little girl spoke first.  

“Eldest sister-in-law, don’t be shy. It’s fine if you don’t like him—I don’t like him either.”  

Yingyue had already sensed this. The girl’s earlier remark about “replacing him with a mute” had carried a dismissive tone toward her brother.  

If it was merely a case of distant sibling relations, that would be one thing. But the girl’s next words nearly made Yingyue drop her fruit in shock.  

“Elder brother left you alone in the room and walked off. I can tell he doesn’t like you either. That’s perfect—from now on, you and I can live together. How about it?”  

“…”  

Yingyue stared blankly at the tiny figure before her. What kind of arrangement was this?!  

“My grandfather is seriously ill,” the little girl pouted. “He doesn’t have the energy to take care of me anymore and said he’d leave me in your care from now on.”  

This immediately reined in the runaway conversation. Yingyue suddenly understood—this child had lost both parents, and as the eldest sister-in-law, it was natural for her to step into a maternal role. The little girl’s disjointed way of expressing it, jumping from one thought to another, had just startled her unnecessarily.  

Yingyue herself had lost her birth mother early, and her father might as well not exist. Thinking of how much more pitiable this girl’s circumstances were—never even having the chance to meet her parents—she couldn’t help but reach out and gently stroke the child’s head in sympathy.  

The girl took this as agreement. Her previously tense expression relaxed, and her tone brightened. “Eldest sister-in-law, you sit here first. I’ll have someone bring my things over. From now on, I’ll live here with you.”  

Yingyue blinked uncertainly. She didn’t object—living with a round-cheeked little girl was far better than sharing space with a strange grown man. But did she have any say in this? And could this little one even make such decisions?  

No.  

Footsteps sounded, and Fang Hanxiao’s tall figure appeared at the door.  

At almost the same moment, a woman in her early thirties rushed in, looking frantic. She scooped up the little girl and hurried away. “Little ancestor, how did you end up here? Come back with Nanny at once!”

The little girl, upon seeing Fang Hanxiao, didn’t struggle but spoke with righteous indignation: “Can’t I come see sister-in-law? Grandfather told me to respect sister-in-law and listen to her.”

“Of course you can, but come back tomorrow,” the woman coaxed as she led her out, bowing slightly when passing Fang Hanxiao. “Master, it’s late. I’ll take Huijie’er back to rest.”

Seeing Fang Hanxiao made no response, she hurried out the door.

**

Once outside the bridal chamber courtyard, Fang Hui demanded to be put down to walk by herself.

Her wet nurse, Wang Shi, complied and straightened the child’s jacket, voicing slight concern: “I wonder if the Master heard what you said.”

“So what if he did?” Fang Hui said dismissively. “Grandfather told me to follow sister-in-law, that’s why I came. If he won’t take care of me, can’t I at least have sister-in-law do it?”

Wang Shi explained patiently, “That’s not entirely what the old master meant. He intended to entrust you to the Master’s care, but since you’re a girl, it’s more convenient for First Madam to look after you—that’s why he said so.”

“But that still means sister-in-law takes care of me, doesn’t it?” Fang Hui’s innocent voice held a sharp edge. “Big brother never cares for me—never has, never will. So what’s wrong with me coming to sister-in-law?”

“Alright, alright, nothing’s wrong,” Wang Shi soothed. “But the Master has his reasons too. He’s your own brother—how could he not care for you—”

“If he cared, he wouldn’t have left me behind and run off by himself,” Fang Hui retorted coldly. “If I hadn’t stubbornly clung to Grandfather, who knows how much more I’d have suffered. Nanny, don’t defend him. I can’t rely on him anyway—better to stay with sister-in-law.”

She kicked her little foot in frustration and muttered, “He was gone—why did he have to come back?”

Wang Shi said, “Tonight is the Master’s Wedding Night. Where else would he be but—” She abruptly stopped, realizing it was inappropriate to discuss such matters with one so young, and quickly changed the subject. “You can visit First Madam again tomorrow, alright?”

Fang Hui pouted. “Fine.”

Wang Shi took her hand and began walking through the night, chuckling lightly with curiosity. “You seem quite willing to be close with First Madam.”

“What choice do I have? Grandfather told me over and over. I can’t let him worry about me while he’s sick.”

Wang Shi smiled warmly. “You’re such a good girl.”

“She’s better than the last one,” Fang Hui said, her tone lightening. “Nanny, she’s a bit silly—so grown up, yet she cried until her eyes were swollen. And she sneaked some of the fruits scattered on the bed, heehee!”

“Really?”

“Truly! The last one would’ve scolded me and never let me have any. Hmph, good thing they replaced her.”

“Miss, you ate some too, didn’t you?”

“—Just a few!”

“Alright, alright, just a few…”