Chapter 278: Chapter 106: Bleak_5 Chapter 278: Chapter 106: Bleak_5 Nanny Hao trembled, her heart deeply wounded by her children. She neither wanted nor dared to seek them, but having a granddaughter by her side could provide some comfort and she wouldn’t have to fear being lonely and unsupported in her old age.
Yueyao noticed the spark in Nanny Hao’s eyes and sighed softly, seeing her as yet another pitiable person. Yueyao nodded at Nanny Hao and said, “I will have someone take care of it as soon as possible.”
Yueyao returned to the Small Buddhist Hall, holding a pen but unable to write. She had only been speculating earlier, trying to test Nanny Hao, but had not expected her guess to be true.
Ink drops fell one by one onto the pristine paper, along with her tears. Yueyao murmured, “Father, Mother, I really miss you, truly miss you.” She finally understood why her father placed his last hope in Uncle Li before his death, hiding even from grandmother the matter of that box. Regrettably, in her previous life, her father had reserved a final bit of hope for his elder brother, which prevented her from being warned about their suspicions; it was this sliver of hope that led to her tragic past.
Yueyao harbored no resentment towards Old Madam Lian, indeed, she could not compare herself with her eldest uncle and his two sons. One was her biological uncle, the two sons the future of the Lian family—what was she in comparison? She was nothing, so it was not unreasonable for Old Madam Lian to act as she did. Yueyao felt detached, the affection she once held dissolved away.
Having experienced this, she would not grieve or struggle or feel guilty anymore. Yueyao also lost her enthusiasm for copying Buddhist scriptures; not that she stopped, but her writing slowed to a crawl as she treated it as calligraphy practice, writing each character deliberately.
Yueying heard rumors around the mansion that Yueyao was a Jinx and asked, “Maternal Auntie, these must be rumors. How could third younger sister be a jinx? It’s absolutely impossible.”
Maternal Aunt Chen scoffed, “How is she not a Jinx? Just look at her; she has the look of one doomed to a short life. Keep away from her in the future.” Since the last incident where Yueyao had the Lady family discipline Tingchao, Maternal Aunt Chen also began to despise Yueyao.
Yueying fell silent then.
Chen hatched a plan and asked, “Young lady, how much silver did Old Madam allocate to you? Did she give you anything extra privately?” Chen already knew about the visible portion Yueying received; she was now curious about any potential secret gifts from Old Madam.
Yueying nodded and said, “Yes, grandmother also rewarded me with some jewelry at times; she also gave me a mutton fat jade bracelet, it’s very beautiful.” Yueying didn’t plan to share about the silver or the property with Maternal Aunt Chen. Grandmother had said those were bottom-drawer items, not to be discussed with anyone; as for the mutton fat jade bracelet, she would wear it eventually, unable to keep it hidden.
Looking at the softly glowing mutton fat jade bracelet, Maternal Aunt Chen remarked, “It was worth serving Old Madam then.” She recognized the considerable value of the item immediately. Its allure was palpable to Chen, who was itching to wear it on her wrist. Fortunately, reason prevailed knowing this was her daughter’s dowry.
Yuehuan heard that Yueyao had fainted from anger over the rumors and that Yueyao had caused a huge commotion in Lian Mansion because Tingzheng had a fever. She found this curious and asked, “Maternal Auntie, does third young lady truly care about these murmurs?” It wasn’t possible. How could someone who had been reborn faint over such trivial matters? It seemed too far-fetched!
Maternal Aunt Su shook her head and said, “The wide spread of such rumors is not good.” Once such talk was out, sagacious individuals would suspect that someone could not tolerate third young lady, the first suspect being the Madam.
Already defeated by Maternal Aunt Su’s planning, Yuehuan realized how every thought was about whether something was beneficial or detrimental to the Madam. Indeed, she was a loyal subordinate.
The Lady family was not worried at all about the rumor spreading; she had already found a scapegoat, and should the Old Master inquire, it would be Maternal Aunt Chen who would suffer.
Granny Lau, however, thought the situation was not that simple and said, “Madam, I always feel that there’s more to this.” She always suspected that someone was orchestrating everything behind the scenes; otherwise, how could the rumor have spread so quickly?
The Lady family, however, did not take this to heart and replied, “What’s so complicated about it? The hardest thing to control is people’s mouths.” Every time she recalled Yueyao’s performance on that day, she seethed internally.
While the Lady family at times wanted to appear loving towards Yueyao, Yueyao was disinclined to see her, and her glances seemed to carry knives, making the Lady family very uncomfortable. Thus, she no longer bothered to feign affection, as long as appearances were maintained.
Lady family later regretted her negligence, as a single oversight had caused her tremendous trouble. Building a good reputation required a lot of effort and heart, but ruining someone’s reputation took only one incident, one rumor.