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墨書 Inktalez
In a daze, a childhood memory flowed quietly through Yun Kexin's mind like a gentle stream, and a hint of mockery appeared at the corners of her lips: next, Yun Ran would start "talking in her sleep"! Sure enough, less than half an hour after "falling asleep," Yun Ran began to mumble in her sleep—
“Seventh Sister, Seventh Sister,” Yun Ran's eyes were tightly closed, her head moving restlessly, “If Mother, Father deceived you, please do not blame them, do not blame them.”
Yun Kexin began to "snore," emitting even breaths. In her "dream," Yun Ran seemed to sense something and continued to "talk in her sleep," her voice growing louder:
“...Do you know? Actually, you were Adopted. From the moment you were born, you were taken from Second House and Adopted into Third House. The ‘Auntie’ you keep calling is your biological Mother, while the ‘Mother, Father’ you've called for over ten years are your Third Uncle and Third Aunt. You are not the legitimate daughter of Third House at all...”
In the darkness, Yun Kexin slowly opened her eyes, her gaze filled with a cold smile: Elder Sister Five, thank you for your “thoughtful intentions.”
Yun Ran had calculated that at this hour, Yun Kexin would still be awake. She hoped that Yun Kexin would pounce on her with questions so she could reveal more secrets. However, lying beside her, Yun Kexin remained silent and “cooperative,” leaving her with no opportunity to speak. After a pause, she could only continue her “one-woman show”:
“...Seventh Sister, do not blame Mother, Father. They kept it from you that they took you from Second House, but there were unavoidable reasons,” Yun Ran said intermittently. “When Mother lost her son, she mistakenly believed it was because of Fourth Sister Yun Yan, which caused her to grieve and fall ill. That’s why she wanted to bring you in as revenge—” Yun Ran pretended to regretfully stop abruptly and added, “Oh no, no! It was to bring you in to soothe her broken heart. Seventh Sister, you must forgive Mother, Father...”
Yun Ran's “sleep talk” startled the three maidservants sitting by the darkened table; they involuntarily turned their gazes toward the bed. They saw Yun Kexin slightly turn over and shake her head at them, signaling them to “just watch the show” and not to do anything else before turning back.
Then, Yun Ran continued to ramble on about many things but always circled back to the topic of being “Adopted, ” as if worried that Yun Kexin wouldn’t understand or remember after hearing it once. Until finally, when Yun Kexin made a gesture as if blowing out a candle, plunging the room into darkness, Yun Ran's “dream talk” mysteriously ceased; her voice gradually became indistinct until it disappeared entirely, as if she had truly fallen asleep.
In the darkness, a hint of mockery crossed Yun Kexin's slowly opening eyes: my dear sister, thank you for your “thoughtful intentions.” While slandering others behind their backs, pretending to speak well of them in front of them—what a “hardship” for you! Unfortunately, your “intentions” may not succeed...
The next day, Yun Ran woke up early—actually because she hadn’t slept well last night. She finally managed to wake up Yun Kexin, eagerly waiting for her to ask questions and make a fuss. She wished for nothing more than for the commotion to grow louder. However, aside from greeting and changing clothes early in the morning, she saw no signs of anger from Yun Kexin, who still wore that silly smile on her face as if nothing had happened.
Yun Ran comforted herself: perhaps she was deliberately suppressing her anger; maybe she would cause a scene with Mother, Father! Just thinking about it made her unable to help but smile broadly.
What surprised Yun Ran was that when they arrived at the North Courtyard Dining Hall, instead of causing the ruckus she had hoped for, Yun Kexin was very gentle and obedient—first greeting Mother, Father, and other elders before helping to entertain Yun Xiao. During breakfast, she adhered strictly to the rule of “no talking while eating,” quietly enjoying the food served by maidservant Nursemaid. The longer she waited, the more anxious and restless she became; she kept stealing glances at Yun Kexin—
“Seventh Sister, did you sleep well last night?” After waiting for some time without seeing the expected drama unfold in the direction she had hoped for, Yun Ran could no longer hold back and spoke first. “Did I disturb you?”
“Disturb me? How could that be?” Yun Kexin looked up with an expression of surprise and confusion. “I slept so soundly last night; I didn’t wake up until dawn.”
“Oh really?” Yun Ran widened her eyes in disbelief. “I often talk in my sleep; my voice is quite loud. Didn’t you hear anything at all?”
The table full of elders and a room full of servants showed little reaction; they only found it somewhat amusing that Eldest Sister was being silly. Only Fu Lianyin felt a sudden jolt in her heart; her gaze shot toward Yun Ran, filled with caution and wariness.
“I didn’t hear anything,” Yun Kexin put down her bowl and chopsticks, tilting her head at an odd angle as she asked back curiously. “What’s wrong with you, Elder Sister Five?”
"I..." Yun Ran almost blurted out the content of her "dream talk," but her mouth immediately shut—how could she possibly know what she had dreamt? Wouldn't that mean everything would be exposed?!
Yun Ran stared at Yun Kexin, momentarily stunned, feeling flustered: impossible, when she started "dream talking," Yun Kexin was not asleep; how could she have heard nothing? Ignoring Fu Lianyin's warning gaze, she fixed her eyes on Yun Kexin's confused and innocent face, suspicion rising. Suddenly, she shifted her gaze to the three maids behind Yun Kexin and had a clever idea:
"Shanling, Shining, Shan Yue, you stayed up all night in my room last night; thank you for your hard work."
Yun Kexin scoffed coldly: this is going to involve the three maids.
"It wasn't hard," Shanling replied seriously, "serving the two young ladies is our duty as servants."
Before Shanling could finish her sentence, Yun Ran impatiently interjected:
"Then you must have heard my 'dream talk' last night, right?" Her tone was filled with cunning allure and provocation. "Quickly tell me what I said last night!"
As soon as Yun Ran spoke, Yun Kexin could feel Fu Lianyin tense up all over, even holding her breath.
"Fifth Young Lady, why do you need to know what you said?" Fu Lianyin steadied herself and chuckled awkwardly. "Dream talk is just dream talk; do you want everyone to know about it?!"
"Mother, I'm just curious," Yun Ran said resolutely, ignoring the threat in Fu Lianyin's tone. She pouted and acted cute. "What if I accidentally said something bad about someone? It would be good for Ran'er to know so I can correct it."
Yun Yang, who was kept in the dark about the situation, found Yun Ran's behavior somewhat absurd but thought it was typical of her to act foolishly. Since her idea wasn't unreasonable, he didn't reprimand or stop her. Thus, he let the three maids reveal what Eldest Sister had said in her "dream talk." The three showed expressions of difficulty; Shining instinctively glanced at Yun Kexin but received no hint from her—only a trace of mockery in her expression hinted at something amiss.
Shining lowered her head and nervously tugged at her clothing. "Well, regarding Eldest Sister's 'dream talk,' we really shouldn't... I'm afraid—"
"Afraid of what?" Second Matriarch Qian Hanqiu feigned interest and smiled. "Is it about Eldest Sister saying something bad about me? Come on, let me hear it."
Second Elder Lord Yun Jinyu also joined in teasingly stroking his beard and laughing heartily. "It must be something about me as this Old Man."
"Girls, this is just our family gathering to chat and laugh over tea," Zhou said expressionlessly. "Don't be too nervous; rest assured, it's fine; no one will take it to heart."
"Since it's 'dream talk,' it must be unintentional words," seeing that Shining was still hesitating, Yun Yang encouraged with a faint smile. "Come on, let's hear it; we won't blame Eldest Sister or you."
"Eldest Sister... Eldest Sister..." Shining trembled as she spoke with difficulty. "Seventh Sister is actually not from the Third House by blood; she was adopted by Third Madam from the Second House to take revenge on the Second House..."
As soon as these words were spoken, the dining hall fell into an awkward silence. Yun Yang's face turned from red to white and then green; his complexion fluctuated between dark red and black. Fu Lianyin dared not look directly at Yun Yang but glared at Yun Ran with gritted teeth—as if looks could turn into arrows, she would have already been like a porcupine.
The several elderly people from the Yun Family sat there, dumbfounded and afraid to breathe: no one expected that what Yun Ran referred to as "sleep talking" would be this. If they had known, they would have cut off the tongues of three maids rather than let this happen. The incident had occurred! The three elders thought in despair.
Fu Lianyin opened her mouth to question, but Yun Kexin was quicker. She turned her head and shouted at Shining:
"Shining, did you hear wrong? How could Eldest Sister Five's sleep talk be like this? No, no, I am sure you heard it wrong."
"Seventh Sister, didn't you just hear Eldest Sister herself?" Having received Yun Kexin's tacit approval, Shining understood she had nothing to fear. She calmly raised her head and said, "She usually has a habit of sleep talking, and her voice is quite loud... Seventh Sister, you must have been asleep at that time and didn't hear it, but how could we servants on night watch possibly mishear? This is the original statement."
"Shanling, Shining, Shan Yue, do you know what will happen to a servant who slanders or falsely accuses their master?" Fu Lianyin pressed her hand against her chest to keep her heart from jumping out. She forced a calm gaze over the three maids before her and glared with her phoenix eyes, threateningly saying, "The light punishment is a beating and being expelled from the household; the severe punishment is death by beating."
"Third Madam, please calm down," faced with Fu Lianyin's blatant intimidation, Shanling stepped forward and nodded, speaking gently. "Since coming to the Third House, Master and Madam have treated us very well. What reason do we have to repay kindness with malice and harm our master? Moreover, Shining just mentioned it would be better not to speak of it to avoid misunderstandings and trouble for ourselves. However, several Great-Grandfathers and Second Lady insisted we talk about Eldest Sister's sleep talk, so we gathered our courage..."
A rush of blood surged to Fu Lianyin's head as she was about to make a harsh remark when she heard Yun Yang's voice:
"Shining is right; it was the master who asked the servants for this information. How could they refuse?" He paused, pain flashing in his eyes before turning cold and ruthless. "I ask the Fu Family: these three maids have only recently arrived at the household. Even if they were to 'slander and falsely accuse their master,' there are countless ways to fabricate stories. Why would it concern our Yun Family? If it weren't for Ran'er's 'sleep talk,' how would these three maids know?!"
Yun Yang's aggressive questioning left Fu Lianyin trembling in fear, her breathing unstable as she frantically thought of a countermeasure.
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