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"I don't know," Yun Kexin said softly, lost in thought. "Thank you, Heir Apparent, for telling me these things."
"By the way, don't change the subject," Wei Qing did not forget his promise to Feng Yinxiao and pointed at Yun Kexin. "Seventh Sister hasn't answered my question yet?"
Yun Kexin was taken aback. "What question does Heir Apparent want me to answer?"
Wei Qing shot her an annoyed glance. "Do you really need Young Lord to marry Fourth Sister before you are willing to see him?"
Yun Kexin frowned and after a moment said, "It's not that; I just feel that continuing to be friends under these circumstances is no longer appropriate..."
In truth, she clearly remembered what her mother from the Yue Clan had said to her: it was hard to get over that 'hurdle.'
"This is unfair to Young Lord," Wei Qing shouted in a low voice. "Seventh Sister doesn't understand why he won't marry Fourth Sister. Don't you want to know—"
"I don't want to know!" Yun Kexin's face turned pale as she turned away, her tone cold. "Heir Apparent, just drop it."
"Why?" Wei Qing was even more confused and asked in a foggy manner. "The relationship between the Second House and the Duke of Yan's residence won't be severed because of this matter. As long as the Second House doesn't mind, what does Seventh Sister have to worry about?"
"Heir Apparent, let's go inside. We've been out for a while," Yun Kexin turned back and smiled lightly. "Father might be looking for me."
Feeling frustrated at returning empty-handed, Wei Qing was reluctant. He had initially tried to extract some heartfelt words from her before going to Feng Yinxiao to tease him, but now it seemed that this Seventh Sister was indeed tight-lipped. Unless she was willing, it would be difficult to get anything out of her, so he had no choice but to give up.
When Yun Yang and Yun Kexin returned to the Duke of E's residence, it was nearly time for the evening curfew. Most people in the residence who went to bed early were already asleep, but the Western Courtyard was still brightly lit. Fu Lianyin stood at the entrance, anxiously peering outside. When she finally saw Yun Yang and Yun Kexin approaching, she waved her handkerchief and called out:
"Master, Seventh Young Lady, you're back! I've been waiting for quite a while."
As the two approached, Fu Lianyin glanced at Yun Yang with keen interest. She was eager to ask about the "harvest" from tonight's visit to Wei Wen Wang's residence but found that Yun Yang ignored her completely, showing no signs of joy or anger on his face. He merely responded coldly with an "mm" and took Yun Kexin back into the Third House hall.
Fu Lianyin anxiously followed behind and instructed a maidservant to prepare tea for the master and young lady.
"Master, say something! Are you trying to make Consort anxious?" Fu Lianyin said in an urgent yet somewhat gleeful tone. "Did Wei Wen Wang and the princess say anything? They praised our Seventh Young Lady, right?"
"Yes. Naturally praised," Yun Yang maintained his icy demeanor as he took a sip of tea and sarcastically replied. "They also acknowledged your feelings."
"Did you just call my heart?" Fu Lianyin almost jumped up in anger and said, "What do you mean by that, my lord? I don't understand!"
"The Fu Family, you have visited the Wei Wen Wang's residence multiple times before. Why didn't you clarify Xiner's age to Wei Wen Wang and the princess?" Yun Yang found that he had lost interest in arguing with Fu Lianyin, feeling as if they were strangers. Her emotions did not affect him at all as he sternly said, "You didn't even tell me!"
After saying this, the white jade cup made a crisp sound as it hit the table.
Fu Lianyin opened her mouth to argue, but Yun Yang raised his hand and coldly interrupted her:
"Enough, only you know what you truly think," Yun Yang sneered, "I'm a bit tired; I will rest now."
Yun Kexin didn't have time to "comfort" Fu Lianyin before Yun Yang took her hand and walked out of the hall. She felt her adoptive father's hand trembling, as if he was trying hard to control his emotions, and his grip was so tight it hurt.
"Father, don't be sad," Yun Kexin gently shook Yun Yang's hand and said, "Daughter is fine; it's just that Mother and Father have lost face because of me."
"No," Yun Yang lowered his head and smiled slightly, "Xiner has brought great honor to Father today; both the prince and the princess praised Seventh Young Lady." He paused slightly, furrowing his brow as he touched Yun Kexin's head and whispered, "Father will no longer interfere in your marriage. Remember, starting tomorrow, Seventh Young Lady will listen to Auntie." Yun Kexin was taken aback for a moment before realizing that this meant Yun Yang had completely severed his marital ties with Fu Lianyin.
She didn't know how to comfort Yun Yang but silently appreciated her adoptive father's decision and his unwavering love and care for her over the years.
Afterward, Yun Yang instructed the three maidservants accompanying them to take Yun Kexin back to her room for rest.
"Shanling, Shanying, Shanyue, come here." Once seated at the table and having eaten some supper brought by the servants, Yun Kexin addressed the three sisters busy preparing her bed.
The three approached, and Shanling asked, "Sister, what do you need?"
"You used to work at the Yan Guogong's residence," Yun Kexin glanced at them with a furrowed brow and asked, "Do you know someone named Aunt Zhuo?"
"I know her; she is a concubine of Yan Guogong," Shanyue answered quickly. "She has a sisterly relationship with the Guogong's wife."
Sisterly relationship? Then how did she later become legitimized as Feng Yinxiao's stepmother?
"Are you sure Aunt Zhuo has a good relationship with the Yan Guogong's wife?" Yun Kexin asked suspiciously.
"Yes, sister, Duchess trusts Aunt Zhuo very much," Shining said. "She speaks freely and openly, which is why even Young Lord respects her greatly. It's rare to see such harmony among the legitimate and illegitimate relationships in Duke of Yan's Residence. All of this is thanks to Aunt Zhuo's gentle demeanor and propriety; she never oversteps her bounds."
"Can you briefly tell me about Aunt Zhuo?" Yun Kexin asked.
"Sure," Shining nodded. "Aunt Zhuo's name is 'Zhuo Min'. She was born into a merchant family in Jiangnan that dealt in medicine and pharmaceuticals. At sixteen, she became a concubine in Duke of Yan's Residence, giving birth to a daughter, Feng Yulu, and a son, Feng Yinfai, who is about the same age as Young Lord."
As Yun Kexin listened, her eyes flickered in the candlelight: Feng Yinfai and Feng Yulu must be the half-sister and half-brother of Feng Yinxiao. In her previous life, both had fallen victim to Feng Yinxiao, meeting a tragic end with their bodies left unrecognizable—what kind of deep-seated hatred could lead Feng Yinxiao to turn against her own family in Duke of Yan's Residence, executing such brutal acts? It was said that she even hung their heads at the entrance of Duke of Yan's Residence to feed the dogs; just thinking about it was terrifying.
"Sister, sister, what are you thinking about?" Shan Yue waved her hand in front of Yun Kexin.
"Oh, nothing," Yun Kexin said, lifting her eyelids to glance at the three of them before exclaiming, " Shanling, Shining, Shan Yue, I want to sneak into Duke of Yan's Residence tonight to investigate. Do you have any ideas?"
"What? What?" Shining exclaimed, quickly covering her mouth and nose with her hand. "Sister, you want to sneak into Duke of Yan's Residence—"
"You heard me correctly," Yun Kexin replied calmly. "You three think of a way."
"Well, Duke of Yan's Residence is heavily guarded, especially with Young Lord in the residence. I'm afraid... it might be difficult!" Shanling said hesitantly while tugging at her clothes.
"I know a place we can enter," Shan Yue said with brightened eyes. "But it has to be when Young Lord is not in the residence."
Both Shanling and Shining instantly understood what Shan Yue intended. While it was feasible, it still involved certain risks, especially since Yun Kexin wouldn't be able to scale such high walls.
"That's easy," Yun Kexin smiled while resting her chin on her hands. "You can throw me a rope to pull me up. As for Young Lord—"
She suddenly lowered her eyes and fell silent: indeed, if he caught her, how embarrassing would that be? How would she explain herself?
Noticing Yun Kexin's thoughts, Shining said, "Young Lord has been taking care of the sickly Duchess, attending to her day and night. However, with the upcoming Martial Examination, as one of the military generals, he will likely be busy at the Training Ground. We can take advantage of that time to sneak into the residence. But it would be best for Seventh Sister to disguise herself as a man..."
"That's not a problem," Yun Kexin pondered for a moment before saying, "Starting tomorrow, you all keep an eye on when Young Lord is not in the residence so we can prepare."
"Sister, can't you tell us why you're doing this?" Shanling, who had been silent for a long time, asked with concern.
"Not that I don't want to tell you," Yun Kexin smiled, "but I have my reasons for doing this. It's really inconvenient, but don't worry, I won't let you go kill or set fire to anything!"
The three maidservants felt much more at ease after hearing this and decided to obey.
Finally, they received news that Feng Yinxiao was heading to the Training Ground. Yun Kexin immediately summoned the three maidservants to prepare for action.
On a dark and windy night, four agile shadows stealthily made their way to the outer wall of the Duke of Yan's Residence. Two of them leaped onto the high wall first, crouched down, and threw down ropes to pull up the remaining two.
"Shanling, Shan Yue, you two accompany me inside while I keep watch here," Shan Yue whispered.
The others nodded in agreement and then disappeared over the glazed tile roof.
Once inside the Duke of Yan's Residence, Yun Kexin was grateful she had brought Shanling and the others along; otherwise, she would have surely gotten lost. The estate was far larger than she had imagined. She was dizzy from navigating through tree-lined paths, flowerbeds, courtyards, stone arch bridges, pavilions, and winding corridors. To make matters worse, there were servants patrolling from time to time. Fortunately, they remained hidden in the shadows and went unnoticed.
Due to the large number of people and targets, according to their prior arrangement, Shanling and Shan Yue led Yun Kexin to the vicinity of Zhuo Min's courtyard while they waited at designated spots nearby.
Crouching low, Yun Kexin stealthily approached the entrance of the courtyard and noticed that this place was quite secluded, surrounded by scattered rocks and vegetation. She wondered why Zhuo Min had chosen such a location. As she quietly climbed onto a rock intending to sneak over, she unexpectedly heard muffled gasps coming from a nearby rock—
"Mm, ah... Lord Marquis, so good! Consort, Consort is about to..." The woman's moans sounded particularly clear and seductive in the quiet moonlit night. "So comfortable... ah." (To be continued)
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