Chapter 52: Unexpected Changes

In early July, Su Mu had her grand wedding. The ceremony was not extravagant, only a simple gathering with some invited friends.

Su Mu came to this world alone, without any relatives. After much consideration, she only invited neighbors and Shen Yuxue. As for Xie Yi, needless to say, only Xie Miaorong came, wearing a scowling face, looking very displeased.

But while Xie Miaorong was unhappy, Xie Yi’s heart was filled with joy. Dressed in red wedding attire, listening to the celebratory music outside, his heart was racing.

Today, after the ceremony, he would officially become Su Mu’s husband, able to rightfully stand by her side.

Su Mu, dressed in her wedding attire with a flower bouquet on her chest, stood smiling at the door to greet guests. Shen Yuxue arrived earliest, bringing a large pile of wedding gifts. Although Su Mu didn’t know what was inside, just looking at the boxes, she could tell the contents were valuable.

“Congratulations,” Shen Yuxue said with a faint smile. “May you have a harmonious union for a hundred years and bear noble daughters soon.”

Su Mu smiled and thanked her, “I appreciate your kind words.”

“Congratulations to Lady Su on obtaining such a charming husband,” the neighbors came to offer their blessings.

Just when they thought all the guests had arrived, an unexpected visitor appeared.

Su Mu’s face darkened.

Yan Ting, accompanying Yan Jiyue beside her, said, “I’ve already brought you to see her as you wished. Let’s go back now. Today is her wedding day, Su Mu doesn’t want to see you.”

“No-” Yan Jiyue leaned against the wall, his thin body swaying unsteadily. “I want to go.”

Yan Ting couldn’t bear to see this: “Why bother? Watching your former wife-master marry another man as her primary husband, you’re just humiliating yourself.”

Yan Jiyue bit his lip, his pale face only showing a hint of sickly red at the corners of his eyes. “Yes, I am humiliating myself.”

Even if every scene he was about to witness would be a bone-deep torment for him, he still wanted to engrave her most beautiful image into his eyes.

When they got married back then, he wore a red veil.

In the bridal chamber, she lifted his veil, but he was full of resentment and hatred, never properly seeing how she looked in her wedding attire.

Now she stood at the end of the alley, tall and motionless. The red ribbons tied in her hair fluttered in the wind, just like before. But now she would never smile at him again, nor treat him with tenderness. All her love and gentleness were given to another man.

“Alright, look at you. I’ve already broken the rules by bringing you to see her. Now let’s go back,” Yan Ting forcibly pulled Yan Jiyue. She saw Su Mu calmly shift her gaze away upon seeing them, without a hint of affection, indicating that she didn’t want to invite them at all.

It made sense. Considering their identities, coming at this time would only be crashing the wedding.

Yan Ting ignored Yan Jiyue’s wishes and forcibly dragged him away. A man’s strength was naturally inferior to a woman’s, and Yan Jiyue had little strength left at this point. Yan Ting easily dragged him away, stuffed him into the carriage, and jumped onto the driver’s seat herself.

Since the incident at the Yan family, Yan Zhujun had dismissed many servants, including the horse groom. Not only that, he and Yan Jiyue were left with only one personal attendant each, while Yan Zhujun kept the brothers Ling Hua and Ling Jing.

Recently, Yan Zhujun had been planning to sell Yan Jiyue’s servants Xiao Ping and Hua Lu, as well as Yan Ting’s servant. In the future, Yan Jiyue would have to take care of his own daily needs.

Yan Ting didn’t mind, as she was used to living alone, but she worried that Yan Jiyue wouldn’t adapt well.

She brought him back to the Yan family. As soon as they entered the main gate, they saw Yan Zhujun standing at the entrance with a gloomy face.

Yan Ting recalled the scene when she was first brought to the Yan mansion after losing her memory. At that time, there were two people guarding even the gatehouse. Now the gatehouse was empty. The once-tidy courtyard was now overgrown with weeds, fallen leaves scattered everywhere with no one to sweep them up. It looked both messy and desolate, clearly showing signs of decline.

“Father,” Yan Ting lowered her eyes.

Yan Zhujun’s face turned blue with anger. He rushed forward and started hitting: “On someone else’s wedding day, you go there crying and wailing. Do you have any sense of shame left?”

Yan Ting protected him and explained, “Father, Jiyue just can’t let go. You know how he’s been these days, not eating or drinking properly, wearing himself out like this.”

“It’s all his own fault. If he hadn’t made his own decisions back then, would Su Mu be marrying someone else? Would he be in this situation? Would our Yan family be in this state?” Yan Zhujun held Yan Ting, heartbroken. “If he hadn’t divorced back then, your younger sibling would be a scholar now. Ting’er, your future would have been so much better.”

“Our current life is fine too,” Yan Ting comforted Yan Zhujun.

Yan Zhujun shook his head, a tear falling from his aged eyes. “No, our Yan family won’t be downtrodden forever. Ting’er, we must rise again. Do you know how my old friends mocked me when I went out today? In all my decades of life, no one has ever dared to point at me and curse.”

Yan Ting sighed. Yan Zhujun must have been quite prominent in his youth, but who would have thought he’d end up like this in his old age. The huge psychological gap made it hard for him to accept.

That’s why he set his sights on Yan Jiyue.

“Jiyue, we have guests visiting tomorrow. Dress up nicely,” Yan Zhujun wiped away his tears and said calmly.

Yan Jiyue was thoroughly disappointed. His phoenix eyes swept over Yan Zhujun with a faint light, showing neither despair nor resentment. He pushed Yan Ting away and slowly walked towards Hantan Courtyard. Seeing his weak condition, Hua Lu immediately came forward to support him.

“Ting’er, I’ve recently found a good marriage prospect for Jiyue. In a while, our family will be better off. When that time comes, you must strive to bring our Yan family back to its former glory, understand?” Yan Zhujun said gently.

Yan Ting didn’t believe it could be a good marriage prospect.

Remembering what Su Mu had once told her, Yan Ting took a deep breath and said, “Father, if Jiyue doesn’t want to remarry, let him be. After all, we still have this big house and two shops. In the future, when I marry Feng’er, we can do some small business in the city together. Our family can still live a good life.” It would just not be as wealthy as before.

“Shut up! Don’t mention that man to me!” Yan Zhujun suddenly became agitated.

Feng’er was the son of a farmer family with whom Yan Ting had privately pledged marriage when she fell off the cliff. When Yan Ting left with the search party, she had promised to come back and marry him. He had been waiting eagerly ever since.

“A tenant farmer’s son, with rough hands and feet, barely literate, he’s not even fit to be your concubine, how could you marry him? And do business with him? Impossible! How could you become a lowly merchant!” Yan Zhujun shouted. He had never reacted so strongly even when Yan Jiyue defied him in the past.

But this was Yan Ting, the daughter in whom Yan Zhujun had placed great hopes. When such words of contentment with the current situation came from his most beloved daughter’s mouth, Yan Zhujun felt truly panicked and desperate.

“I forbid you from associating with that man anymore. Tomorrow- tomorrow I’ll arrange a marriage for you, find an educated and sensible young man,” Yan Zhujun said forcefully, barely holding himself up.

Yan Ting shook her head slightly: “It won’t happen. With our family’s current situation, no young man from a good family would be willing to marry down to us.”

“What do you mean marry down? This is not marrying down!” Yan Zhujun clung to his last shred of dignity. Yan Ting didn’t have the heart to shatter this pitiful old man’s illusions.

“Alright, even if there’s a young man willing to marry me, where would we get the betrothal gifts?” She saw through reality more clearly than Yan Zhujun and had accepted it.

“We’ll have it. We will,” Yan Zhujun muttered pensively.

Yan Ting said seriously, “Father, don’t set your sights on Jiyue.”

Yan Zhujun was intimidated by Yan Ting’s rare serious gaze and had to temporarily give up the idea. But he suddenly said, “We still have the indenture contracts for Jiyue’s servants Xiao Ping and Hua Lu, as well as your servant. If we sell them to… we could get more money. Add that to the jewelry Jiyue has accumulated over the years and the things I’ve kept at the bottom of my trunk, we should be able to gather about a hundred taels of silver if we sell it all.”

Yan Ting shook her head, “No.”

She had no intention of emptying the entire family’s resources to marry a man she didn’t even know. Wouldn’t it be better to keep this money for emergencies? A hundred taels of silver could feed an ordinary family for decades. Feng’er was better; he was willing to be with her even when she had nothing.

Xiao Ping, who was hiding behind the window, heard this conversation and was so frightened his legs went weak. He stumbled and ran towards Hantan Courtyard.

“Ouch, what are you doing? Keep it down, the young master just fell asleep,” Hua Lu, who had just finished attending to Yan Jiyue, collided with Xiao Ping as he stumbled into the courtyard. They both fell to the ground. Hua Lu rubbed his head and complained, “It’s broad daylight, why are you running so fast? Did you see a ghost?”

Xiao Ping, with a pale face, said, “No, it’s worse than seeing a ghost… Is the young master asleep?”

“Yes, he just fell asleep,” Hua Lu stood up and patted the dust off his clothes.

Xiao Ping gripped his hand tightly, “Are you sure he’s asleep?”

Hua Lu said, “Of course. The young master’s body has been in such a state recently, and after seeing the young mistress get married, he’s suffered a great shock and passed out. Alas, it’s so pitiful.”

Xiao Ping spat, “Pitiful? You might as well pity yourself. You’re about to be sold to a brothel and you don’t even know it.”

Hua Lu was shocked, “What did you say?”

Xiao Ping snorted, “I heard the master say it myself. The Yan family has no money now, all the servants who could be dismissed have been sent away. Only us few with indenture contracts are left. That shameless old man has set his sights on us, saying he wants to sell us to a male brothel to get more money for the young lady’s dowry.”

Hua Lu was so scared he fell to the ground crying, “No, I’d rather die than become a lowly male prostitute.”

Seeing that he had successfully frightened Hua Lu, Xiao Ping coldly smiled, “Don’t panic, we still have a chance.”

Hearing there was a way out, Hua Lu immediately grabbed his sleeve and asked, “What should we do?”

Xiao Ping’s eyes shot towards Yan Jiyue’s room, saying ominously, “If they’re not being righteous, we don’t have to be loyal. I’ve served Yan Jiyue for so many years, I know where he keeps the keys to his boxes of gold and silver jewelry. We might as well take the things and run.”

“But the indenture contracts are still in the master’s hands,” Hua Lu said weakly.

Xiao Ping angrily poked him, “Useless thing. If we take a risk, there might still be a glimmer of hope. If you’re so timid, just wait until tomorrow morning to be sold to a male brothel.”