The flowing white robe slid down to her waist, revealing every inch of snow-white fabric, dazzling her eyes.
Yu Zhi glanced at it once, and the initial heartache spread uncontrollably through her heart.
The room was silent, with only the sound of breathing rising and falling.
She dared not look too long. After applying the medicine and helping the fourth young lady get dressed, she thought in a daze: What virtue or ability did she have to be worthy of the fourth young lady's high regard?
If we're talking about beauties, the Fourth Miss is truly flawless and unparalleled in the world.
"Thank you very much, Miss Fourth, for today."
Wei Pingxi gently pinched her delicate white fingertips: "Why don't you call me 'Xi Xi' anymore?"
"Fourth Miss..."
Call me Xi Xi.
Yu Zhi's fingertips were pinched first, and then her chin was gently lifted. Their eyes met, and the Fourth Miss looked at her with a dazed expression, as if she had only ever seen her.
The spring breeze caresses my heart.
She couldn't help but call out, "Xi Xi."
Wei Pingxi was satisfied and traced the beauty's soft contours with his fingertips: "Then I'll call you Zhizhi from now on."
She tickled Yu Zhi's face, and after trying to dodge but failing, she nodded slightly with her chin and said, "Okay."
His complete obedience struck the heart of the fourth young lady squarely.
Wei Pingxi smiled gently and reached out to touch her head.
As the sun set in the west, after seeing off the Fourth Miss, Yu Zhi stood outside in a daze for a long time.
The sunset glow illuminated half the sky, golden and radiant, full of brightness and hope.
She roused herself, temporarily forgetting the strange feeling caused by the fourth young lady touching her head, and nervously knocked on her mother's door, lifting the hem of her skirt.
With no outsiders around, Yu's mother held her daughter's hand wistfully: "Zhizhi, does it have to be her?"
How can a woman bring peace and happiness to her daughter?
Yu Zhi fell silent, then slowly her eyebrows lit up with a relaxed and happy expression, her voice soft and gentle: "Mother, I have someone I love. Isn't that a good thing? I love someone like her. If it's not her, I'd rather be alone for the rest of my life, staying by your side until you grow old."
Her words implied that she would never marry, and Yu's mother couldn't let her act recklessly.
"Nonsense, if you don't get married, who will take care of you in the future?"
Yu Zhi clung to her arm and pleaded, "But I only want her. Mother, she will protect me."
"But she is a woman."
"She was a woman of unparalleled beauty, a perfect match for me."
Yu Zhi felt a little guilty after saying that.
She always believed that the fourth young lady was the most beautiful person she had ever seen in both her lives.
Regardless of gender, being able to stand beside the Fourth Miss is considered a great honor, let alone sharing a bed with her.
To say that he is a good match for the fourth young lady is really just flattery.
She looked shy, her eyes sparkling with tiny glimmers.
To deceive others, first deceive yourself.
Yu Zhi was filled with thoughts of how good the Fourth Miss had been to her and her mother in both their past and present lives. For a moment, she had the illusion that she loved the Fourth Miss very much.
“Mother, I’ve had enough of being bullied and unable to fight back.”
She nestled in her mother's arms: "It's rare for your daughter to find someone she likes. Mother, please grant my wish, okay?"
"Zhizhi, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event."
"It's a lifelong commitment."
Yu Zhi said earnestly, "It would be wonderful to be able to spend my whole life with Miss Si."
She was completely infatuated with that fourth young lady, and her mother couldn't dissuade her, feeling extremely conflicted: "What did she say?"
“Xi Xi will naturally marry me.”
She smiled, but a hint of sadness flickered across her lowered eyes.
"I want to marry you?" the woman asked in shock.
"Yes. Mother, I want to marry her."
When it's going to rain, it's going to rain; when a mother wants to remarry, there's no stopping her.
Yu's mother always dreamed of her daughter finding a good home, and after all the twists and turns, that home ended up with Wei Pingxi. She had no choice but to accept it, whether she wanted to or not.
On the third day after the mother and daughter moved back to Liushui Lane, the betrothal gifts filled the small courtyard.
No matter how glamorous a woman is, she won't see it.
But she will listen.
Listen to the envious praise from the people around her, and hear them gossiping about which rich family Zhizhi married.
In order to conceal the fact that Yu Zhi was someone's concubine, Miss Wei went to great lengths to put on a show in front of Yu's mother, in accordance with the beauty's wishes.
On the day Yuzhi 'got married', Yuzhi's mother hugged her daughter with sadness, and had so much to say.
Yu Zhi listened to her mother's tireless instructions and held back her tears.
After giving her instructions, the woman turned to look at her daughter's future support and reached out her hand.
Wei Pingxi, dressed in a bright and beautiful wedding gown, took the initiative to approach her.
Now that things have come to this, and she can no longer persuade her determined daughter, Yu's mother can only hope that this fourth young lady is truly a good person.
"I was wrong of me to hit you that day. Are you alright now?"
"It's all better now, Mother-in-law. You should be the one to hit me. I should thank you for letting me and Zhizhi be together."
The fourth young lady's words were so sweet they seemed to be coated with honey that Yu's mother's expression softened slightly. She spoke a few words on behalf of her daughter, simply as a mother:
"Zhizhi has been pampered since she was little and loves to cry. Don't dislike her for crying. Some people are just more sensitive and have more tears than others. If she cries and annoys you one day, please don't be angry with her."
To them, everything here is an act, including her standing here; it's still an act.
But for the unseen woman, today is the day she marries off her daughter.
Wei Pingxi had only ever been close to her mother since childhood. She was a dutiful daughter and therefore understood Yu Zhi's reluctance to tell her birth mother the truth.
"I won't find her annoying."
"Okay, okay." Mother Yu smiled, tears welling in her eyes. "Then, I'll entrust my daughter to you."
Chapter 9 Warm Fragrance and Soft Jade
Wearing the bright red wedding dress, Yu Zhi thought to herself: This is probably the first and last time I will wear this bright red wedding gown.
"First bow to Heaven and Earth—"
The best man, a servant from the villa, shouted at the top of his lungs.
Because it wasn't a proper and real wedding, but just a facade for her mother to "see," Yuzhi only wore a wedding dress and didn't wear a veil as was customary in the Great Yan Dynasty.
Even though it was fake, she couldn't help but feel nervous and anxious.
Compared to her 'lack of worldly experience,' Miss Wei was quite composed, radiant, and her well-tailored wedding dress perfectly accentuated her delicate features and slender figure.
At first glance, the fairy from Yaochi appears dignified and elegant, with red lips, white teeth, and a gentle smile.
Yuzhi followed her and bowed to heaven and earth.
"Second bow to the parents—"
In the high seat, the servant woman, who was pretending to be Madam Wei, dared not accept the master's greeting. Wei Pingxi looked at her casually, but showed no intention of condescending to bow to her.
Yu Zhi hoped that the fourth young lady could pay her respects to her mother.
This bow was a way of thanking her mother for her hard work in raising her. From then on, she was no longer Yuzhi, but someone who bore the mark of the Fourth Miss.
But she was just the fourth young lady's concubine. What right did she have to ask the fourth young lady to worship her mother?
She knew she was being wishful and delusional. The Fourth Miss was a person of utmost dignity, and the fact that she agreed to join forces with others to stage such a 'farce' was already a sign of her kindness.
Cutting off that delusion, Yuzhi bowed deeply to her mother with utmost reverence.
Wei Pingxi saw everything she did, and he could even see the blush creeping up the corners of her eyes.
He raised his eyebrows and glanced at the woman who was sitting earnestly in the seat of honor receiving the greetings—the woman was blind and didn't even know whether her 'good son-in-law' had bowed to her or not.
Yu Zhi almost burst into tears as she bowed.
Sometimes truth can be mistaken for falsehood, and falsehood for truth. Her wedding was fake, but to her mother it was real.
This was the first time in her life that her mother had married off her daughter in such a grand and glorious way.
Tears welled up but did not fall, which was truly pitiful. Even Wei Pingxi's hardened heart was softened by Yu's restrained emotions.
The Great Yan Dynasty placed great importance on ceremony, and to show its solemnity, the three bows during a wedding were all kneeling. Wei Pingxi was extremely unwilling to kneel before a blind woman she didn't know.
Furthermore, today's event is merely a performance; it appears as if she is marrying Yuzhi as her wife, but Yuzhi will ultimately remain a concubine.
She only wanted to have another plaything for amusement when she took a concubine. There's no reason for her to pour her heart and soul into a plaything.
The beautiful woman knelt on the ground, unable to rise, her delicate body seemingly suppressing a silent lament.
Wei Pingxi stood there straight, extremely annoyed. He flung his clothes and knelt down in a daze, hooking his hand around Yu Zhi's cold little finger and gently pulling it.
Yu Zhi was taken aback, all her grievances vanished, and she smiled at the Fourth Miss with a heart full of joy.
Only when she smiled did Wei Pingxi's unease ease somewhat.
What a terrible thing to do!
This isn't taking a concubine, it's taking in an ancestor!
Miss Wei gritted her teeth inwardly, hoping that the beauty would serve her well in the future, otherwise how could she repay her for kneeling today?
Yu Zhi was overjoyed.