Wu Hui glanced at it and said in a muffled voice, "Everyone else eats fragrant mangoes from the South China Sea and lychees from Lingnan, but here I only get a few coins' worth of broken pears from an ordinary market."
Yuanxiao couldn't immediately recall who the "other people" Wu Hui was referring to, so she could only give a vague answer: "It's not lychee season yet. Last year, the old lady got some lychees and gave you a whole basket of them."
"Hmph," Wu Hui was even more displeased. "That whole basket wasn't just for me. My parents and younger brother were also there. Unlike other people who live with their grandmother, they can eat whatever they want without any restrictions."
He Caiqiong has been married into the Jun family for seven years and has only given birth to one son, named Junwei, who just turned four years old this year. The younger brother Wu Hui mentioned is him.
This time, Yuanxiao understood. The "other people" Wu Hui was referring to was her half-sister, Wuyou.
Yuanxiao had served Wu Hui since she was a child, so she naturally understood her master's thoughts.
Wu Hui didn't get along well with the other girls in her family growing up. Except for the eldest daughter, Wu Xia, who was much older than Wu Hui and was more tolerant of her, and they were barely like normal sisters, the second and third daughters were different; one would avoid Wu Hui whenever she saw her, and the other would always start a fight with her.
If sisters have a good relationship, they will naturally be less calculating. But if they are not on good terms, they will easily compare themselves to each other in everything.
Wuxia had become a prince's consort many years ago, Wushuang had been betrothed to the Prince of Ying, and even Wuyou, born out of wedlock, was engaged to Pang Yuan, the heir of the Marquis of Pingyang. In the future, her three older sisters would all be destined to be noblewomen, while Wuhui was the only one whose marriage was still uncertain, which naturally made her unhappy.
As a servant, Yuanxiao dared not easily speak ill of her master, but she had advised him more than once before that Wu Hui should not always oppose the second wife, He Caiqiong.
At the time, Wu Hui didn't take the matter to heart at all, and even punished Yuanxiao for talking too much.
Now she always complains that her stepmother favors her illegitimate daughter, and even has a somewhat obsessive belief that He Caiqiong deliberately makes things difficult for her in terms of marriage, which is why she has been slow to mention finding a suitable match for her.
Even if Wu Hui's opinion is true, Yuan Xiao doesn't think there's anything wrong with it. A biological mother loves her obedient and filial children more, let alone a stepmother.
“Girl, lychees are so sweet, eating too many will make you fat.” Although Yuanxiao had different thoughts, she was afraid of being punished by Wu Hui before, so she was unwilling to speak her true feelings. She just went along with Wu Hui’s wishes and said, “I heard that the wedding dress is already made. If you gain too much weight, it won’t fit on the wedding day, and then there will be a lot of laughs.”
Wu Hui imagined the comical sight of Wu You, so fat she burst out of her wedding dress, and burst out laughing.
However, she still hoped that Wuyou would never get married.
Wu Hui would never tell anyone about such dark thoughts, not even her close maid who had grown up with her since childhood.
She chased Yuanxiao out of the house and made it clear that no one was allowed to come in and disturb her unless instructed to do so. She sat alone at the table and quietly wrote two letters, put them in envelopes and sealed them. She also wrote a note and put the two letters together in a large envelope.
"I have a letter here, Manager Zhang," Wu Hui said to Yuan Xiao as she walked to the door with the letter.
Chenxiang Pavilion was a writing brush and ink shop, originally part of her birth mother He's dowry. When He was divorced, the dowry naturally returned to the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion. However, He later passed away, and Junheng went to take up a post in another place. The Marquis of Zhongyong's wife was worried that her granddaughter would be vulnerable and bullied in the Jun family, so she gave the shop to Wu Hui to ensure that she had enough money and could eat, wear, and use whatever she wanted.
When Manager Zhang received the letter, he opened it and found only a short sentence inside, instructing him to deliver two letters to Pang Yuan, the heir of the Marquis of Pingyang, and Lady Bai, the old lady of the Marquis of Pingyang, who were on duty at Lingguang Guard.
Manager Zhang then asked one of his shop assistants to run an errand while delivering goods.
As evening fell, the afterglow of the setting sun shone through the courtyard and into the half-open windows, casting a pale golden hue over everything inside, including people and objects.
Pang Yuan closed the book in his hand, slowly stood up, and prepared to tidy up the table before leaving to go home.
Just then, a servant trotted in and respectfully handed him a letter.
"Mr. Pang, this is your letter. Fortunately, it arrived in time. Hopefully, it didn't cause any delays."
"Thank you for your hard work." Pang Yuan replied gently and politely, and didn't forget to take out a handful of copper coins to reward the other party.
There was no signature on the envelope, so Pang Yuan assumed it was an official letter and immediately opened it to read it.
To his astonishment, the content written in her delicate handwriting was quite surprising:
Brother Pang:
Recently, an unexpected major event occurred in our family. For the sake of my sister Wuyou's interests, my grandmother and mother decided to do their best to keep this matter from you.
Although I have only met you a few times, I have always admired your character and cannot bear to see you being schemed against and suffering such a great loss. After careful consideration, I have decided to tell you in detail.
It's a bit embarrassing to talk about.
Wuyou had a small private storeroom where her aunt's belongings were kept, along with valuable gifts given to her by her grandmother and mother over the years. Just a few days ago, her grandmother sent someone to the storeroom to inventory the items in preparation for Wuyou's dowry, only to discover that all the valuable items in the storeroom had been replaced with fakes.
Upon investigation, Sister Wuyou confessed that she was the one who did it, and that it was all to help the man she admired.
The letter was also unsigned, but judging from the meaning expressed and the way the writer addressed him, it could be inferred that the writer was Wuyou's younger siblings. Having been engaged for many years, Pang Yuan naturally knew everyone in the Jun family. There were four people younger than Wuyou, two of whom were boys too young to be concerned about this matter. Therefore, the only ones who could have written the letter to inform on Wuyou were Wushuang and Wuhui, two girls of similar age.
Pang Yuan's emotions fluctuated greatly after reading the letter. However, having worked on cases in Lingguangwei for a long time, he knew very well that informants were not necessarily as "kind" as they claimed. Ten out of ten were driven by self-interest, hoping to strike or harm the person they had informed on, and the things they revealed might not even be true.
He should investigate this thoroughly.
Chapter 80 | Table of Contents
Chapter 80:
The journey from the Lingguang Guard's office to the Pingyang Marquis's residence was not short, giving Pang Yuan ample time to methodically plan his next move.
However, there is an unexpected twist in the world: plans can never keep up with changes. He never imagined that an identical letter would be delivered to his grandmother.
Pang Yuancai turned into the alley in front of the main gate of the Pingyang Marquis's mansion from the intersection. He saw the steward Pang Sanshun standing at the gate, standing on tiptoe and craning his neck to look at the alley entrance with a look of anxiety on his face. It was unclear who he was waiting for.
"Uncle Sanshun," he rode forward and greeted Pang Sanshun, "Has something happened at home?"
"Young Master, you're finally back." Pang Sanshun was Pang Yuan's grandfather's nephew. Now in his sixties, he was still in good health, but his voice could no longer hide the hoarseness of old age.
Pang Sanshun pretended to help Pang Yuan off his horse, and while leading him into the mansion, he recounted how the old lady had been furious after receiving the letter.
"The old lady only showed that letter to the first wife, so I don't know what it contained, and neither do the others in the family. However, I have been serving the Pang family since I was born, and I have been with the old lady for forty or fifty years. In any case, I have never seen her so angry. Young master, the old lady specifically asked you to go see her as soon as you get home. Ninety-nine percent of the matter is related to you, so you must be careful later."
"Uncle Sanshun, please rest assured. I have always been law-abiding outside and have never done anything wrong or that would damage the reputation of our Pang family. If the contents of the letter have angered my grandmother, it is probably because someone has ill intentions and is slandering me. Once I explain to my grandmother in detail, everything should be fine."
After listening to a few sentences, Pang Yuan guessed about 70-80% of the contents of the letter based on the time when it was received and his grandmother, Madam Bai's, attitude. It was very likely that the letter he received was the same as the one he had received, revealing Wu You's so-called "truth," the truth of which was unknown.
Whether it was to repay the kindness shown to him in the past or to protect his fiancé as her fiancé, Pang Yuan was willing to cover for Wuyou and readily agreed to Pang Sanshun's suggestion to take all the blame upon himself.