The main courtyard of the Yongling Marquis Mansion, Yihe Hall.
Meng's daughter was urgently pulled into the house and the door was quickly closed.
She loosened her grip on Yu Wan's hand and turned around, her face cold and questioning, "Wan'er, be honest with me. Did you manipulate the wedding? Did you purposely marry Li Luoshu?"
"Mum, I don't know what you're talking about?"
Yu Wan's eyes darted, and she was somewhat afraid to look at her own mother.
How could Meng not know what her daughter was like?
Seeing her evasive eyes and guilty expression, Meng knew it was true.
"Pap!"
The anger in Meng's heart was no longer under control, and she slapped her angrily.
She roared with fury, "What kind of potions did that Li Luoshu feed you, making you give up the position as the Crown Prince's wife and be willing to marry him instead?"
"Mom, why did you hit me?"
Yu Wan covered her face, incredulously looking at Meng.
From childhood to the present, this was the first time her mother had struck her, and it was also the first time she had seen her mother so angry.
However, she didn't regret it.
"I beat you for a reason. You should know."
Meng's eyes narrowed and she glared at her daughter with a mixture of anger and disappointment.
She said angrily, "Li Luoshu is indeed good, but how can he compare to the Crown Prince of Jin? Are you mad? Why would you marry a sixth-ranking official?"
"Mum, don't underestimate him. My husband is full of strategies and ambitions, and he is greatly favored by the emperor. Just starting his career, he was already assigned to the Hanlin Academy as an official. Given time, he will undoubtedly become a powerbroker of a generation. By then, I'll be a concubine with an edict."
Yu Wan saw that her mother looked down on her husband and became unhappy.
Li Luoshu was truly good to her, considerate and attentive. She had finally tasted the flavor of being a woman.
Compared to the lifetime of solitude she endured in the Jingfu Manor, she found life here much more enjoyable.
It was Li Luoshu's mother who she disliked the most, always trying to manipulate her.
But for her husband, she bore with it.
"Hahaha, a generation of power brokers? And a concubine with an edict? Dream on."
Meng was so amused by her daughter that she laughed out loud.
She stuck a finger hard into Yu Wan's forehead and scolded, "You say you weren't drugged by him? Did he tell you these things?"
"No, my husband wouldn't say things like that."
Yu Wan dissatisfiedly said, "Mom, you're wronging him."
Now that her husband's position was still low, even if she tried to convince her mother that he would achieve greatness in the future, she wouldn't believe it.
But she was also not good at revealing her own rebirth.
She thought for a moment and then lied, looking at Meng, "Mom, I had a strange dream before my wedding."
"What dream?"
Meng, intuiting that her daughter's change was related to this dream, did not lose her temper but instead asked with patience.
Yu Wan stepped closer to Meng and whispered in her ear, "Mom, I had a dream that the Crown Prince of Jin was impotent. After marrying him, I lived as a widow for all my days, was ridiculed as a worthless hen who couldn't lay eggs, suffered countless hardships and insults, and died young."
Meng stared at her in shock, "Is that true?"
How could such an absurd thing happen?
"Of course, it's true. I dreamt about it more than once, for several days in a row. I was terrified those days."
Yu Wan's beautiful eyes sparkled, and she said half-truthfully.
People in this era are very superstitious; the wealthier the family, the more they believe in such things.
Meng did not doubt her daughter's lies. If there was no reason, no one would choose to give up a wealthy life to marry a sixth-ranking official.
She didn't speak but fell into deep thought.
If dreaming once could be considered an accident, but if it happened for several days in a row, then it was something else.
Meng looked at her daughter and her heart skipped a beat. She thought in her mind: Could it be that the heavens are warning Wan'er not to marry Nanguan Yan? To avoid suffering all her life?
"But why did you choose to marry Li Luoshu? Could it be because of him?"
Meng, thinking about her daughter's words about Li Luoshu possibly becoming a generation of powerbroker and a concubine with an edict, probably had some guesses in her mind.
Indeed.
As I heard Yu Wan said, "I dreamt that Li Luoshu was very favored by the emperor and his official position rose rapidly to become the leading prime minister of the era. And the third sister who married Li Luoshu became a first-grade concubine with an edict. All the noble women in the capital were flattering her and currying favor with her"
"And in the dream, Li Luoshu was extremely good to his third sister, having her as his only woman throughout his life. They had three sons and two daughters, living a happy and fulfilling life together, their love as deep as the ocean. The girls in the dream were envious of them all."
"Really? That's why you chose Li Luoshu?"
Meng was completely shocked. In fact, she had already believed it in her heart.
If that's true, then there's no wonder why Wan'er would make such a choice.
"If that's truly the case, then I won't blame you. However, your husband's current position is too low, and you will have to endure for now."
Meng, knowing that Li Luoshu would achieve great success in the future, would no longer blame her and instead be grateful that her daughter had made this choice.
If she really married into the Jingfu Manor, as in her dream, she would live as a widow for the rest of her life.
"No, I don't think your third sister looks like someone who hasn't consummated her marriage?"
Meng furrowed her brow and looked at her daughter, asking again.
This was also a puzzle for Yu Wan, but in order to prevent her mother from getting angry and to make her respect her husband.
She rolled her eyes and said, "How would anyone know if they've consummated their marriage? Maybe the third sister was afraid of shame and painted herself up like that before going out."
Meng was stunned, and after thinking about it, she agreed that not consummating the marriage upon entering the Jingfu Manor would indeed be embarrassing and something that people would cover up.
So she no longer worried about it.
"Mum, my husband's position is still low now, and he needs the support of a patron. I beg you to talk more to father and ask him to help my husband."
Yu Wan then revealed the second purpose of her return home.
Her father was angry with her, and she dare not go to him. She could only mention it to her mother.
Meng took her hand and smiled, "Don't worry, daughter. I understand and will talk to your father. Even if your father doesn't help, I can go to your uncle."
Meng, coming from the Wan'an Country Estate, may not be as prestigious as the Yongling Marquis Mansion, but she still belongs to a wealthy family and has connections in the court.
"Thank you, Mom!"
Yu Wan smiled happily, and her heart felt at ease.
The conversation between the mother and daughter was unknown to anyone else.
On the Rongxi Hall side.
The elderly lady finally got a chance to be alone with Yu Yao, holding her hand and asking, "Yao'er, how does Marquis Yan treat you?"
She used to feel sorry for this granddaughter, so she often took care of her, but she never expected her to become successful like this.
Yu Yao knew that the old lady truly cared for her, so she returned to a gentle demeanor, smiling softly and saying, "Grandmother, please be assured that the World Prince treats me very well."
She poured a cup of tea for the old lady and, while the old lady wasn't looking, secretly crushed a rejuvenating pill and mixed it into the tea.
"Grandmother, please drink this tea!"
She smiled and handed the tea over.
The grandmother is old, and to her, there's nothing more important than health.
It can also be considered repaying the old lady for her care in her previous life.
The old lady took it happily and drank it all in one go, not noticing anything.
Seeing the old lady finish the tea, Yu Yao's smile deepened at the corners of her mouth.
After chatting for a while, she was also pulled away by the other ladies in the household.
"Third sister, you've been married off, and no one to play with me anymore. I feel unmotivated and bored with everything I do."
"That's true. Usually, I would go to Third Sister's Taoyi Residence and it was good enough to just talk a few words there. Now that I can't see Third Sister anymore, I always feel empty in my heart."
Yu Yao just smiled and looked at them, saying that the original owner was a minor character in the household and had average relationships with these sisters.
She's been much more enthusiastic lately.
She knew that this was due to her status, but she didn't reveal it. Instead, she spoke with them warmly and smilingly.
Only when the old servant came to say that the banquet was ready and asked when they could start eating did they stop chatting.
