The Hu family's main gate was open, and Mrs. Wang was arranging the accommodations in a harsh tone.
Mr. Xu squeezed in with Mrs. Xiao's two brothers to sleep on the ground in the kitchen.
She did not want anything to do with poor relatives and made Mrs. Xu, the Xu family daughter-in-law, stay with her son in Mrs. Xiao's room.
"Only Erlang's room is available, but it contains valuable items like ink and paper. I rarely enter, except to clean. It's inconvenient for in-laws to stay there, so I have to trouble you."
The Xu family's clothes were patched all over. The children were exceedingly dirty, running wildly in the Hu family's courtyard, only to be caught and scolded by the Xu family's eldest daughter-in-law.
Mr. Xu sat on the steps, his back hunched heavily.
"No, no."
A hint of indignation was in Mrs. Xu's eyes.
Is it so great to have a scholar son!
But she didn't dare offend them, so she smiled awkwardly: "We're all country bumpkins, clumsy and careless, what would we do if we dirtied or broke something?"
"Before coming, I also told the children that the Hu family's uncle is the future scholar, a most promising person."
These words were endless flattery, which smoothed Mrs. Wang's mood. She lifted her chin proudly, unable to hide the disdain in her eyes.
Yu Tingwan entered the courtyard at this moment. Her ink-black hair was disheveled, and her clothes were torn in several places.
Everyone's gaze turned to her, among them a man with a dark complexion whose eyes lit up.
"Cousin Yu, what happened to you? Need help?"
Yu Tingwan frowned and avoided his outstretched hand.
This was Mr. Xu's second brother, the most glib-tongued.
The Xu family couldn't come up with money for him to wed, so he roamed around flirting with girls.
Last year, he even brought a proposal, only to be chased out with a broom by Hu Dazhu.
Yu Tingwan slowly raised her eyes, a flash of disgust in them.
"Move aside."
Xu Fen's smile didn't fade: "When you first arrived, I didn't see you. They said you went to gather firewood. Look at you, frozen to the bone, your hands are red, and I feel sorry."
The young girl was beautiful, her snow-white skin as delicate as porcelain. She had grown quite a bit, and Xu Fen's eyes almost couldn't look away.
He knew the Hu family looked down on him. But what difference did it make?
This time, being able to stay here, even if he couldn't marry Yu Tingwan, touching her hand or kissing her lips would be satisfying enough.
Yet Yu Tingwan avoided him like the plague.
Yu Tingwan sneered, her past memories broken, few and fragmented; she didn't know Xu Fen's fate.
But people like Xu Fen, unruly and reckless, who secretly flirted even with widows, were bound to meet disaster sooner or later.
Yu Tingwan spoke slowly: "You look somewhat unlucky."
!!!
Mrs. Xiao: !!!
Why is it always this phrase?
She was already traumatized!
Seeing Xu Fen still oblivious and leaning toward Yu Tingwan, she was afraid the second brother would encounter some mishap again and quickly pulled him back.
"Wan Niang must be tired too and eager to return and rest. Second Brother can talk later."
She had learned her lesson.
Yu Tingwan's gaze swept across everyone in the courtyard, finally resting for a moment on the Xu family boy causing a commotion, before she returned to her room.
As the door closed, she heard Mrs. Xu's complaint.
"Wan Niang's temper is getting worse, my second child meant well."
Would Mrs. Wang believe this? But she was too lazy to expose it.
Yu Tingwan didn't care either. As the door closed, she brushed the snow off herself and hid the remaining six coins.
Then she went to tend to her wounds.
They weren't serious, just some scraped skin and a little bleeding.
These past few days she had been very busy, but indeed, as a woman, her energy was limited. In such a state, it wouldn't be easy to go out. Firewood had to be used sparingly.
The room was damp and cold. She wasn't willing to use up the firewood, her hands long since numbed with cold, she climbed onto the bed after taking off her inadequate cotton clothes and covered herself with the thin quilt.
Yet she was still cold.
She piled on a few clean clothes to keep warm, then applied some ointment evenly on her hands.
A soothing, cool sensation alleviated the itch.
She was extremely weary, her eyelids growing heavier. As she drifted into sleep, fragmented memories appeared before her eyes.
The sound of gongs and drums was everywhere, firecrackers going off incessantly.
People who passed by the Dong family in the county would stop and watch.
A crowd gathered to talk.
"This Mr. Dong is old but still lively; his wife's body isn't even cold, and he's already remarrying."
"It's Matchmaker Liu who arranged it, but no one knows from which family the girl is. The Dong and Liu families are as secretive as thieves, not revealing a single word."
"Hey, have you heard? The Hu family's niece is missing."
Someone inquired.
"Which Hu family?"
"The one whose youngest son studies in our town, always topping the exams. It's said he couldn't come home for the New Year, and Mr. Chu even invited him over for New Year's Eve dinner."
Someone sighed.
"I'm from the neighboring village, and I've heard the news. Only after the New Year was the road from the town to the county reopened. Hu Dazhu returned home laden with large bags, only to find his niece missing. He cherishes her more than anything, and was furious."
"Now everyone in Xilin Village is helping to search, but there's no trace at all. Privately, people say she probably went deep into the mountains and was eaten by a beast."
Someone's eyes shifted.
"No, something's amiss. Do you think it's possible that Mr. Dong's new bride is actually..."
The words weren't finished before being interrupted.
"Impossible, Mrs. Wang wouldn't dare."
"If Hu Dazhu found out, wouldn't he beat her to death?"
"Besides, with a scholar in the family, doing such a thing would not only ruin her son's reputation but also cut off his future."
"She couldn't be so foolish."
Outside, the heated discussions were ongoing, while inside the Dong family, chaos reigned.
The bride had run away.
Yu Tingwan had never been to the county; everything around her was unfamiliar. She could only charge forward blindly.
She was extremely frightened.
Helpless and panic-stricken.
But no one came to rescue her.
Unlike the brightly decorated Dong family, another street was lined with white silk, hung from door to door.
This was the route for General Wei Zhao's coffin on its way back to Shangjing.
The road was cleared, and in the grip of overwhelming sorrow, civilians on both sides cried into their hands.
They followed the funeral procession all the way from the frontier, step by step wearing out the soles of their shoes.
The vast world is the emperor's domain.
The people admire the emperor on the throne in Shangjing.
But after years of warfare at the frontier, the ordinary people saw only the Wei Family Army as their protector.
Their lives were safeguarded by the sacrifices Wei Zhao made on the battlefield.
Each soldier of the Wei Family Army was in mourning attire, with white sashes at their waists, carrying the coffin in heart-wrenching grief, moving forward numbly.
"Stop! Don't run!"
"Advise the new wife not to provoke the master! It's you who'll ultimately suffer."
"People from the countryside just don't have proper manners!"
Those chasing Yu Tingwan were the Dong family servants.
Tears in her eyes, she ran with all her might towards the crowd, not daring to stop, seeing the pursuers as fierce beasts.
The air was filled with swirling paper money, every house on this street bore funeral couplets and banners of mourning.
Grief was visible in every corner.
Until...a bright red figure stumbled in from despair.
"Help!"