Mu Wanyun spent a muddled night's sleep in Lv Wu Courtyard. Shortly after she woke up, a maid came in to announce that Aunt Zhao and the Fourth Young Miss had arrived.
Aunt Zhao was Mu Wanyun's birth mother.
For years, Mu Wanyun had never been able to forget the scene from her childhood of Aunt Zhao holding her newborn younger sister.
In her childhood, when the whole family was in Yangzhou, Aunt Zhao had always been cold and indifferent toward her.
Later, when the entire family moved to Chang'an, she was the only one left behind.
She remembered her younger self, running and stumbling behind Aunt Zhao's carriage, crying and begging for Aunt Zhao to take her along.
But the carriage didn't stop; instead, it went faster and faster...
The wind blew, and she saw Aunt Zhao holding her recently born sister with a gentle, faint smile—a tenderness Mu Wanyun had never known.
Mu Wanyun pulled herself from her memories. When she went outside, she saw Aunt Zhao and her younger sister, Mu Wanyan, sitting on the chairs in the main hall.
Mu Wanyan was two years younger than her and had just reached the age of hair-pinning this year.
Mu Wanyun looked at the brocade finery Mu Wanyan wore, the filigree golden bracelet entwined with flowers on her wrist, and the hairpin in her hair that glittered with golden light. Mu Wanyun couldn't suppress the envy in her eyes.
'Sisters born of the same mother, both daughters of a concubine—why is my sister's life so much better than mine?'
Mu Wanyun found it truly difficult to suppress the bitterness in her heart.
Aunt Zhao looked Mu Wanyun up and down and said, "Du'er."
"Aunt, I've changed my name. I'm called Mu Wanyun now."
Aunt Zhao took the water a maid handed her and said, "Wanyun, ah, your mother has been thinking of you all these years. It's a pity that because of what the fortune-telling Daoist said, for the sake of your health, we had to let you suffer alone all this time.
I feel so very guilty. From now on, I will take good care of you. Once you marry Prince Jian and become the Consort, the entire Mu Family will be grateful to you and compensate you well."
Mu Wanyan glanced at Mu Wanyun, her eyes filled with disdain:
"Mother, she may look like Eldest Sister, but her bearing is completely different. You can tell she's just a country girl. How could she possibly be worthy of Prince Jian? It would be better if I took her place in the marriage!"
Aunt Zhao shot Mu Wanyan a harsh glare. "Stop talking nonsense. Wanyun, after you marry Prince Jian, you'll be the Eldest Princess's daughter-in-law. You'll be one of the most distinguished figures in all of Chang'an City. As long as you agree to be the substitute, there will be plenty of rewards."
Mu Wanyun said, "I already made myself perfectly clear to my brother yesterday. I will not marry Prince Jian in Eldest Sister's place."
Mu Wanyan said, "Prince Jian is handsome and renowned throughout Chang'an City as an elegant gentleman, poised as a jade tree, with a smile as radiant as the bright moon.
If it weren't for you riding on Eldest Sister's coattails, how could a country girl like you possibly marry Prince Jian?
And you're still unwilling? I bet you're secretly bursting with joy, aren't you?"
Hearing Mu Wanyan call her a "country girl" again and again, Mu Wanyun raised her hand and slapped her across the face.
Mu Wanyan had been doted on her entire life. When had she ever been hit by anyone?
Mu Wanyun's slap completely stunned Mu Wanyan.
Aunt Zhao shot to her feet. "You? Mu Wanyun, that's your own sister! Who gave you permission to hit her?"
Mu Wanyun's gaze turned chilly. "Why can't I hit her? Aunt is a concubine and hasn't taught my younger sister properly, so I, as the elder sister, will teach her myself."
Aunt Zhao looked at Mu Wanyan with a pained expression.
Mu Wanyan started to cry and wail, "I really don't know why Brother brought you back! I'm going to tell Father and Mother you hit me!"
Mu Wanyun was not at all afraid of Mu Wanyan tattling on her.
Feeling deeply wronged, Mu Wanyan ran to Duke Wei's study.
When Duke Wei saw his favorite little daughter clutching her face, her tears like pear blossoms in the rain, and learned the reason, he flew into a rage and ordered Mu Wanyun to be brought to him.
Mu Wanyun had no impression of Duke Wei at all.
As soon as she entered the study, she saw a middle-aged man with a beard who, trying to look fierce, roared, "Insolent girl, kneel!"
Mu Wanyun did not kneel. "Father, what has this daughter done wrong?"
Duke Wei said coolly, "The Mu Family has always valued harmony and mutual support between siblings. It's your very first day back, and you've already slapped your younger sister. Do you still not know your mistake?"
Mu Wanyun replied, "If that's the case, then this daughter is even more in the right. It is precisely because siblings must live in harmony and help one another that this daughter slapped her younger sister."
Mu Wanyan dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a silk handkerchief and complained to Duke Wei, "Father, look! Sister hit me and is now twisting her words. You have to stand up for me!"
Mu Wanyun said softly, "I am not twisting my words. Just now, Younger Sister insulted Father and Mother. As her elder sister, why can't I discipline her?"
For a moment, Mu Wanyan forgot to cry. She asked, bewildered, "When did I insult Father and Mother?"
Mu Wanyun said, "You repeatedly called me a girl from the countryside. Isn't that just the same as insulting Father and Mother?
It was wrong for Father and Mother to abandon me in the countryside for over a decade. And while Younger Sister may have been trying to seek justice for me, Father and Mother are not people she can criticize so casually."
Hearing Mu Wanyun's words, Duke Wei's expression became a little awkward. Looking at this daughter who had spent so many years in the countryside, a trace of guilt rose in his heart.
Besides, he needed to make use of this daughter now.
"So that's how it is. I have wronged you," Duke Wei said. "Leaving you in the countryside was truly not our intention. From now on, the Duke Mansion will make it up to you."
Mu Wanyun said slowly, "If Father truly wishes to compensate this daughter, then announce to all of Chang'an that the Second Young Miss of the Duke Mansion has returned, instead of forcing me to abandon my own identity and live as Eldest Sister."
Hearing this, Duke Wei frowned deeply. "This matter concerns the very survival of our Mu Family. If you don't take her place in the marriage, the only path for our entire family is death."
Mu Wanyun replied coolly, "And what does that have to do with me? For all these years, the Mu Residence has never shown me the grace of raising me. To have me sacrifice myself to save the entire family... this daughter is not so righteous."
Mu Qingyun came in from outside, having heard Mu Wanyun's words. He walked to Duke Wei's side and said, "Father, news has come from the palace. Your Majesty summoned the Northwest Military Governor to Chang'an today..."
Duke Wei said, "That old Emperor... he's about to breathe his last, yet he still managed to turn the tables on us. Have you found any trace of the Crown Prince?"
Mu Qingyun shook his head. "Not yet. If the Crown Prince and His Majesty have the help of the Northwest Army, our forces in Chang'an won't be able to handle it.
His Majesty has not yet breathed his last, so we can't mobilize the army from Jiangnan. Right now, all our hopes rest on the Eldest Princess and Prince Jian...
The wedding is only a month away, and there's still no sign of Wanruo. All our hope now rests on Wanyun."
Mu Wanyun listened to her father and brother's conversation. Even with her limited experience, she could tell that the Mu Family was in imminent danger.
Moreover, this involved the matter of the imperial throne. Mu Wanyun was now even more unwilling to be a substitute bride.
'Marrying in her sister's place means facing a storm of blood. It would be better to secretly run away back to Yangzhou and escape the Mu Family's conflicts.'
'The Mu Family hasn't supported her for all these years. Why should she brave the storm with them now?'
Duke Wei's gaze fell on Mu Wanyun. "The old nanny who raised you has a son who works for the Mu Family. If you are unwilling to take Wanruo's place and marry into the Princess Mansion, then I will kill that old nanny's son right now..."
Not a trace of hatred from being threatened showed on Mu Wanyun's face. She said calmly, "I'll marry. I'll marry in Mu Wanruo's place."
Inside, however, a monstrous rage was surging. 'The family I've longed for for over a decade is threatening me so shamelessly!'
'In that case, they can't blame me for being ruthless!'
'After I marry in her place, they can forget about getting any help from the Princess Mansion.'
'It would be even better if I could find the Crown Prince.'
'From what Mu Qingyun said, the Crown Prince and the Mu Family share a deep-seated, bloody feud.'
'If I take the initiative and confess my identity to the Crown Prince, the Mu Family will be guilty of deceiving the sovereign. Having also offended the Eldest Princess, their end will surely be death!'