A Poor Man's Son-in-Law: He Picks Up the Daughter of a Duke's Mansion at the Start

The main building of Qixia Courtyard in the Duke's Mansion.

When Yun Shuwei jogged in, lifting her skirt slightly, Wang Shi was checking the month's expense ledger. Hearing footsteps, she looked up and saw her daughter's red eyes, and her brows furrowed.

"What's wrong?" Wang put down her pen. Yun Shuwei dismissed those around her and closed the door.

"Mother—" Yun Shuwei rushed to her mother's side, sat down next to her, and hugged Wang Shi's arm tightly. "I've suffered so much injustice today!"

Mrs. Wang patted her hand: "Take your time, who made you feel wronged?"

Yun Shu pouted, tears welling up in her eyes: "It's all because of my second sister! She was bragging at the temple today, saying that Father gave her two shops, one of which is the silk shop that I've been begging for for so long! You know how good the location is. I begged Father three or four times, but he always said I was too young to manage... Why did my second sister get it?"

Wang's eyes darkened, but her tone remained gentle: "Just for this?"

"Isn't this enough to make me feel wronged?" Yun Shu wiped away her tears. "The way Second Sister talks is as if Father dotes on her the most. Fourth Sister even chimed in, saying that Second Sister is better at pleasing Father than I am... I got angry and took Cui'er down the mountain first."

Wang took out a handkerchief to wipe her face: "And then?"

"Then..." Yun Shuwei's voice softened, trembling with lingering fear, "The driver took a side road, saying the main road was blocked. As a result, halfway there... halfway there we encountered two villains."

Wang sat up straight: "What kind of villain?"

Yun Shuwei recounted her encounter with the bandits, her voice trembling as she spoke of them trying to drag her off the carriage. As Wang listened, her expression grew increasingly cold, her fingers slowly tightening inside her sleeve.

"Fortunately, a scholar on his way to take the imperial examination happened to pass by and used a trick to scare the man away." Yun Shuwei finished speaking and carefully looked at her mother's expression. "I have already made arrangements and given him a hundred taels of silver to keep him quiet and not to tell anyone."

Wang remained silent for a long while.

"Mother?" Yun Shuwei shook her arm.

"What's the scholar's name?" Wang asked.

"Lu Qingyan, he said he's a scholar from Yongning Prefecture." Yun Shu muttered, "He seems honest. My daughter said she wanted to help him with his future, but he refused and only wanted money."

Madam Wang gave a soft "hmm," her gaze falling on her daughter's face: "Who brought up the idea of ​​going to the temple today?"

"It was my second sister." Yun Shuwei didn't suspect anything. "She came to my room yesterday and said that Master Mingjing of Nanwu Temple was very efficacious, and asked if I wanted to go and draw a fortune stick. I was feeling down these past few days, so I agreed. My fourth sister heard about it later and insisted on going with me."

"Did the three of you leave together?"

"Yes, we rode in two cars. Cui'er and I were in one, and my second sister and fourth sister were in the other." Yun Shuwei said, then became aggrieved again, "In the temple, the two of them huddled together talking and barely paid any attention to me. Later, my second sister showed off her shop, and I couldn't stand it anymore..."

Wang continued, "Who was the driver when we went down the mountain?"

"It's Old Zhao from the outer courtyard." Yun Shu thought for a moment. "It was supposed to be Liu Shun, but Liu Shun said he had a stomachache this morning, so it was Old Zhao instead. Mother, why are you asking these questions?"

Wang didn't answer, but instead asked, "You believed Old Zhao when he said the main road was blocked?"

"What else can we do?" Yun Shu blinked slightly. "Shouldn't we just take whichever road the driver says we should take?"

Looking at her daughter's innocent face, Wang sighed inwardly. She had protected the child too much, making her a little spoiled, but she lacked any real cunning.

"Wanwan," Wang Shi held her daughter's hand, her voice softening, "Listen to your mother, there's something fishy about what happened today."

"Strange?" Yun Shu's eyes widened slightly.

"Look, your second sister specially invited you to the temple yesterday, and today she deliberately made you angry at the temple. You left in a huff—and the coachman happened to be a different person. He took a secluded path and 'just happened' to run into bandits."

Yun Shuwei's face slowly paled: "Mother, are you saying... someone wants to harm me?"

"Mother didn't say it was definitely true." Madam Wang gently patted her hand, "but too many coincidences together don't seem like coincidences anymore."

"Could it be...could it be my second sister?" Yun Shu's voice trembled slightly. "She...she's usually competitive, but she wouldn't go this far..."

"I didn't say it was her," Wang interrupted her daughter. "It could just be a servant with malicious intent, or it could really be an accident. But in any case, this matter must not be publicized."

Yun Shu nodded slightly, then remembered something: "But my daughter has already given that scholar money..."

"Well done," Madam Wang said approvingly. "One hundred taels is neither too much nor too little. It preserves the dignity of the Duke's mansion without giving anyone a reason to covet it. If that scholar is a sensible person, he will know what to do."

She stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the sky. "You can stay here with your mother tonight. I'll have the doctor take good care of Cui'er. Tell everyone she caught a cold and needs to rest."

Yun Shuwei nodded obediently and snuggled closer to her mother: "Mother, I'm scared..."

"What are you afraid of?" Madam Wang put her arm around her daughter's shoulder, her tone firm. "With your mother here, no one can touch you. You'll stay in the manor for the next few days and don't go anywhere. If anyone asks about what happened today, just say what I taught you—the carriage broke down, the employer fixed it and brought it back, and don't mention anything else."

"If my second sister comes to ask me..."

"When she asks you something, you just act all cute," Madam Wang tapped her daughter's nose. "Tell her you were angry, didn't want to talk to her, and left first. You're the legitimate daughter of the Duke's mansion; what's wrong with throwing a little tantrum?"

Yun Shu smiled through her tears, hugged her mother's arm and shook it: "Mother still loves me the most."

Looking at her coquettish manner, Wang's eyes were gentle, but her heart was icy cold.

After her daughter fell asleep, she sat alone in the outer room, holding a thick register in her hand. The candlelight flickered, illuminating her expressionless face.

She turned to the page with "Zhao Quanfu" and stared at it for a long time. Then she took a piece of paper, wrote a few lines, folded it, and put it in the envelope.

This letter will be delivered to her maid first thing tomorrow morning. I should go and take a good look at that rice shop in the west of the city.