When the elders of the various courtyards heard the news, their hearts finally settled.
Soon after, the Pei Family’s carriage went to the Yiguan to fetch Pei Huaian and Shen Yunshu.
Old Madam Pei, along with the Main Branch and Er Fang’s daughters-in-law, waited early in the Ci You Courtyard.
Seeing their grandson and granddaughter-in-law return safely, she couldn’t help but shed tears.
Though she felt pain for her grandson’s wounds, knowing they would heal with time, Old Madam Pei worried more for her granddaughter-in-law.
She wanted to ask what Yuran had endured during those days but dared not.
After all, Yuran had spent so long in the Hulan Wo, and her purity was likely lost.
Asking would only salt the wound…
Old Madam Pei could only clutch Yuran’s hand and murmur, “You’re back, that’s what matters. Take a good bath, get some sleep. Don’t think of anything else. Nothing else matters. You’re back…”
Shen Yunshu saw the old lady’s sincere concern.
But the two aunts standing nearby wore complex expressions, as if each harbored their own thoughts.
Their words echoed the old lady’s, but their eyes revealed other emotions.
Neither aunt was truly evil; their worry was real.
But they had other agendas as well.
Er Fang’s wife’s thoughts were easier to guess—she believed Yuran had lost her purity in the bandits’ den and feared she would never become the Seven Young Madam, so she coveted the household’s authority.
But what the Main Branch’s wife was thinking, Shen Yunshu couldn’t guess.
Old Madam Pei and the two aunts did not stay long at Ci You Courtyard. After some comforting, they left.
Shen Yunshu was too exhausted to think about anything else.
After a simple bath, she stumbled back to her room.
Pei Huaian had not yet woken.
When they left the Yiguan, the Langzhong checked him and said his pulse was stable.
If he took his medicine on time and rested, he would recover.
Besides the chest wound, he had bruises elsewhere and a large bump on his forehead.
Shen Yunshu gently caressed the injuries on his face, lay beside him, and soon fell asleep.
The Pei Residence, after the chaos, finally returned to peace.
The 130,000 taels of ransom remained intact—a sum raised by the three families.
Old Madam Pei took the shares from the Shen and Lu families and sent them back along with the message.
Upon hearing the news, the Shen and Lu families hurried to the Pei Residence.
Old Madam Pei personally received them, saying the young couple were sleeping soundly and not to disturb them.
Judge Lu Zhun did not stay long; he had to go find his son.
His eldest, Lu Yi, had gone out with guards days ago looking for someone and hadn’t returned.
Lu Yi had previously disappeared overnight before, so Judge Lu Zhun hadn’t reported it to authorities.
Old Madam Pei sighed, lamenting these days had truly been unsettled.
After Lu Zhun left, Shen Tingyu spoke with Old Madam Pei about Shen Yunshu’s situation.
As elders, they had to think one step ahead of the children.
Shen Tingyu knew that surviving this ordeal was lucky for their eldest daughter.
But as for her purity and reputation, those might be lost.
“Old Madam, please make sure everyone in the house keeps quiet. Don’t let any harmful rumors about Yunshu spread…”
“Rest assured, I’ve already instructed everyone strictly. Anyone spreading rumors will be severely punished.”
“That’s a relief. But this only stops outsiders. If the young couple eventually quarrels over this and can’t continue, please don’t blame Yunshu. Let her take a He Li and return home…”
Old Madam Pei’s worry was precisely this.
Little Seven and the Shen Family’s Big Miss had been forced together by their elders.
He had loudly declared he wouldn’t marry her, and now this happened.
There was no telling if he would grow resentful.
If he minded and refused to remain husband and wife, even as her grandmother, Old Madam Pei wouldn’t know how to persuade him.
With this thought, she sighed.
“If it comes to that, then these two children are simply not meant to be…”
Pei Huaijin slept restlessly, though exhausted.
He dozed off quickly but woke soon after, catching the glorious sunset through the Yingchuang.
He had slept less than two hours.
He rarely dreamed, but this short sleep brought a bad dream—
Yuran being kidnapped and his frantic, fruitless search.
His panic felt like wild vines wrapping around him. It was the first time he had such a nightmare.
Fortunately, even in the dream, he retained some awareness and kept telling himself it was a dream until he finally woke.
He clung tightly to the person in his arms, the emptiness inside replaced by the relief of having found her.
His head still throbbed, the pain pulsating at his temple, but he felt no drowsiness.
He recalled Danruo mentioning something important about his mother, so he loosened his hold slightly, kissed Yuran again, and got out of bed.
Rubbing his forehead, he stepped outside his room.
Danruo and Qinghe, two young maids, were waiting.
Seeing him, they told him about the First Madam.
“Sir, the First Madam came this morning, wanting to see the Young Madam. We refused, saying she was sick, but the First Madam insisted on entering the bedchamber. We couldn’t stop her…”
These two days, they had been puzzled: although the kidnapped was the Seven Young Madam, their own Young Madam was also missing.
That day, the Sir came back hurriedly with a brief order but gave no explanation.
When the First Madam came to visit the sick and found the bedchamber empty, her expression turned grim, and she wanted to punish them.
Danruo had no choice but to admit it was the Sir’s instruction.
The First Madam suspected her son was trying to hide something.
Pei Huaijin’s face showed deep fatigue as he exhaled twice.
“Understood. I’ll go to Haitang Courtyard. You two guard the Young Madam closely. Don’t let her out of your sight.”
These past days he had been running around.
Even when back at the residence, he only went to his grandmother’s Chunxuan Hall, never returning to Yunzhi Courtyard.
He didn’t know when his mother grew suspicious and boldly intruded today.
His mother must have guessed the truth. He couldn’t let her reveal it.
At Haitang Courtyard, his mother dismissed the servants and coldly asked, “Tell me the truth. The bandits kidnapped Andi’s wife or your wife?”
Pei Huaijin’s expression darkened.
“Is this important to you, Mother?”
“Of course it is…”
Madam Zhu had been suspicious since the second day after the incident when the Shen and Lu families came to discuss the ransom.
She noticed Yuran Shen, Sister Yunshu’s younger sister, never appeared.
When she sent someone to Yunzhi Courtyard, they said Yuran was seriously ill and wouldn’t see anyone.
Though she disliked her daughter-in-law, Madam Zhu felt she should comfort her in such a crisis and personally visited.
No one answered her; the maids insisted the Young Madam was too ill to be seen.
After returning, the more she thought, the stranger it seemed.
So she came back this morning, entered the bedchamber, and saw no sign of Yuran.
The two maids, unable to hide the truth, confessed the Sir’s orders.
Madam Zhu suspected her son was covering something up.
When the good news came that Little Seven and his wife had been rescued, she followed Old Madam Pei to see them and secretly observed Shen Yunshu.
Though exhausted, Yunshu showed no fear or sorrow, no wounds on her body, completely unlike someone abducted…
Madam Zhu’s suspicions deepened.
“What really happened? The bandits’ letter clearly said Andi’s wife was kidnapped, but your wife was taken?”
“Mother, please don’t ask anymore. Whoever the letter named is the one who was kidnapped…”
Though it was Yuran taken, Shen Yunshu insisted on taking responsibility, and the other elders had no doubts.
She couldn’t let her mother suspect.
“I’m your mother, and you won’t tell me the truth?”
Pei Huaijin calmly looked at his mother, fully aware of her thoughts.
“You suspect her purity and want me to divorce her.”
“Impossible,” he said firmly.
“She is my wife. No matter what happens, I will never abandon her.”
Madam Zhu’s face turned pale with anger.
Pei Huaijin stood.
“Yuran is your daughter-in-law. Tearing down her reputation benefits you nothing. Please think carefully.”
Before returning to Yunzhi Courtyard, Pei Huaijin stopped by Ci You Courtyard to check on Brother Seven.
Unexpectedly, Shen Yunshu, like him, had only slept a couple of hours and was reading in the side room.
Seeing her brother arrive, she first inquired about their sister, then told him about Pei Huaian’s condition.
With their siblings safe, Pei Huaijin shared the events at Haitang Courtyard.
His mother had caught on and suspected the kidnapped was Yuran, not Yunshu.
However, he and his mother had made clear the stakes.
No matter how suspicious she was, she wouldn’t spread the matter.
When the First Madam and Old Madam Pei visited today, Shen Yunshu noticed the First Madam’s strange expression but said nothing.
The First Madam’s suspicion had already taken root.
Life was about to get even harder for Yuran.
“Maybe I should divorce Brother Seven now to ease the First Madam’s doubts…”
The He Li had long been prepared, and Lu Yi was already taken to the Dali Si.
Although Yuran wasn’t fully capable of managing the household yet, if a divorce would be better for her, Shen Yunshu was willing to let Pei Huaian present it now.
“No need. Mother’s thoughts won’t control me.”
But speaking of divorce, Pei Huaijin recalled what Brother Seven said in the carriage and casually asked, “Have you ever thought about not divorcing him and becoming his true wife?”
Shen Yunshu was stunned.
“Brother, Little Seven doesn’t like me.”
“How do you know he doesn’t like you?”
Pei Huaijin was about to relay Little Seven’s words when he saw him come out pale-faced from behind a sliding door and changed course.
“When he wakes, you can ask him.”
“No, thank you,” Shen Yunshu smiled and shook her head.
“I treat Little Seven like a brother…”