The Lucky Heiress

“Madam, we must have the master’s command to deal with the second young master,” replied Jing Hu, highly respectful.

Although his tone was reverent, he blatantly ignored Madam Yun’s order.

“So, you’re saying I, as the lady of the house, can’t even command you?”

“Madam, this is the master’s order,” Jing Hu replied with the same demeanor and reason.

Madam Yun’s face darkened, her anger surged but she couldn’t vent it.

That was because Jing Hu was a guard of Wei Mingting. If he dared to say this, it must have been instructed by Wei Mingting.

This was why Madam Yun could not vent her anger. She could vent her temper on anyone in the mansion, but never on her husband, Wei Mingting.

But this was exactly what caused her the most pain and distress.

She didn’t understand why her husband instructed his subordinates to protect this illegitimate child to such an extent!

Both Wei Yichen and Wei Qingwan looked worriedly at Madam Yun. After all these years, it was the first time they had seen Madam Yun like this.

“Mother…” Wei Yichen looked at Madam Yun anxiously.

After a while, Madam Yun stood up. She didn’t speak but turned back to her room.

Wei Jinyi also stood up and left, not caring about how others in the room might feel.

Wei Yichen and Wei Qingwan dared not leave. Fearing Madam Yun may need them, they followed her to Cangyun Garden.

Only Wei Ruo was left. Seeing no one else, she quickly left.

When she was about to reach Tingsong Garden, Wei Ruo caught up with Wei Jinyi.

As if he knew what Wei Ruo would say, Wei Jinyi said, “Ruoruo, don’t worry. Father won’t blame me, and mother, even if she’s angry, couldn’t do anything to me.”

Then Wei Jinyi explained to Wei Ruo, “My mother has some special meaning to my father.”

“So, second brother already knew what I was wondering about,” said Wei Ruo.

“Yes. So if you encounter any difficulties in the future, just tell me. If I’m not at home, just ask Jing Hu to send me a message,” said Wei Jinyi.

Although he couldn’t protect her from the affairs at the court, he could still help her at home.

“Thank you, second brother,” said Wei Ruo, feeling a warmth in her heart.

Although Wei Ruo has always held the style of being strong and independent, relying on oneself in all things, she would still be very happy when someone is willing to support her.

###

That night, when Wei Mingting returned to the Military Prefecture, Madam Yun, as always, was waiting for him in the room.

What was different today was that Madam Yun didn’t welcome him with warmth.

We Mingting noticed his wife’s unusualness and asked, “Madam, do you feel unwell? Should we send for the doctor?”

Madam Yun looked at Wei Mingting, and after a long time, she asked, “My lord, we have been husband and wife for so many years. Do you know what kind of person I am?”

Wei Mingting picked up on his wife’s abnormality and replied, “Madam, you are gentle, kind, filial to the elders, nurturing to the children and manage the household thoroughly. You are my wise and virtuous wife.”

Getting such an answer, Madam Yun’s expression softened somewhat, and she began to talk about what happened today: “My lord, today I was going to punish Jinyi, but no one in the guard was willing to do it. They all claimed that they needed your order to act upon Jinyi. Can you tell me why? Do you not trust me, or…”

Madam Yun wanted to know the answer, but she was also afraid to know it.

“You wanted to punish Jinyi today?” Wei Mingting was surprised.

Jinyi was always non-confrontational with anyone in the mansion, especially with his wife.

“Yes, today I indeed had the thought of punishing him.”

“Why?”

“I wanted Jinyi to help recommend Yichen to the Tibetan layman. They are brothers, and it is only right and natural to help each other. But not only did he sternly deny my request, he showed no respect to his mother, and was arrogant. That’s why I wanted to punish him as a warning and make him kneel in the ancestral hall.”

Madam Yun didn’t think that she was in any way wrong about today’s events. As a mother, asking her children to help each other is only right and natural.

When a son disrespects his mother, it is also only natural that she disciplines him.

After explaining all this, Madam Yun looked at her husband, who looked troubled, deeply lost in thought.

“My lord, do you think I was wrong?” asked Madam Yun, somewhat nervously.

“It’s not that you were wrong, but… you should let go of Jinyi’s affairs. If there are things he is unwilling to do, you shouldn’t require him to do them.”

Wei Mingting’s reply was unexpected for Madam Yun, she asked, pained,

“Why? Why can’t I?”

“I can’t explain it to you at the moment.”

“Is it because of Jinyi’s mother?” Madam Yun guessed, unable to think of any other reason for her husband’s actions.

In an instant, tears filled Madam Yun’s eyes.

For many years now, she had deliberately avoided bringing up that woman; she forced herself not to be jealous.

But when her husband showed an unusual degree of protection towards the illegitimate child, the frustration and hurt in her heart that lay buried deep within could not be suppressed again.

Seeing his wife’s tears, Wei Mingting said hurriedly, “Madam, don’t think too much about it, this matter doesn’t have much to do with Jinyi’s mother…”

“If it has nothing to do with her, why are you acting this way? Or do you think I was wrong in wanting Jinyi to help bring Yichen to the Tibetan layman?” countered Madam Yun.

Madam Yun had always listened to her husband’s words over the years. She did what he told her to without question, but today she wanted to find out the root of his unusual behavior.

“You were not wrong. It’s just that, Jinyi… is unique to me. So, I hope you won’t treat him as the mistress of an ordinary family would treat an illegitimate child,” said Wei Mingting. His expression was somber, there was only so much he could explain to his wife.

But to Madam Yun, Wei Mingting’s words had another meaning.

“Unique… how unique?” Madam Yun asked again.

“Madam, it truly isn’t what you think,” Wei Mingting denied again, but could not provide more explanation.

Despite her husband’s repeated denials that it had anything to do with Jinyi’s biological mother, his actions revealed his special affection for that woman.

It was a kind of favoritism that she, as his wife, had never received.

“Can my lord now tell me who that woman is? Her surname, her name, her origin?” Madam Yun asked, unwilling to give up.

About that woman, Madam Yun knew very little. Her husband had brought home a child after a year away. Her heart hurt terribly then, but she was unable to say anything.

She forced herself not to question her husband about the child’s mother, and made an effort not to think about what might have occurred in the past year between her husband and that woman..