Second Marriage

Translator: tarararawr

Chapter 2 Part 3

The Ye Family represented a high position of power. All of Master Li’s anger to criticize her was held back by this surname. The surname was like a vine wrapped around his neck, and wrapped so tightly that it strangled him to being out of breath.

Xiao Youning looked down at the Li Family’s husband and wife with a cold eye. How they got along with each other had nothing to do with her and all she wanted was justice from the Li Family!

She raised her voice again to say, “Was there a big fire? Madam Li, do you have the nerve to tell everyone why the fire started? Why was it burning in the inner room where I was?!”

She did not refute or admit who set the fire, and her plausible words left people with more wild thoughts on what had happened.

“You have a sharp tooth!”

Madam Li was almost stupified by her cunningness.

“Make way, make way first.”

At the critical juncture of the confrontation between both two sides, guards in soft armor pushed through the crowd and separated them to create a path.

An inconspicuous navy blue sedan chair from behind the crowd was carried forward.

Xiao Youning followed the movement of the sedan chair, but her face suddenly changed.

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The sedan chair looked ordinary, but it was illuminated by lanterns from attendants standing on both sides that created a line like a faint stream. It was embroidered with silver thread, which looked ordinary on the outside, but a noble family’s ordinary sedan chair did not have dark stripes. Furthermore, there were these guards in soft armour, which was worn by the Imperial guards in the palace.

Xiao Youning thought of something, but she looked confused and pursed her lips. Then, she raised her eyes to look at Madam Li.

Madam Li’s eyes flickered with spirit again after being defeated by a rooster1. She looked at the sedan chair with surprise and shouted, “Is this indeed Fifth Youngest Brother?”

Madam Li’s Fifth Youngest Brother was the most well-regarded person of the Ye Family. He had lived with the prince in the palace since he was a child, and was deeply favored to this day.

Although he did not have an official title, it was said that he stood by the side of the Emperor and his duties were similar to the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He would frequently go in and out of the imperial prison.

After Madam Li called out to her Fifth Youngest Brother, Xiao Youning kept her eyes fixed on the sedan chair. She was wondering what this Ye Family’s Fifth Master came here to do and whether it had anything to do with her father and brother.

Fifth Master Ye did not leave the palace without a reason, let alone visit the Li Family. At least she and the Li Family had never heard of him visiting in the last few years.

Xiao Youning’s thoughts were in twists and turns. In the next moment, she tightly held Yuan Guo’s hand and she retreated into the crowd with vigilance.

However, there were no movements at all from the sedan chair after Madam Li’s question. The excited Madam Li looked a little embarrassed and she bitterly looked at Xiao Youning.

Xiao Youning had her head down when she was being stared at. She was thinking of something and suddenly raised her head. It just so happened that she met Madam Li’s eyes.

She smiled sweetly at those poisonous eyes.

Madam Li was shocked, and then Xiao Youning pulled Yuan Guo to turn around to run.

“Quick! Stop her!”

Madam Li came to her senses and discovered that Xiao Youning had disappeared. Her first response was to have someone catch her and ruthlessly teach her a lesson.

“Stop it!” Master Li raised his hand and blocked Madam Li. In a low voice he said, “You still don’t think that this is embarrassing enough for the Li Family?!”

With those words, he didn’t care about how much his wife trembled with anger. He went straight down the stairs to the sedan chair and cupped his hands in greetings.

“Is this indeed Fifth Youngest Brother?”

In the end, the person inside the quiet sedan chair responded with a command to leave. “Return to the palace.”

The men surrounding the sedan chair steadily lifted it and carried the Master out of the crowded alley. It left Master Li frowning.

This younger brother-in-law of the Ye Family had always treated people indifferently. He was used to it, but what did it mean if he came and left all of a sudden?

Xiao Youning pulled Yuan Guo all the way out of the alley and nervously squeezed into another alley. She heard the sound of someone shouting to make way just now and it was the same shouting when Fifth Master Ye was arriving.

Her heart was anxiously pounding, and she couldn’t help but look out of the alley. One quick look and her eyes came into contact with the eyes of Fifth Master Ye, who had lifted the sedan chair curtains.

It was obvious that the sedan chair was very far away from her and she could not see the other person’s face. But the other person’s eyes fell exactly on her. It was cold, clear, and could be felt from a distance.

Even though she didn’t know what the look meant, she suddenly shuddered.

“Young Miss, it seems like no one is chasing us.” Yuan Guo gasped for air and pulled back the little Master who was half exposed in the alley. “What are we going to do next? Do you still want the dowry?”

It was only then that Xiao Youning came to her senses. As for the dowry, she lowered her head and pursed her lips. She said, “The Li Family will send it back! They will send everything back to me!”

She ran away, but not because she was afraid of Fifth Master Ye arrival.

The sedan chair’s curtain was put down and it was gradually getting further away. Someone ran up to the side of the sedan chair and whispered to the young man inside, “Fifth Master, did that Young Miss Xiao set us up?”

There was a low chuckle in the sedan chair that sounded like a response.

Indeed, that Young Miss from the Xiao Family was daring. It was a clumsy scheme. Did she think that he couldn’t see through it?

Just now she was arguing with the Li Family about getting her dowry back, but she turned around and ran away. In the eyes of others, she was intimidated by the influence of the Li Family and Ye Family, so she fled in defeat…

The author has something to say:

Xiao Youning: The Li Family and the Ye Family are all bastards.

Fifth Master Ye: The pot comes from the sky2, and you have to catch it steadily.

Footnotes

斗败公鸡 (dòu bài gōngjī) – idiom for being in low spirits or dejected锅从天上来 (guōcóngtiānshànglái) – It comes from the phrase “people sit at home, the pot comes from the sky”. It means to be a scapegoat for no reason or have bad luck.