Waking Up Five Years Later on the Wedding Night - Chapter 8

Yan Zhining leaned in toward the Left Chancellor with a smile, praising Xu Zhixiao’s virtues. Huo Mingshu gave her a cold glance, then ignored her entirely.

The best approach was to offer no response. No matter what he said, it would be wrong.

After being left hanging, Yan Zhining pursed her lips, but she followed closely behind the Left Chancellor as he climbed into the carriage.

Yan Zhining leaned against the side of the carriage, swaying as it jolted along, and studied the Left Chancellor. After a long silence, she spoke in a daze, “Are you not going to deal with the Right Chancellor?”

Huo Mingshu sat upright on the other side of the carriage, his spine as straight as a pine tree. Upon hearing this, he didn’t even look over, remaining as silent as before.

“Don’t ignore me,” Yan Zhining sighed. “Do you know about the thing where I can see through other people’s lies?”

Yan Zhining saw that Huo Mingshu remained as immobile as a mountain. The flickering light from the swaying carriage danced across his face, yet it couldn’t reach those deep, pool-like eyes.

She simply shifted her body, scooting a little closer, and lowered her voice, carrying a sense of probing and a certain unclear intimacy. “Take a look, is there anything I can help with?”

Huo Mingshu’s fingertips moved imperceptibly. He still didn’t look at her, even reaching out to push her encroaching head away.

“Don’t push me.” Yan Zhining continued on her own, her fingertips lightly drawing circles on her knees. “I’m useful, you know. I won’t be a freeloader.”

Huo Mingshu still didn’t answer.

Yan Zhining was just about to give up when, after a two-second pause, Huo Mingshu suddenly said, “You should look into your own background.”

“My background?” Yan Zhining was shocked, surprise appearing on her fair, glowing face. “Do you suspect that the Madam of the Marquis is not my biological mother?”

Huo Mingshu nodded. Yan Zhining waved her hand with a smile, “Why bother checking that? I have a distant relationship with them, and whether I’m their biological child or not, I’ve never cared. I am now the successor to the Yan family. If I can’t find out who I am, wouldn’t I be unable to take over the family?”

This logic was a bit twisted, but it had to be said, it was correct. Huo Mingshu couldn’t help but look at the young girl before him. The corners of Yan Zhining’s eyes were slightly upturned, and when she smiled, her dimples deepened, making her look like a crafty yet innocent cat.

Huo Mingshu felt compelled to remind her, “Our dynasty values filial piety. If you find your parents and they interfere in your affairs, you will have no ground to stand on.”

“If that happens, I’ll find out the truth. What should I do if I find out I’m not a descendant of the Yan family?” Yan Zhining sighed. “Left Chancellor, don’t worry about those things. Everything the Marquis is plotting is for the Yan family’s money, and those things are in my hands.”

He couldn’t let her have no ground to stand on.

Given his own considerations, Huo Mingshu found it difficult to ask further. Every household had its own difficult issues, and even an honest official has trouble resolving family matters.

The carriage stopped at the palace gate. The two stepped out, and just as they found their footing, they saw a middle-aged man dressed in official robes walking toward them in long strides.

Huo Mingshu lowered his voice to warn her, “The Right Chancellor, Zheng Zhang.”

As soon as the words fell, Zheng Zhang approached the pair, his gaze landing on Yan Zhining. “Have you found out about my daughter’s case?”

Yan Zhining nodded, “I have.”

“Who did it? Under what authority did you investigate? Is the case you found credible?” Zheng Zhang’s eyes were fierce, as if he wanted to crush the person before him.

Huo Mingshu glanced at him sideways and reached out to block him in front of Yan Zhining. “Who did it isn’t important. What is important is that the Right Chancellor is shielding the murderer of his daughter and is complicit with the killer.”

“This official did no such thing!” Zheng Zhang argued vehemently.

A bell chimed. Yan Zhining blinked and shook her head at her sister-in-law: He is lying.

Huo Mingshu understood. He stood where he was and said with a smile, “I almost forgot that the Right Chancellor married into the family.”

Married into the family? Yan Zhining’s eyes widened. Is it that scandalous?

She was happy to eat some gossip, but Zheng Zhang couldn’t keep his composure. He gritted his teeth in anger, though his expression remained refined. “The Left Chancellor has been a widower for many years, so you’ve started to become jealous of me, too?”

Using widowhood as a reason for an attack? Yan Zhining felt dissatisfied. Just as she was about to speak, she heard the Left Chancellor smile and say, “Thank you for being concerned about my years as a widower. If I’m not mistaken, is the son-in-law who committed the murder actually your biological son?”

A son-in-law turned into a son? Yan Zhining opened her mouth, excitedly poking her head out from behind her sister-in-law. “Doesn’t that mean a brother and sister married?”

“Shut up!” Zheng Zhang roared. “Absurd! Where would there be a brother and sister marrying? Left Chancellor, you are truly ridiculous.”

Yan Zhining waited for a moment, but the bell sound did not ring. She caught the loophole immediately. “May I ask, Chancellor Zheng, is your son-in-law not your son?”

“Of course he isn’t.” Zheng Zhang retorted.

The bell rang.

Yan Zhining revealed a smile and shook her head at the Left Chancellor. He lied again.

“Let’s go into the palace to see His Majesty.” Huo Mingshu turned and walked away. Zheng Zhang was inexplicably panicked and immediately blocked the two, “Left Chancellor, what exactly are you planning to do?”

Huo Mingshu did not stop his pace. Zheng Zhang panicked and quickly said, “Left Chancellor, please show mercy.”

The palace path was long and quiet, with no one in sight in front or behind them. Huo Mingshu stopped, his spine straight and his back like green bamboo, which made Yan Zhining feel inexplicably at ease.

Zheng Zhang caught up and bowed. “Left Chancellor, I hope you show mercy and spare my life.”

“I am all ears.” Huo Mingshu smiled faintly, looking down to smooth the wrinkles on his sleeve. His posture was elegant, making one feel a sense of pleasure.

Zheng Zhang was more than ten years his senior, but standing before Huo Mingshu at this moment, his back was hunched, like a lowly subordinate.

“It was just a momentary lapse in judgment…” Zheng Zhang said with difficulty. Huo Mingshu looked at the young girl, and she shook her head at him.

Shaking her head meant he was lying. Huo Mingshu sneered, “I’m afraid it was a long-planned scheme.”

Zheng Zhang’s face turned pale. Huo Mingshu lifted his foot to leave, and Zheng Zhang panicked, “It’s true, she wanted to divorce me and even moved out to live elsewhere, but in reality, she was meeting three people at night. I lost my temper, which is why I acted.”

Yan Zhining nodded after hearing this. Huo Mingshu understood and waited quietly for the rest.

Seeing that he remained silent, Zheng Zhang had no choice but to continue. “When I married into the family, her mother was already pregnant. I had no choice but to swallow my pride for many years. To tell you the truth, Left Chancellor, I also had a wife before I entered the capital, and we had a son.”

After hearing this, Yan Zhining suddenly realized: years later, Chancellor Zheng arranged for his son to marry his adopted daughter, all to use the power of the Chancellor’s office to help his son rise step by step.

Huo Mingshu nodded. “At tomorrow’s morning court session, I expect to see your resignation letter. Otherwise, I will expose you for shielding your own son in the murder of your adopted daughter. Chancellor, you decide how to handle this.”

With that, he turned and left the palace, and Yan Zhining followed him impatiently.

Huo Mingshu got into the carriage first, and she scrambled in after him. She closed the carriage door, and just as she sat down, the carriage began to move.

“Sister-in-law, why… did you let him go?”

Huo Mingshu closed his eyes, his posture upright and proper. “It has nothing to do with me. I only need to get him out of the capital and replace him with my own people. I am not a saint; there is no need to get hung up on right and wrong just to make others pay a price.”

Yan Zhining was stunned. She looked at the Left Chancellor with a dazed expression. Seeing her silence, Huo Mingshu spoke up, “Disappointed?”

Yan Zhining remained silent, but her silence was her answer. Huo Mingshu sneered and continued, “That is just how I am. If you are disappointed, you are free to leave.”

The air inside the carriage suddenly felt stagnant.

Yan Zhining breathed lightly, inexplicably feeling oppressed.

The carriage stopped at the door of the Chancellor’s residence. Yan Zhining stepped out, and Huo Mingshu returned to his office. She stood in place, blankly watching the carriage, her sister-in-law’s cold, heartless words echoing in her ears.

That is just how I am. If you are disappointed, you are free to leave.

Yan Zhining couldn’t understand her own feelings. She had thought her sister-in-law was upright and pure, but seeing today’s events, that might not be the case.

She turned and entered the residence, following a maid back to her bedroom. Just as she sat down, the maid’s voice came from outside: “Young Master, the Second Young Lady is here. Your sister wants to see you.”

“Let her in.” Yan Zhining nodded, gathering her spirits to face her sister.

Yan Zhihui lifted her skirt and walked in, wearing a pale yellow spring dress that set off her fair skin. Her brows and eyes even held a resemblance to Madam Yan.

“Big sister?” Yan Zhihui’s eyes curved, and she walked over to her in a few quick steps. “Do you recognize me? I haven’t seen you, but I’ve always been thinking of you.”

Her words were sincere and heartfelt, and Yan Zhining was moved to tears, but the cold chime of the bell shattered her beautiful dream.

Yan Zhihui was lying.

“Big sister has finally returned. All these years, Mother has been talking about you. I’ve been living in Jiangnan with Grandmother and couldn’t see you even once a year.”

Yan Zhihui smiled and sighed, sitting down across from her, her eyes clear as she grabbed her hand. “Big sister, I’ve missed you so much.”

The bell chimed incessantly. For every sentence she spoke, the bell rang three times—not a single word was true.

“Big sister, now that you’re back, I will definitely be filial to Father and Mother along with you.” Yan Zhihui squeezed her wrist, her words gentle as if they hadn’t seen each other in years and she missed her dearly.

Every single word was a lie. Yan Zhining slowly pulled back her hand and replied perfunctorily, “Good, I miss you too.”

Yan Zhihui smiled. “Since that’s the case, I’ll go pay my respects to Mother with you.”

“I’m not going.” Yan Zhining lifted her eyelids. “You go.”

The smile on Yan Zhihui’s face nearly froze. Seeing Yan Zhining’s coldness, she gritted her teeth and said, “Big sister, we are biological sisters. You shouldn’t be so distant.”

The bell chimed again… Biological sisters? Yan Zhining asked subconsciously, “We are biological sisters?”

Yan Zhihui nodded without hesitation, “Naturally, we are biological sisters.”

As expected, Yan Zhining heard the bell chime again. It turned out that Yan Zhihui knew they weren’t biological sisters; only one person had been kept in the dark since childhood.

When she was young, her grandmother had told her she was the second child in the family, with an older brother above her and a younger sister below. She was warned to get along with her brother and sister and to protect the Yan family. Even more, she was to be the head of the family and guard her brother and sister.

But now, all the signs were telling her that she was not the child of the Madam of the Marquis!

Then who was she?

Yan Zhining took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in her heart, and bluffed, “I know now. It’s getting late, you go back first. I’ll be free tomorrow to go. I just got back and have a lot of things to do, you go back first.”

Seeing this, Yan Zhihui had no choice but to leave, looking dejected.

After she left, Yan Zhining slowly leaned back, her mind a complete blank. Who am I?

She was supposed to be the future head of the Yan family, the daughter of the Madam of the Marquis, but now everything had changed.

Yan Zhining began to rub her forehead, feeling inexplicably flustered. Her world had turned upside down in less than a day since she returned.

She began to feel restless and anxious, wanting to do something to soothe herself. She stood up and walked a few steps, only to suddenly realize she wasn’t in the Yan house.

She was in the Chancellor’s mansion.

She wasn’t a child of the Yan family, but the wife of the Left Chancellor…

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