Read Novel Full CHAPTER 56 PART1
CHAPTER 56 PART1
“How could that be!” Yin Huan hurriedly denied, his voice rising involuntarily.
“Father, we’re only thinking of our niece,” Madam She chimed in with a gentle, considerate smile, playing along with him. “This marriage was bestowed by imperial decree—she is to wed none other than the heir of the Duke of Wei’s household. Nothing could be more prestigious.”
“But this engagement gift is no small matter. No matter what, Yanfei is still a Xiao. How could the Duke of Wei’s family send betrothal gifts to the Yin family?”
With that, Madam She turned her gaze on Xiao Yanfei, staring intently into the girl’s eyes. “Yanfei, what do you say?”
A young girl ought to be shy, easily embarrassed. With the matter laid so plainly before her, she should, by rights, take the initiative to bring her mother back to the marquis’ residence.
What sort of propriety was it for a married woman to linger at her maiden home with her children day after day?
Xiao Yanfei only pressed her lips together and smiled sweetly, her eyes curving into crescents like the new moon.
Yet she behaved as though she couldn’t understand Madam She’s meaning, not uttering a single word.
A flicker of anxiety crossed Madam She’s face, her impatience showing despite herself.
Old Master Yin slowly straightened his upper body from where he had been resting against a pillow. Seeing this, Yin Huan immediately stood and rushed forward, eager and attentive, to steady his father.
“Pa!”
Old Master Yin slapped his son’s hand away in irritation, his face darkening at once.
Yin Huan froze, both expression and movement stiffening.
“Ah Huan, I am still alive,” Old Master Yin said in a slow yet resolute tone. “This household is not yours to preside over.”
“Father, you truly misunderstand us.” Yin Huan was sweating profusely now, his face stretched into a forced smile. “We only have our niece’s best interests at heart…”
Old Master Yin gave a low, derisive laugh, tapping his fist idly on the tea table a few times. “Though I’ve suffered a stroke and can no longer move freely, I am still the head of this family.”
“Three days ago, you chased after Marquis Wu’an at the gates. What did you say to him?”
“…”
“Father, I—” Yin Huan started, pupils contracting sharply in shock.
He had never imagined Old Master Yin would even know of that matter. A chill swept through him, his hair standing on end, as though he had become prey under the eye of a raptor.
Old Master Yin’s gaze then shifted to Madam She at Yin Huan’s side, his eyes cutting even sharper. “And yesterday, at Yongfu Temple—you met with Old Madam Xiao. What did you say to her?”
Madam She flinched, eyes darting away. She dared not meet his piercing stare.
The couple felt their hearts turn cold, as though all their petty schemes lay utterly bare before Old Master Yin.
The very air seemed to congeal around them, heavy with a biting chill.
“Hmph.” Old Master Yin’s snort was frosty, his voice colder still. “Shall I repeat your words back to you?”
Yin Huan swallowed hard, flustered, and blurted in defense, “Father, please—listen to me. We only just settled in the capital; of course, we must build connections everywhere if we want harmony and prosperity.
“As for Yanfei being switched at birth—that was all the doing of that vile concubine, Madam Cui! If Elder Sister insists on bearing a grudge against the Marquis, won’t that only grieve those close to her and delight our enemies?”
He tried to appeal with reason, softening then hardening his tone, until even his initial guilt began to ebb. Soon enough, his words rang with self-righteous confidence.
Yes, everything he did was for the Yin family’s sake!
A merchant’s path was profit, not needless enmity. And no matter how far Marquis Wu’an’s household had declined, they were still a noble marquisate.
Yin Wan truly lacked self-awareness. She was but a merchant’s daughter. That she had married into the marquis’ household back then had already been fortune beyond measure for the Yin’s. Did she not see? If not for her marriage, how could her daughter possibly have been granted to wed the Duke of Wei’s heir?
But she was just a woman—short-sighted, forever clinging to old grudges, venting her spite without thought for the greater good.
In his view, she ought to seize this opportunity and return at once to the marquis’ residence, forcing the Marquis to quickly establish Xiao Ye as heir. That was the proper course.
“…” Old Master Yin’s eyes grew colder still, his heart crystal clear.
Yin Huan’s lofty speech, stripped bare, amounted to nothing but wanting Yin Wan and her daughter gone from the Yin household.
And as for Xiao Ye…
Old Master Yin turned his gaze to the boy beside Yanfei. Xiao Ye sat obediently in a round-backed chair, his legs too short to touch the ground, yet he did not fidget. His small back was straight, his bright, clear eyes flicking between his sister and the kitten crouched by his chair.
Old Master Yin’s eyes caught on the scabbed-over cut on the boy’s palm. Just yesterday, in the garden, Yin Huan’s son, Yin Hao, had struck him with a cuju ball, sending him tumbling and scraping his hand.
The child had told his mother it was only an accident, a simple fall.
But what seemed childish roughhousing revealed far more to Old Master Yin. His chest tightened, breath catching, his fingertips turning cold.
Just then, he felt warmth on the back of his hand. Old Madam Yin had gently placed her palm over his, soothing him with quiet comfort.
He gave her a reassuring look, silently telling her he was fine.
Yet inside, disappointment pressed heavily on him. He had never imagined Yin Huan could be so intolerant—unable to abide his daughter staying under their roof even for a few days, and already so eager to drive her out.
“Yin Huan.” Old Master Yin’s gaze returned to his son, his tone icy as he called him by name. His brows bore traces of weariness, but he forced himself upright, steady. “Thirteen years ago, when I agreed to adopt you into our line, I made myself perfectly clear.”
“In this life, I have but one daughter. No one can compare to Ah Wan.”
“All that I have built over decades is for her and her children. What you may inherit will be no more than two-tenths of my estate. Another tenth will go to the clan as ancestral property.”
The Yin family had been merchants in Jiangnan for generations, a wealthy and powerful clan.
But Old Master Yin himself was a born merchant of genius. From the moment he took over from his father, in barely twenty years he had expanded their enterprise tenfold. In time, he became the richest man in Jiangnan.
Even just that two-tenths share was already far greater than the Yin family’s entire estate in the old master’s day. What’s more, Old Master Yin had even volunteered to give another tenth to the clan as ancestral property—an act that would benefit the whole lineage. The clan head and elders had all been moved; not one had raised an objection.
Old Master Yin’s gaze locked unflinchingly on Yin Huan’s face a few steps away, his words clipped and deliberate: “The rest has nothing to do with you.”
“I made everything perfectly clear back then. No one was ever forced.”
His voice was not loud, but it rang with authority, resolute and final, leaving no room for argument.
At the reminder of those events from over a decade ago, Yin Huan and Madam She pressed their lips tightly together, their expressions dark as water. Yet neither could utter a word of rebuttal.
Those terms had indeed been agreed upon at the time.
But the couple had tended to the elder Yins’ for more than ten years, sharing a household in harmony, three generations under one roof. The old pair had never brought the matter up again. Yin Huan had thought their hearts had been softened by his devotion. Who could have guessed they would remain so cold, so unyielding?
“Father…” Yin Huan stammered, cold sweat trickling down from his temples.
“Yin Huan, there’s no need to mouth pleasantries before me.” Old Master Yin lifted a hand, the corners of his aged mouth twisting into a cold sneer. “I’ll only ask you this: thirteen years ago, before the entire clan, did you or did you not agree of your own free will?”
Back then, some had advised him to adopt a young orphan from within the clan. But after much discussion with his wife, they decided against it.
They were already well into their fifties, too old and weary to raise a child from infancy. And feelings grew with closeness—if they had raised an orphan under their roof, while their daughter lived far away, how could they be sure their hearts would not shift?
So, if there was to be an adopted heir, it might as well be someone older, who needed no parenting. That was why they chose Yin Huan, then already seventeen.
The old couple had decided long ago: once they were gone, the promised three-tenths of the family estate would be released, part to Yin Huan, part to the clan.
Money could not be taken to the grave. Better to fulfill their duty while alive.
“Father, of course I never had the slightest objection!” Yin Huan blurted, sweat rolling swiftly from temple to chin.
How could he have refused? Such a vast fortune, handed to him on a silver platter—who would?
After all, Yin Wan was married out. Once the elders were gone, could a married daughter really dare return to fight him for the inheritance? The clan would never allow it.
He was the one bearing the Yin name. He had a son. He could carry on the incense and tend their funeral rites. The estate was rightfully his.
But Yin Wan—married for sixteen years—still shamelessly clung to her family’s fortune. Worse, she was refusing the dignity of her title as a marquis’ wife, insisting on lingering here in her maiden home. Because of her, he had to watch every step, constrained and hindered in all he did…
Yin Huan’s eyes flickered with both fear and resentment.
Old Master Yin rubbed his brow, his voice faint but firm: “What is yours, you will have.”
“What is not, do not covet.”
“If you feel wronged, then leave. I have no need of a Yin Huan.”
The last words fell like a hailstorm, cold and merciless, battering down upon him.
Yin Huan’s sweat poured, his face drained of color, his pupils shrunk to pinpoints.
If Old Master Yin truly chose to replace him with another heir from the clan, not a soul would object. On the contrary, countless kinsmen would clamor for the chance.
Old Master Yin’s sharp gaze never left his son’s face. With his seasoned eye, he read Yin Huan’s every flicker of expression, glimpsing the thoughts beneath.
Human greed was boundless, like a snake swallowing an elephant.
A weary sorrow stirred in his chest. In all his life, he had ruled the markets with decisive brilliance, made countless judgments without regret. Yet two choices weighed heavy with remorse: marrying his daughter into the Marquis of Wu’an’s household sixteen years ago, and adopting a son in his stead.
Wealth tempted hearts. No matter whom he had adopted, not one would have tolerated Ah Wan inheriting the greater part of his fortune.
His chest heaved, his breathing slightly unsteady.
Madam She started in alarm, rushing to smooth things over with a forced smile. “Father, please, don’t misunderstand us. We harbor no ill intent—only a wish to serve you both with filial devotion.”
“Husband, quickly, apologize to Father!” She tugged anxiously at Yin Huan’s sleeve. Her own face was pale, sweat dripping like rain.
“Grandfather, please don’t upset yourself.” Seeing his face darken, Xiao Yanfei quickly stepped forward, gently patting his back, then pressing at a pressure point in his palm. “Have you forgotten Physician Han’s instructions?”
Her soft words, her tender care—these soothed the old man. His expression eased, the deep furrow in his brow slowly loosening.
Only then did Yin Huan recover enough to speak. “Father, please don’t be angry, I—”
A derisive laugh cut him off. Old Master Yin patted his granddaughter’s hand softly. “Him? Not worth my anger.”
He was old, yes. But he was still alive. And as long as he lived, no adopted son would rule this household.
The curve of his lips grew colder. He recalled the clan’s arguments from over a decade ago, when they urged him to adopt:
“Cousin Zhan, you have only one daughter. When you and your wife pass, she’ll be alone. If she has a brother in the family, she’ll have someone to rely on. The marquisate won’t dare treat her lightly!”
Even then, he had found their words laughable. He had agreed only after their repeated pleas, not wishing to split with the clan entirely. Looking back now, he found it all the more absurd.
Millions in wealth, handed away—yet still, it could not fill a man’s greed.
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