Chapter 54: The Deep Bond of Sisterhood, Part Thirty-One

Zhang Qingyao was deeply moved by Yu Shanmeng's thoughtfulness toward her.
At the very least, putting herself in that position, she knew she could never abandon such a massive fortune for the sake of any man, even if that man happened to be Gao Mingqiao.

Chu Yunli led her people straight through the main gates. Yu Shanmeng tried to chase after them, but he was instantly blocked by the guards.
Furious, he cursed loudly at the entrance and spat a few times on the ground.

When the guards stepped forward to stop him, Yu Shanmeng argued with them for a moment longer. Then, someone reminded him of the carriage parked not far away. Recognizing it as the one his own household had assigned to Zhang Qingyao, he immediately began to straighten his robes and hurried over.

"Qingyao, why are you here?" he asked anxiously.

Zhang Qingyao looked at the sweat beading on his forehead. "I heard everything Qingxue said just now."

"That crazy woman! I must have been blind to ever marry her," Yu Shanmeng said, gritting his teeth in hatred whenever he mentioned his wife. "Don't you worry, I am going to marry you no matter what!"

Zhang Qingyao remained silent. She really wished he wouldn't be so persistent.

"I don't want to hold you back. Actually, I've realized something: she isn't just making things difficult for you, nor does she truly despise you. She simply detests the devotion you have for me, and she can't stand the fact that you are determined to marry me." Her eyes gradually grew red and watery. "Brother Shan, loving someone doesn't mean you have to be together at all costs; it means wishing the best for him. As for our marriage... let's just forget it!"

"No!" Yu Shanmeng panicked. "You don't need to listen to what she says. With the children around, all of those assets belong to the Yu family; she cannot possibly refuse to return them to me. Besides, neither she nor the kids know how to run a business. In the end, everything will still have to be handed over to me. This hardship is only temporary. I won't let you live a hard life with me. Qingyao, trust me!"

Zhang Qingyao began to hesitate.

Truth be told, among all the men who had ever fancied her, Yu Shanmeng was by far the most deeply attached and enduringly loyal.
The other men had all taken wives and concubines. Although Yu Shanmeng had married, the woman he took was her younger sister, and he had never touched another woman since. Rather than saying he was remaining chaste for Zhang Qingxue, it was more accurate to say he was doing it for her.

If Yu Shanmeng could really reclaim the Yu family business, he was indeed worth marrying.
Having drifted from place to place in destitution for so long, she desperately wanted to settle down.

On second thought, Yu Shanmeng's words made a lot of sense. No matter how domineering Zhang Qingxue was, she wouldn't squander the children's wealth recklessly. Once she realized she was incapable of running a business and that the silver in her hands was dwindling day by day, she would surely hand everything over to Yu Shanmeng. After all, the children's biological father was far more trustworthy than a stranger.

Blushing, Zhang Qingyao lowered her head. "I trust you."

Overjoyed, Yu Shanmeng declared, "Then let's go order the wedding robes right now!"

His reputation as the master of the Yu family still carried some weight. He paid a small deposit to have the embroiderers rush the garments. As for the bridal sedan chair and all the other necessities for the wedding, he also put down deposits. For the few vendors who absolutely refused to sell on credit, he sneaked out under the cover of night to borrow funds from a friend's house.

Those willing to lend him money shared the exact same mindset.
They believed that Yu Shanmeng was only temporarily out of business, and that before long, the mother and children of the Yu family would obediently return everything to him.

The wedding date was set for half a month later.

Chu Yunli scheduled her wedding for the exact same day as his. It wasn't because she insisted on clashing with them, but rather because she had consulted a fortune teller, and that specific day was the most auspicious. Missing it would mean waiting another two months.

After a husband and wife divorced only to choose the exact same day to remarry, everyone who heard about it found the situation delightfully novel. Although Chu Yunli now controlled the entire Yu family business and her business acumen hadn't been fully tested in just half a month, no one wished to offend her, so they all sent generous wedding gifts.

As for Yu Shanmeng, while he didn't own any storefronts at the moment, he had spent decades scraping by in the city and still had plenty of connections. Even if those people were unwilling to lend him silver, customary gifts for weddings and funerals were obligatory social exchanges. Consequently, he also received quite a few congratulatory gifts.

On the wedding day, both households received numerous presents, though not many prominent masters and mistresses actually attended in person.

Chu Yunli didn't mind. Once a little more time passed and she had streamlined her affairs, there would be plenty of people eager to court her favor. Tian Jian'an wore a vibrant red robe that made his skin look like jade, his eyes filled with gentleness. Chu Yunli was thoroughly satisfied.

On the other side, seeing the woman he had yearned for all these years finally clad in a red bridal gown, looking at him with shyness and bashfulness, Yu Shanmeng cast all his worries aside and excitedly pulled her into his arms for a passionate kiss.

On their wedding night, the romance was naturally intoxicating.

However, once the wedding festivities were over, real life had to begin.

Newlywed and basking in bliss, Chu Yunli was in no rush to dive into business. She spent a few leisurely days resting in the courtyard with Tian Jian'an.

It was worth noting that Yu Xuelin was not in high spirits; unwilling to see his mother remarry so quickly, he had returned to the mountain retreat by noon the following day. Yu Xuejiao maintained her usual fragile demeanor, making it impossible to tell whether she was pleased or displeased. Yu Xuehuan, on the other hand, was bustling about excitedly, helping with everything. Anyone unaware would have thought he was the one getting married.

In stark contrast to the warmth and peace of the Yu residence's inner courtyard, the atmosphere in Yu Shanmeng's mansion was rather strained.

Zhang Huiniang had nowhere else to go and no desire to remarry. Hearing no news whatsoever from Liu Linfeng, she was currently heartbroken. In any case, her daughter had married Yu Shanmeng, and if she stayed here for a while, no one would dare say she couldn't. It served as a temporary shelter.

The morning after her wedding, Zhang Qingyao began to worry about Yu Shanmeng's finances. After all, the bills for all the wedding expenses were due to be settled. If they couldn't produce the silver, the couple would become the laughingstock of the city.

While helping Yu Shanmeng dress, she probed tentatively, "Is there any news from over there? Did they say when they'll hand the business over to you?"

Yu Shanmeng paused briefly. "Not yet! She's been busy with her own wedding recently, so she probably hasn't had time. Besides, I left the shops running in perfect order; they won't fall into chaos for at least half a month. By next month at the latest, she'll definitely come looking for me."

Hearing this, Zhang Qingyao furrowed her brow with anxiety. "What if those shops come asking for the final balances soon..."

Yu Shanmeng looked at her fair neck and breathed in her delicate fragrance, feeling a wave of satisfaction in his heart. "Don't you worry about that. We received quite a few gifts yesterday, and many of them are valuable. We can use those as collateral for now."

Zhang Qingyao nodded and did not press the matter further. Instead, she changed the subject. "With all the chaos earlier, our family hasn't been able to settle down properly. Now... I'd like to send Ah Liang to the private school. He has already fallen far behind in his studies."

Yu Shanmeng did not answer immediately.

He had previously sent his two sons to school, and his daughter had also studied for several years, so he knew very well how expensive private tutoring was. To continuously support a scholar for a long time required a truly substantial sum of silver. It wasn't that he was unwilling to spend the money, but rather that he simply didn't have it.

Zhang Qingyao also knew this was a difficult request for the current Yu Shanmeng. Lowering her head, she murmured softly, "I have two troubling concerns. First is the silver needed for the school, and second... since his father is a convicted criminal, he might not even be allowed to take the imperial examinations once he finishes his studies. I was just thinking..." She raised her gaze. "You are my husband, and you are also a father figure to the children. Could you let him take your surname?"

Yu Shanmeng was taken aback.

The reason he had previously been willing to split the silver among the three children was that he knew at his age he likely wouldn't father any more children—or rather, he had no desire to be intimate with any woman other than Zhang Qingyao. And since Zhang Qingyao was already over thirty, practically at the age of becoming a grandmother, she was utterly incapable of bearing children.

Not having a child with the woman he loved was one of the great regrets of his life. Changing Gao Liang's surname to Yu would somewhat alleviate that regret.

"Alright!" Yu Shanmeng hesitated for only a second before readily agreeing. "I'll have someone add them and their sister to the Yu family genealogy shortly. As for the private school, I will definitely scrape the silver together within three days at most."

By the evening of the day after the wedding, Chu Yunli heard about Yu Shanmeng's plan to place Gao Liang and his sister under his own household registry. The problem was that Gao Liang was several months older than Yu Xuelin. If they were truly added to the family genealogy in that order, Yu Xuelin would no longer be Yu Shanmeng's eldest son, but his second.

One had to understand that entering the family genealogy wasn't just a matter of birth order on paper; if Yu Shanmeng were to pass away unexpectedly, Gao Liang and his sister could fully leverage their ranking on the genealogy to claim a share of the family property. Furthermore, because Gao Liang would be listed as the eldest son, he would be entitled to an even larger share. Even with the written agreement she and Yu Shanmeng had signed, the court judgment would still have to factor in legal lineage.

In any case, she would never allow Yu Shanmeng's newly adopted children to walk away empty-handed at the expense of her own.

Naturally, Chu Yunli had to put a stop to it.

If those were children Yu Shanmeng had genuinely fathered outside, both she and Zhang Qingxue would simply have to accept it. But for these sudden stepchildren to be the offspring of Zhang Qingyao—the very woman who ruined Zhang Qingxue's entire life—was unacceptable. If Chu Yunli tacitly allowed such a thing to happen, Zhang Qingxue would certainly never rest in peace.

Therefore, when the servant arrived to collect the genealogy book, Chu Yunli immediately drove him out.

"Tell Yu Shanmeng to come and speak to me himself."

Unyielding, Yu Shanmeng came knocking on her door early the next morning.

"Hand over the genealogy."

Chu Yunli replied bluntly, "I can give you the genealogy, but you cannot add anyone under your immediate household on it. Even if names are added later, it should only be for our two sons when they marry and have children. Don't bring just any random trash to be brothers to Xuelin and the others!"