The Mute Wife Who Brings Prosperity-Chapter 570 - 537: Reborn and Returned (2nd Update)
Time moves backward by one day.
Xu Jia sat in the bridal sedan chair, looking at her fair and delicate hands, disbelief raging in her eyes like a storm.
"Miss." A sudden voice from outside pulled her dazed thoughts back.
"I hid two pieces of osmanthus cake. If you’re hungry, you can have a bite first."
The voice belonged to Mo Xiang, her dowry maid.
Xu Jia reached out to lift a corner of the sedan curtain and saw the festive pearl hairpin on Mo Xiang’s head.
It was she who personally adorned the young girl before leaving home.
The red bridal sedan, the heavy phoenix crown, the noisy ceremonial music, and the sound of firecrackers—all reminded her that she had returned.
But she had returned to the very day she was marrying into the Tang Family.
Thinking of how she was deceived into marriage in her past life and imprisoned in that cage, suffering humiliation in the Tang Family, she bitterly smiled at the thought of how fate had allowed her to relive, only for her to follow the same path again.
Xu Jia couldn’t help but smile bitterly, feeling a chill in her heart. Could this be destiny?
The voice of Mo Xiang outside continued.
Having accepted the reality of being reborn, Xu Jia calmed her emotions and replied softly, "I’m not hungry, you keep it."
Remembering something, Xu Jia asked again, "Mo Xiang, is there any news from the General Mansion?"
Mo Xiang looked puzzled, "What news does Miss refer to?"
Xu Jia felt a lump in her throat.
In her last life, her grandmother passed away on her wedding day, and it was based on this that Tang Yuan used the excuse of a funeral in the Yue Family to leave her alone on their wedding night to meet his widow sister-in-law.
Recalling the past, Xu Jia’s smile turned mocking. What a family of cultured virtues, and what an upright scholarly family tradition, claiming to be a noble house excelling in literature. And what a newly crowned third-place scholar!
Hearing the low laughter from inside the sedan, Mo Xiang felt a shiver down her spine and stammered, "Mis... Miss, what’s wrong?"
Xu Jia laughed until her eyes were sore, clutching the dragon-phoenix patterned bridal veil, claiming it was from joy.
What a pleasure it is for an unversed military family girl in decorum, house management, and intrigue to marry into a prestigious scholarly family in the Capital, to wed the much-admired Tang Family son.
That was how she thought of it in her last life.
Yet, just as she alighted the sedan, the mourning news from her family struck her with harsh reality.
She later discovered that Tang Yuan had only sought her hand in marriage as a pretext to pave the way for his sister-in-law’s entry into the household.
And she was chosen as Tang Yuan’s legitimate wife by her sister-in-law Jiang Qingyu herself.
Simply because a military family girl was considered simple-minded, easy to manage in the future.
Her father, Xu Guangfu, was not fond of women and had only one wife and concubine. Her weak concubine rarely paid visits, leaving the Xu Family’s inner quarters straightforward.
Growing up in such a family, Xu Jia naturally learned nothing of devious schemes and dealt with others sincerely.
Jiang Qingyu utilized this sincerity, appearing close as sisters while stabbing her in the back, pushing her into a hopeless abyss until her demise.
...
Outside, the crackling sound of firecrackers erupted once more. Detaching her mind from past memories, Xu Jia allowed the wedding matchmaker to lead her down, cross the saddle, pass over the fire basin, pay respects to the ancestors, and enter the bridal chamber.
Having already experienced this in her past life, going through it again lacked the anticipation and joy, resulting in neither nervousness nor anxiety.
When the veil lifted, Xu Jia and Tang Yuan’s gazes met.
No wonder he was selected as the third-place scholar. With Tang Yuan’s handsome appearance and full of scholarly talent, it’s natural that he could captivate young maidens’ hearts.
Oh, not only young maidens, even the already married and child-bearing sister-in-law Jiang Qingyu couldn’t forget him, going through great lengths to become his woman.
As Xu Jia observed Tang Yuan, he too was observing her.
The girl, wearing a bright red wedding dress, under the bejeweled phoenix crown, with calm, gentle eyes and a delicately made-up face, cast a glance that seemed like a torch, which made one’s eyelids twitch.
Tang Yuan was surprised. The appearance of his newlywed wife was different from the militaristic girl he had imagined, and that gaze showed no hint of admiration toward him.
Given his looks were advantageous everywhere he went, and since Xu Jia was his admirer, she shouldn’t be indifferent.
Quickly restraining his emotions, Tang Yuan set down the golden balance rod used to lift the veil, speaking calmly, "You may sit, I’ll have someone send some food later."
With just that instruction, he vanished without a trace.
Xu Jia thought of waiting all night on an empty stomach in her past life to avoid losing dignity; in retrospect, it seemed utterly foolish.
Taking a deep breath, she removed the heavy phoenix crown, rolled up her sleeves, and sat directly by the table.
The food on the table looked tempting, and she swallowed her saliva, looking at Mo Xiang beside her, telling her not to stand foolishly and to sit down and eat together.
Mo Xiang shook her head, "I’m not hungry."
Xu Jia laughed, "You left at the same time as I did, without eating anything, how are you not hungry?"
Seeing Mo Xiang hesitate, Xu Jia continued, "Eat quickly, only then will you have the strength to deal with what comes next."
Although Xu Jia spoke with a smile, Mo Xiang sensed the weight in the words, hesitated a moment, then sat down with her.
Xu Jia handed her a pair of chopsticks, her expression utterly composed.
There was no need to worry about the husband disliking it, no need to harbor sweet anticipation towards men. Xu Jia felt relaxed as if at her own home.
Mo Xiang hesitated several times to speak, but seeing Miss’s calm demeanor, she swallowed back her words.
...
In the front courtyard.
Tang Yuan was entertaining guests with drinks, when suddenly a little child pushed through the crowd and rushed over, clinging to his leg, looking up tearfully, "Second Uncle, are you going to abandon Yongyong?"
Tang Yong, the biological son of Jiang Qingyu and Tang Yuan’s deceased elder brother Tang Xiao, was only four years old.
Tang Yuan cherished what Jiang Qingyu loved, treating him as his own, always unwilling to let him suffer in the slightest.
Tang Yong, although young, had learned many tricks from his mother. Xu Jia in her past life had fallen victim to him not long after marrying in.
After all, a child’s words couldn’t be false. If he claimed someone bullied him, then that person definitely did, without a single doubt from others.
Moreover, Tang Yuan himself favored Tang Yong, so why would he listen to Xu Jia’s explanations?
"Yongyong be good, go back to your room first, Second Uncle will come to accompany you later, okay?" Tang Yuan said, stroking Tang Yong’s little head.
The tenderness in his eyes made it seem as if he were Tang Yong’s biological father.
After Tang Xiao’s death, Jiang Qingyu used the excuse of mourning her husband to stay at the outer estate, leaving Tang Yong raised by Tang Yuan.
It was later that Xu Jia learned, Jiang Qingyu staying at the outer estate was both to fade from public view, preparing for her future marriage to Tang Yuan, and because it was the place where the two secretly met.
Tang Yuan was madly infatuated with Jiang Qingyu, as if any child born from her, no matter whose child it was, Tang Yuan would be delighted to accept.
Just after sending Tang Yong back to his room, the concierge reported, saying that the old lady of the Xu Family had just passed away.
"What?"
Tang Yuan thought he misheard, asking twice to confirm.
Once he got the confirmed answer, besides shock, he felt a faint joy.
He was just worried about finding an excuse to avoid the wedding night, and the Xu Family happened to have an incident at this time. It seemed like a heaven-sent opportunity, even heaven was helping him.
Suppressing the smile at the corner of his mouth, Tang Yuan instructed, "Don’t spread this news around, I have my own arrangements."
After the concierge left, Tang Yuan hastily excused himself from the guests and headed straight toward the bridal chamber.
Xu Jia had just finished eating and was sitting at the dressing table, removing her hairpins to prepare for washing up and sleeping, when she heard the door being opened.
