But no matter how pretty Chu Yue was, it was useless. She did not manage to get Prince Qin's heart. She was sent out of the house on the second day she married him and did not even sleep with him.
Madam Jiang did not know where she had been sent to, but no matter what, it was not a good place.
Because of that, Marquis Youngle and his family became a laughingstock, so Madam Jiang did not want to learn anything about her niece.
"Do you have something to ask of us by coming back?" Madam Jiang asked patiently.
"Auntie, I came back to visit grandmother."
Chu Yue knew that this aunt did not like her, so she did not want to talk to her and get a scolding. She went straight to the main topic.
Madam Jiang had expected to hear this, and she smiled coldly. "Yue'er, do you know the state of your grandmother's health right now?"
"I know that my grandmother's health isn't very good, that's why I came back to visit her. I want her to nurse herself to health. You don't need to be suspicious of me," Chu Yue said faintly.
"I was suspicious? Aren't you thinking about asking your grandmother to plead Prince Qin for mercy on your behalf? Aren't you thinking about asking him to take you back?" Madam Jiang said with a cold huff. "Your grandmother isn't healthy enough to go through that torment. Hurry up and go back."
"Auntie, I've already mentioned that I just came here to make my grandmother feel at ease. I didn't come here to ask her to help me return to Prince Qin's mansion. Prince Qin will soon send someone to take me back anyway. I came back just to visit my grandmother. Once I visit her, I will leave. I will not make my grandmother angry nor affect my cousin's wedding," Chu Yue said while staring at her.
Madam Jiang did not expect that Chu Yue would know that she was worried about her doing something that will make the madam's health falter from anger.
If something happened and they ended up needing to mourn for her, her second legitimate daughter's marriage would be delayed. Her eldest legitimate daughter was already married, so she was fine, but her second legitimate daughter was fifteen years old. She could not afford to have her marriage delayed.
"Are you really here to visit your grandmother and not to ask her for help?" Madam Jiang stared at her.
"Auntie, why do you think I came in through the backdoor?" Chu Yue asked faintly.
Madam Jiang could not help but observe her again. It was only when she looked at her seriously that she noticed that her niece seemed to have become different from before.
In the past, she did not dare to look her in the eye. Whenever she was around, she seemed to be invisible. She might have been beautiful, but she had no soul in her.
But right now, Madam Jiang found that she could not move her eyes from her.
Madam Jiang hesitated for a moment before she said, "Send my niece to visit the old madam." Then, she looked at Chu Yue. "I hope that you will not disappoint me."
"Thank you, Auntie." Chu Yue followed a maid out of the room.
"Did you notice that the lass seems to have become different?" Madam Jiang said to her maid.
"Life is difficult outside, so she must have grown up by quite a lot," the old maid said. Then, unable to hold herself back, she said, "Madam, you let her visit the madam so easily. Is it?"
"The madam has been worried about her for a long time, and I had to come up with all sorts of excuses to reject her requests. Besides, the madam has doted on Chu Yue since she was young. Judging by her words, she also knows that the old madam will receive a huge shock if she learns about what happened, so she should back just visit the old madam. She will not say anything," Madam Jiang said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
At that moment, Chu Yue arrived at the compound where the old madam stayed.
When she came over, the old madam had just woken up and was eating breakfast.
The old madam could not believe her eyes. When she saw the granddaughter she had not met for a long time, she could not even hold her spoon properly. "Yue'er? Have you come back?"
"Grandmother, I've come back." Chu Yue smiled and went up to her.
Chu Yue did not know whether it was because the original's emotions still lingered in her, but when she saw the kind old lady, she felt her eyes sting. She knelt down before the old madam's feet.
"It's really you. Oh, my Yue'er, it's really you." The old madam picked her up with shivering arms. She was also crying tears of happiness.
The grandmother and granddaughter hugged each other and wept. Then, they washed their faces before they ate breakfast together.
Even if Chu Yue had already eaten, it did not stop her from eating again with her grandmother.
Once they finished, they started talking.
"I have been worried all this while. I was wondering why you weren't coming to visit me. Is your life at Prince Qin's mansion going well?" the old madam asked.
"Grandma, do I look like I'm not living a good life?" Chu Yue smiled.
"It's good that you're living a good life," the old madam said with a smile. She finally felt at ease. Her granddaughter looked much better than before. She no longer looked as gloomy as before, but had become much livelier.
"Grandma, I've already grown up. I can't let you worry about me all the time. Just take care of yourself so that I don't have to worry about you," Chu Yue said.
"I'm very healthy. I don't need you worrying about me. You just need to live your life well," the old madam said with a smile.
"I know." Chu Yue nodded.
"Yue'er, have a walk with me," the old madam said in an incredibly good mood.
So Chu Yue went out on a walk with the old madam in the garden. Along the way, she explained why she had not been visiting: There had been quite a lot of matters in Prince Qin's mansion that she did not understand, so she had to learn about them.
Chu Yue stayed with the old madam from morning till evening before she went back. She left the courtyard through the back door.
Madam Jiang had asked for Chu Yue to be sent away before she went to the garden to visit the old madam.
The old madam looked at her and asked, "Is Yue'er living a bad life right now?"
"How could that be?" Madam Jiang said.
"Yue'er has become much more mature."
How could the old madam not have an inkling of what had happened? In the past, her granddaughter was not familiar with the ways of the world, but now that they met again after more than half a year, her granddaughter had actually learned how to talk only about happy things instead of talking about her worries.
She only mentioned the interesting things and said nothing else. Besides, her actions had an air of maturity, and she was so sensible that the old madam's heart ached for her.
Madam Jiang instantly understood that Chu Yue had indeed not said anything. She sighed in relief and said, "Isn't it good that she's mature? Mother, you do not need to worry. This is something that Yue'er must go through."
But even she felt that her niece had changed a lot. It was as if she had truly grown up.
"Pay attention to her, will you?" the old madam said.
"I will." Madam Jiang agreed to it.
But the old madam could tell that her daughter-in-law had agreed to it perfunctorily. She sighed. She was old now and had already stopped managing the house. She could no longer take care of her granddaughter.
Right now, her granddaughter was independent, and that was good.
But when she thought about how her gentle Young Yue'er had learned how to overcome life's problems on her own, the old madam felt sad.
When Chu Yue brought Hupo to the restaurant, it was already late. They had to stay the night there before they could go back.
But she did not know that the news of her entering Marquis Youngle's mansion had already been sent to Qin Heng's hands.