Su Yurou's words were cut off before she could utter them.
Angrily and anxiously, she swung her fists at Su Jiamo, delivering two blows.
However, her punches held no power against Su Jiamo.
He glanced around. Though it seemed no one was present in the cold wind, eyes were everywhere. He quickly pulled her back into the carriage and forced her to sit.
Then, with a stern face, he looked at her and asked, "Su Yurou, do you want to get us killed?"
Su Yurou was already in a bad mood. It was one thing to be insulted and mocked by outsiders.
That was her own carelessness, giving them ammunition.
But Su Jiamo was her own brother. Why was he speaking to her like this, reprimanding her?
She hadn't come here without his approval.
And she wasn't doing this for herself alone; it was for the honor of their entire Su family.
After all her efforts, this was the result she received.
Su Yurou was enraged. She roared at Su Jiamo:
"All of you just blame me. It's because you men aren't capable enough that our Su family lags behind.
Why blame me, a weak woman?
What have I done wrong?
I want to marry the person I love, but you deem his background unworthy and forbid it.
The person I don't like, I've tried to like for your sake.
But even though he likes me, he refuses to marry me because of my low status. What can I do? What else can I do?"
The more Su Yurou spoke, the more wronged she felt, like a dam breaking, releasing a torrent of water.
It overwhelmed Su Jiamo, leaving him speechless for a long time.
He looked at Su Yurou, then at the golden characters "Zhuangyuan Mansion" shimmering outside the carriage curtain.
A beautiful and delicate face flashed in his mind.
Perhaps, in this life, he truly had no hope.
But he still refused to give up.
However, now was not the opportune moment. He could only hide it in his heart and wait for the right time.
"Let's go back. You've done your best. Big Brother won't blame you; blame me instead!"
At that time, he wanted to take a look at that jade pendant. Su Xiaoqi happened to be there, and they looked at it together. Su Xiaoqi said she liked it.
He didn't know its value then, thinking it was just a jade pendant that looked a bit prettier with better luster.
To win her favor, he gave it to her directly.
So, strictly speaking, Su Xiaoqi hadn't taken their family's possessions without reason. He had given it to her.
Moreover, since she had taken Su Yurou's place in the marriage, she should naturally accept the betrothal gift from Shen Yun, and it was rightfully hers.
Su Jiamo's thoughts cleared, and he actually felt inclined to persuade Su Yurou to give up on the jade pendant.
But as soon as he spoke, Su Yurou, disregarding their sibling bond, sharply interrupted him:
"No! Father said that jade pendant is related to a big secret, and we must get it back."
After Su Yurou's outburst, she saw Su Jiamo staring blankly at her.
She instinctively lowered her head, stunned by her own reaction.
She reached up and touched her lips.
What was wrong with her? Why was she so agitated?
Before her stood her dearest second brother.
Su Jiamo looked at her in disbelief and softly called out, "Yurou!"
"Second Brother, I, I don't know why I became like that just now."
Su Yurou calmed her racing heart and took a jade pendant from her embrace, showing it to Su Jiamo.
"Second Brother, this jade pendant is really important. Look, look inside it. Can you feel if there's something within?
It feels alive, and whenever I look at it, I constantly want to enter it."
Su Yurou seemed entranced, almost possessed.
Su Jiamo was startled. Honestly, he wished he could smash the jade pendant.
As soon as he touched it, he also felt something within, as if it were calling them to enter.
But this was just a jade pendant; it was impossible to enter.
There's always a reason for unusual behavior!
"Give it to me, Yurou. Don't hold onto it anymore." Su Jiamo asked if this was the same jade pendant Shen Yun had.
Su Yurou was silent for a moment before nodding: "Yes, this was his betrothal gift to me. It rightfully belongs to me."
Her tone was filled with a sense of loss, as if she had lost something very, very important.
But she couldn't quite articulate what it was.
The feeling was strange, like facing the eaves of a house about ten feet high.
She knew there was something good up there, but due to her height, she couldn't see it.
There were no tools nearby to help her climb.
She was so close, yet she couldn't reach it.
"Don't be so fixated. It's just a jade pendant, what great secret could it hold? Does it hide a treasure map?
I think you're still holding onto Shen Yun. Let go, he doesn't belong to you."
Su Jiamo couldn't bear to see his sister so lost and confused, so unlike her usual bright and sunny self.
Su Yurou narrowed her eyes and retorted, "Second Brother, you preach to me, but aren't you still thinking about her?
And even plotting to snatch her away?"
Su Jiamo fell silent.
He couldn't refute her words.
They were all facts.
Before this, he had followed Zhao Xiaohua's advice and indeed wanted to snatch Su Xiaoqi, whom he loved, from Shen Yun.
But he had failed!
Zhao Xiaohua had boasted to him that she would ruin Su Xiaoqi's reputation using the incident at Kongshan.
Once Shen Yun grew tired of her, he would appear, comfort her, and protect her.
Any woman could be swayed by a sincere heart, and if he was earnest enough, he was sure to move her into his embrace.
However, he waited in vain.
The rumors unfavorable to Su Xiaoqi had indeed spread.
They were spoken of quite harshly in the marketplace.
Hearing them made him want to lash out.
But Shen Yun seemed oblivious.
He and Su Xiaoqi were living an incredibly sweet life.
They went out together and shopped for items.
There was no sign of any intention to divorce.
From that moment on, Su Jiamo knew that Su Xiaoqi was no ordinary woman, and Shen Yun was no ordinary man by worldly standards.
That was why they were a match.
Even he, who believed he liked Su Xiaoqi very much, even loved her, couldn't ignore those unpleasant and vile rumors.
He found himself involuntarily despising the Su Xiaoqi in the rumors.
Only afterward did he try to convince himself that the rumors were spread by Zhao Xiaohua.
They were false, intended to disrupt their marital relationship.
The aim was to win her over, but in reality, this strategy had no effect.
He had merely scared himself for nothing.
It had no impact on them at all.
Perhaps he truly wasn't her destined man; Shen Yun was—though he hated to admit it, he had to concede it was the truth!
He wanted to give up!
"Second Brother, don't give up. Look, I like Brother Yun, and you like her. If we all returned to our rightful places, wouldn't we all get what we want?"
Su Yurou, with red eyes, urgently tried to persuade Su Jiamo.
"Silly girl, aren't you currently entangled with the Crown Prince's heir?" Su Jiamo suddenly remembered this and reminded Su Yurou.
Su Yurou turned her face away, her expression slightly unnatural as she replied:
"He and I, it's merely... a plan."
She had never genuinely liked him.
To be honest, if the Crown Prince's heir hadn't been from the Crown Prince's mansion, she likely wouldn't have spared him a second glance on the street.
Cowardly and timid, he was not even a tenth as impressive as her Brother Yun.
Su Jiamo, now taking on the role of an elder brother, seized the opportunity to remind her:
"Yurou, you are a woman; you should know about fidelity."
Su Yurou gave him a sidelong glance and remained silent.
She didn't know how to explain to her brother.
She knew that what she had just said was absolutely not something anyone should hear.
Otherwise, her relationship with the Crown Prince's heir would be ruined.
Without the Crown Prince's heir, her plan with Zhao Xiaohua would fall apart, directly impacting the larger plan that followed.
Zhao Xiaohua would not let her off the hook either.
Su Yurou sighed, "Forget it, pretend I said nothing."
It seemed that at some point, she had lost control of her own destiny!