Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 171 - 9: Scent Unveils the Truth (Part 2)

The Huang Family’s promising future was thanks to the contributions of the Huang Family’s matriarch, a Chief Palace Maid; the Huang family’s ancestor merely held an empty title. Now, coaxed by a concubine, he dare dreams of "reasserting his authority."

The Huang Family’s matriarch paid no mind to such "trivial things" as concubines. Yet now, that concubine dares overstep her bounds—it’s simply absurd.

As it was previously mentioned, this person wasn’t a good character. That beautiful concubine first succumbed to a terrible illness, passing within a year; the illegitimate son, at just three or four years old, was also gone after catching a cold.

The Huang family’s ancestor, devastated by the loss of both his favored concubine and young son, suffered a stroke and never rose again. Confined to his sickbed for two or three years, he watched his lawful wife being revered as the "Grand Ancestor" by the entire family, leaving a final testament that "one must not take concubines before thirty." He died harboring resentment.

Soon after the Huang family’s ancestor passed, the Huang Family’s matriarch calmly departed in her sleep, leaving behind a lengthy letter detailing everything to her only son. She also left the recipe for the Mist Dream Fragrance that caused both herself and that concubine’s deaths, stating, "Though a harmful thing, it is a unique fragrance of an era. Since I acquired it, I cannot let it perish by my hand. Good-natured descendants should carry it through."

However, from the time of that ancestor, the Huang family has only ever passed lineage through a single successor each generation, so this fragrance was secretly passed down only to the Family Head of the Huang family.

The current Family Head is the father of Yang Liu’s brother-in-law. As for how the Han Family came to know of it, it can only be said that "love conquers all." Upon hearing Yang Liu sing those words in aria, Susu was utterly crushed—the notion of "better to betray the world than her" was seriously hard to swallow!

And how did Yang Liu’s husband come to know Mist Dream? That delves into another tale.

After Mrs. Huang gave birth, her health declined, which allowed the Han Family to take advantage. When the Han Family was pregnant, the eldest son of the Huang family, Yang Liu’s husband, was only three, entrusted to a nurse due to his mother’s poor health. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

That day, Mrs. Huang and Mr. Huang argued, and the Han Family fell to the ground with Mrs. Huang, bleeding profusely—her skirt soaked through. Yang Liu’s husband witnessed it all, terrified, he burned with fever, nearly passing away.

After recovering, he was raised personally by Old Master Huang, his great-grandfather, as the next Family Head, told everything he needed—and didn’t need—to know by his great-grandfather.

It naturally included the ancestor’s secret history and the Mist Dream Fragrance. Old Master Huang admonished him to be wary of the Han Family, who cared more than his own mother—proof that "with age comes wisdom."

Thus, despite his father’s displeasure shown through beatings and scoldings, Yang Liu’s husband had his great-grandfather’s support to venture forth with large sums of silver, building his immense fortune through trade.

Yang Liu and Susu were closely knit; given the Huang Family’s disgrace and the ancestor’s reputation involved, it was impossible to share too much with Susu. Naturally, some inconvenient truths were glossed over vaguely. But Susu, raised by Old Madam Song and living in an era of information explosion in her past life, could piece together the story from Yang Liu’s few words, and infer additional details.

When Susu shared her deductions with Yang Liu, his shock confirmed her accuracy—a truly scandalous tale.

Susu stayed at the Huang family for three days and agreed to meet Yang Liu on the sixteenth of August at Sui’an Hall, after which she returned to her estate.

Before leaving, Han Family, unaware they’d been exposed, still obediently followed Mrs. Huang, while Mrs. Huang, knowing the truth, instructed her to prepare two carts of supplies for Susu without a hint of change in expression, leaving Susu to exclaim: Life is like a play, all about acting—these are all seasoned extras!