Yun Chu came out of the delivery room.

She had intended to find Xie Jingyu to relay Concubine Tao’s account, but just a few steps out, she faintly heard something about four years ago.

She immediately made a gesture for the two maids beside her to lighten their footsteps.

Her movements were gentle yet swift as she walked to the side room door.

Though the voices inside weren’t entirely clear, intermittently they could be strung into sentences.

“…children who still had breath…directly threw them away…”

“…those two children carried Xie family blood…”

“…threw them into the freezing snow and ice…”

With a roar, all the blood in her body instantly rushed to her head. She could barely stand.

Tingshuang and Tingfeng naturally also heard those voices. Their pupils constricted sharply, completely unable to believe what they were hearing.

Tingfeng had an impetuous temperament and reached out to push the door open.

Tingshuang grabbed Tingfeng’s arm, supported Yun Chu, her voice extremely low and trembling: “Madam?”

Yun Chu’s legs had gone so soft she could no longer stand steady. She gripped Tingshuang’s hand tightly.

She knew that even if she burst in now, Xie Jingyu and He Shi could say she had misheard.

How could they ever admit to such a thing…

Yun Chu made a gesture. Tingshuang and Tingfeng supported her as they left the courtyard and returned to Shengju.

After helping her into the inner room and onto the bed, Tingshuang and Tingfeng dropped to their knees with a thud. Though Tingxue didn’t understand what had happened, she also knelt down.

“Slap! Slap! Slap!”

Tingshuang fiercely slapped herself several times.

“Madam, this is all this servant’s fault. Four years ago when you gave birth, this servant shouldn’t have handed the young master and young miss over to people from the master’s courtyard. This servant truly didn’t know the young master and young miss were still alive. Madam, this servant was wrong. Please beat this servant to death…”

Tingfeng also began slapping herself, crying: “Madam, this servant deserves death ten thousand times. This servant was wrong… This servant will go ask the master right now—how could his heart be so cruel? How could he throw his own flesh and blood into the snow? Heaven above, children so small—could they possibly survive…”

Tingxue understood what had happened. Her eyes widened, her face full of disbelief.

Four years ago, the two young masters the madam gave birth to—were they still alive at that time?

That night, the madam was taking a walk in the courtyard when somehow she slipped and fell. At night, she began having abdominal pain, then went into premature labor.

The madam’s lower body wouldn’t stop bleeding—so much blood. Several of them maids were terrified. Tingshuang held the madam’s hand and talked to her. Tingfeng crouched at the foot of the bed to clean the madam. What was she doing at that time? Right, she was feeding the madam chicken soup to give her strength to birth the children…

The madam labored from night until dawn. Finally the children came down, but they wouldn’t cry when born.

She remembered that after the midwife wrapped the children, she exclaimed that they had no breath. Just that one sentence caused the madam’s bleeding to continue uncontrollably—postpartum hemorrhage, a life-threatening matter… Between two children without breath and a madam in mortal danger, which was more important—they didn’t even need to make a choice. Tingshuang quickly had the midwife carry the children out…

After the children were taken away, the madam lost consciousness…

When the madam woke again, three days had passed. By then the children had been buried. The madam spent all day silent. They didn’t dare mention the children again… Later, the eldest young master, second young master, and eldest miss entered the manor. Even later, Concubine Yu gave birth. The third young master was about the same age as the two young masters who died young, so he was raised by the madam’s side, and only then did the madam slowly recover…

The successive sounds of slapping by her ears gradually brought Yun Chu’s consciousness back.

“Stop!”

She spoke heavily.

She had thought of many, many possibilities, but never once considered that the children were still alive when born…

Though the children were premature, though they made no sound when born, though their breathing was weak, at least they were still alive. As long as she carefully nursed and raised them, she refused to believe they couldn’t survive… Yet Xie Jingyu had actually thrown the children away!

If thrown outside in high summer, there would still be a sliver of a chance to live.

But when she gave birth, it happened to be snowing. So cold—what could two newborn children rely on to survive?

So the children hadn’t died at birth—they were abandoned by their biological father, thrown outside, perhaps frozen or starved to death.

All so she would wholeheartedly accept his and He Shi’s children, he cruelly caused the death of her pair of children!

He was simply a beast!

No, calling him a beast was an insult to beasts!

Yun Chu closed her eyes and forced the tears back.

Right now she only wanted to know where the children had been thrown. No matter what, she had to find them, whether alive or dead…

Xie Jingyu’s hypocrisy was extreme. From his mouth she would only get lie after lie, just like those bones of unknown origin that had been reburied.

“Tingfeng, go outside the city right now.” Yun Chu spoke word by word. “Personally gather some thunder god vine and bring it back.”

Tingshuang was shocked. Even though she hadn’t studied medicinal principles, she knew what thunder god vine was. When decocted with certain medicinal ingredients as support, it could dispel wind. If taken improperly, it would cause discomfort. In simple terms, thunder god vine was poison.

“Yes, Madam!” Tingfeng scrambled up from the floor, wiped away her tears, and headed out.

Why should the madam’s biological children be dead while the master still lived so carefree? Why should the madam suffer so much while the Xie family flourished?

The master should swallow poison and die with rotting intestines!

Yun Chu spent the entire night in a daze, not knowing if she slept or not. Various scenes flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern. Before she knew it, she heard the rooster’s crow.

She rose early to prepare for martial practice.

Though Qiutong didn’t know specifically what had happened, she could sense her emotions were off and suggested resting for a day.

Yun Chu shook her head.

If she fished for two days and dried nets for three, what could she possibly learn?

After practicing for over half a shichen, the sky gradually brightened. She returned to the room to wash up and change clothes. When she came out, everyone who came for morning greetings had arrived.

Concubine Tao, having just given birth, didn’t come. Tingyu had dark circles under her eyes. He Shi held the listless Xie Shiyun by the hand. Concubine Jiang kept her head lowered, holding the always quiet Xie Xian.

Yesterday’s matter of Concubine Tao being pushed and falling, Xie Jingyu had personally investigated and declared it an accident, leaving it at that.

Yun Chu sneered coldly. He Shi held such a huge secret to threaten Xie Jingyu. That weak man naturally didn’t dare deal with He Shi, so he could only muddle through perfunctorily.

“If there’s nothing else, you may all withdraw.” She raised her eyes. “Concubine Yu, stay a moment.”

He Shi blocked Tingyu’s view of Xie Shiyun and pulled the child outside.

She deeply regretted it. After painstakingly designing yesterday’s drama, she not only failed to kill the child in Concubine Tao’s belly, she also failed to get Xie Shiyun punished. Instead, the affection between her and the master was completely gone.

Tingyu remained alone in the hall, somewhat anxiously keeping her head lowered, not daring to say anything.

Yun Chu spoke: “Last night, I had people investigate Concubine Tao’s premature labor.”

Tingyu quickly said: “Madam, the master said this matter was just an accident, unrelated to Yun’er.”

“It is indeed unrelated to Yun’er.” Yun Chu set down her teacup. “According to what people from my courtyard discovered, it was Concubine He who told Yun’er that the child in Concubine Tao’s belly would be raised by my side. This provoked Yun’er to go to Concubine Tao’s courtyard early in the morning and do such a thing…”

Tingyu’s head shot up abruptly.