But not everyone was like Liang Qin.

Even Chu Zhao couldn’t just hit or scold people at will now.

The Empress title was her glory, but also her restraint.

Much less you, Chu Tang, who was nothing!

“We’re only speaking the truth,” a girl said angrily.

Chu Tang’s gaze immediately turned to her. “What truth? Seeing is believing—did you personally witness my uncle’s defensive failure, did you see the Xi Liang forces break through?”

Of course they hadn’t. The girl choked. “But it’s a fact that the Xi Liang people appeared behind Yunzhong Commandery.”

“The Xi Liang people appearing at the rear is a fact, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it was my uncle’s fault,” Chu Tang said. “Do you know how vast Yunzhong Commandery is? Do you know how many officers are involved in a military campaign? Do you know how many Xi Liang people travel back and forth for trade between Xi Liang and Da Xia?”

They naturally didn’t know, but another girl said, “But your uncle is the commanding general. Since he’s the commanding general, he must take responsibility—otherwise, what’s the point of being commanding general!”

Chu Tang looked at her. “Now you’re being presumptuous. Who says the commanding general won’t take responsibility? As long as the court investigates and determines culpability, they will naturally judge whether my uncle is guilty or not. But until then, you cannot condemn him based on empty words—”

The girl was about to say something more when Chu Tang raised her voice.

“There’s a common saying: ‘When the general is in the field, he need not accept every imperial command.’ Once battle begins, everything changes in an instant—it’s intricate and complex. Even the Emperor’s orders may not need to be followed. Yet you people understand even less about what actually happened in Yunzhong Commandery. How can you simply echo others’ words, or even criticize the military campaign at the front?” She swept her gaze across everyone present. “Of course, we young girls chattering casually isn’t necessarily wrong—we’re young and naive. But what’s frightening is if someone has ill intentions, using this as an opportunity to create trouble, disrupting stability in the rear and thereby affecting the battle situation at the front. Remember, it hasn’t been long since the turmoil in our capital.”

By the end, she lowered her voice but emphasized her tone. Combined with her sweeping gaze, everyone present—even the young girls—understood the implication—

Xi Liang spies, remnants of the Zhao clan, and so on.

Once such accusations were made, the consequences would be far worse than what befell Liang Siqing’s family.

The madams could no longer simply watch the spectacle. Chu Tang wasn’t truly a girl to be taken lightly, and there was also that Chu Zhao—if she really went mad, with her flawed virtue, they could lose their lives—

“Miss Chu, you’re being too extreme,” a madam quickly said, restraining the girls beside her. “They only heard these rumors. They’re not declaring General Chu guilty—they’re just pitying the people.”

“Miss Chu, you needn’t worry too much,” another madam said, sitting in a chair and holding a teacup as she spoke in a soft, gentle voice. “This idle gossip won’t disturb the court. The people are subjects, the court is their parent. When subjects suffer, of course they complain about their parent. The court shows mercy to its subjects and won’t hold it against them.”

To punish and condemn people just because they were being discussed—such a parent didn’t deserve to be the nation’s mother.

Did she think that becoming Empress meant she could throw her weight around and do anything? Did she think she could be as illustrious as the Yang and Zhao clans?

The madams looked at the girl sitting by the card table, slight smiles appearing at the corners of their mouths. The Chu clan had no foundation.

A Chu Lan who was nothing, a Jiang Shi from a humble household, and only one Chu Ling.

A military officer by birth with a poor reputation—what kind of authority could such an imperial maternal clan have?

“Yes, you’re young, you just speak without restraint, you think simply. But don’t overthink things either,” the other madams chimed in one after another. “If you have something to say, say it properly. What does it look like to quarrel and even fight?”

Though they addressed the words to the girls beside them, their gazes remained fixed on Chu Tang.

There were so many people in the front hall, yet at this moment Chu Tang seemed to sit alone on an island.

The girls who had originally been with Chu Tang were all restrained by their respective families, unable to step forward or speak out. They could only feel anxious and sigh.

Chu Tang, just leave—

If only you’d left earlier, why did you come here to argue with people? Chu Zhao, having become Empress and being high above in the Imperial City, they didn’t dare and couldn’t go quarrel with her. But you, Chu Tang, delivered yourself to their doorstep—how could they let you go?

Qi Leyun felt somewhat confused. It seemed Chu Tang had suddenly become foolish too. She would never have acted this way before.

The old Chu Tang, at a time like this, would have shared everyone’s heartache over the current situation, blamed herself a bit, perhaps even shed tears, then stayed home behind closed doors. Then everyone would have comforted and sympathized with her—

The madams at such times would have held her hand and said, “Child, this has nothing to do with you.”

Not like now, with sentence after sentence hammering at her, gaze after gaze stabbing her like knives.

Chu Tang was the best at reading situations and could even turn disadvantages into advantages—they all thought she was foolish and couldn’t see through things, but she naturally understood everything. If she didn’t understand at the time, after it happened repeatedly, thinking back she would understand.

There was nothing in the world so difficult to comprehend.

But now she truly didn’t quite understand.

Surrounded by words and gazes, Chu Tang showed not the slightest discomfort or unease. She even nodded along with the madams’ words. “Yes, quarreling back and forth is improper. Complaints and criticism come from deep love and high expectations. But as a member of the Chu family, I still must say a few more words, because—”

She looked at everyone in the hall.

“You are all bystanders, residing safely and distantly in the capital. But my uncle is fighting on the most dangerous battlefield, blocking tens of thousands of Xi Liang troops, protecting millions of border commandery citizens. You have heard of death and tragic scenes, but he is personally experiencing death and tragic scenes.”

“You heard about it and felt heartache, anger, and curses. But my uncle is personally in the midst of it. He must not only feel heartache and anger, but also suppress that anger and heartache, and while bearing your curses, continue to face the Xi Liang forces and deploy troops.”

At this point she called out loudly for her maidservant’s name.

The maidservant, who had been hiding somewhere, poked out her head and timidly responded yes—the scene earlier had been so frightening, those madams and young ladies had nearly beaten the young miss. She truly wished she could grab the young miss and run home—no, run to the palace, that would be safest.

“Call for Xiao Tu,” Chu Tang said.

Thank goodness it wasn’t her! The maidservant breathed a sigh of relief and hurried out.

Who was Xiao Tu? Why call for someone? The madams in the hall were puzzled. Before long, the maidservant returned with a ten-year-old servant boy running behind her.

“Miss A’Tang,” Xiao Tu said, standing in the front hall. Seeing so many people, he showed no fear and called out clearly.

Chu Tang nodded to him but didn’t speak to him. Instead, she looked at everyone in the hall. “Xiao Tu is an orphan from the border commandery. My uncle has taken in many orphans and widows. Many of our household servants are orphans and elderly from the border regions—”

Really? The girls wondered inwardly. True or false? But in the past, they couldn’t even be bothered to pay attention to the Chu family, let alone inquire about where their household servants came from.

“—We in the capital, so far away, don’t know about the suffering in the border commandery or the brutality of war. But Xiao Tu does—”

Hearing this, a girl finally had something to say.

“That’s not right,” she shouted, pointing at Xiao Tu. “How old is he? The previous campaign was twenty years ago.”

Right! The girls in the hall came to their senses. This Chu Tang was treating them like children!

“—That’s right, twenty years ago, Xiao Tu’s grandfather died in that campaign,” Chu Tang raised her voice. “His grandfather died, his grandmother also died from excessive grief, his home was destroyed, his father took his mother and wandered homeless. After giving birth to Xiao Tu, they both died, and he became an orphan—is that wrong?”

Not wrong. Standing in the hall, Xiao Tu inwardly praised her.

……

……

“The border commandery has countless orphans like this. Because of war, they lost relatives, lost their homes. Many of them personally experienced being chased by Xi Liang cavalry hooves, saw Xi Liang bandits raise their great swords, saw their relatives die right before their eyes.”

Chu Tang said, looking at Xiao Tu.

“Xiao Tu, do you and the others hate my uncle Chu Ling?”

The conversation turned rather quickly. Xiao Tu blinked. “Hate—not hate?”

Chu Tang nodded. “Right, hate or not hate? Because my uncle and these officers failed to protect you, causing you to lose your relatives.”

Xiao Tu seemed confused. “But wasn’t that done by the Xi Liang people? We should hate the Xi Liang people. Why hate General Chu and the others?”

Whether this Xiao Tu truly didn’t understand or was pretending, the madams and girls in the hall all understood. They felt both angry and amused.

“Chu Tang, you don’t need to deflect,” a girl said. “We all know the disaster was caused by the Xi Liang people. But so many people died—the commanding general bears responsibility for inadequate leadership. This isn’t about whether to hate or not, it’s about responsibility, about dereliction of duty!”

“Whether so many deaths constitute dereliction of duty is for the court to determine,” Chu Tang said. “Even if there is to be criticism, it should come from those in the border commandery who personally experienced it, not from you girls who haven’t even left the capital, who haven’t even seen a dead person, criticizing freely based merely on hearsay.”

“You!” Several girls said angrily. “Something happened, and we can’t even talk about it? Right now everyone in the capital, everyone in the realm is talking. You, Chu Tang—will you silence the mouths of everyone in the world?”

Silencing the mouths of all under heaven—this accusation was serious enough.

Chu Tang sat in her chair, unhurried, unruffled, unangered. “No, and I’m not preventing others from speaking. I’m simply saying that you cannot prevent me from defending my uncle.”

A madam sighed softly. “Miss Chu, actually this matter has nothing to do with you. You’re young and in the capital. We haven’t seen it with our own eyes, don’t know the details. But you—aren’t you the same?”

“Yes, I also haven’t seen it with my own eyes. But that’s my uncle. I am a member of the Chu family. The Chu family is one body. I believe in my uncle, believe in his twenty-plus years of guarding the border commandery, his sense of responsibility and capability,” Chu Tang said slowly. “Therefore, I won’t consider this matter unrelated to me. I won’t stay home behind closed doors. I won’t avoid everyone’s accusations, questions, and mockery. But before the court has determined guilt and investigated clearly, I will certainly defend my uncle.”

This Chu Tang—at this moment, the madams and girls were all somewhat surprised. This Chu Tang was different from the temperament the girls usually described.

They had originally thought that with Chu Zhao in the deep palace—though her status was elevated, she couldn’t act arbitrarily—and with Chu Lan and his wife feigning illness and avoiding the world, regarding this matter with Chu Ling, public opinion would surely be one-sided.

They hadn’t expected that the usually cautious Chu Tang, who always read the wind, would actually jump out—

This Chu Tang, though she didn’t hit or curse people, argued back sentence by sentence like sticky taffy that couldn’t be shaken off, like cotton candy that left one powerless.

“Miss A’Tang,” the hostess couldn’t help but sigh gently, with an elder’s helplessness. “You really should avoid this situation. No one can say for certain about this matter. In the future, if truly—I mean, if—if he’s truly found guilty, you—what will your whole family do?”

Chu Tang looked at her and said softly, “If uncle is guilty, it is the Chu clan’s guilt. Our whole family naturally should receive punishment and admit guilt together, to console the people who have suffered.”

She stood up as she spoke.

“At that time, Chu Tang will personally kneel before all you madams and sisters to admit guilt. But right now—”

“Chu Tang absolutely will not allow you to denounce and slander my uncle, or insult my Chu family’s honor.”