After confirming the news, Chu Yu could no longer keep it hidden.
The Chu family sent a hundred household troops to Chu Yu overnight. By now, Chu Yu had almost complete control over the Wei mansion. Even if some guards harbored different intentions, with the command token and the Chu family troops, those guards couldn’t do much.
So Chu Yu first requested a physician to examine her, then summoned all the young madams to the main hall.
The young madams knew something major had happened and were all cautiously restrained, not daring to say much. After being called to the main hall by Chu Yu, they looked around for a while before Zhang Han, the Third Young Madam, tentatively asked, “Where is the Madam?”
Chu Yu sat down and calmly replied, “The Madam has taken the five young masters to Lanling to visit the Old Madam.”
Hearing this, the young madams’ expressions changed. Yao Jue stood up abruptly, angry, “Taking the five young masters away without informing us, mothers?!”
Yao Jue was from the Yao family. Now that a Yao daughter was the Empress and her eldest son was the Crown Prince, the Yao family’s status had risen significantly. Even as a concubine-born daughter, she had more confidence than the others.
Chu Yu pondered how in her previous life, Wei Yun had returned with Yao Yong’s head, and now the Wei family must have fallen into some plot or scheme. Seeing a member of the Yao family made her feel uneasy. She coldly glanced at Yao Jue and said flatly, “It was the First Madam who took them away. Instead of shouting at me, why don’t you go yell at Mother-in-law?”
Yao Jue, thus addressed, felt her momentum weaken. As she opened her mouth to speak again, Chu Yu suddenly raised her voice, “Get out!”
“Chu Yu, you…”
Yao Jue stepped forward quickly, but Wei Xia and Wei Dong immediately moved to block her. Chu Yu continued, “Keep making a scene if you want. Do you know why I sent them away? Do you know what happened at the front lines?! If you continue to waste time, no one will be able to escape!”
Hearing this, everyone’s hearts sank. Xie Jiu, the Fifth Young Madam, who had always been the most respected, stepped forward. She held Yao Jue’s hand and looked at Chu Yu seriously, “Please tell us what happened at the front lines, Young Madam.”
“This morning, Xiao Qi sent news from the front,” Chu Yu said gravely. Everyone fell silent, staring at Chu Yu and listening carefully. Chu Yu observed their expressions and slowly said, “After Father-in-law and the young masters were trapped in Baidi Valley, the entire army was annihilated. Now Xiao Qi is on his way back, bringing their bodies in coffins…”
After she finished speaking, no one reacted. They all stared blankly at Chu Yu. After a long while, Xie Jiu was the first to come to her senses. With a trembling voice, she asked, “Which brother does Young Madam refer to?”
As she spoke, she seemed to realize that Chu Yu had used the plural “young masters,” not just one. So she corrected herself, “Which… which ones?”
Chu Yu sighed and slowly said, “Apart from Xiao Qi, including the Heir, six young masters along with the Duke…”
Before she could finish, a scream came from the crowd. Everyone looked up to see it was Wang Lan, the Sixth Young Madam.
She had just become pregnant and was in a sensitive state. Hearing this news, she lunged at Chu Yu like a mad woman, struggling and shouting, “You’re lying! How could my husband be dead? You’re talking nonsense!”
Her voice was shrill and piercing. As maids rushed forward to restrain her, Chu Yu frowned and gave Chang Yue a look. Chang Yue raised her hand and knocked Wang Lan unconscious with a swift chop.
After Wang Lan fainted, only the Third Young Madam’s cries could be heard in the room. Xie Jiu and Yao Jue stood in the hall, looking completely stunned.
Chu Yu looked at them, about to say something, when she heard Yao Jue, as if suddenly awakening, say, “I don’t believe it. I need to go back. I want to find my mother, I…”
As she spoke, she rushed towards the exit. However, after just a few steps, a commotion was heard from outside. Chu Yu frowned and looked up to see soldiers hurriedly entering, anxiously reporting, “Young Madam, it’s not good. A group of soldiers with an imperial edict has surrounded the mansion, saying that no one can leave until the Seventh Young Master returns!”
The news from the front lines must have reached the palace. The emperor’s actions were within her expectations; otherwise, she wouldn’t have had Liu Xueyang take the children away so early.
She calmly said, “It’s fine. Let them surround us.”
As no crime had been formally charged yet, no one would dare to intrude into the Duke’s mansion.
She turned her head and continued to instruct the servants to place Jiang Chun and Wang Lan together under strict supervision, with doctors taking good care of them.
Wang Lan’s child needed to be born if possible.
But in her previous life… had she given birth?
Chu Yu couldn’t remember. In her previous life, among the Wei family’s young madams, only Jiang Chun’s suicide had caused a sensation. There weren’t many rumors about the others; most were said to have been given divorce papers by Wei Yun on behalf of his brothers and sent back to their families to remarry.
As Chu Yu pondered all the information from her previous life, she methodically gave instructions. Meanwhile, Yao Jue, seemingly not believing the guard’s words, continued to clamor about leaving.
Chu Yu didn’t pay attention to her, instead turning her gaze to Xie Jiu.
“What are your plans, Fifth Young Madam?”
Her voice was calm. Xie Jiu was a smart person and immediately understood Chu Yu’s intentions. She frowned and said, “The Wei family has committed a great crime. You still plan to stay?”
With these words, Chu Yu understood Xie Jiu’s choice. She looked at her silently for a moment, then asked, “Do you have no feelings for the Fifth Young Master?”
Xie Jiu was taken aback. When she realized what Chu Yu meant, she fell silent.
After a long while, she spoke with difficulty, “But I need to plan for my future. I’m only twenty-four years old.”
She looked at Chu Yu resolutely, seeming to want to say more, but Chu Yu just nodded, showing no contempt or impatience, and said lightly, “Very well.”
After saying this, she turned away and began instructing the servants about the details of the upcoming funeral arrangements, without looking at Xie Jiu again.
Faced with Chu Yu’s calm attitude, Xie Jiu suddenly felt that her stance seemed extremely unsightly and embarrassing.
She clenched her fists and suddenly raised her voice, “You’ll regret staying!”
Chu Yu paused and turned her head. Xie Jiu’s voice was certain, “Chu Yu, you’re still young. You don’t understand how terrible it is to spend a lifetime alone…”
“I’m not alone,” Chu Yu interrupted her, her voice steady and calm. “I still have the Wei family with me.”
“You…”
“You go your way, and I’ll go mine. I won’t try to persuade you, so why are you trying to stop me?”
Chu Yu frowned, “Xie Jiu, I thought you were intelligent.”
Xie Jiu was silenced by these words. Chu Yu was right, but her choice made everyone else’s seem particularly disgraceful.
Xie Jiu watched her walk away, took a deep breath, and still chose to turn and leave.
Since she had decided to distance herself, she naturally couldn’t have too many entanglements with the Xie family. When Wei Yun returned, the emperor would surely lift this confinement, and she needed to sever ties with the Wei family early.
Xie Jiu felt she was thinking incredibly calmly. She saw herself as a typical, cold, and intelligent daughter of a noble family. However, when she reached her room and sat on the bed, somehow, she suddenly remembered her husband’s face.
She took off her shoes and lay on the bed. In this private space, she buried her face in the brocade quilt and finally allowed herself to cry out loud.
While some young madams cried and others made a fuss, Chu Yu had people watch over them as she began preparing for the funeral hall.
The dead needed a place to return to, especially for the Wei family.
She had heard that in her previous life, things had been too rushed for the Wei family. Those who had died didn’t even have a funeral hall and were hastily buried. Even their tombstones were later re-erected by Wei Yun.
Now that she was here, she couldn’t let the Wei family end up as they had in her previous life – heroes for a lifetime, yet without even a funeral hall for final respects at the end.
In her previous life, she had arranged her mother’s funeral, as well as the funeral of Gu Chusheng’s mother. She was quite experienced in this matter.
After skillfully preparing the list of things to buy and discussing the layout and location of the funeral hall, it was already dark.
She then remembered Jiang Chun and decided to check on her again.
Jiang Chun had woken up in the afternoon and had tried to commit suicide, but Chu Yu had anticipated this and had people watching her. They managed to snatch away the sword just in time, saving her life.
After the failed suicide attempt, Jiang Chun stopped speaking and refused to eat. She leaned by the window, motionless, not saying a word.
When Chu Yu entered, she saw Jiang Chun like this, her gaze lifeless, staring blankly at the sky outside.
The maid beside her saw Chu Yu come in and wanted to report something, but Chu Yu waved her hand, and they tactfully left. Chu Yu came to Jiang Chun’s side, sat down, and tucked in her blanket.
“The night is cold and dewy. Take care of yourself, don’t catch a chill.”
Jiang Chun didn’t respond, as if Chu Yu wasn’t even there.
Chu Yu leaned against the other side of the bed, looking at the moon outside the opposite window.
“On the day I married into the family, I didn’t see what A’Jun looked like.”
Hearing this, Jiang Chun finally moved.
She slowly turned her head and saw Chu Yu leaning on the other side of the bed, her expression gentle, as if recalling something. “I just heard him stammer and call me ‘Miss Chu.’ I thought to myself, how can someone be so honest? We’re already married, and he’s still calling me ‘Miss Chu.'”
Jiang Chun lowered her eyes, clearly listening to Chu Yu’s words.
Chu Yu didn’t look at her and continued, “On our wedding day, he left for battle. I wanted to see what he looked like, so I chased after him. That day, he promised me he would come back.”
“You…” Jiang Chun finally spoke, “Don’t be too sad.”
“I’m not sad.”
Chu Yu smiled, “He wouldn’t want to see me sad, so I don’t want to grieve the departed.”
Jiang Chun didn’t speak. She seemed to understand Chu Yu’s intention.
“I’m different from you.”
Her voice was weak, “From birth, until I met Er Lang, I had never been happy. Even when I married him, I was apprehensive. I was afraid he wouldn’t like me, and even more afraid he would mistreat me.”
“But he didn’t.”
Jiang Chun’s voice was hoarse, “On our wedding day, I sprained my ankle. I thought he would surely be angry that I had embarrassed him, so I forced myself to walk on, step by step. I thought I would have to walk that painful path alone, but he noticed.”
“He knelt,” Jiang Chun smiled, her eyes full of nostalgia, “He carried me on his back for the entire way. When we entered the bridal chamber, he rubbed medicine on my foot. No one had ever been so kind to me before.”
Her gaze fell on Chu Yu, “To be treasured like that, it was beyond compare.”
Chu Yu didn’t speak. The more beautifully it was described, the more painful it was to face the cruel reality.
“If I had never experienced it in my life, I would have accepted my fate,” Jiang Chun closed her eyes, trembling. “But I met such a wonderful person, how can I go on alone now?”
“It’s too painful…”
Tears fell from her eyes, “Walking that path alone is too painful.”
Hearing this, Chu Yu could no longer hold back. She reached out and hugged Jiang Chun tightly.
She suppressed the hot tears in her eyes, desperately looking upward.
“It’s all right,” her voice was hoarse, “I’m here, Jiang Chun. On this path, I’m here, the Madam is here, and you have your child. You’re not alone.”
“From the moment you married into the Wei family, you were never alone.”
“In the future, if anyone dares to bully you, I’ll fight back for you. If you’re sick, I’ll take care of you. If you have nowhere to go, I’ll accompany you. Jiang Chun,” she hugged her tightly, “Life isn’t just about romantic love.”
“You’re no longer that girl who had nothing and could only cling desperately to the Second Young Master.”
“You have a child, you have the Wei household, you have a family.”
Hearing these words, Jiang Chun finally could no longer hold back. The suppressed pain burst forth.
She wailed loudly.
“But I miss him, I miss him so much!”
“I know.”
“Why him? Why do those heartless people live well, but he’s gone? He was so young, our child was only five years old. How could it be his turn?”
“I know.”
“Why…” Jiang Chun cried in Chu Yu’s arms, her voice hoarse with each question.
Why is heaven so unjust?
Why is the world so cold?
Why are heroes buried with no one to ask, while rats and wolves wear brocade robes?
But Chu Yu couldn’t answer these questions. She could only hold her, letting her tears soak her clothes, then slowly closing her eyes, wanting to use her body warmth to make Jiang Chun feel a little warmer.
Even though the warmth was so feeble, she still wanted to be a candle, illuminating this world.