Chu Yu returned to her room, which was already in disarray. Wan Yue and Chang Yue were tidying up. Chang Yue’s face was filled with resentment. Upon seeing Chu Yu, she stepped forward, angrily throwing things to the ground, and exclaimed, “Young Miss, let’s return to the Chu Manor!”
“Chang Yue!” Wan Yue rushed forward, grabbing Chang Yue and giving her a meaningful look. Chu Yu surveyed the room, walked to the desk, and picked up a fallen storybook, dusting it off.
“Young Miss,” Wan Yue approached from behind, respectfully asking, “What are your plans now?”
By addressing her as “Young Miss” along with Chang Yue, Wan Yue had already made her stance clear. Chu Yu smiled slightly and looked up, saying, “Pack up. Chang Yue, first send my personal belongings to my elder brother. Wan Yue, you’ll accompany me to follow Princess Wei to Qingzhou.”
“I knew Young Miss would leave!” Chang Yue, hearing these instructions, let out a sigh of relief. She looked at Wan Yue with a hint of smugness, “You’re such a worrywart, still saying we should wait for Young Miss’s orders.”
Wan Yue smiled helplessly and joined Chang Yue in packing.
Chu Yu didn’t have much to pack. Her most precious possessions were kept in those wooden boxes. Initially, she had only wanted to keep some traces of Wei Jun, after all, he was the husband she respected the most. Though there was no love, there was admiration. However, later, the treasures in the box all became Wei Yun’s.
She lowered her head and took out the “divorce letter” from those letters, looking at Wei Yun’s childish handwriting, and smiled silently.
She had never thought there would be a day when she would need to use it. Back then, she had sincerely intended to spend her entire life peacefully in this manner.
No matter how composed she had appeared when speaking to Liu Xueyang, seeing five years of effort turn into this mess in her room, she wasn’t truly indifferent.
As she was packing, Jiang Chun hurriedly walked in. She seemed to have been waiting for a long time and anxiously asked, “What did Mother-in-law say?”
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the personal belongings that Chang Yue and Wan Yue had packed, and her face instantly turned pale. Her lips trembling, she looked up in disbelief and asked, “You’re leaving?”
Chu Yu nodded and gently said, “I’ve had a frank discussion with her. If she can’t accommodate me, then I should leave.”
Jiang Chun didn’t speak. She silently looked at Chu Yu, her throat choked with emotion. She wanted to say something but didn’t dare to open her mouth. Controlling her emotions, after a long while, she finally spoke hoarsely, “Can you… not leave?”
Chu Yu was somewhat surprised, showing an expression of astonishment. However, after saying this, Jiang Chun closed her eyes and said painfully, “I’m just joking, don’t mind me.”
“At a time like this,” Chu Yu chuckled lightly, “you’re still joking with me?”
Jiang Chun remained silent for a long time before she managed a difficult smile, “Do you know? Five years ago, when Xiao Qi first told me he liked you, I was already worried about this day.”
“I had no home. It was A Shu who gave me a home. After he left, I had nowhere to go, no roots to seek. It was you who gave me life and gave me a new home.”
As Jiang Chun spoke of these things, her eyes reddened. She seemed a bit embarrassed and laughed with difficulty, raising her hand to wipe away tears with a handkerchief, hurriedly saying, “Saying such sentimental things, I must be making a fool of myself.”
Chu Yu quietly looked at her, watching her hurriedly wiping away tears, listening to her trembling voice, “I’ve never been a strong person. I need to lean on something to stand up. When you came, I felt that we were family. As long as we were together, we could weather any storm. But when Xiao Qi told me this, I knew that this day would come sooner or later.”
Jiang Chun had tried her best, but her voice became increasingly muffled, and her tears flowed more and more. She seemed to be in so much pain that her body was hunched over. Chu Yu walked up to her, embraced her, and sighed.
“A Chun, I will always be your family.”
Hearing these words, Jiang Chun could no longer control herself. She stood leaning on the strength of Chu Yu’s arms and burst into loud sobs.
“We’ve been through the hardest times, why do we have to part ways now when everyone is doing well?”
“We’ve endured life and death, we’ve endured the fall of the country, why can’t we endure this now?”
Jiang Chun gasped for air, tightly gripping Chu Yu’s wrist, as if she had reached the peak of sorrow.
She had always been restrained, but all her emotions seemed to have erupted at this moment. Chu Yu lowered her eyes and slowly said, “Perhaps because the hardest thing to endure in this world is the human heart.”
“You can fight with a fierce tiger, but it’s hard to withstand the gnawing of ants. Because sometimes, you don’t even know where to direct your punch.”
Jiang Chun didn’t respond. She gasped, closing her eyes in pain.
“I know.”
She repeated, “I know.”
She kept muttering, not knowing who she was trying to convince, until finally, Wan Yue’s voice rang out, “Young Miss, the packing is done.”
Chu Yu responded, and Jiang Chun slowly came to her senses. She stood up with difficulty, quietly looking at Chu Yu.
Chu Yu didn’t speak. After a long while, it was Jiang Chun who spoke first.
“Let me see you off.”
Her voice was hoarse, with a slight tremor. Chu Yu responded and then let go of her, leaving with Chang Yue and Wan Yue.
Jiang Chun and Liu Xueyang had cleared the manor, so most people didn’t know what had happened.
Chu Yu had only brought Chang Yue and Wan Yue when she came, and now that she was leaving, there wasn’t much to take.
She had someone bring a carriage, and she got on. Liu Xueyang got on with her and said in a low voice, “I’ll see you out of the city.”
“Mm.”
Chu Yu responded without saying much.
As the carriage swayed, Chu Yu lifted the curtain and saw the Wei Manor’s signboard in the rain and wind. Under the lamplight, the golden characters flowed with a faint luster, exuding nobility.
Chu Yu watched those two characters completely disappear from her sight, and felt something slowly dissipate in her heart.
She slowly lowered the curtain and heard Jiang Chun ask her, “Where do you plan to go next?”
“To Qingzhou.”
“What about Xiao Qi?”
Chu Yu was slightly stunned. After a moment, she smiled silently, “It will be as it is. I’ll do my things when I have matters to attend to, and I’ll go see him when I miss him. I’m only giving up the identity of Wei Tai Furen,” Chu Yu lowered her eyes, hiding the expression in them, “not giving him up.”
As they spoke, they arrived at the city gate. Chu Yu looked up at the weather outside and sighed, “It’s raining heavily now, there’s no need to see me off any further. If I pass by Bailing in the future, I’ll come to drink with you.”
Hearing this, Jiang Chun finally smiled. Her eyes still filled with tears, she said gently, “I’ll be waiting for you to come.”
Chu Yu nodded and said kindly, “Go on then.”
Jiang Chun was silent for a moment, and finally just squeezed her hand before getting off the carriage.
After Jiang Chun left, Chu Yu sat in the carriage, fingering the jade pendant that the Wei family had sent when they got engaged, without saying a word.
As Chu Yu was leaving through the East Gate, Wei Yun was spurring his horse, having just arrived at the Wei Manor. He happily went forward to knock on the door himself. When the doorkeeper opened the door and saw Wei Yun’s appearance, he was stunned for a moment before reacting nervously, “The Prince has returned?”
“Mm.”
Wei Yun entered the house and walked directly towards the main hall, saying happily, “I’ve come back early. Where’s Mother? Where’s Elder Sister-in-law?”
Then, feeling he might have been too direct, he added, “Where are Second Sister-in-law and Sixth Sister-in-law?”
The doorkeeper didn’t speak. Wei Yun took a few steps and felt something was off.
Tonight’s Wei Manor seemed a bit too quiet.
He stopped in his tracks, furrowed his brows, and suddenly turned around, shouting sternly, “Where is the Tai Furen?”
The doorkeeper was so frightened that he immediately knelt. Wei Yun had a bad feeling. He drew his sword and placed it directly against the doorkeeper’s neck, angrily saying, “Speak! Where are the Tai Furen and my mother?!”
“I’m here.”
A tired voice came over. Wei Yun turned his head sharply and saw Liu Xueyang kneeling in the center of the main hall, above the main seat.
She looked exhausted, her eyes swollen from crying. Wei Yun was stunned for a moment and then saw lights being lit one by one around the place.
“Mother?”
Wei Yun was confused, “What are you doing?”
As he spoke, he felt an inexplicable fear in his heart and subconsciously asked, “Where’s Sister-in-law?”
“You mean A Yu, don’t you?” Liu Xueyang spoke hoarsely. Before Wei Yun could ponder the meaning behind these words, he heard Liu Xueyang say, “She’s gone.”
Hearing this, Wei Yun’s eyes widened. However, a moment later, he immediately reacted and turned to walk towards the main door.
Liu Xueyang raised her voice angrily, “Stop right there!”
Wei Yun halted his steps and heard Liu Xueyang say, “She’s gone, and that’s that. If you truly care for her and have any sense of shame, you’ll go back and rest today!”
Wei Yun didn’t speak. With his back to Liu Xueyang, he said hoarsely, “When I left, I told her not to conflict with you.”
Liu Xueyang’s hand trembled slightly. Then she closed her eyes and spoke with difficulty, “Xiao Qi, you’re still young.”
“I’ve heard that sentence too many times.” Wei Yun turned around, his expression weary, “Gu Chusheng said it, Second Sister-in-law said it, A Yu said it, Shen Wushuang said it… Too many people have said this to me. But what does it matter that I’m young? Does it mean that my love for someone isn’t real love because I’m young? Does it mean that when I want something, you can just say no and that’s it?”
Liu Xueyang didn’t speak. Her conversation with Chu Yu had already drained all her energy. Now, facing Wei Yun with his reddened eyes, she had no strength left to stop him.
She dared not look at him and could only lower her eyes, saying hoarsely, “You can’t go, and that’s final. I’m your mother. Are you going to fight my people?”
As she spoke, Liu Xueyang’s people came running from both sides of the corridor, standing on either side of Wei Yun, holding long staffs as tall as a person, their gazes calm and cold.
Those long staffs were used in the past when the Wei family enforced family discipline. The Wei family hadn’t enforced family discipline for many years. Liu Xueyang heard the people arrive and raised her head, saying coldly, “I can’t indulge you and let you ruin the Wei family’s reputation.”
“Reputation?” Wei Yun couldn’t help but laugh when he heard this, “If it weren’t for her, you wouldn’t even have your life, let alone the chance to stand here talking about reputation!”
“Mother,” Wei Yun’s voice turned cold. For the first time, he lost his composure, no longer thinking about restraint or balance. He stared at Liu Xueyang and spoke sarcastically, “How is your behavior any different from those ungrateful villains?”
“How dare you!” Liu Xueyang shouted angrily, “Stop this nonsense and go back to your room!”
“I won’t go back,” Wei Yun turned around and calmly said, “Unless you beat me to death today, I’m going to find her.”
With that, Wei Yun took a step forward to leave.
However, as soon as he took that step, the guards’ staff came crashing down hard, hitting Wei Yun’s back. Wei Yun stumbled, almost falling to his knees. Wei Xia anxiously called out, “Old Madam, the Prince has just been injured!”
Liu Xueyang didn’t speak. She bit her lower lip, tears falling silently.
She didn’t understand.
She didn’t understand.
It was just a youthful affection, it would be forgotten in a few years, and dissipate after some time. Why be so persistent?
What could be more important than reputation, than honor?
She didn’t speak, so the people enforcing family discipline wouldn’t stop. With each step Wei Yun took forward, the guards on both sides would bring down their staff.
He couldn’t hold on anymore and fell to the ground, but he struggled to stand up again.
The staff fell again, and he was once more beaten to the ground, but he still tried to stand up.
His vision became blurry, and even breathing felt painful. For the latter part of the journey, he crawled out by himself.
He heard Wei Xia’s pleas, and Wei Qiu’s arguments, and later, as he crawled up the Wei family’s steps one by one, gasping as he stood up, he couldn’t hear anything anymore.
He only heard the heavy rain pouring down, pattering loudly. Then he saw Jiang Chun, who had just returned. Jiang Chun stared at him blankly for a moment before suddenly reacting, anxiously saying, “She’s gone to Qingzhou, she left through the East Gate!”
Wei Yun had no time to respond. Relying on instinct, he mounted his horse and rushed towards the East Gate.
He lay flat on the horse, feeling his entire chest aching so much it made him tremble.
He gripped the reins tightly, charging out of Bailing and onto the official road. Wei Yun calculated Chu Yu’s route, turned his horse around, and headed up the mountain, taking a shortcut to catch up quickly.
Wei Qiu and Wei Xia chased behind. Wei Yun rode extremely fast, seeming to have completely forgotten he was ill. After a long time, a swaying carriage appeared in their line of sight.
Wei Yun tightened his grip on the reins and charged down from the hillside.
The horse stopped steadily in front of the carriage, forcing it to halt abruptly. Chu Yu, sitting in the carriage, felt her heart skip a beat. She rolled up the curtain and saw the person sitting on horseback.
His clothes were in disarray, stained with blood.
He looked at her quietly, countless emotions mingling in his beautiful eyes.
They gazed at each other silently in the night, the small lamp at the corner of the carriage cover flickering gently in the wind and rain. Wei Yun looked at her calm and peaceful face for a long time before speaking hoarsely.
“I’m back.”
A Yu, I’m back.