Hearing Chu Yu’s words, Wei Yun was slightly taken aback.
The young woman walking away was, at most, only a year older than him. Yet she already carried herself with a completely different air.
Perhaps just as he felt the urgent need to grow up and support the Wei household, she too felt that as his sister-in-law, she should support him.
Wei Yun watched Chu Yu’s retreating figure.
Chu Yu herself hadn’t noticed, but Wei Yun saw blood seeping through her back.
She was injured, yet she still wore a smile, her voice not even trembling from the pain.
Just like earlier in the day, when her eyes had filled with tears upon seeing her husband’s coffin, she still smiled as she helped him up and poured him a cup of celebratory wine.
She buried everything in her heart, maintaining a serene demeanor, facing him with the most beautiful attitude, silently telling him through her actions: It’s all right, everything is fine.
Why wouldn’t she tell him the truth?
Wei Yun clenched his fists, his mind filled with the image of the blood staining her back, and slowly closed his eyes.
The bruised bone in his leg throbbed with a dull ache, but a stronger pain welled up in his heart.
The helplessness and resignation that came from being weak.
Never before had he so strongly desired power.
On the journey home with his father and brother, he had only thought about how to uncover the truth, how to clear their names, how to become the pillar of the family, and support the Wei household.
However, when that young woman smiled and said, “Sister-in-law’s got your back,” he truly felt his weakness and powerlessness. He was even less capable than a mere woman, a girl who, though his sister-in-law, was only a year older than him.
He had to survive.
Wei Yun’s eyes snapped open.
He knew with absolute clarity that he must live on, stand up, and become someone who could shelter others from the wind and rain. As long as he lived, he would never allow the Wei family to endure such suffering again!
Chu Yu walked out of the imperial prison, pondering the clues Wei Yun had given her.
The Crown Prince’s envoy, Yao Yong, was the Crown Prince’s uncle. He must have come to Bai City under the Crown Prince’s orders and then conspired with Wei Zhong on a plan.
But for some reason, the plan failed, and Yao Yong shifted all the blame onto the Wei family. And the Emperor… he probably knew about it too.
Chu Yu sat in the carriage, tapping her thigh as she thought.
In this matter, did the Emperor know about it, or was he involved?
Did the Emperor cause the plan to fail, with the Wei family taking the fall for him? Or did the Crown Prince cause this to happen, with the Emperor covering for him? Or did the Emperor already have intentions to eliminate the Wei family?
No, impossible.
Chu Yu immediately rejected the third possibility.
The fact that Grand Tutor Xie stood with the Wei family, and helped them while aware of the situation, was enough to prove that the Emperor had no intention of completely eradicating the Wei family. He might even feel guilty towards them. If the Emperor had planned to eliminate the Wei family, Wei Yun wouldn’t have been able to return at all.
The Emperor wouldn’t have left any seedlings of the Wei family.
As long as the Emperor didn’t intentionally plan to eliminate the Wei family, they would be much safer.
Lost in thought, Chu Yu returned to the Marquis Zhenguo’s mansion. Jiang Chun was still waiting for her. Seeing Jiang Chun, Chu Yu smiled and said, “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
“You hadn’t returned, I was worried,” Jiang Chun came forward to help her down. “How did it go today?”
“There are some leads,” Chu Yu looked up at Jiang Chun. “How are the others in the mansion?”
“Zhang Han and Wang Lan cried a lot and were persuaded to go back. Yao Ju cursed at Cao Yan for a while in her room, and now she’s asleep. Xie Jiu is still in the mourning hall, I’m not sure if she’s gone back yet.”
Jiang Chun’s voice carried a hint of fatigue. After saying this, she added, “People from various families came today, I’m not sure what they said.”
Chu Yu nodded and said to Jiang Chun, “You’ve worked hard.”
“I’m fine,” Jiang Chun managed a strained smile. “It’s all trivial matters. But you…”
Jiang Chun sighed, “A Yu if you weren’t here, I’m afraid I would…”
She didn’t finish her sentence, but Chu Yu knew what she wanted to say. In her previous life, when Chu Yu wasn’t here, the choices Jiang Chun made revealed her current inner turmoil. Chu Yu gripped Jiang Chun’s hand tightly and said in a hoarse voice, “I’m here.”
“Let’s not talk about it,” Jiang Chun held back her tears. “Let’s go to sleep first.”
“You go first,” Chu Yu smiled. “You’ve been tired all day, go sleep for half the night. I’ll go to the mourning hall to watch over the Seven Stars Lamp. You can come over for the second half of the night.”
Jiang Chun hesitated for a moment but nodded. She accompanied Chu Yu for a short distance before going to sleep.
Jiang Chun was capable. In the half-day Chu Yu had been gone, the Wei family’s mourning hall had been fully set up, and Wei Feng had been placed in a new coffin, resting peacefully in the hall.
Chu Yu changed into mourning clothes and entered the hall. As soon as she entered, she saw a figure. The person was wearing plain clothes, kneeling on the ground, watching over the Seven Stars Lamp placed in front of the mourning hall.
The Seven Stars Lamp was an oil lamp with seven wicks. According to Da Chu tradition, after death, the Seven Stars Lamp would light the way to the underworld. Family members needed to watch over it, ensuring it didn’t go out for seven days. Otherwise, the deceased wouldn’t be able to find their way to the underworld and would become a wandering ghost.
The Wei family had just returned, so the Seven Stars Lamp had only just been lit.
Chu Yu entered the mourning hall and knelt beside the woman, saying softly, “You’re here.”
“Mm,” Xie Jiu responded faintly, turning to look at her. “Did you go see Xiao Qi?”
“I did.”
“How is the situation?”
Chu Yu didn’t speak, and Xie Jiu didn’t press. Xie Jiu knew that Chu Yu didn’t fully trust her, and she didn’t force Chu Yu.
She quietly looked at the coffin, her voice steady, “Mother came today and told me to ask Xiao Qi for a letter of divorce. The Emperor’s heart is undecided, and she fears I might be buried along with the Wei family if I stay. If those seventy thousand people are the Wei family’s crime, this crime could be big or small. If it leads to the execution of the entire clan, what should I do?”
“Next time I see Xiao Qi,” Chu Yu’s voice was calm, “I’ll ask for you.”
“Aren’t you afraid?” Xie Jiu turned to look at her. Chu Yu remained silent.
If it were before, if she were just Xie Jiu, of course… she would be afraid.
But living a second life, the matter of life and death wasn’t so frightening anymore. Walking a path you’ve walked before gives you more courage.
Moreover, she knew that the Wei family hadn’t been executed in her previous life. If it didn’t happen then, how could it happen now when she was helping them so much?
However, she wouldn’t say these things out loud. Xie Jiu lowered her eyes, “I thought I would be very afraid, but when I saw him return today, I suddenly wasn’t afraid anymore.”
“I didn’t want to see him,” Xie Jiu sighed softly. “I was afraid that if I saw him, I wouldn’t want to leave, I’d want to follow him. Ya’er always asked me when he was alive if I liked him. He said he couldn’t feel that I liked him. Actually…”
Xie Jiu gently closed her eyes. Her throat moved, and after a moment of choking back sobs, she said hoarsely, “I was just afraid of liking him too much. A woman’s life is already difficult, and the path of a concubine’s daughter is even harder. My whole life has been lived through calculations, how could I talk about liking or not liking? My path would be too difficult.”
“You see,” she stood up and slowly walked to Wei Ya’s coffin. She placed her hand on Wei Ya’s coffin, looking down at it as if he were sleeping there and she was gazing at his sleeping face. She looked at it with a smile, tears suddenly falling, “If only I didn’t like him, wouldn’t that be better?”