The next morning, the snow cleared and the sky brightened. The sun slowly revealed half its face from behind the clouds.
Yuyang had been overcast for days, with no sunshine for quite some time.
The city’s residents were delighted by this long-awaited good winter weather and began their busy yet ordinary day as usual. They were unaware that their respected young Marquis had returned to the city in the deep of night, braving the snow.
Even less could they imagine what awaited the Marquis after he had endured a long, lonely, cold night.
As the sun rose higher, near the hour of Si (9-11 AM), a column of black smoke suddenly rose from the top of Yu Mountain to the northwest outside the city.
The smoke initially appeared as a pillar but quickly turned into massive, billowing clouds that almost engulfed the entire mountaintop. Flickering flames could be seen within.
People on the streets were the first to notice. They stopped in their tracks, gazing into the distance in surprise.
Soon, more people became aware, coming out of their homes to watch and discuss. Some climbed onto millstones, others onto rooftops. The more curious even formed groups to leave the city, not minding the distance, to see for themselves what was happening on Yu Mountain.
Everyone knew there was a grand shamanic temple at the top of Yu Mountain.
The Great Shaman was famous. Besides divining fortune and misfortune for those who sought her counsel, she could also dispel disasters, ward off diseases, set up altars to summon spirits, communicate with the dead, and even control the wind and rain.
Although no one had seen the Great Shaman control the weather, it was believed that this was only because people’s sincerity was insufficient to summon the Thunder God and Lightning Goddess, not because the Great Shaman lacked power.
Moreover, the city’s residents also spread rumors that the Great Shaman could secretly curse people with shamanic spells.
Most mystical of all, Madam Zhu, the matriarch of the Wei family, was a firm believer in the Great Shaman. People often saw her coming and going from the shamanic temple.
Therefore, ordinary people held a mix of awe, fear, and reverence for the Great Shaman of Yu Mountain.
No one could have imagined that early in the morning, such intense flames and thick smoke would rise from the mountaintop where the shamanic temple stood.
Before noon, the news had spread.
The Marquis had returned to the city last night. Early this morning, he led people up Yu Mountain and personally set fire to the grand shamanic temple with its three halls, burning it to the ground.
…
Wei Shao stood on the clearing atop Yu Mountain, his eyes reflecting the enormous flames before him, his expression grim.
The fury boiling in his blood at this moment could not be fully vented even if he were to set ten more such great fires.
The mountain wind howled. In this cold weather, the Prefect of Yuyang standing nearby began to feel his face drying out and becoming uncomfortable from the scorching heat of the fire.
But he dared not step back even half a step.
The Marquis’s anger could only be described as beyond measure. He keenly felt this as well.
Finally, the roof of the grand temple collapsed.
With a thunderous crash, the flames were briefly suppressed before rising again like a dragon breaking free from its chains, carrying countless sparks high into the sky.
The Prefect of Yuyang saw the Marquis finally turn and stride down the mountain. He rubbed his face, which had been dried and slightly pained by the fire and hurriedly followed.
…
Madam Zhu had been having nightmares almost every day recently.
Even when awake, as soon as she closed her eyes, she felt deeply entangled by the heavy resentment from Wet Nurse Jiang, making her heart race as if in a nightmare.
On the night of the incident, she repeatedly demanded that Wet Nurse Jiang be brought to her so she could confront the wicked woman who dared to frame her.
For years, she had deeply trusted and relied on Wet Nurse Jiang in everything. She had even shown kindness to her in the past.
She still remembered clearly. Thirty years ago, when she was still just the daughter of the Du family in Zhuo Commandery, Wet Nurse Jiang was a few years older than her, in her twenties, a widow with a three-year-old son. She worked as a servant in the Zhu family.
One day, there was a murder in the Zhu household. Wet Nurse Jiang accidentally killed a male servant who tried to force himself on her, using a pair of scissors.
Madam Zhu’s parents wanted to turn her over to the authorities. Wet Nurse Jiang begged Madam Zhu for help. Feeling pity for her, Madam Zhu softened and intervened with her parents, keeping Wet Nurse Jiang by her side.
From then on, Wet Nurse Jiang was deeply grateful to Madam Zhu and served her obediently. Later, when Madam Zhu married into the Wei family by chance, she brought along Wet Nurse Jiang, whom she had always favored. Over the years, Wet Nurse Jiang remained loyal and devoted, and Madam Zhu trusted her completely, almost to the point of following her every suggestion.
She could not imagine how Wet Nurse Jiang, this wicked woman, could be so ungrateful and end up framing her like this!
Under her vehement demands for a confrontation, Wet Nurse Jiang was finally brought before her.
As soon as Madam Zhu saw that familiar face, she lost control of her anger. She slapped Wet Nurse Jiang hard, pulled her hair, and cursed her with the most vicious words she could think of. Finally, when her palms were numb from hitting and she was nearly fainting from anger, sitting there panting heavily, Wet Nurse Jiang, who had remained silent throughout, suddenly showed a smile that Madam Zhu couldn’t understand.
She leaned close to Madam Zhu’s ear and said, “Madam, do you remember how my poor son died twenty years ago?”
Wet Nurse Jiang used to have a son, but Madam Zhu had long forgotten about him. Suddenly hearing Wet Nurse Jiang mention him, she was stunned for a moment before vaguely recalling a handsome boy who looked almost like a girl.
Madam Zhu stared at Wet Nurse Jiang before her.
Her bruised and swollen face wore a smile, but her eyes were full of resentment. She looked completely unfamiliar.
Madam Zhu felt as if she could no longer recognize her.
“Madam, by then you had already become the wife of the Wei family. You held a noble position. One day, your brother got drunk and forcibly took away my son. He was only thirteen! When I saw him again, his lower body was covered in blood! Wet, sticky blood that wouldn’t stop flowing. My son lay on the bed, barely alive. He called me ‘mother,’ told me he was in great pain, and begged me to save his life. But the bleeding wouldn’t stop. Even the physician couldn’t save him and left! I watched helplessly as he struggled in pain on the bed for three days before dying before my very eyes.”
“What did you do, Madam? I suppose you’ve long forgotten, haven’t you?”
Wet Nurse Jiang’s voice continued to float by Madam Zhu’s ear.
“I told you. You were afraid the incident would damage your reputation, so you acted as if nothing had happened and covered it up. You sent your brother away to continue living freely, gave me some silk and money, and ordered me not to speak of it. I had no choice but to endure it.”
“But I harbored hatred in my heart. My son was only thirteen when he died! Madam, you hated Miss Qiao to the core because you lost your son, but wasn’t my son flesh of my flesh too?”
“Madam, now do you understand why I did this to you? You can go ahead and tell others what I just told you to defend yourself. But even if you defend yourself, what good will it do? Lady Xu nearly lost her life by your hand. Even if you continue to live, you’ll be nothing but a mother without dignity in your son’s eyes! You brought this upon yourself; you can’t blame me…”
Madam Zhu fainted at that moment. When she regained consciousness, she heard that Wet Nurse Jiang had already committed suicide by hitting her head against the wall in front of her. Only a dark purple bloodstain remained on the ground.
The servants guarding her whispered that Wet Nurse Jiang had been forced to commit suicide by Madam Zhu.
Although days had passed and the floor had been cleaned, that bloodstain seemed to have seeped into the ground, still looking shockingly vivid.
Madam Zhu used to often feign illness as an excuse to keep her son by her side.
Now she had truly fallen ill. She had finally waited for her son’s return.
A heavy snowfall had come last night, and this morning the sky cleared. At noon, as she sat alone in her room lost in thought, she heard a series of heavy footsteps from outside.
Those were the footsteps of her son, Wei Shao. She could recognize them instantly.
He had finally come home! Yet his mother had been framed and suffered such injustice while he was away!
The strength that had drained from her body seemed to slowly return. Madam Zhu struggled to stand up, wanting to go out and greet him. She had only taken two steps when the door was violently pushed open with a bang.
Madam Zhu saw her son Wei Shao’s figure appear in the doorway.
He didn’t enter but stood at the threshold, looking at her with a cold and unfamiliar gaze.
Madam Zhu was slightly taken aback. After meeting her son’s eyes for a moment, her lips began to tremble, and she said in a quavering voice, “Shao’er… you’ve finally returned… You mustn’t believe what they say! I was framed by Wet Nurse Jiang! She hated me! She was bribed to frame me! These past few days, I’ve been thinking and thinking, and it must be Miss Qiao… After Miss Qiao entered our family, I wanted you to take Chu Yu as a concubine. Though she didn’t say anything, she must have hated me in her heart…”
The corner of Wei Shao’s eye twitched slightly. He took a step back, and two people were pushed into the room, tumbling to the ground.
One was the Great Shaman from Yu Mountain, the other was Zheng Shu. Both were disheveled and in a wretched state.
“Aunt, save me!” Zheng Shu got up and clung to Madam Zhu’s legs, crying and begging incessantly.
Madam Zhu was shocked. She looked up at Wei Shao and said in a trembling voice, “Shao’er… what are you doing?”
Wei Shao said coldly, “Listen for yourself to how this good niece of yours has been deceiving you all along!”
The Great Shaman knelt on the ground, shaking uncontrollably and kowtowing repeatedly. “Madam, you don’t know, it was Zheng Shu who secretly gave me gold and silk, asking me to tell you that she was a noble person in your destiny. That’s why I said those things to you! To make it come true, the illness you had later was also because she got the medicine from me and first put it in your food. Once the medicine took effect, she stopped, and you gradually recovered. But Madam was kept in the dark and believed it to be true…”
Zheng Shu wept bitterly, “Aunt, please spare me! It was just a moment of confusion back then… In the years since, I’ve been completely devoted to you, Aunt. Others may not know, but you should…”
Madam Zhu’s eyes widened, her finger pointing at Zheng Shu, shaking uncontrollably. Suddenly, she let out a loud cry, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
…
When Madam Zhu slowly regained consciousness, she found herself lying on the bed.
Wei Shao stood with his back to her, facing the window, his figure motionless like a stone statue.
Madam Zhu wanted to call out to him but didn’t dare.
Wei Shao turned around and slowly walked to her bedside, looking down at her.
“Shao’er…” Madam Zhu’s eyes welled up with tears. “I know I was foolish before… to the point of being used by others, nearly making a terrible mistake… But I didn’t poison your grandmother… No matter how bold I might be, I wouldn’t dare to harm her. You should know that…”
Wei Shao stared at Madam Zhu, a heavy shadow passing through his eyes.
“Mother, you may not have dared to harm Grandmother, but you did try to harm my wife. If it were anyone else, I would not have allowed them to live. You are my mother, so I cannot do anything to you. But from now on, let me tell you, Mother, if you dare to harbor any evil intentions towards her again, don’t blame your son for being unfilial.”
Wei Shao strode away quickly.