Yining knew she couldn’t stay here any longer. When she first died, she desperately wanted to know why Lu Jiaxue had killed her, even considering confronting him directly. But over the years, witnessing his indifference towards her memorial tablet and others, never once mentioning her, both her hatred and love had faded. She only wished to stay far away from him, avoiding any contact for the rest of her life.
Unexpectedly, after revealing a hint of her true identity today, Lu Jiaxue reacted like a madman. Who knew what he truly intended? Kill her again? Or imprison her forever, ensuring no one would ever know about his past?
Lu Jiaxue seemed to sense her intentions, stepping forward to seize her. But Yining had already opened the window and jumped out. To her surprise, Zhenzhu was waiting below, as if anticipating her escape. She helped Yining up and they quickly fled. Shen Lian and other guards immediately surrounded them, drawing their swords.
Lu Jiaxue leaped out the window, landing on the ground floor. But Shen Lian and the others had already escorted Yining out of the courtyard with remarkable speed.
His left leg, injured in battle years ago, suddenly flared up with intense pain from the exertion, preventing him from giving chase. Leaning against a tree trunk for support, Lu Jiaxue shouted fiercely, “If you don’t want me to implicate others, come back!”
His guards rushed downstairs to assist him, but Yining and her group had vanished. Lu Jiaxue closed his eyes, slowly exhaling.
Opening his eyes again, he spoke in a cold, ominous tone, “Summon Lady Lu. I have questions for her.”
Now that he had discovered a clue, he was determined to uncover the truth. “Luo Yining, you won’t escape me!”
Yining heard Lu Jiaxue’s words as she leaned against the carriage. Zhenzhu was tending to her injuries. Unlike Lu Jiaxue, who was trained in martial arts, Yining’s jump from the second floor had left her with numerous wounds, despite the pomegranate tree breaking her fall. Her elbows and knees were scraped in multiple places. Her ankle was swollen and painful, unable to move.
Zhenzhu, still shaken, asked, “Did you say something to upset the Governor? I saw him suddenly become enraged and grab you, so I immediately went to find Shen Lian…”
Still recovering from the shock, Yining shook her head and asked, “Does Great-aunt know about this?”
“Great-aunt left with her group earlier, so she probably doesn’t know. But it caused quite a commotion, so some people in Jude Manor likely saw what happened.”
There was no use worrying about others now. At least no one had witnessed what transpired inside the room. Yining’s thoughts turned to Lu Jiaxue’s words… What did he mean? Who was he referring to when he spoke of implicating others? Was he planning to harm her third brother? Or her father, Wei Ling?
Why was he so intent on forcing her, his long-dead wife whose existence no one knew about, to return? What did he truly want?
“How will we explain your injuries?” Zhenzhu asked worriedly. “Your husband will surely notice.”
“Just tell everyone not to say anything about what happened today,” Yining replied, unsure how to explain the situation to others. That her adoptive father had attempted to assault her, forcing her to jump from a building? Rather than spread such rumors, she’d be better off hanging herself to avoid implicating the Wei family.
The group first stopped at a doctor’s clinic for treatment before returning to the Luo residence.
They arrived at the Luo family home as dusk was falling, well past dinnertime.
Luo Shenyuan had instructed a servant to keep some food warm for her in a steamer. There was a dish of steamed pork with rice flour, a bowl of pigeon soup with yam, beef with green peppers, and cucumber strips in vinegar. But Yining had no appetite at all. She reflected on her foolish actions earlier that day, realizing how stupid she had been when confronting Lu Jiaxue. She hated that she hadn’t grown much wiser over the years, but the mistake was already made and couldn’t be undone. Now Lu Jiaxue was suspicious of her. What did he intend to do?
Candles illuminated the room. Usually during meals, Yining would chat while Luo Shenyuan listened. She always had plenty of daily trivia to share about Luo Yiyu and Luo Yixiu, bundling it all up to tell him, making their meals lively affairs. Due to habits formed in childhood, Luo Shenyuan rarely spoke at the dinner table. Today, however, she remained silent as well, with only the sound of chopsticks against bowls filling the air.
“How did you end up so injured just from going out for tea?” Luo Shenyuan asked calmly. “And the bandages are poorly done. I’ll rewrap them for you later with some ointment and fresh bandages.”
“I saw some lovely pomegranates on the tree and wanted to pick some to bring back for you,” Yining lied, having prepared this excuse earlier. “I brought back several baskets of pomegranates. Would you like some?”
Luo Shenyuan glanced at her. “You’re all bandaged up like this and still thinking about eating? From now on, you’re not allowed to go out with Luo Yixiu anymore.”
She had always enjoyed playing with Luo Yixiu as a child and often got into trouble. Luo Shenyuan didn’t particularly like Luo Yixiu, wondering why a married woman was still living at her parents’ home instead of returning to her husband’s family. “Tomorrow I’ll speak with Uncle and ask the Zhu family to come fetch her home.”
“She’s going back tomorrow anyway!” Yining said with a smile, holding his arm. “Don’t be angry. I’ll be more careful in the future. They’re just superficial wounds, nothing serious.”
Seeing that she had no appetite either, Luo Shenyuan put down his chopsticks and asked the servants to clear the table.
He lifted her injured foot onto his knee, pushed up her skirt slightly, and gently pressed her ankle. Yining’s face contorted in pain as she let out a cry. He looked up at her with a wry smile and asked, “Just a superficial wound, hm?”
Yining could only say, “I won’t dare do it again.”
Seeing her pitiful state, he stroked her head to comfort her. “It’s alright, it doesn’t hurt.”
A maid had already brought bandages, and he carefully rewrapped her injury, making it look neat, like a small, exquisite zongzi.
“Third Brother, where did you learn to do this so well?” Yining asked, admiring her newly bandaged foot. He lived his life with such precision – even the brushes in his study were arranged in one direction, books organized by category and volume, and now even bandaging a wound was done meticulously.
“Stop asking so many questions,” Luo Shenyuan said, placing her on the bed. “Rest well and don’t move around for the next few days, understand?”
“Alright,” she agreed obediently.
“If you encounter any trouble, you can tell me,” Luo Shenyuan suddenly added. “I’m your husband now. I’ll help you resolve any issues.”
She had eaten many of the green peppers she disliked, avoiding the steamed pork she usually enjoyed. Her chopsticks had only touched the dish closest to her, the peppers, ignoring everything else. She must have something on her mind.
“It’s nothing,” Yining said. “I’m just a bit tired from watching the opera.”
Later that night, as they lay in bed, the candles outside had been extinguished, with only moonlight filtering through the window paper. Yining stared at the ceiling, looking at the dust covers and the tassels hanging from the four corners. After a long while, she turned on her side, propping her head up, and asked, “Third Brother, are you… familiar with Lu Jiaxue?”
Luo Shenyuan, sleeping on the outer side with about a foot of space between them, opened his eyes and asked, “What’s the matter?”
Yining continued, “It’s nothing. I just feel he’s a very frightening person…” She didn’t want to implicate Luo Shenyuan, but if it came to that, she might even consider begging Lu Jiaxue for mercy.
“I know him very well,” Luo Shenyuan said, closing his eyes again. “Don’t overthink things. You don’t need to concern yourself with these matters. It’ll only worry you unnecessarily.”
Yining lay back down. She reached out and took Luo Shenyuan’s hand. He allowed her to hold it, and after a while, he turned his head to see that she had fallen asleep. He shifted to embrace her, ensuring she slept more comfortably.
What had happened between her and Lu Jiaxue at Jude Manor? What could have shaken her so deeply?
The Ning Yuan Marquis’s estate wasn’t founded by the original meritorious statesmen but was awarded to the Lu family’s ancestor for outstanding military service in quelling the Liao King’s rebellion. However, it was Lu Jiaxue who truly elevated the Ning Yuan Marquis’s household to the foremost among the noble families. From defeating the Northern Yuan to supporting the Emperor’s ascension to the throne, his military exploits were legendary, making the Ning Yuan Marquis’s estate unparalleled in glory.
But Lu Jiaxue wasn’t a man who enjoyed luxury. The Ning Yuan Marquis’s estate had never been expanded, and he kept only a handful of maids and servants. In earlier years, people would send him beautiful women, which he accepted without refusal. But in recent years, even such gifts had ceased, and the number of people in the eastern courtyard of the Ning Yuan Marquis’s estate had dwindled further.
Xie Min was escorted by Lu Jiaxue’s men to the main hall of the eastern courtyard. It remained largely unchanged from many years ago. The privet trees at the entrance to the hall, the heavily armed guards. It even reminded her of that day years ago when Lu Jiaxue had walked into the manor with his sword. The overwhelmingly strong scent of privet flowers, the blood-stained swords. And her husband’s head rolling to her feet.
Lu Jiaran probably never imagined his brother was capable of such an act – that smiling, shameless, unlearned younger brother.
His sword mercilessly severed his head.
Lu Jiaxue knelt, planting his sword.
Blood splattered on the zitan wood. The old Marquis of Ning Yuan was still alive then, trembling with rage. This cold-blooded, heartless creature! He had bided his time for years, just to eliminate his elder brother! He wanted to kill him, thrusting his sword forward. But Lu Jiaxue merely smiled, deflecting the blow with his sword, and within a few moves had subdued the old Marquis. Outside were all his men.
These scenes, all tinged with the smell of blood, vividly showed her husband’s wide-open eyes, blood gushing from his severed neck.
So every time she approached this place, her body would start trembling before she even did anything. Fear and anger overwhelmed her. As a woman of the inner court, no matter how clever and scheming she might be, she couldn’t bear witnessing her husband being beheaded before her eyes. It was a testament to her strong will that she hadn’t gone mad.
Lu Jiaxue rarely met with her, except when he wanted to extract something from her. He would see her here, where her emotions were most unstable and she was easily provoked by him.
Xie Min ascended the steps. She saw Lu Jiaxue seated in the hall, flanked by his guards.
She sensed that Lu Jiaxue’s state was abnormal. Unlike his usual composed demeanor, the room was tense, almost suffocating. The stewards stood with hands lowered, silent as cicadas. He slowly put down what he was holding, looked up at her, and said, “Since you’re here, please sit, Sister-in-law.”
Xie Min clutched the small knife hidden in her sleeve, her face taut. “What do you want now?” Her tone was cold and full of loathing. “I have nothing left that you desire—”
“I know,” Lu Jiaxue said. “I heard that you went to Jude Manor for tea today, is that right?”
Hearing this, Xie Min’s eyes flickered. What was he trying to say?
“I hope the Marquis of Guan Guan is well,” Xie Min said, allowing a maid to support her as she walked in front of Lu Jiaxue. “If this is all the Marquis wanted to ask, I’m afraid I cannot stay.”
“Do you know why I killed Lu Jiaran but didn’t kill you?” Lu Jiaxue suddenly said behind her.
Xie Min didn’t turn around. She stared into the night, the sky like a giant black eye, numb and painful, as if drowning.
“Lu Jiaran didn’t love you. If you died, he wouldn’t have cared. What he valued most was his power, so I took that away from him. But if I had killed you, it would have allowed you to die together with him. For someone as devoted as you, I wanted you to live, to know how agonizing it is to live alone. To suffer slowly until you die.”
Xie Min tightened her grip on her maid’s hand, suddenly turning back to face him, almost hysterical: “You madman! I live only to see your retribution, you cold-blooded beast! You killed your elder brother, you killed your wife. You will face judgment sooner or later!”
Lu Jiaxue sneered, “Sister-in-law, you can eat carelessly, but you shouldn’t speak recklessly. My brother was killed by bandits, and my wife was harmed by you.”
“You know how much I valued her. You’re so clever, surely you saw that marrying her was all my plan, though she alone didn’t understand. When I was contending with Lu Jiaran, you invited her on an outing, intending to use her to threaten me, didn’t you? By the time I arrived, your maid had pushed her off the cliff—I beat that maid to death! Dismembered her and fed her to dogs, but she could never come back.”
That person was the gentlest, most carefree part of his heart. It was a moment of carelessness that led to losing her, how could he not be devastated?
Xie Min’s face bore a desperate smile. “I never intended to kill her! Yet you claim I did, using it as an excuse to move against me and Lu Jiaran. Others might not know, but how could I not understand you, Lu Jiaxue? I was wrong to have thought of using her, but you twisted my mistake. She will never forgive you. I’ll tell you this cruel truth: even if she were reborn, you two would never be together! Lu Jiaxue, this is your retribution!”
Lu Jiaxue was silent, then laughed. “Because she’s now married to another and has accepted me as her adoptive father. Is that right?”
Xie Min froze, her agitation doused as if by cold water. Lu Jiaxue was trying to trap her into revealing information.
She believed this person was Yining reborn. She felt guilty towards Yining; if not for her, Yining wouldn’t have died unjustly. But since Yining had been reborn, she should cut ties with the past. She should live her new life well, not be dragged back into the mire that was the Ning Yuan Marquis’s estate. Filthy, dark, nauseating!
“I’ve already had people investigate. You went to Xiangyu Opera House. You rarely leave the estate, but that time you met her for a private conversation,” Lu Jiaxue said emotionlessly. “Since that day, you’ve been keeping a close eye on the Luo family. You wrote several letters, but they were difficult to deliver because Luo Shenyuan has people check all incoming mail to the Luo household. Generally, they wouldn’t reach her hands. Your first letter getting through was probably just luck.”
“You wanted to see her again. But she’s lazy and doesn’t like going out. Even when she does, it’s to visit other noble families, and your presence would raise suspicion. So when you heard she went to Jude Manor, you rushed over. But you didn’t know I was there.”
“She’s still so stupid, actually confiding in you.” Lu Jiaxue’s tone was flat, but his hand gripped the armrest like an iron vise, making it creak.
“She didn’t say anything!” Xie Min couldn’t help but retort. “Why can’t you leave her alone? She’s not that Luo Yining anymore. Can’t you let her live her own life?”
“Escort the Lady back,” Lu Jiaxue waved his hand.
He stood up. Though he hadn’t fully confirmed it was her yet, the slow realization only intensified the fury simmering within him.
Xie Min nearly dropped to her knees in front of him, her cries almost incoherent. “You’ve harmed Lu Jiaran and my child. Please, leave her alone. She has nothing to do with you anymore… She’s happy now, protected and loved. Why must you disturb her?”
Lu Jiaxue clenched his fists tightly. Suddenly, he erupted in anger, “Be quiet! She is my wife. I never divorced her; she remains the wife of the Lu family!”
The suppression of his emotions, from the moment he discovered the truth, seemed to be breaking down.
“She’s already married…” Xie Min tried to dissuade him.
“Sis-in-law, you’ve misunderstood,” Lu Jiaxue said with a cold smile. “Even if she’s with someone else now, if I want her to belong to me, I can have her at any time. Do you think my more than ten years as a governor were for nothing?”
Xie Min slumped to the floor, her pride leaving her unable to plead. With her eyes tightly closed and her head tilted back, she felt responsible for Lu Yining’s plight. She wished she had never discovered the truth. There was no need to involve her anymore.
A maid helped her up, and she staggered out of the main hall. Each step seemed to be shrouded in spreading shadows. The maid struggled to support her, watching as her tears continued to flow.
The maid sobbed too, “Madam, don’t be upset. It’s all in the past… it’s all in the past…”
The main hall fell silent for a long time. Lu Jiaxue turned to his subordinates and said, “I want to see Luo Shenyuan.”