Chapter 109: Do You Want A Li To Take The Yue Surname?
The firelight also illuminated Yue Rong’s memorial tablet.
Chu Yan raised her head, her gaunt fingers sliding over the two lines of characters on the memorial tablet.
The maidservant following behind panted as she walked in: “Heir Apparent’s Consort, Madam Chu, Madam has just committed suicide outside Prince Duan’s Mansion!”
Chu Yan seemed not to hear, hugging the memorial tablet to her chest, kneeling on the cushion again, and waving her hand toward the back.
The maidservant fell silent and retreated.
Quiet was restored under the doorway.
At the same time, Chu Yan also pulled a dagger from her sleeve.
……
The imperial edict from the Emperor granting Yue Tang charge of Prince Duan’s Mansion arrived at Prince Jingyang’s Mansion before evening.
Also arriving together was the princess ritual attire bestowed upon Yue Tang.
An auspicious day had been selected, just the day after tomorrow.
This meant that Yue Tang must return to Prince Duan’s Mansion before tomorrow.
On this trip, there was a particularly serious problem right in front of her.
Throughout this day, people came and went in the Imperial Palace, and everyone in Prince Jingyang’s Mansion looked toward Yan Bei’s residence with great sorrow.
Their master had kept widowhood for three years without any sign of budding romantic interest, until A Li’s birth mother appeared, awakening everyone’s longing for a mistress to enter the mansion.
Most of them bore the Imperial Concubine Dowager’s entrustment; she hoped that after they followed to the Capital City, they could help Yan Bei seize even the slightest opportunity to marry.
This was not just as simple as the three unfilial acts, with no offspring being the greatest.
Yan Bei had no brothers; although in times of crisis his three elder sisters and their husbands would certainly step up for him, the head of the household in Prince Jingyang’s Mansion only recognized descendants of the Yan Family.
He was the only shoot, so the mansion’s future always carried risk.
Moreover, this only shoot had produced just one little shoot, which was truly adding frost to snow.
The Imperial Concubine Dowager herself could no longer give birth, so her expectations for Yan Bei were only natural.
The futures and lives of thousands hung on the mansion, so Yan Bei’s offspring were no longer his personal matter, but the matter of those thousands around the mansion.
When they heard back then that A Li’s birth mother had returned, Yan Bei, who had been indifferent to romance like an old monk in meditation, began to lose his appetite over it, and everyone was overjoyed.
Later they heard that this madam was actually the noble-born Princess Yongjia, and they were even more delighted!
Some who couldn’t hold back had long sent the news to Mobei.
Who would have known that this Princess Yongjia was actually returning to Prince Duan’s Mansion to support the family line!
Wasn’t this just meaning Yan Bei had to keep living as a widower again?
The key was, this way A Li wouldn’t separate from his father, but would have to separate from his mother!
Hua Qing Garden was bustling with excitement, but other places were shrouded in gloom.
After everyone sighed, they finally found Gao An and asked him to inquire what attitude Yue Tang had toward Yan Bei and his son.
Gao An usually thought they were worrying unnecessarily, but at this moment he didn’t dare be careless.
He carried a cup of tea toward Hua Qing Garden, but someone rushed over from behind, reaching Yue Tang first:
“Princess! Chu Yan is dead!”
The person who came was Huo Yun, sleeves rolled up, pant legs stained with water, looking like she had just hurried over from a cleanup site.
“Dead?” Yue Tang raised her head from the clothes in front of her.
Gao An stopped at the threshold.
“Earlier, Chu Ying’s wife had gone to Prince Duan’s Mansion, and she argued with her daughter. Then that woman from the Chu Family was thrown out, and Chu Yan went to the family temple.
“Not long after, the servants found her dead inside, holding the Heir Apparent’s memorial tablet in her arms.
“This subordinate just went to see; she slit her neck with a dagger. That dagger should still be something from the Heir Apparent’s lifetime!”
Yue Tang set down the ritual attire in her hand, her brows furrowing.
Moments later, she looked up and saw Gao An at the doorway, rising to say: “Please come in, Master Gao.”
Gao An hurried in: “At the princess’s command!”
Yue Tang said: “Chu Yan is guilty against my Prince Duan’s Mansion and has no qualification to receive the lineage of my mansion’s descendants. But right now I lack manpower. I will write a memorial; please have someone deliver it to the prince immediately on my behalf and ask him to submit it to the Palace.”
Gao An acknowledged: “This is a major matter; this one will go personally!”
Yue Tang then picked up her brush, quickly wrote a memorial, and started another, writing a sheet of paper which she clipped in the middle, sealed it, and handed it to Gao An.
……
The Mu Family side wished to resolve the Chu Family case swiftly, and Yue Tang meant to take down the Chu Family first and deal with the rest one by one afterward, so it was handled particularly quickly.
Yan Bei handed the remaining matters to Dou Yun and Guo Yin, returning to the Bureau of Military Affairs himself to handle the forbidden guard he had brought back, as well as Chu Ying’s corpse.
From Chu Ying’s body, they obtained a map of the area around the moat and a private seal of his own.
Also a forged proof prepared in advance for Yue Tang, so that after succeeding, her identity of unknown origin could be wiped out.
From the forbidden guard side, they did get quite a few clues, such as Mu Chang’s arrival time and the words he had instructed before deploying troops, all flaws, but the force was still insufficient. Finally, after thinking it over, Yan Bei let him go.
In the evening, after the Emperor issued the decree to confiscate the family, the case of Yue Tang’s murder three years ago was concluded.
Next was the secret behind Prince Duan and his son.
Or rather, the secret on Yue Tang.
But apart from currently knowing that Mu Chang was the mastermind and that Yue Tang’s existence was definitely related to imperial power, there was no opening to cut directly into.
When Gao An arrived, he was standing by the window watching the yellow leaves fluttering in the courtyard.
Strictly speaking, the murderer who harmed A Li had already been captured; his undeniable responsibility had been fulfilled, and he had lived up to that covenant.
But from the moment he stepped into this vortex, he was trapped in it. He didn’t plan to get out so quickly either.
“The princess says she will return to Prince Duan’s Mansion tomorrow afternoon.” Gao An stated his purpose, handed over the memorial, but raised another topic, “Once she goes back this time, she and the prince will be two separate families.”
Yan Bei finished reading the memorial, then read the letter clipped inside. He said slowly: “We were originally two families; isn’t this nonsense?”
He had received a divorce letter. What was this about one family or two at this point? It made it seem like he was the one chasing after her!
Gao An’s eyes were full of frustration at his incompetence. “The princess taking charge of Prince Duan’s Mansion, and having received the Former Emperor’s approval to marry a husband, give birth to a child, and inherit the princely title—she goes back this time, won’t she immediately think of ways to establish an heir?
“Who else could her heir be?”
Yan Bei raised his head from the memorial, a daze in his eyes.
Gao An continued: “Will the prince let A Li leave the Yan Family and return to Prince Duan’s Mansion to change his surname to Yue?”
“How could that be possible?” Yan Bei immediately retorted, “The son I went to great lengths to save back—why shouldn’t he take my surname Yan?”
He grabbed the memorial in his hand: “You go back first. I’ll enter the Palace to see the Emperor, handle the matter of Chu Yan, and come back to reason with her!”
Gao An watched him dash out the door, sighed, and had to leave the yamen as well.
Happy holidays! Updating with a short chapter today.
