Chapter 77: I Didn’t Mean To Molest
The Prince’s Mansion gate is in the south, the Family Temple in the north; walking the whole way takes quite a bit of time.
Chu Xin entered the door and strode to the hall entrance, where he saw Chu Yan and her son both there—one kneeling on the cushion with hands clasped together, long sleeves overlapping, eyes fixed on Bai Zhi throwing paper into the fire basin, utterly indifferent to his arrival. The other was already asleep on the long cushion.
Everything in the hall was normal; none of the utensils showed signs of being moved.
The mother and son’s clothes were also intact, though both their eyes were somewhat red and swollen, clearly from crying.
This was still acceptable. After all, Yue Rong’s anniversary of death was approaching, and every year at this time Chu Yan would start preparations. Now in the Family Temple, as his wife, it was hardly improper for her to weep.
Chu Xin entered the hall and sat down, scrutinizing all the places where someone could hide, then walked to the cushion, picked up Yue Huan, patted the dust off his clothes a few times, and asked: “What happened? Why didn’t you open the door for so long?”
Chu Yan sneered coldly: “This is my home; I open it when I want to, and don’t when I don’t.”
Chu Xin frowned at her back, his gaze cold as well.
Yue Huan in his arms shivered; he looked down at him and said again: “Why were you crying so hard? Did you punish him again?”
The child’s eyes were really badly swollen.
Though sleeping deeply, his hands and feet were still twitching.
As if frightened.
Chu Yan scoffed silently: “I really can’t understand; this isn’t just my home—the child is mine too. You barge in late at night and question me about punishing him. What gives you the right to care so much about him?”
Chu Xin paused, then set the child down: “I’m his uncle; isn’t it natural for me to be good to him?”
Chu Yan laughed: “Natural. But from childhood to now, I never saw you care about me like this. Now you bypass me to be good to him—why don’t I just give him to you?”
Her raised eyes were full of sarcasm.
Chu Xin stood still for a moment: “You’re getting more deranged. We went to great trouble to get His Majesty’s approval for you to raise him and continue the lineage. Naturally, I’m good to him for your sake as his blood sister. You give him to me? The Imperial Palace would have to agree first!”
Chu Yan tugged at the corner of her mouth and stood up: “You still haven’t said why you’re here so late at night.”
Now closer, he could see her more clearly.
Chu Xin examined her face closely and saw that aside from her red swollen eyes, her makeup was still intact. Though her attitude was irritating, it was the same icy viciousness as always—nothing unusual.
He walked to the spirit altar, eyes on Yue Tang’s memorial tablet: “Have you heard about the recent Imperial Court matters?”
“What matter?”
Chu Xin raised a brow: “Yan Bei suddenly used the He Family blood case to bring up A-Tang’s death; the events sealed away for three years are being hotly discussed on every street corner again. She hasn’t come to find you?”
“‘A-Tang’?” Chu Yan laughed shrilly.
Chu Xin remained impassive: “Answer me. Has she been here?”
“Didn’t she die?” Chu Yan stared straight at him. “You all personally set the trap and surrounded her in the woods. Her corpse was stabbed to pieces; you saw it yourself. What, have you lost your mind?”
Chu Xin’s face darkened abruptly: “Don’t circle around with me. You’re the only one who knows if she really died! You’re the only one who knows if that corpse back then was really her! Chu Yan, you’re a Chu Family member; you’ll never change your surname till death! You can only rely on the Chu Family now. Dare to harbor other thoughts, and it won’t end well for you.”
Chu Yan’s piercing gaze was full of mockery. “But I told you back then—it was indeed her corpse. Her seal, her sword—weren’t they there? What makes you say it wasn’t?”
Chu Xin slowly drew a pearl hairpin from his sleeve: “That night I met Du Minghuan, someone found this at the scene. Don’t tell me you don’t know—the killer of the He Family is connected to her. But back then, the only one confirmed to have escaped was Wei Zhang. Wei Zhang couldn’t pull off all this, much less find Yan Bei.
“Only she could.
“And only she has reason to seek revenge so openly.”
He placed the pearl hairpin on the spirit altar beside her.
Chu Yan glanced at the pearl hairpin: “So you’re saying, with that huge trap you laid back then, you couldn’t even kill a woman who’d just given birth? What a bunch of useless trash; I wasted my time leaking the information to you!”
Frost formed on Chu Xin’s face: “I’ll ask you one more time: she really hasn’t been here?”
Chu Yan glared furiously: “You never knew her? Don’t know her temperament? If she were alive, wouldn’t she have come to me long ago?”
Chu Xin stared at her, then said after a while: “Not necessarily.
“But it doesn’t matter if you don’t say.
“I know you’ve been hiding this fact from us, hoping she’d deal with the Chu Family.
“But you’ll be disappointed.
“Her seal is in my hands; now her household registration file has been destroyed by Du Yu too!
“From now on, even if she emerges, she’ll never be Princess Yongjia again.”
He picked up Yue Tang’s memorial tablet from the altar, gently stroking the name on it, and said: “Even if there were oversights back then, I’ve already patched them up with minimal effort. She has no time for herself, much less to help you.”
Chu Yan bit her lower lip hard, letting blood spread between her lips: “If you’re so sure, why bother coming here?”
“Though the crisis is resolved, she is still from the Yue Family. To prevent anyone using her, I came specially to warn you: if she comes, tell me immediately.” Here Chu Xin set down the tablet and continued casually, “After all, she and I once shared childhood affection. Princess Yongjia can’t live, but now she’s just Yue Tang—she’s homeless. If she’s obedient, my vast Chu Residence can still offer her a corner to shelter.”
Chu Yan gripped the edge of the table, bursting into cold laughter.
Chu Xin’s face darkened: “Yan Bei has stirred up this case; you’re not safe here alone. So I specially brought a group of people to stay with you at all times. This is the Chu Family’s care for Prince Duan’s Heir Apparent Consort and the Heir. I haven’t told Father about your deception yet—do behave yourself!”
With that, he clapped his hands twice, and a group of people filed in from outside the door.
Men and women, old and young—a complete Heir Apparent Consort retinue.
Chu Yan was furious: “I’m an Imperial Clan female relative; you dare monitor me?!”
“How is it monitoring?” Chu Xin said mildly. “You’re our closest blood kin. A widow and orphan guarding this vast Prince’s Mansion—we should look after you more. Once things settle, I’ll naturally take them back. Even if His Majesty knows, he’d understand.”
He pocketed the pearl hairpin again, patted the head of the sleeping Yue Huan: “It’s late; go to sleep soon. And don’t linger in places like this for no reason—it’s enough to drive one mad.
“Look at you; you’re less human by the day.”
“Chu Xin! May you die a miserable death!”
Chu Yan roared and lunged forward, but the Chu Family people intercepted her at once: “Heir Apparent Consort, take care!”
The guards outside the door automatically followed Chu Xin’s steps.
The ritual officials stayed at his side.
After striding out of the inner hall, Chu Xin mounted the veranda while glancing toward Chengping Hall: “No abnormalities with the little Heir here lately?”
The registrar carefully surveyed the surroundings, then bowed his head: “The Heir Apparent Consort controls the inner hall single-handedly. According to the outer courtyard staff, everything is as usual. The Heir Apparent Consort even took the little Heir for a walk in the garden during the day.”
Chu Xin nodded and said: “And the Heir Apparent Consort?”
“Aside from staying unusually long in the Family Temple tonight, everything is as before.”
Chu Xin smiled and said “Thank you for your trouble,” then cupped his hands and left through the gate.
After leaving the residence and boarding the sedan, he leaned out the window to the accompanying guards: “The Du Family is useless now. Once back, draft a plan immediately to make sure they die without a gasp. Act fast! Also, pick a few skilled ones to stake out outside Prince Jingyang’s Mansion. Nine times out of ten, the one contacting Yan Bei is Yue Tang herself; she’ll definitely contact Yan Bei again.”
“Yes!”
Chu Xin withdrew his hand, steadied his breath, and said: “Be thorough; don’t let Yan Bei’s people notice.”
……
Yan Bei accompanied Yue Tang through streets and alleys, walking in silence. In the dim twilight, their steps were light and quick, like two agile cats.
Before marriage, they were master and servant; after marriage, when Yan Bei returned, he became the child’s father. They’d never had a chance to wander the night together like this.
Now half a step behind her, Yan Bei could gaze his fill at her back—her slender shoulders, her cloud-like hair. After turning the corner, lanterns hanging under the doors of houses on both sides cast her shadow long on the ground; in the shadow, her fluttering clothes were clear, and her figure upright, still that spirited young pine no matter the time.
Through the alley to a not-so-busy street, she finally stopped in front of a food stall with a shed at the street corner.
She said: “Three pounds of braised mutton, two pounds of wine.”
The shed was very simple; Yan Bei followed Yue Tang to sit at a small table under it, watching her wipe the table with a rag, then brew coarse tea and wash cups on her own. He said: “Have you been here before?”
“I haven’t; Wei Zhang has.”
The owner brought the wine; Yue Tang poured a large cup for each, then downed hers in one gulp. “He came with Lan Qin; back then they came out every day to gather Du Family intelligence. Lan Qin is an excellent cook and came to steal some tricks while at it. But tonight, we won’t have her cook; we’ll eat ready-made.”
Yan Bei understood.
The two traded cups for two rounds without speaking. When the mutton arrived, each ate a bowl with chopsticks.
On this post-Lidong weather, eating meat did warm the body.
When Yan Bei served himself a second bowl, a guard came lightly to his side: “Prince, Chu Xin is indeed convinced the Princess is still alive. Then he brought people from the Chu Family to monitor Chu Yan closely.”
Yan Bei heard and immediately looked across.
Yue Tang raised her eyes: “What did Chu Yan say?”
The guard reported exactly.
Yue Tang nodded, had the owner fill a gourd with two pounds of wine and pack a jar of mutton separately, and gave it to the guard to take back and share.
The mutton soup had cooled just right; sprinkled with cilantro, the aroma was enticing. Yue Tang took a light sip, then another.
The street was quiet; by now it was deep night, and no one else remained in the shed.
Yan Bei, halfway through eating, looked at her and said: “Those Chu Family people are truly vicious. Rest assured, the Du Family is still in my hands. With them, dealing with the Chu Family won’t be too hard.”
Yue Tang didn’t respond but asked him instead: “What birth rank are you at home?”
“The youngest,” Yan Bei paused. “Three elder sisters above me, no younger siblings.”
“No wonder.” Yue Tang sipped her wine. “Tell me about your Prince’s Mansion.”
Yan Bei inexplicably felt a bit nervous, but with Yue Tang still gazing straight at him, he cleared his throat and said: “My father king died early from injury; you’ve probably heard.
“Our family branches are all in the Fenyang ancestral home. Only my grandfather’s line came down and stayed in Mobei.
“My mother and Du Minghuan’s mother are cousins; you know that. Little contact with the maternal side.
“Elders and relatives on both sides are quite reasonable.
“My three elder sisters—”
“What about the elder sisters?”
Yan Bei said: “Headache-inducing. Mobei isn’t like the Capital City, no so many twists and turns. Bored on normal days, we visit each other a lot—closer than high families in the Capital City. Busy times, we share the load. Idle times, households visit back and forth.
“My eldest sister married the legitimate eldest son of the Mobei Cui Family, parents of Cui Xun. She and her husband were betrothed prenatally, but they’ve quarreled from childhood to adulthood. Eldest sister is fierce with fists, husband with words; neither yields.
“Every quarrel, they run back to their maternal home. When Father King was alive, he found them noisy and sent them three hundred li away to lead troops.
“After Father King passed, they had to return for mourning leave. Now the mediator is me, plus managing their good-for-nothing eldest nephew!”
Yue Tang propped her cheek and smiled: “Nice. No wonder Cui Xun has that temperament.”
She lightly closed her eyes and said, “And then?”
Yan Bei paused: “My second sister and they don’t quarrel; her husband is a military general, better at martial arts than her, but the moment he saw second sister, he was rooted to the spot—impossible for him to lift a finger against her. So only second sister’s husband comes to the Prince’s Mansion to complain…”
In the quiet late night, even a small voice carried clearly.
Under the eaves, mutton bone soup still simmered in the soup pot, bubbling. Accompanying Yan Bei’s voice, it made one relax unknowingly.
Yue Tang propped her cheek listening, responding at first, then closing her eyes in silence.
Yan Bei’s voice slowed more and more until he stopped, quietly watching her across.
A gentle breeze softly stirred her hair and hem; under the dim yellow oil lamp, her face was like jade fat.
So beautiful.
He thought. Even more beautiful by the day.
Thus Yan Bei’s heart pounded like a soup pot on the boil.
His ten fingers on his knees clenched and unclenched; he looked around—the street empty, the mutton stall owner dozing with hands in sleeves under the lantern.
He took deep breaths, then slowly stood, steadied his breath, walked to her side, and stealthily extended his arms—one around her waist, the other under her legs.
He was confident his movements were as light as could be, breath held, but just as he bent to lift, she opened her eyes!
Their faces mere inches apart, eyes met in an instant!
Yan Bei abruptly released and retreated: “No… I didn’t!”
Yue Tang was dropped to the ground and let out a muffled grunt.
“Yan Bei!”
Yan Bei panicked even more!
“I just wanted to carry you back; I didn’t expect you to wake suddenly! I really didn’t intend anything!”
Yue Tang kicked him: “If you don’t help me up now, you’ll be off your feet for three months!”
Ahhh, school starts soon, been busy these days writing in spare moments. Wanted to add an update today but I really tried,
Begging for monthly votes again
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