Chapter 85: How I Take Revenge Is My Freedom
Chu Yan behind the bed was still being muffled over her mouth and nose by Yue Tang. At first she struggled, but by the time Chu Xin appeared she was completely still, and after Du Yu asked that question, she widened her eyes and looked at the shadowy figure under the lamp outside the gap.
If her initial choice to leak Yue Tang’s whereabouts, helping the Chu Family to kill her, was a destructive outburst of anger, then afterward the Chu Family’s proposal to her, to have her adopt an Imperial Family child as an adopted son to continue Yue Rong’s lineage, reignited her hope for the rest of her life.
But she never imagined that just as she placed all her hopes on this child, expecting him to stand on his own after coming of age and then take over the Imperial City Department to build power for her, Yue Tang produced fake evidence of Yue Huan’s background!
The adopted son she had raised for two years was not a descendant of the Yue Family at all! And it was very likely the Chu Family had swapped in their own clan’s bloodline for her to raise!
At that moment Chu Yan collapsed to her lowest point!
The Chu Family not only used her to seize power, used her to kill Prince Duan’s father and daughter, but after using her up, they even deceived her into raising a child for the Chu Family!
She too was a descendant of the Chu Family, bearing the Chu surname, with Chu blood flowing in her veins, yet she lived so lowly, worse than grass and weeds!
She wished she could just die under Yue Tang’s sword like that, at least it would be a fitting death, but Yue Tang wouldn’t hurt her, saying she had to avenge herself!
Good!
Then she endured it!
Chu Xin arrived right after, and she nearly used up all her strength to restrain herself from immediately questioning him about the truth, but Chu Xin’s every concern for the child clearly corroborated Yue Tang’s words!
She was Chu Xin’s own sister, and from childhood to adulthood she had never received such care from him; if Yue Huan wasn’t a Chu Family child, why would the profit-driven Chu Family people care so much about him?
Given Chu Xin’s selfishness, if this Chu Family child wasn’t his own, he would at most chat with him, and absolutely wouldn’t touch him with his own hands!
So after he left, Chu Yan had someone pass a message to Fang Ling, asking him to find a way to investigate Yue Huan’s origins.
The result was that just one day and night later, Yue Tang sent Wei Zhang to find her!
Wei Zhang said that as long as she came here with him, she could immediately know the child’s background.
So she came.
Even if they wouldn’t let her bring anyone, she wasn’t afraid!
Yue Tang had plenty of chances to kill her. This one more wouldn’t matter!
She didn’t expect that upon arrival, she would see such a scene!
And before she could react, Yue Tang had Du Yu call Chu Xin over!
As soon as Du Yu’s words came out, her limbs began to tremble.
She hadn’t slept all last night, and the pent-up hatred for the Chu Family was already choking her throat!
Even if she died immediately, she had to clear this shame before dying!
“Of course not!”
Chu Xin lowered his voice and angrily rebuked Du Yu, but it was clear he was already a bit agitated. “What did she tell you? You actually believe this baseless nonsense?!”
“Who says I have no evidence?” Du Yu stepped forward to block his path. “The Imperial Clan Court’s household registration file is in my hands. Do you dare call the child over for us to confront face-to-face?”
Chu Xin clearly stepped back, paused, then stepped forward again: “Nonsense! Is the Imperial Clan Court’s household registration file so easy to obtain?”
Du Yu cackled wildly: “Even Princess Yongjia’s destroyed household registration file can be restored; what’s so hard about borrowing one for an Imperial Family child?!”
“Have you forgotten what official Xu He is now?”
The hand with which Chu Xin held the sword suddenly shook, as if his soul had left his body, turning him into a kite that could be blown by the wind.
Chu Yan gripped the wall tightly with both hands, her ten fingers digging into the wall cracks with cracking sounds!
Yue Tang still tightly held her body, watching the room on the bed side through the gap.
Chu Xin suddenly placed his sword across Du Yu’s throat: “I’ve already been to the Imperial Clan Court and confirmed Yue Tang’s household registration file was completely soaked in water. How could it possibly be restored?
“If you dare deceive me, I will ensure your entire Du Family dies without a burial place!”
Du Yu tore at his throat: “I’m just asking if you dare bring the child over for confrontation!
“You used your own child to swap with an Imperial Family child, confusing the Imperial Family bloodline!
“You want to use this child in the future to prop up Prince Duan’s Mansion’s banner, making Prince Duan’s Mansion forever serve your Chu Family. Your Chu Family deserves ten thousand deaths!”
“Shut your mouth!”
Chu Xin suddenly thrust the sword into his flesh!
At this moment, Yue Tang glanced once more at Chu Yan, who was already shaking like chaff all over, and released her hand.
At this point Chu Yan was blazing with fury all over; after breaking free, she rushed out from behind the bed like a madwoman, pulled the hairpin from her head, and viciously stabbed at Chu Xin’s back!
Chu Xin was currently caught in the panic of his conspiracy being exposed, single-mindedly focused on killing Du Yu. When he heard the movement behind him, he didn’t have time to draw his sword and turn; a heart-piercing pain came from his back!
Even the Chu Family guards who followed in didn’t have time to stop her!
“It really was you!”
Chu Yan’s whole body tensed like a string; after pulling out the hairpin, she stabbed at him again! No matter how fast Chu Xin’s reaction, he still took several hits, then grabbed her wrist, shocked to the point his eyes nearly popped out: “How are you here?!”
“Beast! You’re a beast!” Chu Yan screamed, nearly going mad in her rage. “Your entire Chu Family are not humans! From top to bottom, you’re all beasts!”
“You’re crazy!”
Chu Xin became even more panicked.
Du Yu’s questioning and the information he spat out caught him off guard, and Chu Yan’s appearance pushed his bewilderment to the peak!
How was she here?
How could she be here?
This crazy woman already hated the Chu Family, and after Du Yu’s words just now, he couldn’t effectively refute them at all; even without his personal admission, she could already be certain!
Weren’t they here to chase and kill Yue Tang?
Wasn’t it just to make up for the loss from three years ago?
Hadn’t everything been going smoothly?
Why instead did it expose his child’s conspiracy and get him entangled by Chu Yan?
He paced in circles twice, then gritted his teeth and glared at Chu Yan, raising the back of the blade to chop at the back of her neck!
At this moment a clear voice suddenly rang through the room: “Chu Xin trespassed into the Top Scholar’s Wife’s residence, attempting to murder Lord Xu’s female family members. Where is Lord Xu?!”
“This official is here!”
In their call-and-response, Xu He, who the Du Family guards had said was unconscious earlier, now appeared in the room with Shuntian Prefecture constables!
And from the direction the voice came, a person slowly walked out; she had a tall and slender figure, dressed in plain white clothes, a sword in her hand emitting bone-chilling cold light!
A chill rose from the soles of Chu Xin’s feet; he retreated three steps, his face pale: “A-Tang!”
Huo Yun rushing in from the doorway fiercely slapped his face: “Lecherous thief! How dare you disrespect the Top Scholar’s Wife!”
After this slap, Chu Xin covered his face and was forced to sober up!
He looked at the room full of people, then pointed at the stunned Shuntian Prefecture constables: “This doesn’t concern you, get out!”
Xu He angrily said: “You broke into my mansion to kill my wife, and even intended to attack Prince Duan’s Heir Apparent Consort who was staying as a guest with the Top Scholar’s Wife; caught red-handed, you still dare be so arrogant to government officials. Is there still law in your eyes?!”
“Shut your mouth!” Chu Xin gritted his teeth and pointed at Yue Tang. “Which door’s wife is she to you? On the contrary, you as a court official, randomly finding someone to impersonate your wife and swaggering about deceiving people outside, were caught by me and I’ve come to arrest you. Those who should be punished are you!”
He barked at the constables again: “What are you standing around for? Quickly take her down! Tomorrow at the morning court, my father can prove you’re here to catch imposters?!”
The constables trembled and looked to Xu He.
Xu He was always one to bully the weak and fear the strong; at this point he couldn’t hold on, and looked pleadingly to Yue Tang.
Yue Tang crossed her arms, walked forward under the lamp, and stood in front of Chu Xin: “Did I ever say I was the Top Scholar’s Wife?”
She lowered her gaze to Du Yu on the ground: “Did you say I am?”
“No!”
Du Yu could figure out how to answer even with his toes at this point; he roared loudly: “Who says this is the Top Scholar’s Wife? This isn’t!”
Yue Tang looked back at wide-eyed Chu Xin: “The Top Scholar’s Wife has only appeared once, at the Du Family birthday banquet. Since Du Heir Apparent says I’m not, on what basis do you say I am?”
Chu Xin was already speechless.
He stared fixedly at the woman before him; this face, strange yet carrying a trace of familiarity, kept overlapping in his mind with that tender little face from memory.
At six years old she was already far more mature in mind than peers; the current her carried an innate deterrence all over, and even though her features were still flawless, a single glance made people shudder!
He laughed once, gripped the sword in his hand tightly: “You pride yourself on being clever, and indeed you’re formidable, able to control Xu He and make Du Yu obey you completely, but now you’ve inevitably fallen into your own trap!
“Let me ask you, even if the child is fake, who can prove I did it?
“Who can prove the Chu Family swapped it?
“Moreover, since you’re not the Top Scholar’s Wife, how does this charge of assassinating the Top Scholar’s Wife against me hold?
“There’s no Top Scholar’s Wife here at all; who was I assassinating?
“Couldn’t I just be pursuing a criminal?!”
He raised his voice to question everyone in the room; his usually handsome face now looked hideous with bared teeth and twisted mouth!
From the moment he learned Du Yu had broken into the Top Scholar’s Mansion, Chu Xin had figured out what was going on with the much-discussed top scholar’s original wife!
He didn’t yet know if the household registration file Du Yu mentioned as restored was true or false, and of course he wouldn’t be foolish enough to expose that this was Princess Yongjia, giving her a chance to prove her identity!
So, if she dared admit she was the Top Scholar’s Wife now, Chu Xin would be thrilled! Fake was fake; he had plenty of ways to prove she was impersonating!
And if she chose to deny it, she still couldn’t climb out of the pit!
Because there was no real Top Scholar’s Wife here at all!
Without a Top Scholar’s Wife, there was no assassination; back at the Imperial Court, he had plenty of ways to find excuses to escape punishment!
But just as he felt smug, deafening footsteps suddenly sounded from outside the door!
Immediately after, a loud voice rang out under the door: “Who says the Top Scholar’s Wife isn’t here?”
A group of people entered the doorway; leading timidly was Du Minghuan, followed by Yan Bei strolling in with hands behind his back!
“……Prince!”
Almost everyone in the room knelt down.
Chu Xin turned pale with fright!
Yan Bei swept his gaze over the room, then slightly turned sideways to look back: “Please have the Top Scholar’s Wife come out.”
Lan Qin following closely nodded slightly, stepping aside to reveal a young woman in her twenties.
“Lady He, the Prince and the others are all here to stand up for you. Step forward and let Young Master Chu take a good look, to see if he can still claim you’re an imposter?”
The woman had delicate features and was clearly somewhat timid, but she still obediently stepped forward, bit her lower lip and glared at Chu Xin, then looked to Xu He: “My husband is right here; can’t he prove I’m the Top Scholar’s Wife?”
When Xu He saw her, he panicked too!
He Shi had been brought into the Capital City by Yue Tang’s people, and he hadn’t heard a whisper!
His face went from white to red; his teeth chattered as he rushed to speak: “Yes…… This is precisely my wife He Shi!”
After speaking, he turned to Chu Xin: “What more do you have to say?!”
Chu Xin’s gaze scattered, his whole body collapsing!
What should come and what shouldn’t had all arrived; enough to prove tonight was a carefully woven trap!
Just when he thought everything was in his grasp, he never imagined he had become the prey!
With his limbs chilling, he looked at Yue Tang: “So your household registration file really wasn’t destroyed? But if so, why didn’t you come find me directly?”
Why bother digging into the child’s background?
Why tear open the child’s matter for Chu Yan to see?
Why make Chu Yan hate the Chu Family so thoroughly?
“How I take revenge is my freedom; as long as I want, I can play as many tricks as I like!
“From the day I came back to life, the ones without choices became you!”
After Yue Tang finished, she turned to face Yan Bei: “Chu Xin trespassed into the Top Scholar’s Mansion at night to assassinate the Top Scholar’s Wife, and even attempted to assassinate Prince Duan’s Heir Apparent Consort who was left as a guest by the Top Scholar’s Wife. His crimes are heinous!
“I’ll leave this to you; I have other matters, I’m going first!”
With that, she turned her head to look at Chu Yan slumped on the ground, controlled by Huo Yun and unable to attack Chu Xin again: “Get up, come with me!”
“I’m not going!”
Yue Tang unceremoniously dragged her up: “Coward! You only know how to vent on a cripple who can’t move? Raising the child was the Chu Family’s decision; who is the head of the Chu Family household?
“Who should you seek revenge from?!”
Chu Yan, her eyes glaring nearly to the point of bleeding, suddenly perked up!
Right!
Chu Xin was bad, but on major matters, how could he make decisions?
It was Chu Ying!
It was her biological father!
It was the father who gave birth to her but used her like a tool!
It was the head of the Chu Family household who let her marry her beloved with full joy, then destroyed everything she had!
She should go back to the Chu Family to settle accounts with him!
She rolled up from the ground and rushed out the door.
Wei Zhang leading a child came toward her: “Is the Heir Apparent Consort eagerly looking for the Heir?”
Chu Yan abruptly stopped.
Yue Huan cried: “Mother…”
Chu Yan squatted down, extended her five trembling fingers to wipe his tears: “Don’t cry. Didn’t you say your maternal grandfather and uncle are the best to you? I’ll take you to the Chu Family.”
With that, she grabbed the child’s wrist, stood up, and walked out.
Yue Tang behind gave Wei Zhang a look, and the two followed one after the other.
