Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 17
Chapter 17: Wanting to See the Children
The night gradually deepened.
After finishing the very last account book, Yun Chu lifted her eyes toward the doorway and, as expected, saw Xie Jingting walking in.
He was dressed in his official robes, clearly having returned home after finishing his duties outside. Without even having time to change his clothes, he had first been summoned over by the Old Madam before coming straight to her quarters.
"Husband has come over on account of Madam He's affair, I presume," Yun Chu stood up. "Madam He nearly took a life. Not handing her over to the authorities is already an act of supreme mercy on the part of the Xie family, and I hope Husband will not chill Concubine Tao's heart."
Xie Jingting's face was plastered with utter exhaustion. He took a sip of the clear tea handed to him by Tingshuang, his voice raspy as he spoke, "An-ge'er, Ping-ge'er, and Wei-ge'er were all raised under her watch. If we sell her off and cast her out, I worry it will leave a thorn in the three children's hearts..."
Yun Chu let out a cold, mocking laugh. "Is Husband not worried that the child in Concubine Tao's belly will have a thorn in its heart?"
Xie Jingting was rendered speechless.
Could an unborn child possibly be compared on equal footing with An-ge'er?
An-ge'er was his eldest son, and much like himself in his youth, he possessed an extraordinary talent for scholarship—truly a case of the blue coming from the indigo and surpassing it.
How far the Xie family would go in the future depended entirely upon An-ge'er.
"How about this, then," a smile bloomed on Yun Chu's face. "Since the children are so protective of Madam He, and Husband trusts her so deeply as well, why not simply make her Concubine He?"
Xie Jingting's expression shifted drastically. "I harbor no such sentiments toward her; I ask Mistress not to make such jokes."
Yun Chu's gaze grew profound and unfathomable.
Things had progressed to this stage; the absolute best course of action would be for Xie Jingting to acknowledge a clandestine affair with Madam He in order to properly shield and protect her.
Yet, Xie Jingting had resolutely refused to take Madam He as a concubine?
Could it be that he intended to wait until she died, so that Madam He could be elevated straight to the position of primary matron and mistress?
Yet, would someone harboring the ambition to become the mistress of the household willingly debase themselves as a mere slave and maid prior to that?
"There is a small shrine in the southeast corner of the Xie estate; let Madam He go cultivate herself in quiet contemplation there," Xie Jingting pinched the bridge of his nose. "I will place her under strict confinement, forbidding her from stepping a single half-step outside the shrine for three years."
Yun Chu feigned hesitation, only nodding after a long, drawn-out pause: "Then let it be as Husband says."
Right from the very beginning, she had never intended to banish Madam He entirely from the Xie family.
Only by keeping Madam He directly under her own nose and driving her into a corner where she was forced to jump off the wall like a trapped beast could she uncover the truths she wished to know.
"Many thanks, Mistress." Xie Jingting's gaze lingered upon her. "For managing the Xie household with such meticulous devotion, this husband is eternally grateful."
He took a step forward, closing the distance to Yun Chu, and reached out as if to press his hands upon her shoulders.
Suddenly, Yun Chu stepped back, smoothly evading his touch.
The memory of her scrubbing her hands frantically until they were raw flashed vividly in his mind, making him acutely aware once again that she loathed him.
Thus, she could casually suggest that he take Madam He as a concubine without the slightest hint of hesitation.
This realization stirred an indescribable, lingering emotion deep within Xie Jingting's chest.
Drawing back his hand, he spoke in a gentle, cultivated tone, "I heard that the Empress Dowager has fallen ill and is scouring the realm for a miraculous physician to cure her ailment. If the opportunity arises, I shall find a way to invite this divine doctor to examine you and see if your barrenness can be healed."
Yun Chu lowered her eyes. "I am likely destined to be childless by fate, so Husband need not waste any further effort on this."
Perhaps because Xie Jingting had brought up the subject of children, that very night her dreams were haunted by the figures of two little ones.
A boy and a girl, both four years of age, exquisitely carved out of jade, danced around her while calling out "Mother" without stop. The pure wave of happiness overflowed directly out of the dreamscape.
Yet this bliss did not endure for long before the two children suddenly vanished from sight.
The white mist enshrouding the surroundings abruptly twisted into a crimson sea of bloody fog.
"Mother, why did you abandon us!"
"Mother, I miss you so much! Hurry up and come take us home, please!"
"Mother, it is so cold here..."
The sound of weeping echoed endlessly beside her ears.
Yun Chu felt as though her heart were being shattered into pieces: "My babies, where are you? Tell Mother, where are you..."
The crying of the two children gradually faded away into the distance.
Yun Chu snapped her eyes wide open and bolted upright into a sitting posture.
She looked toward the window—it was pitch black outside, for it had only just passed the midnight hour.
Over the past four years, she had never once dreamt of her two deceased children, yet recently, this was already the second time.
Having lived past thirty in her previous life, what was there left that she could not let go of? She ought to find inner peace at last, learn to face her past head-on, and finally go pay a visit to her children...
Leaning against the head of the bed, Yun Chu sat in rigid solitude until dawn broke.
When Tingshuang stepped softly into the room, she was startled to find her fully dressed and sitting by the bedside. "Mistress, when did you wake up? Why didn't you call this slave in to attend to you?"
She hurried forward to comb Yun Chu's hair.
Seated before the vanity mirror, Yun Chu asked in a low, measured voice, "Where were my two children laid to rest back then?"
Tingshuang's hand trembled, causing the wooden comb to slip from her grasp and clatter to the floor.
She quickly picked it up and spoke in a soft, soothing tone, "Mistress, those matters are all in the past now. Please do not dwell on them anymore; overthinking only harms your health..."
"Qingming is fast approaching," a faint, melancholic smile touched Yun Chu's lips. "I wish to go see my children, to let them know what their mother looks like, and I want to speak with them as well..."
Tingshuang kept her head lowered as she replied, "After the little young master and the young miss passed away prematurely, the master was the one who ordered people to handle their burial. This slave does not know the exact location where they were laid to rest."
A sharp pang of grief stabbed at Yun Chu's heart.
After her children passed away, she had been utterly broken and incapable of facing the reality, not even daring to inquire about their final arrangements. Now that she wished to see her children just once, she didn't even know where she should go.
She was truly far too unqualified to be called a mother.
No wonder her children had come into her dreams to search for her...
Following the morning greetings paid by the concubines, Yun Chu headed straight to Madam Yuan's courtyard.
Assuming Yun Chu had come on account of the previous night's debacle, Madam Yuan sighed and said, "That Madam He has served Jingting for quite a few years, and Jingting only kept her in the estate out of sentiment for old times. From now on, she will simply be a nun in our Xie family shrine, unable to stir up any further trouble, so you need not take it to heart."
Yun Chu stated, "Mother, I have come on an entirely different matter. Four years ago, my two premature children—do you know where they were buried?"
"Why are you suddenly bringing up things from four years ago?" Noticing the scarlet flush in her eyes, Madam Yuan softened her tone. "I heard from Jingting that the Empress Dowager is currently searching everywhere for a divine physician capable of treating women's ailments. Once that doctor arrives in the capital, Jingting will find a way to secure a consultation, and perhaps your condition can finally be cured..."
Yun Chu's voice sounded tight and strained. "Mother, I merely wish to visit my departed children."
Madam Yuan let out a heavy sigh. "According to custom, children who die before reaching adulthood may not be interred in the ancestral cemetery, nor are they permitted gravestones. Dwelling too heavily upon it would only hinder the children's chances of reincarnation. Jingting therefore had Madam He take the children's remains back to the old Xie family estate to find a plot for burial. If you truly wish to visit the children, I can arrange for a couple of servants to make the trip with you."
Yun Chu gripped her sleeves tightly.
Her own children had actually been buried by Madam He's own hands.
What kind of desolate place must they have been laid to rest in for them to cry out about being cold in her dreams?
Her heart felt as though it were being shredded to pieces by a knife, aching with unbearable intensity.
Self-reproach, vexation, deep regret... a swirling tempest of emotions surged within her breast.
Stepping out of Madam Yuan's courtyard, Yun Chu went directly to the front gates and ordered a carriage prepared, for she was returning to the Yun family residence.
The Xie estate was situated in the southern part of the city, while the Yun residence occupied prime real estate near the imperial palace. Because the entire capital spanned out between them, Yun Chu seldom made the trip back.
Moreover, haunted by the guilt of having brought destruction upon over a hundred members of the Yun household in her past life, she had felt utterly unworthy of facing her family upon her rebirth and had never even entertained the thought of returning…