Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 52
Chapter 52 - Someone Wants to Throw Themselves Into the Well
Just as the two groups were at a deadlock, the sound of galloping hooves rang out.
A dozen or so horses stopped in front of the carriage, led by a steed of the finest blood sweat, carrying a majestic man clad in a black cloak.
Yunchu looked up and recognized him; the newcomer was none other than the Prince of Pingxi, Chu Yi.
Chu Yi dismounted in one fluid motion, walked up to the carriage, and stood in place without advancing further. He spoke, "So it is Madam Xie."
Yunchu got down from the carriage holding the child and said, "Greetings, Prince of Pingxi. This wife wishes to ask the Prince of Pingxi: in such a vast estate with countless serving attendants, how could a child this young be allowed to leave the manor in the middle of the night?"
She knew that the affairs of the Prince of Pingxi's estate had nothing to do with her.
Yet, whenever she thought of how Yugeer had slept at the Xie residence for multiple nights without anyone coming to look for him, and whenever she thought of such a young girl wandering off and getting lost in the middle of the night, she felt a pang of sorrow for both children.
Moreover, the biological father was right before her eyes, yet the little girl in her arms remained entirely indifferent. This simply wasn't normal.
Once her emotions surged up, she couldn't help but voice her interrogation.
Even though the person before her was the formidable and renowned Prince of Pingxi, she felt not the slightest bit of fear.
Chu Yi met her gaze, his voice somewhat hoarse, "I have been busy with official duties recently and neglected the child. This is indeed my negligence as a father."
The attendants of the Prince of Pingxi's estate stared in shock, their eyes wide round.
They had followed the Prince for quite a few years, and throughout all this time, they had never seen the Prince bow his head and apologize to anyone. This Madam Xie was the first.
Yunchu had also not expected this Prince to be so mild-tempered and agreeable.
She lowered her head to look at the child in her arms. "Your father has come to look for you. Go home with your father."
The little girl didn't even glance at Chu Yi. Instead, she buried herself against Yunchu's shoulder, using both hands and feet to hug her tightly, making it obvious at a glance that she was unwilling to return.
"Changsheng, your father is here to take you home." Although Chu Yi tried to soften his tone, it still sounded quite heavy. "You said you wanted to raise a cat; will father agree to it, alright?"
The little girl immediately lifted herself up from Yunchu's shoulder, her dark, glossy eyes slowly turning toward Chu Yi, filled with a trace of disbelief.
Chu Yi nodded. "Father will not lie to you. Be a good girl, father will hold you."
The little girl seemed to ponder for a long time before she finally extended her arms and reluctantly entered Chu Yi's embrace.
Yunchu's arms suddenly felt somewhat empty.
The little girl loosely wrapped her arms around her father's neck, gazing at Yunchu with great reluctance as a hazy mist of tears slowly welled up in her large eyes.
Yunchu smiled and stroked her head. "There are many bad people outside at night. Do not be so willful and run out like this again in the future."
The little girl pursed her lips and nodded gently.
Chu Yi looked at Yunchu and said, "Thanks entirely to Madam Xie. If Madam Xie has any matters where you need assistance, please do not hesitate to speak."
Yunchu bowed slightly. "It was just a trivial effort, no thanks are needed."
Chu Yi nodded toward her, holding the child as he vaulted onto his horse.
Clasping Chu Yi's neck, the little girl kept her wide eyes fixed on Yunchu until Yunchu's figure slowly disappeared into the night. Only then did she disconsolately withdraw her gaze, burying herself back into Chu Yi's embrace.
Upon returning to the estate, Chu Yi had all the serving staff gather in the front courtyard, where dozens of people trembled with fear.
Seated in a chair with an imposing aura that commanded respect without anger, he said coldly, "Speak, how did the Princess manage to leave the estate in the middle of the night?"
While he was at the Shuntian Prefecture office interrogating mountain bandits deep into the night, people from the estate had suddenly rushed over to tell him that Changsheng had vanished. It felt as though his heart had been tossed into a frying pan, filled with every sort of torment.
He had immediately summoned a squad of guards to search the entire city, finally managing to find the child. Fortunately, no harm had come to her.
Changsheng had wanted to keep a cat for a long time, but because her constitution was weak and she would break out in red rashes upon touching cats, he had never agreed to it. Tonight, Changsheng had insisted on clinging to that Madam Xie, leaving him with no choice but to use raising a cat to entice Changsheng back into his arms. However, that did not mean Changsheng had left the estate because of a cat.
The attending servants stood shivering in the courtyard.
Chu Yi's gaze landed on the senior maid who personally waited upon the child.
The maid could only speak up, "Around dusk, this servant saw the Princess drawing a picture. She drew a female figure, wrote the two characters 'Mother', and even cried for a spell. This servant surmises that when the Princess left the estate at night, she must have wanted to go look for her mother..."
Chu Yi's gaze turned abstruse and obscure.
He could fulfill any request the children made, save for this single one.
Suppressing his emotions, he spoke coldly, "The Princess is a four-year-old child; can she just leave the estate whenever she wishes? To get out from her courtyard, one has to pass through at least five gates. All of you, explain what is going on here?"
While Chu Yi was interrogating the servants in the courtyard, Chu Hongyu ran into his younger sister's room, ordered the maidservants to withdraw, and climbed straight onto the little girl's bed.
Pulling his younger sister into his embrace, he whispered softly, "Changsheng, I know you miss mother too. Let me tell you a secret: actually, I found mother. It's just that going to mother's house is a bit troublesome, which is why I never dared to tell you..."
"However, it was wrong of you to sneak out of the estate in the middle of the night. If you promise me not to do this again in the future, I will take you to see mother."
The little girl's long, feathery eyelashes fluttered, and her large pupils flashed with animated brilliance.
Using both hands, she made several consecutive hand gestures.
Chu Hongyu laughed. "Older brother won't lie to you. We really have found mother. Mother looks exceptionally pretty, is very gentle, and likes me a lot; she will definitely like you too."
The little girl began to dance with joy.
"Father agreed to let you raise a cat, that's wonderful! But you can't touch the cat; it will make you grow lots and lots of little rashes, and it'll itch terribly. We'll just keep the cat in my courtyard..."
As the brother and sister talked among themselves, they gradually drifted off to sleep.
That night, however, Yunchu barely slept. Her mind alternated between the image of Yugeer and the image of the little Princess. Their figures intertwined, sometimes laughing heartily, sometimes crying bitterly, and both calling her mother together.
Before dawn had even broken, Yunchu woke up.
She sat up, picked up the wooden carving from the table, and stroked it carefully from top to bottom, feeling much more at ease inside.
After she finished dressing and grooming, all the concubines and dependents who came to pay their morning respects had arrived.
Xie Shi'an waited in the side parlor wearing a brand-new outfit, which reminded Yunchu that the courtyard examinations were taking place today.
She had been so busy with various matters day in and day out that she had momentarily forgotten about this event.
When she thought back, in the past she had meticulously prepared many things for Xie Shi'an, such as imperial success porridge, top scorer soup, first-tier scholar's banquet, and laurel-plucking wine from the toad palace...
Yunchu picked up a cup of tea and personally handed it to Xie Shi'an. "Once you enter the examination hall, the most important thing is to keep your mind calm and tranquil. This is a cup of clear tea; after drinking it, you will be able to cast aside restlessness and secure the top spot."
"Thank you, Mother."
Xie Shi'an accepted the tea and drank it down.
The other concubines in the room chimed in with auspicious blessings, and the young masters and misses also offered pre-exam wishes that he would surely pass as a xiucai, making the atmosphere quite harmonious for a time.
He Shi secretly slipped a prayer talisman she had acquired into Xie Shi'an's hand.
Yunchu smiled and said, "An'er, today your father and I will send you off to the examination hall. Your father should be waiting in the front courtyard. Let's go."
Xie Shi'an nodded.
Just as the two of them were about to leave, an elderly servant rushed into the Sheng Residence in a panic-stricken state, shouting, "Madam, this is terrible! Someone is trying to throw themselves into the well!"
He Shi cried out angrily, "Did you not see that the eldest young master is heading to the courtyard examinations? Why are you uttering such inauspicious words at a time like this? Get out!"
If these troublesome matters affected her son's imperial examinations, she would definitely skin this servant alive.
The old servant said with a face full of anxiety, "Madam, the servants just pulled her back from the wellside, but now she is trying to dash her head against the wall and running everywhere looking for scissors to commit suicide with. What on earth should we be doing about this?"
Yunchu frowned. "Who is trying to seek their own death?"
The servant replied, "It's Jiuer from the second young master's courtyard."
At this mention, Yunchu remembered. In her past life, it was also on this very day that a maidservant in Xie Shiwei's courtyard made a scene over seeking death. At that time, she was in a rush to send Xie Shi'an off to the examinations and had left Tingshuang to oversee the handling of the matter, never expecting that they wouldn't keep a close enough eye on her, and the maid had ultimately jumped into the lake and died.
In the end, she had taken charge and given Jiuer's parents a large sum of burial money, yet she had never bothered to investigate deeply into why Jiuer had wanted to cut her life short.