Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 63

Chapter 63 - Listen to Mother

Yunchu's pupils contracted sharply, and her breathing practically stalled.

"Madam, what is wrong?"

Seeing her unusual expression, Xie Jingyu felt a trace of unease well up in his heart.

Yunchu withdrew her gaze and steadied her voice: "An-ge'er's words are not without reason. As for how to specifically handle Wei-ge'er, you and the Old Madam should discuss it further. I have a bit of a headache and will head back first."

With those words, she turned and strode away.

Once outside, she saw Jiuer kneeling in the courtyard, looking every bit like someone awaiting judgment at any moment.

"There is nothing for you to do here," Yunchu said as she looked at her. "The Second Young Master is injured and has a fiery temper; do not go anywhere near him for now. My courtyard is lacking a maid to sweep the floors, so you can assist me for two days."

Before Jiuer could say anything in response, Yunchu hurried toward the back.

This was the side courtyard closest to the jujube orchard, situated at the very rear of the Xie residence, right outside its courtyard wall ran a small alleyway in the capital.

After the guests had dispersed, the servants of the Xie household had all gone to the front courtyard to clean up the aftermath, leaving not a single shadow of a person in this area.

"Eh, didn't they say the Xie family was hosting a banquet today?" Chu Hongyu peered over the top of the wall, looking left and right. "How is it that there isn't a single soul around?"

"L-Little Marquis!" Amao's voice came from below. "Please press yourselves flat against the wall, Your Highness and Little Princess; this subordinate is going to let go."

Chu Hongyu hurriedly scrambled up the wall, pulling his sister's hand: "Changsheng, grab this brick, kick off with your legs and you'll be right up."

The little girl's soft, pink little fingers gripped the wall bricks, climbing upward with all her might. Her small face turned red from exertion, yet she simply couldn't make it up.

"Changsheng, if you can't come up, we won't be able to see Mother." Chu Hongyu reached out to help her, calling down to the person below: "Amao, lift her higher, lift her a bit higher."

Amao wore a bitter expression. Who told him to be so short? No matter how much he stood on his tiptoes, he couldn't get any taller.

Fortunately, with a redoubled effort, the little girl finally managed to scale the top of the wall.

Amao heaved a heavy sigh of relief. He blew a breath into his palms, then planted his feet against the wall, leaping up onto the wall-top as if traversing eaves and scaling walls. Seeing that the interior of the courtyard was deserted, he dropped down, raised his head, and extended both arms: "Little Princess, jump down. Do not be afraid, this subordinate will catch you."

It was Chu Hongsheng's first time doing something like this.

She stood up with a slight tremor and looked down, immediately feeling dizzy and terribly frightened.

Yet the mere thought that Mother lived right here and that she would soon be able to see Mother filled her with boundless courage.

Her long, feather-like eyelashes fluttered before she closed them, spread her arms, and jumped downward, landing squarely in Amao's embrace. Amao carefully and meticulously set her on the ground, raised his head, and said, "Little Marquis, hurry down. This subordinate seems to hear the sound of people talking."

Chu Hongyu nodded. Just as he stood up, he saw two figures appear around the corner. He was about to duck out of sight when he realized the person walking in front was none other than Yunchu.

He beamed from ear to ear, his mouth opening as he wanted to call out for Mother.

Yunchu hurriedly raised her hand, placing her index finger against her lips to make a silencing gesture.

The Xie family members were all in this vicinity. If the Little Marquis made any noise and alerted them, it would turn him into a tool for the Xie family to latch onto and climb up to the Prince of Pingxi's Estate.

"Shh!"

Chu Hongyu mimicked the gesture as well.

Perhaps out of sheer excitement, he lost his footing for a split second and pitched headfirst downward.

Yunchu's heart stopped from fright.

Fortunately, Amao was standing right beneath the wall and managed to catch him in the nick of time.

"Yuge'er, didn't I tell you last time that you must never sneak into the Xie estate again?" Yunchu put on a deliberately stern face as she looked at him. "Coming by yourself wasn't enough; you actually dragged the Little Princess along to scale the wall too. What would you have done if you had fallen?"

Twirling his fingers together, Chu Hongyu mumbled, "Little Sister dreams of Mother every single day. Since Father was away, I brought her here to meet you. Mother, look quickly, this is my little sister—her name is Chu Changsheng."

Before he even finished speaking, he watched as the usually timid and wary younger sister rolled into Yunchu's embrace like a small snowball.

With a face full of tenderness, Yunchu scooped her up: "Changsheng, I've missed you too after all these days."

Chu Hongyu stared in disbelief, his dark, glossy eyes widened into circles: "Mother, when did you and Changsheng meet? How come I didn't know?"

"Changsheng slipped out of the estate in the middle of the night a few days ago, and I happened to run into her." Yunchu used her other hand to take hold of Chu Hongyu's. "This is no place to talk. Let's return to my courtyard first."

Tingshuang had long since cleared away all the servants along this path, and throughout their walk back, they did not run into a single soul.

Once inside the familiar courtyard, Chu Hongyu felt far more at ease. He smiled cheerfully and said, "Mother, Father received an imperial decree and went to Jizhou on official business; he won't be back for half a month. For this half month, Little Sister and I are going to live right here with you."

Yunchu frowned: "Half a month is far too long; I'm afraid that won't do."

"Then how long can we stay?" Chu Hongyu wrapped his arms around her neck. "Whatever number of days Mother says, that's how many days we'll stay. We'll listen to Mother."

The little girl also scrambled onto her lap, wrapping her arms around her neck from the other side. Although the two little fellows were small, they possessed quite a bit of strength. Yet as if locked in a contest of wills, each tried to pull her neck toward their respective side, making her feel as though her neck was being twisted back and forth to the point of a cramp.

Chu Hongyu felt a mild flash of annoyance. He was sharing Mother with his younger sister, yet Little Sister insisted on monopolizing her entirely—he should never have brought her along.

However, the moment he noticed a flicker of returning radiance within his sister's pitch-black eyes, he decided this trip was well worth it.

His sister had possessed a frail constitution since childhood. Although she was already four years old, she was thinner, weaker, and shorter than a typical three-year-old child, and at her age, she still could not speak.

The imperial physicians had stated that her vocal cords were completely sound, but due to chronic illness and physical frailty, she had developed a secondary psychological condition—she was unwilling to communicate with others and could see no one else in her tiny world, which seemed to contain only him as an older brother, and occasionally their father, provided the father spoke words that happened to strike a chord deep within the little girl's heart.

This was the very first time he had ever seen his sister accept another person so readily.

He loved Mother this much, and he knew right away that Little Sister would love Mother just as much as he did.

"You can stay for two days first." Yunchu was equally fond of the two little fellows, gathering one in each arm. "If you stay in the Xie estate, you must remain strictly within my courtyard and are not allowed to wander outside at will. Can you manage that?"

In a bright, clear voice, Chu Hongyu answered, "We can!"

The little girl blinked her large, round eyes and nodded in agreement.

Yunchu tapped both of their noses playfully: "The two of you turned into little mud monkeys after climbing that wall just now. Go wash up first."

She truly had to hand it to them—these two little rascals had secretly slipped in and even had Amao carry a bundle containing a change of fresh clothes.

She instructed Tingshuang and Tingsue to give Yuge'er a bath, while she personally bathed the little girl. When she undressed the child, her heart was instantly gripped as if squeezed by a massive palm.

She knew the little girl was thin, but she had never imagined she would be this emaciated—her entire body was nothing but bones without a scrap of meat, and the only flesh she had seemed to have concentrated on her face, making her look all the more endearing.

Upon closer inspection, she was startled to discover that the child's entire body was covered in tiny needle punctures.

These needle marks were exceptionally distinct, not resembling intentional abuse, but rather bearing the telltale signs of long-term acupuncture treatments.

"Changsheng, Changsheng..."

As she murmured the name, she dimly began to understand why the Prince of Pingxi had chosen such a name for the little princess.

With a complex mix of emotions, she finished bathing the little girl. Just as she was busy getting her dressed, Tingshuang's voice rang out from outside the door: "My Lord has come over, saying he has urgent matters to discuss with Madam."

Yunchu fished the little girl out of the wooden tub, dried the droplets of water from her skin, dressed her in a fresh skirt, and smiled gently, saying, "I'll step outside for a moment."

The little girl caught the hem of her garment, opening her wide eyes to gaze up at her as if terrified that once she left, she would never return.

"Be good, I will be right back."

Only then did those soft, pink little hands loosen their grip and let her go.