Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 66
Chapter 66 - The Prince of Pingxi Searches the Estate
Yunchu walked into the reception hall accompanied by Tingyu.
Looking at the pastries on the table, she said, "I remember that the mung bean cakes you make are somewhat softer than usual. If you have some spare time, make some and bring them over to my quarters."
Tingyu beamed with joy. "Yes, Madam, this concubine will go make them right now."
As long as Madam was willing to make use of her, she would sooner or later be able to return to Madam's side and regain her prestige just as before. In that case, who in the entire estate would ever dare to give her a cold look again?
Yunchu nodded. Just as Tingyu was about to withdraw, an old servant woman rushed in frantically, looking utterly alarmed: "Madam, the Prince of Pingxi has brought a great many men over, claiming he wants to search the Xie estate."
The fingers holding Yunchu's teacup suddenly stiffened.
The people from the Prince of Pingxi's Estate had arrived so quickly—it truly somewhat exceeded her expectations. Fortunately, Qiutong and Tingshuang had already left with the two children.
Tingyu said in astonishment, "Although the Prince of Pingxi holds high rank and great power, he has no qualifications to search a private residence, does he? Could it be that some criminal has escaped, which is why the Prince is..."
"The Prince of Pingxi's Little Marquis and Little Princess have gone missing," the servant woman hurriedly reported. "My Lord has already gone to the front gates to respectfully welcome the Prince, and specifically had this old servant come and report to Madam, asking the concubines and young misses of the estate to avoid the area."
Yunchu nodded and immediately gave instructions for someone to notify the female family members.
No sooner had she given the order than she heard a great deal of commotion; evidently, the people from the Prince of Pingxi's Estate had already searched their way into the back courtyard.
In the entire capital, probably only the Prince of Pingxi dared to act with such audacity.
The First Prince was the Crown Prince and needed to win the hearts of the common people; he would never randomly search a private residence and provoke impeachment from all the civil and military officials.
The remaining princes lacked the capability or backing—how could they possibly have the guts to do such a thing?
Seeing Xie Jingyu accompanying the Prince of Pingxi as they drew closer and closer, Yunchu, as the primary matriarch of the household, naturally could not hide away like the concubines.
She stood up and stepped forward to greet them: "Greetings, Your Highness."
Chu Yi's gaze landed upon Yunchu.
For some inexplicable reason, he was reminded of that night when she had been holding Changsheng in her embrace.
Under the moonlight, her skin looked like white porcelain, and in the daze of that evening, it felt as though her beautiful eyes bore a striking resemblance to Changsheng's.
Now, taking advantage of the daylight, he could see it even more clearly. Not only were her eyes similar, but even the shape of her lips seemed carved from the very same mold.
He paused for a moment before speaking: "Madam Xie, please forgive the offense."
At that moment, four guards who had been searching the Sheng Residence walked out and shook their heads toward the Prince of Pingxi.
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
Two hours prior, just as he was about to set off for Jizhou, the Crown Prince had suddenly fallen ill, prompting the Emperor to issue consecutive imperial edicts recalling him. Upon returning to the estate, he had intended to bring his eldest son, Yuge'er, to the Eastern Palace to visit the sick, only to discover then that Yuge'er was missing, and that Changsheng had unexpectedly vanished along with him.
He had immediately mobilized manpower to search the entire city.
The first residence he visited was the Eldest Princess's Estate, because Yuge'er was close to the Eldest Princess.
The second place he came to was the Xie estate. Perhaps because Changsheng had shown such reluctance to part with this Madam Xie on that fateful night, he had a vague premonition that the two children might have come here.
Yet nothing had been found during the search.
"Lord Xie, Madam Xie, sorry for the intrusion."
Chu Yi turned around, intending to leave.
Just at that moment, a child's voice rang out: "There is a shoe over there!"
Yunchu turned her head and saw that Xie Shiyun, who had been holding hands with Tingyu all along, had suddenly bolted forward, pointing at a patch of floral shrubbery and shouting out.
Following the direction of Xie Shiyun's finger, her breath instantly hitched—that was Yuge'er's embroidered boot.
Chu Yi's footsteps came to a halt as well, and he looked toward the shoe. Given his busy schedule with official duties, putting shoes on children was naturally not something he did personally, yet he vaguely felt the shoe looked somewhat familiar.
"That's not my shoe," Xie Shiyun's childish voice piped up. "Whose shoe dropped here?"
Tingyu realized at a single glance that Yunchu's complexion had shifted, and she hurriedly grabbed hold of her son.
Xie Shiyun bit his lips tightly.
He had stated long ago that there were other children in his mother's courtyard, which was why Mother no longer favored him, but his concubine mother had refused to believe his words.
Now, he had finally found the evidence, and right when the Prince of Pingxi was present. He would use the Prince's men to flush out the children hidden in his mother's courtyard.
Tingyu covered her son's mouth while her peripheral vision swept toward that shoe.
It certainly did not belong to Yun-ge'er, but at a single glance, anyone could tell it was sized for a child of three or four years old. Among all the boys of that age in the estate, Yun-ge'er was the only one.
That proved beyond a doubt that there indeed were other children inside Madam's courtyard.
Was Madam truly planning to adopt someone else's child?
Tingyu's emotions were complex to the extreme.
Yunchu's expression merely flickered for a fraction of a second before returning to normal. She stepped briskly over, picked up the tiny shoe from amidst the flowerbeds, and said, "Yesterday I had the maids in the courtyard searching everywhere for a missing shoe—so it had fallen here instead. It's a style currently all the rage in the capital that I specially commissioned someone to make for my maternal nephew's upcoming birthday."
Chu Yi nodded in acknowledgment. "Sorry to have disturbed you. This Prince will take his leave."
He departed swiftly with his guards in tow.
Right at that moment, Yunchu caught sight of Qiutong and Tingshuang walking back in from the outside. The two of them gave her a subtle nod, and the heart that had been suspended high in her chest finally dropped back down into place.
As Chu Yi reached the entrance, just as he was about to head off to search the next location, a servant came running up to report: "Your Highness, the Little Marquis and the Little Princess have been found. They had secretly slipped out of the estate to wander around the streets, accompanied by Guard Mao."
With those words, the two little masters were carried over before Chu Yi by a pair of wet nurses.
Both little fellows knew they had committed a wrong; they buried their heads tight against the nurses' necks and remained utterly silent.
Chu Yi looked at Chu Hongyu, his gaze involuntarily dropping down to land upon the boy's feet. Immediately afterward, his eyes narrowed: "Where are your shoes?"
Chu Hongy stepped his two bare little feet together, rubbing them back and forth: "I-I don't know where I dropped them."
"Oh?" A cold smirk surfaced at the corners of Chu Yi's lips. "Why don't you explain to me how your shoe managed to end up inside the Xie estate?"
Chu Hongyu's little face turned pale in an instant, and out of sheer instinct, he denied it: "No, I didn't go to the Xie family..."
Chu Yi's voice grew even colder: "When did I ever say you went to the Xie family? You're simply confessing without being pressed. You..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the little girl huddled in the nurse's embrace suddenly snapped back to her senses. Opening her wide, watery eyes, she stretched out her two short little arms toward him.
At that exact instant, Chu Yi's heart melted completely.
Prior to turning two, Changsheng had spent the majority of her time in slumber. After passing the age of two she had finally improved somewhat, but she required year-round acupuncture treatments, and each session left her weeping bitterly, making her increasingly resistant toward him—the father who forced her to undergo medical treatments.
By the time she turned three, Changsheng's illness had largely abated, yet the light in her eyes was gone.
She would never proactively look at him as her father, would never let her father hold her even for a moment, and refused to linger in his presence for so much as a quarter of an hour...
This was the very first time in her life that she had proactively extended her hands, asking him to hold her.
Chu Yi let Chu Hongyu off the hook and scooped his daughter straight into his arms.
Chu Hongyu heaved a massive sigh of relief.
He felt a trace of astonishment.
In the past, even when his father had scolded him until he was at his wits' end, his younger sister wouldn't react in the slightest, even upon hearing it.
Yet now, his sister had actually taken the initiative to clear him of trouble.
After spending time with Mother just now, his little sister seemed to have undergone a subtle transformation.