Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 101
Chapter 101 - The Xie Family is Cursed
After the morning greetings concluded, Yun Chu headed over to Concubine Tao's courtyard.
Concubine Tao was young, and even though she had suffered a premature birth, it had not deeply affected her constitution. She was already able to sit up and hold the baby in her arms.
Seeing Yun Chu enter the room, she immediately handed the infant over to the wet nurse and said with a desolate expression, "Mistress, you must seek justice for this concubine! I was shoved by the Third Young Master, which caused me to fall and lead to this premature labor. Mistress, just look at how small the child is—there is no telling whether he will even survive. It is all the Third Young Master's fault! Yet the Master actually claims it was just an accident and refuses to punish the Third Young Master. How is this concubine supposed to swallow this grievance..."
Yun Chu walked over and glanced at the baby sleeping inside the swaddling clothes.
Even after being born a full month premature, this child was already so tiny. As for her own pair of children who had been born nearly two months early, they would likely be even smaller...
It took so much effort just to raise this child to survive, yet when he grew up, he would remain dim-witted... If her own children had managed to survive by some fluke, she wondered what kind of plight they would be facing...
At the mere thought of this, Yun Chu felt a stinging sensation at the bridge of her nose.
Suppressing her emotions, she sat down on the chair by the bedside and spoke, "Concubine Tao, do you truly believe that a child who is barely four years old could be so malicious as to intentionally push you and cause a premature birth?"
Concubine Tao keenly sensed the deeper meaning behind those words and hurriedly pursued, "This concubine is foolish. Mistress, perhaps you could speak more plainly."
Yun Chu shook her head. "If someone fails to harm you the first time, they will naturally try a second time. Yun'er was merely being used. The Master has seen right through this point, which is why he will not punish Yun'er. And since that person is the Master's beloved, the Master naturally has to protect her."
Concubine Tao's eyes widened abruptly.
A month ago, she had already been schemed against by Concubineè´º once and had almost suffered a miscarriage... So this time, it was once again the handiwork of that woman, Madam He?
If that bitch Madam He continued to stay in the Xie family, her prematurely born son would probably not even live long enough to grow up!
"With the Master protecting her, there is nothing I can do either," Yun Chu said, standing up. "Rest well and take good care of your little master. Just stay away from her in the future."
With those words, she left the room.
Concubine Tao's face turned as gloomy as still water.
She simply could not understand how the Master could care so deeply for an old woman like Madam He. His own flesh and blood had almost died, yet he still protected that bitch!
She understood even less: if Madam He was paving the way for her own future children, shouldn't the person she most ought to scheme against be the Eldest Young Master, who had already passed the imperial county examinations?
Wait—the last time, she and Concubine Jiang had mentioned that the Eldest Miss bore a striking resemblance to Madam He, and the Eldest Young Master shared the same mother as the Eldest Miss. Could it be that the Eldest Young Master was truly born to Madam He?
However, if the Master had a child of such an age before his marriage, how was it that the Yun family had failed to investigate it?
Regardless of the truth, Madam He could no longer be allowed to remain in the Xie family; otherwise, she would face a third scheming plot...
Concubine Tao pressed her lips together and instructed the serving maid, "Go and ask Concubine Yu to come over. Tell her I wish to ask for advice on raising a child."
Yun Chu returned to Shengju Residence.
Walking into the room, she saw Tingfeng cleaning the thunder god vine she had gathered, carefully drying it on the windowsill.
This was a grand gift she was preparing for Xie Jingyu.
She would let this poison slowly erode Xie Jingyu's internal organs, letting him watch step by step as his body slipped out of his control, letting him watch the downfall of the Xie family, and watching him descend into hell.
She truly wished she could stab Xie Jingyu to death with a knife... A man like him, who refused to spare even his own flesh and blood, deserved to never find redemption through all eternity!
"Mistress," Tingshuang walked in and said in a low voice, "This servant investigated everyone in the estate thoroughly. On the night before you buried the Young Master and Young Miss, the Eldest Young Master went to the village near that mountain ridge. That night, a couple packed up and fled overnight. After making inquiries, I learned that the couple had given birth to a pair of fraternal twins four years ago, who were born prematurely and died, and were buried on that mountain..."
Yun Chu smiled.
The heavens were truly helping Xie Jingyu, enabling him to find a pair of fraternal twins born around the exact same time as her children, leaving her utterly deceived.
To live a second life and still be deceived—she truly deserved it.
Xie Jingyu and Xie Shian were equally hypocritical; no matter how she questioned them, neither of them would ever spit out a single word.
The breakthrough point lay with Madam He.
She had originally planned to wait until Xie Shian entered the Imperial College before exposing Madam He's true identity. By then, it would undoubtedly be a storm of blood and slaughter.
However, she could not wait until autumn.
In the afternoon, while Yun Chu was looking over the ledger of the ice shop in the courtyard, Tingyu walked in and said, "Mistress, Concubine Tao's young master was born prematurely and has a weak constitution, and no matter what, it has some connection to Yun'er. This concubine wishes to go and request a peace talisman for the Fourth Young Master, as a way to atone on Yun'er's behalf, and incidentally request one for the Old Madam as well. I humbly ask for the Mistress's permission."
At a single glance, Yun Chu knew what she was plotting, so she nodded and assigned a coachman to her.
Ever since the birthday banquet incident, the Old Madam's health had not been as robust as before. She was constantly coughing and continually drinking medicinal concoctions to recuperate, yet she showed no signs of improvement.
After finishing her medicine, the Old Madam frowned and said, "Regarding Concubine Tao's premature labor, is Jingyu simply going to let the matter rest without pursuing it?"
Nanny Zhou nodded. "The Third Young Master is still young; he shouldn't be capable of doing such a thing. It must have been an accident."
The Old Madam shook her head.
Weiqi'er was only eight years old as well, yet he was capable of the demonic act of driving hundreds of needles into a maid's body. She feared that inside Yun'er, there might also dwell a little demon.
For generations, their Xie family had been a lineage of scholars; how had they ended up continuously raising two scoundrels!
Fortunately, An'er was a good child; otherwise, this sprawling Xie estate wouldn't even have a single person capable of upholding the family's reputation.
As they were speaking, a servant reported that Concubine Yu had arrived.
"This old servant greets the Old Madam," Tingyu said, offering a curtsy. "This concubine made a trip to Qing'an Temple this afternoon to pray for and request peace talismans for the Fourth Young Master and the Old Madam."
Seeing that the peace talisman she handed over genuinely originated from Qing'an Temple, the Old Madam's expression softened as she said, "You have a thoughtful heart."
Although she disliked this betraying concubine who had climbed into her master's bed, coming sincerely to pray for a peace talisman for her was at least better than Yun Chu, this granddaughter-in-law of hers.
"Old Madam, a venerable master at the temple spoke a few words to this concubine," Tingyu lowered her head to say. "The master said that the incident befalling the Fourth Young Master of the Xie family is merely the beginning..."
"What is the meaning of this?" The Old Madam set her teacup down heavily. "Explain yourself clearly!"
As if frightened, Tingyu hurriedly said, "The master said that our Xie family has been cursed by one of our own, and the various young masters will meet with misfortune one after another... If the cursed object is not eradicated, the Xie family's lineage is likely to be cut off..."
"Audacious!" The Old Madam hurled her teacup directly at Tingyu. "That is sheer nonsense!"
Crouching her shoulders, Tingyu said, "Old Madam, it is better to believe it exists than to believe it does not. Just think about it: the Second Young Master's legs were broken, the Fourth Young Master was born prematurely, and Yun'er is currently ill as well. Will the Eldest Young Master also..."
The Old Madam felt a chill run straight down her spine.
Over this recent period, far too many things had indeed happened within the Xie family. Aside from Ping'er finding a good in-law family, everything else had been a complete mess.
Could it be that they truly were cursed?
"Old Madam, let us invite the master to come to our Xie estate and take a look! If nothing is found, we will merely lose some silver, but if something is discovered, it will be saving the entire Xie family!" Tingyu pleaded. "Old Madam, for the sake of the young masters, and for the sake of the Xie family, this matter cannot be delayed!”