Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 170
Chapter 170 - I Am a Vicious Woman
Just as Yun Chu and Qin Mingheng were speaking, a squad of imperial officers suddenly barged into the courtyard. Qiu Tong attempted to intercept them, but she was outnumbered and failed to hold them back.
"Qin Mingheng, as expected, you are indeed here. Yield and surrender without resistance!"
Two officers stepped forward, flanking him on both sides and pinning him down.
Yun Chu exerted force and pulled out the short dagger, causing fresh blood to gush from Qin Mingheng's right shoulder like a spring.
"Madam Xie, pardon our intrusion."
The two officers offered a very respectful apology, and then escorted Qin Mingheng out of the room.
Yun Chu remained rooted to the spot, her lips pressed tightly together.
She could distinctly sense Qin Mingheng's resentment; he genuinely regretted not defiling her in time that night.
Therefore, what he had said was likely the truth.
That night, it had been someone else entirely.
Who could possess the ability to snatch her away from the Marquis of Xuanwu while leaving him completely powerless to stop it?
Various figures surfaced in Yun Chu's mind, yet she could not be certain of any.
Qin Mingheng's escape from the path of exile was a capital offense; he might very well be beaten to death this very night.
Once Qin Mingheng died, she would never be able to uncover what truly transpired that night.
In her previous life, she had lived in a muddle-headed daze, but in this life, she intended to understand everything with absolute clarity.
Yun Chu draped a dark-colored cloak over her shoulders and stepped outside. Qiu Tong followed closely behind: "Madam, where are you going? The gates are surrounded by soldiers on all sides; we cannot leave through the main entrance."
Just as Yun Chu was about to speak...
She noticed that beneath a large tree in the courtyard, a person was actually sitting.
The tree bordered the courtyard wall, surrounded by dense foliage, and devoid of any lantern light; at a casual glance, one truly could not discern that someone was seated there.
She took two steps forward, only then seeing clearly that it was Xie Jingyu.
Her expression darkened instantly. "Why are you here?"
Xie Jingyu sat enveloped in the dark shadows. He raised his head, his face thoroughly gloomy, squeezing out words from deep within his chest: "I arrived long ago... When the imperial officers entered the Xie Manor to search, I came over. I was worried that the escaped convict might barge into Sheng Residence, worried that you might come to harm..."
Among his four limbs, only his right leg could barely exert any strength. Though the distance was not far, the journey had been extraordinarily arduous for him.
With many officers searching for the escaped convict outside, the moment he learned the fugitive was Qin Mingheng, the former Marquis of Xuanwu, he had rushed over immediately.
He understood Qin Mingheng's sordid intentions all too well, and he feared something terrible would happen to her...
Yet, upon entering this courtyard, he overheard her conversing with the escaped convict, Qin Mingheng.
Xie Jingyu looked at Yun Chu. "When did you find out?"
Yun Chu waved her hand slightly.
Qiu Tong and Tingxue promptly led all the servants out of the courtyard.
Within the vast courtyard of Sheng Residence, only the two of them remained.
It was already autumn; regardless of how sweltering the days were, the night breeze carried a piercing chill.
A faint smile curled upon Yun Chu's lips. "Do you mean when did I find out that someone took your place on our wedding night, when did I find out that my two infants were thrown away by you, or when did I find out that when you threw them away, they were still breathing?"
Xie Jingyu felt a sudden jolt in his chest, as if something within him had shattered completely.
So she had known everything all along...
Every single event that had transpired during this recent period replayed relentlessly in his mind.
With a fractured, raspy voice, he asked, "The exposure of the He family's affair—was it all your doing? You orchestrated this long in advance, didn't you?"
"Far more than just that matter." Yun Chu's smile deepened. "Every single step that brought your Xie family to today's wretched state was propelled by my hand. Xie Shiwei's downfall, the death of Lady He, the death of the Old Lady, Xie Shi'an's imprisonment, and your impending death, Xie Jingyu—all of it is tied to me."
Xie Jingyu's eyes flew wide open. "What do you mean?"
"It means your days are numbered." Yun Chu smiled with radiant brilliance. "Have you not felt your life slowly draining away?"
"It was you... You poisoned me under the guise of nursing my health!" Xie Jingyu's face was filled with utter disbelief. "How... how could you commit such a heinous act? You vicious, venomous woman!"
"I admit that I am a vicious woman. But do you dare admit that you are a hypocrite and a vile wretch?" Yun Chu drew her short dagger and pressed it firmly against his neck. "You are the one who murdered my two children. You must pay for their lives with your own!"
An overwhelming sense of suffocation enveloped Xie Jingyu.
His body tilted, and he tumbled down from the raised flower bed, sprawling pathetically upon the ground.
"Yun Chu, you are insane, completely insane! Do you have any idea what you are doing? This is murder—murdering your own husband!" Xie Jingyu growled hoarsely. "What poison did you give me? Hand over the antidote at once, and I can pretend nothing ever happened!"
"Yes, I have gone completely mad!"
"From the moment I learned that my children did not die at birth, but were murdered by your hands, I went mad."
"Why should you live in glory and honor while my two children have yet to find peace in their graves to this day?"
"Why should your sons and daughters all grow into adulthood while my own flesh and blood perished on that snowy night?"
"They clearly could have survived; they clearly could have enjoyed all the splendors of this world. Yet, because of your selfish desires, they were stripped of their very lives."
"Xie Jingyu, this is not murdering a husband. This is called settling a debt of blood with blood. You must pay with your life!"
The blade unsheathed, pressing relentlessly against Xie Jingyu's throat.
Xie Jingyu truly felt the palpable murderous intent radiating from Yun Chu.
She would truly kill him!
However, he could not die just yet!
Brother An was still in the prison cells waiting for his father to rescue him, and the Xie family still relied on him to rise again... If he died, the Xie family would be thoroughly ruined.
"Madam, Chu'er, things are not as you think." Xie Jingyu gulped down a mouthful of frigid air. "That day after you gave birth, when the servants carried the children to me, they were indeed still breathing, though their breaths were exceedingly faint... I had no choice but to carry the infants to find the Marquis of Xuanwu, because I knew in my heart that they were his children, and he would surely summon imperial physicians from the palace to save them... I never intended to discard the children; it was solely to seek a chance of survival for them that I placed them before the gates of the Marquisate of Xuanwu."
Yun Chu's hand paused. "You are saying the children were left at the Marquis Manor?"
Xie Jingyu nodded. "He used both threats and inducements, leaving me no choice but to hand you over. Under the weight of supreme authority, I had no second option... Chu'er, I am indeed a hypocrite, but I never intended to take innocent lives. While the children were still alive, I delivered them to the Marquis of Xuanwu... Their deaths were solely caused by the Marquis of Xuanwu; it had nothing to do with me..."
"Shut your mouth!"
Yun Chu refused to listen to his sophistry any longer.
She said in an icy tone, "After speaking so much, isn't it merely because you want to preserve your own life? Kneel, and repent and apologize to my son and daughter. As long as you show genuine remorse, I am willing to spare you."
Xie Jingyu clutched the soil on the ground tightly.
A man's knees held golden worth, meant only to kneel before Heaven, Earth, and ancestors. Yet this woman dared to demand that he kneel before two infants...
But what choice did he have?
He had to preserve his life first, and plan for the future step by step thereafter.
Using his right leg for leverage, Xie Jingyu knelt upon the ground and spoke with great difficulty: "Children, all those years ago, it was my fault. I should not have taken you away, nor should I have sent you to the Marquisate of Xuanwu... That you failed to survive was entirely caused by my hand. I am willing to offer twenty years of my lifespan to plead for a chance of forgiveness for my sins..."
As he spoke, he saw Yun Chu draw a porcelain vial from her sleeve.