Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 175
Chapter 175 - Thirty Years of Hard Labor
Outside the main entrance of the Xie Manor, a large crowd gathered, whispering and gossiping.
Yet not a single person stepped through the gates, and not a single soul outside the Xie family came to light three sticks of incense before the mourning hall for Xie Jingyu.
A bustling, noisy scene outside the main entrance.
A desolate, chilling emptiness before the mourning hall within.
Lady Yuan wept until she fainted multiple times.
Xie Shiyun was only four, and Xie Xian was three; still at an age where they understood nothing, they only knew to cry along, to say nothing of Xie Shikang, who was merely a few months old.
The three concubines knelt upon the prayer mats, tears streaming silently down their cheeks.
Aside from their grief and sorrow, they felt mostly lost and bewildered; they had depended entirely on Xie Jingyu, and now that the man was dead, what would become of the rest of their lives?
Involuntarily, they raised their heads to look at Yun Chu standing to the side.
Now, the only person they could rely upon was the Madam.
Yun Chu was dressed in plain white mourning robes, a white flower pinned to her hair, her appearance understated to the extreme. There was little expression on her face, only an immense composure.
The first day after Xie Jingyu's death passed amidst the wailing and weeping of the household.
Xie Zhongcheng harbored a simmering resentment in his heart.
Their legitimate son-in-law had passed away, yet the Yun family had not dispatched a single person to pay their respects!
With the Yun family refusing to even show up for appearances, which of the neighbors or customary friends would dare come to see Jingyu off on his final journey?
When all was said and done, it was all the Yun family's fault, and all Yun Chu's fault.
Had Yun Chu demanded that the Yun family come, would they truly have turned a blind eye?
The look Xie Zhongcheng cast toward Yun Chu was laden with deep resentment, yet he dared not utter a single word.
The sky gradually darkened, and just as Xie Zhongcheng was about to speak and instruct Yun Chu to keep vigil through the night, the sudden gallop of horse hooves echoed from the main entrance.
A wave of joy surged in his heart; surely someone from the Yun family had arrived.
He rose to go out and welcome them, only to see that the figure astride the tall steed was none other than the imperial officer who had previously sealed off the Xie Manor by imperial decree.
Sitting atop the tall horse, the officer pulled out a scroll and declared in a chilly voice, "Members of the Xie family, receive the imperial edict!"
Xie Zhongcheng's legs trembled violently, and he collapsed onto the ground in an instant.
Immediately following, Yun Chu walked out, and several concubines supported Lady Yuan as they all knelt together at the main entrance.
"...Following a thorough investigation by the imperial court, Xie Jingyu, Director in the Ministry of Revenue, embezzled government silver totaling thirteen thousand four hundred and fifty-six taels. The case has been verified with conclusive physical and testimonial evidence... Xie Jingyu is sentenced to execution after autumn..."
Lady Yuan wailed loudly: "My son is already dead! He is dead..."
"Had this been under the previous dynasty, even if he were dead, his corpse would be dragged out to be beheaded." The officer cupped his hands in respect toward the imperial palace. "It is only because the reigning Emperor is benevolent that he does not practice such atrocities! Hah, just because a man is dead does not mean the debt is erased; his blood relatives must bear the court's punishment in his stead!"
A powerful, ominous premonition welled up within Xie Zhongcheng's heart.
"Xie Jingyu's father failed to properly educate his son and condoned his embezzlement. While he is spared the death penalty, he cannot escape punishment; he is specially sentenced to thirty years of hard labor!"
"Hard... hard labor, thirty... thirty years..."
Xie Zhongcheng nearly passed out on the spot.
He was already close to fifty years old; serving thirty years of hard labor would make him eighty. An ordinary man could hardly live to eighty under normal conditions, let alone someone subjected to penal labor.
As far as he knew, penal labor was no mere road-paving or canal-digging; it meant going to the front lines to dig trenches and repair fortress walls, where laborers were frequently pushed onto the battlefield as human shields.
Those serving penal labor were all convicts; soldiers at the front lines would never treat them as human beings, viewing them as lesser even than pigs and dogs...
This was worse than simply putting him to death.
Two guards stepped forward, hauled Xie Zhongcheng to his feet, shackled his hands and feet with iron chains, and forced a heavy wooden pillory onto his shoulders.
"No... please, no..."
Lady Yuan crawled on hands and knees to the hooves of the officer's horse.
"I beg of you, Officer, grant our Master a way to live! I beg of you..."
The horse raised a hoof and kicked Lady Yuan aside with a dull thud.
"Listen closely, I have not finished!" The officer spoke coldly. "Xie Jingyu embezzled over ten thousand taels of official silver; death alone cannot atone for this crime, and a father's debt must be repaid by his sons! The imperial law dictates that embezzlement incurs a tenfold penalty, amounting to a total repayment of one hundred and thirty-four thousand five hundred and sixty taels. Adding the thirty thousand taels fine for concealing the Xie family's taking of the He family's daughter as a concubine, the total owed to the imperial court is one hundred and sixty-four thousand five hundred and sixty taels!"
Hearing this staggering figure, shock and horror washed over every face in the Xie family.
Before they could process the horror, the officer barked coldly, "Where are the sons of the Xie family?!"
Tingyu swiftly tightened her arms around Xie Shiyun beside her, and Concubine Tao also gripped the slumbering infant in her embrace tightly.
Seeing no movement from the Xie family, the officer gave a signal with his eyes, and several guards stepped forward, hauling the two children out directly.
"Auntie, save me!" Xie Shiyun cried out, his little face turning deathly pale with terror. "I don't want to! No! Help! Mother, save me!"
Knowing his concubine mother could change nothing, he looked pleadingly in Yun Chu's direction.
Yun Chu kept her eyes lowered, showing not the slightest reaction.
Xie Shikang had originally been asleep, but upon being pulled and dragged, he woke up and burst into shrill, helpless wails.
The officer pulled two sheets of paper from his robes: "Xie Jingyu has two sons remaining. All debts will be split evenly between the two of you—make them press their thumbprints!"
The two guards seized the small hands of the two children, pressed their thumbs into the vermilion inkpad, and stamped them firmly onto the promissory notes.
Once their thumbprints were affixed, the two children were released. Xie Shiyun scurried frantically back into Tingyu's embrace, believing he had been saved.
Tingyu stared at the promissory note; her Brother Yun now owed the imperial court over eighty thousand taels of silver.
A monumental sum of over eighty thousand taels—even a first-rank General's estate like the Yun family would likely be unable to produce it all at once...
Her Brother Yun would have to grow up saddled with such a crushing burden of debt...
Unable to draw her breath, Tingyu blacked out and fainted straight away.
Concubine Tao stared blankly at the extra promissory note thrust into her hand, then looked down at the child who had returned to her arms and ceased crying, her heart filled with sheer desolation.
Brother Kang had been born prematurely and was frail of body; at three months old, he weighed almost the same as when he was newborn. She had always felt she would never be able to keep this child alive, yet he was the child of her own womb, her own flesh and blood, and she had to persevere... until disaster struck the Xie family, the wet nurse fled, and all the crushing pressure fell solely upon her shoulders.
Over these past days and nights, she did not even know how she had managed to endure.
Countless times she had wanted to give up, and countless times she had forced herself to hold on until dawn.
She had thought she could keep persevering, but seeing this promissory note for over eighty thousand taels of silver struck her like a bolt of heavenly thunder, shattering her completely.
This was not money owed to ordinary people; it was owed to the imperial court, to the reigning Emperor himself. It was a debt that could never be escaped or defaulted on...
"Madam..." Concubine Tao spoke in a hoarse, raspy voice. "Please... please help hold Brother Kang for a moment..."
Lady Yuan had no more tears left to weep; she numbly took her grandson and cradled him in her arms.
Concubine Tao rose from the ground and strode toward the outside. Only after she vanished past the gates of the Xie Manor and disappeared into the crowd did Lady Yuan suddenly realize what had happened.
"She... she left?" Lady Yuan's eyes widened in horror. "She abandoned Brother Kang?"
Yun Chu pressed her lips together.
In her past life, when Brother Kang grew older, he could neither speak nor walk, behaving dull-witted and foolish. Driven to the brink of madness, Concubine Tao had thrown the child into the Sheng Residence.
In this life, everything had changed, yet Concubine Tao had still abandoned her own child all the same.
No matter how the world shifted, a person's core nature never changed; when pushed, they would always make the choice that served them best.