Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 185
Chapter 185 - He Lingying's Dream Visitation
"What kind of plan did you devise for Prince Gongxi?"
Yun Chu looked at him and asked.
Xie Shi'an lowered his eyes. "Back when I was studying at the Imperial Academy, I had accompanied Teacher Wang to pay respects to Prince Gongxi. Prince Gongxi had been tasked by the Emperor to gain practical experience in the Ministry of Personnel. Over the years, he has taken various initiatives, but they were all standard and conventional, never truly earning the Emperor's regard. Therefore, I offered Prince Gongxi a suggestion: to reform the court's official system and alleviate the current state of redundant personnel... Not only can this ease the problem of officials forming cliques for personal gain, but it can also reduce expenditures for the Ministry of Revenue..."
Upon hearing this, Yun Chu felt a deep wave of shock within her heart.
Xie Shi'an was not even thirteen years old yet, yet he was capable of viewing the court's political situation with such clarity and proposing such immediate, effective recommendations.
Regardless of whether this reform would truly be implemented and realized, at the very least, right now it could win Prince Gongxi the Emperor's affirmation and allow him to stand out among the numerous princes. That alone was enough.
Prince Gongxi had seen Xie Shi'an's capabilities.
In the future, by relying on Prince Gongxi, Xie Shi'an would surely be able to rise again.
Yun Chu was immensely glad that she had kept her final card, and that was Xie Shiwei...
"Mother, why did Father suddenly..." Grief filled Xie Shi'an's eyes. "I didn't even get to see Father for the last time, nor was I able to accompany him on his final journey..."
Yun Chu shook her head. "The Xie family suffered one disaster after another, and your father could not bear such blows, so he drowned his sorrows in alcohol day after day... Blame me; I failed to talk him out of it... Shi'an, you have just come home, so do not dwell on this matter. Go back and get a good rest, and I will have someone send some food over to you shortly."
Xie Shi'an was indeed exhausted. He cupped his fists in salute and turned to walk out of the Sheng Residence.
Dragging his heavy footsteps, he slowly walked back to his Pine Pavilion. Previously, his courtyard had two matrons, two pageboys, and four maids; now, only a single pageboy who had grown up alongside him remained.
Seeing him enter the courtyard, that sole pageboy immediately hurried forward, crying, "Eldest Young Master, you've finally returned! This servant thought that you..."
"Sanjiu," Xie Shi'an called out the pageboy's name. "Since you were willing to guard the Pine Pavilion for me, from now on the two of us are true brothers."
The pageboy named Sanjiu was moved to tears. "Young Master, you've suffered terribly these past few days. This servant will help you rest."
After washing thoroughly, changing into a clean set of robes, and lying down on his own couch, Xie Shi'an finally felt as though he had truly come back to life.
That dungeon had been devoid of light, subject to countless rounds of torture and interrogation every single day. There hadn't been a single patch of unblemished skin left on his entire body, and he genuinely thought he was going to die.
He never expected that, amidst the pitch-black darkness, he would welcome a ray of light—Prince Gongxi.
He had offered strategies to Prince Gongxi, and Prince Gongxi had spared his life. Their initial transaction was complete, but he wondered how he could make himself a true advisor to Prince Gongxi...
Thinking about these things, Xie Shi'an gradually drifted off to sleep.
He had no idea how he ended up walking into a valley filled with black, deathly aura, where he saw a face—the face of his biological mother, He Lingying.
His heart suddenly began to beat wildly and erratically.
He had been the one who forced his mother to her death. After she died, he had never seen her in his dreams, and as time passed, he had buried his guilt.
Only now, upon seeing such a face, did he realize that he fundamentally lacked the courage to face her.
No matter how calm and composed he appeared on the outside, only he knew in his innermost heart how terrified he was to recall the details of that night.
He turned and ran.
"Shi'an..."
He heard a gentle call.
"Shi'an, I am your mother..." The voice grew closer and closer. "No matter what wrong things you have done, in Mother's heart, you will always be that most exceptional child."
Only then did Xie Shi'an halt his steps. He turned back and said with immense difficulty, "I'm sorry, Mother. I'm sorry, I was wrong. I was wrong..."
He had driven his mother to her death, yet he hadn't even been able to secure his own future. He truly deserved to die!
"Shi'an, you did nothing wrong. You did it for the sake of the family; Mother knows everything..." He Lingying's expression abruptly shifted. "Mother has come tonight to tell you that the Xie family reaching this state today is entirely because of Yun Chu! You called her mother for all those years, yet she is the very one who destroyed your future with her own hands! You must never trust that woman. Shi'an, remember Mother's words—do not trust Yun Chu...!"
Xie Shi'an jolted awake.
It turned out to be a dream, but the scene in the dream had been so vivid, and every single word from his mother still echoed clearly in his ears.
They said that whatever one thought about by day, one would dream of by night. Could it be that he was having this dream because deep down in his heart, he actually suspected that the Xie family's downfall was connected to his mother?
"Eldest Young Master, you're awake?"
The door to his bedchamber was pushed open, and he saw Duoxi, the young servant from Yun Chu's side, standing at the doorway.
"Eldest Young Master, Madam instructed this servant to bring some food over, and she also invited a physician for you."
He stepped aside to let the physician enter.
After losing his right eye in the prison, Xie Shi'an had not received any treatment for the wound. It had festered and developed purulent sores, and his high fever had nearly cost him half his life. He had endured days of agony before finally pulling through, but that eye was completely ruined...
He had thought he was already numb to the pain.
Yet when the physician began cleaning out his eye socket, he still could not help but clench his fingers tightly, biting down hard on his own arm.
Once the physician left, Duoxi lowered his gaze and said, "Madam said that as long as a person remains alive, there will always be a day when they rise again. She told the Eldest Young Master not to be discouraged. These are the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone that Madam prepared for the Eldest Young Master."
Xie Shi'an pressed his lips together. "Please convey my thanks to Mother on my behalf."
His mother had arranged for people to counsel and comfort him, yet he had harbored suspicions against her deep in his heart.
"Shi'an."
Madam Yuan hurried over the moment she finished attending to her duties.
Seeing that Xie Shi'an had lost an eye, the corners of her eyes turned red, and she could not help covering her mouth and weeping softly.
"Grandmother, I am fine," Xie Shi'an said. "I would like to ask: during the time I was imprisoned, what has Mother been busy with?"
Madam Yuan wiped away her tears and sighed. "What could she be busy with? Naturally, she has been busy arranging your father's final rites. Around the time your father passed away, the Xie family was surrounded, and even going out to buy a coffin was difficult. It was your mother who ventured out of the estate late at night, humbling herself and begging everyone she could, which finally forced those guards to withdraw so your father could be mourned and buried... Ah, just how much accumulated merit did our Xie family acquire to take in such a fine wife as Chu'er? If not for Chu'er, the Xie family would have collapsed long ago..."
Xie Shi'an pressed his lips together and remained silent.
"The elders of the Yun clan all mobilized, demanding a formal separation from the Xie family, but your mother declared that since she married into the Xie family, she remains a person of the Xie family for the rest of her life, and she will never abandon them," Madam Yuan said earnestly. "Your mother has no children, and from now on she can never have children of her own. You must be thoroughly filial to her and let her know that all the genuine sincerity she has poured out will be rewarded."
Xie Shi'an genuinely knew nothing of this.
If the Xie family had fallen into this state because of his mother, then once her goal was achieved, why hadn't she simply left the Xie family?
That could only prove one thing: the Xie family's current plight had nothing to do with his mother.
His mother had poured her heart and soul out to him, yet he had suspected her all along. He truly was an ungrateful wretch.
He looked toward the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on the desk and spoke softly, "Grandmother, I will no longer pursue the imperial examinations. I want to go into business."
His background destined him to be barred from an official career.
No matter which path he chose to walk in the future, he would need silver, and his most urgent task right now was to make money.