Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 200
Chapter 200 - Leaving the Xie Family
Yun Chu raised her hand.
Tingxue, standing behind her, retrieved a single sheet of paper from her sleeve and handed it over.
She unfolded the thin piece of paper. At the very top, three distinct characters—Letter of Divorce—left everyone present utterly dumbfounded.
"Did all of you see it clearly?" Tingfeng asked in a cold voice. "Our mistress... no, our young miss divorced Xie Jingyu long ago. On this document is Xie Jingyu's personal signature and fingerprint. Ever since trouble first struck the Xie family, our young miss could have brandished this letter of divorce and left your Xie family behind. Yet even when the Yun family members arrived, our young miss refused to leave. Why? Tell me, why do you think that was?"
The successive interrogations left everyone completely silent.
Madam Yuan was consumed by a profound sense of guilt.
Chu'er had stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Xie family through thick and thin, yet the Xie family had turned around and forced Chu'er to sever ties with the Yun family.
The people of the Xie family were truly despicable.
She was despicable, too.
Stepping forward, Madam Yuan grabbed Yun Chu's hand. "Chu'er, I am sorry. I shouldn't have..."
"Xie Jingyu and I divorced long ago, and I should have left this place long ago as well," Yun Chu said, her expression remaining entirely placid. "When the Xie family needed me, I was willing to share weal and woe with them. Now that the Xie family no longer needs me, it is indeed time for me to go. Shi'an, your thirteenth birthday is fast approaching. I had already prepared a birthday gift for you, so I shall give it to you a little early."
She instructed a maidservant to fetch a writing brush. "I hope that you can be like this brush—straight and unyielding, never bending to adversity."
Xie Shi'an still struggled to comprehend why his father had written a letter of divorce for his mother right before his death...
And just like that, his mother was leaving.
While the Xie family gained absolutely nothing.
A deep and bitter sense of unwillingness welled up inside him.
Yet immediately afterward, he began to loathe himself.
His mother had thoughtfully prepared his birthday gift well in advance, while he had spent every waking moment plotting against her...
How could he have been such a selfish human being?
He had driven his birth mother to despair.
And now he had driven his adoptive mother away.
How could someone like him even deserve to live...
"Shi'an, from now on, the Xie family relies on you," Yun Chu said. "If you encounter any trouble, you may come to me for counsel..."
Then she gave a self-deprecating chuckle. "Never mind, it is best that you do not come to me, lest you be implicated by my misfortunes."
Her words only deepened Xie Shi'an's crushing guilt.
After he had done such a thing, his mother was still looking out for him.
"Slap! Slap! Slap!"
Unable to control himself, he struck himself across the face several times.
Yun Chu's long eyelashes concealed the emotions churning in the depths of her eyes.
Choosing to divorce at this very moment served two purposes: first, it effectively silenced the idle gossips of the capital.
Second, she wanted to fill Xie Shi'an with a profound sense of guilt toward her. Guilt was far easier to dissolve than hatred, and she did not want a starving wolf permanently lurking in the shadows.
Yun Chu instructed the servants to pack her belongings.
Her personal items had actually been packed long ago, neatly stored within the trunks of the storeroom. In less than an hour, everything was hauled out.
Tears streamed down Madam Yuan's face. "Chu'er, can we simply pretend that letter of divorce never existed? Please? I promise I will never force you to sever ties with the Yun family again..."
She truly could not imagine days where the Xie family had no Yun Chu, and she had no idea how she was supposed to continue living such an existence...
Tingyu stood at the mansion gates, watching the servants carry the trunks onto the carriage one by one. Her complexion grew increasingly unsightly. All of those possessions were supposed to belong to Yun'er, yet the Mistress was taking every last piece of it away. She felt a burning resentment—how could she possibly reconcile herself to this...
Yun Chu's grandiose departure inevitably drew the attention of numerous passing onlookers.
"What is going on here?"
"Why is Madam Xie moving her belongings away?"
"What's the situation?"
"Our young miss has divorced the Xie family," Tingfeng announced coldly as she stood atop the carriage. "This is a letter of divorce personally penned by Xie Jingyu. When trouble struck the Xie family, our young miss kept it hidden because she wished to weather the storm alongside them. However, now that disaster has struck the Yun family, the Xie family feared being implicated and thus forced our young miss to sever ties with the Yun family. That is why she was left with no choice but to produce this letter of divorce!"
"Good heavens, the people of the Xie family are utterly heartless!"
"Madam Xie... oh, no, we should address her as Young Miss Yun or Lady Yun now. First she was dragged down by her husband's family, and now that the Yun family is in trouble, she is being implicated by her maternal family as well. How utterly tragic."
"Young Miss Yun remained steadfastly loyal to the Xie family, willing to share adversity and prosperity with them. Such devotion, such noble integrity—she is truly the paragon of aristocratic women."
"If you are to marry a wife, marry a daughter of the Yun family. What a pity that the Yun family is falling."
"..."
Amidst the chatter and discussions of the crowd, the carriage gradually rolled away into the distance.
Gazing at the departing carriage, Xie Shi'an muttered quietly, "Mother, I am sorry..."
He gripped the writing brush in his hand tightly. No matter how much strength he exerted, the brush remained perfectly straight, unbending and unyielding.
He, too, longed to be a straight and unyielding person.
Yet it was simply too difficult.
The news that the legitimate eldest daughter of the Yun family had divorced Xie Jingyu swept through every street and alley of the capital in an instant.
Yun Chu lifted the carriage curtain and glanced backward, but the Xie family estate was already out of sight—not even a single tile of its eaves could be seen.
She had imagined the scene of this day countless times in her mind.
As it turned out, such profound peace failed to stir even the slightest ripple within her heart.
On an ordinary, sun-drenched afternoon in late autumn, she walked away just like that from the Xie family, an entanglement that had lasted an entire lifetime.
The past pain, hatred, and bitter grief... gradually dissipated into the autumn breeze.
She would not dwell on the past.
She would look forward.
A much better future awaited her.
Qiutong led the carriage convoy toward the courtyard in Yulin Lane, while Yun Chu rode her carriage back to the Yun residence.
Hearing the news, Madam Lin had long since brought people to wait at the gates of the Yun estate.
"Chu'er, you're finally back!"
Madam Lin pulled Yun Chu straight into her embrace, patting and stroking her repeatedly.
Glancing past her, Madam Lin furrowed her brow. "Where are your dowry items, Chu'er? Surely you didn't leave them behind at the Xie family, did you?"
"Of course not," Yun Chu smiled. "I had Qiutong take them to the courtyard in Yulin Lane. That is where I will be living from now on."
Madam Lin wore an expression of strong disapproval.
Yun Ze stepped in to smooth things over. "It's only a few steps away anyway, it's no trouble at all. Let's go inside first."
The moment they stepped through the gates of the Yun estate, another convoy of carriages pulled up outside.
It was the collateral branches of the Yun family residing in the capital, who had all rushed over.
Having stood in the capital for a century, the Yun family naturally possessed numerous collateral branches, filling the entire courtyard with a dense crowd of people.
With a major crisis looming over the Yun family, practically no one cared about Yun Chu's divorce. After briefly exchanging a few polite inquiries, everyone turned their attention toward Old General Yun.
Seated on a soft couch, Old General Yun spoke in a deep, resonant voice: "Through all the storms and trials the Yun family has endured over the years, we have weathered every kind of hardship. This little wave is nothing, so all of you must keep steady. The only ones I pity are our Yun family daughters who married out... Let my words be heard here: if any daughter of our household is bullied by her husband's family on account of the Yun family's affairs, you have my permission to take our Yun family guards, bring your daughter back home, and our Yun family will support her from now on!"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Naturally, the families into which their respective daughters had married were not as utterly shameless as the Xie family; it was practically impossible for them to pull such disgraceful stunts before matters had come to a final conclusion.
The Third Master of the Yun family spoke up, "The Emperor has handed the three thousand Yun Family Army soldiers over to outsiders. Will he proceed to strip the Yun family officials of their court posts next?"
The main branch of the Yun family constituted a First-Rank General's estate, while the highest-ranking official among the collateral branches was Yun Run at the fifth rank. The rest essentially held minor posts around the seventh rank, handling inconspicuous duties across the Six Ministries—the Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of War, Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Works... It was precisely these Yun family members positioned at the very bottom of the official hierarchy who supported this great pillar-family of the realm... If every single member of the Yun family were stripped of their offices, the Yun family would truly be finished.
Stroking his beard, Old General Yun declared, "Of course not."
Having sat upon the imperial throne for so many years, the Emperor had mastered the arts of political balance to absolute perfection. In order to suppress the Empress Dowager's momentum, the Emperor would never permit the Yun family to fall.
The Emperor would undoubtedly spare no effort to locate Yun Shilin and use the hands of the Yun family to execute the Empress Dowager's nephew, the Chariot and Cavalry General, thereby snuffing out all lingering potential within the Empress Dowager's faction.
The Yun family still had its uses, which was why the Emperor would never allow the family to sink like this.
Besides, as Chu'er had stated in her dreams, Yun Shilin would return in triumph two years later, carrying the head of the King of Southern Yue back to the capital…