Chapter 204: The Sick Brother Jiu
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
When Yan Congming returned from court and found that his daughter had not been sent away, he guessed what had happened. He went to Mrs. Yan’s courtyard, but coincidentally, Mrs. Yan was also waiting for him. Neither of them had a good expression.
To be able to marry into the General Manor, Mrs. Yan could be considered a descendant of a famous family. When the Yan Manor was imprisoned with a wronged case, although Mrs. Yan’s maternal family did not help much, they were not implicated. All these years, the foundation of her maternal family was still there. If she really wanted to fight for her daughter, Mrs. Yan was quite confident.
“Master, take a seat. I’ve got someone to prepare food and wine.” Mrs. Yan greeted him indifferently. She wanted to have a good talk with Yan Congming.
Yan Congming was not in the mood. He went straight to the point. “Where’s Yu’er?”
Mrs. Yan said, “She’s in my room. She was frightened by a slave early in the morning. I asked the doctor to prescribe a calming medicine. She drank it and fell asleep.”
“She was frightened?” Yan Congming almost laughed out of anger. How could she be frightened by a maidservant who was trained?
Mrs. Yan questioned, “I want to ask Master, Yu’er is the child I gave birth to after ten months of pregnancy and is also your biological daughter. What unforgivable mistake did she commit that you wanted to send her to the nunnery?”
“Did she say these words to you?” Yan Congming frowned.
Mrs. Yan said, “Yu’er didn’t say anything to me. She’s even more puzzled than me. She wanted to ask you, her father, what kind of heart you have. She was in the wrong last night, but she was entangled in a nightmare. Master can’t abandon her because of this.”
Yan Congming said, “When did I say I didn’t want her?”
Mrs. Yan said in disappointment, “Aren’t you abandoning her by sending her to the nunnery?”
“I…” Yan Congming hesitated.
In Mrs. Yan’s eyes, his irrefutable look seemed to have become a tacit agreement. Mrs. Yan said with heartache, “We don’t know how she has lived these few years or how much she has suffered. You and I don’t know either. She won’t say anything even if we ask her, but if she doesn’t say anything, can you pretend that nothing happened? She’s a girl, but she was suddenly ruined by a man. She was pregnant with a man’s child and risked her life to give birth to it. She also raised them alone. Can you understand this hard work, Master? Fortunately, that man has a status. Thanks to Yu’er, our Yan family has been vindicated. Master, don’t forget what Yu’er used to exchange for you to be able to sit here properly today!”
“You…” Yan Congming clenched his fists and glanced at her coldly.” I can’t be bothered to talk to you! ”
With that, he turned around and left without looking back. He had to send his daughter away. She had done so many disgraceful things. Any one of them was enough to consign the Yan Family to eternal damnation!
However, just as he left Mrs. Yan’s room, he bumped into Yan Ruyu, who was said to be sleeping soundly.
Yan Ruyu had long changed back into her own clothes. Not only that, she was even more ostentatious than before. She was clearly challenging Yan Congming.
Yan Congming frowned and said, “What are you doing?”
“I should be the one asking you that.”
“You know very well what you’ve done! Don’t even think about dragging the entire Yan Family down!”
At this point, the father and daughter had completely fallen out.
Yan Ruyu couldn’t help but feel a chill run down her spine. She clenched her fists. “Where’s Aunt Lin?”
“It’s none of your business,” Yan Congming said without thinking.
Yan Ruyu’s nails almost dug into her flesh as a trace of coldness appeared on her face. “Daddy knows? Then what do you plan to do? Abandon me and wait for Young Master Yan to come back to escort me to him and kowtow to him?”
Yan Congming’s eyes flickered.
He knew that the risk of doing this was very high, but it was better to take the initiative to admit his mistake than be exposed. Once Young Master Yan discovered the truth first, the consequences would be even more unimaginable.
Yan Ruyu sneered. “Daddy, do you think you can protect the entire Yan family just by pushing the blame to me? Daddy, why don’t you think about why the Yan family’s unjust case was cleared? Without my current status, will His Majesty still pardon the Yan family’s ‘crime’? Moreover, this matter is already a crime of deceiving the Emperor. Even if we avoid Young Master Yan’s revenge, can we avoid His Majesty’s anger?”
These words hit Yan Congming’s sore spot. Yan Congming exploded and said, “Then what do you think we should do! Truth will always come out. Sooner or later, this matter…”
“There’s no such thing as sooner or later.” Yan Ruyu interrupted him. “I’ll handle it well and never let the Yan family fall into danger. Daddy can continue to be your marquis and rise up the ranks!”
“You… you’re not lying to Daddy? Are you really confident?” Obviously, Yan Congming’s confidence and the blueprint he outlined wavered again.
Yan Ruyu said indifferently, “Whether you want to be a marquis respected by everyone or a vengeful spirit under the guillotine, Daddy, you can choose yourself.”
With that, Yan Ruyu walked forward. When she brushed past Yan Congming, she stopped in her tracks. “Also, send Aunt Lin back.”
After such a thing happened, Yan Ruyu became even more worried about the situation on Yan Jiuchao’s side. Initially, she had hoped that the Yan family could give her some protection, but now, she had completely seen through it. Once she lost her value, her father would not hesitate to treat her as an abandoned child.
At the thought of this, she stroked her flat stomach. What if those two children had survived back then? Would her fate be different from now?
Yan Ruyu invited Xu Shao to the Purple Bamboo Forest again.
Xu Shao said impatiently, “What is it this time?”
Yan Ruyu said seriously, “What are your plans for Young Master Yan? Have you investigated?”
Xu Shao looked at the endless night and said, “I said that I would make the necessary arrangements. Don’t meet me again for such matters again.”
A cold glint flashed across Yan Ruyu’s eyes.
After leaving the Purple Bamboo Forest, Xu Shao returned to the Xu family’s mansion. He called his trusted aide over. “Do you still remember that woman back then?”
“Master, you mean… the little masters’ biological mother?” The confidant asked.
Xu Shao nodded.
The confidant was puzzled. “Why did Master suddenly ask about her?”
Xu Shao said solemnly, “I’m afraid the matter will be exposed. We can’t let anyone discover her existence… Can you still find her now?”
The confidant thought for a while and said, “There aren’t many clues. I only know that she has a childhood sweetheart fiancé called Zhao Heng. He’s a very powerful scholar. From her accent, she should be from the Capital… If we find that scholar called Zhao Heng, we should be able to find her.”
Xu Shao pinched the space between his eyebrows. “I can only blame myself for being soft-hearted back then… Forget it, you go find her first.”
“After we find her…”
“Kill her!”
The night was dark. On the quiet official road, a luxurious carriage was driving slowly. The driver was Shadow Thirteen. Shadow Six sat beside him outside the carriage. From time to time, low coughs came from inside, and the two of them frowned.
Young Master had been healthy for the entire winter. They thought that his body was better than before. Who knew that he would catch a cold the moment he left the Capital? Coupled with the fact that he was not used to the environment, his health did not improve at all.
“Why did you bring the Young Master here?” Shadow Six complained.
“Why is it my fault again?” Shadow Thirteen was wronged. Could he stop what the Young Master had decided?
“You can’t knock him out?” Shadow Six muttered.
“Why don’t you try doing that?” Shadow Thirteen squinted.
The two of them argued softly, but Yan Jiuchao’s hoarse voice suddenly came from the carriage. “How long until we reach the inn?”
Shadow Six looked ahead and said, “I’m afraid we won’t be able to stay in the inn tonight. There’s a courier station ten miles ahead. Why don’t we make do with the courier station first?”
Yan Jiuchao nodded indifferently in agreement.
Although the carriage was covered with a thick mattress, the journey was bumpy. As secret guards, they were already uncomfortable, let alone the sick Young Master. Shadow Thirteen hurriedly drove the carriage to the courier station.
They had already passed through Prefecture Ji and entered Prefecture Tong. At this moment, they were in the territory of a small town in Prefecture Tong, but they were still dozens of miles away from the center of the town.
“Young Master.” Shadow Six jumped off the carriage and lifted the curtain for Yan Jiuchao.
Yan Jiuchao walked down with a thick fox fur coat.
The courier station was not big, and the guest rooms were all occupied. The room specially provided for the officials was still empty.
Shadow Six took out the magistrate token that he had long prepared and booked this room.
Shadow Thirteen drove the carriage to the horse shed and found someone to feed the horse.
They had brought sacrificial soldiers with them, but in order to avoid attracting attention, the sacrificial soldiers were not with them. Instead, they were scattered within a ten-mile radius.
“Young Master, there’s nothing good here. Just make do with it.” Shadow Six brought over the food he had bought from the courier station. There was a plate of boiled sweet potatoes, a steamed salted fish, and a bowl of pork belly stir-fried peas.
It was difficult to eat just by looking at the dishes.
Yan Jiuchao took two pieces of black tea crisps from Old Master Zheng to fill his stomach. Although they were tasteless, he wanted to eat something good.