Her background
The girl's name was Skylark. As her name suggests, she was a lively, light and unpredictable girl like a bird.
She came here for the magnificent scenery of Chongzhou and lingered in Qingguan Mountain for a long time. She happened to meet the Cheng brothers and became familiar with Yue Qiongfang.
The moment this girl appeared, she grabbed all of Cheng Hongye's attention. Just as Yue Qiongfang watched him, Cheng Hongye quietly watched Yun Que. Watching his elder brother racking his brains just to get a few more words with his beloved, Cheng Hongyi saw the same envy and loneliness in Yue Qiongfang's eyes that he saw himself.
He empathized with the feeling of being longing for someone but unattainable, and thus developed a certain hostility towards Yun Que. He imagined Yue Qiongfang was also like this, because when Yun Que first showed her kindness, she had been very cold. However, Yun Que was indeed a person who was hard to dislike. She showed kindness to everyone, and her kindness melted the ice in Yue Qiongfang's heart, and they became increasingly close.
Cheng Hongyi once quietly asked Yue Qiongfang if she really had no grudges at all.
Yue Qiongfang sighed softly and said, "Even a blockhead like you can see that I like your brother. How could he, who's so astute, not notice it? He doesn't like me, even if Yun Que wasn't around, he wouldn't like me either. If that's the case, why should I be so persistent? He's a good person, and Yun Que is a very good person too. I think it would be a good thing if they could be together."
They were all very young that year. A young girl's emotions and sorrows were as light as catkins, drifting in the wind instead of weighing heavily on the heart.
Although Yun Que was close friends with Yue Qiongfang, his approach to Cheng Hongye was somewhat ambivalent. Despite his carefree life, this was the first time Cheng Hongyi had ever witnessed his eldest brother so deeply concerned about someone. However, his relationship with Yue Qiongfang, due to their mutual understanding of frustration, had quietly begun to change.
One day, Yue Qiongfang actually asked him directly whether he was willing to marry her.
Cheng Hongyi couldn't say no. He knew Yue Qiongfang didn't have him in her heart. She was asking for marriage because she felt that since she couldn't have a happy ending with her eldest brother, it didn't matter who she was with, or because she wanted to use this as a way to become an inseparable family. Cheng Hongyi wasn't sure. But he decided not to ask questions for the rest of his life. Since she was willing to show her mercy, he would give everything he had and become someone she could rely on.
The marriage was decided hastily. Yun Que was even happier about the news than Yue Qiongfang herself, and she sincerely wished her sister could find a good husband.
Before deciding to get married, Yue Qiongfang took Cheng Hongyi to visit her father, and Cheng Hongye and Yunque also went to Wanchun Hall together.
Doctor Yue had no objection to his daughter's marriage, but he found Cheng Hongyi privately and said something that was very confusing to him at the time.
"Originally, I looked down on a weak scholar like you. But I can see that you are a man of good character. I've already fallen into a deep pit in my life, and there's no turning back, but I don't want my daughter to end up like me. After you marry her, you must take her away from Chongzhou, a place of trouble. For the rest, I have no other requests."
Cheng Hongyi had expected to face a tough test from his future father-in-law, but he hadn't expected to gain his approval so easily. He was actually puzzled by many other things. His father-in-law was a doctor, yet his Wanchuntang was located deep in the mountains, making it difficult to enter and exit. It was even heavily guarded. Without Yue Qiongfang leading the way, they would never have been able to enter. This didn't resemble a medical clinic at all, but rather some secluded martial arts sect.
But at that time, he was so overwhelmed by the joy of marrying his beloved that he had no time to care about these things.
He had met Yue Qiongfang's father, and according to etiquette, before the wedding, he had to bring her back to Huai'an to meet his family. His eldest brother was supposed to go back with him, but after returning from Wanchun Hall, Yunque left without saying goodbye, leaving only a letter saying that he was tired of Chongzhou and wanted to explore other places.
Her whereabouts were as erratic as a floating cloud, and her eldest brother, completely devoted to her, followed her. The two of them were constantly chasing each other, and both were likely absent from the wedding banquet. Because of this, Yue Qiongfang was gloomy all the way back to Huai'an.
When they were halfway there, someone from Chongzhou caught up on horseback and said that something had happened in Wanchun Hall. No one knew who had massacred them and no one survived.
They hurried back to Qingguan Mountain, and Yue Qiongfang only saw the corpses of her father and other Wanchuntang disciples, as well as a few bloody words written next to her father's body - the blood feud is settled, and the soul can rest in peace.
It is obvious at a glance that this murder was caused by revenge, but no one knows who the murderer is or where he is.
Yue Qiongfang was devastated. Cheng Hongyi accompanied her in handling the funeral arrangements and searching for the killer. But in such a vast sea of people, it was impossible to find a murderer who had no trace. Yue Qiongfang gradually lost hope and, following her father's instructions, followed Cheng Hongyi back to his hometown and married him. She had a family again, a child of her own, and her life became peaceful.
After their first child was born, Cheng Hongyi received a letter from his elder brother who lived far away. He said he had found Yun Que, but perhaps because they hadn't seen each other for so long, she treated him even colder than before, unwilling to travel with him, and even angrily drove him away.
Later, his eldest brother Yueyue wrote to him, describing his relentless pursuit of Yunque. After a year, he finally received a letter with the good news that Yunque had finally been moved and they would be married soon. However, Yunque did not want to go to Huai'an, and he was willing to accompany her to find another place to spend the rest of her life, so that they could spend the rest of their lives together.
Cheng Hongyi had always carefully kept his elder brother's letters before, fearing that they would upset Yue Qiongfang, and had never shown them to her. However, this letter concerned his elder brother's lifelong affairs, so he had to show it to his parents, and thus Yue Qiongfang learned the whole story.
His wife didn't blame him for the secret, but simply asked him to show her all the letters he had received. A single sheet of paper, filled with the longing of the man she once loved for another, brought a touch of melancholy to her eyes after reading it. But it was like duckweed floating on the water, drifting away with the current, and soon, only joy and good wishes remained.
She said that it was a good thing for someone in this world to be happy. Even if the moon was not full for her, she would still be happy.
The eldest brother and Yunque finally settled in Qingzhou. Although it was remote, it was far away from worldly disputes. They lived in peace and comfort in a corner.
The two brothers kept writing to each other, and Cheng Hongyi showed Yue Qiongfang all of his eldest brother's letters. The two couples lived in different places, but each was happy. Yue Qiongfang also said that she would go to Qingzhou to visit them when she had time. She hadn't seen Yunque for a long time. They had become sisters-in-law, but they were more distant than before in Chongzhou. She wrote to Yunque, but she didn't reply.
After a few years, their second child was already one year old, and Cheng Hongyi also received good news from his elder brother, saying that Yunque was pregnant.
This was a good thing, but since then, Cheng Hongye's letters have become less and less frequent. In the few letters he wrote, he said that Yunque was worried about her pregnancy and her health was getting worse, and he was very anxious.
The last letter Cheng Hongyi received from his eldest brother was a suicide note, in which he entrusted his son to someone else. He couldn't believe what the letter said.
It turns out that the person who wiped out the entire Wanchuntang was Yunque.
She was born into a family of swordsmen, and her family sect, once renowned in the martial arts world, collapsed when both her parents died suddenly of illness. Unconvinced that illness was the cause of their deaths, she investigated for years, finally discovering that her parents had a long-standing grudge against the head of the Wanchun Hall in Chongzhou, who had poisoned them.
So, Yun Que's arrival at Qingguan Mountain was driven by revenge. Wanchun Hall was heavily guarded, with outsiders strictly prohibited from entering. Furthermore, Doctor Yue, fearing a thief, had set up numerous poison traps in his residence. Without knowing the layout, a rash entry would only lead to death. So, Yun Que deliberately approached Yue Qiongfang, frequently showing her affection, becoming her sister. Naturally, she brought her into Wanchun Hall, where she learned the situation, and then sneaked in at night to slaughter the entire household.
In the end, she softened her heart towards Yue Qiongfang and took action when she was about to leave for Huai'an, thus saving her life.
The truth about everything was told to Cheng Hongye by Yunque on the eve of her birth.
Even after her great revenge, her heart was still desolate. She felt that her hands were covered in blood and she was not worthy of accepting anyone's affection, but she was still moved by Cheng Hongye's sincerity. At one point, she also imagined whether she could let go of the past and live an ordinary life with her beloved.
But ever since she became pregnant, she could no longer deceive herself. She kept returning to the Wanchuntang murder scene in her dreams. At the time, she had been blinded by bloodlust, but looking back, she always felt that many innocent people had died at her hands that night, and not everyone owed her anything. Yet, she was blinded by hatred and blamed everyone for the blood feud.
Tormented by these thoughts, she couldn't rest day or night, constantly dreaming of her unborn child being haunted by wronged spirits and plunged into hell. Her health deteriorated day by day, and knowing her time was running out, she finally told her husband the truth.
Cheng Hongye knew Yun Que had committed a grave sin, but he loved her so deeply that he would never abandon her. He couldn't let go of his wife, and his wife couldn't let go of the past. By the time she gave birth, she was already exhausted and passed away after giving birth to their daughter.
Her expression before she died was even relieved, and her only concern was her newly born daughter.
After Yun Que left, Cheng Hongye was completely devastated. Even if he had to go to hell, he didn't want her to go alone. He was determined to follow his wife, but he felt sorry for their daughter. He knew that to his brother and sister-in-law, this was the daughter of their enemy and there was no way they could raise her. However, his parents were already dead, and he had no one in the world to take care of his child except his brother. If his brother, considering his wife, didn't want to raise his niece, he asked him to find a worthy family to take care of her, so that he and Yun Que's daughter wouldn't be left alone in the world.
After receiving the letter, Cheng Hongyi rushed to Qingzhou immediately, but he was still a step too late. His eldest brother had already committed suicide in front of Yunque Tomb. Before leaving, he temporarily entrusted the child to the care of a neighbor, waiting for his younger brother to pick her up.
Cheng Hongyi couldn't bear to see his eldest brother's only child wandering around, but he couldn't possibly tell his wife the tragic truth. He could only hide the suicide note in a safe place and lie to Yue Qiongfang, saying that his eldest brother and his wife had met with an accident and tragically died, leaving behind a child who was left alone and helpless.
Yue Qiongfang hugged the child and cried, determined to raise her and treat her as her own.
Cheng Hongyi was both relieved and guilty to see this, but he could no longer turn back. This was the only thing he had concealed from Yue Qiongfang in their decades of marriage, and the price he paid was terrible.
After all, the truth will come to light. When Yue Qiongfang was cleaning his study, she saw the locked box hidden on the top shelf. It was because they had been married for many years and her husband had never concealed anything from her that she became suspicious. She found a way to secretly open the lock and learned the truth.
After the heart-wrenching grief, there was a deep anger and despair. The person she once considered a sister was the murderer of her father. It was her naivety that led to the wolf entering her home. The man she had a crush on in her youth was in cahoots with her father's murderer, with no regard for her. And the husband she trusted most had deceived and concealed her for so many years, leaving her to raise the daughter of her enemy without knowing anything.
Everyone hurts her, bullies her, hides things from her, and humiliates her. How can she not be angry, how can she not feel pain, how can she not hate!
All the people and events from that time have passed away. She is filled with resentment and has nowhere to vent it. The only thing that can relieve her hatred is that child.
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