Chapter 44 I made a mistake, a very big mistake...
With Granny Liu in front, Yu Tan wanted to ask something more, but she remained silent, leaving only one sentence.
"My lady, it's better to say these things in front of the old lady."
As soon as she stepped into the courtyard with her left foot, a large group of people were already kneeling there.
On the left side of the courtyard, where people used to leisurely admire flowers, three long benches were placed, and three people were lying on them. A tall and burly servant stood on the right side of the benches, holding a board as wide as a hand, and was administering caning punishment to the three people. All three of them had been beaten until their backs were covered in blood and flesh, with blood and clothes stuck together.
The kneeling maid kept her head down, not daring to make a sound. The only sounds in the courtyard were the sound of the board hitting flesh and the uncontrollable cries of pain.
She hurriedly ran closer and looked more closely. It was indeed her three personal maids. She tried to stop them, but was pushed aside.
"Stop hitting him, please..."
A grand chair was placed under the eaves, and Old Madam Song could only sit down with her hands gripping her cane.
She pleaded tearfully, "Grandma, please make them stop..."
"Yaoyao." Her fingers tightened around her cane. She was nearing eighty and long past the age of great joy and sorrow. She never expected to be so easily fooled by her most beloved granddaughter.
The sound of the cane hitting the flesh continued, the sound of the cane striking flesh and blood, and the painful groans squeezed from deep in the throat, all became more suppressed and heavy.
"Grandmother, if you keep hitting her, someone will die... Please stop." She knelt on the ground and crawled to the old lady Song's side.
Old Madam Song glanced at her, then at Shi Xing on the left, seemingly both reluctant and forgiving of her last request. The sound of the slap stopped the moment she raised her left hand.
She quickly said, "Thank you, Grandmother."
With her eyelids drooping and in extreme pain, Madam Song managed to squeeze out a complete sentence.
“My biological granddaughter is on the frontier, with her father. She is resolute and brave, living a carefree and unrestrained life. She is just as good as any young man at horseback riding and archery.”
Upon hearing the news, she swayed slightly, bracing herself with her hands on the ground to avoid falling.
The cane thumped on the ground. "It seems you did know all along."
“Grandmother.” Yu Tan wanted to tug at her grandmother’s clothes. In the past, when she made a mistake, she would always try to please her grandmother and act coquettishly. Her grandmother would first frown for a while, but would give in after half a quarter of an hour.
Madam Song shifted slightly to the side, clearly avoiding the question. "Now can you tell me when you found out?"
She lowered her head, unsure where to begin with her myriad thoughts.
"Your three maids are indeed loyal; they deserve to be punished..."
A large stack of banknotes was scattered among them, along with some account books, even the receipts from when they sent Zhao Qingwu away, and banknotes for remittances to Huizhou...
Too much evidence revealed her identity.
With trembling hands, Madam Song took out a letter from behind her back.
On the withered yellow cover, the vigorous handwriting was Yu Zheng's notebook.
Tears fell to the ground, soaking the banknotes, but no amount of tears could explain her reason.
Seeing Yu Tan remain silent, Old Madam Song said angrily, "Even now, you still refuse to tell me?"
When the tears she couldn't hold back finally flowed, she closed her eyes in despair, omitting the nightmare and the plot details, and confessing everything clearly.
“Grandmother, I found out more than half a year ago.”
My identity is fake; I am not your biological granddaughter.
When I met Wu and Wu Niang at Doctor Xue's place, and saw that face that looked so much like mine, I roughly understood.
For the past six months, I've been planning to start a business, hoping to have a way to make a living in the future.
Lanxin, Qiaoxin, and Huixin were unaware of this.
Only I know the truth about everything, and I did it all…
"What a ruthless heart, what a scheming mind! Even at the very end... you still plotted so much. I've never seen you so cunning before." Old Madam Song sneered, tapping her cane on the ground. "If your father's letter hadn't arrived, how long did you plan to keep this from me?"
She lowered her head, choked up for a long time, and couldn't say a word.
If it weren't for this letter...
She will keep this secret until the day it is exposed.
"Yaoyao, do you want to stay in the Marquis's mansion?" Old Madam Song stared at her, as if wanting to ask for an answer.
What's the meaning?
Would her grandmother still want her to stay in the Marquis's mansion?
She doesn't take up much space; she doesn't need such a large place as Lanfang Courtyard, as long as she can stay in the Marquis's residence.
Those days of unbearable imprisonment would never come; she did not seek the dignity of a noblewoman...
These words seemed to ignite all her hope.
She knelt before Old Madam Song, lifting her skirt, and said, "Grandmother, I want to stay... I don't need to..."
Before her hand could even touch Madam Song, she was suddenly pushed by Granny Liu and fell to the ground.
Granny Liu pointed at her nose and said angrily, "You shouldn't be thinking such crooked thoughts, madam."
"What kind of crooked ideas?"
Is she being criticized for knowing her identity but refusing to leave?
"You usurped Qiu Ci's identity for sixteen years, while my own granddaughter was left to wander in the countryside, and you enjoyed wealth and glory for nothing."
Even after finding out, you were unwilling to tell me the truth... I raised you for sixteen years, did I really raise an ungrateful wretch?
You shouldn't have been so greedy for wealth and status, deceiving me and everyone who has treated you kindly all these years in your attempt to stay in the Marquis's mansion.
"Grandmother, it's not like that..." How was she supposed to tell Madam Song her secret? Mentioning the plot felt like an invisible hand was gripping her throat.
"Qiu Ci will be arriving in Bianjing soon. I don't think she'll want to see you. You should leave..." Old Madam Song lightly pounded her chest, sobbed, and almost couldn't breathe, her anger rising within her.
"Grandmother." She propped herself up and knelt before Old Madam Song. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have known and kept it from you... Please don't be angry..."
Granny Liu stood in front of her, preventing her from touching even a scrap of clothing. "Madam, shouldn't you stay away from the old lady?"
"I will leave...I will leave...Grandma, please don't be angry."
“My lady, it’s no longer appropriate to call her grandmother… If you had spoken frankly back then, things wouldn’t have come to this.”
The old lady even made a special trip to Lingnan for you, a journey that took you far across mountains and rivers.
"If you hadn't had ulterior motives, the old lady, who likes you so much, wouldn't have accepted you..."
"Shut up!" Old Madam Song pounded her chest a few times, stopping Liu Mama from speaking. "Kneel for an hour to settle our past relationship. You can leave now... Don't ever appear in front of me again."
There is no room for maneuver in any of this.
She braced herself with her hands on the ground and slammed her head heavily onto the ground.
Three sounds, the sound of a head hitting the ground.
Extremely devout.
Granny Liu helped Old Madam Song back to Hexiang Courtyard, not wanting to see her again.
The maid carried the three tortured people away, and the courtyard gradually became empty, leaving her all alone.
She knelt upright, her knees pressing heavily on the ground, causing her pain.
When she was a child, she would always pretend to kneel in the ancestral hall for a quarter of an hour before lying down on the prayer mat to sleep. She never expected that one day she would kneel with genuine sincerity.
Large raindrops fell from the sky, hitting her and stinging her slightly.
She no longer had to hold back, since she couldn't tell whether it was rain or hot tears.
Just as she was crying her heart out, a green umbrella tilted over her head.
She turned around, her blue official robes revealing a large, dark green patch on her shoulders from the wetness. She held a blue umbrella firmly, her well-defined knuckles protecting her from the wind and rain.
Her fingers curled up, clutching the soaked hem of her skirt. She was a little frightened, but still held a sliver of hope, and called out a name.
"Brother."
"Hmm." Yu He'an responded softly. He hadn't expected his father's letter to arrive so early. Was he late? He helped her up. "Why are you kneeling in such heavy rain?"
She tried to struggle, but then she saw the hourglass under the eaves and realized that an hour had already passed.
“I made a mistake, a big mistake, and my grandmother punished me.”
"Wait a minute, can you walk? Or do you want me to carry you?"
"No need to carry it." She didn't want to cause any more trouble. She supported herself with her hand, stood for several breaths, and then asked, "Brother, do you know?"
Yu He'an turned to the side, his azure pupils fixed on her, his expression as calm as ever, devoid of any hatred. "What do you know?"
It seems they don't know yet.
She wanted to tell him in person and say goodbye properly.
Don't make things as awkward as you did with your grandmother.
"I'll tell you in a bit." She walked a long way with Yu He'an's hand, feeling a greedy warmth on her arm.
She was just too greedy, always thinking of staying another day, but in reality, she ended up staying day after day.
"Brother, could you walk me a bit? I have something to tell you..."
"Where are you going? Where are you planning to go?"
"I want to go to Tonghua Lane, is it too far? Just see me out of the mansion, I can explain everything along the way."
"Take the umbrella." Yu He'an tucked the fan handle into her hand and half-squatted down in front of her. "Get on."
She hesitated, holding the fan handle. She was covered in water stains, and if she went up to them, they would both get soaked.
"If you carry them, they'll both get soaked in the rain."
She obediently leaned over, holding the umbrella in one hand, and he carried her on his back as they strolled in the heavy rain of late spring and early summer.
“Brother, you’ve carried me so many times. When I was little, you carried me when I was lazy, you carried me when I was injured, and you carried me this time when I left the manor…” She buried her head in his broad, steady shoulders, and the blue fabric gradually blurred and turned into a darker color.
She thought she wouldn't cry anymore; she had cried enough. But when she brought it up again, her voice trembled, as if she had peeled off her skin to reveal her greedy and unbearable nature.
"You told me to be honest... but how can I say it? If I do, I'll have nothing left... I'm not the lady of the Marquis's mansion, not your sister..."
"The reason I insisted on going to the Ji residence was because he had kidnapped my mother. I knew this a long, long time ago."
After saying this, she lowered her head and didn't dare to speak for a long time.
He felt a little relieved, at least she had fulfilled her promise, and she had told him herself.
Having already left the main gate of the Marquis's residence, she glanced back at the vermilion gate one last time, the place where she had lived for sixteen years.
She sighed deeply, knowing she would never have the chance to return.
"knew."
As if she had weathered a great storm, Yu He'an's tone was calm, and there was no trace of disgust in her voice. Just when she thought she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"You are not my sister."
"Huh?" All her thoughts were jolted away by those words, and her mind became a mess.
She didn't even know when the heavy rain stopped.
While sitting in the carriage, she was still pondering those words. Her clothes were soaked through, and she didn't know where to sit, as sitting anywhere would only make her more damp.
"What, you still want to sit on the ground?"
A moon-white outer robe was draped over her shoulders. Yu He'an was traveling, and the everyday clothes prepared in the carriage were familiar to her. She smelled the cedar scent she was used to, and her fingertips gripped the sleeve of the robe.
"Don't want to wear it? You'll be the one who catches a cold."
"No, no, I don't want to wear it." She quickly slipped her hands through the sleeves, rolled them up a few times, and tied them around her waist, thus putting it on.
The outer robe was far too big for Yu Tan; the sleeves and hem were bunched up together, as if it had swallowed her whole.
The area tied at the waist was damp, and a large patch of the outer robe was soaked, like the juice seeping out of a delicious fruit.
Author's Note: Thank you Yuyan Youzi. And thank you for the nutrient solution [Lop-eared Rabbit Head] from Mi Mao.
I would like to personally thank you again for the nutrient solution.
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