Chapter 72 The inheritance of bloodlines is the most mysterious, as if...
Pei Muwei moved with lightning speed, arriving at the side hall in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Two maids carrying palace lanterns stood before the vermilion palace gate; they were Yu Luo and Bao Luo, who often accompanied the young empress dowager.
Upon seeing him arrive, the two immediately curtsied, their movements appearing somewhat flustered.
Pei Muwei looked at the tightly closed carved window frame, his brows furrowing slightly: "Is the Empress Dowager inside?"
Yu Luo and Bao Luo exchanged a glance, their faces showing panic. Yu Luo lowered her head and stammered, "Your Majesty... Your Highness, the Empress Dowager..."
"Oh no! Oh no!"
Just then, Jin Tong suddenly appeared from nowhere, panting, "The...the Empress Dowager twisted her ankle in the corridor ahead and is in so much pain that she can't stand up. This servant doesn't know if Your Highness has broken any bones, so I dare not offer to help you. I beg the Regent to go and take a look..."
As soon as she finished speaking, the crimson robes before her eyes sliced through the night like sharp blades and vanished into the depths of the corridor in an instant.
The Xiangxie Corridor was a unique long corridor built by the Shang Emperor, who ordered the palace craftsmen to emulate the saying, "When the King of Wu paved the ground with catalpa wood, Xi Shi would hear the sound as she walked."
The rocks under the corridor were all hollowed out and covered with earthenware urns. The urns were then covered with flexible catalpa wood, so that when the palace maids walked gracefully in the corridor, the wooden planks would make a sound like a xylophone.
In the darkness, the sound of the man's rapid footsteps on the wooden planks was like thunderous war drums.
Pei Muwei saw the young empress dowager sitting on the ground at the end of the corridor.
The woman wore a crimson dress with gold thread and a phoenix tail. A beaded phoenix-head shoe lay beside her. Moonlight poured down from the eaves, shrouding her slender figure in a hazy veil, like a peony blooming in the misty water.
Hearing his footsteps, she suddenly raised her head. The double phoenix hairpin with kingfisher feathers at her temple was about to fall, and her skin was so white that it was almost transparent, which made the red at the corner of her eyes even more stunning.
Pei Muwei strode forward, knelt on one knee, and reached out to lift the woman's layers of skirt. His fingertips slowly traced along her slender ankles, and only after confirming that she was unharmed did he relax his grip.
"The bone is fine. Just go back and apply some medicated plaster to help with the swelling."
Chu Yueyuan lowered her eyelashes: "Thank you, Minister Pei."
A man's emotionless voice came from above: "Didn't Your Highness go to the side hall to change clothes? Why did you end up in this secluded place?"
Chu Yueyuan raised her hand to adjust the gold hairpin that was about to fall from her temple, her tone as usual: "After I came out of my dressing room, I saw a few fireflies flitting in the corridor, and on a whim, I thought I'd catch a few to show His Majesty... but who knew..."
She gently bit her lip, seemingly embarrassed, and her voice gradually softened: "Who knew that the palace lanterns weren't lit in the Echoing Corridor after nightfall? I was so busy catching fireflies that I didn't watch my step and tripped. When I tried to get up, I found my ankle was stinging, so I had to ask Jin Tong to call Yu Luo and the others..."
She looked up into the man's deep, dark eyes and blinked gently: "By the way, how did Pei Qing know I was injured?"
Pei Muwei ignored the fact that Shen Zizhan was not at the table, and simply said, "This humble subject is not a good drinker and wanted to go to the side hall to sober up. I happened to run into Your Highness's maid."
"What a coincidence..."
As Chu Yueyuan spoke, she bent down to pick up the fallen phoenix-head shoe, urging, "In my current state, it's not appropriate for me to return to the banquet. I'll have Jin Tong and the others help me back to apply medicine later. Right now, only the Emperor is at the head table, and I'm truly worried about him. I urge Minister Pei to return quickly to oversee things..."
The man's well-defined knuckles picked up the phoenix-head shoes before she could, and the woman's delicate feet were so small that the exquisitely embroidered phoenix-head shoes were not even as big as his palm.
Pei Muwei held the young empress dowager's ankle and helped her put on the phoenix-head shoes.
The warmth from the man's palm made Chu Yueyuan tremble. The double phoenix hairpin in her hair swayed gently, reflecting the ripples in her watery eyes.
"pain.."
Her delicate brows furrowed slightly, and her toes instinctively pushed off, her jade-like feet, wrapped in plain white silk stockings, pressed against the man's chest. Even through the thin brocade robe, she could feel the powerful heartbeat pounding in his chest.
Chu Yueyuan's cheeks flushed slightly. She tried to pull her legs back, but the other person grabbed her ankle.
Pei Muwei's deep eyes were filled with turbulent emotions. He gazed at the woman's fair cheeks with a rosy glow, and his voice was low and hoarse, carrying a hint of danger: "If it hurts, don't move around."
Chu Yueyuan noticed the dark look surging in his eyes and obediently dared not move again.
"Your Highness, I will escort you back first."
Afraid of touching her injury, Pei Muwei first tied the exquisite phoenix-head shoe to the belt around her waist, then put his arm through her legs and picked her up horizontally.
Suddenly suspended in mid-air, Chu Yueyuan instinctively tightened her grip on his neck. Looking down, she saw the phoenix-head shoe hanging from his sash, swaying gently with each steady step.
She suddenly remembered a folk tale.
It is said that when bandits raid, if a bandit leader takes a fancy to a woman and wants to take her back as his wife, he will immediately take off her embroidered shoes and hang them on his waist. This serves two purposes: firstly, to make it difficult for her to walk barefoot and escape, and secondly, to announce to his men that this woman is already his, and no one else should covet her!
Chu Yueyuan raised her eyes and secretly sized up the handsome bandit leader. The man's refined brows were stern, his straight nose was like a blade, dividing the moonlight into light and shadow, casting a sharp shadow on one side. His Adam's apple was faintly visible where his collar was slightly open, which inexplicably made people's hearts flutter.
Her eyes flickered slightly, and a somewhat absurd thought occurred to her: it wouldn't be bad to be taken back by such a bandit leader and become his wife. At least she could break free from those hands that reached out from the abyss and were trying to drag her back.
———
Back at Phoenix Palace, Pei Muwei placed the young Empress Dowager on a chaise longue covered with soft satin and reached out to untie the white silk stockings on her feet.
Chu Yueyuan quickly grasped his hand, gently scratching his palm with her fingertips, and said in a soft voice, "Although the Emperor hasn't fallen ill these past few days, I'm still worried. Minister Pei, you should return to the banquet as soon as possible..."
The woman's hands were slender and delicate, her fingertips adorned with rouge-colored nail polish, like peach petals just beginning to bloom on a branch, so tender that one wanted to hold them in one's palm and enjoy their beauty alone.
Seeing that the man was unwilling to let go, Chu Yueyuan simply knelt on his lap, gazing at him with brimming eyes, her red lips curving slightly: "I promise Pei Qing that I will apply the medicine carefully, okay?"
Pei Muwei gazed at the young empress dowager's raised face, her skin glowing warmly in the candlelight, a speck of dust clinging to the tip of her pert nose, making her appear both charming and somewhat naive.
He gently wiped away the dust with his fingertips, then couldn't help but pinch the tip of her nose, his cool voice softening with affection: "If it still hurts after the medicine is applied, Your Highness, please remember to summon the imperial physician."
Chu Yueyuan smiled gently at him, her eyes crinkling into a smile: "I remember, Minister Pei, please go quickly!"
As she watched the man's tall figure disappear beyond the vermilion-lacquered, carved doorway, the smile on her lips vanished instantly.
Jin Tong brought over a cup of hot tea and placed it on the table. She patted her chest and let out a long sigh.
"Fortunately, I ran fast enough to prevent Yu Luo and the others from giving themselves away. Your Highness and Lord Shen talked for so long, and while I was guarding the side gate, I heard the footsteps of the Imperial Guards passing by several times, which terrified me..."
Chu Yueyuan did not mention her encounter with her father to Jin Tong. She picked up the steaming teacup and drank it expressionlessly.
"Your Highness!" Jin Tong exclaimed in surprise, quickly snatching the teacup from her hand: "This tea is still hot, it needs to cool down for a while. Did Your Highness get burned?"
Chu Yueyuan lowered her eyes, her voice so weak it was almost inaudible: "Is it hot? Then why does my body still feel cold?"
Especially when her father's words reached her ears, she felt as if her blood had suddenly frozen, even her breath turned to frost. She abruptly turned to look at the man in the shadows and coldly questioned him:
How did your father find out?
Chu Shuheng chuckled softly, the moonlight casting a chilling shadow over his kind smile: "Yuan'er has finally called me 'Father'..."
Chu Yueyuan was too lazy to play the father-daughter act with him and asked directly, "Has Father informed Prince Anxian about this matter?"
"Has the Regent been informed about that Yuan'er?"
Chu Yueyuan slowly loosened her clenched fingers, her body still feeling cold, but her reason was gradually returning.
She knew her father all too well—he was a man of humble heart, sensitive and suspicious to the core, who never easily trusted anyone, and it was this cold-hearted nature that made him ruthless and heartless.
Whether it was his wife who sold her dowry to support his journey to the capital for the imperial examinations, or the powerful woman who later helped him rise to prominence, they were all just stepping stones in his eyes.
The inheritance of bloodlines is the most mysterious thing, as if it were a mockery of fate.
Even though Chu Yueyuan loathed her father's cold-heartedness, she had to admit that she had inherited his heartlessness. Even if a man knelt before her with a heart full of love, her first reaction would be to take a step back, worried that the blood would splatter on her.
It turns out that some things have long been deeply ingrained in one's blood and bones.
However, it was this similar temperament that made Chu Yueyuan very certain that her father had not revealed Xiao Yun's true identity to Prince Anxian.
During the subsequent conversation, Chu Yueyuan tentatively inquired about the identity of Xiao Yun's biological father, but Chu Shuheng remained silent about it.
"Shihua's temperament is far less composed than yours. After she found out she was pregnant, she came to me crying, wanting to secretly get rid of the unborn child. I was the one who persuaded her to keep the baby..."
Mentioning this matter, Chu Shuheng's eyes shone brightly, as if he had made a brilliant move in chess:
"Emperor Shang has had no heir for many years, and several vassal kings have long been eyeing the throne. The officials in the court argue endlessly about the matter of choosing an heir. This child has come at just the right time. Even if Emperor Shang knows in his heart that this child is not his, he will still cherish him as if he had found a treasure!"
Chu Yueyuan was furious: "Didn't Father ever consider... that once my sister gives birth to this child, she will die!"
The light in Chu Shuheng's eyes gradually faded, but there was no trace of regret. He said calmly, "In the deep palace, for women without the emperor's favor, living is more agonizing than dying. Shihua has made a sacrifice for the Chu family."
At that moment, Chu Yueyuan suddenly realized that the person who had pushed her into this deep palace was actually her father.
Her mother, Madam Hu, Madam Du, and Chu Wanxi, with whom she had been openly and secretly fighting for many years, were all stepping stones for the man in front of her to fulfill his ambitions.
Chu Yueyuan raised her hand and removed the double phoenix hairpin with kingfisher feathers from her temple. She stared blankly at the dazzling pearl held by the phoenix, and after a long while, she finally made up her mind.
"Jintong, after Xu Mama has settled the Emperor, have her come over."
When Granny Xu arrived at the bedroom, Chu Yueyuan had just finished getting her hair cut.
The woman's long, black hair cascaded down her back, and she wore a white, pear-blossom brocade undergarment. She sat cross-legged on the phoenix couch, and upon seeing Granny Xu enter, her eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled gently.
"The nanny is here. Has His Majesty retired for the night?"
After washing her hands, Xu Mama picked up an ivory comb and sat down on the edge of the couch. While combing the woman's smooth black hair, she smiled and said, "The Emperor couldn't resist after all. After returning to Zichen Palace, he rubbed his stomach and complained of bloating. He drank a bowl of hawthorn honey water and soon fell asleep hugging a koi-shaped pillow."
Chu Yueyuan seemed to have guessed it all along, and shook her head with a smile: "I knew he couldn't help himself."
Granny Xu's gaze fell on Her Highness's casually crossed legs, her expression slightly surprised: "This old servant heard that Your Highness injured your ankle? This..."
The woman removed her white silk stockings, revealing her fair ankles without a trace of redness or swelling.
In truth, Chu Yueyuan hadn't sprained her ankle. When she hurriedly turned back, she caught a glimpse of the man's crimson figure on the bridge. Her heart tightened, so she sent Jin Tong to the side hall to inform him of her sprained ankle, while she rushed into the nearest corridor, quickly kicking away a phoenix-headed shoe and loosening the pearl hairpin at her temple...
She swayed slightly, nestling into Granny Xu's arms as she had before her marriage, her dark hair cascading down the couch, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Good nanny, my hair is tied too tightly today, and the gold hairpins and jade ornaments are making my head ache. Could you please massage it for me?"
After removing her elaborate palace attire and adorned with jewels, the woman's fresh and bright appearance was no different from that of an ordinary eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl in her boudoir.
Seeing her coquettish manner, Granny Xu was suddenly reminded of Chu Yueyuan's appearance when she was young, and her heart softened, even the lines at the corners of her eyes revealing a loving smile:
“Since Your Highness does not mind my clumsy and rough hands, then I will give Your Highness a massage.”
Granny Xu's ancestors were from a family of doctors, and she had a deep understanding of meridians and acupoints. Her fingers applied just the right amount of pressure, whether kneading or pressing.
Chu Yueyuan closed her eyes contentedly and sighed softly:
“When my mother’s headaches flared up, my nanny would massage her like this. Back then, thanks to my nanny’s meticulous care, my mother suffered much less.”
Upon hearing this, Granny Xu's expression darkened, but she continued her work with her fingers, her voice tinged with a sigh: "The First Madam has done good deeds all her life, and she will surely be reborn into a wealthy and peaceful place in her next life."
"I heard from the old steward of the manor that you were brought into the manor when my mother was pregnant. As soon as you entered the manor, you were assigned to Fuxiang Courtyard to take care of my mother's daily life. Do you remember anything unusual about my mother's pregnancy?"
Granny Xu's fingers paused slightly, and after a moment, she said:
"At that time, the First Madam was no different from any other pregnant woman, except that her morning sickness was particularly severe; she ate little and vomited a lot..."
Xu Mama's voice trailed off as she cautiously glanced at the woman and asked softly, "Your Highness...why did you suddenly bring up these old stories today?"
Chu Yue's watery eyes looked straight into Granny Xu's evasive gaze.
"I've heard that if a woman is often sad during her pregnancy, she will suffer from headaches after childbirth. Granny Xu, when Mother found out she was pregnant, was she... happy?"
Xu Mama lowered her eyelids and said vaguely, "Of course the First Madam was happy at that time. What woman in this world is unhappy when she is pregnant? Your Highness, please don't think too much."
Chu Yueyuan sat up, her voice hardening slightly: "How long are you going to keep lying to me, Granny? Madam Du told me the truth before she died; she said Mother didn't want to stay..."
Granny Xu's expression changed drastically, and she quickly said, "Your Highness, you must not believe that poisonous woman's nonsense! The First Madam... the First Madam never intended to have an abortion..."
Chu Yueyuan swayed, her bright eyes widening as she stared intently at Granny Xu, the words escaping her lips so soft they seemed to float away, as if they weren't her own:
"Why did Mother...have an abortion?"
Granny Xu turned her face away hastily, tears welling in her eyes:
"Your Highness, please don't ask anymore. This old servant once swore an oath before the First Madam's bedside... Your Highness only needs to remember that the First Madam's love for you is truly like that of any mother in the world who loves her children, hoping that Your Highness will live a peaceful life."
Chu Yueyuan stepped down from the phoenix bed barefoot, knelt on the cold floor tiles, and kowtowed heavily.
"Granny..."
She raised her tear-streaked face, her voice choked with sobs: "Yuan'er kneels here not as the Empress Dowager, but as her mother's daughter... Please tell me what really happened back then?"
"Your Highness...you mustn't!"
Granny Xu hurriedly got off the bed to help the woman, but she remained rooted to the spot, her tearful peach blossom eyes stubbornly looking over.
She said firmly, "If you don't tell me, Yuan'er won't get up."
Looking into the woman's eyes and seeing that stubborn light, Xu Mama felt as if she had returned to many years ago, when Hu Shi, heavily pregnant, knelt before her and begged her never to mention that matter to the child in her womb.
The figures of the mother and daughter seemed to overlap, leaving her unsure of what to do.
Chu Yueyuan noticed the wavering in Xu Mama's eyes. She held Xu Mama's hand tightly, and hot tears fell onto the back of their hands.
"Granny, Father found me tonight. He used Yoon-ah's life to force me to do things for him. Granny... I beg you, I need the truth, and more importantly, a reason to sever this bloodline..."
Upon hearing this, Granny Xu's face immediately changed: "He...he actually dared to come after His Highness?" She gritted her teeth and said, "This beast has never changed over the years!"
After speaking, she reached out and wiped away the woman's tears, a hint of reluctance showing between her brows: "Is Your Highness sure you want to know the truth?"
Chu Yueyuan bit her lower lip tightly, a faint taste of blood lingering between her lips and teeth, but she still didn't let go, only nodding forcefully.
Granny Xu sighed, staring at the flickering light in the candle holder, her cloudy eyes gradually losing focus: "That year, the First Madam came to the capital at the wrong time. If it had been half a year earlier, perhaps her fate wouldn't have been like this..."
The year Hu went to Beijing, the Jin'ao Bridge collapsed. The arched bridge spanning the East and West Markets suddenly broke during the morning market, which was bustling with people, injuring more than a hundred commoners and killing more than ten people on the spot.
At that time, Emperor Wu was in power. He was furious and immediately ordered a thorough investigation. The three departments worked together for several months and finally found that officials of the Ministry of Works had embezzled funds for the bridge construction and used rotten wood as good material, which ultimately led to this tragedy.
At that time, Du's father, who was also Chu Shuheng's father-in-law, was involved in the Broken Bridge case and was almost imprisoned and punished. Fortunately, the Du family relied on the merits of their ancestors and were given leniency by the emperor.
Lord Du then used his illness as an excuse to retire early, barely managing to save face.
However, after this incident, the Du family's status in the court plummeted, and Chu Shuheng, the new son-in-law who obtained an official position through his father-in-law's connections, was also implicated.
Just when Chu Shuheng's career was in jeopardy, Hu traveled thousands of miles to the capital to find her husband. When she discovered that her husband had married a noblewoman from the Du family, although she was heartbroken, she still gave Chu Shuheng enough face, only asking to take back her dowry and a divorce agreement, so that they could part ways amicably from then on.
However, Chu Shuheng was unwilling to divorce. He was already struggling in the Ministry of Works. If someone found out that he had abandoned his wife, he would likely be impeached by the censors and lose his official position.
Chu Shuheng knelt before Madam Hu, pleading with her to enter the Chu family as a wife alongside Madam Du. He promised that if Madam Hu still insisted on divorcing him after the news of the Broken Bridge case had died down, he would not stop her and would give her a sum of money as compensation.
Madam Hu didn't care about the gold and silver Chu Shuheng promised, but seeing his disheveled state and hearing him mention the various difficulties in the court, Madam Hu finally softened.
She demanded that the two of them remain husband and wife in name only, and never in reality.
If a couple has no children after three years of marriage, they can divorce legitimately.
Chu Shuheng agreed to her request.
A year passed in the blink of an eye. When Madam Hu brought up the matter of divorce again, Chu Shuheng did not show the slightest displeasure. He ordered his servants to prepare a lavish banquet at Fuxiang Courtyard, saying that it was to bid farewell to Madam Hu.
That night, after getting Hu Shi drunk, Chu Shuheng, ignoring her struggles, forced himself on her...
A night wind began to rise outside the window, its sound like weeping and lamenting. The shadows of the trees swayed and groaned on the carved window lattice, as if countless ghostly hands were scratching at the window paper, making a chilling rustling sound.
The candle wick suddenly popped open, instantly illuminating the woman's bloodless face.
"Granny, there's no need to say any more..."
Chu Yueyuan sat on the cold floor tiles, curled up into a small ball, burying her head deep in her knees, her slender shoulders trembling slightly.
Granny Xu gently patted her back, insisting, "No, Your Highness must hear the rest!"
Back then, when Granny Xu first saw Madam Hu at the Chu residence, she was astonished by the woman's haggard appearance.
Despite being three months pregnant, her lips were bloodless, her body was thin, and her eyes were lifeless. She resembled a withered flower whose life force had been drained, always curled up in a corner of the airtight bed. If any servants tried to lift the bed curtains, she would scream and push them away.
At first, Granny Xu thought that Madam Hu was suffering from severe morning sickness, but as time went on, she gradually noticed something was wrong.
Although the eldest lady of the Chu family had the best of everything in her daily life, she was confined to Fuxiang Courtyard and could not leave her room. What was even more strange was that not a single sharp tool could be found in her room. Not to mention needles, thread and silver scissors for embroidery, there was not even a bronze mirror on her dressing table.
Once, when Master Chu suddenly came to Fuxiang Courtyard, Madam Hu was not happy at all. Instead, she was so frightened that her face turned pale and her whole body trembled. She refused to let her open the door for him, as if she were hiding from a vengeful ghost.
Xu Mama felt sorry for the delirious Hu Shi and took extra care of her. Gradually, Hu Shi regained some color in her face and lowered her guard against Xu Mama.
On a stormy night, with tears streaming down her face, Madam Hu knelt before Granny Xu and finally revealed the origin of the child in her womb, begging her to find her abortifacient.
Even though Granny Xu was used to the filth in the palace, she was still shocked and sympathetic to Hu's plight.
Seeing the strangulation marks on Madam Hu's neck and the old wounds of varying depths on her wrists, Granny Xu gritted her teeth and took the opportunity of going out of the mansion to buy a packet of abortion medicine from a traveling doctor.
Just before Hu was about to drink the abortion medicine, she suddenly reached out and placed her hand on her slightly protruding belly, a look of surprise appearing in her eyes.
"Granny, I...I think I felt her move."
Xu Mama didn't want Madam Hu to drink this life-threatening medicine, so she quickly advised, "Counting the days, Madam is already six months pregnant. This old servant heard from the midwife in the West Market that women who are more than five months pregnant cannot drink abortifacients. If you force an abortion, not only will the child be lost, but I'm afraid... I'm afraid even Madam..."
Madam Hu forced a smile, her voice tinged with unbearable bitterness: "I misjudged people; my life has been wasted. Death is a relief for me, but it's such a pity..."
She lowered her gaze to her swollen belly, feeling the clear rhythm coming from her palm, and Hu's lifeless eyes gradually brightened.
After recounting this old story, Granny Xu stroked Chu Yueyuan's dark hair and sighed:
"Fortunately, the First Madam did not drink that abortifacient. Later, I thought about it. I had just left the manor that day when I ran into a traveling doctor who happened to be carrying the abortifacient. What a coincidence! It must have been a trap set by that poisonous woman, Madam Du, to kill the First Madam and her unborn child!"
If Hu had given birth to a boy at that time, it would have been a major worry for Du, who had only given birth to a daughter.
Chu Shuheng turned a blind eye to the affairs of the inner quarters. In his mind, as long as Hu Shi did not divorce him, the officials would have no reason to impeach him. As for Hu Shi's life or death, he never cared about it.
"It was His Highness who saved the lady's life."
Upon hearing Xu Mama's words, Chu Yueyuan's shoulders trembled even more violently, tears blurring her vision, and she murmured softly:
"That's not how it is, that's not how it is..."
She shook her head violently, her disheveled hair clinging to her cheeks: "It's me...it's all my fault...it's my appearance that trapped Mother in that dark, sunless place for her entire life. I'm the one who ruined Mother..."
"I always asked my mother why my father never came to see us, and I even complained to her... that she looked down on me because her background wasn't as noble as the Du family's, which made my father dislike me as well. My mother must have fallen ill because of me..."
Thinking of the words she had said, Chu Yueyuan wished she could poison herself to make herself mute. If it weren't for her, her mother wouldn't have stayed in the Chu family, wouldn't have suffered so much, and would have been able to live a good life.
The thought of her mother spending every day with that wicked man who raped her must be unbearable torment! Yet her mother endured it all for her sake. Chu Yueyuan couldn't even understand how her mother could bear it.
Granny Xu held Chu Yueyuan, who was crying until she was exhausted, tightly in her arms and comforted her, "Your Highness, don't take all the blame on yourself. Blame that beast. Ever since he tricked the First Madam into entering the manor, he never intended for her to leave the Chu manor alive!"
Chu Yueyuan could no longer hear Xu Mama's advice. Her mind was filled with memories of the past. She remembered that on her tenth birthday, she had secretly invited her father to Fuxiang Courtyard, hoping to give her mother a surprise. However, when her mother saw her father, her expression changed.
At that time, she thought her mother was just overjoyed because she hadn't seen her father for so long and didn't know how to express it.
Thinking that she had personally pushed her mother into an abyss, Chu Yueyuan was filled with remorse. Her heart felt as if it were being cooked on a raging fire, the pain so intense that she could hardly breathe. It was as if something was stuck in her throat, unable to go up or down. Then, a surge of blood rushed to her throat.
puff...
When Granny Xu saw the woman vomit a mouthful of blood, her expression changed drastically, and she panicked.
"Granny, I'm fine..."
Chu Yueyuan stopped Granny Xu from going outside to call for help.
Looking at the mottled bloodstains that had seeped onto the woman's moon-white nightgown, Xu Mama felt heartbroken and tears streamed down her face: "His Highness has vomited blood, yet he still insisted that he was fine and asked Imperial Physician Zhao to come and examine him."
Chu Yueyuan shook her head: "If Imperial Physician Zhao knows, then the Regent also knows."
If the man investigates further, he will find out that she met with her father tonight, and then the secret of Xiao Yun's background will probably be hard to keep hidden.
She not only inherited her father's coldness, but also his suspicious nature.
She didn't believe that romantic love between men and women could surpass the allure of power.
She still didn't trust him enough.
After vomiting the blood, Chu Yueyuan finally felt the burning anger that had been building up in her chest, which brought her back to her senses from the overwhelming resentment and regret.
A throbbing pain still lingered in her chest. Chu Yueyuan knew that even if she cried her eyes out and poured out all her heart, she couldn't alleviate the pain, because there was no chance to undo the harm she had caused her mother.
But this pain made her determined to perish together with everything.
She must avenge her mother's death.
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