Chapter 25

Chapter 25

The Marquise, with slender hands, piously held incense sticks, worshipping the Buddha statue in silence.

The family shrine was cold and chilling, and Yun Wan gradually felt the cold seep into her body, the chill from the floor tiles penetrating her entire being. After an unknown period, the Marquise’s voice finally broke the silence, soft and ethereal.

"Is the Marquis’s mansion a place where you can come and go as you please?"

Yun Wan lowered her gaze and bowed deeply once more. "Madam, with your kind heart, please allow me to leave."

The Marquise twirled the rosary beads in her hand, her face betraying a hint of frustrated anger. Suddenly, a thought seemed to strike her, and a smile touched her lips, her voice softening considerably.

"You know how infatuated the Heir is with you. If I were to let you go so easily, wouldn’t it strain our mother-son bond?"

Yun Wan looked up, quickly interjecting, "I am leaving of my own free will. It has nothing to do with you, Madam."

The Marquise idly flipped through the Buddhist scripture in her hand and said lightly, "Think it over carefully. If the right opportunity arises, of course, I can send you away. Sending you away would also resolve a lingering concern for Duke An's Mansion."

The right opportunity? When would that ever come?

Yun Wan’s eyes were already filled with sorrow. She looked up at the imposing Marquise and suddenly noticed the Buddha statue behind her.

A thought flashed through her mind. Fearing the Marquise might change her mind, she urgently said, "I can go to a temple to pray. In a few days, I can visit a temple in the outskirts of the capital for worship."

The Marquise smiled faintly. "You are teachable."

"In three days, it will be the day of the sermon by the abbot of Yuanfu Temple in the outskirts of the capital. That day, a carriage will wait at the back gate of the Marquis’s mansion for two quarter-hours after yinshi (3-5 AM). If you do not come, I will no longer concern myself with you."

"As for the Heir, I trust you understand what should and should not be said."

The Marquise’s quiet words seemed to release the shackles in Yun Wan’s heart. Hearing the precise time for her departure, her conflicting emotions instantly dissolved into a flood of tears.

Trembling, she bowed and said hoarsely, "Thank you, Madam."

The Marquise chuckled softly. "I wish you... a smooth journey..."

Watching Yun Wan’s receding figure, Nanny Li supported the Marquise as she settled into a chair. Lowering her voice, she asked in confusion, "Madam, you went through so much trouble to lure her from the northwest to the capital. Why are you letting her go now?"

Behind her, the Buddha statue wore a benevolent expression, but a flicker of viciousness crossed the Marquise’s eyes. She picked up a teacup and took a sip. "Let her go?"

"It’s her own failure for not making the Heir regain his memory. Since the living cannot do it, only the dead can try."

"Only when the Heir remembers his true origins and becomes that man’s son can my Jue’er inherit this vast Marquis estate. I have planned this for so long; I cannot afford any more mistakes."

Nanny Li gently patted the Marquise’s back. "Do not be angry, Madam."

The Marquise smiled cryptically, lightly tapping Nanny Li’s fingers. "Send a message to the palace. It’s time for His Majesty to know that another person is aware of the secret of the Heir’s memory loss."

Nanny Li worriedly asked, "Aren’t you afraid the Heir will find out in the future?"

"How does that concern us? Even if the Heir regains his memory, his wife and child were killed by His Majesty. What can he do? That is his own father, after all."

The Marquise laughed with a touch of madness. So-called compassion was merely a facade for outsiders. A mother’s love was fierce; she was willing to do anything for Jue’er. Having suffered the hardships of being a child of a concubine, she did not want Jue’er to follow the same path.

She had been scheming for the title of the Marquis of Xuanping’s mansion for years.

Now, it was finally about to come true.

---

......

"Yun Wan is just a village woman. She is hardly educated and has a meek nature. She poses no threat to you. After marriage, I will keep her in my private estate."

......

Yun Wan stood outside Lu Yu’s study, holding a food box, quietly listening to him speak with Li Pingting.

Her eyes were empty and numb; her already battered heart no longer cared about more words that cut like blades.

Not only did he now see her as a burden, but he also planned to confine her to a private residence.

She might not understand the rules of noble families in the capital, but in the northwest, this was a method used to keep mistresses.

The sweet nothings whispered under the flickering red candles were all lies. The promises to protect her for a lifetime made before her father’s grave were also lies.

She hated Lu Yu. She regretted picking him up by the river, regretted leaving Stone Village with him, regretted marrying him.

He was the one who brought her out of the dusty frontier, but now he was abandoning her. Why didn’t he let her die under her uncle’s sickle?

Perhaps she was destined to suffer in this life.

Yun Wan closed her eyes, and two tears, like pearls, instantly fell.

"Oh? Is Miss Yun here to deliver a meal to the Heir?"

At some point, Li Pingting’s voice sounded beside Yun Wan’s ear. Her tone was gentle and graceful, as if she were not the one who had poisoned the child.

Yun Wan’s eyes, however, were filled with rage. "Why did you poison my child?"

Li Pingting feigned innocence. "What are you talking about? Your child was poisoned? What does that have to do with me? I have to go to the palace to see the Empress Dowager. Don't trouble me with this."

Watching Li Pingting walk away, Yun Wan trembled with anger, her eyes brimming with tears of defiance.

She looked at her own thin hands and instantly felt deflated.

How could a commoner contend with nobility?

Yun Wan lowered her gaze, picked up the food box, and slowly walked into the study. Seeing Lu Yu sitting upright at the desk, her eyes welled up again.

Lu Yu did not know how long Yun Wan had been standing at the door listening. The moment he looked up, he masked the guilt in his eyes and asked in a deep voice, "Why are you here?"

Naturally, to placate you so you won’t stop me from leaving.

Though Yun Wan thought this, she slowly opened the food box and took out a bowl of sour soup dumplings, saying softly, "I made some sour soup dumplings. If you don’t like them, I’ll take them away."

Lu Yu watched Yun Wan’s small attempt to mend fences between them. His throat moved as he said, "I like them. Of course, I’ll eat them."

He took the sour soup dumplings, his slender fingers stirring the spoon. After a pause, he asked, "Is the child better now?"

"Much better."

Lu Yu hummed in acknowledgment and pointed to a small box on the desk. "This is antidote and blood-tonifying tonics from the Imperial Hospital, as well as a purple ginseng I requested from His Majesty."

Yun Wan slowly closed the box, her entire body trembling slightly. "Heir, what is this? Compensation? If the child were truly gone, would you also gift me a fine coffin?"

Lu Yu was stunned. Lowering his gaze, he ate the round dumplings and said, "Wanwan, you still resent me."

Yun Wan did not speak, only stood quietly as tears instantly streamed down her cheeks.

The man before her was only the Heir, not her A Yu.

In the future, when she returned to Yun County, she would tend A Yu’s grave for the rest of her life, living with the fabricated story forever.

Why did Lu Yu lose his memory? Why did he have to make her suffer?

She truly hated him.

Seeing Yun Wan remain silent, Lu Yu continued, "Take this. I've already sent people to investigate. If it was truly Li Pingting who did it, I will make her pay for it."

Yun Wan no longer believed Lu Yu. Even if she paid the price, what could it amount to?

Li Pingting would still become his legitimate wife.

It was nothing more than a "slap on the wrist."

Clenching her teeth, Yun Wan pretended to agree, lowering her gaze and nodding. Then, remembering the purpose of her visit today, she said softly, "The day after tomorrow, I want to go to Yuanfu Temple in the outskirts of the capital to pray."

Lu Yu frowned, calculating his schedule for the day after tomorrow, and said, "Let’s wait a few days. I’ll go with you."

Yun Wan shook her head. "It has to be the day after tomorrow. I also want to get a peace charm for Xiao Bao."

Afraid that Lu Yu would refuse, she paused and added, "...and one for the Heir as well..."

Seeing Yun Wan soften her attitude and no longer quarrel with him, Lu Yu’s gloomy mood eased slightly. He nodded and said, "Alright, then go ahead."

"But, would you like to accompany me for a stroll tomorrow? Mirror Lake is especially picturesque in spring, and the mansion’s painted boat has been refurbished. There will be no one else—just the two of us and the child. How about it?"

Lu Yu looked up at her.

Yun Wan hesitated. On her last day, she couldn’t risk her life or the child’s again. Yet, she thought about how the child had never spent time with Lu Yu. Even if it was just for a brief memory, it might be worth it.

She nodded, treating Lu Yu as nothing more than a substitute.

Lu Yu’s expression softened, and the corners of his lips relaxed noticeably.

"One more thing, Sir, could you write Xiao Bao’s name for me? My handwriting isn’t good, and I need to show it to the abbot the day after tomorrow."

Yun Wan spoke softly, her eyes full of expectation as she looked at him. Lu Yu naturally did not refuse her.

On a piece of red gold-flecked paper, he wrote the three characters "Lu Yunzhang" in bold, flowing strokes.

Yun Wan looked at the familiar handwriting and script, treasuring the paper, then turned and hurried out of the study.

A Yu had once written a note for Xiao Bao too. He had even composed an entire essay expressing his excitement at Xiao Bao’s birth. But all of that had turned to ashes when the Yun County bookshop burned down.

Now, the only way to find A Yu’s relics was through Lu Yu.

When the child grew up, this piece of paper would at least tell him that his father had loved him, that he had countless times touched her belly in anticipation of his birth.

It was just that he had died too young.

---

The next day, the warm spring sun warmed everyone’s hearts. Yun Wan, holding Xiao Bao, slowly lifted the carriage curtain and looked at the familiar streets of the capital, a trace of melancholy flashing in her eyes.

She murmured, "When I came to the capital, I ran out of money and had to work at a tavern. Every day, I was so exhausted I could barely hold the child. Fortunately, the tavern’s owner was very kind."

"The capital is truly a place of despair. I couldn’t find anyone, and there was no sense of home here."

Seeing the sorrow in Yun Wan’s eyes, Lu Yu said in a deep voice, "It’s alright. From now on, I will be here for you."

"With you here, does that mean you intend to keep me in a private estate?"

Yun Wan’s words were calm, but they stirred waves in Lu Yu’s heart. Suppressing his emotions, he explained, "The private estate is filled with my people. No one will harm you or the child again."

Yun Wan acknowledged softly. It didn’t matter anymore—after all, she would be leaving soon.

The scenery on the painted boat was beautiful. The scent of fresh grass and the cool lake air filled their nostrils. After Xiao Bao recovered from his illness, he clung even more tightly to Yun Wan, his left arm wrapped around her shoulder and neck while his right hand reached eagerly for a peach blossom branch on the table.

There were no outsiders on the three-story painted boat, and Yun Wan’s mood relaxed considerably. She turned to look at Lu Yu, who was snapping off a peach branch for Xiao Bao, and her mind drifted into memories.

Suddenly, the door on the third floor of the painted boat opened, and someone arrived uninvited.

"Lu Yu, I saw your painted boat lit up and guessed you were here, so I came."

Before the person even arrived, his boisterous voice echoed through the boat. Moments later, the Crown Prince of Ding, Lin Shuyan, walked in, fan in hand.

Yun Wan quickly turned to leave with the child, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Li Pingting was among the group.

"Since Miss Yun is also here, why not serve us some tea?"