Chapter 70: Mother

Chapter 70: Mother

Shen Yuchao remembered it was a beautiful, sunny day.

Upon learning that his mother was injured, he rushed over in a panic, only to be stopped outside the room by Liu Songqing.

Liu Songqing said to him, "A Chao, your mother has been seriously injured. The imperial physician is doing everything possible to treat her. Be a good boy and wait until she's better before coming to see her, alright?"

In young Shen Yuchao's heart, Liu Songqing was like a second father to him, someone he always listened to.

Hearing this, he nodded repeatedly, took the wet nurse's hand, and left, looking back every few steps.

From then on, Shen Yuchao would visit the main house every day, lifting his little face to ask earnestly, "Is Mother better today?"

Liu Songqing would squat down, pat his little head, and say with a smile, "Not yet. A Chao, wait a few more days."

Shen Yuchao would then lower his head in disappointment and leave dejectedly.

He waited day after day, but he never received word that his mother was better.

In a small child's heart, parents are the closest people.

With his father away at war, Shen Yuchao could only rely on his mother. Not seeing her for over a month filled him with an anxiety that threatened to drown him like a tide.

After crying under the covers, Shen Yuchao wiped away his tears, sent the wet nurse away, and prepared to sneak into his mother's room.

He told himself: I'll just take a look. I won't disturb Mother's recovery.

At five years old, Shen Yuchao was short. If you covered his jade-like, snow-white face, he'd blend into a crowd of ordinary children, completely unnoticeable.

He successfully avoided the servants and hid in the grass outside his mother's window, waiting for an opportunity.

Just as he was about to climb through the window, he heard voices inside.

His mother's voice was always gentle, warm like sunlight shining on cherry blossoms when she sang him to sleep.

But now it was sharp and shrill, filled with utter disgust.

"I won't see him! I said I won't see him!"

Liu Songqing's voice sounded, "Yurou, he is still your child."

"What child?" his mother screamed, hysterical. "He carries Shen Shuo's blood! He's a bastard! A bastard! I never want to see him again!"

Shen Yuchao had a playmate whose father had an illegitimate child outside. His mother would curse "vixen," "bastard," and "little bastard" at home every day. Hearing it often, the playmate would sometimes curse in front of Shen Yuchao too.

Thus, he knew "bastard" was a curse word.

The little boy felt both wronged and confused.

He didn't understand why his mother, who had always doted on him, would suddenly curse him.

During this time, because his mother was injured, he had been staying obediently at home, even refusing when Huaishu invited him out to play.

Why curse him for no reason?

The two inside were still talking, but Shen Yuchao couldn't listen anymore.

Proud and stubborn by nature, he angrily wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and ran back to his room.

If Mother cursed him, then he wouldn't think about her anymore.

If she doesn't want to see me, then fine!

After that, he truly stopped going to Mu Yurou's room. He spent his days playing with friends, chasing cats and teasing dogs. Except for occasionally missing Shen Shuo, his days were quite carefree.

When the change came, he was waiting for his playmate by the river, but the friend never showed up.

Turning around, he found Mu Yurou standing behind him.

Shen Yuchao's eyes lit up, but then he remembered Mu Yurou had inexplicably called him a "bastard." Pouting, though trying hard to hide it, he was clearly sulking.

He asked awkwardly, "Why is Mother here?"

While stealing little glances at Mu Yurou.

The expected scene of his mother hugging and comforting him didn't happen. She didn't even pinch his ear and scold him for being naughty.

Looking up, he saw his mother's usually smiling face now as gloomy as continuous rain.

Her gaze held a darkness he had never seen before.

For some reason, Shen Yuchao felt a twinge of fear and took a step back.

This movement seemed to startle Mu Yurou awake.

Her facial muscles relaxed as she tried her best to show a kind smile.

"Chao'er, it's been many days. Have you missed Mother?"

Even while sulking, Shen Yuchao still considered his mother the most important person in his heart.

Seeing her return to her usual self, he immediately brightened up. "Yes! Chao'er missed Mother so much!"

Shen Yuchao happily threw himself into Mu Yurou's arms.

He was too young then to notice Mu Yurou's momentary stiffness.

Smelling the familiar scent on his mother, Shen Yuchao immediately forgot about his playmate and said cheerfully, "Mother, let's go home."

"Alright," Mu Yurou lowered her eyes, her gaze inscrutable. "Let's go home."

Shen Yuchao immediately took Mu Yurou's hand and walked forward excitedly.

He thought he was going back to his home.

But he entered a room.

A room that would trap him for a lifetime.

His mother forced him to swallow a pill. Shen Yuchao grimaced at the bitterness, bent over wanting to vomit, but Mu Yurou covered his mouth.

She bent down, looking down at him. Her eyes weren't looking at her son; they looked at him like he was filth from a slop bucket.

"Songqing was right. You still carry my blood. The Shen family may not be good people, but whether it's Shen Qiu or Shen Shuo, their talents are first-rate. You are no less." Mu Yurou straightened up and coldly delivered her final words.

"As long as you can walk out of here alive, I will acknowledge you as my son."

With that, she turned and left without hesitation.

Shen Yuchao didn't understand his mother's words. He quickly ran over and pounded on the shut door.

"Mom! Mom! Why did you lock me in? Open the door, open up!"

His small hands hammered the door with loud banging, but there was no response from outside.

Furious, Shen Yuchao kicked the door.

"Mother! Come back!"

He shouted himself hoarse, then lay on the ground, feeling an overwhelming weariness.

He slowly closed his eyes.

Shen Yuchao was awakened by an intense pain.

The pampered young prince, who in the past would cause his wet nurse great alarm even from a scraped knee, had suffered the most severe injury only from a spanking by his father.

He had never endured such pain before.

It hurt so much that he curled up, hugging himself and calling for his dad and mom, his face smeared with tears.

It hurt so much that he rolled back and forth on the ground, his young voice filled with extreme agony.

The room had long been cleared out, with nothing left inside.

He couldn't even find a way to vent his pain.

He could only scream loudly, trying to drive the pain out of his body.

He didn't know how much time had passed. After enduring the earth-shattering pain inside him, Shen Yuchao slumped to the ground.

Crimson blood and filth had spread beneath him without his realizing.

*Creak—*

The door opened.

A ray of sunlight shone in.

Shen Yuchao squinted his eyes and looked over expectantly.

Was Mother here to let him out?

Mother must have punished him like this because he sneaked out to play.

From now on, he would definitely be obedient and not make Mother angry.

Then... Mother wouldn't lock him up again, right?

The figure he longed for did not appear at the door.

The light in Shen Yuchao's eyes gradually dimmed.

His large eyes filled with tears, and the overflowing tears shattered the brightness in his gaze.

He wept bitterly, and in his daze, he heard a slight noise.

Shen Yuchao opened his eyes, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

He saw countless snakes.

Those snakes slithered as if drawn by something, frantically moving toward him.

Shen Yuchao shrieked in horror, scrambling up from the ground, shouting fiercely but with underlying fear, "Go away, get away! Don't come near me, get away now!"

"Someone, come quickly! There are snakes! Get them out for me, drive them out!"

He dodged while shouting in utter despair.

Even as he shouted until his throat was raw, no one ever came to check on him.

Exhausted from shouting, one snake seized the opportunity, biting him on the arm.

"Ah!"

The pain made Shen Yuchao let out another broken scream.

His blood seemed to have a fatal attraction for the snakes, and the remaining ones swarmed toward him.

He was submerged in the sea of snakes.

...

It seemed as if the world had forgotten him.

He stayed in the darkness for a long time, with no one to keep him company.

There was no food, none of the pastries he loved, only a daily bowl of plain water.

When hungry, he would grab the corpses of snakes and scorpions beside him, stuff them into his mouth, endure the overwhelming stench, and swallow them bit by bit, then pick up the bowl of water and gulp it down.

Day after day, he mechanically repeated this series of actions.

The life of luxury and comfort seemed like something from a past lifetime.

His hope for his mother was completely extinguished in these days worse than a dog's life.

He wanted to survive.

He wanted to live until his father returned, take him to that woman, and demand why she had treated him this way.

Wasn't she... his mother?

What kind of mother in this world would treat her own son like this?

Holding onto this thought, he gritted his teeth and ultimately survived.

Until that door was finally opened.

The woman stood at the doorway, her fiery red skirt fluttering in the wind like a blooming, gorgeous camellia.

She gazed at him tenderly and said softly, "Chao'er, you did it. Come to Mother."

Shen Yuchao was dazed for a long time.

He slowly got up from the ground.

Countless bones were littered on the floor, emitting a foul stench.

His clothes were long outgrown, hanging off him all askew.

Disheveled and reeking, he stepped out of the room.

As he crossed the threshold, he clearly saw the disgust in Mu Yurou's eyes as she took a step back.

Shen Yuchao suddenly wanted to laugh.

A clamor of gongs and drums erupted from outside the wall.

People were running about, spreading the news and shouting, "The prince has returned to the capital!"

"The prince has returned in triumph with the barbarian chieftain's head!"

Cheers instantly rang through the entire capital.

"Two years—the prince has finally driven away those barbarians!"

Shen Yuchao reeled.

Had it really been two years?

His father had been away for two years.

And he... had been locked away for two years.

Raising his head, Shen Yuchao met Mu Yurou's furrowed brow.

She murmured, "How could he have returned so soon?"

After a moment's silence, Mu Yurou told Shen Yuchao, "Come with me."

Shen Yuchao didn't move.

He saw his father approaching.

After two years apart, his father's stature was still as imposing, though his skin had roughened, and his chin was covered in stubble. He looked unkempt, a far cry from the gentle and refined father he remembered.

Laughing heartily, he strode forward, "Rou'er, Chao'er, it's been two years. Let me hug—"

The words died on his lips.

Shen Shuo saw Shen Yuchao in his pitiful state.

"What... what is going on? What happened to Chao'er?"

Mu Yurou's expression was extremely unnatural, her voice dry and forced. "Chao'er was being mischievous. He found these old clothes somewhere and insisted on wearing them."

She held her breath as she grabbed Shen Yuchao's hand. "Chao'er, how many times have I told you not to wear dirty clothes? Why won't you listen?"

Suddenly, Shen Yuchao violently shook off her hand and rushed into Shen Shuo's arms, as aggrieved as a wounded little beast.

Having not spoken for so long, he couldn't utter a word, not even cry, only tears falling in a silent, endless stream.

Shen Shuo was frantic, asking him what was wrong while gently patting his back.

Shen Yuchao pointed inside the room, weeping silently, completely broken.

Shen Shuo held him and, ignoring Mu Yurou's attempts to stop him, stepped through that door.

It was a scene of utter chaos and filth.

Shen Shuo's face instantly darkened.

Shen Yuchao pulled away from his embrace, bit his fingertip until it bled, and with trembling hands, wrote crookedly on the ground:

She hurt me.

Following his direction, Shen Shuo saw Mu Yurou's expressionless face.