Cui Huaiyin hurriedly seized her daughter’s warm little hand and covered her mouth, raising her voice as she said, “Yaoyao, don’t be sad. Your mother will take you to see your grandmother right away. Your grandmother is blessed and strong—those servants must be talking nonsense!”
After shooting her daughter a warning glance, Cui Huaiyin hurried toward Zhu'an Hall, taking her with her.
The moment they stepped into Zhu'an Hall, they heard the servants sobbing.
The few people who served the old madam were all crying so hard that their faces had reddened, as though they had lost the greatest support they had ever known.
Cui Huaiyin pushed her daughter into Chenxiang’s arms, then rushed forward on unsteady legs and threw herself before her mother-in-law’s cold corpse. She wept so bitterly that she nearly fainted on the spot.
Everyone in the Zhu household knew that Madam placed great importance on propriety. Even though the old madam often made her stand for long periods as punishment, Madam had always treated her respectfully and never once offended or disrespected her.
Now that they saw Madam so stricken with grief, everyone felt that she was the most filial of daughters-in-law, truly an exemplary woman.
Cui Huaiyin cried, “Mother… Your daughter-in-law has failed you. I should never have agreed to let my husband bring that vicious, venomous Lady Liu into the household. If she hadn’t poisoned you, how could this have happened? I was blind to her true nature. This is all my fault…”
Cui Huaiyin wept until she was nearly exhausted. Someone came over to comfort her, unable to bear the sight.
“Madam, the old madam has passed away, and Master is bedridden with illness. The entire household will have to rely on you now. Please don’t grieve until you ruin your health.”
“That’s right, Madam. Please don’t blame yourself any longer. How could this be your fault? It was that vicious Concubine Liu who plotted to murder the mistress of the household! She’s nothing but a curse! Besides, it was Master who insisted on taking her as a concubine in the first place. What does that have to do with you?”
“Yes, yes… If anyone is to blame, it’s Master for inviting a wolf into the house!”
At that moment, many of the servants attending the old madam spoke up to comfort Cui Huaiyin.
After all, the old madam had died and could no longer meddle in household affairs. Master was seriously ill in bed, and according to the three physicians, he was unlikely to survive. The only person left who could make decisions for the household was Madam.
Everyone would have to depend on her for their livelihood from now on.
They all understood that perfectly well.
Besides, Madam truly had done nothing wrong.
Cui Huaiyin cried herself hoarse, while the six-year-old young miss also wept pitifully, appearing to be unable to bear the loss of the old madam.
But the dead were dead. There was no turning back.
No one knew that confusion and doubt filled Cui Huaiyin’s eyes, while Rongyao was practically beside herself with joy. Even the tears on her cheeks were tears of delight.
How could she not be happy? The people who had harmed her mother, her maternal grandfather and grandmother, and her uncles had all died in pairs today!
In her previous life, after her mother’s death, her grandmother, Wang Cuiyun, had tried to sell her—while she was still seriously ill—to a pleasure house before her maternal family could discover what had happened.
If her maternal grandfather had not found her in time, she would have become even more feeble-minded from her illness.
In short, Wang Cuiyun had been a truly terrible person. It was only fair that she was dead.
Cui Huaiyin dragged her exhausted body around as she arranged the old madam’s funeral, bustling about the household from morning to night.
After being busy for most of the day, she went to see her husband, Zhu Wangbei, who was bedridden. She personally fed the unconscious man his medicine before finally finding time to return to her courtyard and see her daughter.
As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw her daughter squatting obediently beside the charcoal brazier. Her little face was flushed from the heat, and she was staring intently into the flames.
Cui Huaiyin ordered everyone else to leave and closed the door. Soon, only mother and daughter remained in the room.
Cui Huaiyin crouched down so that her eyes were level with her daughter’s. Her face grave, she took the girl’s hand and asked sternly, “Yaoyao… That dream. Did you truly dream about what happened today? Did you dream that the food sent by Concubine Liu was poisoned?”
Rongyao nodded and blinked. “Everything Yaoyao said is true. In the dream, Mother ate the food and never woke up again.”
Cui Huaiyin’s breath caught. Her chest felt as though a heavy stone had been placed upon it.
If she had never woken up, wouldn’t that mean she had been poisoned to death, just like Wang Cuiyun?
How could she die? What would happen to Yaoyao if she died? Wang Cuiyun favored sons over daughters and had never cared for Yaoyao. Zhu Wangbei was the same. Although he appeared to dote on Yaoyao, that affection was only superficial—something he put on for her benefit.
She was now incredibly grateful that she had not taken even a bite of the food sent by Concubine Liu, nor had she given any to Yaoyao.
Yet her daughter had known the food was poisoned and had still sent it to Wang Cuiyun and Zhu Wangbei…
Yaoyao had disliked Wang Cuiyun and Zhu Wangbei in the past, but she had nevertheless respected them. Now, however, there was nothing but hatred in her eyes. It was clear just how terrifying that dream must have been.
Yaoyao’s claim that Concubine Liu’s food was poisoned had proven true. Could it be that what she had said about Zhu Wangbei and Wang Cuiyun refusing to report the matter after her death, shielding Concubine Liu, and even trying to harm Yaoyao and the Cui family was also true?
Cui Huaiyin’s breathing quickened. Her throat tightened as she asked, “Yaoyao said that your father and grandmother would harm you, and would even harm your maternal grandfather, grandmother, and uncles. Was that all true as well?”
Rongyao nodded vigorously. “In the dream, Mother was poisoned and never woke up. Yaoyao was poisoned too and became very, very ill. Father and Grandmother refused to report it. They hid everything from my maternal grandparents. Grandmother even tried to sell me—to sell me to Yicui Pavilion.”
Cui Huaiyin’s pupils contracted sharply. She gripped her daughter’s shoulders, and her voice came out shrill. “What did you say? Yicui Pavilion? A place like Yicui Pavilion—that kind of…”
Her chest rose and fell violently, fury flooding through her.
She had never mentioned a place like Yicui Pavilion in front of her daughter. No one else could possibly have brought up such a filthy place in the child’s presence. So where had Yaoyao learned of it?
Even if the dream was real, Cui Huaiyin still could not believe that her mother-in-law would sell her own granddaughter to a brothel. Yaoyao was Zhu Wangbei’s only child! His only granddaughter!
Rongyao stared at her mother’s ashen face and said, “Mother is wondering how they could be so cruel to me, aren’t you?”
Cui Huaiyin looked at her daughter. It took a long time before she could find her voice.
“Yes… That was your father, your grandmother…”
“No!” Rongyao interrupted before she could finish. “Father isn’t my father, and Grandmother isn’t my grandmother. Mother made a mistake!”
Cui Huaiyin’s mind seemed to thunder.
“What… What did Yaoyao say?”
Rongyao patiently explained, “Zhu Wangbei isn’t my father, and Grandmother isn’t my grandmother. Mother got it wrong.”
Not her father? Not her grandmother?
Got it wrong…
Cui Huaiyin stared blankly at her six-year-old daughter.
Her daughter said she had made a mistake? How could she have made one? How could there possibly have been a mistake?
The memories she had always been unwilling to revisit came surging back into her mind.
That sweltering summer night. The man who had forced himself upon her.
A month later, she had discovered that she was pregnant—with Yaoyao.
Zhu Wangbei had come to her door, begging forgiveness on his knees and pleading to marry her.
Every detail seemed to fit, yet at the same time, it was as though there had been flaws from the very beginning.
Could it be that the man that night had not been Zhu Wangbei at all? Could Zhu Wangbei have impersonated him, so that after her death, his family had revealed their true nature and shown that they had never cared about Yaoyao?
If that were true, then everything would make sense. The Zhu family had been a den of wolves from the very beginning!
If Zhu Wangbei truly was not the man from that night, if he was not Yaoyao’s father, then everything Yaoyao had said—that after Cui Huaiyin was poisoned, Zhu Wangbei would refuse to report it, that he would even try to sell Yaoyao to Yicui Pavilion, and that he would join forces with others to frame the Cui family—could all be true!
Cui Huaiyin pressed a hand to her chest. Her face was deathly pale as she stared at her daughter, opening and closing her mouth without managing to utter a sound.
Rongyao: “They harmed Mother, Grandfather, and Grandmother. Yaoyao wants to avenge the Mother in my dreams. Mother, do you think Yaoyao did something wrong?”
The little girl before her was so soft and sweet, her eyes shining so brightly. She was the child Cui Huaiyin had cherished and brought into the world at the cost of half her life.
She was still so young, yet at that moment she seemed lost and helpless. She knew nothing, and yet she was trying to protect her and worrying about her. How could she possibly be wrong? If there was any fault, it belonged to others.
If what Yaoyao had said was true, then her good mother-in-law, Wang Cuiyun, had deserved her death!
And Zhu Wangbei could forget about living in peace either…
“Mother?” The little girl uneasily tugged at her sleeve.
Cui Huaiyin’s eyes stung with tears. She pulled her daughter into her arms as though she were embracing a precious treasure. “Silly Yaoyao, how could you be wrong? Yaoyao is very clever. You did very well. It was Yaoyao who saved Mother. Mother has to thank you.”
Held in her mother’s arms, Rongyao nestled contentedly against her. Her eyes gleamed like fallen pearls, bright and radiant.
She was very clever…
“Madam! Madam, wonderful news! Master has awakened!”
