Zhu Wangbei’s face grew even paler as he stared at Cui Huaiyin in shock, his chest heaving violently from sheer agitation.
“You want to take all the dowry with you!”
Cui Huaiyin replied, “When I married you, your family owned nothing but two mu of land and a thatched hut. All these years, your food and clothing, the cost of raising children and supporting your mistress, and all the additions to this household came from the Cui family. And you still aren’t satisfied?”
Zhu Wangbei’s face turned the color of pig’s liver. “I endured humiliation to marry you! I am your husband! That dowry rightfully belongs to the Zhu family!”
Cui Huaiyin let out a cold laugh and looked down at him. “If you refuse to sign, I’ll have no choice but to become a widow. You’re an intelligent man. You’ve taken plenty of money over the years, and I merely pretended not to notice. But if you insist on being stubborn, don’t blame me for turning ruthless!”
Zhu Wangbei glared at Cui Huaiyin with a savage look in his eyes. Gasping for breath, he said, “Sign! I’ll sign!”
His hand trembling, Zhu Wangbei pressed his fingerprint onto the document.
But just as he withdrew his hand, Cui Huaiyin produced another sheet of paper and held it out before him.
“This is the severance document between you and Yaoyao. You were never Yaoyao’s father to begin with. You should have signed this document long ago. From now on, Yaoyao will take my surname, Cui!”
Signing one document was no different from signing two. Gritting his teeth, Zhu Wangbei signed it as well.
He was not a fool. He had sensed the murderous intent in Cui Huaiyin’s eyes. If he stubbornly clung to her and her daughter, he would likely lose his life sooner rather than later. If he signed the divorce agreement, perhaps he could live a few more days.
Compared with money and property, what did they matter beside his life?
Cui Huaiyin put away the two documents, gave Zhu Wangbei one last look, and led her daughter away.
Rongyao obediently followed behind her mother. Before leaving, she turned back to look at Zhu Wangbei and gave him a sincere, radiant smile.
As soon as they returned to Qiyin Court, Cui Huaiyin closed the door and pulled her daughter close.
“Yaoyao, do you think the divorce was the right thing to do?”
The moment she asked the question, Cui Huaiyin regretted it and flushed with embarrassment. Her daughter was still so young, yet she had actually asked her to make such a decision.
Rongyao affectionately wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck. “Mother did wonderfully. Yaoyao wants to go back to Grandfather’s house.”
Before long, Noble Consort Chen would receive the news and would certainly find another way to harm her and her mother. Her maternal grandfather’s home was the safest place for them.
Cui Huaiyin hesitated. “But Wang Cuiyun only passed away recently. If we leave now, people may use it against us.”
Rongyao tilted her head and thought for a moment. Soon, an idea came to her. Her eyes lit up as she said, “Mother and Father divorced because Father couldn’t tell right from wrong. He blamed you for the poisoning and, in his anger, drove you and Yaoyao out of the Zhu family!”
Cui Huaiyin’s eyes brightened. “Yes, yes! Mother will do as Yaoyao says!”
Cui Huaiyin immediately became busy. She inventoried the dowry and sent a trusted servant to the Cui family to ask them to come.
They had only recently arrived in the capital and did not know many people. They were not yet familiar with the neighbors, and she had converted all the shops and estates in Huang County into banknotes. She had not yet purchased any property in the capital.
The residence they were living in was merely rented. They had paid only six months’ rent, and once that period ended, they would no longer be able to stay there.
After taking stock, Cui Huaiyin realized they did not have many belongings, so she soon finished packing.
Then, in front of everyone, she reddened her eyes and wept as she complained, making it seem that Zhu Wangbei had been unreasonable, blamed her and her daughter for the poisoning, and driven them out of the household.
Naturally, she was not foolish enough to mention her daughter’s true parentage in public. As long as she could keep it hidden for one more day, she would.
As for what would happen in the future, they would return to the Cui family first and figure it out later.
At worst, she and her daughter could find an estate somewhere outside the city and live there.
While Cui Huaiyin was busy packing, Rongyao was not idle either.
Her mother did not know this, but Rongyao did. The reason Zhu Wangbei was not afraid of her taking all the dowry was that he had secretly stolen many valuable items over the years.
He had replaced part of her dowry with counterfeit goods. The real calligraphy and paintings, gold and silver hairpins and jewelry, land deeds, and other valuables were all hidden in a secret compartment in his study.
A person’s mind became useful once they stopped being foolish. Rongyao decided to take back every last one of her mother’s possessions right then and there!
With Daoxiang in tow, Rongyao swaggered toward Zhu Wangbei’s study.
The residence was in chaos, and there was no one around the study.
Rongyao pushed open the door and walked straight in.
Daoxiang followed behind her, puzzled.
The moment they entered the study, she saw the young miss trot over to the desk where the master usually read. Rongyao reached out and touched the bookcase, walking around it once before stopping at a particular spot. She climbed onto a chair, reached out, and pulled away the books covering the area.
Behind them was actually a secret compartment!
It was packed full of valuables. One glance was enough to tell that everything inside was precious.
Daoxiang hurried over to help. Following the young miss’s instructions, she carefully removed the items one by one. Each time she took something out, her shock deepened.
She had seen every one of those gold and silver treasures, famous paintings, and land deeds before!
She was the maid who had accompanied Madam as part of her dowry. How could she fail to recognize Madam’s possessions?
If Daoxiang had not clapped a hand over her mouth in time, she might have cried out on the spot.
She quickly packed the things away and said, still shaken, “These… these are all Madam’s dowry. How did they end up here?”
Rongyao patted her hands. “Zhu Wangbei stole them, of course.”
Daoxiang’s face filled with outrage. “The master actually stole Madam’s dowry! He’s completely shameless!”
Rongyao did not waste time explaining. She tugged at Daoxiang’s sleeve and urged her, “Hurry and take these to Mother.”
“Yes, young miss.”
When they returned, Rongyao was thoroughly questioned by her mother once again.
She told Cui Huaiyin that she had seen it all in a dream.
After hearing this, Cui Huaiyin trusted her daughter even more.
They placed the recovered items into trunks and continued packing. By the time the sky began to darken, everything was finally ready, and mother and daughter boarded the carriage back to the Cui family home.
On the carriage, Rongyao leaned against her mother’s embrace and closed her eyes in thought.
Now that she was clever, she had to protect more people.
Noble Consort Chen would certainly do as she had in her previous life—frame her maternal grandfather for embezzling disaster-relief funds, causing the entire Cui family to be exiled.
On the road into exile, more than a dozen members of the Cui family had been ambushed and killed by assassins sent by Noble Consort Chen, their bodies abandoned in the wilderness.
She had to stop it!
There was also the emperor.
She needed to find an opportunity to tell her mother that her father was the emperor.
And then there was Qi Shen—the man who had avenged her in her previous life and collected her remains after her death…
Perhaps she could help him. Perhaps this time, she could be the one to protect him.
She had heard that Qi Shen had entered the palace at the age of nine in the first year of the Xuande era. That was this year. She had to find him as soon as possible.
The problem was that she had no idea where his family lived.
Rongyao patted her head and thought it over. Her tightly knitted brows soon relaxed.
She was clever now—very clever! One day, she would surely think of a way!
“Yaoyao, we’re home.”
Home?
Rongyao quickly opened her eyes. The carriage door had just been opened, and a man was peering inside.
“Yaoyao, come over to your third uncle!”
It was her third uncle!
Rongyao’s eyes immediately reddened.
In her previous life, her third uncle had tried to kill Zhu Wangbei with a blade to avenge her and her mother. But Zhu Wangbei and Noble Consort Chen had framed him and sent him to prison. His legs had been broken there, and he had eventually died on the road into exile.
Rongyao sniffed and threw herself into the arms of her third uncle, Cui Huaiyi.
Cui Huaiyi practiced martial arts and possessed great strength. With one hand, he could easily lift his niece into the air, so he naturally did not let her leap into empty space.
“It's been less than a month since we last saw you. How have you grown so much thinner? Tell your third maternal uncle everything that has wronged you. Your third uncle will seek justice for you and your mother!”
As soon as she stepped down from the carriage, Rongyao saw her grandfather and grandmother, their faces full of concern, along with her eldest and second uncles, her three aunts by marriage, and several older male cousins.
Her eldest uncle had two sons, while her second uncle had one. Her third uncle had married late and had no children yet.
“Third Brother, put Yaoyao down at once. You're so clumsy—be careful not to drop her.”
Her grandmother came over and took Rongyao's hand, smiling at her with affection. Then she turned to her daughter and said, “It's cold outside. Let's go in and talk.”
Cui Huaiyin's eyes reddened. She nodded at her mother, whose face was filled with concern, and followed her into the residence.
Rongyao's grandfather, Cui Yeping, had recently been promoted from a seventh-rank county magistrate in Huang County to a sixth-rank director in the Ministry of Revenue. He was still only a minor official and did not even need to attend the daily court assemblies.
The family's money came from Rongyao's second maternal uncle, Cui Huaihao, who was a merchant.
Cui Huaihao had a talent for business. Even when he had been doing business in Huang County, he had already opened numerous shops in other counties. Before the Cui family even arrived in the capital, Cui Huaihao had gone ahead and opened a pharmacy, a restaurant, and a jewelry shop there, as well as purchased a respectable residence.
Thus, the Cui family was not short of money.
When the group reached the Cui residence's main hall, Cui Yeping announced that there was something to discuss and stopped the younger members from entering. Rongyao was led away as well.
She had not wanted to leave, but she could not defy her grandfather's authority and had no choice but to go.
At present, only Rongyao's grandfather, Cui Yeping; her grandmother, Zhang Yingmei; her eldest uncle, Cui Huaiji; her second uncle, Cui Huaihao; her third uncle, Cui Huaiyi; and her mother, Cui Huaiyin, remained in the main hall.
Cui Huaiyin knelt before her parents, her eyes red, and recounted what had happened at the Zhu residence that day.
“...He admitted it himself. He had assumed another man's identity. I also obtained the divorce agreement and the document severing our family ties.”
A deathly silence filled the hall.
Cui Yeping slammed his palm against the table and rose to his feet. “That bastard!”
Zhang Yingmei wiped away her tears and went over to help her daughter up. “Thank heavens you and Yaoyao are both safe. If the two of you had really eaten that poisoned food, I can't even imagine what might have happened... That Zhu Wangbei deceived our Cui family for the sake of wealth. He was never a suitable husband to begin with. Now that you have divorced him, it's the best possible outcome.”
Cui Huaiji rose with a frown and walked over to his younger sister, Cui Huaiyin, asking, “Did you question Lady Liu carefully before she died? Why did she poison you? Who ordered her to do it?”
Cui Huaiyin frowned and shook her head. “She took her own life before I could question her.”
Cui Huaiji's expression grew even darker.
He had a feeling that there had to be a mastermind behind this. Someone who feared exposing the person behind them must be serving an exceptionally ruthless master.
But their entire family had only just arrived in the capital and had been careful in every matter. Whom could they possibly have offended?
Since both Zhu Wangbei and his mother had been poisoned, the incident could most likely be ruled out as having anything to do with the Zhu family.
Could it have been that mistress of the Zhu family?
“Daughter, you said you were able to escape this calamity because of a dream Yaoyao had?” Zhang Yingmei asked her daughter curiously.
Cui Huaiyin tightened her grip on her handkerchief. “Yes.”
“What else did Yaoyao say?”
Cui Huaiyin looked at her mother, then at her father and three brothers.
“Yaoyao said that in her dream, Zhu Wangbei would harm our entire Cui family.”
Third Brother Cui Huaiyi folded his arms and let out a mocking laugh. “Does Zhu Wangbei really have that much ability? Harm our entire family? Look at him—he can't even lift a sword or carry a sack. What could he possibly do to harm us? Yaoyao was merely talking in her sleep, and you actually took it seriously, Little Sister?”
Zhang Yingmei smacked her youngest son's head. “Better to believe it than dismiss it! Didn't you hear what your little sister said? It was Yaoyao's dream that saved the two of them!”
Second Brother Cui Huaihao spoke up after remaining silent for some time. “Call Yaoyao over. We should question her carefully.”
Cui Huaiji exchanged a glance with his father, then instructed a servant to bring Rongyao over.
Led by the hand, Rongyao soon arrived at the main hall where the adults were discussing the matter.
She looked up at the many elders surrounding her, her bright eyes blinking as she answered their questions.
“Mm-hmm! That's what I dreamed!”
Her grandmother, Zhang Yingmei, held Rongyao's hand and asked, “Other than dreaming that the food was poisoned, what else did you dream about, Yaoyao?”
Rongyao looked once more around at her grandfather, grandmother, and several uncles who were all destined to die tragic early deaths. She counted on her fingers and said in a clear, neither loud nor soft voice:
“The Cui family being exiled.”
