She had wanted to ask this question since last night.
Even if the Old Dowager was delirious when she uttered the words "Why are you alive?", there was still some truth in them.
Steward Fang was startled by her perceptiveness. After hesitating for a moment, he finally spoke.
"To be honest, not only does the Old Dowager dislike the Marquis, but even when the Grand General and Madam were alive, they often neglected him."
"What?"
This truly caught her off guard.
The Grand General was known for his fairness and strict principles. Even if he didn’t favor someone, how could he outright neglect them?
Moreover, Yan Zheng was the most outstanding child in the Yan family.
Steward Fang let out a bitter laugh. "How should I explain this? Have you heard of Master Liaokong from the Huguo Temple?"
"Yes."
This Master Liaokong was a disciple of Monk Xuanfang from the previous dynasty and was renowned for his skill in physiognomy.
It was said that when Marquis Chengen once brought his sister to the temple to offer incense, Master Liaokong took one glance from afar and declared she was destined for unparalleled nobility.
Sure enough, during the Six Arts competition, the Emperor fell for her at first sight. Within half a year, she was elevated to the status of Imperial Consort, outshining even the Empress in favor.
Steward Fang’s expression grew even gloomier. "Since you know of him, then you should also know that it was this very master who, on the Marquis’s first birthday, read his fortune and declared him cursed—a lone star destined to bring misfortune, bereft of familial bonds, and fated to bring calamity upon his parents and siblings..."
"What?" Chu Ruoyan gasped. "So that’s why the Old Dowager calls him a harbinger of doom?"
Steward Fang silently confirmed it.
Chu Ruoyan covered her mouth in shock, as many of her previous doubts suddenly made sense.
No wonder the Old Dowager had stabbed him with scissors...
No wonder she had asked such a heartless question like "Why are you the only one alive?"...
But wasn’t it absurd?
"Steward Fang, it’s understandable if the elderly believe in fate, but the Grand General... my father-in-law was a righteous man, and my mother-in-law was a heroine in her own right. Could they really have held such prejudice against their own son just because of a prophecy?"
Steward Fang remained silent.
Truthfully, he hadn’t believed in such things before either and had often felt that the Grand General and Madam were too indifferent toward the Marquis.
But today, seven coffins had been carried back and now lay in the mourning hall.
What right did he have to deny it?
Chu Ruoyan instantly understood the old steward’s stance.
If even someone who had watched the Marquis grow up and cared for him deeply harbored such thoughts, how much worse would others judge him? Wouldn’t they nail him to the cross of blame as a cursed star?
For a moment, she found the whole situation so ludicrous it was almost laughable.
The bloodthirsty demon from her dreams—the one who slaughtered gods and men alike, drenching the imperial city in blood—now seemed to have a reason behind his madness.
"How many people know about this?"
Her voice turned icy, and under her piercing gaze, Steward Fang instinctively told the truth.
"Aside from the masters of the household, only this old servant knows."
Chu Ruoyan finally relaxed, then added sternly, "What was said here stays between us. There must never be a third person who knows of this!"
Steward Fang nodded blankly. Only after she had walked away did he snap out of his daze.
The young mistress’s aura was so formidable—it was almost reminiscent of the Marquis himself...
Returning to the bridal chamber, Chu Ruoyan summoned Yulu and instructed her to buy medicine.
"Golden Wound Ointment from Huichun Hall, Great Revitalizing Pills from Jishan Hall, and Yulu Powder... buy some of each."
Having suffered from illness for so long, she had become well-versed in remedies and knew these were highly effective for stopping bleeding and regenerating flesh.
The wound the Old Dowager had inflicted on Yan Zheng with the scissors likely hadn’t fully healed, and last night’s... activities certainly hadn’t helped.
Yulu noted down the names, then tilted her head in confusion. "Miss, I don’t recall you ever taking these medicines before. Are you stocking up just in case?"
Thanks to the thousand-year-old wild ginseng, the little maid had developed an almost blind faith in her mistress’s judgment.
Chu Ruoyan froze.
Right, what was she doing?
She had come here to kill him—so why was she now helping him?
"Miss? Miss?"
Yulu waved a hand in front of her face. Chu Ruoyan pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed after a long pause.
"Yulu, if there were someone who might bring harm to you—no, to your family—but hasn’t yet done anything truly damaging, what would you do?"
"Kill them, of course!"
Yulu answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Chu Ruoyan fell silent.
She had indeed harbored such thoughts last night. But after seeing the deranged Old Dowager, she realized that killing Yan Zheng would mean the collapse of the General’s household.
This military family, which had guarded the borderlands of Daxia for over a decade, would crumble overnight, never to rise again.
So she had decided to wait—at least until the Yan family was out of danger...
"Just go and buy the medicines first. Do we still have enough silver?"
Yulu grinned playfully. "Don’t worry, Miss! Between your dowry and the rewards from the palace, we still have several thousand taels!"
Nodding, Chu Ruoyan thought she would visit Madam Li later.
Last night, Madam Li had mentioned replacing all the furnishings in Shou’an Hall with wooden ones. Given the Yan family’s current financial state, she wasn’t sure if they could afford it...
But before she could set out, Madam Li’s maid came running in, panting heavily.
"Young Mistress of the Third Branch! Please—please come to the reception hall quickly! Our mistress is surrounded!"
Chu Ruoyan immediately followed her.
From afar, the clamor in the reception hall was already audible.
"Young Mistress of the Second Branch, we respect your family, but you must also allow us to make a living!"
"That’s right! We’re small businesses—we can’t afford to extend credit like this. Could you settle the outstanding debts first?"
"Pay for my fabric first—it’s only two hundred taels!"
"And mine! The dozens of pigs you’ve bought over the past six months—I’ll even give you a discount, just eighty taels!"
Madam Li was trapped in the middle, surrounded by merchants waving their account books.
In the past, when she managed the household, all accounts were settled at the end of the year.
But now, after the recent tragedy, all these vendors—grocers, cloth merchants, butchers—had come demanding immediate payment.
"Please, everyone, rest assured! The Yan family will never default on our debts. We will pay every tael owed!"
Her words did little to calm the crowd. Someone immediately shouted, "Young Mistress of the Second Branch, how much silver do you currently have in your accounts?"
Dizzy from the noise, Madam Li blurted out, "Five hundred taels..."
The hall erupted.
"Five hundred taels? You owe us more than that just for rice, oil, and grains!"
"Exactly! How do you plan to pay?"
The dignified General’s residence had turned into a chaotic marketplace.
Chu Ruoyan’s brows knitted together as she raised her voice. "Silence!"
Every pair of eyes in the hall snapped toward her.
She strode in with composure. Madam Li, spotting her, was taken aback. "Sister-in-law, why have you come?"
It was clear that Madam Li’s maid, fearing her mistress was in over her head, had taken matters into her own hands and fetched Chu Ruoyan.
Without addressing that, Chu Ruoyan stepped forward and said gently, "I came to discuss replacing Grandmother’s furnishings. Didn’t we agree last night to switch everything to wooden pieces? I inquired and was told that rosewood or yellow rosewood would be best, but I couldn’t decide, so I came to seek your advice."
Madam Li was stunned.
Yes, they had discussed this, but she had assumed they would opt for ordinary wooden furniture.
Rosewood? Golden nanmu? Could they even afford such luxuries?
Among the creditors was the owner of a timber shop.
Hearing this, his eyes lit up. "You must be the newly wedded Young Mistress of the Third Branch? Are you saying you wish to replace the Old Dowager’s furnishings with a full set of rosewood?"
Chu Ruoyan arched a brow. "Who said anything about a set? I intend to redo the entire room."
"What?!"
The timber merchant could hardly believe his ears.
Rosewood and yellow rosewood were among the most expensive woods available.
A single set of rosewood furnishings would cost at least a thousand taels—redoing an entire room would easily run into tens of thousands!
Madam Li nearly jumped out of her skin and hurriedly tugged at her sleeve.
Chu Ruoyan patted her hand reassuringly and said, "What’s the matter? Can your timber shop not supply it? Then find someone who can and let them speak."
