Chu Ruoyan watched Grandma Yan passionately delivering her speech.
She suddenly felt grateful that Yan Zheng hadn’t returned.
"Selling out ancestors for glory, colluding with enemies, betraying the nation..."—these were accusations even the authorities hadn’t confirmed, yet his own kin had already passed judgment. Who could endure such a thing?
After finishing, Grandma Yan turned to Elder Yan.
The old man, already eighty years old and with failing sight and hearing, merely said, "This is ultimately Grandma Yan’s family matter. I’m only here today as a witness..."
That was precisely what Grandma Yan wanted to hear. She turned back to the gathered crowd. "All members of the Yan Family are present. Does anyone have anything to say?"
Silence filled the hall.
As Elder Yan had said, this was the affair of the main branch.
Yan Xu was dead, and if Grandma Yan wanted to act on his behalf, that was her business. Why should others meddle in this mess?
Only Yan Chengwu from the second branch, nursing a grudge since Yan Zheng had injured his face, spoke up loudly. "Grandmother isn’t wrong! When Uncle was alive, Third Brother was utterly unfilial, not only earning the disdain of his parents but also the cold shoulders of his own siblings. Keeping such a person in the Yan Family will only tarnish our reputation!"
"Well said!"
A clear, feminine voice suddenly cut through the murmurs of agreement.
Yan Chengwu turned, expecting an ally, only to see it was Chu Ruoyan who had spoken.
He froze. "Y-You agree with me?"
Chu Ruoyan nodded emphatically. "Absolutely. And this Third Young Master Yan isn’t just as you described—he’s also cold by nature, rarely speaks, often gives people the silent treatment, and is extremely difficult to get along with..."
The crowd exchanged bewildered glances.
Was Yan Zheng really so disliked that even his newlywed wife would criticize him like this?
Yan Chenghao from the third branch whispered, "Third Brother isn’t that bad... He once saved me when we were children..."
The moment the words left his mouth, all eyes turned to him. Li Yu hastily covered his mouth. "Adults are discussing serious matters. Who gave you the right to speak?"
Lady Xue scoffed. "Sister-in-law Li, you’d better keep a tighter leash on your child. Otherwise, like Wenjing, he might end up blindly devoted to Yan Zheng—then you’ll have no one to cry to!"
Li Yu quickly bowed in agreement.
Yan Lin coughed twice. "Mother, since even Third Brother’s wife says so—"
"Uncle, don’t rush."
Chu Ruoyan interrupted. "This concubine hasn’t finished speaking. Third Young Master Yan may be cold and aloof, but has he ever committed any unfilial acts?"
"Not to mention distant events—just recently, when Grandmother was delirious with illness, she shattered a medicine bowl and nearly harmed herself with the shards. Who was it that left his wedding night to stop her? Do you remember?"
Grandma Yan’s face darkened.
Chu Ruoyan continued, her voice ringing clear. "And before that, when Grandmother was critically ill, who sent Steward Fang searching everywhere for medicine, even pleading at my family’s doorstep, offering to annul our engagement just to secure that thousand-year wild ginseng for you? Do you remember that?"
The hall fell into silence.
Most of the onlookers seemed moved.
If what she said was true, Yan Zheng’s actions were nothing short of a model of filial piety!
But Grandma Yan only waved a dismissive hand. "It was all an act! If not for his masterful deception, how could my Xun have been fooled into letting that wretched maid steal the city’s defenses?"
The "wretched maid" was, of course, Ajiao.
Chu Ruoyan’s eyes turned icy. So, the rumors spread by Lord Pingjing had finally reached the Yan Family’s ears.
She arched a delicate brow. "Grandmother, the authorities haven’t even concluded their investigation. How can you be so hasty?"
Grandma Yan sneered. "Who needs the authorities? The rumors are everywhere! Second Son, you tell her!"
Yan Lin coughed awkwardly. "It’s true the matter has caused quite a stir. The girl Third Brother saved even swore it was he who ordered her to steal the city defense plans..."
"Oh? So the authorities have convicted him? What’s the charge—colluding with the enemy? Betraying the nation? Death by a thousand cuts? Or dismemberment?"
Chu Ruoyan’s voice was sharp as frost.
Yan Lin hesitated, suddenly uneasy. "Well... no, not yet..."
Chu Ruoyan turned to the crowd. "Esteemed elders, the Yan Family has stood for three generations of nobility, weathering a century of storms. What kind of schemes have we not seen? That orphan Ajiao stole the city defenses, caused the death of the heir, and doomed an entire army. Can the words of such a villain be trusted so easily? Now, Yan Zheng is the last remaining bloodline of the Yan Family’s second generation. Are we really going to sever our own lifeline over the slander of a lowly servant?"
Every word struck like a hammer.
Even Lady Xue and Li Yu, who had harbored grievances, couldn’t muster a rebuttal.
After a long silence, Elder Yan finally spoke.
"If Third Young Madam’s words hold truth, then the charges of selling out ancestors and betraying the nation... cannot stand."
He had come merely as a formality, but this young wife’s speech was drenched in conviction.
If Yan Zheng was truly innocent, and they allowed the last thread of the great general’s lineage to be cut off—how could he face his ancestors in the afterlife?
Grandma Yan’s face twisted with barely suppressed fury.
Everyone present—the second branch, the third branch, even Elder Yan—had little personal connection to Yan Zheng.
Yet this woman had overturned the situation with just a few sentences!
Gritting her teeth, Grandma Yan spat out, "Fine! Even if those two charges don’t hold, the fact remains that he caused the death of his entire family! What do you have to say about that?"
Chu Ruoyan met her venomous gaze and felt a chill crawl down her spine.
Steward Fang had once mentioned that the elders’ dislike for Yan Zheng stemmed from a prophecy made at his birth...
Sure enough, Grandma Yan’s voice dripped with malice.
"Every male child of the Yan Family receives a fate-reading at one year old! My son Yan Xu was destined to be a general—his Wǔqǔ star strong, his life one of conquest and glory! Heir Yan Xun bore the fate of a warrior, his Tānláng star blazing with ambition!"
"But Yan Zheng?"
Her voice dropped to a whisper. "At his first birthday, Master Liaokong of the Guardian Temple declared—'A lone star enters his fate. Bonds of kinship shall be thin. He will bring calamity upon parents and siblings all his life!'"
At the mention of Master Liaokong, the crowd tensed with reverence.
But when the prophecy was spoken aloud, gasps erupted. Little Yan Chenghao couldn’t help crying out, "That can’t be true! Third Brother is a good person!"
Li Yu immediately had a servant clamp a hand over his mouth.
Lady Xue shot to her feet. "What? That’s the mark of a cursed star! Why wasn’t he sent away?!"
Among noble families, it was an unspoken rule—children deemed harmful to the clan were usually abandoned at temples to be purified by the gods.
A few reluctant parents might send them to distant estates, but none would keep such a child close!
Yan Lin frowned. "Mother, why did Elder Brother never mention this?"
Grandma Yan shut her eyes in grief. "Your brother and his wife were too soft-hearted! They had arranged to send him away, but six-year-old Xun threatened to slit his own throat if they separated them... Your brother couldn’t bear it, so he stayed the order and forbade anyone from speaking of it. And now, we reap what they sowed!"
The shock in the room was palpable.
With such a revelation, no one dared defend Yan Zheng again.
Chu Ruoyan’s heart turned to ice.
Was this mad old woman truly Yan Zheng’s grandmother?
Once these words spread, would Yan Zheng have any chance of survival left?
She recalled the solitary and aloof Lord of the Underworld from her dream, the raging flames that painted the capital’s sky crimson, and suddenly, it didn’t seem so hard to understand.
"Grandma Yan, you really… wish him dead, don’t you?"
Chu Ruoyan spoke, not even bothering to address her as "Grandmother" anymore.
Her gaze was as cold as ice. "Then may I ask, do you have any proof of what you’ve said?"
