"Keep your voice down, the young lady just fell asleep a while ago..."
"How can the young lady still sleep? Step aside—" Nanny Zhou pushed Yulu aside and strode in. Chu Ruoyan had already risen from bed. Seeing the fiery old woman, she smiled faintly. "Nanny, you're back?"
Nanny Zhou's expression darkened at the sight of her. "How did you end up injured like this?"
Yulu quickly summarized everything that had happened in recent days. Nanny Zhou slammed her palm on the table. "Outrageous! The Yan Family wronged you, yet they dare claim it was you who—"
Her words abruptly cut off.
Chu Ruoyan sighed. "Go on, Nanny. What is it?"
Nanny Zhou huffed in frustration and pulled forward a young maid who had returned with her. "You tell her!"
The timid maid hesitated but spoke up. "When Nanny and I entered the capital today, we heard people everywhere gossiping. They said that after barely a few months of marriage to the Yan Family, you divorced the Third Young Master. They claimed you couldn’t endure hardship and were greedy for wealth. Some even said Lady Xue herself accused you of being unfilial, that you drove the old matriarch out as soon as you entered the household..."
"What?!" Yulu gasped. "How dare they twist the truth like this? The young lady did it all to save the Marquis!"
Chu Ruoyan raised a hand to silence her. "Is there more?"
"They... they also said you secretly met with another man..."
Before the maid could finish, Nanny Zhou shoved her aside. "Young lady, I only went home for a funeral, and in that time, you married, divorced, and now these rumors are destroying your reputation! How will you ever remarry after this?"
Chu Ruoyan burst into laughter.
She had just divorced, and Nanny was already thinking of remarriage?
But seeing the old woman’s stern face, she quickly composed herself. "I know you care for me, Nanny. But surely you can see through this. Why do you think these rumors are spreading?"
The servants froze as she continued calmly.
"The Marquis of Pingjing framed the Grand General, leading to the deaths of a hundred thousand soldiers at the border. Such a shocking scandal—do you think it’s better for the people to know or not?"
The women gasped in realization. Yulu blurted, "They’re using you as a scapegoat to divert attention!"
Chu Ruoyan nodded slightly. "Yes, and no. The common folk understand little. At most, they’ll curse a few times and... cough..."
Talking too much made her cough. She sipped the pear soup Yulu handed her before continuing. "But the Marquis is royalty. Such actions inevitably raise suspicions. The imperial family would rather avoid the glory of ‘justice over kinship’ than let this scandal spread. And after the chaos in the court, if the imperial family can’t be wrong, then who else...?"
Her implication was clear. Yulu covered her mouth. "Young lady, you’re suffering in the Yan Family’s place!"
Chu Ruoyan said nothing.
Before storming the palace, Cao Yang had warned her—this path was near suicidal. Her current predicament was no surprise.
But for the imperial family to go this far... No wonder Yan Zheng had acted so strangely in her dreams.
"My dear girl," Nanny Zhou lamented, "you always seemed so delicate. How could you do something so reckless? And for a crippled... Was it worth it?"
Chu Ruoyan smiled.
Of course it was worth it!
Braving hell for the Yan Family ensured that even if Yan Zheng rebelled later, he would spare her father for today’s sacrifice.
Just then, Yuetao, Lady Jiang the Younger’s maid, rushed in. "Young lady, hurry! Lady Xue is here. Go to the main gate!"
Lady Xue had come?
Chu Ruoyan stiffened. Nanny Zhou frowned. "Why isn’t she invited inside? What scheme is Lady Jiang plotting now?"
Yuetao shook her head. "She refuses to enter! Lady Xue is accusing you of stealing the Yan Family’s wealth and leaving them destitute. She’s demanding justice in public. Our mistress tried to reason with her, but she won’t budge. Young lady, even if Lady Jiang dislikes you, this concerns the Duke of Chu’s Mansion. Our fates are tied. She wouldn’t risk the reputations of the other young ladies!"
The maid spoke truthfully.
This divorce could tarnish the Chu family’s name. Even Lady Jiang wouldn’t dare play games with that.
"Very well. Let’s go see."
Yulu fretted. "But your health—"
"Don’t worry. The Old Miracle Physician from Bai Xiao Pavilion is skilled. Besides, even if I have to be carried out, I must go." Her eyes glinted with resolve as she called for a sedan chair.
Nanny Zhou bundled her tightly in a cloak before helping her onto the chair.
As they approached the gate, Lady Xue’s shrill wails rang out.
"Everyone, look! This Chu Family’s eldest daughter lived like a princess in our household, yet she drove out her own grandmother, met men in secret, and was rightfully divorced by my son! Now she’s stolen our fortune, leaving us to starve!"
Her cries confirmed the rumors spreading through the capital.
"So she really was divorced for misconduct!"
"To abandon her elders and betray her husband—yet the Third Young Master showed mercy by not severing ties completely!"
"Stealing from her in-laws? Even beasts wouldn’t stoop so low!"
The crowd seethed with outrage. When someone shouted that the woman had appeared, all eyes turned to the gate, expecting a vicious shrew.
Instead, a frail figure lay limply on the sedan chair—pale, delicate, and radiating sorrow. She looked like a figure carved from jade, so pitiful that hearts softened at the sight.
Could this be the venomous woman Lady Xue described?
The crowd hesitated. Seizing the moment, Lady Jiang called out, "Eldest Daughter, you’re too injured to be out here! Go back inside!"
Chu Ruoyan lowered her lashes. "I don’t wish to trouble you, Mother. But Lady Xue misunderstands me. Even if it costs my life, I must clarify... cough...!"
A violent coughing fit left her even paler.
Lady Xue’s stomach dropped. As expected, the crowd’s murmurs shifted.
"She doesn’t seem the type..."
"I heard she’s always been sickly."
"Could there be more to this?"
Gritting her teeth, Lady Xue fumed.
All her acting wasted! This little fox played the victim, and these fools fell for it!
But she had a mission. Her husband had told her after court—somehow, the Chu Family had angered the Emperor. When he’d argued against Yan Zheng’s marriage to Chu Ruoyan, the Emperor praised him and promoted him from a fourth-rank official to third-rank!
Such an obvious implication—it was clearly meant to pin the blame for the annulment of the marriage between the two families squarely on Chu Ruoyan’s head!
"Miss Chu, I know marrying into the Yan Family was a grievance for you. But no matter how aggrieved you were, you shouldn’t have taken all the money and fled!"
