Chapter 239: Sons Can Be Just as Considerate
Zhou Yuanshen came in.
Cheng Zhao was the first to wake. She immediately slipped on her shoes and stepped out from the eastern side room, coming face-to-face with Zhou Yuanshen, who was covered in frost and dust from his journey.
They had been apart for less than a day, yet she felt as though they had not seen each other in years.
Ignoring the fact that Nanny Fan and the others were present, Cheng Zhao threw herself into Zhou Yuanshen’s arms.
He caught her and held her tightly, murmuring softly, “Don’t be afraid. Cheng Zhao, don’t be afraid.”
Cheng Zhao pressed herself against him.
Nanny Fan immediately sent the senior maids away and withdrew outside herself.
Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Zhou Yuanqi also came out of the eastern side room. “Third Brother.”
Cheng Zhao released her hold, and Zhou Yuanshen relaxed his arms and let her go as well.
“Where’s Father?” Zhou Yuanqi asked.
“Father went outside to prepare the mourning shed,” Zhou Yuanshen replied.
“Is Grandmother going to be buried?” Zhou Yuanqi asked again, now fully awake.
“Yes.”
“Then we’re all safe now,” Zhou Yuanqi said.
The emperor was willing to let the Dowager Madame be buried, which meant he had uncovered the truth and would not implicate the other members of the Zhou family. They no longer had to remain confined.
As long as their branch of the family was safe, Zhou Yuanqi did not care about anyone else.
“Was it Eldest Sister-in-law who killed Grandmother?” he asked again.
“It was her. She conspired with Helian Xuan to poison the Dowager Madame,” Zhou Yuanshen said.
Second Madam had also awakened.
The light of dawn gradually filtered in through the doorway and windows, while the candlelight and oil lamps slowly dimmed.
As Second Madam instructed the maids to prepare hot water for her and Cheng Zhao to wash up, she also ordered them to make hot tea.
After a simple wash, Zhou Yuanshen used the water Cheng Zhao had washed her face with to wipe down his own face. Only then did he sit down in the eastern side room to drink tea.
Everyone was exhausted and hungry.
However, the main kitchen would not be lit at this hour, so they probably would not have a proper meal until late morning.
Just then, the young servant Nanfeng entered.
“Duke, these are pastries, fried flatbreads, and meat buns bought outside.” He carried in two large food boxes and set them on the table. “I’ve already delivered some to Second Master’s residence.”
Second Madam: “...”
Zhou Yuanshen said, “Mother, none of you had time to eat last night, did you? Have something first. You’ll all have to kneel before the spirit tablet this morning.”
Second Madam had only managed a short nap and had woken up ravenous.
Everyone ate considerably more than usual at breakfast. There was still quite a lot left over, so Second Madam had Nanny Fan distribute it among the maids.
Once they were full, they sat down to talk, and Second Madam asked the same questions again.
Was the Dowager Madame really dead?
Who had killed her?
“...I had already thought that as long as we caught Lady Huan’s personal maid and obtained some evidence, then with her testimony, we could implicate Lady Huan. The evidence didn’t need to be particularly conclusive. We only needed the emperor to believe us. This went more smoothly than I expected. The emperor believed it very quickly,” Zhou Yuanshen said.
The Dowager Madame had wanted to offer Huan Qingtang to the emperor, hoping she would take Mu Jiang’s former position, but the emperor had refused.
Thus, the emperor assumed that Huan Qingtang had harbored a grudge and wanted to kill the Dowager Madame—in truth, she had intended to assassinate him.
“How was she dealt with?” Second Madam asked, her voice somewhat tense.
Poisoning the Dowager Madame was a capital offense, and even her entire clan could have been implicated.
How foolish she had been!
And how utterly innocent her clan and relatives were!
People like Lady Huan, who deserved death, never spared a thought for anyone else. They took pleasure in harming others.
But Zhou Yuanshen said, “His Majesty killed her with his own sword.”
Second Madam: “!”
Why had he done that again...?
The emperor had personally killed quite a number of people. As the emperor, did he really need to do such things himself? Centuries later, the histories would not have a single good word to say about him.
His reputation after death would be utterly disgraceful.
What exactly did he want by insisting on killing people himself?
“Since she’s dead, will the case still be made public? Will her clan escape disaster?” Second Madam asked.
“It won’t be tried. Officially, we’ll say that the Dowager Madame was elderly and gravely ill, and died peacefully in bed. Lady Huan was heartbroken and followed her in death, her filial devotion shining as brightly as the moon.”
This was to preserve the dignity of the Duke of Chen’s Estate.
If the case were truly investigated, the estate’s reputation would be ruined.
From this, it was clear that even without the Dowager Madame, the emperor would still take the Zhou family’s reputation into consideration. Was this because he valued Zhou Yuanshen?
Thinking of this, Second Madam glanced at her son. “Since it won’t be made public, then Helian Xuan...”
“The emperor doesn’t believe that he was the one stirring things up. Lady Huan and a maid cannot bring him down. Even if Lady Huan’s father came forward, I’m afraid it still wouldn’t be enough,” Zhou Yuanshen said.
Cheng Zhao’s heart sank.
The emperor favored Zhou Yuanshen, and he would favor Helian Xuan as well. Zhou Yuanshen had planted spies, and so had Helian Xuan. Neither of them was easy to deal with.
That man had no sense of right or wrong, no distinction between good and evil. He had only his lust for power.
Second Madam sighed deeply. After a while, she said, “I hope peace will come to the realm soon, so that we can live properly.”
Zhou Yuanshen said nothing.
“Is the Duke of Chen’s Estate holding two funerals at once? Lady Huan murdered the old madam—will she still be buried in the Zhou family’s ancestral grave?” Second Madam asked again.
“Since the truth won’t be made public, naturally the two funerals will be held together. Bury her in the ancestral grave. Once she’s underground, she can continue fighting with Grandmother.”
Second Madam: “...”
She could already imagine how the entire capital would laugh at the Zhou family.
At that moment, Second Madam had completely forgotten that her younger brother was about to be married.
Cheng Zhao and Zhou Yuanshen went out first.
Since they were holding a funeral, there was a mountain of work waiting for Cheng Zhao.
The Dowager Madame was dead, and Lady Huan was dead as well. From now on, the entire Duke’s Estate would belong to Cheng Zhao. If everything went smoothly, she would become the senior lady of the household. Her goal was about to be achieved.
Why, then, did she feel not the slightest bit of joy?
Was it because she had anticipated the turmoil to come?
Cheng Zhao could not explain it.
At Jiangyun Courtyard, Zhou Yuanqi had not yet left. He and Second Madam continued waiting for news. Once the body had been prepared for burial, they would go kneel before the spirit tablet.
“I truly never imagined that the old madam would meet such an end,” Second Madam said.
It was completely unexpected.
It was like a beautiful garment whose final sleeve had been sewn on in tatters, clashing utterly with the rest.
Or like a carefully composed essay, its opening written in neat, elegant characters, only for the final lines to be filled with crooked, disorderly ink—nothing like the meticulous planning that had come before.
Zhou Yuanqi said, “The histories record many people who enjoyed glory and success in their youth, only to meet an exceedingly shabby end in their final years.”
He gave Second Madam several examples.
A brave and battle-hardened general, renowned throughout the realm for both his person and his blade, with countless victories to his name, died at forty-one from a bout of diarrhea.
A poet of dazzling talent, who had left behind countless beloved verses, encountered war and upheaval in his later years. Unable to pay a toll for passage, he was beheaded by a low-ranking soldier. At the time, several rulers were still trying to recruit him and lamenting the loss of such talent.
There was also a strategist who could sway the world with his eloquence, a single tongue worth a thousand troops. During the Lantern Festival, he drank wine and listened to music aboard a pleasure boat, only to fall into the water and drown.
“...Life is accidental, and so is death. No one decreed that Grandmother had to die in any particular way,” Zhou Yuanqi said.
Second Madam looked at him. “You’ve read a great many books.”
“That’s why I don’t get caught up in pointless worries. Mother, you should read more too. Then you won’t panic whenever something happens,” Zhou Yuanqi said.
For once, Second Madam took his advice and nodded. “Just look at you, and then look at your sister-in-law. Reading really is useful. Once this turmoil has passed, I’ll read a little myself.”
After hearing a few words from Zhou Yuanqi, Second Madam felt somewhat relieved. Her son really was considerate.
Zhou Yuanqi, meanwhile, was secretly astonished.
His mother had looked down on scholars her entire life, always saying that scholarly families were hypocritical. Yet now she had actually relented and planned to start studying herself.
—Fate was truly wondrous.
The funeral at the Duke of Chen’s Estate once again sent shock waves throughout the entire capital.
The Dowager Madame was dead, and Lady Huan was dead.
Neither the Qingyuan Marquis’s household—the Dowager Madame’s natal family—nor Lady Huan’s family made any attempt to cause a commotion. They simply accepted what had happened.
The Qingyuan Marquis had come several times while the Dowager Madame was unconscious, terrified that the emperor might take his anger out on them. The Huan family was even more frightened out of their wits.