Chapter 240: Having Someone in My Heart

The Duke of Chen’s residence held a funeral.

“The celestial omens are inauspicious. There have been rather too many funerals lately.”

“After the Iron Tribunal case, so many people died that everyone was living in fear. It took the first snow to ease the tension a little, and only then did people begin holding banquets again. Now someone else has died.”

“The Eldest Madam of the Zhou family just passed away, and now the Eldest Young Madame and the Dowager Madame are dead too. It’s truly eerie. Could they have been murdered?”

“The Dowager Madame had even more influence than the empress dowager. What benefit would killing her bring the Duke of Chen? If she was murdered, it must have been by an enemy. The Zhou family is finished.”

Rumors spread more thickly and chaotically than the snowflakes filling the sky.

The mourning shed had been erected, and by mid-afternoon, snow began to fall.

The snow drifted down in soft, swirling flakes, trampled into the mud. Everywhere was a mire. The mourning robes of the Zhou men were all stained with mud up to the knees, leaving them looking thoroughly disheveled.

Fan Xiao also came to offer his condolences.

The Second Master said, “Your wedding is tomorrow, so we won’t be able to attend the wedding feast. Is there anything you need help with?”

“Everything has been properly arranged. Brother-in-law, you needn’t worry,” Fan Xiao replied.

He exchanged a few private words with Zhou Yuanshen.

He told Zhou Yuanshen what he had said to his mother.

“...I didn’t tell you beforehand. The Dowager Madame would rather perish together with you than let you go. She was bound to make a move against you. Yet, because of filial duty, you could only defend yourself and not retaliate. My grandmother and I were both afraid you would come to harm,” Fan Xiao said.

Zhou Yuanshen replied, “I could guess as much.”

He had to do something, but he could not go too far.

His solution had been to seize the chief maidservant serving Huan Qingtang. Once the truth came to light, the maidservant’s testimony could clear him of suspicion.

He simply had not expected the Emperor to kill Huan Qingtang outright.

There was no longer any need for the maidservant’s testimony. The Emperor did not need evidence. He believed Huan Qingtang was the culprit, so he punished her.

Perhaps the Emperor had merely lost his temper and gone mad with rage. Perhaps he wanted to conceal the truth behind the Dowager Madame’s death. He might even have wanted to remove Helian Xuan from suspicion.

The Emperor believed Helian Xuan had been wronged.

Huan Qingtang had insisted again and again that the medicine Helian Xuan gave her was only meant to control the Dowager Madame.

The Emperor reasoned that perhaps that was indeed the case. Helian Xuan had only wanted to win over the Huan family; he had not intended to harm the Dowager Madame.

The one who deserved to die was Huan Qingtang.

That woman had led Helian Xuan astray.

With her dead, the Dowager Madame’s death had been avenged. Helian Xuan had merely made a mistake, and a minor punishment would serve as a warning. His reckoning could wait.

“Yuanshen, now that the Dowager Madame is dead, your next opponent is Helian Xuan,” Fan Xiao said.

Zhou Yuanshen’s expression remained indifferent. After a long pause, he said, “It isn’t him.”

Fan Xiao’s heart jolted.

He knew whom Zhou Yuanshen meant.

The Emperor, of course.

It was the Emperor who had forced him to inherit the title. It was the Emperor who had foisted Mu Jiang upon him and made him endure humiliation. It was also the Emperor who had colluded with the Dowager Madame and backed her.

It was this Emperor who had made Zhou Yuanshen suffer one grievance after another.

Fan Xiao was anxious. “Yuanshen, you must think of the reputation you’ll leave behind. Some stains can never be washed away. The historians’ pens are as sharp as knives.”

Zhou Yuanshen said, “I won’t do that. Rest easy, Little Uncle.”

Fan Xiao was still somewhat worried. “I know you’ve planted quite a few people around the Emperor...”

“Helian Xuan used the Huan family to kill my grandmother. Why can’t I use his hand to kill my enemy?” Zhou Yuanshen said.

Fan Xiao fell silent.

“Little Uncle, you spared me from a dilemma. My feelings for you remain unchanged,” Zhou Yuanshen said.

Fan Xiao was getting married the next day, and with the Dowager Madame’s death weighing on him, he failed to notice the deeper meaning in Zhou Yuanshen’s words. He gave a bitter smile. “Do we really need to be so formal with each other, uncle and nephew?”

Zhou Yuanshen inclined his head slightly.

“I’m getting married tomorrow,” Fan Xiao suddenly said. “Lord Pei has repeatedly tried to play matchmaker for me. This marriage is a good one.”

The matchmaker was his superior, Pei Yanhe.

Even when Pei Yanhe had still been the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, he had constantly supported and promoted Fan Xiao. Later, when Pei Yanhe was promoted, Fan Xiao succeeded him as Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

Thanks to Pei Yanhe’s constant care, Fan Xiao’s career in the capital had proceeded with remarkable smoothness.

Otherwise, given his origins in the Duke Protector-General’s residence, he would have faced the scholars’ exclusion and suspicion.

Pei Yanhe had arranged the match and told him about Third Miss Song’s past. Fan Xiao had been deeply moved.

Vice Minister Song was upright and unafraid of power. Fan Xiao needed a family like that behind him.

Third Miss Song also needed a marriage. She deserved one.

It would be good for them both.

Yet, for some reason, the closer the wedding day came, the more stifled Fan Xiao felt.

It was not because he was thinking of his late wife. His late wife had always despised him, and they had barely spoken. There had never been any real affection between them.

Nor was he afraid of the hardships of marriage. Whether the relationship was good or bad, life was lived all the same.

He simply felt stifled.

If a person never knew what he liked, a marriage arranged by the family would not cause him pain. But, unfortunately, he did know.

“Lord Pei has indeed looked after you very well,” Zhou Yuanshen said.

Marriage was not merely about acquiring in-laws. It also meant gaining a superior’s support.

The intricate web of connections in officialdom made every link important.

“Yes.” Fan Xiao’s voice was distant and indistinct. “I will treat her well.”

Then he added, “If two people can become relatives, it means they are fated to meet. She and I will probably live well together.”

He sounded as though he were comforting himself, and perhaps also saying it for Zhou Yuanshen’s benefit.

Zhou Yuanshen glanced at him.

“You’re still busy here, so I’ll head back first,” Fan Xiao said. “We’ll each attend to our own affairs and meet again when we have time.”

Zhou Yuanshen saw him out.

The snow outside had grown heavier, swirling and billowing like torn cotton. It quickly covered the ground in a layer of white, making the roads even harder to travel.

“I’m afraid this snow won’t stop tomorrow,” Fan Xiao said.

The road to his wedding would be just as muddy and difficult to traverse.

He drew a deep breath.

Zhou Yuanshen watched him ride away. He remained outside for a long while before returning, and soon a layer of snow had gathered over his brows. He reached up and brushed it away, then turned and entered the mourning shed.

Inside Chengming Hall, Cheng Zhao was assigning the various funeral arrangements.

The funeral was chaotic. Fortunately, she had handled the funeral of Eldest Madam Song before and knew where problems were likely to arise. She managed to put everything in order.

“The Eldest Young Madame’s coffin will first be placed in the small courtyard behind the rear garden. Assign people to guard it. The Dowager Madame’s body will remain here until her burial. Only after her funeral is completed will we hold the Eldest Young Madame’s,” Cheng Zhao instructed the household managers.

The managers had still been wondering how to arrange two funerals at once and what to do.

Now they understood that the ceremonies would be held separately.

That was indeed the proper arrangement.

The two women had different statuses and ranks. Their funerals could not possibly be conducted on the same scale.

The Dowager Madame had been the wife of the Duke of Chen; Lady Huan did not even hold an imperial title.

After assigning all the tasks, Cheng Zhao remained busy until mid-afternoon before finally having lunch.

Second Madam came over.

“Your Little Uncle is getting married tomorrow. I’ve sent Nanny Fan back with a wedding gift. I’m going to kneel and keep vigil for the Old Lady,” Second Madam said.

Cheng Zhao replied, “Mother, I’ve had the eastern upper rooms prepared for you. You can rest there when you’re keeping vigil instead of traveling back and forth. The snow is so heavy, and it’s terribly cold.”

Second Madam did not stand on ceremony with her.

The Dowager Madame and Huan Qingtang were both dead. The Duke of Chen’s residence now belonged to Zhou Yuanshen. Wherever Second Madam chose to rest, it would not be inappropriate.

She ought to have been happy.

Yet she could not feel happy at all.

Perhaps the overcast, damp, and bitterly cold weather had affected her spirits.

Even the thought of Fan Xiao’s wedding could not bring her much comfort.

“I hope the Emperor doesn’t come,” Second Madam thought.

She was truly afraid of him now.

All she wanted was peace. She was terrified that something else might happen to the family.

Snow fell without pause throughout the Dowager Madame’s funeral, just as rain had fallen during Eldest Madam Song’s funeral. The heavens seemed determined to make things difficult.

Perhaps it was because neither of them had died a natural death.