Chu Yu returned to her room, which was already in complete disarray. Wanyue and Changyue were packing up their belongings. Changyue's face was filled with resentment, and when she saw Chu Yu, she immediately stepped forward, throwing an item to the ground in anger. "Miss, let's return to the Chu residence!" she exclaimed.
"Changyue!" Wanyue quickly pulled her back, giving her a warning look. Chu Yu surveyed the room, walked to the desk, and picked up a storybook that had fallen to the floor, dusting it off.
"Miss," Wanyue approached her from behind and asked respectfully, "What are your plans now?"
By addressing her as "Miss," Wanyue had already made her stance clear. Chu Yu smiled faintly and looked up. "Pack our things. Changyue, take my personal belongings and valuables back to my elder brother first. You, Wanyue, will accompany me to Qing Province with Lady Wei."
"I knew Miss would leave!" Changyue sighed in relief upon hearing the order, casting a smug glance at Wanyue. "You were the one hesitating, saying we should wait for Miss's instructions."
Wanyue smiled helplessly and joined Changyue in packing.
Chu Yu had little to pack. Her most treasured possessions were kept in wooden boxes. Initially, she had only wanted to preserve traces of Wei Jun—after all, he had been the husband she respected most, though she had admired him without romantic love. But over time, the contents of those boxes had gradually become filled with Wei Yun's belongings.
She bent down and retrieved the Divorce Letter from among the letters, gazing at Wei Yun's youthful handwriting before smiling silently.
She had never imagined she would actually need to use it one day. Back then, she had sincerely intended to spend the rest of her life peacefully in this household.
No matter how composed she had appeared before Liu Xueyang, seeing five years of effort reduced to this mess in her room—she wasn’t truly unaffected.
As she packed, Jiang Chun hurried in, seemingly having waited anxiously for a long time. "What did Mother-in-law say?" she asked urgently.
Before the words fully left her lips, she noticed the belongings Changyue and Wanyue had packed, and her face instantly paled. Her lips trembled as she looked up in disbelief. "You're leaving?"
Chu Yu nodded gently. "We’ve spoken openly. If she can’t accept me, then I’ll leave."
Jiang Chun fell silent, staring at Chu Yu with a choked voice. She wanted to say something but didn’t dare. Suppressing her emotions, she finally spoke hoarsely after a long pause, "Can’t you... not go?"
Chu Yu was taken aback, her expression showing surprise. But Jiang Chun quickly closed her eyes, as if in pain, and said, "I was joking. Don’t mind me."
"At a time like this," Chu Yu chuckled softly, "you’re still joking with me?"
Jiang Chun remained silent for a long while before forcing a smile. "Do you know? Five years ago, when Xiao Qi first told me he liked you, I feared this day would come."
"I had no home—A-Shu gave me one. After he left, I had nowhere to go, no roots to cling to. But you saved my life and gave me a home again."
As she spoke, Jiang Chun’s eyes reddened. Seeming embarrassed, she struggled to smile, wiping her tears with a handkerchief. "Forgive me for saying such sentimental things. It must sound ridiculous."Chu Yu watched her quietly as she hastily wiped away her tears, listening to her trembling voice: "I was never a strong person to begin with. I need something to lean on to stand firm. When you came, I felt we were family, and together as family, we could weather any storm. But when Xiao Qi said those words to me, I knew this day would come sooner or later."
Jiang Chun had tried her best, but her voice still grew muffled, her tears only falling faster. She seemed to be in such pain that her body hunched slightly. Chu Yu stepped forward, wrapped her arms around her, and sighed softly.
"A Chun, I've always been your family."
Hearing this, Jiang Chun could no longer restrain herself. She leaned heavily against Chu Yu's arm, sobbing uncontrollably.
"We made it through the hardest times. Why is it that now, when everyone is doing well, we have to part?"
"We survived life and death, we survived the fall of our nation—why can't we survive this now?"
Jiang Chun gasped for breath, gripping Chu Yu's wrist tightly as if overwhelmed by grief.
She had always been reserved, yet all her emotions seemed to burst forth in this moment. Chu Yu lowered her eyes and said slowly, "Perhaps because the hardest thing to endure in this world is the human heart."
"You can fight a tiger, but it's hard to withstand the gnawing of ants. Because sometimes, you don't even know who to strike."
Jiang Chun didn't respond. She panted, closing her eyes in agony.
"I know."
She repeated it over and over: "I know."
She muttered, unsure whom she was trying to convince, until finally, Wanyue's voice sounded: "Miss, everything is packed."
Chu Yu acknowledged her. Jiang Chun gradually regained her composure, struggling to her feet and gazing silently at Chu Yu.
Chu Yu said nothing. After a long while, it was Jiang Chun who spoke first.
"Let me see you off."
Her voice was hoarse, trembling slightly. Chu Yu nodded, then released her and walked out with Changyue and Wanyue.
Jiang Chun and Liu Xueyang had dismissed the servants, so most in the manor were unaware of what had happened.
Chu Yu had arrived with only Changyue and Wanyue, and now she left with little more. She had someone bring a carriage and climbed in. Liu Xueyang joined her, whispering, "I'll see you out of the city."
"Mm."
Chu Yu acknowledged without further words.
As the carriage rocked along, Chu Yu lifted the curtain and saw the plaque of Wei Manor in the rain, its golden characters gleaming faintly under the lantern light, exuding an air of nobility.
Watching those two words disappear completely from her sight, she felt something slowly fade within her heart. She lowered the curtain quietly, listening as Jiang Chun asked, "Where will you go next?"
"Qing Province."
"What about Xiao Qi?"
Chu Yu paused briefly, then smiled soundlessly. "It is what it is. I'll do what I must when I have matters to attend to, and I'll see him when I miss him. I'm only giving up the title of Madam Wei," she lowered her lashes, hiding the emotions in her eyes, "not him."
As they spoke, they reached the city gates. Chu Yu glanced at the stormy sky outside and sighed. "The rain is heavy now—no need to see me off further. If I pass by Bailing someday, I'll come to share a drink with you."Hearing this, Jiang Chun finally smiled through her tears and said gently, "Then I'll wait for you to come."
Chu Yu nodded and replied softly, "Go on."
Jiang Chun remained silent for a moment before simply squeezing her hand and stepping out of the carriage.
After Jiang Chun left, Chu Yu sat in the carriage, silently rubbing the jade pendant that Wei Manor had sent during their betrothal ceremony.
As Chu Yu departed through the eastern gate, Wei Yun whipped his horse and arrived at Wei Manor. Joyfully approaching the gate, he knocked himself. When the gatekeeper opened the door and saw Wei Yun, he froze in shock before nervously asking, "Has the prince returned?"
"Mmm."
Wei Yun entered directly and headed toward the main hall, calling out happily, "I've returned early. Where's Mother? Where's Eldest Sister-in-law?"
Then, realizing his questions might be too blunt, he added, "And Second Sister-in-law and Sixth Sister-in-law?"
The gatekeeper remained silent. After taking a few steps, Wei Yun sensed something amiss.
Tonight, Wei Manor seemed unusually quiet.
He halted, frowned, then suddenly turned back sharply, demanding, "Where is the madam?"
The gatekeeper dropped to his knees in fright. Sensing disaster, Wei Yun drew his sword and pressed it against the gatekeeper's neck, roaring, "Speak! Where are the madam and my mother?!"
"I'm here."
A weary voice came from behind. Wei Yun whirled around to see Liu Xueyang kneeling at the center of the main hall.
Her face was exhausted, her eyes swollen from crying. Wei Yun froze momentarily before noticing lamps being lit throughout the hall.
"Mother?"
Wei Yun asked in confusion, "What's going on?"
As he spoke, an inexplicable dread rose in his heart, and he blurted out, "Where's Sister-in-law?"
"You mean A Yu?"
Liu Xueyang's voice was hoarse. Before Wei Yun could ponder the implications of her words, she continued, "She's gone."
Wei Yun's eyes widened, but he quickly regained his composure and turned to leave.
Liu Xueyang raised her voice sharply, "Stop right there!"
Wei Yun halted as she continued, "She's gone, and that's that. If you truly care for her and have any shred of decency, you'll go rest now!"
Wei Yu didn't respond. With his back still turned, he said hoarsely, "Before I left, I told her not to clash with you."
Liu Xueyang's hands trembled slightly before she closed her eyes and spoke with difficulty, "Xiao Qi, you're still young."
"I've heard that too many times."
Wei Yun turned back, his expression weary. "Gu Chusheng said it, Second Sister-in-law said it, A Yu said it, Shen Wushuang said it... So many people have told me that. But what does my youth matter? Just because I'm young, does that mean my love isn't real? Does that mean whatever I want can be denied so easily?"
Liu Xueyang remained silent. Her confrontation with Chu Yu had drained her completely, and now, facing Wei Yun's reddened eyes, she had no strength left to stop him.
Unable to meet his gaze, she lowered her eyes and said hoarsely, "You cannot go. That's final. I am your mother—are you really going to fight my people?"
As she spoke, Liu Xueyang's attendants emerged from both sides of the corridor, standing beside Wei Yun with tall staffs in hand, their expressions calm and indifferent.Those long rods were once used by the Wei family to enforce household discipline. It had been years since the family had resorted to such measures. When Liu Xueyang heard the commotion, she lifted her head and said coldly, "I cannot allow you to ruin the Wei family's reputation."
"Reputation?"
Wei Yun couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this. "If it weren't for her, we wouldn't even be alive! How could you still be standing here talking about reputation?!"
"Mother," Wei Yun's voice turned icy. For the first time, he lost his composure, no longer caring about restraint or balance. He stared fixedly at Liu Xueyang and spoke mockingly, "What difference is there between your actions and those of ungrateful villains?"
"How dare you!"
Liu Xueyang roared in anger. "Stop this nonsense and return to your room at once!"
"I won't go back."
Wei Yun turned away calmly. "Unless you beat me to death today, I will go find her."
With that, he strode out.
But the moment he took a step, the guards' rods came crashing down, striking Wei Yun squarely on the back. The blow sent him staggering, nearly knocking him to his knees. Wei Xia cried out anxiously, "Madam, the prince has just been injured!"
Liu Xueyang said nothing. She bit her lower lip, tears streaming down her face.
She didn't understand.
She truly didn't understand.
It was just youthful affection—something that would fade in a few years and eventually disappear. Why cling to it so stubbornly?
What could be more important than reputation, than honor?
She remained silent, and the enforcers of the household discipline did not stop. With every step Wei Yun took forward, the guards on either side brought their rods down upon him.
He couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed to the ground, only to struggle back to his feet.
The rods struck again, sending him crashing down once more, yet he still forced himself to rise.
His vision blurred, and even breathing sent waves of pain through him. The rest of the way, he crawled forward.
He heard Wei Xia's pleas for mercy, heard Wei Qiu's arguments. By the time he had crawled up the Wei family's steps, gasping for breath as he stood, he could hear nothing at all.
All he heard was the torrential rain, pounding relentlessly. Then he saw Jiang Chun, who had just returned. She stared at him in shock before suddenly snapping out of it and exclaiming urgently, "She went to Qing Province—she left through the east gate!"
Wei Yun didn't have time to respond. Driven by instinct, he mounted his horse and galloped toward the east gate.
He lay sprawled over the horse's back, his chest aching so fiercely it made him tremble.
Gripping the reins tightly, he raced out of Bailing and onto the main road. Calculating Chu Yu's likely route, he turned onto a mountain path, taking a shortcut in his desperate pursuit.
Wei Qiu and Wei Xia chased after him, but Wei Yun urged his horse forward at breakneck speed, as if he had completely forgotten he was still injured. After what felt like an eternity, a swaying carriage appeared in their line of sight.
Wei Yun tightened his grip on the reins and charged down the hillside.
His horse came to a steady halt in front of the carriage, forcing it to stop abruptly. Inside the carriage, Chu Yu's heart skipped a beat. She lifted the curtain and saw the figure on horseback.
His clothes were disheveled, stained with blood.
He gazed at her silently, his beautiful eyes swirling with countless emotions.
The two of them stared at each other in the quiet of the night, the small lanterns at the corners of the carriage flickering gently in the wind and rain. Wei Yun studied her serene and composed face before finally speaking in a hoarse voice.
"I'm back."
A Yu, I'm back.
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