As soon as the words fell, Chu Yu abruptly turned around and urgently instructed those nearby, "Open the gates, prepare the wine, and bring me the mugwort!"
While speaking, Chu Yu directed everyone to their positions and simultaneously checked the items they would need. Jiang Chun walked up to Third Young Madam Zhang Han and calmly asked, "Third Sister, must you really go to such lengths?"
Zhang Han wore an uneasy expression, and Jiang Chun continued, "Third Young Master has shown you both affection and loyalty. Now that he's returned, won't you even see him once?"
Hearing this, Zhang Han's eyes reddened slightly as she lowered her head and said, "Second Sister, you know my circumstances... If I don't act decisively, how could my family ever tolerate me?"
Jiang Chun said nothing. As a fellow illegitimate daughter, she understood their plight all too well.
Hadn't she herself chosen death for the same reason?
Now that their husbands were dead and the Wei family had been condemned, who among them didn’t understand the gravity of the crime—the annihilation of seventy thousand elite troops? Either they severed ties with the Wei family and returned to their maternal clans, or their maternal clans would surely strike first, cutting ties with them to demonstrate loyalty to the emperor.
The reason their maternal clans hadn’t yet made a stance was simply because Wei Yun hadn’t returned to the capital and hadn’t contacted them—they still didn’t know the full situation.
Jiang Chun remained silent for a long while before finally saying, "But what harm would a single meeting do? Third Sister, you’re all jumping at shadows now, too fearful by half."
"Putting everything else aside," Jiang Chun sighed, "you should at least think of Lingshu. How will he feel if he learns you wouldn’t even grant his father his final dignity?"
At the mention of her child, Zhang Han finally stiffened.
Hesitating, she glanced at Sixth Young Madam Wang Lan beside her. They had always been indecisive, and seeing Yao Jue and Xie Jiu refusing to have the slightest association with the Wei family, they had panicked and followed suit. Now, reminded by Jiang Chun, they finally thought of their children.
The children couldn’t be taken with them, nor could they sacrifice their own lives for them—but neither did they wish their children to remember them as heartless and ungrateful.
"Go and stand with them."
Jiang Chun’s gaze shifted toward Xie Jiu and Yao Jue, but she patted Zhang Han’s shoulder and said, "Right now, the young madam won’t tolerate disobedience. Don’t resist her—even Xie Jiu and Yao Jue will have to yield."
The Xie and Yao families were powerful clans. If even Xie Jiu and Yao Jue had to submit, then naturally, they wouldn’t dare defy.
Zhang Han hesitated for a moment but finally stepped forward and stood behind Chu Yu.
Jiang Chun walked up to Xie Jiu and Yao Jue, respectfully gesturing for them to move and saying calmly, "I needn’t say more, do I?"
Xie Jiu and Yao Jue remained silent. Just then, the sound of ceremonial gongs echoed from outside.
Yao Jue raised an eyebrow, about to curse, but Xie Jiu suddenly pulled her back.
Xie Jiu stared at the gate for a long moment before slowly saying, "Don’t argue with a madwoman. If our families ask, just tell them the truth."
Hearing this, Chu Yu turned her head from the crowd and looked over.
Xie Jiu straightened her posture, her expression calm. Chu Yu nodded at her before turning away.
Xie Jiu froze slightly, not quite understanding the meaning behind that nod.
Once Xie Jiu and Yao Jue had taken their places behind Chu Yu, everything was ready. The sound of gongs grew closer, and the vermilion gates slowly creaked open.
The heavy red doors groaned as the scene outside gradually came into Chu Yu’s view.The streets were bustling with people standing on both sides. A young boy, clad in mourning attire, had his hair tied high with a white cloth band, another strip of white fabric crossing his forehead and tightly bound around his head.
He appeared no more than fourteen or fifteen, his face pale, dark circles beneath his eyes, his features gaunt to the point of revealing bone. His expression was calm, yet an indescribable aura of death surrounded him—like an unsheathed sword, its cold gleam sharp and its edge merciless.
In his hands, he held a memorial tablet. Behind him followed seven coffins—one leading alone at the front, the other six arranged in pairs, forming a long procession that stretched from the distance.
Paper money fluttered through the air like snow. The entire street was silent, as quiet as a ghost town. Yet wherever the coffins passed, the people on either side gradually knelt down, their soft sobs breaking the stillness.
The sound of weeping shattered the deathly silence, and those behind followed suit.
Thus, Chu Yu watched as the crowd on the long street bowed like waves, one after another, the cries echoing from afar, resounding through the entire city.
Chu Yu clenched her hands beneath her sleeves, forcing herself to remain composed and dignified, not losing an ounce of her authority.
Listening to the cries, she suddenly realized—things were not as dire as she had imagined.
The sacrifices of the Wei family might go unrecorded by the court, the officials, the nobility, even the emperor. But the people of this land—they would always remember.
Chu Yu felt her eyes grow hot. Her gaze remained fixed on Wei Yun, watching as the young boy, holding the memorial tablet, slowly turned his eyes toward her from the distance.
That gaze seemed to traverse countless mountains and rivers. And the moment it landed on her, the boy’s expression finally shifted.
He walked up to her, knelt on one knee, lowered his head, and spoke in a clear voice:
“Wei Yun of the Wei family, bringing my father and brothers home!”
As his words fell, the coffins thudded heavily onto the ground. Chu Yu’s eyes moved to the seven coffins. Her lips trembled, her mouth opening and closing as if she wanted to say something—but no words came out.
She had thought herself fully prepared. Yet the moment Wei Yun knelt before her, she was abruptly reminded—
When they had departed, it was this very boy who had come to inform her, just as he did today, kneeling on one knee before her and saying—
The young general has been ordered to march to war. He commands this humble soldier to deliver this jade to the young madam, and bids her not to worry—for he shall return in triumph.
Return in triumph, and not to worry.
Chu Yu descended the steps, placed her hand upon the coffin, and slowly closed her eyes.
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