Chapter 174: She Was Overthinking It
Yun Chu stood up to take her leave.
Chu Yi escorted her out of the prince’s residence. Seeing her walking back on foot, he frowned and said, “Cheng Xu, arrange for a carriage.”
Cheng Xu wanted to say that carriages were forbidden on the capital’s streets late at night.
But then he remembered—who was their prince? When suppressing bandits, he often returned to the capital late at night. Even the city gates had to open for him. What did it matter if a carriage traveled at night?
He immediately arranged for a carriage.
Naturally, Yun Chu intended to decline.
“Qin’s faction hasn’t been fully captured yet. If you were abducted on the way, it would be my fault,” Chu Yi gestured. “Miss Yun, please.”
Before her marriage, Yun Chu was often addressed as Miss Yun.
But after marrying, everyone called her Madam Xie. The title “Miss Yun” now felt slightly unfamiliar.
Even after leaving the Xie family and severing ties with Xie Jingyu, society would typically refer to a woman like her, who had been married, as “Madam Yun.”
Yet, bringing up such a minor matter of address seemed overly deliberate.
She nodded in gratitude to Chu Yi, took Qiutong’s hand for support, and bent to enter the carriage. The carriage began moving forward steadily.
She heard the sound of another horse’s hooves nearby. Lifting the carriage curtain, she saw Chu Yi riding alongside her carriage.
“I’m heading to the Court of Judicial Review to take over Qin Mingheng’s case,” Chu Yi explained involuntarily.
Only after speaking did he realize that the Court of Judicial Review lay to the west, yet he was following her eastward.
Yun Chu didn’t press further. She lowered the curtain and traveled smoothly all the way to the main gate of the Xie residence.
The two guards at the gate immediately bowed. “Greetings, Prince Pingxi!”
Chu Yi nodded, watching as Yun Chu stepped through the Xie family’s gate.
Yun Chu felt a burning gaze fixed on her back. Without turning, she knew it must be Chu Yi.
After her coming-of-age ceremony, she had been hailed as the capital’s top beauty. Whenever she went out, she could feel such stares from all around.
Later, she gradually went out less often.
And when she did venture out again, she was already a married woman, her hair styled in a matron’s bun, rarely subjected to such overt attention anymore.
She found it hard to believe. Could Prince Pingxi possibly be interested in her…?
She shook her head.
Impossible.
She must be overthinking it.
Only after the Xie family’s gate closed did Chu Yi withdraw his gaze.
He turned to the guards stationed at the Xie residence’s entrance and commanded, “Relay my order: withdraw all personnel.”
She still held a place in her heart for that man. If the funeral couldn’t be held properly, if the mourning rites remained unfulfilled, he feared it would become a lifelong regret for her.
He hoped she could forget Xie Jingyu soon…
“Your Highness, a report just came in,” Cheng Xu approached, lowering his voice. “Earlier, you ordered an investigation into Physician Qin. My men searched the entire capital for half a month and found three or four physicians named Qin, but none were the old imperial physician from the palace.”
Chu Yi remembered.
During the wedding of the Xie family’s eldest daughter, Xie Ping, he had learned from Xie Jingyu that Yun Chu had once invited an old imperial physician named Qin for Xie Jingyu.
As the art of war stated, “Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.”
Thus, he had specifically sent someone to find Physician Qin, aiming to inquire about Xie Jingyu’s health condition.
Such a small matter, investigated for over half a month, and they still hadn’t uncovered anything."I changed my approach to the investigation," Cheng Xu continued. "I spent some silver to have every Xie family servant who had seen the old Imperial Physician Qin draw a portrait. Then I had a government artist synthesize the images into one portrait. Finally, I discovered that the so-called Imperial Physician Qin was actually just an old tofu seller from Tofu Lane in the capital. I had guards take the old man for tea. Starting from ten taels of silver and increasing to thirteen hundred taels, it took a full three hours before the old man finally relented and revealed that it was Madam Xie who found him and asked him to impersonate a palace imperial physician..."
Chu Yi, who usually maintained a stern expression, showed a look of astonishment.
Yun Chu hired a tofu seller to treat her husband?
This meant she never actually wanted her husband to recover?
Why would she do such a thing?
One question after another surfaced in his mind.
But there was no time for further contemplation.
He immediately asked, "Where is that old man now?"
If his men could uncover this, others might be able to as well...
"After the old man revealed the truth, he was detained, awaiting Your Highness's decision!"
Chu Yi pressed his lips together.
Since this concerned Yun Chu, he couldn't afford to be careless.
As for the old man - could it be said he betrayed Yun Chu? Yet it took over a thousand taels of silver to make him talk, when selling tofu only earned two or three taels per month at most.
Could it be said he didn't betray Yun Chu? In the end, he still yielded to threats and bribes, revealing the person behind it.
Execute him?
That seemed inappropriate.
Not because he was soft-hearted.
But because if someday Yun Chu learned he killed without blinking an eye, he wouldn't even have a chance to explain.
After a long pause, he finally spoke: "Relocate the old man's entire family to Luochuan."
Luochuan was his fiefdom, his territory. Staying in Luochuan under his men's surveillance would ensure complete security.
Cheng Xu immediately accepted the order and went to carry it out.
The men guarding the Xie residence promptly dispersed.
Xie Zhongcheng's face was full of disbelief. This daughter-in-law had merely gone out late at night once and resolved the Xie family's major trouble, demonstrating the Yun family's status in the capital.
If only she had acted sooner, Jingyu wouldn't have died from excessive drinking...
But now, he couldn't bring himself to blame this daughter-in-law. He feared she might truly abandon her responsibilities...
Xie Zhongcheng forced himself to take charge of the situation, though most servants had fled, leaving few people available. Many tasks required his personal attention.
He had the concubines hang white funeral banners and white lanterns around the residence. He personally purchased the best coffin within his means and, together with Yuan Shi, placed Xie Jingyu inside.
"My son, my Yu'er!" Yuan Shi cried as if her heart would break. "You suffered so much in this life. May you be reborn as an honest man and live peacefully to old age..."
As the coffin lid was gradually closed, Yuan Shi collapsed to the ground.
The concubines covered their faces and wept bitterly, while the young children who didn't understand what was happening cried along. The room filled with the sound of mournful weeping.
Yun Chu stood before the coffin, taking one last look at Xie Jingyu.
When the coffin was completely sealed, she lit three incense sticks and placed them in the incense burner. From this moment on, the grievances between them were finally settled.
The news of Xie Jingyu's death quickly spread throughout the capital.
The Xie family had already been the focus of public attention recently, with one scandal after another constantly testing the common people's limits. Now that Xie Jingyu was dead, everyone felt a sense of righteous satisfaction."Embezzling silver – serves him right to die. Getting to keep his whole body was letting him off too easily."
"No wonder he dared take a daughter of the He family as his concubine – turns out he wanted to learn embezzlement tricks from the He family. Tsk tsk!"
"Xie Jingyu and that He woman had three children: the eldest son murdered his own mother, the eldest daughter schemed against the Anjing Prince, and the youngest son killed his own paternal grandmother. Seems the rot runs right down to the roots."
"Even with such an excellent principal wife from the Yun family to raise them, they still couldn't be straightened out. Poor Miss Yun, the Yun family's eldest daughter."
"..."
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