Yun Chu Ling

Chapter 187: He Was Unaware

The dawn light was faint.

Yun Chu had risen early.

Since the Xie family's downfall, the morning greetings had been automatically abolished. She leisurely finished her breakfast and prepared to go to the Yun residence.

Just as she stood up, she heard someone in the courtyard paying respects: "Eldest Young Master."

She looked up and saw Xie Shi'an walking in from the courtyard entrance.

His previous disheveled appearance seemed to have been washed away. Dressed in his former brocade robes, his hair tied up, and his back straight, if not for the cloth covering his right eye, he looked no different from the former Xie family's eldest young master.

"Although the Xie family is no longer what it used to be, etiquette cannot be abandoned," he clasped his hands toward Yun Chu. "Your son pays respects to Mother."

Yun Chu sat back down and casually asked, "Why aren't you resting properly? Dressed like this, are you going out?"

Xie Shi'an nodded. "With Father passing early, I am now the pillar of the family. The Xie family is currently... I want to earn some silver to get through these difficult times first."

The Xie family servants had all dispersed. Grandmother still had one maid left by her side, he only had one page boy remaining, while Concubine's courtyard had no servants left at all.

The reason Mother could still live as before was because Mother was from the Yun family.

How could the Yun family stand by and watch Mother suffer?

If he wanted the Yun family to help support the Xie family, he must let the Yun family see his efforts and hard work. Only if he could lift himself up would the Yun family lift him, wasn't that right?

Yun Chu had thought he was going to see Gong Xi Prince, but it turned out he was going to earn silver.

Just returned from the death prison, and already working hard for the Xie family... If not for encountering her, a reborn person, Xie Shi'an was destined to succeed.

She pressed her lips tightly together.

To avenge her two children's blood debt, she had personally killed Xie Jingyu.

But in fact, the two children had not died.

With the children still alive, her heart had gained an inch of softness.

Xie Jingyu was already dead.

Xie Shi'an was blind.

The Xie family had become what it was now.

Should she continue to take action...

Thinking of this, Yun Chu smiled self-mockingly.

In her previous life, it was because she had been too soft-hearted, holding beautiful expectations for everything, that she had ended up with such a fate.

As long as Xie Shi'an could still struggle and still wanted to rise up, then she could never let her guard down.

"You are the eldest son, you should indeed shoulder the responsibility," Yun Chu said. "Let Duo Xi first take you to offer incense and kowtow to your father. We can slowly plan future matters later."

Xie Shi'an nodded. "Yes."

Duo Xi led him away.

Yun Chu took a carriage to the Yun residence.

It was just after court had dismissed, and Yun Ze had also just returned from the palace.

"Elder Brother, I have something to discuss with you," Yun Chu pulled Yun Ze to sit in the pavilion, pausing for a moment before speaking. "Four years ago, the twins I gave premature birth to..."

At the mention of those two children, pain appeared on Yun Ze's face.

Chu'er's expected delivery date should have been in spring, but it was forcibly brought forward by two months, disrupting the Yun family's plans.

At that time, he had been ordered to handle affairs elsewhere, while his mother and wife had accompanied the Empress Dowager to the temple for sutra chanting. Therefore, on the night Chu'er gave birth, not a single person from the Yun family was present, which was why such an irreparable thing had happened...

"Elder Brother, my children... are still alive..." Yun Chu's voice involuntarily choked. "A son and a daughter, both living well."

Yun Ze suddenly stood up. "Chu'er, is this true?""It's true, they're still alive, big brother, you've even met them..." Yun Chu couldn't help but laugh, "It's Yu Ge'er and Changsheng."

Yun Ze thought he had misheard: "What? Say that again!"

"The Young Son and Little Commandery Princess of the Prince of Pacifying the West Manor are the twins I gave birth to back then." Yun Chu's eyes sparkled brightly before dimming, "I came to discuss with you, big brother—is there any way to bring the children back to my side?"

Dealing with the Xie family, she handled it with ease.

But when facing the Prince of Pacifying the West Manor, she became utterly helpless, completely unsure of what to do next.

She feared going too far and hurting the two children.

She feared not doing enough and failing to regain the two children.

Torn between two difficult choices.

Caught in a dilemma.

Difficult, difficult, difficult.

She could only come to her big brother for advice.

Yun Ze sat back down: "Chu'er, how could your children become the Prince of Pacifying the West's children? What exactly happened in between? Have you figured it out yourself, or do you need me to investigate?"

Yun Chu took a sip of tea and briefly recounted the events of her wedding night five years ago.

"How dare they!"

Yun Ze, usually gentle and refined, slammed the table in fury, causing the tea on it to spill.

"No wonder you wanted to destroy the Marquis Xuanwu's residence! So... so he did such a thing!" His chest heaved violently, "Xie Jingyu has such audacity! How dare he scheme against the Yun family! How did he just die of illness? He should have lived on—should have lived in unbearable suffering, unable to seek death—should have had his life ended by my own hands!"

Yun Chu lowered her gaze.

She didn't dare tell her big brother that she was the one who killed Xie Jingyu.

She feared her big brother would ache for her having blood on her hands...

"The Prince of Pacifying the West—he, he! I always thought he was an honorable gentleman, but I never expected him to be so vile and shameless!" Yun Ze's rage shot straight to the crown of his head.

He and the Prince of Pacifying the West, Chu Yi, were about the same age—one a prince, the other the son of a great general. They often met at various banquets during their childhood. Though not exactly close friends, their relationship was closer than most.

The Prince of Pacifying the West he knew was an outstanding figure among men, a man of spirit and courage. Military men all said the Prince of Pacifying the West was righteous and heroic—the best comrade and the finest commander.

He truly never imagined that Chu'er had been violated by the Prince of Pacifying the West and had a son and daughter taken from her.

"He must have planned this long ago," Yun Ze said gravely. "He knew the Yun family wouldn't involve itself in the struggle for the throne, so he schemed this five years ago, aiming to use Yun bloodline to threaten the Yun family into supporting his bid for the throne! What profound cunning, what grand schemes! Daring to plot against our Yun family—whether he's a prince or a king, he deserves death!"

"Big brother, calm down," Yun Chu softened her voice. "The urgent matter now is how to bring the children back to my side without harming them?"

Yun Ze suppressed his anger: "Since the Prince of Pacifying the West made Yu Ge'er his heir, he won't easily let the children go. Unless... his life is nearing its end, and he doesn't trust others to raise the children, finally having no choice but to return them to our Yun family..."

Yun Chu's heart skipped a beat, about to speak.

Then they heard the voice of their sister-in-law: "In my view, both of you siblings are thinking too narrowly."

Liu Qianqian walked into the pavilion, her belly swollen with pregnancy.

She had come to call the siblings to dinner, never expecting to overhear such earth-shattering words upon approaching.After the initial shock subsided, she calmed her mind to ponder the matter, yet reached a conclusion entirely opposite to that of the siblings.

"Have you ever considered," she began, "that Prince Pingxi might have been completely unaware of what happened that night five years ago?"