Chapter 449 Extra Story: Previous Life 1
A crescent moon hung in the sky.
Seventeen-year-old Xie Xian stood behind the courtyard wall, gazing at the kneeling woman, and whispered: "Concubine, keep watch here. I'll bring Mother some food."
It was the changing of guards. Only after confirming no one was in the courtyard did Xie Xian quickly walk in with the food container.
At the center knelt a woman whose white robes had lost their original color, her dark hair disheveled, her expression desolate.
The woman had been kneeling here for many days, her body seemingly at its limit, as if she might collapse at any moment.
"Mother..." Xie Xian hurriedly reached out to support her. "Please eat something."
Yun Chu lifted her eyes to look at the newcomer, her voice hoarse: "Xian Jie'er..."
"Mother needn't say anything." Xie Xian brought out meat congee and handed it over. "You need strength to save the Yun family. Please eat."
Nearly three months had passed since the Yun family's downfall, with the entire clan imprisoned. Only married women had temporarily escaped implication.
Initially, Mother had sought connections everywhere to rescue the Yun family, but with the charge of treason, no one dared intervene.
As a last resort, Mother knelt in the study courtyard, hoping Father and Eldest Brother would intervene and request the Emperor reinvestigate the Yun family's treason case.
Father now held a third-rank position in the Ministry of Revenue, while Eldest Brother was the Chief Grand Secretary—the youngest in history.
If Eldest Brother would intervene, there might still be hope.
Yet Mother had knelt here for nearly three months, with both Father and Eldest Brother avoiding her.
Xie Xian felt heartsick for Mother.
Without Mother, without the Yun family, how could Eldest Brother have soared so smoothly to the highest ministerial position?
Now with the Yun family in crisis and Mother pleading on her knees, Eldest Brother remained aloof...
Moreover, Eldest Brother had controlled all of Mother's servants, forbidding anyone from bringing her food or water...
Xie Xian halted her thoughts and poured a cup of hot water for Yun Chu.
But just then, a figure swiftly approached and kicked over the cup of hot water.
The scalding water splashed onto Xie Xian's hand. She gasped in pain and looked up in disbelief: "Kang Ge'er?"
Xie Shikang said coldly: "The Yun family committed treason. She's a criminal's daughter. The Xie family allowing her shelter is already mercy—how can we give her food? Because of the Yun family's rebellion, our Xie family nearly faced implication too! She doesn't deserve a single grain from the Xie family!"
"Fourth Young Master..." Jiang Yiniang, who had failed to stop him, hobbled over and grasped Xie Shikang's arm, pleading earnestly: "You were born premature, small as a palm—even your own concubine abandoned you. It was Madam who took you into Jade Residence, cared for you tenderly, sought famous physicians for your treatment, even traveled repeatedly to Qingzhou seeking miracle doctors... Without Madam, you wouldn't be here today. How can you speak to her like this?"
Xie Shikang gritted his teeth: "But because the Yun family rebelled, because she bears the Yun name, the Xie family incurred the Emperor's suspicion! If the Emperor believes we participated in the rebellion, our whole family could be imprisoned..."
Yun Chu felt no emotional fluctuation.
From the moment the Yun family fell, she had seen the true nature of the Xie family.
All her past devotion had become a bitter joke.She didn't want to dwell on the past. She only hoped that Xie Jingyu and Xie Shi'an would have a shred of conscience and come forward to testify for the Yun family.
Xie Shikang lifted his foot and kicked over the entire box of food.
Meat porridge and various dishes scattered across the ground.
The next moment, Xie Shi'an emerged, his voice cold. "What is the meaning of this?"
Before Xie Shikang could respond,
Yun Chu raised her head. "Shi'an, you've finally come out to see me. I beg you, please ask the Emperor to thoroughly investigate this case. I'm begging you!"
"A mother should not kneel to her son." Xie Shi'an bent down to help Yun Chu up.
But Yun Chu had been kneeling for too long. Her legs had long lost their strength, her knees stiff. The moment she stood, she collapsed again.
Concubine Jiang and Xie Xian hurried forward, supporting her on either side, letting her lean against Concubine Jiang.
"Though I am the Chief Minister, I don't have the power to change the Emperor's mind," Xie Shi'an said calmly. "I cannot help the Yun family. Mother, please stop kneeling."
"Shi'an!" Yun Chu's voice was hoarse with desperation. "The rebellion letters the court found are fake! They're forged handwriting! If we invite experienced calligraphy masters, they will definitely be able to tell! Shi'an, I know you have the ability to find calligraphy masters, and you have the ability to make the Emperor re-examine the evidence..."
Seeing Xie Shi'an remain silent,
Her voice grew even more raspy. "For the sake of raising you, for the sake of everything I sacrificed to pave your way, please help the Yun family. Shi'an, I'm begging you..."
An inappropriate sneer rang out.
Everyone looked up to see Xie Shiwei, clad in armor, had returned.
He was now serving in the military camp, only able to return every few days, radiating an imposing aura.
"I always thought Mother was an intelligent woman," Xie Shiwei said with mockery. "How can you still not understand at this point? Those letters..."
"Shiwei!" Xie Shi'an shouted sharply. "Some words should be spoken, others should not!"
Yun Chu felt as if struck by lightning.
Her weak body swayed uncontrollably.
In an instant, she understood details she had never considered before.
"It was you... it was you..." Yun Chu's voice was almost gone. "You were the one who forged the rebellion letters imitating my father's handwriting..."
Back then, Xie Shi'an had been highly regarded by his teachers at the Imperial Academy, but his handwriting was somewhat lacking. So she had asked her grandfather to find him a famous teacher. That calligraphy master had once taught her father calligraphy. So the seeds of disaster had been planted that early.
But how had those letters ended up on her father's desk...
Yun Chu's gaze fell on Xie Shiwei's face, then she let out a bitter laugh.
Xie Shiwei had been unruly and troublesome since childhood, always getting into fights. So she had used the Yun family's connections to send him to the military camp for discipline.
Over a dozen years, Xie Shiwei had transformed from that troublesome child into a third-rank general who could freely enter and leave the military camp.
It must have been Xie Shiwei who placed those letters on her father's desk.
"Hahaha!" Despair filled Yun Chu's broken voice. "So it was you who ruined the Yun family! You, the sons I raised with my own hands... No, I'm the one who destroyed the Yun family. I failed to recognize people's true nature, I nurtured vipers in my bosom. I'm the one who killed Grandfather, who killed Father and Mother, who killed Elder Brother, who doomed all hundred members of the Yun family...""It's not your fault, Mother..." Xie Xian wept, "They're the ones in the wrong. They don't know gratitude and have instead bitten the hand that fed them..."
"Xie Xian!" Xie Shiwei roared angrily, "Whose side are you on? Don't forget—your surname is Xie!"
"I'd rather not be a Xie! I loathe the Xie family blood running through my veins!" Xie Xian cried out in despair, "What terrible evil did I commit in my past life to be cursed with cold-blooded, heartless monsters like you as family!"
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