Chapter 560: A Orphan’s Devoted Heart, an Easy Scapegoat

Sitting on the small stool beneath Du Wan, Cui Mo was somewhat uneasy but still remained composed. She was no longer the naive little girl from the Daxiangguo Temple of years ago; ten years had stripped away her youthful innocence, leaving her graceful and poised. Having witnessed the extravagance, wealth, and coldness of the royal family, experienced the Meng family’s decline from a prominent clan to living in seclusion in the countryside, and even lost her parents without knowing it—almost losing herself as well—she had matured greatly over these two years.

Meng Min had advised her more than once to revert to her real name, but she always found excuses to refuse. Only in the dead of night, when everyone else was asleep and she lay awake tossing and turning, would she recall her childhood memories over and over again under her covers. The hatred for her parents’ murderers was unforgivable. As a weak woman, even if she couldn’t kill them herself, she couldn’t forget such a deep-seated grudge. Only by hearing others repeatedly call out the murderers’ names could she remind herself not to forget through the heart-wrenching pain.

Now that Du Wan had mentioned Zhu Ning’s letter, she hesitated no longer and repeated to Du Wan what she had said to Zhu Ning before the New Year. Then she lowered her head and said, “The princess told me back then that exposing such things was easy—just spread some rumors, and it would work. But the authorities might not care, and even if they did, it might not help. Besides, Prince Zhao has been in charge of Beijing for years. By the time the authorities hear the rumors, the matter might be quietly covered up, causing even bigger trouble.”

At these words, Cui Mo tightly clenched her hands on her knees, though she knew in her heart that Zhu Ning was unaware of the past and was speaking only for her own good. She had even thought of risking her life to make a scene at the authorities, but Meng Min, who spent time with her day and night, saw through her intentions and completely dissuaded her resolve with just a few words.

If she saved her life but failed to avenge her parents, wouldn’t that be even greater unfilialness? Wouldn’t it render her parents’ efforts in vain?

Although Du Wan didn’t know Cui Mo’s hidden troubles, upon observing her expression closely, she faintly sensed an indescribable anger. She gradually understood why Zhu Ning had mentioned Cui Mo in the letter. Seeing the girl staring at her knees, Du Wan sighed silently, placed one hand on the table, and leaned forward slightly.

“Times have changed. The princess spoke that way back then for her own reasons, but now is a critical moment, and the situation is very different from before. You said it was people from the Anyang Prince’s Mansion who took the laborers to the manors—so what about now? Are those laborers still there?”
“Yes, of course!” Cui Mo was shocked and immediately raised her head, nodding repeatedly without hesitation. “Not only are they there, but there are even more than before! The Zhao Prince’s Mansion and the Anyang Prince’s Mansion own several manors in Beizhili. They’ve always taken in wealthy and common families seeking refuge, but this year the number has increased by more than ten times. It’s said they even offer land in exchange for loyalty—those who do so won’t have to serve corvée forever and only need to pay half of the taxes to the Zhao Prince’s Mansion!”
Although she asked the question, Du Wan didn’t expect Cui Mo to know so much. Hearing this answer, she remembered that Cui Mo originally came from the Anyang Prince’s Mansion and felt there were some complicated ties involved. After pondering for a while, she frowned thoughtfully: “If what you say is true, everyone in the countryside must be aware of it. The government surely can’t be unaware.”
“The practice of people offering themselves to the Zhao Prince’s Mansion dates back to when the former Zhao Prince was stationed in Beijing. The government reported it before, but since it involved the Zhao Prince, the officials investigated it briefly before dropping it, as if it never happened. Now it’s gotten worse, and the government just thinks it’s an old matter, so they ignore it!”
Du Wan, who lived in the south, had also heard of such things. Her family’s hundreds of acres of paddy fields were reduced from 800 to 600, then to 400, because her father, who wasn’t an official, couldn’t get exemptions from taxes and corvée. Her uncles and aunts who passed the imperial examinations used various tricks to reduce the land. Even after her father returned to court and sold those fields, the family members quickly offered them back and even added more land under his name. Even with her father’s temperament, he couldn’t do much about this behavior.
In times of peace, the shortfall in taxes could be overlooked, but when war broke out and laborers were conscripted, it became a serious problem. Especially with a suspicious and irritable emperor, it was impossible to tolerate such things easily.
A few days ago, she heard that her father had met Yang Shiji and was then ordered to go to the Eastern Palace again. Du Wan sensed something was up. Now that Zhang Yue wasn’t around, should she take this matter back and ask her father? As she thought this, a voice full of surprise and joy came from outside the door.

“Madam, the young master has returned. He went to the main house in the north courtyard first to visit the old lady, so he’ll be here a bit later!” After shouting this at the top of her voice, Mother Cui entered the room. With a beaming smile and a bow, she quickly added, “I mentioned just now that Miss Cuimò has arrived, and the young master asked her to stay a while.”

For Cuimò, apart from her parents, the most trustworthy people in her life were Zhang Yue and Meng Min. During that flood, Zhang Yue not only provided them with a place to live but also gave them some silver coins to help them get through the toughest times. What he said on the carriage later also touched her heart. Meng Min’s help allowed her and her parents to escape danger temporarily, sparing her father the hardship of repairing the city walls. Even though her parents died tragically in the end, wrongs must be avenged—if she failed to distinguish between kindness and enmity, she would no longer be human. So, hearing that Zhang Yue had returned filled her with joy.

Du Wan was both surprised and delighted upon hearing this, not noticing Cuimò’s joyful expression. But Mother Cui, sitting in front of the kang, saw it clearly and couldn’t help but glance at Cuimò, thinking that this maid from the Meng family was not only beautiful but also seemed to know her young master. She had been carefully chosen by Lady Sun to serve in the courtyard. Now that she was interested, she didn’t leave right away but stayed, sitting on a small stool across from Cuimò. Seeing that it was getting late, Huobo and Qiuhen brought in some snacks.

They waited for over an hour before Zhang Yue finally returned. After seeing his grandmother, he looked disheveled; he wiped his face with a towel and put on a dark blue robe. When he removed the robe, his inner garment, so soiled that its original color was barely visible, became apparent. With guests present, Zhang Yue, covered in sweat, simply nodded at Du Wan and waved his hand at Cuimò and the others who wanted to bow, then went straight to the next room to bathe and change.

Twenty minutes later, once he had settled down, he entered the room again and sat down on the kang to the east, across from Du Wan. After exchanging a few polite words with Cuimò and learning the details, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

“Cuimò, I know it wasn’t easy for you to find out this information, and it shows your filial piety. But you still need to be careful going forward. After all, you live on the outskirts of the city. Even if Marquis Baoding keeps an eye on things, it can’t protect you from the power of a royal family. It would be even worse if someone were determined to target you. I’ve remembered what you said today—it’s very useful. I’ll think of a way. You go back now; I’ll take care of it.”

Hearing these words, Cui Mo quickly stood up, knelt down, and bowed deeply. Du Wan promptly ordered Qiu Hen beside her to help her up, but she was stubborn and kept bowing three more times before finally standing up, her face covered in tears. Seeing this, Zhang Yue quickly asked Hu Bo to take her downstairs to wash her face. Then he said to Mother Cui and Qiu Hen, “Mother Cui, go pick out two thick pieces of fabric for her, in plain colors. Just say it’s not for anything else but to give her some winter clothes to keep warm. Qiu Hen, go check the kitchen for any fresh pastries and bring back two boxes for her to give to the others.”

Only after everyone had left did he rub his temples. Looking up, he saw Du Wan staring at him thoughtfully, and he sighed deeply again. During these ten years of his second life, he had gotten used to keeping everything to himself and bearing everything alone, whether it was his parents or his wife. He was afraid they would bear too much burden if they knew too much, and he always thought it was best for only he to be aware of these things. But while he was exhausted from carrying it all alone, those kept in the dark might not be comfortable either.

“I met her family of three back in Kaifeng,” Zhang Yue began, then decided to talk openly.

During their first encounter at Daxiangguo Temple, the reticent Kang Dahai and the talkative Lady Kang Liu both protected her fiercely. He could no longer remember her appearance; he only remembered her as a thin figure hiding behind her parents, with bright eyes. Giving her a few silver coins was just a trivial act of kindness from a wealthy young man, with no intention of having anything to do with her again—thinking they would never meet again.

It was that quiet and honest Kang Dahai who, years later, fought to avenge his wife by killing his enemy in Kaifeng Prefecture. The then prefect happened to be the father of the Jin sisters, who took bribes and sentenced him to death. It wasn’t until a new prefect took office that he was sentenced to death as a minor criminal and sent to build the city walls in Beijing. The mother and daughter followed him there.

At the entrance of the Anyang Prince’s mansion, he only saw her mother—dressed in tattered clothes, enduring humiliation yet still maintaining proper manners, speaking in a clear and organized manner. But later, hearing that the whole family had entered the mansion, fearing the prudence of the royal family, he decided to consider that part of his past behind him. Unexpectedly, she later appeared at the Duke of Ying’s mansion with the mother from the Anyang Prince’s mansion. Though she seemed shy when she saw him, her joy was evident.

Then, she was deliberately sent to the Meng family because she refused to act as a spy for the prince’s palace out of gratitude for past favors. What was even more unexpected was that not long after, her mother died suddenly in the prince’s palace while carrying their unborn child. Her father, who had remained silent at first, eventually detonated a cartload of gunpowder at a critical moment, using his own life to cause a shock throughout the capital.

When he took action, she was just a disheveled girl; later, though she grew into a graceful beauty and her family escaped poverty to live a better life, their story turned out to be far more tragic and complicated than any drama.

Du Wan listened carefully. When Zhang Yue mentioned Kang Dahai’s actions twice, even though she rarely showed her emotions, she couldn’t help but secretly cheer, her face revealing unmistakable admiration and sorrow: “He sacrificed himself twice for his wife despite breaking the law, all because there were no laws to rely on in the situations he faced. What a true hero! But the fate of her parents was truly tragic. I noticed that Cui Mo always smiled openly, but there was always a hint of sorrow—turns out it was because of this.”

Recalling the thunderous explosion she had heard before, she couldn’t help but pinch the palm of her right hand with her left thumb. To die in such a devastating way, to hope for revenge in such a fierce and decisive manner—she truly admired such a straightforward man, yet also felt deep sympathy for that poor girl who had lost both parents.

“I can’t help with anything else, so this time I won’t let the message she sent with such effort go to waste. Presumably, the princess sent the letter now because she heard some rumors. She’s a strong girl who doesn’t want others to pity her; otherwise, she wouldn’t be so determined to seek revenge. Avenge injustice, settle grudges—just as you said, if the law is useless, one must rely on oneself. Speaking of which, I encountered some troubles on my way back to the capital. I don’t know who I offended, but I ran into some strange things again!”

Seeing Du Wan stunned, he placed his right hand over hers on the table and said with a wry smile, “When I passed by Jiming Post Station this time, I ran into a group of assassins disguised as merchants. I was in a hurry to return to the capital and didn’t want to capture any alive, so I simply ordered them to be killed. If I hadn’t brought this up in front of the crown prince today, I’m afraid the equally aggrieved crown prince would have assigned me some difficult task.”

“Assassins again?”

Du Wan gasped in shock. Though Zhang Yue didn’t seem to be injured, she still felt uneasy. Compared to the intrigues and battles in the political arena, this direct method of eliminating a person was the most brutal and straightforward, as well as the hardest to anticipate. Back when Zhang Yue went to the south, hadn’t his sword been broken by an arrow, almost causing him serious trouble?
Hearing Zhang Yue recount the incident in detail, she suddenly understood: “You didn’t leave anyone alive back then because you were worried that they might make false accusations and cause even bigger problems?”
“You’re well aware of the rumors in the capital. I even heard that some people were talking about a collapse in the imperial tombs—this mess could be even deeper than we think. If they had succeeded back then, someone might have used my status as an imperial envoy to frame me. These days, it’s easy to fabricate evidence and frame others. And if we had left someone alive, and they confessed under pressure, claiming that the crown prince suspected me of killing them to seize the will, things would have really gotten bad. Now it’s much simpler—the assassins could be the King of Han, the King of Zhao, Princess Yongping, or even followers of Prince Shouguang who are imprisoned in the Western Garden. The most likely candidates are those White Lotus Sect Mongol barbarians; it’s easy to find a scapegoat.”