Although it was past late afternoon, the veil of gloom hanging over today’s sky was suddenly blown away by a spring breeze, turning the day even brighter than at noon. Even the birds began to chirp more cheerfully.
Treading on the newly sprouted wild grass, Yin Weiyue—full of swagger and martial spirit—dragged Mrs. Chen along as she hastily left the Old Mrs.’s courtyard. It was only after Mrs. Chen could no longer keep up with her pace and tumbled heavily to the ground that Yin Weiyue released her hand.
Falling head and hands first, Mrs. Chen scraped her forehead and palms, drawing a faint trace of blood. She immediately let out an “Ow!” and burst into earth-shattering wails.
The eldest sister-in-law Mrs. He, second sister-in-law Mrs. Su, youngest sister-in-law Huo Wanying, and young Huo Dong—who had all chased after them—felt their hearts swing up and down like a pendulum in cadence with Mrs. Chen’s crying.
No one had expected Mrs. Yin to be so fierce and domineering. Even the Third Master could not handle Mrs. Chen, yet she had been so easily straightened out by her.
“You… how dare you hit me?!” Mrs. Chen’s face was filled with utter disbelief. Crying while burning with rage, she simply sat on the ground and refused to get up. Her tear-reddened eyes looked as though they could kill. “Come here, someone! Kai’er, your mother is going to be killed by this lowborn woman Mrs. Yin! Blood, it’s all blood! The entire eldest branch is ganging up to murder me!”
*Tsk tsk, what exquisite acting.*
Yin Weiyue casually crossed her arms, placing her heels on the ground while slowly raising the balls of her feet, rhythmically tapping the ground one beat at a time. She wanted to see just how long Mrs. Chen could continue howling; after all, it wasn’t her own throat suffering.
As for Mrs. Chen’s precious son Huo Kai, he definitely would not be able to make it over within the time it takes an incense stick to burn. At the thought of this, Yin Weiyue couldn’t help but use some national-curse colorful language in her heart to send her regards to Huo Jun.
“Achoo!” In the main hall of the third branch’s courtyard, Huo Jun, who had just been “regard-sent,” suddenly felt an itch in his nose.
“Seventh Brother, what happened to you…?” Huo Kai thought Huo Jun had come over because of Yin Weiyue’s matter. But believing himself to stand tall and walk straight with nothing to feel guilty about toward his brother, he remained open and upright.
What unsettled him was his brother’s disheveled appearance.
A few stalks of dried weeds were stuck in Huo Jun’s hair. His usually fair, clean face was covered in splotches of black and ash. His washed-faded, bamboo-green long robe was caked with fresh dirt, so evenly distributed that it looked as if he had rolled around on the ground. The damage at his knees was the most severe, with mottled red bloodstains soaking through.
Even without looking into a bronze mirror, Huo Jun knew he was in a state of complete wretchedness.
After coming out of the main courtyard, he had just reached the entrance to the third branch’s courtyard when the old scholar tree—a house-protecting tree planted at the start of the path that had been growing perfectly well—suddenly snapped at the trunk for no apparent reason and crashed straight down toward him.
Fortunately, his reaction was prompt enough. He leaped forward and executed a roll to avoid being crushed by the trunk. Though he suffered bleeding on his back, hands, and legs, he at least preserved his life.
Recalling Yin Weiyue’s curse before his departure, Huo Jun’s expression grew even colder.
That woman really was a total jinx.
Seeing this, Zhang Yulin hurriedly said, “I’ll fetch a basin of clean water.”
“Thank you, Fifth Sister-in-law,” Huo Jun expressed his gratitude while politely declining, “I am fine. I must ask Fifth Brother and Fifth Sister-in-law to come with me to Grandmother’s courtyard to persuade Third Aunt to return.”
“Has my mother gone to throw a tantrum before Grandmother again?” Huo Kai’s face darkened. “She really never lets anyone rest for a single day. Let’s go quickly.”
…
Due to a spring rain two days prior, the ground still held a touch of dampness. The vast Marquis Xingwu Manor was excessively silent, with only the occasional calls of unnamed birds making Mrs. Chen’s crying sound all the more piercing.
Meanwhile, the entire manor was tightly surrounded by government soldiers. According to the book, not even a fly could escape. These guards did not care whether the people inside starved, fell ill, or cried to death; as long as no one stepped out of the manor, none of it had anything to do with them.
Yin Weiyue watched Mrs. Chen—who was still throwing a fit—with relaxed composure, but the few people beside her were not nearly as calm.
“Third Aunt, stop crying and please get up quickly. Seventh Sister-in-law didn’t do it on purpose; her steps were just a bit too rushed, and she couldn’t have anticipated that you would fall.” Seeing that letting this scene go on was no solution, Huo Wanying spoke the truth of what she had seen. She stepped forward and reached out to support Mrs. Chen. “Fortunately, the injury isn’t serious. I’ll take you back to wash it with clean water.”
“Don’t touch me! You’re useless at everything else, yet you’ve learned your mother’s hypocritical act to perfection!” With a harsh push, she shoved Huo Wanying away. The latter was already dizzy with hunger, and taken completely off guard, she landed flat on her bottom.
This pained Yin Weiyue’s heart immensely.
She quickly rushed forward to pull Huo Wanying up, gently patting the dust off her clothes, and asked, “Quick, take a couple of steps and see if it hurts. You didn’t bruise your tailbone, did you?”
What respectable young lady would speak so openly about a tailbone in public? Huo Wanying blushed with embarrassment and hastily replied, “S-Seventh Sister-in-law, I’m fine. Thank you.”
“Good to hear you’re fine.” Yin Weiyue turned her gaze toward Mrs. Chen, who was throwing a tantrum sitting on the ground, her temper flaring upward.
“So what if I hit you? What are you going to do about it? Given those outrageous words you blabbered to the Old Mrs. earlier, not only can I hit you, but even this green-horn kid here has every right to hit you!” Yin Weiyue glared at Mrs. Chen and casually pointed a finger behind her.
Young Huo Dong, who was pointed at, choked up and swallowed a mouthful of spit in fear.
Yin Weiyue rested her left hand on her hip while stretching her other hand out, gesturing this way and that. Feeling that her posture was quite suitable and possessed the full flavor of a shrew, she cleared her throat before speaking again.
“Regarding the treason case, His Majesty has yet to pass a final sentence to this day. Yet the moment you entered the room, Third Aunt, you shouted about cutting off the heads of the eldest branch. Although Father was stripped of his noble title and First Brother and Second Brother were thrown into prison alongside him, that was only because the court was forced to act due to the memorials filed by treacherous officials.
A monumental matter like treason and usurpation has always resulted in the immediate execution of nine generations of kin the moment it breaks out. Right now, only the direct relatives of the Huo family are confined, while even the distant clan relatives remain untouched. This alone proves the Emperor knows our eldest branch was framed!
Instead of finding ways to ask your father—who relied on our Marquis Manor to be promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of Justice at the second rank—to present a petition and overturn the verdict, Third Aunt comes here to coerce our seventy-year-old Grandmother. Just what are your intentions?”
Having her sore spot poked, Mrs. Chen felt somewhat guilty and lacked confidence.
Over the past two years, she had repeatedly bribed the guards outside and sent over twenty letters to her maiden family. However, her family never wrote back, until a response finally arrived not long ago. Yet there was only a single line written on that paper: “A married daughter is like spilt water; do not come to entangle us!”
Her heart was completely broken. When her husband’s family was glorious, her maiden family leveraged the power of the Marquis Manor to gain promotions and wealth. Now that the Marquis Manor was in dire straits, they rushed to sever ties, completely ignoring even their own flesh-and-blood daughter.
However, Mrs. Chen was unwilling to expose the fact that she held no status in her maiden family before the juniors. Thus, turning her embarrassment into rage, she snapped: “This is a major treason case! The Emperor ordered the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate to jointly investigate it. Although my father is involved among them, he must handle things impartially. How could one person make the call?
Besides, I am not the only daughter-in-law in this manor whose maiden family holds official positions! Eldest Sister-in-law’s parents may have passed away, but her eldest brother Feng Qishan is the Minister of the Court of Imperial Stud at the sub-third rank. Is the Feng family not turning a blind eye and ignoring everything just the same? And then there’s the three of you sisters-in-law—one’s father sits in the Cabinet, and the other two belong to top-tier wealthy merchants in the Great Sheng Kingdom. Why don’t you go beg your own maiden families?!”
Hearing this, Mrs. He and Mrs. Su, who were present, could not help but feel a surge of grief.
How could they have not begged their maiden families? Back when the Huo Manor was first ransacked and put under house arrest, they had pawned off their belongings to bribe the outside guards to deliver letters to their families.
Yet, including those from their mother-in-law Mrs. Feng, letter after letter was dispatched, only to sink like a stone into the ocean without a trace of news. It was only then that they realized the Huo family was embroiled in a capital crime of treason. Their maiden families were surely unwilling to be dragged down and thus refused to write back.
More than half of the eldest branch’s silver and money had been spent bribing the guards to deliver those letters back then, only to end up completely wasted.
They did not harbor hatred in their hearts. After all, while the lives of the Huo family members were lives, the lives of their maiden families were also lives. Cutting ties with a married daughter at such a moment was the wisest choice. But having been abandoned by their closest kin, bringing it up again two years later still left a bitter taste in their hearts.
Yin Weiyue lowered her eyes. Today Mrs. Chen brought up this matter; while the others did not know, she knew the truth. When the Fourth Prince set his mind on eradicating the Huo family, he had already plotted a massive game of chess.
The very first to be targeted were the in-laws of each branch of the Huo family.
The Feng family, which held a voice in the imperial court; the He and Su families, who could provide financial backing to the Huo family; as well as the five generals and three deputy generals in the military whom Huo Anjiang would protect with his life—within just a few days after the Huo family fell into trouble, all of them had already been thrown into the central prison along with their entire clans due to various framed offenses.
The Yin family had secretly pledged allegiance to the Fourth Prince, so naturally, they remained unharmed. As for why the Chen family had not fallen, it was because although they shared in-law ties with the Huo family, they were not of one mind in officialdom, nor were they bound to the same chain of interests.
As for the female lead Zhang Yulin’s maiden family, they were merely low-ranking capital officials of the sixth rank with no power to stir heaven and earth. The Fourth Prince did not take them seriously at all and thus never made a move against them.
Take the Feng family first.
In the early stages of the Huo family’s downfall, imperial foals began suffering from sudden infantile convulsions and dying one after another. Later, the deaths mounted to the point where there were no selections left for the new batch of breeding horses.
The ultimate investigation revealed that the broodmares had been fed cheap fodder infested with toxic fungi, causing internal toxins that led to the deaths. Every piece of evidence pointed directly toward Feng Jiman, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Stud.
Next were the He and Su families.
The He family’s gold, silver, and jewelry shops spanned every prefecture across the Great Sheng Kingdom, while the Su family held a monopoly over the nation’s embroidery and garment-making industry.
Before the Huo family’s downfall, spies had slipped in among the artisans of both families’ workshops. The chief steward of the He family was threatened after having his vulnerability seized, while the chief steward of the Su family was bought off with heavy riches.
In this manner, the fabric patterns produced by the He family and the hairpin designs crafted by the Su family were intentionally made to violate imperial taboos—a capital offense.
Additionally, the generals and deputy generals close to the Huo family were framed using despicable means.
On the day following the Huo family’s incident, the “crimes” of all the above individuals were uncovered one after another. Ultimately, with irrefutable evidence of guilt, they were locked in the central prison for half a year before being exiled.
The guards outside the Huo Manor naturally did not dare to casually reveal this news to those under house arrest. Right now, Yin Weiyue was also unwilling to tell them the truth, mostly fearing they would be unable to bear it. After all, having a group of heartless maiden family members was far better than knowing their entire clans had been exiled and their fates remained unknown all because of the Huo family.
One must know that sometimes, hatred can sustain a person through desperate straits far better than love ever could.
Seeing the grief-stricken expressions on Mrs. He’s and Mrs. Su’s faces, Mrs. Chen felt immensely gratified. “Hmph, I suppose your maiden families severed ties with you long ago! How do you still have the face to criticize me? Even if your eldest branch is truly wronged, it is still an indisputable fact that the remaining three branches were dragged down by you and now have to starve three meals a day! You bunch of jinxes!”
Hearing this, Yin Weiyue laughed.
The third branch was currently the wealthiest among the four branches, yet Mrs. Chen actually dared to take the initiative to bring this point up to make a fuss. It was truly foolish.
Thus, Yin Weiyue slowly stepped forward, putting on airs as she sized up Mrs. Chen, who was sitting on the ground.
The latter felt an inexplicable pang of guilt under her gaze.
“As the common saying goes: *Three feet of ice isn’t formed in a single day of cold, and three layers of belly fat isn’t built in a single day of greed.*” Immediately, Yin Weiyue squatted down, extended her index finger, and poked Mrs. Chen’s large belly through her clothes: “Starving three meals a day? How strange—how come I haven’t seen you lose any weight?”