The little maidservant carefully dodged people all the way until she finally reached Lady Wang’s courtyard in the second branch and quietly reported to Old Chen, the gatekeeper. Old Chen’s heart also lurched with alarm. During the days when the little young master had gone missing, she had sensed that something was off about the Madam, and a few days earlier, the Madam had even uncharacteristically avoided the servants to summon the Third Young Lady. After all, the Madam had never paid any attention to these concubine-born children.
She did not dare delay and hurriedly trotted into the inner courtyard. Lady Wang had just finished breakfast and was sitting before her dressing table, having her hair styled by her personal maidservant while picking out the jewelry she would wear today.
Hearing the flustered footsteps outside and Old Chen’s breathless panting at the door, she frowned in displeasure. “What’s all this panic? Have you no decency?! What is it?!”
“Madam! The little young master has been found! He just returned to the residence.” Old Chen quickly steadied herself, knowing her earlier panic had been too rash. She added cautiously, her voice still trembling slightly: “It was Little Tao from the front courtyard who came to report… Young Master Chu Yu… h-he’s back!”
“Bang…” The golden luan-bird hairpin Lady Wang had just selected slipped from her hand and clattered harshly onto the dressing table. She shot to her feet, strands of hair from her half-done bun falling loose around her temples, all color draining from her face in shock. “What did you say?! Who’s back?!”
The maidservants all dared not make a sound and knelt in a row. Old Chen was frightened too, realizing that her vague suspicions must be true. She answered incoherently: “It’s Young Master Chu Yu! He was just brought back! Over by the side door! The Heir and the Heir’s consort have both rushed over! They’re holding him and crying!”
She regretted it endlessly. If she had known this would happen, she should have let Little Tao come in and report herself, sparing herself this fright. Now she could only hang her head and stare at the ground.
Lady Wang felt a chill shoot from the soles of her feet straight to the crown of her head, darkness swimming before her eyes. She hastily grabbed the edge of the table to steady herself. Back? That little bastard actually came back?! After Prince Duan had sent people to take over, shouldn’t he have been disposed of long ago… sold off to refugee settlements at the frontier, or even losing his life on the road?…How could he have been found and brought back at a time like this?!
Her heart churned with panic, and she was furious that such meticulous planning had still let Chu Yu escape unscathed. Once Chu Yu opened his mouth… she couldn’t bear to imagine the consequences!
“Quick! Go see if the master is in the study?! No! Go fetch the master at once! Tell him… tell him I have something extremely urgent!”
Lady Wang’s voice carried an uncontainable panic, and she did not even notice her nails digging deep into her palms. Seeing this, Bihe, her trusted senior maidservant, immediately acknowledged and hurried out.
Meanwhile, Second Master Chu Yun had also heard the page boy’s report in his study. His heart was flustered, but he forced his face to stay calm. Sitting alone in the room, he rapidly pondered countermeasures. Hearing Bihe’s voice outside the door, he suppressed his expression and merely replied flatly, “Understood.”
In his heart, though, he cursed Lady Wang for being utterly foolish. Wasn’t her lack of composure plainly telling the servants that the second branch couldn’t be cleared of involvement in Chu Yu’s abduction? After a moment, he rose and took out several letters from a hidden compartment beneath the desk, burning all the rest. He had originally planned to keep them as leverage to restrain Prince Duan in the future, a way to leave himself a path of retreat.
Chu Yun tucked the remaining few letters into his robes and strode quickly toward Lady Wang’s courtyard. Seeing the maidservants and page boys kneeling in a row, he barked harshly and drove all the servants out of the courtyard.
“You can’t wait to let the whole household know the second branch is tied to Chu Yu’s abduction, can you?!” he snarled furiously at Lady Wang, who was slumped on the dressing stool.
Lady Wang’s face was deathly pale. She wanted to defend herself but only stammered without making a sound.
Chu Yun stuffed the letters from his robes into the hidden compartment behind the drawer of the dressing table. Seeing the expensive envelopes dusted with gold powder, Lady Wang instantly understood Chu Yun’s plan. She collapsed to the ground, clutching the hem of his robes and wailing, “Master, you’re trying to drive me to my death! Everything I did, I did for you, for the second branch…”
Chu Yun cut her off directly, saying only one gloomy sentence: “Think of Wenbo.”
Lady Wang instantly felt as if her throat were being squeezed, and she dared not make a sound, silently shedding tears.
Chu Yun called for Bihe to quickly tidy Lady Wang up, then brought along a good number of tonics and gifts. The couple hurried toward Chu Yu’s courtyard in the eldest branch.
At the family banquet that evening, the Old Duke held his recovered legitimate grandson in his arms, with the Heir and his wife beside him, coaxing and feeding Chu Yu. The second branch’s family also sat there, faces beaming with joy, celebrating Chu Yu’s safe return.
…
Shen Ji returned to the Marquis Residence. After eating, he briefly questioned the guards who had come back to report. Two of the children had already gone home, and the capital magistrate’s office had made arrangements for the rest, making inquiries in the surrounding counties. It seemed likely that all of them would find their parents before long.
Shen Ji was relieved. He had the butler set up a tea table in the flower hall, dismissed the servants, and quietly closed his eyes to rest, savoring the rare peace since his reincarnation.
After the meal that afternoon, the old butler Zhong Bo came to report: Lady Liu and her son had been released and had returned to Lady Liu’s natal family. He had expected Shen Ji to fly into a rage, but unexpectedly Shen Ji merely replied flatly, “Understood,” and said nothing more, lowering his head to continue reading the book in his hands, his expression calm.
…
The next day, bright sunlight streamed through the exquisite carved wooden lattice windows of Lanxin Courtyard, softly spilling onto the light green gauze canopy by the bed.
Chu Yu had recovered much of his spirits after a night of sound sleep and his parents’ careful attention. Though some bruises remained on his little face, his big eyes had finally regained their sparkle. He nestled in his mother’s arms, sipping the warm nourishing medicinal broth.
The Heir’s consort, Chen Yan, gently stroked her son’s hair with a pained heart and asked softly, “Yu’er, that day… how exactly did you get out? And what did you encounter? Tell Grandfather and Father and Mother, all right?” The Old Duke and Chu Lin sat to the side, their expressions both grave.
From the time Chu Yu had gone missing until now, they had carefully searched the residence several times over, yet still had not found where Chu Yu had disappeared.
When the servants who had attended him that day were interrogated, they all only said that they had heard a noise and gone a short distance to check, only to be knocked unconscious. When they woke, the young master was nowhere to be found.
The whole affair reeked of suspicion. Every servant around Chu Yu had been lured away, and in the blink of an eye, the boy had vanished without a trace. Yet no matter how they interrogated all the servants in the residence, they could find no clue at all, and no one had seen the person lurking in the shadows who had done the deed.
Chu Yu’s little mouth puckered, as if recalling the terror of those days. Big tears rolled down his cheeks, and his small body trembled slightly. The Heir’s consort hurriedly hugged her son tighter, patting his back gently and murmuring comfort.
Chu Yu said in a tearful, halting voice, “That day… I didn’t run out by myself. It was Sister Xinran… she said there was a fun treasure hidden behind the rockery in the back garden, and she wanted to take me to see it. She also told me not to tell the page boy following me, saying it was our secret…”
“Xinran?” The Heir’s consort exclaimed in surprise, looking at her husband and father-in-law. Chu Xinran was the Third Young Lady, a concubine-born daughter of the second branch. Usually timid and quiet, she was practically invisible. Could she really have…
Chu Yu nodded and continued sobbing. “I followed her behind the rockery. There… there was no opening there originally, but somehow a round cave entrance had appeared. Sister Xinran told me to crawl through… Just as I crawled out, I smelled a strange odor, and then… then I didn’t know anything anymore… When I woke up, I was in a jolting carriage, my mouth gagged and my hands bound… Later… I was locked in a dark room and beaten…”
The little one grew sadder as he spoke, tears falling harder. Although Shen Ji’s barrier agent had spared him from beatings in the following days, the earlier blows and terror had already left their mark.
“Chu–Xin–ran!” Chu Lin ground out those three words through clenched teeth, veins bulging at his temples. The Heir’s consort held her son tightly, silently weeping.
The Old Duke’s face was even darker, as if it could drip water. He stamped his agarwood cane heavily. “Someone! Go to Dehui Courtyard and ‘invite’ the Third Young Lady here! And ‘invite’ the Second Master and the Second Madam as well!”
The page boy on gate duty saw this and, not daring to be negligent, hurried off to make the arrangements.
In just a moment, Chu Xinran was half-dragged, half-pushed in by two matrons, clearly scared out of her wits. The moment she entered the hall and saw her stern-faced grandfather and eldest uncle at the head, as well as Chu Yu nestled in her aunt’s arms, staring at her with red, tearful eyes, her legs gave way. With a thud, she collapsed to her knees, trembling all over and not daring to make a sound.
“Xinran,” the Old Duke’s voice was calm but carried a heavy pressure, “Yu’er says it was you who took him out from behind the rockery?”
“I… I…” Chu Xinran was a mess of tears and snot, unable to speak a complete sentence, only shaking her head desperately. Her terrified gaze darted toward the hall entrance… her stepmother, Second Madam Wang, and Chu Yun were hurrying over, their faces wearing just the right amount of confusion and shock at seeing Chu Xinran.
“Speak!” Chu Lin slammed the table hard and barked at Chu Xinran. The area behind the rockery was adjacent to the second branch’s courtyard and the outside of the residence. No wonder that no matter how he searched, he could not find where Chu Yu had vanished.
Chu Xinran shuddered in fright. The eight-year-old girl wailed shrilly, “It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me! It was Mother! Mother forced me! She said if I didn’t do it, she’d sell my concubine mother away! I didn’t dare disobey! Grandfather, spare me! Eldest Uncle, spare me! I really won’t ever do it again!” She kowtowed desperately as she cried, her forehead turning purple and bruised.
Lady Wang, who had just stepped through the door, went pale at her stepdaughter’s words, but immediately covered her face with a handkerchief and wailed, “Xinran! I’ve always treated you well! How can you spew such foul slander and falsely accuse your own stepmother?! I merely scolded you a few times when I saw you envying your younger brother, I never expected…”
She then turned to weep to the Old Duke and Chu Lin, “Father, big brother, this child must be frightened out of her wits and is now spouting wild accusations! How could I do such a harmful thing? That area behind the rockery borders the outside of the residence… I had no idea at all when a hole appeared there!”
Chu Yun’s face quickly piled up shock and fury. He whirled toward Lady Wang, pointing at her with a trembling finger, and roared with anguished indignation, “Lady Wang! It was you?! How dare you… You… you are so foolish and vicious! You dared to do such a disastrous thing behind my back?! Are you trying to destroy my second branch, to destroy the entire duke’s residence?!”
Every word he said implied that this was all Lady Wang’s doing alone, that he knew nothing whatsoever, washing his hands completely clean. But the Old Duke and Chu Lin both knew very well in their hearts that their son and younger brother had always resented the fact that the Heir’s position was inherited by the eldest branch. Besides, with Lady Wang’s courage and brains, she would never have dared commit such an outrageous act without someone backing and scheming behind her.
The Old Duke watched his second son’s performance coldly, a chill glint flashing in his eyes, and reached a decision. Chu Lin gave a cold snort and ignored Chu Yun’s hypocritical posturing.
The butler hurried in and presented a stack of letters. “Duke, Heir, these were found in the hidden compartment of the Second Madam’s dowry chest.”
Inside were several letters discussing with a mysterious person how to abduct and sell Chu Yu. Apart from the plans written by the mysterious person, there was nothing else. Chu Lin did notice the gold powder on the letter paper. It seemed the person behind this was of very high status, and he had a vague guess forming in his mind.
The last trace of hope on Lady Wang’s face was shattered. Her complexion ashen, she collapsed limply to the ground. She did not look at Chu Yun, nor at Chu Xinran trembling beside her. She just hung her head and silently wept.
“You poison woman! You even dared to collude with outsiders?! You, you…” Chu Yun trembled with rage, looking as if he wished he could divorce her on the spot.
Lady Wang admitted to all the guilt, saying only that she resented the eldest branch and could not bear seeing her son outshone by Chu Yu. At the Flower Festival, while burning incense at Mount Qixia, she had encountered a mysterious person who promised her great rewards. Bewitched by greed, she had secretly covered up the scheme and let Chu Yu be abducted.
The mysterious person always wore a black mask. She had never seen the person’s true face, only remembered that the voice was somewhat shrill. She knew nothing else.
The Old Duke’s weathered face was full of fury and grief. He looked at his little grandson, red-eyed and hiding in his mother’s arms, then swept his gaze over his second son, still posturing hypocritically. His heart softened somewhat, and he said in a deep voice, “Chu Yun, you failed to govern your household strictly and indulged your wife in committing crimes. The second branch will move to the old residence in the western suburbs! Lady Wang, with a vicious heart, colluded with outsiders and schemed against the legitimate bloodline… your crimes are unforgivable! In consideration of your status as a wife of the Chu family, you are granted a white silk cord! Chu Xinran, young and coerced, is spared the death penalty but cannot escape punishment… she will be sent to the family shrine!”
The Heir’s consort and Chu Lin exchanged a glance, understanding flashing in their eyes. Though somewhat indignant, they ultimately said nothing. The person scheming behind the scenes was the true culprit. A cold glint flashed in Chu Lin’s eyes.
Lady Wang’s desperate wails rang out, and she was soon dragged away along with Chu Xinran. Chu Yun knelt on the ground, his head lowered in shame, deaf to his wife’s anguished cries and not daring to meet his father’s or elder brother’s eyes. In his heart, however, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief… he had preserved himself. Yet he was also somewhat resentful: being banished to the old residence meant being cut off from the capital’s circle of power and privilege.
Chu Yu watched all of this with vague understanding, only dimly aware that the people who had harmed him had been punished. His little hand instinctively clutched his father’s lapel. He suddenly said in a small voice, “Father, it was that very handsome Big Brother who saved me… he’s so amazing…”
Chu Lin and his wife exchanged a glance, their gratitude toward Shen Ji deepening further. They would wait only until the mysterious person’s identity was uncovered, then go to his door to solemnly thank him for his life-saving grace… for what Shen Ji had saved was the entire Duke Zhenguo’s Residence.
That evening, in the Old Duke’s study, Chu Lin told the Old Duke all the guesses in his mind one by one.