Cutting ties with her family could still be considered understandable.
But divorcing her husband…
Not a mutual divorce, not a severing of the marriage by mutual consent, but a wife divorcing her husband! And on behalf of her “deceased mother,” no less!
It was utterly unheard of, past or present!
Assistant Judicial Commissioner Li felt that if he bore witness and signed the divorce document, he might not keep his official hat for long. But then again… if he refused to sign, he’d probably get to meet his great-grandmother any moment now…
Shen Second and Shen Third were already scared out of their wits. Forget asking them to sign on behalf of the dead Shen Jue to consent to his being cast aside—they would have gladly married Shen Jue into another family and struck him from the Shen clan altogether!
The two men signed and pressed their fingerprints without the slightest hesitation.
Assistant Judicial Commissioner Li also stamped the document with his official seal, his heart utterly lifeless. He was already planning how to write his petition to retire to his hometown.
With the divorce document in hand, Chu Zhao waited for the ink to dry before calmly tucking it into her robes.
As for the three members of the Shen family…
Chu Zhao said languidly, “Now that the case has been settled, there’s no need to keep Assistant Judicial Commissioner Li here for a meal. Deal with these three according to the law.”
Under the Great Xuan Code, anyone who falsely accused another of a crime was liable to the same punishment as the crime they accused the other person of committing.
In other words, Shen Yuzhu and the two Shen family masters had falsely accused Chu Zhao of a capital crime—murder. Even if the law didn’t sentence them to death, they were certain to be exiled.
Assistant Judicial Commissioner Li nodded repeatedly and signaled his men to drag them away.
The bailiffs hurried into action, all eager to get out of the Prince of You’s Residence as quickly as possible. When two of them went to grab Shen Yuzhu, they let out a startled cry.
“She—she’s not breathing…”
Shen Yuzhu’s eyes were wide open, her face still frozen in terror. She had actually been scared to death.
No one but Chu Zhao could see the blue-black chain mark around her neck—the trace of karmic force left behind by the Soul-Seizing Lock.
Chu Zhao merely glanced at it, then looked away.
The people from the Court of Judicial Review felt a chill run down their backs. Daring not to say another word, they dragged away the paralyzed Shen Second and Shen Third, along with Shen Yuzhu’s corpse, and fled as if for their lives.
At some point, the snowflakes drifting through the front courtyard had also stopped.
Everyone stole glances at Chu Zhao, their eyes full of awe.
Yan Qi was watching her too, but it was as though he were looking through her at someone else.
Chu Zhao met his gaze and raised a brow. “What are you looking at? Haven’t you had enough of the spectacle? Want to see a ghost too?”
Yan Qi’s throat bobbed. His gaze was dark and heavy.
The word “yes” nearly slipped out.
He wanted to see.
He wanted to see the one hiding “behind” her—the so-called ghost, the so-called ancestor.
Could it be that person?
But in that brief moment of distraction, Chu Zhao had already risen and walked away, unhurried. Yan Qi stared at her retreating figure, his thin lips pressed together, one hand clenched into a fist inside his sleeve.
Is it you? Xuanzhao…
“Your Highness, Wang Yue has been dealt with as the Princess Regent ordered,” Qi Yun reported softly, stepping forward.
Coldness gathered again in Yan Qi’s eyes. “Clear out the rest of the people in the residence as well.”
They had been parasites left behind when that good-for-nothing built his own residence after leaving the palace. Yan Qi had been away from the capital for five years; who knew how many snakes and rats had crept into the residence in his absence? He might as well take this opportunity to deal with them all at once.
Qi Yun paused. “The others should be easy enough, but Nanny Chen…”
Nanny Chen was His Highness’s wet nurse. She had once served the Noble Consort, so whether they killed her or drove her out, it seemed a little too heartless.
“Wang Yue is only a steward of the front courtyard. Who gave him the nerve to barge straight into the Princess Regent’s courtyard?” Yan Qi rubbed his brow.
Qi Yun understood at once. Come to think of it, the day His Highness returned to the residence, Nanny Chen had been summoned to the palace by the Noble Consort. That was why the fake Madam Chu had dared to waltz into the residence and plot against the Princess Regent.
A servant who betrayed her master like that certainly couldn’t be allowed to stay!
…
Meanwhile, Chu Nanxing met his father, Chu Chengbi, at the city gate.
Chu Chengbi was the eldest son of the second branch. As soon as he received Chu Nanxing’s letter, he had traveled day and night to get there. He hadn’t slept at all, and his eyes were swollen like walnuts—clearly, he had been crying.
The father and son saw each other and immediately burst into tears, though it was Chu Chengbi doing all the crying.
“Father… stop crying already,” Chu Nanxing said, embarrassed. His father’s weepy nature really was incurable. “Let’s get going before we keep Cousin waiting. By the way, did you bring all of Great-aunt’s dowry documents?”
“You’ll have to help take care of Great-aunt’s affairs after her death. Cousin wants to divorce her husband and bury her back in the Chu Clan Ancestral Lands…”
Chu Nanxing blurted it all out in one breath.
“What?” Uncle Chu’s sobs stopped. The handsome middle-aged man forgot all about crying. “You fool! How could you leave something this important out of your letter?”
Chu Nanxing opened his mouth, then forced himself to sound confident. “That old bastard Shen Jue didn’t deserve to be a husband. So let him be divorced! Once Great-aunt has divorced her husband, of course her spirit tablet should return to the Chu Family…”
“It’s not as simple as you make it sound! You blockhead, honestly—”
Uncle Chu slapped him on the back. “Zhaozhao was never the sharpest, and she’s only just recovered from her illness. After being foolish for so many years, it’s understandable that she’d act impulsively and without thinking through the consequences! But divorcing her husband—when has that ever happened, past or present?”
“If she keeps acting recklessly, what if she earns the Prince of You’s disdain? And the Shen family—do you think they’re made of mud, that they’ll let people walk all over them?”
As for returning Chu Fanghua’s remains to the Chu Clan Ancestral Lands, that would be even harder!
Uncle Chu naturally wanted to bring his younger sister’s remains home, but those clan elders…
Thinking of them, he couldn’t help weeping again, pounding his chest.
He was useless as an older brother, blind in both eyes and heart. He hadn’t even realized that his own younger sister had been replaced long ago. He should have figured it out sooner…
“Father! Don’t worry. Cousin has the protection of our ancestors. They even appeared in her dreams to teach her their true teachings. She’s clearheaded now!”
Uncle Chu stopped crying and patted his son’s head.
“Did you hurt your head? Why are you talking nonsense?”
Chu Nanxing: “…”
A short while later, their carriage had barely stopped outside the residence when Chu Chengbi climbed down and saw people from the Court of Judicial Review fleeing the Prince of You’s Residence. The bailiffs were dragging two men who looked like dead dogs.
There was also a disfigured woman’s corpse, carried out like a sack.
Chu Chengbi rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. Gaping, he pointed at Shen Second and Shen Third as they were taken away, unable to speak for a long while.
When the guards spotted Chu Nanxing, one of them said, “Young General Chu, you’re back? Hurry inside. Don’t keep the Princess Regent waiting.”
Chu Nanxing asked, “What happened? Why are people from the Court of Judicial Review coming out of the residence?”
The guard’s expression turned mysterious. Suppressing his excitement, he quietly explained what had happened, keeping it brief. But every word struck like a thunderbolt, leaving father and son rooted to the spot.
Chu Nanxing flushed with excitement, clasped his hands, and bowed repeatedly in every direction. “The ancestors have manifested! They’ve manifested again!”
“Father! You believe me now, right? Cousin has the ancestors’ protection. Look, divorcing her husband wasn’t even that hard!”
Chu Chengbi swayed and grabbed the carriage beside him for support.
He felt he needed a moment to take it all in…
Could the Chu ancestors really have manifested? He hadn’t heard anyone in the clan say that smoke was rising from any of their ancestral graves…