At the same time, inside the funeral home.
The large black-and-white clock on the wall ticked away, each second echoing like a countdown to someone’s life. With every passing moment, the oppressive atmosphere grew heavier.
Everyone’s eyes were on Ye Cang.
Expressionless, Ye Cang glanced at the clock and said calmly, “Twelve o’clock. I’ll wait until twelve.”
“If she doesn’t come by then, the funeral begins.”
At that moment, Gu Yuyao and the others were rushing toward the funeral home.
“What time is it now?” she suddenly asked anxiously, as if remembering something.
“11:45.”
BOOM…
Gu Yuyao’s pupils shrank instantly, and the color drained from her face.
Yesterday, Ye Cang had given her a final warning—he would only wait until twelve.
Did that mean they only had fifteen minutes left?
The thought made her panic. She shouted at the driver, “Hurry! We must get to the funeral home within fifteen minutes!”
“Ah? We’re still far from the funeral home. It’ll take at least forty to fifty minutes. Fifteen minutes…” The driver hesitated but swallowed the rest of his words.
“No! It has to be within fifteen minutes! I don’t care how—run red lights, drive against traffic, whatever it takes!” she screamed.
“But…” the driver started, only to be cut off by Gu Yuyao, “No buts! Just do it!”
She threw a bank card at him. “There’s 800,000 yuan on it! Get me there on time, and it’s yours!”
Gu Yuyao had completely lost her mind.
“I’ll try!” the driver gritted his teeth and slammed the accelerator. He was going all out.
Every second that passed was now a race against time.
The car ran through more than a dozen red lights.
Gu Yuyao sat in the backseat, her face streaked with tears, eyes swollen red. Her emotions surged between panic and guilt.
If she missed Ye Cang’s mother’s funeral because of her own negligence, she would never forgive herself.
“Faster… faster! Please… faster!”
She screamed in her heart.
At the funeral, the giant black-and-white clock read 11:50. Only ten minutes remained.
“She’s not coming,” Qin Junfei whispered to Ye Cang. “Let’s begin the funeral.”
Ye Cang remained silent, gazing outside. No one knew what he was thinking.
The second hand on the clock ticked once more.
Five minutes left.
On the road, Gu Yuyao choked back sobs. “How much longer?! We’re almost out of time…”
“At least fifteen more minutes!” the driver cried. He was already doing everything he could.
“I can’t make it in time, Director Gu. I really tried, but it’s impossible!”
BOOM!
The moment she heard those words, Gu Yuyao could no longer hold back her emotions and passed out.
Gu Zhenghong sat beside her, gasping for breath, clutching his chest in pain. He popped one pill after another from the bottle.
In her blurred vision, Gu Yuyao saw flashes of memories—
When she had a fever, there was always a figure staying up all night to care for her.
When she worked late into the night, there was always a blanket draped over her the next morning.
When she faced setbacks in her career, she could always hear a gentle voice of encouragement.
…
Her own parents had died by suicide.
It was Ye Cang’s mother who had shown her what maternal love truly felt like again.
But now, she couldn’t even make it to her funeral… This chapter is updated first at g.com.
“MOM!!”
Gu Yuyao’s guilt exploded like a tsunami. She screamed in despair, her cry piercing the heavens like a wailing cuckoo drenched in blood.
Even the dark clouds above seemed to echo her pain, pressing down heavily.
Scenes from the past also flooded Ye Cang’s mind.
Tick… tick…
The black-and-white clock on the wall ticked with piercing clarity, its sound especially loud in the silence of the funeral.
Ding!
The second hand reached twelve.
It was time.
Ye Cang looked out the window.
Gu Yuyao still hadn’t come.
He slowly closed his eyes and said heavily, “Alright. The funeral… begins.”
“Mother, the biggest mistake of your life was trusting the wrong people—one who stood by doing nothing in your darkest hour, and even stabbed you in the back. Another who took the Life-Saving Medicine meant for you to save her white moonlight, and now, can’t even bother to attend your funeral…”
Qin Junfei clenched her teeth and shouted, tears brimming in her eyes, “Begin the funeral! Raise the banners!!”
The funeral music began. White soul-guiding banners rose around the funeral home, stretching across a hundred meters.
Outside, heavy rain poured, and fierce winds howled, making the white banners flap violently.
Some lit incense. Some offered prayers. Some burned paper money.
Some bowed, some wept in silence, while others cried openly.
Qin Junfei had already ordered Pan Min to lead people and guard the entrances. Once the funeral began, no one was allowed to interrupt.
Ye Cang knelt before his mother’s coffin and kowtowed three times with loud bangs.
“Mother, your son is here to send you off!”
BOOM…
He lifted the ice coffin with one hand and walked outside. “Mother, I hope your journey is peaceful!”
At that moment, thunder roared and lightning flashed.
The storm reached its peak.
Seeing this, Qin Xifeng and the senior members of the Platinum Imperial Palace shouted in unison, “Send off the Young Master’s mother! May she rest in peace!”
“Send off the Young Master’s mother! May she rest in peace!”
Everyone at the scene chanted together.
Their voices combined, louder than the thunder in the sky, shaking the heavens.
The scale of the funeral was overwhelming.
Even the violent storm seemed subdued by it.
Qiao Mohan, who had arrived at the funeral home earlier, watched in stunned silence.
Were there other funerals happening here today?
This kind of grandeur… This kind of display… It had to be for someone extremely powerful.
Wait…
The one leading the procession looked a lot like Ye Cang?
Qiao Mohan’s expression changed again and again.
From a distance, she saw a long procession, with one man carrying the coffin alone, radiating unstoppable momentum.
That figure… really did look like Ye Cang.
Just as she squinted to get a better look, she noticed the logos on the cars.
“What? That’s the Platinum Imperial Palace’s motorcade?! So all the vehicles that passed just now were from them?”
A storm surged in her heart.
Could this grand funeral have been arranged by that very Young Master?
No way it could be Ye Cang.
He must be here because of that woman.
She quickly dialed Gu Yuyao’s number, wanting to tell her what she saw…
But she didn’t expect Gu Yuyao to be in trouble.
Twelve o’clock had already passed. Not only had they not arrived, they were now stuck in traffic.
Looking at the endless line of cars ahead, Gu Yuyao nearly fainted, filled with burning anxiety.
Gu Zhenghong looked like he had aged ten years. His energy was gone.
All their regret and urgency were now sustained by one last breath of hope—hoping they could at least kneel before Ye Cang’s mother.
But now, they hadn’t even made it to the funeral site…
Regret.
Self-blame.
RING RING…
Just then, Qiao Mohan called.
Gu Yuyao, like a drowning person grabbing a lifeline, hurriedly answered.
“Hello, Yuyao, you won’t believe what I just saw at the funeral—”
Before she could finish, Gu Yuyao urgently interrupted, “Mohan, you’re already at the funeral home?”
Qiao Mohan paused, then nodded instinctively, “Yeah, I’m here.”
“That’s perfect! Please—you have to do me this favor. Stop the funeral from starting until I get there!”
“What?!”
Qiao Mohan froze, wondering if she heard wrong.
Stop a funeral? By herself?
How was that even possible?
And who does such a thing? It’s morally outrageous! It’s a sure path to divine punishment!
She would become a sinner!
“I’m begging you. You’re the only one who can help me now…” Gu Yuyao’s voice cracked with despair. “Please stop the funeral. I have to be there. If I don’t attend, I’ll die of guilt. I’ll do anything for you in return!”
Qiao Mohan opened her mouth, but no words came out.
She bit her lip and finally said, “Alright, I’ll try! But you need to hurry—I can’t delay for long!”
As the call ended, Gu Yuyao suddenly saw the road ahead packed with unmoving cars.
She asked the driver, “How long will this traffic last?”
“I don’t know. Looks like the road is blocked. They’re not allowing vehicles through… Director Gu, there’s really nothing I can do now. I can’t make the car fly!”
Hearing that, Gu Yuyao looked out at the fierce wind, gritted her teeth, and made up her mind.
She opened the door and ran into the storm!
“Yuyao! Where are you going?!”
Gu Zhenghong shouted from beside her.
But his only answer was the sight of her frail figure vanishing into the rain—unyielding, determined.
This was Gu Yuyao. Once she decided on something, she would do it no matter what.
In her dictionary, there was no such word as ‘failure.’
If the road ahead was blocked, she would run.
From the moment she learned about Ye Cang’s mother’s death, her remorse and anxiety had transformed into obsession.
A voice echoed in her mind—
“No matter how far, I must reach the funeral. Even if I have to run to the ends of the earth. Even if my legs break—I must go!”