Chapter 732: I Want to Journey Far
Chapter 732: Chapter 732: I Want to Journey Far
Madam You turned around and said, "You all leave first."
The crowd at the bedside retreated like a tide.
Madam You said, "You leave too."
Madam You angrily said, "How can there be no one by your side to take care of you, Mother?"
"Ru Hua will suffice; there’s no need to come in unless you’re called."
Even in weakness, her words were undeniable.
Madam You glared at Ru Hua, and reluctantly withdrew.
She truly couldn’t understand what there was to be said between Duke Zhen’s Mansion and Dingbei Marquis Mansion; it was already a magnanimous effort not to confront each other immediately.
Thus, when she brushed past Old Madam Gu, Madam You only nodded slightly, and walked past without a sideways glance.
At this moment, Old Madam Gu didn’t bother to mind these things either, her thoughts wholly focused on the upcoming meeting.
Ru Hua, serving by the bed, lifted the bed curtain. Madam You’s face was ashen as she struggled to lean against a thick, high bolster, trembling as she reached out a hand and rasped, "Liu’er, you have come."
Liu’er was her nickname.
No one had called her that for many years.
Old friends left one by one.
Leaving her behind.
Old Madam Gu’s heart was overwhelmed with emotion; in the end, she couldn’t bear it and held the trembling hand.
"Sister Hua, I’m here."
Decades of grudges and misunderstandings seemed to dissipate with that touch.
Madam You tried to smile, the left side of her quivering lips drooped slightly, drooling involuntarily, her voice slurred: "I’m going on a long journey, Liu’er."
Old Madam Gu didn’t know what to say.
Madam You had said this to her many times; she never expected the last time to be here and now.
"Liu’er, I have a favor to ask of you," Madam You spoke with effort after swallowing hard, "This child Ru Hua is very pitiful, she has taken care of me for many years. After I’m gone, I’m afraid the unworthy descendants at home won’t tolerate her. I hope you can treat her well."
Old Madam Gu’s eyes widened.
Madam You told Ru Hua, "Why don’t you kneel and bow quickly!"
A dumbfounded Ru Hua finally came to her senses, and kowtowed deeply to Old Madam Gu three times.
"You may leave now," Madam You waved her hand.
Ru Hua looked unwilling, as if she wanted to say something but ultimately said nothing and withdrew.
The door closed.
Old Madam Gu bowed her head: "Sister Hua, what are you planning to do? I cannot promise..."
Madam You continued talking to herself: "You’ve harbored a lot of resentment towards me over the years, but due to your husband’s family, you couldn’t act on it."
Old Madam Gu remained silent.
Madam You assumed she acquiesced and gazed at the embroidered hunting scene on the curtain, as if lamenting: "When a woman marries into a family, she belongs to that family alone.
But as long as you live long enough, they all have to listen to me.
I’ve ordered them to take my coffin back to Jizhou after my death and not stay in Capital City."
Old Madam Gu still didn’t speak.
Madam You continued, "The Empress Dowager of the Western Palace had leverage over the old Duke, for which I did the most shameful thing of my life, leaving me feeling too ashamed to face the East Palace Empress Dowager in the afterlife."
Old Madam Gu looked up: "Did you really betray the Empress Dowager?"
"Yes," Madam You said, "This allowed the You Family to maintain wealth and honor and made me a hero in the You Family; no one dared to defy me. I don’t regret it, but I feel deeply guilty, which makes me afraid to die."
Old Madam Gu was stunned by this candid revelation.
Madam You looked at her: "Now I want to tell you, Liu’er, this is a great gift I’m leaving you, in hopes that you can persuade the Dingbei Marquis to spare the descendants of the You Family."
Old Madam Gu murmured, "What is this great gift?"
Madam You sighed, "Perhaps I should have told you sooner, but perhaps now is the perfect time."
After all, the dying are more readily forgiven.
Madam You shifted slightly.
This matter had tormented her for years, leaving her restless even in deep sleep, yet she finally managed to unburden herself before dying. This energized the old woman.
Even her gaze toward Old Madam Gu was filled with intrigue.
"The Emperor is the own child of the East Palace Empress Dowager; it was a little princess that the West Palace Empress Dowager gave birth to. She switched the children amidst the chaos, and the East Palace Empress Dowager thought the little princess had perished and hastily buried her, not expecting the child to be so tenacious as to survive."
Such a short sentence carried so much.
Old Madam Gu’s ears buzzed, and her eyes were even more vacant than Madam You’s.
Once she calmed down a bit.
Madam You added, "The Empress Dowager of the Western Palace dared to do so not just because years ago Tashan made chaos in the palace quarters, but also because the East Palace Empress Dowager had shown her kindness as a fellow daughter of the Cang family."
Of course, there was also Madam You facilitating matters.
But at this moment, Madam You naturally wouldn’t say it.
Old Madam Gu finally forced out a sentence from her dry throat: "Both daughters of the Cang family?"
Madam You wanted to nod but found it too laborious.
She sighed, "Yes, that’s what the East Palace Empress Dowager personally told me."
"Once, I couldn’t help wanting to confess everything to the East Palace Empress Dowager in person, but she told me that she and the Empress Dowager of the Western Palace were inseparable friends. It wasn’t that she was bewitched by the Empress Dowager of the Western Palace; rather, they both were daughters of the Cang family."
"The branch of the Empress Dowager of the Western Palace was exiled and removed from the family for the crimes of their great-grandfather and had intermarried with the barbarians in the Southern Yue, becoming the Tusi, but this also led to their banishment from the clan."
"Every insult the Empress Dowager of the Western Palace endured due to her status as the daughter of a deposed Tusi weighed heavily on her conscience. She wanted me to be kind to the Empress Dowager of the Western Palace."
Madam You took a deep breath, as if she had much more to say but ultimately swallowed it back, ending with, "I can only be utterly loyal to the Western Palace."
No outsider could come between kin.
Madam You had no choice left.
The East Palace Empress Dowager could never have imagined that the friend she trusted so dearly and the cousin she cherished conspired to take everything from her.
Silence.
A heavy silence.
Madam You slowly closed her eyes, her breaths became lighter and more rapid.
Old Madam Gu suddenly broke the heavy silence.
"Who is Ru Hua in relation to the little princess?"
A slight smile appeared on Madam You’s lips, her voice was light as snowflakes intruding upon the summer heat: "Her daughter."
Old Madam Gu’s pupils trembled.
Madam You said, "You can probably guess my intention."
"I guessed," Old Madam Gu replied woodenly, "What else could I not have guessed?"
"That’s good."
Madam You struggled to open her eyes and smiled, "Today we part, and we may only meet again in the afterlife. When you were young, you followed me, endearingly lovable, but later because of the matters of the two palaces, you never sincerely called me Sister Hua again."
Old Madam Gu opened her lips, hesitated several times, then said, "Sister Hua."
The three words felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.
Tears fell rapidly.
It seemed that her heart’s burden was lifted, as Madam You quickly fell into chaos, her murmurs were extremely confused.
"Father, Mother, are you here to take me? Did you bring my favorite little red horse?"
"I don’t like Capital City, nor do I like getting married. I only want to be your daughter."