She stood just behind the bed curtains, head slightly tilted.
The lighting was poor and the mirror's surface dim, making it impossible to see her face clearly.
Madam Ying whipped around in terror, her voice shrill and piercing. "Who's there?!"
The space by the bed curtains was completely empty. There was no one in sight.
She called "Xiao Lan" twice more, but got no response. Left with no choice, Madam Ying lit a candle herself and walked out toward the outer parlor first.
The outer room was empty. No one was there.
Continuing outside, Madam Ying pushed open the courtyard gate and called out twice, "Is anyone there?"
Yet from all around, not a single voice replied.
What was going on? Panic swelled in Madam Ying's chest.
Just then, a woman's voice echoed faintly through the courtyard:
"Ying Hongchan, where is my son?"
Madam Ying shuddered violently. Turning too fast, she nearly tripped over the threshold.
Stumbling forward two steps, she heard a loud bang as the courtyard gate behind her slammed shut, frightening her so badly she leaped.
Something didn't want her to leave!
Bracing herself, Madam Ying peered into the courtyard. Sure enough, behind the sweet osmanthus tree, a white figure swayed gently in the wind.
"Who are you?!"
Every word the figure uttered sounded as if it had been chiseled from an ice cellar. "You have everything: a husband steadily rising through the ranks, a filial and accomplished son, a life of blooming splendor. Yet I can only remain alone and forsaken at White Pagoda Temple, with no one coming to visit me year after year. And now you say you don't know who I am?"
The moment the words "White Pagoda Temple" were spoken, Madam Ying shivered and blurted out, "Lu... Lu Xiaoyun?!"
After uttering that name, she actually regained some composure. Widening her eyes, she scrutinized the other party closely. "The Master goes to White Pagoda Temple to pay respects every year. Why do you say no one visits you?"
"He hasn't come in a long time."
"We moved away from Blackwater City!" Madam Ying braced herself. "I bear you no grudge, nor do you bear me any. In fact, I've done you a kindness! Why have you come looking for me?!"
"A kindness?" Lu Xiaoyun let out a chilling chuckle, her laughter eerie in the dead of night. "What kindness could you possibly have done me?!"
"You died right after giving birth! It was I who treated Chuan'er as my own and raised him to adulthood..."
"Treated him as your own?" Lu Xiaoyun suddenly cut her off. "You call that treating him as your own?"
With her fury, a gust of violent wind kicked up right where she stood.
Madam Ying stumbled back two steps and rubbed her eyes. "His food, clothing, and daily allowances—which of them wasn't better than Yue'er's? All the trouble he caused growing up, didn't we clean up after him every single time? When has he ever suffered the slightest hardship in this family?"
By the end, she even straightened her back. "I have done nothing against my conscience! I have no reason to fear you coming after me!"
"Nothing against your conscience?" Lu Xiaoyun sneered. "What He Chunhua intended to do to my son—are you telling me you don't know?"
"Know what?" Madam Ying looked bewildered. "He merely doted on Chuan'er!"
Could loving one's child be a crime?
"Back then..." Lu Xiaoyun spoke softly. "How did he persuade you to raise my child? Didn't he tell you that Chuan'er wouldn't stand in the way of your son's future?"
Madam Ying fell instantly silent.
"Didn't he promise you that he would devote all his efforts to cultivating your son, and that the position of family head would only ever go to the second son?"
Madam Ying pursed her lips, saying nothing.
When He Chunhua had brought the eldest son back all those years ago, he had indeed sworn just that to her.
A man's sweet words were nothing but lies!
Yet what else could she have done? Throw away a helpless baby who couldn't protect himself?
She had had no choice but to believe him.
Fortunately, the way He Lingchuan turned out later put her mind at ease.
How could such a mischievous, useless child ever be a match for Yue'er in the future!
"Let me ask you: did He Chunhua truly pour all his efforts into cultivating He Yue?"
Madam Ying nodded subconsciously.
If He Chunhua hadn't done so, how could they have lived in marital harmony?
"Then what plans or intentions did He Chunhua ever have for his eldest son's future?"
Madam Ying parted her lips, but held back.
Over all these years, her husband had only ever urged her to be nice to Chuan'er, yet he had never mentioned what the boy was to do or ought to do when he grew up.
Shouldn't a normal father envision and plan out his child's life?
Yet He Chunhua offered his eldest son nothing but overindulgence.
Madam Ying had noticed it long ago and had even advised him, but He Chunhua had paid her no heed.
Looking back now, that nonchalance did seem somewhat unnatural.
"It seems you know very little," Lu Xiaoyun sighed softly. "And regarding me, how much did He Chunhua ever tell you?"
"He said you were a descendant of the Bailie people, that you saved him during the wild sand season, and after that, the two of you... you..." Madam Ying gritted her teeth. "The territory of the Bailie people is thousands upon thousands of li from here. What you were doing in Blackwater City, the Master never told me!"
"That is all I know," Madam Ying sneered. "As for you, I have no desire to know more!"
She even gathered her courage and took two steps forward into the courtyard.
Lu Xiaoyun flickered, her figure reappearing in the shadows beneath the eaves.
"One last question," she asked Madam Ying. "Why didn't you tell Chuan'er the truth?"
"You're already dead. What good would it do him to know who his birth mother was?" Madam Ying scoffed. "Separated by life and death, could you two ever truly reunite?"
"At the very least, he could have visited me."
Those words rendered Madam Ying completely speechless.
...
Before dawn broke, Madam Ying awoke. Her first word was a call: "Xiao Lan!"
A few breaths later, Xiao Lan rubbed her eyes as she walked in from the outer room. "Madam, you're awake so early today!"
Even the night birds hadn't awakened yet.
Cold sweat soaked Madam Ying. "Where did you run off to just now?!"
"This maidservant was sleeping in the outer room the whole time; I never took a single step away," Xiao Lan said, looking bewildered. "Did you have a nightmare, Madam? I'll go fetch a towel."
"I..." Madam Ying wanted to scold her, but opening her mouth, she didn't even know what to scold her for.
Touching her temples, she found her hair soaked with perspiration.
It seemed she truly had had a nightmare, but why couldn't she remember the specific details of the dream?
Pressing a hand to her forehead, she racked her memory for a long time, only recalling that Lu Xiaoyun had come to see her and seemed to have talked about Chuan'er, but the exact conversation eluded her.
She rested on the edge of the couch for a long time before asking, "Is Chuan'er setting out today?"
"Yes, the Eldest Young Master is leaving today."
"Where was he last night?"
"The Eldest Young Master and the Second Young Master went out for drinks last night and didn't return until the middle of the night."
The two brothers had a good relationship; with He Lingchuan leaving, He Yue had hosted a farewell drink for him.
Come daybreak, the mother and two sons ate breakfast quietly, without much conversation.
Everything seemed as usual.
Yet He Lingchuan understood that scenes like this would never happen again.
As the sun climbed higher and the appointed hour arrived, He Lingchuan and the others finished packing and prepared to depart immediately.
Madam Ying saw him off to the main gates. Looking at his young, handsome face, a sudden twinge struck her heart, accompanied by an unexpected reluctance to part.
It was as if once this brat left, he would never come back.
It was He Lingchuan who spoke first with a beaming smile. "Mother, your dark circles are so heavy. Did you have a nightmare last night?"
Madam Ying gave a snort. "Felt like some short-lived ghost was clinging to me. Rotten luck, truly."
Chapter 802