Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After Liuyao left, I went out to the street and bought a thin coffin.

Ah Er buried his own full brother with his own hands, tears streaming down his face. “My lady, are we really just going to let this go?”

Numbly, I said, “Of course we won’t. After all, you and I are still alive. So is Father.”

At that, Ah Er looked terrified. “Then… should we run?”

I shook my head. “Where could we run to? Father is old, and lately he can barely speak or walk properly. There are battles everywhere now. Leaving the city isn’t realistic.”

In truth, because of Liuyao’s ambiguous attitude, I still held out hope that Qu Huang would save me. I still hoped there might be one trace of tenderness left in him.

Now, all I could do was wait for his answer.

And so I waited until the sun sank westward. A sliver of sunset fell, drifting uncertainly beyond the half-open lattice window. There was not the slightest sound of wind in the courtyard. It was so still and empty it felt like death.

I sat in the draft for a long time. Just as the sun was about to set, a familiar carriage came clattering from the distance, and joy rose in me as if I had found life at the end of despair.

The next moment, the driver on the carriage lifted his face covering.

It was still Liuyao.

Seeing the disappointment on my face, Liuyao advised, “My lord cannot come. Naturally, he has his difficulties.”

“Is that so?”

After a long silence, I asked in a low voice, “That head-did he see it?”

That eunuch was one of the County Princess’s close attendants. Qu Huang surely recognized him.

Liuyao nodded. “He saw it. But my lord said that the Young Lady has always been magnanimous. How could she possibly have done such a thing? It must have been the people beneath her acting on their own. It will never happen again.”

“…”

I knew the “Young Lady” he spoke of was the new wife, County Princess Wenzhao. In that instant, my heart turned to ash.

Seeing my bleak expression, Liuyao hurriedly added, “But my lord also said that he has just secured a residence at the Qu Clan’s ancestral estate. He can give it to you to live in, and he will visit you from time to time…”

I understood. Qu Huang wanted me to take shelter with his clan. With the Qu Clan there, the County Princess would have to think twice and would not dare kill anyone openly.

This was probably the very limit of what he could do.

A bitter mockery rose in my heart, and I could not help sneering. “So he means to keep me as a mistress outside the household?”

“Madam…”

“He also wants me to overturn the proper order of things and go from wife to concubine, is that it?”

Faced with my tear-choked fury, Liuyao sighed deeply. “Please do not blame him, Madam.”

“You must understand, my lord has no choice either.”