Chapter 225
Chapter 225
Yu Lang walked up to the Wen Family’s father and son and continued, “But there is no point pursuing any of that now. It will not bring Miss Wen back.”
Master Wen could no longer stand steadily and sank heavily into his chair. Suddenly he bowed his head. Tears fell onto his clothes, and grief filled his voice.
“She should hate me…”
Seeing him like this, Yu Lang could not help sighing. “Hating you would only make her suffer more.”
Master Wen immediately looked up at him, a trace of hope appearing in his eyes.
“Did Yu’er… say anything else? Could I… see her again?”
Beside him, Wen Yan feared that his father was being deceived and was about to speak.
But Yu Lang spoke first. “You are separated by life and death. You cannot see her.”
The light faded from Master Wen’s eyes.
Yu Lang continued, “However, Miss Wen would like you to do one last thing for her…”
“What is it?” Master Wen asked quickly.
“Everyone in Beiding County believes it was the Fu Family’s young master who broke the engagement,” Yu Lang said. “But Miss Wen wants them to know that she never thought much of the Fu Family at all, and never wanted to marry Fu Yuan!”
Wen Yan found this ridiculous. “Utter nonsense! My sister was clearly devoted to the Fu Family’s young master. How could she possibly have had no wish to marry him?”
Yu Lang gave him a cold, sidelong look. “As her elder brother, when did you ever truly understand your sister? Did you ask her?”
Wen Yan faltered, then argued, “I knew even without asking!”
Yu Lang exposed him at once. “It was not that you did not ask. You never even thought of asking, did you?”
Turning back to Master Wen, he continued, “In any case, I have delivered her message. If you truly feel any remorse, Master Wen, you will find a way to let all of Beiding County know.”
“Then Miss Wen can know of it in the afterlife and go on her way in peace.”
Master Wen silently lowered his head. No one knew what he was thinking.
At last, he suddenly called, “Yan’er.”
Wen Yan was alarmed. “Father, surely you do not believe him?”
His face cold, Master Wen ordered, “Take some people to the Fu Family residence at once. Make a proper stir. As for what to say, you should know…”
Wen Yan could not understand. “Father, you are being foolish!”
“Our families have been friends for generations. If we go there saying such things now, will we not destroy that friendship? How could we have any dealings with them afterward?”
Master Wen rebuked him furiously. “When Fu Yuan broke the engagement, did he give any thought to either family’s dignity?”
Wen Yan stammered, “But… was it not because Yu’er… that Fu Yuan broke it off?”
“Silence!”
His face full of anger, Master Wen unexpectedly spoke in her defense. “I heard about it long ago. That night, Fu Yuan was the one who went off to drink with singing girls at the tavern until midnight…”
“If he had truly regarded Yu’er as his future wife, he would never have behaved that way that night!”
Cowed by his father’s authority, Wen Yan dared not say anything more.
“I understand, Father. I… will go to the Fu Family residence at once!”
Wen Yan had barely left when Master Wen began coughing again.
He shakily lifted the ginseng tea from the table, but his hands were trembling too badly to hold it steady.
Seeing this, Ren Fengjue, who sat beside him, reached out to help him hold the cup.
Yet a moment later, Master Wen coughed up another mouthful of blood…
Realizing something was wrong, Ren Fengjue immediately felt his pulse. His expression darkened slightly. “Master Wen, you had better let the Household Physician examine you.”
Master Wen leaned against the back of his chair and forced a smile. Then he took a handkerchief from inside his robe and began wiping his mouth.
Suddenly he paused, staring at the handkerchief, and a tear ran down his face.
“There is really no point having anyone examine me. My illness is already beyond cure…”
He tucked the handkerchief back into the inner pocket of his robe. “Since Yu’er died, my health has grown worse by the day…”
“It is fortunate that you came today. A little later, and I might never have heard what you had to say…”
For a moment, Ren Fengjue could find no words. He nodded to Yu Lang, then left the hall to ask a servant to fetch the physician.
Master Wen already seemed dazed, yet a bitter smile appeared on his face.
“I am not telling you this to win your sympathy…”
“To tell you the truth, I have dreamed of Yu’er every night these past few days.”
“In my dreams, she only watches me from a distance. She will neither come near nor speak to me. I know she must hate me…”
From his words, it was not hard to tell that Wen Yu had probably entered her father’s dreams as well.
But the knot in her heart had kept her from daring to face him.
With Ren Fengjue gone, Yu Lang could only repeat what he had said before.
“Miss Wen said that she does not hate you.”
Master Wen shook his head. “But you were right. As her father, I failed to protect her. I failed to choose a good husband for her…”
“Things have come to this because I… was far too sure of myself back then.”
“I… bear a terrible burden of sin.”
Yu Lang listened with mixed feelings, unsure what to say.
But he could clearly sense Master Wen’s breathing weakening. His body seemed close to giving out.
“Sir, you should stop talking for now. Since Young Master Wen has gone to the Fu Family as Miss Wen asked, this matter should soon be settled.”
Faced with this situation, Yu Lang was anxious too.
Yet the Household Physician still had not arrived…
Just then, a chill wind swept through the hall. Leaning back in his chair, Master Wen stared at a single spot and suddenly called softly.
“Yu’er…”
Yu Lang looked in that direction but could see nothing…
He saw only Master Wen reach out and loosely close his hand around empty air. His once-clouded eyes shone with light…
For a hazy instant, time seemed to turn back many years.
Wen Yu had still been a little girl then.
She had always been so well behaved. Whoever set her lessons, she completed them diligently every day, never slacking.
Her tutors, teachers, and embroidery mistress had all praised her intelligence and eagerness to learn, saying she showed great promise.
He still remembered the year she first learned to compose poetry. After painstakingly working out a four-line poem of seven characters per line, she had run happily to his study to recite it for him.
But after listening, he had said, “Very good. My Yu’er can compose poetry now. Your Brother Fu is sure to like you when you grow up.”
Confusion had visibly flickered in Wen Yu’s eyes, but she had asked no further questions. She had merely nodded obediently.
All along, whatever she did, well or badly, had always come down to whether Brother Fu would like her…
No one had ever asked what she wanted.
Remembering these things, Master Wen felt the telltale sting of approaching tears and a weight press against his chest.
At last, he coughed up another mouthful of fresh blood. Yet the hand loosely clasping the empty air tightened of its own accord…
Suddenly Yu Lang heard him whisper again, “Yu’er, you are a good girl.”