Chapter 53: Consequences

After pondering for a moment, Hua Lu thought about how he had been working like an ox for the Yan family for so many years. He originally thought that even if the Yan family fell from grace, selling him to another family would at least leave him with a clean body, with the possibility of escaping his lowly status in the future. Who knew that Yan Zhujun would be so ruthless and merciless, pushing him into the fire pit.

He gritted his teeth, “Alright, let’s act tonight.”

During the evening meal, Hua Lu served Yan Jiyue porridge laced with sleeping ingredients. As his body was already weak, after taking the sleeping medicine, he fell into an even deeper slumber.

Xiao Ping and Hua Lu boldly stood in Yan Jiyue’s room: “Didn’t you say you knew where the young master keeps his jewelry? Hurry up and find it!”

Xiao Ping nodded. Having served Yan Jiyue closely for many years, he quickly found a key under the dressing table and opened the jewelry box, which was full of gold, silver, and jade ornaments that Yan Jiyue often wore.

Thinking about the jewelry they had once envied but could never have, which would soon be theirs, Hua Lu and Xiao Ping’s eyes revealed greedy expressions as they quickly snatched the jewelry from inside and stuffed it into the bundle they had prepared earlier.

Hugging the bulging bundle, Xiao Ping was still not satisfied and even set his sights on Yan Jiyue’s clothes. After all, the Yan family had once been prosperous, and even Yan Jiyue’s most ordinary clothes were made of silk. Selling them as second-hand clothes could fetch a few taels of silver. He picked a few of the most expensive ones and stuffed them into the bundle.

Hua Lu, not wanting to miss out, also grabbed a few nice-looking ones.

“Alright, let’s hurry and leave while it’s still dark,” Xiao Ping said.

If it had been when the Yan family was still prosperous, the main gate would have been specially guarded by a gatekeeper, and they wouldn’t have been able to get out at all. But now it was different. The Yan family had only a few people left, and the gatehouse was empty, so they slipped out easily. At daybreak, the two of them mingled with the crowd and left the city.

Early the next morning, Yan Jiyue woke up groggily, keenly sensing something amiss.

He propped himself up, looking at the obviously ransacked wardrobe and the empty box. He called out for Xiao Ping and Hua Lu, but no one answered. He immediately knew what had happened.

There was no anger, nor any sense of betrayal or humiliation. He slowly leaned back onto the bed, not knowing how long it had been since anything other than Su Mu could stir his emotions.

He tilted his head back, his sunken eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, hazily recalling half a year ago when he watched Su Mu’s body being buried. She had hated him so much that even when she was ill, she wouldn’t let him see her one last time, only allowing Xie Yi to stay by her side. No matter how much he knelt outside and begged, she never relented.

Even when she was on her deathbed, her mind was occupied with how to protect Xie Yi’s life. In Su Mu’s heart, he was just that cruel and vicious.

Yan Jiyue smiled, tears silently rolling down.

Later, he followed Su Mu, but unexpectedly was reborn. He thought the heavens had taken pity on him, but now Yan Jiyue realized that this was heaven’s punishment, condemning him to a lifetime of loneliness, watching his beloved live happily with another man.

“Jiyue, Jiyue!” Yan Ting hurriedly ran over, seeing that his door was unopened, she stopped just outside his door and asked, “Are you up? Something terrible has happened.”

Yan Jiyue calmly wiped away his tears: “I already know.”

It was just Xiao Ping and Hua Lu cleaning out his courtyard. He didn’t think it was a big deal. After all, he didn’t need these clothes and jewelry anymore. Su Mu was married now, so who would he dress up for?

“You know?” Yan Ting asked in surprise. “How do you know that Ling Hua and Ling Jing have run off with father’s dowry?”

Ling Hua and Ling Jing?

Yan Jiyue frowned, put on his clothes and opened the door: “Ling Hua and Ling Jing stole father’s dowry?”

“Yes, didn’t you say you knew?” Yan Ting saw the mess in Yan Jiyue’s room: “Don’t tell me you too?”

Yan Jiyue lowered his eyes: “Xiao Ping and Hua Lu also stole all my jewelry last night.”

“Could they be working together?” Yan Ting’s expression turned serious.

“Maybe.”

Ling Hua and Ling Jing’s private escape was not in collusion with Xiao Ping and Hua Lu, but was premeditated. However, Yan Zhujun’s words yesterday about selling Xiao Ping and Hua Lu to a male brothel truly frightened the two brothers, inevitably giving them a sense of shared fate.

To avoid meeting the same fate in the future, that night the two brothers steeled their hearts and ran away. Having served Yan Zhujun for many years, they were naturally observant and had noticed where Yan Zhujun hid the servants’ indenture contracts. So when they fled, they not only stole what little was left of Yan Zhujun’s dowry but also their indenture contracts.

“Ah, never mind that for now. Father is about to go mad. Come with me quickly to try and calm him down.” Yan Ting pulled Yan Jiyue and ran towards Yan Zhujun’s courtyard.

Before they even reached the door, Yan Jiyue could hear Yan Zhujun’s frantic shouting. Yesterday he had barely maintained his dignity, but today he was sprawled in the courtyard without any semblance of composure, his white hair disheveled and his wrinkled face gaunt with despair: “It’s all gone, all gone.”

Yan Ting stepped forward to support Yan Zhujun, her heart aching: “Father, it’s alright. I’ll report to the authorities right away. We’ll definitely catch those scoundrels.”

Yan Zhujun shook his head wearily, his withered hand pulling at Yan Ting: “We won’t catch them.”

Since they had stolen these things, they were prepared to flee far away. Even if they were caught, the money couldn’t be recovered.

“It’s alright, father. Even if the money is gone, you still have me and Jiyue. I’ll work hard at business in the future. Don’t worry, I’ll never let you suffer,” Yan Ting consoled him.

Yan Zhujun looked up, glancing at his daughter and then at Yan Jiyue. A sudden madness surged in his desperate eyes. He lunged forward, grabbing Yan Jiyue’s hand: “That’s right, I still have Jiyue, my good son.”

“Father!” Yan Ting stepped forward to pull him back, but Yan Zhujun’s sunken eyes could no longer see anything else. He pushed Yan Ting away, his expression frenzied: “Jiyue, didn’t I tell you to dress up nicely today? Quickly go back and prepare. I’ve arranged a good marriage for you. As long as you marry into that family, our Yan family will receive a large dowry. The Yan family will have hope of rising again. Go and dress up quickly! Be a good boy, Jiyue, listen to your father.”

Yan Jiyue pressed his lips tightly together, his eyes filled with hatred as he pushed him away: “Get lost! Don’t think you can sell me off like merchandise. I won’t marry anyone.”

“You’ll marry whether you want to or not!” Yan Zhujun’s face, as wrinkled as tree bark, twisted with a wolf-like ferocity. He pointed at Yan Jiyue’s nose and scolded, “The Yan family has raised you well for so many years, how dare you disobey me! Are you still my son or not!”

Yan Jiyue suppressed the tears in his eyes, remembering the past. When he had forced him to marry Su Mu, whom he didn’t even know then, he had used these same words. In his previous life, when he had schemed to humiliate Su Mu and Yan Jiyue tried to dissuade him, he had used these words to pressure him. He had pressured them until he and Su Mu grew apart as a couple, severing their fate in two lifetimes.

Yan Jiyue closed his eyes and took a deep breath: “Then consider that you don’t have this son!”

He spoke these words calmly and turned to leave.

“You dare to leave! If you leave, don’t come back. Let’s see who will want you!” Yan Zhujun shouted furiously behind him.

Yan Jiyue didn’t stop.

“You, you, you ungrateful child!” Yan Zhujun’s anger knew no bounds, but seeing Yan Jiyue’s unhesitating departure, his body shook like a sieve with rage, and he suddenly fainted.

“Father! Father!”

“Hahaha, this is so satisfying! Su Mu, just think, you’ve just gotten married and you encounter such good news. This is truly joy upon joy.” Shen Yuxue visited Su Mu on the third day of her marriage to deliver this good news.

“Miss Shen, please have some tea.” Xie Yi served tea. In the matriarchal country, there was no custom for husbands to put up their long hair after marriage, but Xie Yi had changed his somewhat childish high ponytail to a hairstyle common among men from the Central Plains. A elegant jade hairpin adorned his hair bun, with long hair cascading down his back, making him appear more mature than before, his eyes and eyebrows even more gentle.

However, compared to Xie Yi, Shen Yuxue’s attention was more focused on Su Mu.

This was her first time seeing Su Mu after her marriage. She wore only a white inner garment with a red outer robe. There was no intricate embroidery, just extremely simple solid colors, but the combination of light and deep colors was quite alluring. For a moment, Shen Yuxue seemed to see again that misty, rainy day when Su Mu had registered for the imperial examination.

“What joy upon joy?” Su Mu rested her chin on her hand, her clear eyes flowing like warm water. She always looked especially gentle when she smiled, and after marriage, she had gained a more mature and reserved air, making her even more attractive than when she was unmarried.

Shen Yuxue pretended to drink tea to swallow her saliva, averting her gaze as she said, “Your former father-in-law, Yan Jiyue’s father, they were already poor as church mice, but on the very night of your wedding, the few remaining servants in their household ran off with all of Yan Jiyue’s gold, silver, jewelry, and dowry. Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter! Old Master Yan couldn’t bear it, he got so angry he had a stroke. Hahaha! Yan Ting had to sell another shop just to save his life, but he’ll be bedridden and need care for the rest of his life. Well, of their last two shops, only one is left now. Hahaha!”

“Su Mu, my dear Su Niang, your great revenge has been fulfilled. Even the heavens couldn’t stand by and watch anymore.” Shen Yuxue laughed, seeming even happier than if her own enemy had met with retribution.

Su Mu lowered her eyes, sipping her tea with a faint smile: “I really didn’t expect this.”

She had imagined many endings for the Yan family, but she hadn’t expected that the final blow to Yan Zhujun’s heart would come like this. However, it was not without precedent. Yan Zhujun wasn’t particularly good to his servants, yet he believed the people around him were loyal to him.

His most trusted Ling Hua and Ling Jing, from her observations in her previous life, also had their own small schemes, but in her previous life, the Yan family was still prosperous, so it was covered up. In this life, the Yan family’s fall from grace was too quick, revealing their true nature earlier, resulting in everyone turning against them. They couldn’t even protect their own dowry, which serves them right.

“Speaking of which, Yan Ting is now planning to sell the Yan family’s big mansion to raise some emergency funds. It’s being sold at a cheap price. Do you want to buy it?” Shen Yuxue asked.