Chapter 18: Uncle Listens to Inner Voices
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.
“Your daughter has been unfilial. Your daughter knows her wrongs.” Madam Xu knelt in the main hall, her heart filled with remorse.
The three sisters-in-law of the Xu family immediately tried to console her. “Shi Yun, get up quickly,” urged Madam Li. “Mother loves you the most. She’s been thinking about you every single day.”
“The red bean cakes and ginseng chicken soup you love so much—for the seventeen years since you married, they’ve never been absent from the house. We’ve been preparing them so you could eat them anytime you return,” the second sister-in-law said as she brought a bowl of steaming soup. This soup had been kept ready for seventeen years.
The third sister-in-law poked Madam Xu’s forehead with her finger and scolded lightly, “You, you! Don’t act so stubborn anymore. When we visited the Lu family to support you, we wanted to give you face. But what did you do? You drove us out!”
This third sister-in-law was the same age as Madam Xu, thirty-three, but her demeanor was cold and aloof, like a proud snow lotus.
In the second year of Madam Xu’s marriage, her sisters-in-law had come to visit her. Back then, Madam Xu had been a radiant young lady, full of confidence and vitality. But after just one year in the Lu family, she had become timid and hesitant, losing all sense of agency. When her mother-in-law merely glared at her, she shrank back without a word of rebuttal. The once-proud legitimate daughter of the Xu family even carried foot-washing water to serve her mother-in-law.
Furious, the three sisters-in-law confronted the Lu family. To their shock, Madam Xu sided with her in-laws and expelled her own family members. After that, they severed contact entirely. Though Madam Xu lived in the capital, she cut herself off unilaterally from her family.
“It’s all Shi Yun’s fault. I failed to appreciate the efforts of my sisters-in-law,” said Madam Xu earnestly, bowing her head to the ground in apology. This stunned her sisters-in-law.
Before her marriage, this little sister-in-law had been the precious darling of the Xu family.
When the men of the Xu family returned to the house, the lively atmosphere grew even more jubilant. The Old Madam, now awake, clung to Madam Xu and refused to let go. The vitality seemed to return to her, and her spirit grew visibly brighter.
The Xu family did not follow the custom of splitting up during meals. Instead, they gathered around a large round table, creating a warm and lively scene. The children of the family, however, were at the academy and missed the gathering.
The Old Madam sighed as she recalled the past. “Back then, he knelt before our door for three days, and you fasted for three days in the house—all because you wanted to marry him. Thankfully, he’s treated you well. After all these years, he’s never taken a bed maid.”
Madam Xu’s body stiffened, and she bit her lip gently. Deng Zhi glanced at her, aware that Madam Xu did not want her family to worry.
The room was filled with laughter and chatter, but Lu Chao Chao kept muttering softly to herself.
[Liars! Liars! My father is a liar! Wuwuwu, my mother was deceived by him!]
[My father has a mistress. Her son is seventeen, the same age as my eldest brother. And her daughter… she shares my birthdate! Moreover, this will lead to the complete ruin of the Xu family! Wuwuwuwu…]
Clink. A pair of chopsticks fell to the ground.
[Grandfather will die after colliding with something in the Imperial Study.]
[Eldest Uncle will be executed publicly after taking the blame for witchcraft.]
[Second Uncle will be falsely accused of causing a flood during disaster relief, resulting in the deaths of countless civilians. The angry survivors will tear him apart alive.]
[Third Uncle will be framed for treason and die in a foreign land.]
[Third Aunt will endure countless humiliations while searching for his body. She’ll finally find it and perish in the fire with him, taking their unborn child with her.]
Third Master Xu coughed violently, his hand trembling as he clutched his chopsticks. Beside him sat his wife, the proud and cold Madam Cen, who was Lu Chao Chao’s third aunt.
In her youth, Madam Cen had been willful and spoiled. Determined to marry Third Master Xu, she had forced her way into the union. Over the years, their marriage had been distant, and she had resigned herself to living that way forever.
Little did she know, everything was about to change.
Third Master Xu’s hands quivered as he replayed her future demise in his mind. [Enduring humiliation to retrieve his body, perishing in the fire, pregnant…]
His mind was consumed by the image of her tragic end, and he could not suppress the tremor in his heart.
“What’s wrong?” Madam Cen glanced at him indifferently. For over a decade, she had endured Third Master Xu’s coldness, receiving nothing but disdain in return.
Third Master Xu took a deep breath, suppressing the shock surging within him. His voice trembled, but he unconsciously lowered his tone, speaking with uncharacteristic gentleness. “It’s nothing. I just choked a little.”
Madam Cen paused, then silently poured him a cup of water before saying no more.
The three uncles of the Xu family fixed their gazes on Lu Chao Chao.
The Xu family’s destruction? Lu Yuan Ze keeping a mistress?
The three uncles exchanged glances, seeing the shock mirrored in each other’s eyes.
Xu Yi Ting said nothing, merely shaking his head lightly while clenching his fists tightly.
After the evening meal, without delay, the brothers headed straight to the Old Grand Tutor’s study.
“Did you hear Chao Chao’s inner voice?”
“You heard Chao Chao’s thoughts too?” Second Master Xu and Third Master Xu asked in unison.
The Old Grand Tutor wiped a trace of cold sweat from his brow. Xu Yi Ting exhaled deeply. “It seems only we can hear her.”
“Who knows if it’s true or not?” Third Master Xu murmured under his breath.
The image of his wife’s face flashed before his eyes, and a faint, piercing pain gripped his heart.
Xu Yi Ting’s gaze deepened. No one knew better than he did—this was true. He had already decided to take all the blame himself and had told no one.
“This might be heaven’s blessing for the Xu family. Not a word of this must leak,” he said firmly.
“Chao Chao is not like ordinary children,” the Old Grand Tutor mused, stroking his beard.
The Old Grand Tutor speculated that only direct blood relatives could hear her thoughts, as it required a familial connection. The Old Madam’s inability to hear was likely due to her frail health and prolonged illness.
“First, send someone to investigate Lu Yuan Ze. Back then, he swore to the heavens to marry Shi Yun. If he has wronged her, I’ll make him wish he were dead!” Xu Yi Ting declared, his eyes blazing with fury. The brothers talked through the night.
By evening the next day, Lu Yuan Ze finally arrived, fashionably late. Given his years of understanding Madam Xu, he expected her to have already prepared an excuse on his behalf. She always found ways to absolve him.
But as he stepped through the door, he was met with an entirely different scene.
“A son-in-law as busy as you must find the Xu family unworthy of a visit,” the Old Grand Tutor remarked, his rare anger surfacing.
For eighteen years of marriage, Shi Yun had not dared to return home!
Lu Yuan Ze bowed deeply, his demeanor respectful. “Father, Shi Yun forbade me from visiting after our marriage. This is my failing as a son-in-law.” He knelt at the threshold, kowtowing heavily in apology.
Despite his apparent humility, Lu Yuan Ze’s eyes betrayed his displeasure. This time, Madam Xu did not defend him.
Lu Chao Chao was adored by the Xu family, which included her two uncles and five cousins. Only Third Master Xu remained without children, making Lu Chao Chao the only girl in the family.
Her aunts took turns hugging and kissing her, and Lu Chao Chao reveled in the warm and loving atmosphere of the Xu household.
[If only Father and Mother could divorce! Kicking that scoundrel of a father out would be so wonderful.] The little girl sighed deeply in her thoughts.
But she knew in her heart that Madam Xu had endured nearly two decades of psychological manipulation. Everything required the right timing—they needed the final straw to break her resolve.
Hearing her daughter’s thoughts, Madam Xu’s expression darkened. Divorce? How could it be so simple? And what about her three sons?
Before the curfew, Lu Yuan Ze suppressed his anger and escorted Madam Xu back to their home. Once inside the carriage, his expression darkened immediately.
“Shi Yun, didn’t we agree not to return to the Xu family for the time being?”
He rolled up his pant leg, revealing his red, swollen knees from kneeling for three days and nights on their wedding night. He had shown this to Xu Shi Yun before, claiming, “I know the Xu family looks down on me. When I face your father and brothers, I can’t even lift my head. It’s crushing me.”
He had used this to slowly isolate Madam Xu from her family.
[Mother, he’s trying to brainwash you again!!] Lu Chao Chao screamed in her mind.
And at that moment…