When the old madam of the Cui family arrived, the young men of the Cui family had already carried Cui Lao's body back to the room.
She looked at Cui Lao's peaceful face on the bed and was unusually calm. She calmly ordered Cui Jiu, "Jiu Lang, fetch a basin of hot water."
The old madam of the Cui family wrung out a hot towel and carefully wiped the bloodstains from Cui Lao's lips. She even cleaned the blood from his beard and tidied it with a special comb.
"Dry your tears, all of you!" The old madam stood in the brightly lit room, her authoritative voice resolute. "Your father used his life to end the grievances between the Cui family and the people of Qinghe. He died for the Cui family, and he fulfilled his responsibilities and duties as the head of the family. He would not want to see you all weeping and the Cui family falling into decline if he knew."
"Respecting his last wish, all members of the Cui family, except for Jiu Lang's branch, must leave Qinghe. The family still has some private property. While we can no longer be immensely wealthy, we can still have enough to eat and drink. The Cui family has never split up for hundreds of years, but today we must. However, no matter where our Cui clan members move in the future, they must not forget that they are descendants of the Cui clan."
"Da Lang, San Lang, and Liu Lang will move to Luquan. Er Lang, Si Lang, and Qi Lang will move to Gaotang. Old Wu and the remaining clan members will accompany me to take your father's ashes back to our old home in Anping County. Of course, if any clan members wish to make a living on their own, they can receive relocation fees from me. We will depart in three days."
"We obey your command, mother!" everyone said.
The old madam of the Cui family's gaze fell on Yu Mingyue, who was standing in the corner. Her voice softened slightly, "Liu Niang, come here!"
"Grandmother!" Yu Mingyue knelt down with a thud.
She had thought that this trip to Qinghe could change the fate of the Cui family, but she hadn't expected it to come to this.
The old madam reached out to help her up. "Good child, you saved the lives of the Cui clan members. So, it was my Liu Niang who was the noble person Mr. Yuan spoke of."
Many years ago, Mr. Yuan had cast a divination for the Cui family, saying that they would face a disaster of extinction. A year ago, he passed through Qinghe and said that the omens had changed, and the Cui family would be helped by a noble person to avert the crisis.
Now, the prophecy had come true.
If it weren't for Liu Niang leading people to stop those rioters, the Cui family might have truly disappeared.
Yu Mingyue shook her head. She knew the outcome, yet she was powerless to change it.
"Don't cry. As long as the Cui family exists, there is hope for a comeback. The Cui family will not fall!" The old madam of the Cui family's tone was gentle yet firm, and her expression seemed no different from usual.
The Cui family was in turmoil, and the Emperor's next move was unknown. She could not fall.
It was a good thing that the old man had left the Cui family's books to Liu Niang, leaving a way out for the Cui family. Only the Cui clan members were most familiar with those books. If the Emperor wanted to establish an academy and promote these books, he could not exterminate all the Cui clan members.
As for the land and properties that were to be handled by Minister Qian, if they could not be returned to the people in the end, the Emperor would not be able to be the sole beneficiary. He could not have both fame and fortune.
However, the Cui family's misfortune would surely implicate Yu Lang and his son. They would likely face ostracism and difficulties in court.
When Yu Mingyue came out of the room, she wiped away her tears. The Cui family mansion, which had been thriving just yesterday, was now in ruins and dilapidated.
"Uncle, before the Cui family guards are dismissed, I want to ask them to do one more thing," Yu Mingyue said.
"What is it?"
"Kill Chai Xinye. I want him alive or dead, with his body found." Yu Mingyue said coldly.
Cui Jiu Lang frowned. He hadn't seen Chai Xinye since the Cui family's incident. Since Liu Niang wanted to kill him, she must have her reasons.
"Don't worry, Uncle will do it now," Cui Jiu Lang said.
His father had passed on the position of the Cui family head to him before his death. He had refused many times before, but this time, he had to bear the heavy responsibility of the Cui family's revival.
Xie Jia Yan had been standing in the courtyard the whole time. He was not a member of the Cui clan, so it was not appropriate for him to enter the room. Naturally, he had heard Yu Mingyue's words about killing Chai Xinye.
"If Brother Jia Yan tries to persuade me to let this person go, I won't listen," Yu Mingyue said, holding back her tears with great effort.
Yu Mingyue walked forward on her own. With every step she took, her heart felt more pained.
"If I hadn't told Brother Jia Yan about the land reclamation, if I hadn't interfered in the affairs of Taohua Village, perhaps none of this would have happened. If I had been able to think of a solution sooner, my maternal grandfather wouldn't have died," Yu Mingyue murmured to herself, covering her face with her hands, tears flowing silently through her fingers.
"It has nothing to do with you. Since you knew that Chai Xinye was the Emperor's spy in the Cui family, you should have known that even without you, these things would have happened anyway," Xie Jia Yan said thoughtfully.
His voice was neither hurried nor slow, like a gentle breeze, slowly blowing into people's hearts.
In the end, they were all pawns in the Emperor's hands.
The Emperor's heart was truly unfathomable. He often accompanied the Emperor by his side and thought he understood him, yet he had never noticed anything.
"But I... I no longer have a maternal grandfather."
"Liu Niang, everything will get better."
Sacrificing Cui Lao alone to save the entire Cui family was already the best outcome.
With the Wuji Sect's conspiracy exposed and the Cui family having dispersed their wealth and left Qinghe, to avoid suspicion, the Emperor would likely not target the Cui family again.
...
On the twenty-sixth day of the ninth month of the eighteenth year of Yong'an, tens of thousands of Qinghe civilians, armed with hoes, sickles, and other farming tools, rushed to the Cui family mansion and broke in. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. This event was known as the Qinghe Rebellion.
Yu Mingjing received the news three days later. When the matter of the Cui family's land reclamation and sericulture broke out, he had a bad premonition. He had intended to go to Qinghe himself, but the enfeoffment ceremony of the Seventh Prince as Crown Prince was imminent, and he was busy with the handover and could not get away. Unexpectedly, he received the bad news and did not have time to see his maternal grandfather one last time.
The Qinghe Rebellion shocked the court. The Emperor was deeply saddened to hear of Cui Lao's death and approved the Cui family's memorial to return home to guard the mourning.
Qinghe
It was raining on the day the Cui family left Qinghe. Yu Mingyue stood under an umbrella at the pier, bidding farewell to the old madam of the Cui family.
She remembered that it was also raining when she first arrived in Qinghe, but her mood was different. The ship looked particularly lonely in the misty, drizzling rain, drifting further and further away.
Cui Jiu Lang looked at Yu Mingyue, who stood by the river, motionless for a long time. "Let's go back!"
"Uncle, tell me, what kind of world is a good world?" Yu Mingyue said to herself.
The aristocratic families manipulated the court, and over the past hundred years, emperors had changed like a revolving lantern. In the previous dynasty, the common people knew that the Wang and Ma families shared the world.
But from the perspective of the aristocratic families, making their families renowned throughout the land and leaving a lasting legacy seemed not wrong.
Then whose fault was it?
Was it the aristocratic families or the Emperor?
She didn't know anymore.
Everything seemed to be overlapping with the trajectory in the storybooks. After the downfall of the Wang and Cui families, why could she suddenly not remember what happened next?
She remembered, remembered...
"Patriarch, Chai Xinye's whereabouts have been found!" the messenger reported.
"Where?" Cui Jiu asked.
"General Cheng's camp."
"..."
Yu Mingyue looked at Cui Jiu. No wonder the Cui family couldn't get reinforcements that day. He had indeed made a good calculation and found a good way out for himself.
Cui Jiu waved his hand, signaling the messenger to withdraw.
"Liu Niang, given the Cui family's current situation, we are temporarily afraid we don't have the ability to get rid of him," Cui Jiu said with a dejected expression.
Chai Xinye was the Emperor's man, and now he was protected by the provincial governor Cheng. If he could kill him, it would be fine, but if not, it would bring disaster to the Cui family.
The Cui family was no longer what it used to be. Without guards, they could only be captured.
Yu Mingyue nodded. "I know."
Chai Xinye was a wicked person. His survival would bring endless trouble, and he must be eliminated.
However, she could not implicate the Cui family or Brother Jia Yan. She had to plan carefully.