Chapter 322 - 313: Self-Exposure
The fires of July burned hot.
Outside Jingxin Nunnery, in the Liyang City suburbs.
A blue-curtained carriage slowly pulled away, heading toward the Commandery City.
Inside the carriage, Sun Wanru was dressed in plain white mourning clothes. A single, small white flower was pinned in her hair, accentuating her gaunt features.
She had just offered incense and chanted scriptures for her father, Sun Bingyi, at the nunnery, but her heart felt no peace.
Her father’s coffin could only be temporarily stored at the nunnery. With no date set for their return home and a bleak, uncertain future, she, an unmarried woman, was like a stray duckweed adrift on the water.
The carriage wheels rumbled monotonously over the gravel on the road.
"Move aside! Get out of the way!"
Just then, the driver’s sharp rebuke sounded from outside the carriage.
Puzzled, Sun Wanru lifted a corner of the window curtain and peered out.
She saw a figure walking ahead on the main road.
The woman wore a torn dress, and her hair bun was coming loose.
Yet, there was something familiar about her profile.
"Stop the carriage."
She ordered the driver subconsciously.
Sun Wanru leaned out, peering intently.
Just then, the figure heard the carriage and turned to look.
Their eyes met.
Sun Wanru slapped a hand over her mouth, her beautiful eyes widening in disbelief as she cried out, "Yu... Sister Yuniang?!"
Who else could it be but her closest friend, Li Yuniang, the mistress of her cousin, He Zhangqiu?
But the elegant woman who always wore a charming smile and exquisite clothes was now so haggard and worn.
Li Yuniang seemed to recognize her too and turned as if to hide.
"Sister Yuniang! It really is you!"
Sun Wanru hurriedly had her maid help her out of the carriage. She rushed to Li Yuniang’s side and grabbed her cold hand. "What are you doing here? And why do you look like this?"
Li Yuniang, caught by the hand, struggled for a moment before giving up. She lowered her head, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz. "Little Sister Wanru... I..."
"This is no place to talk. Get in the carriage first!"
Seeing Li Yuniang’s miserable expression, Sun Wanru grew even more alarmed and uncertain. She pulled her toward the carriage.
Li Yuniang allowed herself to be helped into the carriage with little resistance.
Inside, the quick-witted maid handed them a waterskin and a clean handkerchief.
Li Yuniang took them, sipping the water and wiping her face with the handkerchief, revealing a gaunt but still recognizably beautiful face.
"Sister Yuniang, what on earth happened?"
Sun Wanru asked, "Back then, you and my cousin disappeared without a trace. Where did you go? Why are you here all alone, looking like this? Where is my cousin?"
Li Yuniang’s fingers tightened around the waterskin. She looked at Sun Wanru, her lips trembling for a few moments before she stammered, "Young Master... he’s... passed away..."
"What?!"
Sun Wanru felt as if she’d been struck by lightning. Though she had suspected it, hearing it confirmed still sent a shiver through her entire body. "How could that be? My cousin had experts with him. What happened?"
"It was... the Chen Family, and the Zhou Family..."
Li Yuniang’s voice was filled with hatred. "The Young Master had gotten leverage over them and was planning to take them down. But we never expected the Chen Family had long been colluding with the Tuo Long Bang. They set a trap, and the Young Master... and the experts he brought with him... they were all lost."
At this, she broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.
Sun Wanru listened, stunned, her face pale.
’The Chen Family, the Zhou Family, and the Tuo Long Bang...’
She was no sheltered finch in a cage; she knew a thing or two about the grudges between the great families.
The struggles between Noble Families, the crushing weight of competing interests, the life-and-death stakes—she was not ignorant of these things. She just never imagined her own cousin would meet such a fate.
’Am I angry? Of course I am.’
’But beneath the anger is a greater sense of powerlessness.’
’What is the Sun Family’s situation now?’
’Father is dead. Our backbone is gone.’
’Now my uncle is dead too. The Sun Family is like a plump piece of meat on a chopping block, the only question is who will devour it, and when.’
’What can a weak woman like me do, besides grieve and be afraid?’
"Then... Sister Yuniang, what happened to you afterward?"
Sun Wanru steadied her Heart Spirit and looked at Li Yuniang’s miserable state, her own heart aching.
Li Yuniang flinched and lowered her head. "I couldn’t escape. But because I have... some looks, Patriarch Chen took a liking to me. He’s a lecherous fiend. He locked me in a dark room and... whenever he felt like it, he would... To survive, I had no choice but to... play along..."
Her words were intermittent and barely audible.
"Sister Yuniang, don’t cry anymore. It’s all in the past... It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have asked..."
But Sun Wanru’s face had turned pale. She felt a deep empathy for her, and a chill of sympathy washed over her.
She knew that for a woman, reputation was more important than life itself. To have suffered such violation was a fate worse than death.
She quickly patted Li Yuniang’s back, held her cold hand, and changed the subject. "Sister... how did you manage to escape?"
Li Yuniang squeezed her hand back, tears streaming down her face. "Little Sister Wanru, if we weren’t such dear friends for so many years, I would tell you I slipped away when they weren’t looking. But I... I can’t lie to you. And I certainly can’t harm you!"
Sun Wanru froze. "Sister, what do you mean?"
Li Yuniang looked up, meeting Sun Wanru’s eyes directly, and confessed, "I didn’t escape. The Chen Family let me go. He fed me poison and forced me to come back... to be a spy and gather information."
"What?!"
Sun Wanru’s beautiful eyes were filled with shock and disbelief. "Gather... what information?"
Li Yuniang gave a bitter smile. "The Chen Family has long suspected that Aunt Zhuo’s offer to sell the Textile Workshop, granaries, farmlands, and shops to the Zhou Family at such a low price was strange—that it must be a trap. So they took control of me, forced me to take poison, and sent me back. They want me to find out what the Sun Family is really planning. Who is pulling the strings? And why is the price so ridiculously low?"
Sun Wanru’s mind was in turmoil.
’The Chen Family was already suspicious? And they sent a spy back?’
’Then Aunt Zhuo’s and my eldest cousin’s plan...’
Looking at Li Yuniang’s miserable yet honest face, she found herself believing most of her story.
’If she didn’t genuinely care for me, why would she expose herself like this and put herself in such a dangerous position?’
"Sister Yuniang... why are you telling me all this?"
Sun Wanru’s voice was hoarse.
"Because I don’t want to harm you. And I don’t want to see you kept in the dark, walking into danger without even knowing it."
Li Yuniang’s eyes shimmered with tears. "Little Sister Wanru, tell me, is the Sun Family... really planning to sell those properties to the Zhou Family?"
Sun Wanru was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Yes. Aunt Zhuo... has indeed been negotiating with people from the Zhou Family. And the price... is very low."
Li Yuniang said urgently, "Why? Even if the Sun Family is weak and can’t hold onto its assets, they could sell to any of the other local Noble Families for a price that wouldn’t be below market value. Why sell them at a low price specifically to the Zhou Family, with whom you have a grudge?"
Sun Wanru fell silent again.
The carriage swayed gently. For a time, the only sound in the compartment was the rumbling of the wheels.
After a long moment, she seemed to make up her mind and said softly, "Sister Yuniang, since you’ve been so honest with me, even revealing such a life-and-death secret, I would be unworthy of being your sister if I kept things from you."
She lowered her voice and said with a bitter smile, "Since you’ve treated me with such sincerity, I won’t hide it from you either. These properties my family has in Liyang are nominally under the Sun Family’s name, but in reality, there were contracts long ago. They all belong to my uncle’s side of the family. The true foundation and ancestral assets of my Sun Family are all in our old home in Lu Shui, managed by my brothers. As for selling the Liyang properties..."
She paused, her voice dropping even lower. "It wasn’t entirely Aunt Zhuo’s idea. It was my eldest cousin... she’s back. Now, she’s the one calling the shots for the entire Sun Family. Selling the properties to the Zhou Family was her idea. As for why she’s doing it, and why at that price... I don’t know either."
"Eldest cousin?"
Li Yuniang looked surprised. "You mean... the Young Master’s older sister? Didn’t she leave to train with an expert years ago? When did she come back?"
Sun Wanru nodded, a hint of helplessness on her face. "I don’t know when she returned. After my father passed away, we had already packed our things and were preparing to escort his coffin back to Lu Shui. But my eldest cousin suddenly appeared and took control of everything in the Sun Family, declaring that she would avenge my uncle. Her cultivation is profound, and her methods are... No one in the Sun Family dares to defy her. That’s why my father’s coffin has to be temporarily kept here at Jingxin Nunnery."
As she spoke, her eyes reddened again.
Li Yuniang let out a soft sigh and squeezed Sun Wanru’s hand. "You’ve suffered, Little Sister Wanru. To be in such a situation..."
"What about you, Sister?"
Sun Wanru wiped the moisture from the corner of her eye and asked with concern, "You’ve been poisoned and are being coerced by the Chen Family. What are your plans for the future?"
A glint of deep-seated hatred and resolve flashed in Li Yuniang’s eyes. "Plans? My innocence is ruined, and I’m full of poison. I never planned to go on living this wretched life. The only reason I’m clinging on now is for one thing: revenge!
Revenge for Young Master Zhangqiu, and revenge for myself. If... if that eldest cousin of yours really has the ability to destroy the Chen Family and tear that bastard to shreds, then I could die from the poison this very instant with no regrets!"
Sun Wanru was taken aback by the resolute hatred in her eyes. She felt a pang of pity, but also helplessness. "I don’t know what my eldest cousin is planning either. Aunt Zhuo might know more. Sister Yuniang, why don’t I take you back to the residence first to see Aunt Zhuo? Maybe she and my eldest cousin can find a way to help you?"
Li Yuniang looked at her, tears shimmering in her eyes, and nodded. "At this point, I have nowhere else to go. I’ll leave everything to you, Little Sister."
The carriage entered Liyang Commandery City and finally stopped at a side gate of the Sun Family Mansion.
Sun Wanru led Li Yuniang into the mansion, heading straight for a quiet and elegant courtyard in the inner residence.
In the courtyard, a beautiful woman of about thirty, dressed in a lavender brocade dress with her hair coiled in a high bun, was eating pastries.
It was Sun Bingyi’s concubine, Zhuo Yuan.
She was surprised to see Sun Wanru enter with a woman in tattered clothes. After Sun Wanru leaned in and quietly explained Li Yuniang’s identity and ordeal, her gaze toward Li Yuniang instantly became complicated.
After a long silence, Zhuo Yuan finally spoke. "I cannot make a decision on this matter. Yuniang’s identity is a special case. We must ask the Eldest Miss to decide."
"Then I must ask Aunt Zhuo to pass on the message."
Zhuo Yuan nodded. "Wait here. I will be right back."
With that, she stood up and called over a trusted maid, whispering a few instructions to her. Then, she put on a cloak, forgoing a sedan chair, and simply had a driver prepare a carriage, which she boarded and left in.