Although the case of Shi Zifeng in Shaoxing had been resolved, there were still some official affairs to be dealt with, and Wei Luo needed to stay for a while. He resided in the county government office. Considering that Xue family was no more, Wei Luo asked Chang Feng to rent a house for Wen Ruyue, bought two maids temporarily, and then invited a doctor to take good care of her weak body.
During the day, he was at the county office, and in the evening, after finishing his errands, he would come to visit Wen Ruyue.
Wen Ruyue was physically weak, so she had to be supported by maids during the short journey from the inner room to the hall.
“Cousin…”
It had been a few days since the reunion, and every time she saw Wei Luo, Wen Ruyue had tears in her eyes.
Wei Luo felt guilty for her. If only he had cared more about his cousin and sent someone to Shaoxing to investigate, instead of trusting her letter, he might have prevented his cousin from falling into a situation where she was almost killed.
“Don’t cry; you will hurt your eyes. Be careful,” Wei Luo advised.
Wen Ruyue nodded, slowly sat down on the chair opposite Wei Luo, wiped away her tears with a handkerchief, and looked at Wei Luo with concern. “Have you had dinner, Cousin?”
Wei Luo hadn’t eaten yet but said, “I came here after eating. How about you?”
Wen Ruyue smiled, touched her stomach, and said, “It’s a good day. I had meat porridge, and I also ate half a piece of jujube cake.”
Wei Luo clenched his right hand tightly. He had extracted the truth from Mrs.Wang and knew the ins and outs.
Although Xue Huan was the concubine born into the Yongping Hou Mansion, he had a deep relationship with his parents and brothers. When his father, the Emperor, rebelled, the Yongcheng Hou Mansion sided with the court. Xue Huan also supported Wei Ang and deeply loved him. Despite his dislike for his cousin, Xue Huan might have divorced her if she hadn’t given birth to a son for him.
After his father ascended the throne, everyone in the Yongping Hou Mansion was exiled. Xue Huan harbored deep resentment towards his father and Wei Ang, but he didn’t dare to openly display his animosity. To ensure her safety, he devised a plan to coerce her into writing a letter reporting her well-being.
Fearing that the scheme might be exposed, Mrs. Wang once suggested that he feign affection for his cousin. The idea was to win her trust and, by exploiting her connection to the Shu Mansion, secure an official position.
However, Xue Huan, driven by a strong sense of integrity, couldn’t adopt the same flexible approach as the eldest son-in-law Zhao Mao. Instead of risking potential exposure by the Shu Mansion, he chose to endure the consequences, insisting on grounding his wife and their child.
After the death of their son, Xue Huan even considered arranging for his cousin to “commit suicide in grief”. It was Mrs. Wang who, being timid and fearful that news of the funeral might reach the Shu Mansion, was concerned that the Palace would thoroughly investigate and uncover the clues.
So the couple continued to lock up the cousin until Xue Huan’s sudden death. Mrs. Wang couldn’t bear it any longer, so she could only starve her and follow Xue Huan’s previous poisonous plan.
The cousin had been hungry for so long and had to resume her diet step by step.
Wei Luo looked at his cousin’s face. She was still very thin, but fortunately, after these few days of resting, her complexion recovered, and it was no longer sallow.
If his cousin came to Beijing with that face, Wei Luo was afraid that his mother would go crazy with distress.
“The doctor said you need to rest more. It’s getting late; go to sleep, I’m leaving too.”
Wei Luo was not good at caring about people, let alone chatting about family affairs. He asked his cousin about her diet and prepared to leave.
Wen Ruyue coughed, and seeing that Wei Luo just slightly raised his body and sat back down again, she asked with complicated eyes, “Cousin, Mrs. Wang harmed me. She deserves whatever punishment you mete out, but her child is innocent. How do you plan to deal with him?”
Wei Luo said coldly, “The whole family of the Xue family has been sentenced to exile. Since the child is of the blood of the Xue family, I will send someone to send him to the place of exile of the Xue family and let him recognize his ancestor and return to the clan.”
Wen Ruyue moved her lips, and after a while, she smiled wryly and said, “That’s fine. Let me continue to recognize him as my son. I really don’t have the heart, but my cousin has done so much for me. Will people misunderstand you for bullying others?”
Wei Luo said, “Xue Huan and Mrs. Wang’s treatment of you is obvious to all the guests and neighbors who went to the Xue House to express condolences that day. I also ordered people to post a notice listing their crimes. The evidence is solid and beyond reproach.”
Wen Ruyue sighed, “That’s good.”
Wei Luo persuaded her again to let her rest in peace and not worry about the outside world, and then left.
Wen Ruyue sat on the chair, watched her cousin’s tall back, tears welled up in her eyes again.
She grew up in the Yan Palace. Her aunt liked her so much, and her cousin was King Yan’s son. Wen Ruyue had secretly dreamed that she might marry her cousin and be the Emperor’s granddaughter-in-law first, and then become the Princess of the county in the future.
But King Yan asked Wei Luo to take Yin Hui, the daughter of the richest man in Yandi.
Ji Xianxian deliberately praised Yin Hui’s beauty in front of her, but it didn’t matter whether Yin Hui was beautiful or not. The marriage was settled, and she couldn’t be her cousin’s wife. Therefore, Wen Ruyue decisively went to Jinling and joined her father and stepmother.
At the foot of the Imperial City, there were dignitaries everywhere. Wen Ruyue carefully selected someone and finally made Xue Huan fall in love with her by virtue of her beauty. In fact, she also knew children of higher status, but those people would not marry her. Only Xue Huan, who had a background in the Hou family and a sincere heart.
Xue Huan was a concubine-born, skilled in martial arts but ordinary in appearance. Wen Ruyue just smiled at him, and Xue Huan was fascinated by her. He persuaded her stepmother to propose marriage. At that time, Xue Huan truly doted on her. After he was appointed as an official in Shaoxing, the couple lived a sweet life like glue. However, Xue Huan, serving as a garrison in Shaoxing, gained favor from officials and local prominent families, and there were many beauties who tried to seduce him.
Xue Huan began to take concubines.
During Wen Ruyue’s open and secret struggle with his concubine, the relationship between her and Xue Huan became weaker. Xue Huan hooked up with Mrs. Wang as early as the year when the First Emperor died, Wei Ang ascended the throne, and King Yan was still in Pingcheng.