Perhaps it was because of the ties of blood, even though Yao ngxian was eting Mrs. Yao for the first ti, she felt a great affection for her aunt.
"Aunt!" She threw herself into Mrs. Yao’s arms and couldn’t help but cry.
Mrs. Zhao lifted the curtain. She had just prepared tea, ready to invite the esteed guest inside for a rest.
But as soon as she entered, she found the wife of her master and the esteed guest holding each other and crying.
"What’s going on?"
"Chichi’s wife, take them to the inner courtyard." Doctor Li, separated from the outer hall by only a curtain, noticed many patients outside and knew it was not a place for reminiscing.
"Alright! Mistress, let’s go to the inner courtyard." Mrs. Zhao ca forward to advise.
Mrs. Yao wiped her tears, "Very well!"
Watching Mrs. Yao and the others enter the inner courtyard, Doctor Li did not follow. He went to the outer hall to take a look at the waiting patients.
"Chichi! You sit here for a while; I’m a bit tired and need to rest." Doctor Li couldn’t calm himself to see patients, so he had Gu Chengchi fill in for him.
"Alright! Master, if you’re tired, take a break!" Gu Chengchi, without a doubt, prepared to have Mrs. Zhao co over first to fetch so dicine.
At the sa ti, he thought about finding two apprentices, otherwise, it was too tiring for his master to see patients alone.
As soon as Yao ngxian entered the inner courtyard, she removed her veil. Mrs. Yao, looking at this face remarkably similar to her sister-in-law’s, couldn’t help but feel sorrowful.
"You truly resemble your mother!"
Mrs. Yao touched Yao ngxian’s cheek, as if seeing her close friend from her youth. Back then, Liang’s face was also beautiful, sothing she envied even though she was a woman.
"Eldest Aunt, what exactly happened back then? How did you..." Mrs. Gao interrupted, feeling deeply puzzled.
Back then, the eldest aunt had clearly passed away, but for so reason, she was still alive.
"It’s a long story!" Mrs. Yao held Yao ngxian’s hand, and they sat close together.
As they sat down, she gazed at the treasure flower entwined white porcelain tea bowl before her and recalled the past.
"In those days, I and your mother were close friends; later she married into our family as the Lady of the Clan, while I was married into the Xue Family."
Mrs. Yao thought she had beco numb over the years, but ntioning the Xue Family brought back pain to her heart, even piercing her bones.
The Xue Family had vanished without a trace now, but fourteen years ago they were unparalleled, with none in the Capital’s aristocratic families to match them.
Yao ngxian knew of the Xue Family, though she hadn’t been born then. She had heard rumours about the Xue Family because of this aunt.
Seeing her great aunt today was indeed a great surprise!
Reality and dreams had already diverged significantly; her great aunt had never appeared in her dreams.
"Mrs. Gao would know better than I what the Xue Family once was. When the Xue Family was accused of colluding with Da Xing, the Emperor ordered the extermination of the Nine Families. I felt the sky was collapsing, the mansion was being ransacked, and fear overwheld . My sister-in-law, being predisposed to squabbling, though I normally despised her chatter, she struck her head and died in front of . As soon as the news ca, many in the household died, and the won of Xue Mansion took their own lives to avoid capture and sha."
Recalling those who took their lives before her eyes, Mrs. Yao felt cold all over, her body trembling uncontrollably.
"I was ready to die too. Anyway, none of the masters could survive; the Xue Mansion wouldn’t leave any survivors, including the servants."
"Aunt, please stop talking!" Yao ngxian couldn’t bear to let her aunt recall those unbearable past events, it was too cruel for her.
Mrs. Yao grasped Yao ngxian’s hand forcefully, deeply entrenched in those terrifying mories, speaking incoherently at tis.
"Even I wanted to die, but Lin was crying and holding onto , the daughter still in swaddling clothes. I couldn’t bear it, and hesitated."
Mrs. Yao closed her eyes, letting tears run down her face unchecked.
"My son!" Mrs. Yao wailed, recalling those events felt as if her heart was being torn apart.
After a long while, Mrs. Yao cald her emotions a bit, allowing Yao ngxian to wipe her tears. She continued, "It was in that mont of hesitation that your grandmother brought a divorce paper!"
"Your grandparents did everything they could to obtain the divorce paper from the Xue side for and took back to Duke Zhen’s Mansion."
Yao ngxian knew that if the Xue side hadn’t issued the divorce paper, Duke Zhen’s Mansion would have been implicated.
Duke Zhen’s Mansion, being connected by marriage, was indeed within the Nine Families.
But the divorce alone was not enough; Duke Zhen’s Mansion also used the Red Book Iron Certificate.
Ultimately, the Emperor pardoned Duke Zhen’s Mansion, and they were largely unhard.
But as a condition of exchange, the Red Book Iron Certificate was naturally taken back by the Emperor.
As disasters befell the Xue side, even if the great aunt’s husband was unwilling to write, he could hardly resist them; they surely had ways to make him write the divorce paper.
Moreover, if Uncle Xue felt any spousal affection, he would undoubtedly be willing to let them go; otherwise, both aunt and the maternal family would be dood.
It would be better to save as many as they could. Why drag everyone to their deaths?
"I refused to return. My two children were imprisoned; how could I live a shaful life alone? But how could your grandparents agree? They sent people to forcibly bring back."
This Yao ngxian could naturally understand, since they had obtained the divorce paper, her grandparents, in order to preserve the family, naturally couldn’t let the great aunt act recklessly.
"At the Duke Mansion, I begged my mother to save my children, but they refused. I was so muddled at that ti; with such a scandal, people couldn’t avoid the Xue Family fast enough, and Duke Mansion was already in the midst of the storm. How could they possibly get involved?"
As a mother, Mrs. Yao naturally couldn’t let go of her children.
But the children were Xue’s, carrying Xue’s blood. How could the Emperor agree to spare their lives?
"I never thought of asking your grandfather to plead with the Emperor, I only wanted them to do a switch, even saving one would suffice!"
Yao ngxian was greatly shocked, never imagining this aunt had such courage.
Switching people was not only dangerous but extrely difficult.
All these people had been imprisoned in Dali Temple. How could switching them be easy?
Given her grandfather’s nature, he would absolutely not agree; it was a matter of family survival.
Her grandfather had always prioritized the bigger picture, willing to disregard even the family’s Direct Lineage if necessary, let alone outsiders.
As expected, Mrs. Yao continued, "Your grandfather disagreed, and after I caused many disturbances, he even locked up and had watched."
"Later, realizing there was no hope for rescue, I stopped asking him. But I harbored thoughts of suicide, feeling life was aningless."
Mrs. Yao’s pain-stricken gaze gradually dimd, but soon afterwards, hatred surfaced.
"Your grandfather was so heartless! He refused to save my children; though I was heartbroken, I never blad him. As the head of the family, he bore the lives of the entire clan. Not helping had his reasons, but he actually wanted to kill in the end."
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