Chapter 1727: Chapter 1665: All Destroyed
There is no wall in the world that doesnât leak wind; news that Madam Wang had been sent into the Wu Family Ancestral Temple quickly reached outsidersâ ears. Yet what they heard was that Madam Wang had herself requested to enter the family temple to be Praying for Blessing for her motherâinâlaw, and that until the older womanâs health was fully restored, she would not take a single step out of the temple. On the surface, this move seemed to be strong proof that she had been wronged, but it could not stop people from overthinking. They feared that the matter exposed in the public courtâthat Madam Wang had poisoned her motherâinâlawâwas, in fact, true.
For a time, the whole of Changan City talked of nothing but the Wu Family. In truth, the Wu Family had singleâhandedly supplied Changan Cityâs topics of conversation for the entire year. Starting from the first half of the year, trouble had been breaking out in the Wu Family one after anotherâwas there any shortage of incidents? From the elders down to the juniors, the gossip had never once stopped; the bustle was such that people could talk from dawn till dusk and still not finish.
Some said the Wu Family had collided with Tai Sui this year and provoked a baleful spirit, which was why so many vexing misfortunes had befallen them; otherwise, how could they have been this unlucky?
No matter how things were being spread outside, the Wu Family, trapped in the vortex of rumors, could only lie low and keep out of sight, doing everything as lowâkey as possible. It was only Wu Lihong who, recalling Madam Wangâs words, was so frightened that his heart trembled; he came to Changqing Residence to ask for an audience with Wufu.
Wufu did not see him. Left with no choice, Wu Lihong could only leave a message: all that happened yesterday is as if it died with yesterday; past grudges and grievances are already over. Now the Wu Family Main Branch has become a heap of loose sand, and Madam Wang has been locked into the family temple and will absolutely not be allowed out to stir up wind and rain again. He begged Wufu to show mercy; he guaranteed that Madam Wang would never again pose a threat to her.
Hearing this, Wufu merely smiled and let it pass.
With Madam Wang confined in the family temple, the business at Rongxiu Pavilion plummeted. Little thugs often went there to make trouble, and gradually no womenfolk dared go to have clothes made, for fear of running into an unfortunate encounter. With no alternative, Wu Lihong took the lead in arranging to dispose of Rongxiu Pavilion and transfer it to someone else.
On a deep winter night in the twelfth month, Wufu once again visited the Wu Familyâthis time going straight for the family temple.
Madam Wang sat on a meditation cushion wearing a coarse cotton robe, a cotton quilt draped over her shoulders, yet she was still so cold that her face had gone bluish.
These days, all she had to eat was coarse tea and plain rice; there wasnât even a piece of meat in her food. She had long since been worn down to skin and bone, hardly in human shape anymore.
What she found hardest to accept was that, whenever the night grew deep and everything fell silent, loneliness and desolation would engulf her. She could not help but wonder whether she might simply die here, never again seeing her children.
Wufu had said she would destroy everything of hersâand she had done it.
The person she was now truly had had every hope shattered; there was nothing left.
That vicious woman!
Laughter came from behind her, familiar yet grating. Madam Wangâs whole body went rigid; she turned around and indeed saw that woman standing not far behind her, cloaked head to toe in a black robe, the only thing glaringly bright being the white mourning flower in her hair.
Madam Wang trembled slightly, her teeth chattering as she said, "What are you here for, to make a joke of me?"
Before Wufu could answer, she shrieked, "Now youâve seen it. You got what you wanted. Youâve done everything you meant to do. Seeing how miserable I amâare you pleased?"
"Tsk, tsk." Wufu walked forward with a smiling squint, a bottle of wine in her hand. "I really should have brought a mirror so you could take a look at that noble face of yours."
Madam Wangâs features instantly twisted into a hideous mask.
"Well? Watching everything you care about being destroyed bit by bitâhow does that feel?" Wufu chuckled. "Seeing the children you treat as your very life walking step by step toward a dead end, toward ruinâwhatâs going through your heart?"
"You vicious woman, youâre a demon, a baleful star! Iâll fight you to the death!" Madam Wang sprang up from the ground, her hands curled into claws as she pounced at Wufu.