Chapter Seventy-Three: No Chance of Redemption

She sobbed, which made the Grand Chancellor all the more distressed. Yet as he listened to her words, suspicion also grew in his heart. This affair had stirred up a storm in the capital, even implicating Meng Chuyue. He too wished to unmask the true culprit as soon as possible.

When he first learned of the incident yesterday, he already harbored doubts about Lady Meng. At the time, the one injured was Miss Shen from the Duke Protector’s household, so he assumed the attack was directed at her. But now, hearing Meng Chuyue’s account, he could not help but cast a suspicious gaze at Lady Meng.

“It’s only natural that Chuyue would have doubts in her heart. Why have you reacted so violently to her questioning? Could it be your conscience is troubled?” he demanded.

Lady Meng shouted, all pretense of her usual dignity gone. “She’s speaking nonsense! Do you know what she said to me before you arrived? She claimed she threw herself into the pond, and that all the rumors spreading through the capital were started by her. Because of her, the two of us have fallen into this plight! And yet you only believe her, never caring for us, never taking our side!”

The Grand Chancellor was furious. “What utter nonsense! How could Chuyue, a young maiden, possibly do all that? She has been obedient and sensible since childhood. You’re the one who cannot tolerate her, who sent men to kill her, and now you play the innocent, accusing her first.”

“If it weren’t for the Duke Protector’s people that last time, Chuyue would have already perished by the hands of the assassins you sent.”

Out of the Grand Chancellor’s line of sight, Meng Chuyue raised the corners of her lips in a cold, mocking smile at Lady Meng. She knew her father would never believe Lady Meng; that was precisely why she had exposed everything in front of her. Now Lady Meng must feel the agony of speaking the truth and yet not being believed.

Lady Meng caught sight of her expression and, overcome with rage, could only gasp for breath, a metallic taste rising in her throat, a suffocating pressure lodged in her chest.

“So you’ll only believe her? She deserves death! She should have died long ago—I should have strangled her myself!”

The Grand Chancellor had no patience for her shrewish display. He approached her step by step, stopping before her, and said, each word heavy with meaning, “I ask you only this: were the assassins who attacked Chuyue yesterday sent by you?”

“If you confess, I may still be able to spare you from prison, perhaps even plead for leniency before His Majesty and the Duke Protector’s household. But if you persist in denial and you are indeed the perpetrator, once His Majesty’s men investigate, I will be powerless to help you.”

Meng Chuyue, with a look of pitiable sincerity, pleaded softly, “Mother, even if you do not think of yourself, you must think of my elder sister, still bedridden. If she learns you’ve come to harm, what will she do?”

A glint of sharpness flashed in her eyes. “If it truly was you, it’s best to tell Father now, so he can intercede for you with His Majesty.”

“Besides, the palace is bound to find out sooner or later.” The situation had grown dire. Shen Nanyuan was still a princess of Yong’an County; even if they begged for mercy, it would likely be futile. The Duke Protector’s entire household was furious and demanded justice; there was no room for negotiation. Lady Meng was destined to spend some time in prison.

For the matron of a noble family to be incarcerated—such a scandal was unprecedented. Lady Meng would soon, as she once wished, become famous throughout the capital, though not for the reasons she hoped.

Whether her elder daughter, if she learned of all this, would ever recover remained uncertain.

Lady Meng was stunned into silence, her former arrogance replaced by a limp collapse in her chair, as if every ounce of strength had left her. Meng Chuyue had struck her at her most vulnerable point. Everything she had done was for that weakness.

After a long while, as if finally coming to a decision, Lady Meng clenched her teeth, paused in exhaustion, then nodded, her resolve crumbling. “Yes, it was I who sent those men yesterday.”

The Grand Chancellor had already guessed the truth from her demeanor, but to hear the admission from her lips filled him with unbridled rage. Veins bulged at his temples as fury consumed him.

“Well, well. I see now how wrong I was about you! Who could have imagined you would commit such an act, betraying the trust I placed in you!”

“You speak of trust?” Lady Meng let out a cold laugh. “When have you ever trusted me? Wasn’t your heart always filled only with your second daughter?”

“I trusted you so completely before, and now you turn on me!” The Grand Chancellor trembled with anger. “Had you not tried to harm Chuyue before, would things have come to this? I confined you for your own good, hoping you would repent, but you have only sunk deeper, even injuring the Princess of Yong’an County! His Majesty’s wrath is entirely due to Her Highness’s injury—you reckless, arrogant woman!”

“Let’s see now, who can possibly save you! For the mistress of the Grand Chancellor’s household to be the mastermind behind all this—soon, the entire capital will laugh at us.”

Lady Meng bit her lips, her whole body trembling. Her voice grew urgent as she moved toward the Grand Chancellor. “You said... you would plead for me.”

He replied coldly, “Whether His Majesty will listen, I do not know. Nor do I know if the Duke Protector’s household will let this rest. Your fate is your own doing.”

His disappointment was absolute; his eyes were devoid of all feeling. Lady Meng, utterly drained, stood dazed and hollow, her gaze unfocused, her heart dead within her.

A faint smile touched Meng Chuyue’s lips. She lowered her eyes, her voice fragile and gentle. “Mother, rest assured—even though you wished for your daughter’s death, I will still speak on your behalf before the Princess of Yong’an County. My elder sister is already gravely ill; if she learns of your trouble, it will break her heart. I will do all I can to keep you safe.”

The Grand Chancellor, though still disappointed, felt a faint solace. He gazed at his second daughter with fatherly affection and sighed. “Chuyue is truly considerate. Now only you can help share your father’s burdens. I am fortunate to have you.”

Meng Chuyue lowered her eyes, her manner docile and sensible, her face still marked by the slap, which only made her seem more pitiable.

Lady Meng looked up in a daze, but on Meng Chuyue’s face, she clearly saw a glimmer of triumph and mockery.

She had lost—utterly, irrevocably.

She would never rise again.

Though Meng Chuyue looked pitiful, she was, in truth, the real victor now.

Lady Meng’s heart sank in a haze of regret and confusion as she collapsed to the floor in utter defeat.

——

The Grand Chancellor took his wife to the Duke Protector’s residence. Lady Meng knelt and confessed, weeping bitterly. Shen Sinian did not let the matter rest but reported it to His Majesty. The entire capital soon knew that the mistress of the household had tried to murder her stepdaughter.