Where Immortals Once Walked

Chapter 810: Madame Ying’s Romantic Rival

She stood behind the bed curtains, her head seemingly tilted slightly to one side.

The light was poor and the mirror dim, making it impossible to see her face clearly.

Madame Ying spun around in alarm, her voice sharp and shrill. “Who’s there?!”

There was nothing behind the bed curtains. No one at all.

She called for Little Lan twice more, but she still received no response. Madame Ying had no choice but to light a candle herself and head into the outer room first.

It was empty.

Madame Ying continued outside, pushed open the courtyard gate, and called twice, “Someone come!”

Yet not a single voice answered from anywhere around her.

What’s going on?

Panic steadily mounted in Madame Ying’s heart.

Just then, a woman’s eerie voice suddenly drifted through the courtyard, “Ying Hongchan, where is my son?”

Madame Ying shuddered violently. She whirled around so quickly that she nearly tripped over the threshold.

She stumbled two steps before hearing a loud bang behind her. The courtyard gate had slammed shut. Madame Ying nearly jumped out of her skin.

Something did not want her to leave!

Forcing down her fear, Madame Ying looked back into the courtyard. Sure enough, behind the osmanthus tree stood a white figure, swaying faintly in the wind.

“Who are you?!”

“You have everything now. A husband who rose effortlessly through the ranks, a filial and accomplished son, a life surrounded by wealth and splendor. Yet I can only remain all alone in White Pagoda Temple, year after year, without anyone coming to see me. And now you’re telling me you don’t know who I am?” Every word the woman spoke sounded as though it had been pried from an ice cellar.

The moment she heard the words “White Pagoda Temple,” Madame Ying shivered and cried out involuntarily, “Lu, Lu Xiaoyun?!”

Once she had actually spoken the name, however, she calmed down instead. She stared hard at the other woman, trying to make out her features. “He Chunhua goes to White Pagoda Temple every year to pay his respects. Why are you saying no one visits you?”

“He hasn’t come for a long time.”

“We moved away from Heishui City!” Madame Ying forced herself to stand firm. “You and I have no grievances against each other. If anything, I’ve done you a kindness. Why have you come looking for me?!”

“A kindness?” Lu Xiaoyun let out a giggling laugh that sounded especially chilling in the dead of night. “And what kindness could you possibly have shown me?!”

“You died after giving birth. I treated Chuan’er as though he were my own and raised him to adulthood—”

“As though he were your own?” Lu Xiaoyun abruptly cut her off. “You call that treating him as your own?”

The instant her anger flared, a violent wind swept through the courtyard.

Madame Ying retreated two steps and rubbed her eyes. “In food, clothing, and everything else he used, when was he ever treated worse than Yue’er? From childhood until now, every time he caused trouble, weren’t we the ones cleaning up after him? When has he ever suffered the slightest hardship in this family?” By the time she finished, she had even straightened her back. “I’ve done nothing that weighs on my conscience. I’m not afraid of you coming to confront me!”

“Nothing that weighs on your conscience?” Lu Xiaoyun sneered. “You don’t know what He Chunhua intends to do with my son?”

“Know what?” Madame Ying looked genuinely baffled. “He’s simply always spoiled Chuan’er!” Is loving one’s child somehow wrong?

“Back then...” Lu Xiaoyun began slowly, “How did he persuade you to raise my child? Didn’t he tell you that Chuan’er would never interfere with your own son’s future?”

Madame Ying immediately fell silent.

“Didn’t he also promise you that he would devote everything to cultivating your son, and that the position of family head would belong only to the second son?”

Madame Ying pressed her lips together and said nothing.

When He Chunhua had first brought his eldest son home all those years ago, he had indeed sworn exactly that to her.

Hah. A man’s mouth is full of lies!

But what else could she have done? Throw away a helpless child who had no ability to protect himself?

She could only choose to believe him.

Fortunately, the way He Lingchuan grew up had gradually put her mind at ease.

With such an unruly and useless child, how could he possibly become Yue’er’s rival in the future?

“Let me ask you this. He Chunhua truly did devote himself to cultivating He Yue, didn’t he?”

Madame Ying nodded instinctively.

If He Chunhua had failed even at that, how could their marriage have remained harmonious?

“Then what plans did He Chunhua ever make for his eldest son’s future?”

Madame Ying opened her mouth, then hesitated.

Over all these years, her husband had often urged her to treat Chuan’er a little better.

Yet he had never once spoken about what the boy should do when he grew up, what path he ought to take, or what kind of life he ought to build.

Would a typical father not have made at least some plans for his child’s future?

Yet when it came to his eldest son, He Chunhua had shown nothing but indulgence.

Madame Ying had noticed that long ago and had tried to persuade him otherwise, but He Chunhua had never taken it seriously.

Thinking about it now, that sort of indifference did seem somewhat abnormal.

“It appears you know very little.” Lu Xiaoyun let out a faint sigh. “And what has He Chunhua told you about me?”

“He said you were a descendant of the Bailie people and that you once saved him during the season of mad sand. Afterward, the two of you...” Madame Ying gritted her teeth. “The territory of the Bailie people lies thousands upon thousands of kilometers from here. Why did you come all the way to Heishui City? He never told me about this!”

“That’s all I know.” Madame Ying sneered. “As for you, I’ve never wanted to know too much!”

She even gathered the courage to take two steps farther into the courtyard.

Lu Xiaoyun flickered, and in the next instant, her figure was standing within the shadows beneath the eaves.

“One last question.” She looked at Madame Ying. “Why have you never told Chuan’er the truth?”

“You’re already dead. What good would it do him to know who his birth mother was?” Madame Ying gave a small scoff. “You’re separated by life and death. Could the two of you even acknowledge each other?”

“At the very least, he could have come visit me.”

That single sentence left Madame Ying utterly speechless.

* * *

Before dawn, Madame Ying woke with a start. The first thing she did was call, “Little Lan!”

Several breaths passed before Little Lan rubbed her eyes and came in from the outer room. “Madame, you’re awake very early today!” Even the night birds haven’t woken yet.

Madame Ying was drenched in cold sweat. “Where did you run off to just now?!”

“This servant was sleeping in the outer room the whole time. I never left at all.” Little Lan looked completely confused. “Did Madame have a nightmare? I’ll go get a towel.”

“I...” Madame Ying wanted to scold her, but after opening her mouth, she suddenly had no idea what she was supposed to scold her for.

She touched the hair at her temples. It was soaked with sweat.

It seemed she really did have a nightmare.

But why can’t I remember exactly what happened in it?

Madame Ying pressed a hand to her forehead and tried to recall it for a long time. She could only remember Lu Xiaoyun coming to find her, and that they had apparently spoken about Chuan’er.

The specifics, however, had already faded completely.

She sat at the edge of the couch for quite some time before asking, “Chuan’er is leaving today, isn’t he?”

“Yes. The eldest young master is departing today.”

“And last night?”

“The eldest young master and the second young master went out drinking together. They didn’t return until midnight.”

The brothers had a good relationship. Since He Lingchuan was leaving, He Yue had taken him out for farewell drinks.

By daybreak, mother and her two sons quietly ate breakfast together.

There was not much conversation.

Everything seemed exactly as usual.

However, He Lingchuan understood that he would never see a scene like this again.

The sun climbed higher. When the appointed hour arrived, He Lingchuan and the others finished packing and prepared to depart immediately.

Madame Ying accompanied him all the way to the main gate.

As she looked at his young, handsome face, her heart suddenly ached. To her own surprise, she actually found herself reluctant to see him go.

It almost felt as though once this rotten brat left, he would never come back.

He Lingchuan was the one who broke the silence first, grinning as he said, “Old lady, those dark circles under your eyes are awful. Did you have a nightmare last night?”

Madame Ying snorted. “It felt like some short-lived ghost came back to haunt me. Absolutely rotten luck.”