CHAPTER 387: CHAPTER 355: HEAVEN’S JUSTICE NEVER FAILS (PART 1)

Su Yaoqi walked to the main gate, where his parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law were there to bid him farewell.

Especially his mother, who looked somewhat haggard, her eyes still red, making it evident that she hadn’t slept well last night.

Su Yaoqi was not a person prone to melancholy; he wanted his family to happily send him off rather than looking as gloomy as if the sky was about to collapse.

"Father, Mother, Brother, Sister-in-law, why are you all standing outside the gate?" Su Yaoqi greeted them with a smile.

Duke Su asked him, "Are your things packed?"

"Yes." Su Yaoqi nodded, "Just two sets of clothes, nothing else."

Duke Su gave him a deep look, "When you get there, listen to your master well. Come home whenever you have the chance, so your mother won’t keep worrying about you."

"I know, Father." Su Yaoqi responded obediently.

"Fourth Child." The Duchess held on to her last hope, "If you suddenly don’t want to go, it’s still not too late to regret it now."

"Mother, I’ve thought it over." Su Yaoqi’s stance was firm, "Whether it’s shaving my head to become a monk or practicing with hair, for me, it’s the most peaceful place."

Fearing his mother’s sadness, Su Yaoqi added, "My three elder brothers are already married with children. As for me, I don’t have to follow their pattern, right? I don’t want to live a monotonous life; I want to follow my true heart."

The closer to the moment of parting, the more one wishes to hold back.

The Duchess’s throat tightened, with many words to say, but thinking of how the past two years, whenever the Duke fought with someone, it was always Little Four who got hurt, she could only choose to let him go, albeit with pain.

Turning away, the Duchess urged, "The hour is getting late, hurry and set off!"

"Father, Mother, I’m leaving. Please take good care of yourselves."

Finishing his farewell, Su Yaoqi walked outside, looked at his parents turning their backs to him, knelt down with a thud, and knocked his head three times firmly on the ground. Then, he stood up, bid farewell to his brother and sister-in-law, and got on the carriage headed directly to Fahua Temple.

When Hao Yun arrived, he was met by the emotionally troubled Duke and Duchess.

"Father-in-law." Hao Yun respectfully called out.

Duke Su didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids, "Why are you here?"

Hao Yun said, "Little Four left just like that; I’m a bit uneasy."

"Uneasy about him? Then why don’t you go with him?"

"My point is, I don’t quite understand why he suddenly wants to become a monk."

Duke Su caught the undertone in his words, waved his hand for the Duchess to leave, then asked Hao Yun, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I’ve heard that Fourth Child made the sudden decision to enter monastic life after going out with Song Wei."

"And then?"

"Doesn’t Father-in-law find anything suspicious about this?"

"What if I do suspect? When have you ever completed a task given to you?"

Hao Yun thought about how he’d never been able to act against Song Wei, swallowed a breath secretly, and immediately defended himself, "We’ve faced Song Wei more than once or twice; hasn’t Father-in-law noticed? Song Wei is exceptionally strange, anyone who gets close to him ends up unlucky. I suspect Little Four might have made the impulsive decision to become a monk because of this."

Duke Su narrowed his old eyes.

Actually, long before, Hao Yun had repeatedly told him about Song Wei’s strangeness. During the bandit suppression in Ningzhou, he also discovered that despite using confusing smoke on Song Wei for several nights in a row, he always managed to arrive at the Ten-mile Pavilion before him the next day. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed such an incredible thing could happen.

However, this reason couldn’t convince Duke Su; he knew well why Little Four chose to become a monk, "Alright, this is not your concern, just go find somewhere cool to stay!"

His father-in-law’s reaction was far beyond Hao Yun’s expectations. He watched Duke Su’s back, called out to him, but the other didn’t turn around, as if he didn’t care about Su Yaoqi’s decision to become a monk at all.

Hao Yun returned to his own courtyard, and Su Yu asked him how things went. Hao Yun concealed the part where he had been snubbed, only saying that his father-in-law was probably in a bad mood because Little Four had just left and didn’t pay much attention to the matter, perhaps truly believing it was the Third Aunt’s doing back then.

After hearing this, Su Yu felt relieved, "As long as Father doesn’t suspect us, it’s fine."

—

With Wei Qian and others around, the news of Su Yaoqi’s monastic initiation at Fahua Temple quickly reached Song Wei and Wen Wan.

And accompanying this news was Wen Wan’s premonition.

She saw that sometime not long after, Hao Yun would lure Song Qi, who was eager to climb the social ladder.

To marry into a high-status family, Song Qi wouldn’t hesitate to fall out with, even break off from, her parents, wanting to become Song Wei’s daughter. When Song Wei advised her to go back, she staged a public drama of "preferring death to return," feigning suicide.

The next day in court, an official impeached Song Wei, saying that he couldn’t even handle his household affairs well and was unfit to serve the Emperor.

Other officials echoed this sentiment, leading to Song Wei’s demotion.

Wen Wan didn’t tell Song Wei about this. She privately called Wei Qian and asked him to find someone.

Wei Qian asked, "Who does Madam want to find?"

Wen Wan told him, "Hao Yun was already married before coming to Beijing. He has a wife and a son. You should send someone to find them as soon as possible. If you can somehow bring the mother and son to the Capital, that would be even better."

If Hao Yun is heartless, she won’t be blamed for being ruthless. He’s not the only one who knows how to play dirty tricks behind the back.

Wei Qian asked, "Should we inform the master about this?"

"No, don’t tell him for now," Wen Wan shook her head.

First, she didn’t want her husband to be distracted by this matter.

Second, her husband might not agree with her using the mother and son; she could only act first and report later.

However, Wei Qian’s men hadn’t even left the Capital when new information came through, saying that Hao Yun’s wife had already brought their son to Beijing and went directly to the Su Family to acknowledge her kin, causing potential unrest there.

Wen Wan was dumbfounded, "Who did it?"

Wei Qian was uncertain, "The spy hasn’t confirmed anything yet, only that it seems to be the work of the Lu Family. We might need to wait a bit longer for detailed information."

——

Years ago, a woman named Mrs. Qiu brought her daughter to the Prime Minister’s Mansion to acknowledge their kinship, openly admitting in front of the neighbors that Su Yu was the Prime Minister’s illegitimate daughter.

At that time, the Prime Minister’s Mansion was at its peak, and to prevent rumors from ruining their good name, Su Xiang had no choice but to swallow his pride and acknowledge this scandalous debt, taking Mrs. Qiu and her daughter into the mansion and settling them in.

Later, too many things happened within the Su Family, and the matter of the ’illegitimate daughter acknowledging her kin’ gradually faded from people’s sight.

Now, once again, the Su Family is replaying the kinship drama from back then.

Only this time, it’s not about acknowledging the Su Family’s kin, but rather the Su Family’s son-in-law, Hao Yun.

At this moment, the gate of the Duke Mansion was surrounded tightly by across-the-street neighbors, all there to watch the spectacle.

In the middle of the crowd, a mother and son knelt.

The woman wore a headscarf, dressed in a blue cloth gown that looked worn and patched, clearly coming from the countryside.

The child beside her, about eight or nine years old, knelt beside his mother, occasionally glancing at the tightly closed vermillion doors of the Su Family, with lips slightly pursed, unsure of what he was thinking.

The crowd of spectators continued to grow.

The gatekeeper had already reported this to Duke Su.

Upon hearing, the veins on Duke Su’s forehead throbbed fiercely.

The gatekeeper almost suspected that Duke Su could spew forth a mountain of fire with just an open mouth.

"Go and bring that wretch to me!"

...

Completely unaware of the impending calamity, Hao Yun was still in his own courtyard.

Su Yu said the child kicked her belly, so he squatted down to listen to the fetal movements, joy of impending fatherhood painted across his face.

Servants from the main courtyard came in, "Elder Son-in-law, the Duke requests your presence."

Hao Yun lazily sat upright, took a sip from a cup of tea at hand, and asked, "What does my father-in-law want with me?"

Observing his demeanor, the servant clicked his tongue inwardly, what a carefree heart, then dropped his eyelids, "I’m just here to relay the message. What this is about, you’ll need to ask the Duke yourself."

Hao Yun put down the cup, stood up.

Su Yu suddenly called out to him.

"What is it?" Hao Yun asked.

With servants from the main courtyard present, Su Yu couldn’t say much, so she just advised, "Be careful in everything."

This was a hint for him to handle the situation carefully.

Hao Yun nodded, followed the servant out and headed directly towards the main courtyard.

He then noticed the peculiar looks from the servants as he passed through the residence, with people whispering everywhere.

Hao Yun frowned, assuming that the truth about that fire had come to light. He pondered how to deal with Duke Su as he walked.

When he arrived at the main courtyard and entered the room, a teacup came flying at him.

Unable to dodge, Hao Yun was struck on the forehead, instantly forming a lump.

He winced in pain, and once inside, dared not look at Duke Su’s face, directly kneeling on the floor, and his voice remained barely calm, "Father-in-law, what’s the reason for your great anger as soon as I arrived?"

"You scoundrel! How dare you ask?" Duke Su’s eyes blazed with fury, "When you married into my family, did you not tell me you were never married before?"

At those words, Hao Yun’s expression changed instantly.