Chapter 2: Hearing the Terrible News

By the time Lin Jinyan finished coughing, her body was so exhausted she had no strength left, yet the ordeal had somehow left her with a sliver of spirit.

She steadied her breathing and slowly raised her head, staring at the luxuriously dressed woman sitting on the chair. If gazes could turn into swords, Lin Jinyan would have surely sliced this woman into pieces a hundred times over.

The luxurious woman spoke with a charming smile: "Why does Sister Jinyan stare at me so? Could it be that you blame me for not taking good care of you?"

Lin Jinyan’s voice was as hoarse as an old crone’s as she spoke, word by word

"Zhou! Yue! Xue!"

Zhou Yuexue smiled gently: "I am here. Does Sister Jinyan miss me?"

Lin Jinyan coughed twice to clear her throat and slowly propped up her upper body with her hands.

The small movement made her grit her teeth in pain. She took two more heavy breaths to steady herself, then stared at Zhou Yuexue and demanded furiously

"Our Lin family has always treated you well, and my grandmother is your own great-aunt! How could you be so heartless as to harm her entire household?!"

Zhou Yuexue’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled: "Sister Jinyan, that is my own great-aunt; how could I let her line end? Your cousin Lin Jinyun and your own second uncle Lin Siran have even been promoted—they are my great-aunt’s bloodline, too. It’s a pity that the old woman was too stubborn to appreciate such blessings; last night, she actually followed your grandfather to the grave."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jinyan froze on the spot, her already bloodless face turning even paler

"What? What did you say? What do you mean 'followed my grandfather'? What happened to my grandfather?"

Zhou Yuexue feigned a look of annoyance and covered her mouth

"Oh my, you didn't know? Did no one tell you? Your grandfather refused to testify that the Gu family army had committed treason and rebelled, so he left a blood-written letter and drank poisoned wine. Your grandmother followed him after she found out. My great-aunt really is something—with her own son and grandson promoted and ennobled, why did she have to go and seek death?"

After hearing this, Lin Jinyan felt her mind reel, as if every breath she drew had turned into a blade, shredding her internal organs. She slumped back against the wall in a daze, her mouth half-open, her throat choked with emotion, unable to utter a single word as large tears fell from her eyes.

It wasn't until Zhou Yuexue laughed aloud that Lin Jinyan snapped back to reality. She turned her bloodshot eyes toward Zhou Yuexue and hissed

"Zhou Yuexue! For the sake of Tianchu, how many sons of the Gu family died on the battlefield! To ensure Chu Chengyao ascended the throne, my cousin quelled the chaos and was left crippled with a ruined leg! My uncle and grandfather were loyal to Tianchu to the very end! How could they ever commit treason?!"

"Cough, cough, cough... Even if you don't care that the Gu family gave their all for Tianchu, even if you were resentful of the Gu family's prestige in the military and uneasy about their command of the troops, the Gu family had already been stripped of their power and exiled to the Northern Desert! They posed no threat to you anymore! Why force my grandfather to falsely accuse the Gu family? My grandfather had no power left! Why must you drive them to total annihilation?!"

Zhou Yuexue chuckled lightly

"The Gu family held too much military power. In the past, they could protect His Majesty as he ascended the throne; in the future, if they had ulterior motives, they could just as easily support someone else. Naturally, His Majesty would not feel at ease leaving such a hidden danger behind."

"The reason he only moved against the Gu family after ascending the throne was because the war in the Northern Desert had not yet been settled. Now that the world is at peace and the Northern Desert has submitted, His Majesty will naturally eliminate this threat."

As she spoke, Zhou Yuexue stood up and walked a few steps toward Lin Jinyan. Because the smell was truly foul, she stopped and frowned, covering her nose and mouth with a handkerchief.

The eunuch beside her, quick to read the situation, opened the window. Zhou Yuexue walked toward the window, fanned the air in front of her with her handkerchief, and only then did she relax her brows, lower the cloth, and exhale toward the window.