Chapter 259: His Daughter’s Twisted Mind
In the past few months, Yu Zhengqing had become even more withdrawn. His cold and distant demeanor made Yu Xiaoyun fearful. It wasn’t just the young Xiaoyun—even Yu Xiaoxuan was growing more afraid of their father.
Life for the legitimate members of the family had become increasingly difficult.
Their food supply had nearly run out, and after several trips to Feng City, Yu Zhengqing had spent almost all of his remaining silver.
They had initially expected news from the capital to arrive soon. But after half a year in this desolate land, there had been nothing—not even a letter from his eldest daughter.
Having exhausted all his funds, the letters he had sent to the capital had disappeared into the void, with no response whatsoever.
In his despair, Yu Zhengqing had even begun preparing for the possibility of a long-term life in exile. His hopes of returning to the capital were starting to fade.
Now that the Second Prince had become the Crown Prince and held great power, even if he had no intention of bringing them back, he should at least have sent some supplies. But instead…
“This place is completely safe. What are you worried about? Haven’t you seen Father and the older brothers hunting? They have to use their qinggong just to travel far enough to find prey. Now that there are even more people around, not even wild animals dare to approach. Why are you still worrying about those three adults?”
After months of recovery, Yu Yingying’s injuries and broken arm had healed. Still living a life of idleness, she had grown accustomed to being waited on hand and foot.
She had given up completely. Though she still feared her father’s authority, she had come to terms with her situation and become more reckless.
In Yu Yingying’s mind, she was still her father’s daughter. Even if he blamed them, he wouldn’t truly abandon them.
Seizing the opportunity, she said a few seemingly sensible words. But just as Yu Zhengqing’s mood was starting to ease, she continued speaking.
“Besides, those three are useless. They went out just to gather firewood, and yet they’ve been gone all day. If they really died out there, at least we’d have more food to last us a few extra days.”
Yu Zhengqing…
He had truly overestimated how twisted his daughter’s mind had become.
“Yu Yingying, don’t be so vicious! No matter what, Grandmother is still family. Even if you don’t care about my mother and sister, you shouldn’t curse them like this! How… how could I have such a cruel sister?!”
“Ha! You little bastard, a mere illegitimate child like you dares to call me sister? You’re just as lowly as them! Now that our family is out of money, we might as well sell you and those other useless wretches in Fengcheng for some silver to get through the winter.”
“You—you—you! You’re the useless one! You’re a cripple with a broken leg, sitting around all day waiting for food to be served. Do you still think you’re the noble Second Miss of the Marquis’ household? You’re the real waste of space!”
Outside the stone cave, Yu Zhengqing was crouched before a large rock, sharpening his longsword. Listening to his children argue inside, his face grew darker and darker, but he made no move to intervene.
His sword gleamed brilliantly under the light, and he showed no signs of stopping.
After repeatedly checking and ensuring its sharpness, he finally put the sword away—only to take out a dagger and begin sharpening that as well…
As the sky darkened, the arguing inside had long since ceased.
Chang Huilan had spent the afternoon tending to the vegetable plot. Seeing her two sons return from the distance, each carrying a large bundle of firewood and a wild animal, she quickly put away her tools and rushed back to the cave.
“Father, Mother! Look, big brother caught an antelope! It’s a big one—we’ll have enough meat for several days!”
Yu Xiaoxuan’s excited voice rang out before he even reached the cave. If it weren’t for Yu Luo’s influence, the legitimate descendants of the Yu family would have been living quite comfortably compared to the other exiles.
After all, Yu Zhengqing and his two sons were skilled fighters, and he had some leadership ability and a bit of money. But who could have predicted that their family would end up completely isolated?
Ever since Old Madam Chen’s debacle, the other exiles had gradually distanced themselves from them. Only Liu Lan and Yu Qiang occasionally came by their cave.
The rest left at dawn for work and returned after dark, seemingly too exhausted to bother with them.
“Wow, impressive! No wonder you two were gone all day—you were out hunting again. I must say, as long as you’re willing to hunt, you’ve never come back empty-handed. Winter is approaching, so it’s good to stock up. If we can’t finish all the meat, I’ll smoke some for storage.”
Setting down her tools, Chang Huilan hurried over to relieve her youngest son of the firewood.
Every day, their primary task was gathering firewood. In just over two months, the desolate land would be covered in snow, making firewood even harder to find.
“Big brother, second brother! Have you seen Grandmother, my mother, or Third Sister?”
Unbothered by the cheerful chatter outside, Yu Xiaoyun ran out of the cave, his small face filled with worry. He rushed to Yu Xiaoran, grabbing his sleeve and looking up anxiously.
“No… they haven’t come back yet? Or did they return while we were out and then leave again?”
Before Yu Xiaoran could answer, Yu Xiaoxuan shook his head, confused.
“Grandmother isn’t the type to be that diligent. There’s no way she’d return and then go back out. She must have left early this morning and hasn’t come back yet.”
Dropping the antelope, Yu Xiaoran shot a cold glance at Yu Xiaoxuan, his lips curling into a sneer. Clearly, he was unimpressed by his younger brother’s lack of intelligence.
“What if something happened to them? Big brother, we need to go look for them!”
Unlike Xiaoxuan’s nervousness, Yu Xiaoran showed more impatience.
Regardless of their feelings, those three were still family. If something truly had happened and he had not gone looking, he might regret it later.
Yu Xiaoran was just as furious about Old Madam Chen’s past schemes as anyone else. But with their family already in such a mess, they couldn’t simply ignore it. No matter how angry he was, he still had to take responsibility.
That was something Old Madam Chen had likely anticipated from the very beginning.
She had gambled on their compassion, exploiting their familial bonds.
Even if Yu Zhengqing had actually killed Yu Luo’s family, Old Madam Chen would have simply returned to the cave, knowing that her son would eventually realize the full extent of their scheming.
