Chapter 3: Yu Luo Is the Curse of the Yu Family
Looking at Yu Haojie kneeling before him, trembling and stuttering like a scared mouse, Zhang Bin’s eyes filled with suspicion.
Yu Haojie was notorious in the capital as a useless wretch—so weak he couldn’t even tie a chicken.
Moreover, being only an illegitimate son and overshadowed by his elder half-brother—the rising An Rong Crown Prince—he was scorned by the people of the capital as insignificant as an ant.
With someone like him, there was no way he could possibly have accomplished such a thing!
“Then tell me, how could the vast storehouse of the Marquis of Guo An be completely empty? How am I supposed to report back to His Majesty?”
He was eager to confiscate the property, after all, for the chance to pocket a bit of extra profit.
And now, not only had nearly half of the Guo An Mansion been burned, but the remaining treasures were worth even less than those of an ordinary household.
“I—I don’t know! Don’t you know what kind of existence I have in this capital, Zhang Commander? Not to mention the storehouse—I can’t even qualify to enter the main hall on a normal day!”
Seeing Yu Haojie’s pitiful state, Zhang Bin grew increasingly angry and raised his foot as if to kick him.
“Hey, look over there—doesn’t that belong to the Chancellor’s mansion? Why is it on fire too?
No wonder our mansion was mysteriously burned—someone must have done this on purpose!
In this bitter winter, with such fierce winds, if the fire isn’t stopped, the entire area will go up in flames!”
Before Zhang Bin could kick her father, Yu Luo suddenly rushed forward and blocked Yu Haojie, staring in astonishment toward the direction of the Chancellor’s mansion!
At that moment, before Zhang Bin could decipher the twisting confusion, a soldier hurried in through the main gate.
“Reporting to Commander Zhang: The Chancellor’s mansion next door has been robbed and is now on fire. His Majesty has learned that you are in the vicinity, and has ordered you to lead a troop to extinguish the flames. Do not allow the fire to spread and cause further damage to the homes of more officials.”
Hearing this report from his subordinate, Zhang Bin cast a cold, piercing look over Yu Haojie. Clenching his teeth, he declared, “First, detain all these people and throw them into the prison; the rest, follow me to put out the fire!”
After all that effort for a profit that never materialized, now they had to risk their lives to fight a fire. One can imagine just how furious Zhang Bin was at this point.
The three of them, having narrowly escaped disaster, heaved a great sigh of relief as they were immediately escorted by the soldiers into the prison.
Not far from the mansion, Yu Haojie felt a sense of surviving a near-death experience.
“I was so scared! That big knife just now, so cold and sharp against my neck—I thought I was going to die again!”
“Shut up, for goodness’ sake—no more foolish talk!”
Sandwiched between his mother and daughter, Yu Haojie’s calves were still trembling. He hadn’t expected that ancient times were not as pleasant as he had imagined. Though everything appeared quaint, one was always at risk of losing one’s head. Had he resisted even slightly earlier, Zhang Bin’s blade would surely have ended him.
“I’m so weak—how could I not be afraid?”
The more he thought about it, the more his heart pounded with lingering fear. Despite his daughter’s whispered warnings, Yu Haojie couldn’t help but complain.
Once they arrived at the prison, the entire Yu family—along with Yu Meiyao—was shoved into the cell where the Yu clan’s prisoners were held. The servants of the household were locked up separately; it was highly likely that they wouldn’t be exiled but rather re-sold by the court.
As soon as they entered the cell, curious glances swept over the faces of everyone in the Yu household. At this moment, every member of the Yu family wore expressions of deep misery. The women wept bitterly, dressed in prison uniforms that bore no trace of the pride they once had as members of the Marquis of Guo An’s household.
Yu Meiyao’s exaggerated wailing immediately rang out sharply as soon as her legs crossed into the cell and she rushed straight into the embrace of the elderly matriarch, looking so pitiable that it tugged at everyone’s heartstrings.
“Grandmother, you have suffered so much, and Grandfather—both of you, at your age, enduring this torment…”
Hearing Yu Meiyao’s words, Yu Luo’s mother and daughter could bear it no longer.
The three of them found a quiet corner and sat down. After all, in the Guo An Mansion the three of them had always been the outcasts, so there was no point in now groveling at the feet of those people. While others gathered together, embracing and weeping bitterly, the three of them bit their lips and silently watched the group around them in silence.
“Grandfather, Grandmother—the storehouse of our family has been robbed. When Commander Zhang and his men came to confiscate our property, everything in the storehouse vanished!
Even the courtyard of our father and mother has been pillaged clean. I’ve heard that even the furniture is gone.”
After crying, Yu Meiyao glanced back at Yu Luo’s family. Even though she found this situation inconceivable, she instinctively looked toward them. Her gaze clearly conveyed that the greatest suspect was Yu Luo’s family.
“What?! The storehouse has been robbed? Could it be that someone knew all along that our Yu family was about to have its property confiscated, and preemptively looted it?”
“Dad, if they loot, so be it. Even if they don’t, the items would eventually be taken into the state treasury anyway. What’s there to be shocked about? The Emperor just wants the power you hold over the military. You must find a way—are we really done for as a family?”
Yu Zhengqing, sitting calmly against the wall, showed a remarkably composed demeanor. It seemed that this sudden turn of events hadn’t struck him as severely as one might expect—instead, it had left him eerily calm, as though he had been reborn through hardship.
Watching Yu Zhengqing, Yu Luo lowered her eyes, deep in thought. Over sixty years old, Yu Hui seemed to have aged several decades overnight after the palace banquet.
His face was marked by the ravages of time—no one could have imagined that just over a dozen years ago, he had been the formidable Marquis of Guo An, leading three armies into battle!
“Ah, to think that after a lifetime of fighting to protect the country, I’ve grown so old that I can’t even uphold my honor, and now my family must suffer along with me. It’s all my fault—for trying to preserve even a shred of the Marquis’s glory for generations to come…”
“Master, stop saying such things. The glory of the Marquis of Guo An was earned with bloodshed and countless battles. No matter what, you cannot be blamed. If anyone is to be blamed, it’s because our family produced a curse like Yu Luo!”
Before the elderly matriarch could finish her sentence, a voice, filled with gritted anger, erupted from the dim, tearful prison cell—directly aimed at Yu Luo!
Having been singled out, Yu Luo, sitting on the ground, suddenly looked up at the people across from her, and met with looks of pure hatred and disgust.
“From the day you were born, you’ve been a plague on the Yu family. Because of you, over a hundred members of our clan have been exiled. You should just die! Even if you die, it doesn’t mean the Emperor will revoke the exile decree!”
Yu Luo opened her mouth, staring in disbelief at her family members—who, in the face of calamity, had only been looking for someone to scapegoat—with expressions of utter incredulity!
Seeing Yu Luo’s astonished look, Yu Yingying, the legitimate second daughter of the main branch, hurled a withering glare at her.
“Why are you glaring? Even if our whole family is exiled, you’re still just an illegitimate—I’ll always be nobler than you!”
