She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 612 - 610 All Gone

Chapter 612: Chapter 610 All Gone

Maternal Aunt Liu was terrified beyond measure, she could never have imagined that things would come to such an end.

Ye Hongyang did nothing but find a slightly poorer husband’s family for that despicable woman Ye Xinyan, yet that family still held a hereditary title. How could Duke An be so ruthless? He actually petitioned the court to strip Ye Hongyang of his Princely Heir status, and once the court approved, Ye Hongyang would be finished. And if Ye Hongyang was finished, what would become of her and her two sons?

She was aware of that Buddhist hall; the mere thought of living there in the future made her shiver. Few people visited that place, and in the past, she wouldn’t even go near it. Although it was called a Buddhist hall, it was in fact a place of confinement where one repented in this life and prayed for a better next life in the presence of the Buddha.

Once she was there, she would have to spend her life in penance and prayer until both Duke An and the Duchess, those two old, deathless beings, passed away. But by the time they died, she would have reached the end of her life as well.

"Housekeeper Qiao, this servant has done nothing, I truly have done nothing," Maternal Aunt Liu desperately pleaded, her trembling hands reaching out toward Chun Xiu. Had she truly run out of options?

She probably had. In this world, no one understood Ye Hongyang better than she did, even more so than his parents, Duke An and the Duchess. Without Duke An’s tolerance and indulgence, Ye Hongyang would be left with nothing; on his own merits, she truly had no hope left.

Only now, at this juncture, did Maternal Aunt Liu have an epiphany; perhaps she really had been wrong in the way she raised her sons. When confronted with a situation, her two sons turned out to be utterly useless; the genteel, modest gentlemanly manners she taught held no value now.

Chun Xiu saw Maternal Aunt Liu’s faltering hand coming toward her, but before she could lend a hand, Qiao Laiyun spoke emotionlessly, "From now on, Chun Xiu will no longer serve Maternal Aunt Liu. The Buddhist hall is regularly attended to by two old woman servants. If Maternal Aunt Liu encounters any unsolvable issues in the future, she can seek help from these two old women."

Chun Xiu was momentarily stunned and, in the end, dared not step forward. Instead, she stepped back, watching as Maternal Aunt Liu’s legs trembled and she collapsed to the ground. It turned out she wouldn’t have to accompany Maternal Aunt Liu in confinement at the Buddhist hall.

While Chun Xiu heaved a sigh of relief, her heart was filled with despondence. Even if she wasn’t to be confined in the Buddhist hall, her days ahead in the mansion would still be difficult, filled with menial and arduous tasks, enough to last a lifetime.

Watching Chun Xiu retreat to the side, Maternal Aunt Liu was filled with despair. Just now, Qiao Laiyun had said that the old women who would guard her would switch every half-month, and since they were there to monitor her, how could they possibly tend to her attentively?

Housekeeper Qiao scolded the two old women beside him, "What are you waiting for? Don’t you see that Maternal Aunt Liu is unwell and having difficulty walking? Hurry up and help her walk. We still have other tasks to attend to; we can’t afford to dally here."

Maternal Aunt Liu had been the woman Ye Hongyang doted on for twenty years; Qiao Laiyun was not one to treat her lightly. He led people to send Maternal Aunt Liu into the Buddhist hall and settled her on the kang bed, strictly instructing the old women in charge of the hall before turning to leave.

Housekeeper Qiao hastened his steps; there was still the matter of settling the Crown Prince, no, the Eldest Son now.

Elaborate arrangements also had to be made for the Eldest Son. The Eldest Son had lived a smooth life for forty years. The first time he faced a crisis was a catastrophe, and now he was placed in a study room with which he was very unfamiliar. It was inevitable that his emotions would be unstable, so it was crucial nothing untoward happened.

No matter how angry the Duke was, the Eldest Son was still his child. He needed to go over, ensure the servants were well arranged, and perhaps even find someone to persuade and console him further.

It was uncertain how the Duchess was faring; if she was fine, it would be best to send Nanny Qian there to have a serious talk and console the Eldest Son.

Speaking of the Eldest Son, he was now quite pitiable. For more than a decade, whenever the Eldest Son stepped into Duke An’s Mansion, he would only rest in Maternal Aunt Liu’s room. Other places he would visit only when necessary.

The wife of the heir apparent’s courtyard, he could no longer enter. In the past, it was he who chose not to go, but later, the wife of the heir apparent wouldn’t let him enter at will.

The Eldest Son still had Maternal Aunt Zhao. But how clever was Maternal Aunt Zhao? With Brother Yuan by her side, who was her future support, how could she dare to let Brother Yuan appear before the Eldest Son? Who knew whether the Eldest Son would bear a grudge against Brother Yuan because of Maternal Aunt Liu’s fate?

Maternal Aunt Zhao would never put Brother Yuan in danger.

Qiao Laiyun continued his walk while sending two old woman servants to the Eldest Son and Second Son. These sons also needed care, with both father and birth mother in trouble, which meant that there was no one left to protect them. It was better to have someone look after them for a while, although the Duke disliked them, but they were after all descendants of the Ye Family.

......

Although the Buddhist hall in Duke An’s Mansion was located in the backhouse, it bore no relations to wealth and prosperity, nor did it offer any warmth.

The courtyard was very small, surrounded by high walls. Inside the courtyard, there were only two main rooms and a gatehouse, with no doors separating the inner and outer room of the main rooms, presumably to facilitate easy surveillance by the guards.

Maternal Aunt Liu was thrown onto the kang bed in the inner room by two old women servants, and it took a long while before her vacant eyes began to rotate slightly, glancing inadvertently at this uninviting room.

The chilly room really had no warmth at all. Apart from the kang bed and the altar in the front of the room, with straw mats on the floor, there wasn’t even a table or chair in the room—it was empty and oppressively stern.

For some reason, what was supposed to be a sacred and serene space near the altar appeared cold and frightening to Maternal Aunt Liu’s eyes. She even doubted whether she was still at Duke An’s Mansion.

Only with great effort did Maternal Aunt Liu recall that she was indeed in Duke An’s Mansion, led here by two old women servants, and not returned to the place of her birth and upbringing.

She scanned the room again. This room, though neither broken nor leaking, had smooth walls, a flat floor, intact window frames, and elegant grills. It was not like the home she remembered growing up in.

Her home, though dilapidated, had a stove, a cupboard with peeling lacquer, and color-faded stools, along with mismatched and sometimes chipped dishes. The doors and windows were drafty and leaky. But you could tell at a glance it was a dwelling for people, unlike this room, which was like a cold, temperature-less cage.

It wasn’t like a cage; this place was a cage.

Thinking back on the last twenty years of luxury and affluence she experienced, and recalling her past confidence when she managed the backhouse of Duke’s Mansion, she felt a sense of being in another world.

Right, was that prosperity real? Even after all her power was stripped away, and she was left with only two rooms in the Secluded Fragrance Courtyard, the kang in that room would heat up the moment there was a chill in the air. She would wake up on that warm kang covered in gold and silver.

The curtains and decorations in her room were also the best—something the once impoverished her had never seen, nor even dreamed of.

The former splendor continually flashed before Maternal Aunt Liu’s eyes, emphasizing her current dire situation even more. She began to weep mournfully on the kang.