Chapter 26- The Disdained Concubine’s Son of the Marquis’s Family(10)

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Chapter 26

After the Dragon Boat Festival, the weather grew increasingly hot, and wealthy families in Yin City scrambled to purchase ice blocks for use in their homes. The Prince Qin’s household was no exception. However, due to severe disasters near Yin City the previous year, the merchants who had traditionally supplied ice to the household encountered problems, cutting off their supply. As a result, the household was unable to immediately access ice for indoor cooling. This enraged Guo Shi, who called in the steward and gave him a harsh scolding.

The room was so stifling that it was hard to breathe, making Guo Shi restless and agitated. She even turned away the concubines who came from the back courtyard to pay their respects.

An anxious maid from the outer courtyard ran in to report, “Princess, the Prince is coming to the back courtyard with a sword.”

She was visibly shaken, adding on her own accord, “He looks very angry.”

Not just angry—he was furious.

Guo Shi, harboring a guilty conscience, instantly paled, panic written across her face. Her brother, Guo Hongji, had recently informed her that plans had been made to discreetly eliminate Wen Kai in the military camp. He also warned her to stop acting rashly and to think more about Kuai Hongwen and the Guo family’s interests.

She anticipated that news of Wen Kai’s death would arrive within the next couple of days and had been suppressing her joy, careful not to let anyone see her excitement.

Could it be that Kuai Heyu had discovered something?

Guo Shi trembled as she adjusted the hairpin in her hair, attempting to appear calm as she went out to meet Kuai Heyu. However, as soon as she stepped under the eaves, she saw Kuai Heyu storming into the courtyard, his face dark, holding a bloodied sword.

He was dressed in black, so dark it obscured any other colors. As he entered, an indescribably foul stench emanated from him, and the blood on his sword dripped with each step, leaving an irregular trail of blood behind him.

The scene was eerie and terrifying, like a murder site.

The more timid maids in the courtyard screamed and fled, leaving only Guo Shi, who forced herself to remain calm. She tried to smile at her husband, though it looked worse than crying. “I don’t know… I don’t know what I’ve done to anger my husband. Do you plan to kill me?”

Kuai Heyu stopped in front of Guo Shi, his black eyes expressionless as he looked at her. He had spent decades on the battlefield, countless souls falling under his sword. To him, killing was as routine as eating breakfast. The aura of someone who had survived countless battles was not something Guo Shi could withstand.

Her legs soon gave out, and she collapsed to the ground, half-kneeling before Kuai Heyu.

He raised his sword, tilting the blade so that its tip lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. In a hoarse voice, he said, “Do you really not know what you’ve done wrong, or do you need me to spell out your dirty deeds?”

Guo Shi’s heart raced in fear as she felt the coldness of the blade against her skin, sending a shiver down her spine.

She trembled, bowing her back into an arc, and clung to Kuai Heyu’s leg, sobbing, “I’ve been married to you for over twenty years, giving birth to your children and managing the household. I may not have done everything perfectly, but I’ve worked hard. If I’ve made a mistake, then you don’t need to forgive me—just take my life.”

Kuai Heyu was so infuriated that he laughed.

With a kick, he sent Guo Shi sprawling several paces away. His chest heaved with anger, on the verge of exploding.

“You’re still pretending to be ignorant, thinking that mentioning Hongwen and Hua’er will absolve you of your crimes? Let me make this clear: the blood on this sword is from a man I just interrogated. He confessed with his own mouth that he was acting under the orders of the Guo family, intending to kill Ah Kai during the chaos of battle!”

“I don’t understand—what has Ah Kai done to offend you and the Guo family so much that you would plot to kill him?”

The more Kuai Heyu spoke, the more pain he felt. His decision to elevate Yan Su in the military wasn’t just because of Yan Su’s talent; it was also a precaution against his three generals.

Although Generals Wang Lide, Fu Xiong, and Yue Xiangyang had fought with him in life-and-death battles during their youth, time had passed, and each now had families and children. Through intermarriage, their alliances had strengthened. Kuai Heyu couldn’t help but suspect they harbored personal ambitions for their descendants.

Promoting Yan Su was Kuai Heyu’s way of balancing military power and positioning a trusted figure. He also saw that his own sons lacked promise and hoped that by cultivating Yan Su into a great general, the young man could safeguard the future of his descendants in Yin City for decades to come.

But his carefully laid plans had nearly been undone by Guo Shi, who had almost had Yan Su killed.

Had the boy not been clever enough to capture the mastermind and secretly hand him over, he might have already become another casualty of the battlefield.

Kuai Heyu’s gaze toward Guo Shi was filled with murderous intent.

Clutching her abdomen, which still throbbed from his kick, Guo Shi trembled under his gaze, sensing clearly that Kuai Heyu truly wanted her dead.

“My lord, it’s all a misunderstanding. Please, let me explain…”

Kuai Hongwen arrived just in time to witness his father holding a bloodied sword aimed at his mother. His mother, usually so poised and elegant, now lay disheveled on the ground, her neck bearing a shallow cut, her usual pride completely shattered.

“Mother!”

Kuai Hongwen, horrified, rushed forward to check on Guo Shi. Only after confirming that she wasn’t seriously injured did he breathe a sigh of relief.

“Father, I don’t know what mother has done to anger you, but please, for the sake of all the years she has spent managing the household tirelessly, forgive her.”

Having been raised in the capital for several years, Kuai Hongwen had never been close to his father, feeling more fear and respect than familial warmth. Kuai Heyu, for his part, had always favored his children from concubines more.

Now, Kuai Hongwen risked his father’s wrath by pleading for his mother, though fear gnawed at him.

But what choice did he have?

Guo Shi was his birth mother. How could he stand by and watch his father kill her?

At this moment, Kuai Hongwen could only hope that his uncle and grandfather from the Guo family would arrive soon.

Kuai Heyu cast a scrutinizing gaze over his eldest son. He had always known that, although Guo Shi had raised him to be soft-hearted and lacking in masculine courage, with the right advisors, this son could still become a stable ruler in the future.

Kuai Heyu had intended to bring his son closer to Yan Su, but sadly, neither this child nor the Guo family could comprehend his good intentions.

“Do you know what crime your mother has committed?” Kuai Heyu asked coldly, looking at him.

Kuai Hongwen, still young and inexperienced, couldn’t withstand his father’s domineering stare. He lowered his head, wishing he could escape his father’s scrutiny, and mumbled, “Mother lives in the back courtyard; the worst thing she could have done is petty jealousy. If she has offended father in any way, I ask that you punish her accordingly.”

“Petty jealousy!”

Kuai Heyu let out a cold laugh, his disappointment in his eldest son growing deeper by the second.

He no longer wished to test this useless boy. Pointing his sword at Guo Shi, he commanded, “Tell your son what you’ve done to Ah Kai! You’ve been ruthless, but you’ve raised a weak and foolish son. It’s time he learned what kind of person his mother truly is!”

Kuai Hongwen stiffened, turning in disbelief toward Guo Shi. After their last conversation, he had thought she had let go of her prejudice against Wen Kai, but from his father’s words, it seemed Guo Shi had done something unforgivable to Wen Kai.

Guo Shi, unable to bear the humiliation of losing face in front of her son, let out a scream.

She clutched her face and, in a sudden burst of strength, threw herself onto the tip of Kuai Heyu’s sword. The silver blade pierced her abdomen as she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Fortunately, Kuai Heyu reacted swiftly, pulling back his sword just in time so that it only caused a shallow wound.

“Mother!”

Kuai Hongwen was terrified by his mother’s sudden outburst. He rushed forward, helping her up and checking her injury.

“Doctor! Hurry, get a doctor for the Princess!”

Although Kuai Heyu was furious with Guo Shi for trying to take the life of his nephew, he didn’t truly want to kill her. Seeing her wounded, he suppressed his anger and ordered someone to fetch a doctor.

This farce ended with Guo Shi injured.

Kuai Heyu then ordered all the servants in the Prince Qin’s household to keep quiet about the incident, forbidding any word from leaking out. He also confined Guo Shi to her quarters under the guise of recovering from her injuries, even preventing Kuai Hongwen from visiting her freely.

A few days later, however, Yan Su caught wind of some details.

“I’m not sure what General Yue’s purpose is in revealing the Prince Qin’s household affairs to me,” Yan Su said.

He had been secretly summoned by Yue Xiangyang, one of the three main generals under Prince Qin, known for his courage and ambition on the battlefield.

Yue Xiangyang, not yet forty, had been fighting alongside Kuai Heyu for two decades, repeatedly shielding him from swords and arrows. To outsiders, they appeared to be brothers bound by a deep bond forged through life-and-death battles. Moreover, Yue’s illegitimate daughter had married one of Kuai Heyu’s sons by a concubine. From both personal and practical perspectives, they seemed tightly bound together. But only those involved knew the truth.

Yue Xiangyang exuded an inexplicable excitement, his eyes fixated on Yan Su. “I possess a secret regarding the birth mother of Young General Wen. I wonder if the young general would be interested in hearing it?”

Yan Su’s brow furrowed slightly.

Yue’s attempt to win him over was too obvious. Yan Su should have refused, but Yue had baited him with the name of Zhuang Jin—a lure he could not ignore.

Wen Kai and his mother, Zhuang Jin, had lived together on an estate outside the capital for ten years. Yan Su remembered Zhuang Jin as a gentle, quiet, hardworking, and kind woman. Though physically frail, she was resilient and a devoted mother.

She had spent the last year of her life bedridden, succumbing to illness.

No one had ever questioned her death; after all, Zhuang Jin had always been in poor health.

But if Yue Xiangyang dared to use this as bait, and with such confidence, could it be that Zhuang Jin’s death held deeper secrets?

Though his face remained impassive, Yan Su’s mind quickly made its decision. He nodded to Yue Xiangyang. “I’d be willing to hear the details.”