Chapter 15 The Queen has arrived! The desperate Zhu family weeps with joy

Tsk. He could already picture how frightened that father and daughter would be, how they would be unable to eat or sleep!

And he felt no sympathy for them.

He had heard every word of Zhu Wuhuan’s inner thoughts just now.

He hadn’t known that the Zhu family’s second daughter-in-law, Song Anqiao, was such a revolting person!

After the Zhu family was wiped out, she actually planned to use a bastard to pass for the Zhu family’s orphan, then bask in the tragic honor of the Zhu family with that bastard and live in ease!

Was she worthy of that?

At the thought, Feng Changye’s eyes turned cold and severe.

In the history he knew, he owed the Zhu family; now that he had a chance to make amends, he would absolutely never again harm any member of the Zhu family by mistake, nor would he allow anyone else to defile the heroes of the Zhu clan!

He would make this woman, Song Anqiao, live in regret for the rest of her life, wracked with remorse!

…

Once inside the General’s Estate, Zhu Wuhuan no longer needed to pretend to be a deposed empress.

The estate was now under heavy guard; Prince Jin’s spies could not get in.

After passing through the crescent-moon gate, the imperial guards halted in unison.

Zhu Wuhuan signaled for the guards to hand the imperial edict to Suqiu, and had Suqiu accompany her into the main hall to meet the Zhu family.

Reaching the courtyard, she heard the thunderous wailing of a child inside and quickened her pace toward the hall.

Suqiu kept close and raised her voice. “Her Majesty the Empress—arrives!”

Inside the hall, the Zhu family were all trying to persuade Chen Yulan to take a divorce letter and leave as well. Holding the child, she wept and refused no matter what they said.

The grief of a parting of life and death had the whole family in tears.

At that moment, they suddenly heard someone announce the Empress’s arrival!

“Her Majesty…”

Madam Zhu mouthed the words, then abruptly looked up and met the eyes of her two grown sons.

In each other’s eyes they saw delight!

Wuhuan was still the Empress! She had not been deposed!

“Third Sister is back!”

The youngest, a six-year-old little lord, didn’t understand the deeper meaning of those words; he only knew that his most awe-inspiring third sister had returned—and that they were saved!

Overjoyed, he leapt up, wiping his tears as he ran toward the door.

As Zhu Wuhuan stepped over the threshold, a little dumpling of a child shot toward her like a cannonball and wrapped himself around her leg.

He buried his face against her and cried in a choked, excited voice, “Third Sister! You’ve come back to save us! We don’t have to die, right? We won’t be killed, will we?”

Zhu Wuhuan halted instinctively.

In the modern world she had been an orphan; she had never had the experience of younger siblings clinging to her like this.

Caught off guard by this soft little cub hugging her, her back went rigid.

She looked down at the little one who only came up to her waist. Just then, after smearing away his tears on her, he lifted his head to look at her.

Their gazes met…

The glimmer of closeness and affection in his eyes—shown only to one’s own—instantly steadied her.

This was this body’s own younger brother…

Looking at his jade-like, adorable face, she also took in all his hope and fear.

Awkwardly, she reached out and gently stroked his cheek. “Don’t be afraid. With Third Sister here, none of you will die.”

The little one immediately bounced in place with excitement.

“Oh! Oh! We don’t have to die! We won’t be beheaded!”

Seeing his joy, Madam Zhu and the others exchanged glances, bitterness in their eyes.

Silly child. This was the crime of treason; for your third sister to keep her position was already difficult—how could she save the lives of the entire clan?

Still, to be reunited as a family at the end was a happiness of its own.

Madam Zhu forced a small smile and led the other children over.

Zhu Wuhuan lifted her head.

Her gaze swept over them one by one, matching them to Empress Zhu’s memories and to figures in the histories.

Madam Zhu, Yu Wanning, was the gentle, virtuous mother in the Empress’s memories; in the chronicles she was a fierce woman who followed the old General Zhu to the battlefield four times, rivaling any man.

The eldest son, Zhu Xuanyuan, was the mild and magnanimous elder brother in her memories; in the histories he was the young prodigy who, at thirteen on his first campaign, slew thirty-seven foes.

The eldest daughter-in-law, Chen Yulan, was the gentle, easygoing sister-in-law in her memories; in the histories she was the chaste, steadfast woman who chose to die with her husband and son rather than live alone.

The second son, Zhu Longyuan, was the sincere, simple-hearted second brother in her memories; in the histories he was born with great strength, able at a young age to lift a hundred-jin cauldron.

The fourth son, Zhu Chunjun, was the well-behaved, adorable younger brother in her memories. Because he died so young, he left little trace in the chronicles.

After placing them all, Zhu Wuhuan thought: the histories say the old General Zhu, a man of war, loved collecting weapons. So he used the names of the Ten Famous Swords when naming his sons—

Xuanyuan, Longyuan, Chunjun, Chengying—

Thus the six-year-old who had leapt into her arms was named Zhu Chengying.

“This guilty woman, Zhu née Yu, together with my sons and daughters-in-law, pays respects to Her Majesty the Empress—”

Madam Zhu led her sons, preparing to kneel.

Zhu Wuhuan snapped back to herself.

She hurried forward to support Madam Zhu’s arm. “Mother, Eldest Brother, Sister-in-law, Second Brother—there are no outsiders here; you need not perform such ceremony.”

With all her strength set on stopping them, Madam Zhu simply could not get down to kneel.

Madam Zhu lifted her tear-streaked face to the daughter she hadn’t seen in days and pulled her into an embrace.

“Wuhuan, I thought I would never see you again in this life!”

Zhu Wuhuan sighed inwardly. Old lady, your own daughter—you truly will never see her again in this life…

“Mother, don’t be afraid. We’ll all be fine; nothing will happen to anyone.”

She dabbed away Madam Zhu’s tears with a handkerchief and signaled for her fourth brother to help her settle their mother into a seat.

The obedient younger brother, who had been gazing at his third sister, hurried over at her look, taking their mother’s other arm and helping her sit steadily.

No sooner had Zhu Wuhuan let go of Madam Zhu’s arm than another little one stumbled over and latched onto her leg.

“Auntie… wuwahhh… Auntie! Hug!”

She looked down at the little child, just over two years old.

This was her elder brother’s son, Zhu Jun’an.

When her sister-in-law had given birth, her elder brother had been at the frontier; so she had named the child Jun’an—“the realm at peace.”

May the realm—and Jun’an—be well.

Zhu Wuhuan was a little puzzled. According to the Empress’s memories, this little one hadn’t been especially close to her before. Why was he asking for a hug the instant he saw her today?

“Jun’an, come back—”

Sister-in-law Chen Yulan, seeing that in a moment of inattention her son had run to hug his imperial aunt, was both helpless and nervous, and hurriedly called him back.

Zhu Wuhuan gestured for her not to worry.

She bent down and scooped up the pitiful little one with red-rimmed eyes.

“All right now, don’t cry. Auntie’s got you.”