"Father, I’m going back first," Yang Baichuan glanced at his bloodied younger brother and turned to leave Yang Baixiang’s room, finding the sight disturbingly eerie.
"Old Five?" Yang Peili called out to his youngest son. "How are you?"
Yang Baixiang opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
"Don’t blame your mother. She didn’t mean it," Yang Peili sighed. "You should rest well." After saying this, he stood up and left the room.
Meanwhile, Yang Ruyu tugged at Feng Caie’s sleeve in the courtyard.
Understanding the cue, the two women excused themselves to the backyard under the pretext of needing the outhouse.
"Mother, this is an opportunity," Yang Ruyu’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.
"What opportunity?" Feng Caie frowned.
"An opportunity to get on their good side," Yang Ruyu whispered. "You should know that Uncle Xiaowu is the one Yang Dani cares about the most. Now that Uncle Xiaowu is like this, if anything should happen..." She halted, then continued, "When Uncle Xiaowu was poisoned last time, Yang Dani was furious..."
Feng Caie pondered for a moment and then nodded. "Then who will inform her?" She clearly couldn’t go out.
"I’ll go," Yang Ruyu smiled. "It’s not appropriate for you to go right now."
"Then hurry, don’t let him die," Feng Caie nodded, and then peered into the side room, "I saw a lot of blood, that handful of ash couldn’t possibly stop it..." She felt disheartened by the family’s coldness to fairness, thinking if even their own son could be treated this way, what would happen if it were her turn? She began to entertain the idea of separating from the family.
Inside the room, Yang Anshi’s face was a mask of gloom.
"I’ll tell you, old woman, that’s our son," Yang Peili said in a displeased tone. "How could you be so heartless? If anything should happen to him, you..."
"If he died, then he died," Yang Anshi suddenly interrupted Yang Peili sharply. "He’s my son. Even if I beat him to death, it should be..."
"What are you saying?" Yang Peili was also angry. "If you wanted to kill him, you might as well not have given birth to him..."
"You think I wanted to give birth to him?" Yang Anshi seemed to grow angry with embarrassment. "Back then I would rather it had been him who died..."
Yang Peili was suddenly at a loss for words, then sat with his head in his hands, silent.
Outside the room, Feng Caie furrowed her brows slightly. Could there be some secret? She hurried into her own room and pulled Yang Baichuan aside: "What happened to Old Five?" She didn’t mind when her in-laws were unkind to Xun Hui and the others, but this harsh treatment toward Yang Baixiang felt wrong.
Yang Baichuan frowned: "What do you mean what happened?"
Feng Caie recounted the conversation she had overheard just now at the window between Old Yang and his wife, then smacked her lips: "Could it be that Old Five isn’t from the Yang Family’s lineage?"
"Don’t talk nonsense," Yang Baichuan glanced at Feng Caie disdainfully. "He’s definitely my brother, no doubt about the Yang Family’s bloodline... I was there when he was born..."
"But your mother..."
Yang Baichuan sighed: "Perhaps... Anyway, let’s not get involved. His fate is his own, whether he lives or dies. Who told him to be born into the Yang Family?" Then he turned around and climbed onto the kang; his second eldest had been injured and still hadn’t recovered, leaving him unable to stir, so these days he often went to bed as soon as it turned dark. The doctor said he needed lots of rest if he wanted to heal, so he just wanted his second eldest to recover. The life of a eunuch was not easy to endure.
"Tell me..." Feng Caie, sensing that Yang Baichuan knew the truth, poked him restlessly, not willing to give up. "Hurry up..."