Chapter 68 -
Chapter 68: Chapter
The heavy wooden doors creaked open a fraction of an inch, and little Anran slowly came out, her head hung low and her face a picture of absolute sadness. Her tiny hands clutched at her pink robes, her eyes completely red from crying.
Su Yueqing crossed her arms, towering over the little girl as she put on her most frosty, arrogant glare.
"Look at you, running around like a wild animal in the dark," Su Yueqing scolded her sharply, her voice echoing in the quiet courtyard. "Do you have any idea how unbecoming this is for a young lady of the Xi family? If you ever run away like that again, I will have the guards lock you in your room for a month!"
Anran shrank slightly at the harsh words, her little shoulders trembling. She sniffled softly, looking up with big, watery eyes, and whispered, "I’m sorry, Sister-in-law... Anran was wrong."
Su Yueqing let out a long, dramatic sigh, waving her hand dismissively to hide the fact that her heart was completely shattering into pieces from the sheer guilt of yelling at a baby.
[OH MY GOD, I AM GOING TO BURN IN HELL!] Su Yueqing’s inner voice shrieked, mentally slapping her own face.
[Why am I so mean?! Look at her! She apologized! She’s just a little marshmallow! I want to give her a mountain of sweets and apologize a thousand times! System, if I lose villain points for feeling bad, just take them, I can’t handle the puppy dog eyes!]
Folding her arms back over her chest, Su Yueqing gradually started to look around the courtyard to distract herself.
As her eyes swept across the space, her brow furrowed. The courtyard was completely dry. There wasn’t a single maid or servant in sight, leaving the entire area feeling eerily abandoned. Strangely enough, though, it was meticulously clean not a single stray leaf or speck of dust lined the stone paths. It was a ghost town, but a perfectly swept one.
Su Yueqing turned her gaze toward Lanyin, who had finally caught her breath and was standing nearby, watching her nervously.
"How old is your little brother?" Su Yueqing asked, her tone flat and indifferent.
Lanyin blinked, surprised by the question, but quickly answered, "He... he will be seven soon."
Su Yueqing let out a cold, mocking scoff, gesturing toward the empty, silent surroundings. "Seven? Then why is his courtyard like that of an old man?" She tilted her head, her sharp eyes narrowing into a dangerous glare.
"There is no life here. No toys, no laughter, not even a servant waiting by the door. Tell me, Lanyin... has your family already lost faith in him? Have you all simply given up and left him here to rot?"
Xi Lanyin’s face instantly went entirely pale at the harsh words. Her hands clamped together tightly, her fingers digging into her own skin as she stared at Su Yueqing with a mixture of shock, hurt, and defensive anger.
"How can you say that?!" Lanyin argued back, her voice shaking with emotion. "Mingyu is our brother! Mother and Father love him dearly! We have called for every single renowned physician in the capital! We haven’t given up on him!"
"Oh? Is that what you call this?" Su Yueqing sneered out loud, stepping closer and gesturing grandly to the suffocatingly quiet courtyard. "You flood his room with bitter medicines, yet you strip his courtyard of all color. You remove the servants so he won’t be ’disturbed,’ but all you’ve really done is build him a clean, silent tomb while he is still drawing breath. You are treating a living child like he’s already a ghost!"
But while her physical body was delivering a masterclass in heartless arrogance, her inner mind was a chaotic mess of frantic calculations and deep sympathy.
[Nine, pull up the medical logs for this kid right now!] Su Yueqing’s inner voice demanded, her thoughts racing.
[A seven-year-old boy shouldn’t be locked away in a sterile, depressing vacuum! Depression weakens the immune system! If a kid has lung issues or a weak constitution, lying in a dark room all day staring at blank walls is going to kill him faster than the actual disease! His family is literally suffocating him with their grief before he’s even gone. I need to fix this, but how do I do it while keeping my villain score up?!]
Lanyin bit her lower lip so hard it nearly bled, unable to find the words to counter Su Yueqing’s biting logic. She looked around the spotless, empty courtyard, and for the first time, the terrifying silence of the place struck her right in the chest. Was her sister-in-law right? Had they unconsciously prepared for Mingyu’s death instead of fighting for his life?
Just then, from inside the dark, quiet room, the faint, raspy sound of a small child coughing broke the heavy silence.
Without wasting another second, Su Yueqing didn’t even hold back. She didn’t wait for permission, marching right past Lanyin and stepping directly inside the dark room.
The moment she crossed the threshold, the heavy, suffocating air of the chamber hit her. The windows were entirely sealed shut, blocking out what little twilight remained outside, and the air smelled heavily of bitter, stagnant herbs.
"Ugh, what is this horrid place?" Su Yueqing complained loudly, wrinkling her nose in deep disgust as she waved a silk sleeve in front of her face. "Why is it so dark in here? Are you trying to raise a young master or a colony of bats? I can’t see a single thing! Do you want me to trip and ruin my robes?!"
But inside her head, her inner mind was practically screaming at the terrible living conditions.
[OH MY GOD, NO! NO, NO, NO!] Su Yueqing’s inner voice shrieked in absolute medical horror. [They completely sealed the room! There is zero ventilation in here! Fresh air and sunlight are literally the most basic requirements for recovery! Keeping a sick kid in a pitch-black, stuffy room with stagnant air is a literal death sentence! No wonder his condition keeps getting worse! System, patch me through to a flashlight, I am begging you!]
Thankfully, Lanyin hurried inside right behind her. Stumbling slightly in the gloom, she scrambled over to a side table. After a few seconds of frantic rustling, she was able to find a lantern and turn it on, giving the room some much-needed light.
The warm glow of the flame cut through the heavy shadows, slowly illuminating the large, depressing bedroom and revealing the small, frail form of little Mingyu lying completely swaddled in blankets on the massive bed.