Chapter 169 — A Retainer
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
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Wu Yi told him, "Madam Mei has passed away!"
Gu Yu turned ashen with shock. "How could Madam Mei have passed away? I never heard the slightest word of it before." In his memory, Madam Mei had always been hale and hearty—how could she simply be gone? Then he thought of how, when he had followed Song Yan to the Jiang household, Madam Mei had made mung bean cakes to welcome them; how he and Xiexiu and the others had romped about while Madam Mei sat beneath the covered corridor watching them with a smile, her eyes full of tender affection. It was as if he had returned to the days when his own mother was alive, when he was a carefree child... That warmth and security was something he could never forget for the rest of his life.
Tears came upon him without warning.
"How could this be? How could this be?" Gu Yu choked out, his vision blurred by tears. "Why didn't Brother Tianci tell me? Otherwise I would have rushed back no matter what..." His heart brimmed with regret, and he asked Wu Yi, "When did Madam Mei pass? How many days has Brother Tianci been gone?"
His emotion infected Wu Yi.
Tears instantly filled Wu Yi's eyes, and he sobbed, "After the Third Master Jiang left, Madam Mei began to feel unwell. Fearing that our Young Master and Second Master would worry, she forced herself to show no sign of it. Shi An was in the outer courtyard and knew nothing. If our Young Master hadn't grown uneasy about Madam Mei a few days ago and sent Mr. Yan with some medicinal herbs and tonics to look in on her, we likely wouldn't even have known that Madam Mei had been bedridden for days... All Madam Mei had time to tell Mr. Yan was to take good care of the Young Master, and then she was gone..."
Gu Yu could not hold back.
A hurried clatter of footsteps came from outside.
"Has Big Brother still not returned from Haozhou?"
The childish voice was full of deep worry.
It was Song Han.
Gu Yu was taken aback and could not help saying, "Why hasn't Tian'en gone to Haozhou?"
Wu Yi lowered his head and murmured, "The Duke of Zhenguo said the road is long, and the Second Master still has much schoolwork left undone; it would be enough for the Young Master to go on behalf of the Ying Duke of Zhenguo's household."
Gu Yu flew into a rage. "Madam Mei was the maternal grandmother of Brother Tianci and Tian'en! Could it be that with Aunt gone, the blood ties are severed as well?"
For the Ying Dukedom to act this way was heartless in the extreme.
The words had barely left his mouth when Song Han came in muttering to himself.
"Brother Gu," he said, noticing Gu Yu's eyes were somewhat red, "have you come looking for my big brother too?"
His ink-dark eyes were as frightened as a fawn's.
Gu Yu's heart softened, and he could not bear to reproach Song Han. He nodded and said, "I've just come back from Jiangnan... I never expected Madam Mei to have passed away."
Song Han's tears fell like raindrops. "Who knows when Big Brother will come back? I didn't even get to see Grandmother one last time... I miss Mother..."
Gu Yu's eyes grew wet, and he clumsily tried to comfort Song Han. "It's all right, it's all right. Brother Tianci will be back very soon, and Madam Mei knew you had a great deal of schoolwork—she won't blame you..."
Song Han began to cry with great gulping sobs.
A guard came in with a respectful expression and, half pleading, half helpless, said in a low voice to Song Han, "Second Master, the Duke of Zhenguo is looking for you everywhere. You had best come back to the upper courtyard with me at once! Otherwise, if the Duke of Zhenguo takes issue with it, this humble one will have no way to answer for it..."
Song Han rubbed at his eyes.
But Gu Yu leapt up and dealt the guard a slap across the face, cursing, "Damn you, is it your place to speak here?"