"My Lady, your suffering has finally come to an end."
After seeing off the government messengers who had come with the good news, Qiuxin, the old nanny, could still not hide the excitement on her face.
"Indeed. Who would have thought that Chengyu would be even more accomplished than his elder brother? To pass the imperial examination at only fifteen—wait, go quickly and check if it’s Chengyu and the others returning."
Meng Yihuan was sighing with relief when she suddenly heard a flurry of hurried footsteps outside.
"Mother, I heard you were ill from exhaustion. Have you taken your medicine? Are you feeling any better?"
Before Qiuxin could even reach the door, a familiar, crisp female voice announced her arrival, and the door creaked open.
"This old servant pays respects to the Noble Consort!" Qiuxin said in surprise, dropping to her knees.
Meng Yihuan also sat up, pleasantly surprised. "Lier, Zheng'er, Yu'er, why have you all returned together today?"
Since marrying into Earl Chengen's Mansion at fifteen and becoming a widow before twenty-five, she had raised her two sons and one daughter alone. Fortunately, they had all made something of themselves. Her eldest son was the youngest Chief Grand Secretary in Dongqi, her daughter was the most favored Noble Consort in the palace, and her adopted son had just become the top scholar today.
Si Mengli walked over affectionately and sat on the edge of the bed. "Mother, the three of us returned together naturally so that our entire family could be reunited at the Earl’s Mansion today—"
"Pfft—"
Before Si Mengli’s soft words could finish, Meng Yihuan suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. She looked down in disbelief at the hand of Si Mengli, who was holding a dagger plunged into her chest. "Lier, what are you doing..."
"Mother, the Noble Consort said we came back today for a family reunion. Naturally, you, as an extra, must depart."
The reply came from her eldest son, Si Zhengyang, the Chief Grand Secretary of Dongqi. He stood tall in his crimson official robes, his expression cold and stern.
"Big Brother, why do you still call her Mother? She is not our mother at all. Now that our true parents have returned, they won't be happy to hear that." Before Meng Yihuan could process her eldest son's words, the adopted son, Si Chengyu, who had just passed the imperial exam, interrupted with a look of annoyance.
"Yu'er, what are you saying?" Meng Yihuan looked at him in shock. Although Si Chengyu was her adopted son, Si Zhengyang and Si Mengli were children she had carried in her own womb for ten months!
"Zheng'er, Lier, is there some misunderstanding? I am your own mother!" Meng Yihuan looked toward them with hopeful eyes. Even after being stabbed by her own daughter, she clung to the belief that it was a mistake. After all, these were the children tied to her by blood.
But they only looked at her with disgust. Then, a scene even more astonishing unfolded.
"Father, Mother, come out! The wretch who kept our family separated is now dying. From this day forward, our family can finally be truly reunited."
"Zheng'er, Lier, and Yu'er, it is good that you have grown up to be so successful. Your father and I are truly proud of you!"
As Si Zhengyang spoke, a man and a woman walked in hand-in-hand from outside the door.
Meng Yihuan’s pupils dilated, unable to believe her eyes, for this couple was none other than her husband, Si Yunhui, who had been dead for years, and her sister-in-law, Xue Wanrou!
"Sister-in-law, long time no see. It’s been so hard for you all these years, raising children for me and Huilang. You’ve cultivated my children so well, though I’m afraid I’ve failed yours." Before Meng Yihuan could recover enough to ask, Xue Wanrou sneered.
"What do you mean? Zheng'er and Lier… they were clearly born to me..." Meng Yihuan said with a trembling voice, though fear began to take root in her heart. It felt as if a world-shattering secret was about to emerge.
"You stupid woman, you couldn't even protect your own children—how could you have given birth to someone as smart and excellent as Zheng'er? As a reward for raising my children, I will let you die with the truth! The two children you gave birth to were swapped by us the moment they were born! Si Mengchu—whom you married off to an old man to pave the way for Zheng'er’s career and who was subsequently abused to death—and Si Tianque, who became a fool at six, were your real children!"
What? Her children were swapped?
"No, that's impossible. You must be lying! Zheng'er, Lier, I am your biological mother! Think of how I treated you all these years—" Meng Yihuan refused to believe it, screaming at them in agony, but Si Mengli cruelly cut her off.
"How you treated us? If I hadn't drugged Si Mengchu and ruined her virtue back then, you would have helped her enter the palace as the Noble Consort! You are not my mother at all!"
"You were the one who harmed Chuchu? Lier, how… how could you do something so wicked?" Meng Yihuan was heartbroken.
"Wretch, shut up! You used all sorts of wicked methods to force us to study since we were young, and now you dare to insult the Noble Consort!" Si Zhengyang scolded with a furious face.
"Young Master, Noble Consort, how can you be so ungrateful? Your Ladyship raised you with her own hands! Even if she didn't give birth to you, the grace of raising you is greater than the grace of birth!" Nanny Qiuxin pointed an accusatory finger, filled with righteous indignation.
Si Zhengyang's face darkened. He snatched a sword from a nearby guard and thrust it into her heart. "Noisy!"
"Qiuxin!"
Fresh blood splattered onto Meng Yihuan’s face. She watched with her own eyes as Qiuxin fell, dying with her eyes wide open.
"You rebellious son—"
"Wretch! Don't you dare touch my son!" As Meng Yihuan tried to crawl toward Si Zhengyang in anger, Si Yunhui kicked her down with a violent blow.
She looked at Si Yunhui, heartbroken and unreconciled. "Husband, why? I, Meng Yihuan, have never done a single thing to wrong you in the twenty-plus years since I married into this house. Why are you doing this to me?"
"Why? If you hadn't forbidden me from taking concubines, Wanrou wouldn't have had to marry my fool of a second brother and have an affair with me. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for bringing this upon yourself!" Si Yunhui sneered.
"You were already having an affair? Si Yunhui, you were the one who promised me back then that you would only have me for this life and never take a concubine. I never forced you!"
Thinking back to those years, anger surged in Meng Yihuan. If it hadn't been for the sudden death of the Crown Prince, to whom she had been betrothed, and her mother not wanting her to be embroiled in the struggle for the throne, she would never have rushed into a marriage with a down-and-out Earl’s Mansion! She had been the daughter of the Imperial Tutor, famous throughout the capital, with countless suitors. Her mother had valued character over family status, and it was Si Yunhui who had moved her mother with the promise: "If I gain your daughter's hand, I will never look at another woman."
So, he had held a grudge over that, even to the point of causing her this harm? And yet, all of it was his own doing; she and her mother had never forced him!
"Huilang and I truly love each other; it was not just a common affair. If we are talking about affairs, Sister-in-law, you gave birth to two bastards. As for their father..."
"What did you say? My... my children are my husband's..." Before Xue Wanrou could finish, Meng Yihuan interrupted, her voice trembling.
"Pfft. Even a tiger doesn't eat its own cubs. Si Tianque was poisoned into a fool by Huilang himself. Do you really think he could have been Huilang’s blood?" Xue Wanrou chuckled.
Si Yunhui sneered, "My heart only has room for Wanrou. Why would I ever touch a wretch like you? Only the three of them are my and Wanrou's flesh and blood. If Wanrou hadn't been pregnant with Yu'er back then, and you hadn't lost the ability to conceive, preventing us from swapping any more children, we wouldn't have had to fake our deaths and leave. Now that my children have grown up, your value has been squeezed dry. It’s time to return this mansion to me and Wanrou!"
"Father is right. This wretch prevented our family of five from being together. Now, let the children have their revenge!"
As soon as Si Yunhui finished speaking, Si Zhengyang, who was still holding the sword that had killed Qiuxin, thrust it deep into Meng Yihuan’s abdomen.
"Big Brother, you have to pierce the heart for someone to be truly dead!"
Before Si Zhengyang could even pull his sword out, Si Chengyu drew his own blade, plunged it directly into Meng Yihuan’s heart, and gave it a vicious twist.
"Ugh..."
This time, Meng Yihuan had no strength left to make a sound. She could only watch with blurred, tear-filled eyes, filled with hatred as she looked at the five people standing tall before her. They were laughing and cheering, enjoying a harmonious family moment.
Amidst that "lively" scene, Meng Yihuan breathed her last in unconcealed agony.