Volume One, Chapter 12: Is Chu Yuning Trying to Burn Her Own Mother Alive?
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The moment Shen Yuan returned to the village, she heard that Chu Yuning was forcing his own mother to her death. A pyre had already been built in the ancestral hall, and he intended to burn Madam Zhao alive to comfort the spirit of his father in the afterlife.
The villagers of Chu Family Village abandoned their farm work and hurried to the ancestral hall.
After all, the spectacle of a son burning his own mother alive was something unprecedented and unheard-of!
When Shen Yuan saw that Nanny Liu also wanted to go and watch, she said, “Let’s carry what we bought home first, then go to the ancestral hall.”
Nanny Liu readily agreed. The two of them hurried home to put down their purchases before rushing to the ancestral hall.
They had not yet reached the entrance when, from a distance, Shen Yuan saw a dense sea of heads. The ancestral hall was surrounded by layer upon layer of villagers; practically everyone from Chu Family Village had come.
It took Shen Yuan considerable effort to pull Nanny Liu through the crowd.
“I told you Madam Zhao and the village headman were having an affair! But none of you believed me! I knew long ago that something was wrong between them. The village headman always found people to tend Madam Zhao’s fields. She has never once gone to the fields to reap a harvest!”
“Don’t get me started on that—it makes my blood boil! This year, we hadn’t even finished transplanting the seedlings in our own fields, yet the village headman summoned my husband to raise seedlings and plant rice for Madam Zhao. He said she was a poor widow with orphaned children and urged us neighbors to help her more. So we were all nothing but props for this shameless pair!”
“Madam Zhao certainly has good fortune! Even after her husband died, she still had his younger brother to dote on her. She never had to tend her own fields, never had to support her son’s studies, and her daughters even knew how to steal chickens and dogs to keep themselves fed!”
“That incestuous pair of shameless dogs ought to be burned alive—burned until not a trace remains, so they don’t corrupt the morals of our village! Scholar Chu truly understands the greater good!”
“But I think Chu Yuning is terribly cold-blooded. Never mind that the village headman is his own uncle—Madam Zhao is his mother! The mother who gave birth to him and nursed him! What kind of son would burn his own mother alive?”
The villagers chattered among themselves, each voicing an opinion over the others.
Standing quietly amid the crowd, Shen Yuan listened. She truly had not expected Chu Yuning’s first reaction upon learning the truth to be a decision to burn Madam Zhao alive.
Madam Zhao was vicious by nature, and after rising to power in her previous life, she had humiliated Shen Yuan as well. Shen Yuan had imagined many possible deaths for her, but she had never expected Madam Zhao to be driven to her death by the very son of whom she was most proud. The thought left Shen Yuan feeling somewhat wistful.
Inside the ancestral hall, Madam Zhao was bound to a tall wooden stake. At her feet lay a mound of firewood, with a thick layer of highly flammable dry straw beneath it.
“Yuning, Mother begs you—please, please don’t burn me to death! Mother knows she was wrong. I truly know I was wrong!” Madam Zhao sobbed with heart-rending desperation. Tears and mucus streamed down her face, while strands of hair clung to her cheeks. She looked utterly wretched.
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“Mother promises you—I’ll never dare do it again! From now on, I’ll stay quietly at home. Please give me one more chance, all right? Chunhua and Qiuyue are still so young. They can’t be without their mother!”
But no matter how desperately Madam Zhao pleaded through her tears, Chu Yuning’s face remained expressionless. He raised the torch high and declared in a ringing voice, “The Exemplary Conduct of Women states: ‘A loyal minister does not serve two kingdoms; a chaste woman does not take two husbands. Once she has been joined to a man, she remains faithful to him for life.’ Since you married my father, whether he is alive or dead, you should remain one with him as his wife! My father was a man of unyielding integrity who sacrificed his life for his country. Yet you disregarded the rites expected of a woman, carried on an illicit affair, and brought shame upon our clan. A woman like you is unworthy to be either a mother or a wife!”
As soon as he finished speaking, a villager shouted, “Scholar Chu truly is a man who has studied the sages! To stand up and punish even his own mother for the sake of righteousness—he is a model for all men!”
Emboldened by the villagers’ support, the trace of reluctance hidden in Chu Yuning’s heart was instantly extinguished.
Yes! He was doing the right thing! Madam Zhao might have given birth to him and raised him, but she had committed a grave offense. He could not forgive her merely because he was her son; that would violate all reason and principle.
Only by stepping forward and punishing Madam Zhao with his own hands could he silence the gossip!
Besides… he could not accept having a mother who had committed adultery. If word of this spread, how could he ever hold his head up at Ziyun Academy? People would point at his back, mock him, and curse him, saying his mother was shameless—or even that he was a bastard of unknown parentage…
He absolutely could not allow such a thing to happen.
Therefore, Madam Zhao had to die!
With a thud, Chu Yuning fell to his knees.
“Mother, I understand how difficult these years have been for you. But you did commit a grave wrong and brought disgrace upon the Chu family. As a member of the Chu clan, I have no choice but to step forward and resolve this matter. I can only repay your kindness in giving me life in my next existence!”
“Heh.”
Hearing this grandiloquent speech, Shen Yuan wanted nothing more than to laugh. No matter how righteous Chu Yuning made himself sound, he could not conceal the truth: he simply could not accept having an adulterous mother.
He was afraid she would ruin his path to success.
At that moment, Shen Yuan finally saw everything clearly. Chu Yuning loved no one. From beginning to end, he was nothing but a thoroughly selfish man.
To achieve his aims, he would stop at nothing.
Her cold laugh rang especially sharply through the agitated crowd. Unable to resist, Chu Yuning turned around—and saw Shen Yuan standing among the villagers. A faint, enigmatic smile curved her lips. Her luminous eyes were like stars, clear and spotless, as though they could see straight through to the darkness in his heart.
For some reason, Chu Yuning suddenly found himself unable to meet her gaze. He hastily looked away.
What was Shen Yuan doing here?
Had she come to watch him make a fool of himself, or had she come because she was concerned about him?
Whatever the reason, he did not need her now!
“An affair is not the fault of only one person. A woman cannot commit adultery all by herself. How can you burn only Aunt Zhao?” Shen Yuan stepped out of the crowd.
At her words, the previously restless villagers suddenly fell silent.
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They had apparently never expected a child to dare stand up and say something so flagrantly contrary to propriety.
Chu Yuning froze. The flames dancing atop the torch distorted the contours of his face.
“This is our family’s private affair. You broke off your engagement with me, so you have no right to interfere!”
“I witnessed what happened. I have the right to know how those who committed the offense are to be punished,” Shen Yuan replied.
At her words, Madam Zhao abruptly raised her head and screamed with a twisted expression, “Shen Yuan, you despicable little wretch! This is all your doing! You ruined me, and you still dare come here! You miserable brat, I don’t need your false kindness! Even if I die, I’ll drag you down to the underworld with me! Just wait—you’ll get what you deserve!”
Shen Yuan paid no attention to her. She walked straight to the entrance of the ancestral hall and pointed toward the village headman, who was kneeling before the ancestral tablets.
“The wrongdoing was committed by two people. How can you burn only Aunt Zhao? You should bring the village headman along as well! After all, the two of them were so deeply in love—they simply cannot be separated!”
She deliberately emphasized the final words, once again reminding the villagers of Chu Family Village what had truly happened that night.
Sure enough, after hearing her, several women began shouting as well.
“Yuan is right! That pair of adulterers deserves to die! Why should only Madam Zhao be burned? The village headman dared to lay hands on even his own sister-in-law. He is the true villain!”
“Why is this world so harsh only toward women? Scholar Chu has spent all these years studying the wisdom of the sages, yet all he knows is how to condemn and kill a woman?”
“The village headman has abused his authority for years, forcing our husbands to work Madam Zhao’s fields for free, and he’s stolen no small amount of our grain! Why should he merely kneel before the ancestral tablets? He deserves to die too! They both deserve to die!”
The crowd grew furious. Chu Yuning stared at Shen Yuan in disbelief.
She had done it deliberately. She had absolutely stirred up trouble here on purpose, fanning the flames of public anger!
Shen Yuan smiled.
She was not pretending to be kind. She was truly vicious.
Since they had brought in so much firewood, burning only one person would be such a waste. Surely Madam Zhao and the village headman ought to be burned alive together!