Chapter 591: Chapter 588, Chapter 589: Traces of the Imperial Guard in Yan State

The time shifts back to July 25th.

A small mountain village under the jurisdiction of Sheng County, Yan State.

This village is also named Peach Village, and every household in the village has peach trees. Every spring when the peach blossoms bloom, it looks like a sea of ten miles of peach flowers. It is now midsummer, and the myriad peach blossoms have fallen, replaced by lush greenery.

The village is located at the foot of a large mountain named Helan Mountain. Closest to the foothill is a small fenced courtyard. Within the courtyard stand two silent and solemn thatched cottages. The once neat and sturdy nursery is now overgrown with weeds, and vines have crept over the fences.

The two thatched cottages in the courtyard seem to have been uninhabited for a long time, with cobwebs hanging under the eaves, giving off a slightly desolate look.

Step, step, step...

A pair of light and slow footsteps approach from afar. Two staggering figures come to a stop outside the fenced walls.

They appear to be a couple in their fifties, dressed in extremely simple clothing. Both are hunched over, looking very haggard. Among them, the older woman holds a pottery jar, her eyes red and face full of sadness, muttering, "Son, we’re home, we’re home..."

"Who are you?"

At this moment, an old man carrying a hoe, seemingly just returning from laboring in the fields, looks at the two figures stopped outside the fence and frowns, carefully scrutinizing them. Moments later, the old man exclaims in surprise, "Shigen, Yingzi?"

Hearing the voice, the elderly couple raises their heads and turns their faces to look. The old man among them stares blankly at the old man, then responds, "...Uncle You Tian?"

"Shigen, it really is you." Hearing this familiar voice, Cui Youtian puts down his hoe, exclaiming in astonishment, "Weren’t you two taken to the city by Xiaohua to enjoy life? Why are you back? Didn’t Gangzi come back?"

Upon hearing the name "Gangzi," the elderly couple is further distressed. The older woman looks at the pottery jar in her arms, incoherently saying, "Son, Uncle You Tian is calling you, wake up, Uncle You Tian is calling you..."

Cui Youtian stares in amazement at the pottery jar in the woman’s arms, exclaiming, "Shigen, what happened to Yingzi?"

"Gone, Gangzi is gone, it’s all because of that bastard Xiaohua, it’s her fault. If it weren’t for her, how could Gangzi die, how could he commit suicide, Gangzi..." The old man, called Shigen by Cui Youtian, cries with a face full of grief, then looks at his wife beside him and curses:

"It’s all your fault, if you hadn’t given birth to that bastard, how could little Gang die, how could he die..."

Saying this, Shigen suddenly kicks the older woman beside him.

The older woman, unprepared, is kicked to the ground, her clothing slightly revealing the skin underneath covered with scars, but she holds the pottery jar firmly, lying on the ground sobbing, "It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault, my son, mother is sorry for you..."

"Give me back my Gangzi..."

"Shigen, stop it." Cui Yougen quickly grabs Cui Shigen, perhaps due to his age, his mind is a bit slow to respond, and belatedly says, "Did you say, Gangzi is dead?"

Cui Shigen ignores his old uncle and breaks free from Cui Youtian. He bends down to take the pottery jar the old woman is holding, but the latter holds on tightly, unwilling to let go.

"Give it to me..."

He snatches the pottery jar from the old woman’s hands. Holding the pottery jar, he opens the fence and walks towards the thatched cottage. The old woman, getting up from the ground, quickly follows.

Cui Youtian watches their backs, somewhat perplexed, but from the fragments of their conversation, he can guess that something significant has happened to the Shigen family. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

He places the hoe outside and follows them. He and Cui Yougen are from the same family background, seeing the pitiable state of the two, he feels compassion and helps them tidy up the courtyard.

While tidying up, he learns that the jar contains the ashes of Cui Gang, who died by ramming into a wall, seemingly because of Cui Shigen’s eldest daughter, Xiaohua.

Cui Shigen left Peach Village for many years and had not returned once during that time.

When they left, the villagers speculated that Xiaohua had taken them to the city for a better life. Some said Xiaohua became a concubine for a lord in the city, turning from a crow into a phoenix.

Because of this, the relationship between Cui Shigen and the village became even more distant.

When Cui Gang was buried, only Cui Youtian’s family and some relatives of Cui Shigen attended the funeral.

Cui Gang was buried on Helan Mountain.

The day after Cui Gang was interred, his mother also passed away.

The villagers said that Cui Gang’s mother missed her son too much and died from grief.

However, an old woman who prepared Cui Gang’s mother’s body knew that the cause of death wasn’t simple, as she saw Cui Gang’s mother’s body covered in bruises, seemingly from being beaten.

She suspected that Cui Shigen beat her to death.

He used to frequently beat Cui Gang’s mother in the village, and all the villagers had witnessed it.

However, to avoid more trouble, the old woman, who was also from Peach Village and married into a Cui family, turned a blind eye and said nothing.

As August rolled in, when Cui Youtian went to visit Cui Shigen, he found the latter hanging from the beam. By the time he got Cui Shigen down, he was already dead.

Cui Youtian sighed and informed the village of Cui Shigen’s suicide.

Perhaps feeling guilty for previously gossiping about the Shigen family, every household in the village contributed some money to bury him next to Cui Gang and Cui Gang’s mother’s graves.

August 5th.

A few burly men arrived at Peach Village, inquiring about Cui Gang. Coincidentally, the person they found was Cui Youtian.