After Prince Nolan flung the dossier aside, he patiently waited for Uncle Zhan to finish reading. As Nolan expected, Uncle Zhan simply could not accept it...
"No, impossible, this can't be true." Uncle Zhan shook his head again and again, scattering the papers in his hands. In that moment, he seemed to age several years, desperately shaking his head at Prince Nolan, longing for Nolan to say, "It's not true!"
Prince Nolan withdrew his gaze, his voice icy: "If you want to know whether it's true, go ask your mother. I have no interest in explaining anything to you."
With that, he ordered Uncle Zhan to be 'escorted' out. As for the dossier, of course he kept it—if it leaked, what leverage would Prince Nolan have to force Wang Jinling's compromise?
Uncle Zhan stumbled dazedly toward the inner courtyard. As soon as he entered, he saw his mother sitting there, wiping away tears. Uncle Zhan's heart twisted in pain; with a thud, he dropped to his knees: "Mother..."
"What's happened?" Matriarch Zhan quickly dried her tears and motioned for the servants to help Uncle Zhan up, but he refused. "Mother, I have something to ask you. Please send everyone else away."
Matriarch Zhan's heart skipped a beat, sensing something was wrong. Her expression grew grave as she waved everyone out: "Get up and speak, Da Lang. You're old enough to be a grandfather—kneeling at every turn is hardly proper."
"Mother, your son is unfilial, but I must ask you something I shouldn't." Uncle Zhan knew that questioning one's parents was a breach of filial piety. He had to kneel to ask.
Even if his father had sinned, that man was still his father.
Matriarch Zhan's face changed; she glanced at Uncle Zhan uneasily and sighed, "What must come cannot be avoided. Ask your question."
Matriarch Zhan finally relented, but Uncle Zhan was at a loss for words. It was Matriarch Zhan who broke the silence: "You're asking about Yana, aren't you?"
"Mother, is Yana really..." Uncle Zhan began, but he couldn't bring himself to say the word.
Matriarch Zhan's tears, only just dried, fell again. She closed her eyes and nodded: "Yes. She is your father's daughter." That last sentence sounded as if it were spoken through blood and tears, showing just how much pain Matriarch Zhan was in.
Even though he already knew, hearing Matriarch Zhan confirm it left Uncle Zhan stunned. He collapsed to the floor: "So Yana really was father and my sixth brother's wife's child? No wonder—no wonder my sixth brother never came home all these years, only returning when our father died. How foolish I've been, so foolish! Why didn't I realize it? Ever since Yana was born, my sixth brother stopped going to the rear courtyard and shunned all women. He suffered so much, so much."
A man in his forties, crying like a child.
"How could Father do this? How could he? My sixth brother sacrificed so much for House Zhan. He could have had any woman in the world, yet Father—how could he, how could he..."
Uncle Zhan sobbed and cursed, while Matriarch Zhan's face twisted in pain. Seeing her son grow more and more out of control, she couldn't interrupt him, but finally said, "Enough. Stop it. Your father is already dead. Saying these things now won't change anything."
"He's dead—he's free of consequences, doesn't have to care about anything anymore. But what about my sixth brother? Because of Father's sin, my sixth brother's whole life was ruined. He even lost his life for Yana, that bastard child. Mother, do you know my sixth brother died for Yana?" Uncle Zhan, overwhelmed by grief, threw himself at Matriarch Zhan's feet and blurted out most of what he'd read in Prince Nolan's dossier.
"Is what you say true?" Matriarch Zhan's hands shook uncontrollably, her face twitching—a clear sign of impending stroke.
Uncle Zhan failed to notice Matriarch Zhan's distress, nodding vigorously. "Mother, I'm not lying. Someone used this to threaten my sixth brother, forcing him to his death. My foolish brother was so blinded by books—he treated Yana, that bastard, as his own daughter and even trusted the people who threatened him. He kept his word, but those people never would. Now he's dead—what are we supposed to do? If anyone should die, it should've been Yana, that wretched child. My sixth brother was too naive..."
"My son, my son..." Matriarch Zhan was utterly overwhelmed, her whole body trembling. In moments, she collapsed to the floor.
"Mother! Mother... Someone, help! Hurry!" Uncle Zhan panicked, scrambling to his feet, but his legs were numb from kneeling so long. Matriarch Zhan was heavy, and both mother and son crashed to the ground.
The room fell into chaos. Servants half-carried, half-dragged Matriarch Zhan onto the bed, pinched her philtrum, tried to give her water and pills—but after all their efforts, she still didn't wake up.
The clan's attending physician quickly arrived, checked Matriarch Zhan's pulse, and shook his head: "The old madam's rage has attacked her heart. She's had a stroke."
"A stroke? Are you saying my mother will be bedridden?" Uncle Zhan knew exactly what a stroke meant, and that was why he was terrified.
House Zhan had already lost Master Wenyuan. Now everything depended on the old matriarch. If she was paralyzed in bed, the clan would truly collapse.
"It depends on how the old madam is after she wakes. Her prospects aren't good, sir—you should prepare yourself." The doctor, as House Zhan's patron physician, didn't hide the truth.
Uncle Zhan was left in a daze, his hands trembling. The doctor, worried he might have a stroke himself, quickly produced silver needles to treat him—but when he turned around, Uncle Zhan had vanished.
"Where did the master go?"
"He... he went out." The servants stammered, afraid to mention that Uncle Zhan was muttering, "It's all that bastard's fault. I'm going to kill her."
Uncle Zhan stormed out of the room, heading straight for Yana's courtyard. Prince Nolan received word and had someone notify Wang Jinling.
The Zhan family's internal affairs no longer required Prince Nolan's involvement; his task now was to calm the suspicions of others.
Forging evidence was no easy feat—Prince Nolan had to handle every detail perfectly.
When Wang Jinling learned that Prince Nolan had revealed Yana's situation to Uncle Zhan, he rushed to Matriarch Zhan's quarters, arriving just as Uncle Zhan burst out. He also overheard Uncle Zhan muttering about 'that bastard.'
Seeing Uncle Zhan charging forward furiously, Wang Jinling frowned and stepped aside from a distance. His bodyguard immediately blocked Uncle Zhan's path: "Master Zhan."
"Move aside!" Uncle Zhan, burning with rage, saw someone in his way and kicked out. Fortunately, Wang Jinling's guard was well-trained—and Uncle Zhan, a scholar, lacked strength.
"Uncle." Wang Jinling stepped forward at just the right moment. Uncle Zhan saw Wang Jinling's gentle face and his anger faded a little. "Jinling, it's you. Is something wrong?"
"Jinling dares to call you Uncle, so I hope you'll listen to a word of advice." Wang Jinling spoke plainly. Uncle Zhan's face changed and he replied awkwardly, "You know too?"
This was a family scandal. Uncle Zhan didn't want it exposed, even to his brother's favorite disciple.
"Master treated me as his own son. Please rest assured, Uncle—I know what to listen to, and what not to." Wang Jinling made clear that he knew, but would act as if he didn't.
"Jinling, good, good, you're a good one. My sixth brother didn't misjudge you." Uncle Zhan, as if finding an outlet for his pain, clapped Wang Jinling's shoulder, choking back tears.
Learning such a terrible secret had nearly driven Uncle Zhan mad. Now, with Wang Jinling by his side, things didn't seem so hopeless—at least the Zhan family's reputation would survive.
"Uncle, there are too many people passing by here. Let's go inside and talk." Wang Jinling gave a soothing smile, though only he knew how bitter it truly was.
His master had used his own death to bury this secret, yet it was exposed in the end. Even if only a few knew, this was never what his master had wanted...