Chapter 120: Seventeen Years of Bygone Days

Early morning.

Wei Wuji stood under the eaves, watching Lady Tan quietly as she busied herself. Lan'er and Huan'er were also in the kitchen, bustling back and forth.

After the raid on the Gu family estate, Wei Wuji had come into a windfall. Even after rewarding the guards who accompanied him, he still had a considerable sum left. He had initially thought about hiring more servants, but Lady Tan refused, insisting that things were fine as they were.

With money now available, their living conditions had improved significantly. Early this morning, Lady Tan had sent Lan'er to buy fresh fruits and seasonal vegetables. Even though it was not a holiday, she wanted the family to have a proper meal together.

Watching her busy figure, Wei Wuji had words on the tip of his tongue, yet he could not find the right moment to speak. He had barely slept through the night, and his obsession had only deepened. His mind was filled with questions about the forces at play around him.

Seeing Lady Tan’s diligent form made Wei Wuji’s heart ache. His mother ought to have been living in luxury within the magnificent palace chambers, yet for his sake, she had been driven here. This realization compelled him to uncover the truth; he had to see his enemies clearly.

He wanted to speak, but he feared being rejected again. Furthermore, he was unsure if the words of General Xu Anhong would truly carry any weight. He stood there for over ten minutes, but finding no opportunity, he could only continue to wait.

...

"Lan'er, go and bring the sauce we bought yesterday," Lady Tan said to Lan'er, who was tending to the fire in the kitchen. Although Huan'er was also there, Lady Tan clearly felt unaccustomed to her presence.

"Mistress, I don't know where it was put. Besides, if I leave, who will watch the fire?" Lan'er asked, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"Never mind, I will go myself," Lady Tan said, setting down her work and walking out of the kitchen. She could have asked Huan'er, but she still didn't fully trust her, even though she was someone her son had brought home. If they had been the type to trust others recklessly, she and her son would have likely been destroyed by Lady Wei long ago.

As she stepped outside, Lady Tan saw Wei Wuji lingering at the door. "Wuji, what are you doing here?" she asked casually.

The opportunity had arrived! Wei Wuji felt a surge of joy. It had to be now.

"Mother, you still haven't given me an answer to the question I asked yesterday," Wei Wuji said, looking down at her, for he was a head taller than she.

At these words, Lady Tan immediately understood her son's intentions, and her expression stiffened. "What exactly is it that you want to know?" her tone was slightly agitated; it was clear she did not want to hear this.

"Mother, you know well what I want to know. Your son has grown up; there are some things I ought to understand!" Wei Wuji’s face revealed his agitation, and he gestured wildly as he spoke.

Seeing Wei Wuji like this, and recalling his impulsive and reckless handling of the conflicts over the past two days, Lady Tan was deeply worried. She feared that once he learned the truth, he would be unable to suppress his rage.

"You are still young; it is not yet time..." After a pause, Lady Tan said wistfully, her eyes filled with pity as she looked at her son’s contorted face.

"No..." Wei Wuji growled, then said in a low voice, "I have grown up. Your son is no longer that timid boy. I am not..."

The "flaws" in Wei Wuji's character were once again exposed before Lady Tan, causing her even greater concern.

"Wuji, you have no enemies. You are a Prince of the State of Wei..."

Before Lady Tan could finish, Wei Wuji retorted immediately, "Mother says I have no enemies, but what about Lady Wei?"

This question silenced Lady Tan, leaving her unable to continue.

"You think your enemy is Lady Wei?" A bitter smile appeared on Lady Tan's face as she recalled the past.

"Then who are they? Mother, I have grown up. Why won't you tell me?" Wei Wuji gripped her shoulders, shaking her slightly as he spoke. From her previous words, he had already deduced that the power he was about to face was absolutely, suffocatingly formidable.

"Sigh!"

Wei Wuji’s words were met only by a sigh from Lady Tan.

"It is not yet time. When you..."

Lady Tan was about to lay out a path for his future, but Wei Wuji interrupted her again. "Mother always says I am still young... but General Xu told me that I have reached an age where I should know certain things. And this time, it was General Xu who told me to ask you." Wei Wuji stared into her eyes as he spoke slowly.

Hearing this, Lady Tan fell silent. Her gaze drifted, and she seemed to be locked in an internal struggle. After a short while, her brow relaxed, and she let out a long breath.

"Since that is the case... come with me." Without waiting for a reply, Lady Tan began to walk away.

Wei Wuji was overjoyed, thinking to himself that Old General Xu’s words were indeed effective; the old man was truly "one of their own." He followed Lady Tan toward the back of the house, where she led him into her bedchamber.

Once they stood inside, Lady Tan turned to face him. She studied him for a moment before asking, "Wuji, do you know why for all these years I kept you protected within these chambers and would not let you leave?"

Wei Wuji thought to himself how he could possibly know that, while simultaneously feeling a sense of injustice for the previous occupant of this body, who had lived his whole life as a shut-in.

"I do not know, Mother," Wei Wuji replied honestly.

Lady Tan asked again, "Then do you know why, for so many years, I have never told you who your grandfather was?"

Wei Wuji’s heart raced; this was something he truly did not know. "I do not know," he replied, maintaining a calm facade.

However, when he looked up, he saw tears in Lady Tan’s eyes, which startled him. Based on what Zheng Dali had told him and his own observations over the past few days, he knew how strong his mother’s heart was. The fact that she was now tearing up proved that this matter was truly unbearable for her.

"You should pay your respects to your grandfather first," Lady Tan said, forcing her voice to remain calm as she looked at the bewildered Wei Wuji. "You have grown up, yet you have never once bowed to him."

With that, she took a key from her person and walked to the cabinet on the north side of the room. She gripped the cabinet with both hands and pushed hard, trying to flip it over. The process was incredibly difficult. Wei Wuji immediately stepped forward to help, and with his strength, they soon managed to turn the cabinet.

Wei Wuji looked on with curiosity and saw that on the side facing the wall, there were two small doors secured by a lock. Lady Tan used the key to open it.

When the scene inside the cabinet came into view, Wei Wuji was deeply shaken. Resting inside was a spirit tablet—an ordinary one, its paint even peeling. On the tablet were the words: "The Spirit Tablet of My Late Father, Tan Shiyun."

As Wei Wuji’s mind raced, Lady Tan spoke. "Wuji, come here and kowtow to your grandfather." Her voice was very calm, or perhaps, very cold.

Wei Wuji walked over obediently. Without caring whether there was a cushion beneath him, he knelt down straight and performed the three formal kowtows. Though he had previously felt some resistance toward the act of kowtowing, seeing Lady Tan’s solemn expression made those thoughts vanish.

After Wei Wuji lifted his head, Lady Tan did not tell him to rise. She simply stared straight ahead, as if trying to look through the passage of time.

"Seventeen years..."