Chapter 191 - 191 Staking it All

191 Staking it All

Madam Jiang was shocked. She hurriedly stood up and accidentally knocked over the chair behind her. She grabbed Yu Kangtai’s hand tightly, as if she was grabbing onto a life-saving straw.

“Master, I’ve served you with all my might for so many years and even gave birth to a pair of children for the Yu family. Even if I don’t have any contributions, I’ve worked hard. Do you really want me to be captured?”

Yu Kangtai could not bear it. However, he knew that Madam Jiang deserved it. He should not be soft-hearted. Hence, he turned his face away from Mrs. Jiang.

Madam Jiang knelt on the ground and cried.

“Master, even if you don’t care about our many years of husband and wife relationship, don’t you care about Ah Sheng and Pingping? I’m their biological mother. If I am convicted, how would they live in the future? How can Sheng take the imperial examination in the future? How can Pingping talk about marriage in the future?”

These words hit the mark. He really couldn’t destroy the future of the two children for Madam Jiang. He shook off Mrs. Jiang’s hand and pointed at her as he scolded.

“Now you know to think of the children. What were you doing earlier?!”

Madam Jiang fell to the ground weakly and cried.

Yu Sheng and Yu Pingping wanted to say something, but they felt that nothing they said was right. They neither wanted their mother to be captured nor wanted to disappoint their sister.

Yu Kangtai looked at Duke Xianglang and begged.

“Can you spare Madam Jiang on account of me?”

Xiao Juan said coldly, “There are national laws and family rules. If she makes a mistake, she has to be punished. Otherwise, what’s the point of the Justice Department?”

Yu Kangtai was speechless.

He steeled himself and decided to risk his old face. He lifted the hem of his shirt and knelt down.

“Your Highness, please!”

Seeing this, Yu Sheng could no longer sit still.

He stood up and walked over quickly. Without hesitation, he knelt.

“Your Highness, my mother is indeed in the wrong. I’m willing to accept the punishment on her behalf!”

With that, he knocked his forehead heavily on the ground.

“Don’t arrest my brother!” Yu Pingping rushed over and quickly knelt down. “If you want to arrest me, arrest me. I’m willing to suffer for my mother!”

Yu Sheng grabbed her arm and whispered, “Hey, you’re a girl. Don’t get involved. Go back to the house.”

Yu Pingping was unconvinced. “So what if I’m a girl? I’m also a member of this family. I can do anything you can. Don’t look down on me!”

Yu Sheng raised his head and begged Duke Lang, who was sitting in a chair.

“Don’t listen to this nonsense. Get someone to take me away. You can judge me however you want. Whether I get flogged or sent to the border, I’ll accept it!”

Yu Pingping squeezed forward. “Capture me! Capture me! I’ve been in good health since I was young. No matter how you punish me, I can take it!”

Seeing this scene, Yu Kangtai felt relieved and bitter. He turned to look at Madam Jiang, who was already crying, and roared, “Look what you’ve done! This is all your fault!”

Madam Jiang really regretted it now.

She regretted it. Why had she been blinded by hatred and forgotten that she had such obedient children?

Now, not only had she harmed herself, but she had also implicated her children.

Madam Jiang crawled to Duke Lang on all fours and cried.

“I’ll take responsibility for my own actions. Arrest me. Don’t arrest my children. They don’t know anything. They’re innocent!”

Yu Pingping threw herself into her arms and cried for her mother.

Madam Jiang sobbed when her daughter called her mother. She hugged her daughter with arm hand and pulled her son with the other.

“I appreciate your kindness. It’s my fault. I deserve it. You’re still young and have a bright future. You can’t be harmed by me.”

Yu Sheng’s eyes turned red. “Mother, don’t say that.”

This should have been a very warm scene, but in Xiao Juan’s eyes, it was very uncomfortable.

He looked at Yu Niaoniao, who was sitting beside him. She was fiddling with the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks, her eyes downcast.

She didn’t look interested.

Her surname was also Yu, and she was also a member of this family. Today was the day she returned to the family. But now she was acting like an out-of-place outsider.

She was lonely and pitiful.

Xiao Juan did not know what she was thinking, but he stretched out his right hand. By the time he realized what was happening, his palm was resting lightly on Yu Niaoniao’s head.

Yu Niaoniao stopped fiddling with the rice. She turned her head slowly to look at the man beside her.

Xiao Juan stroked her head and whispered to her.

“It’s fine. You still have me.”

He had obviously never touched someone’s head so gently before. His movements were inevitably a little rusty. So much so that his comfort appeared clumsy.

Yu Niaoniao did not think much of it at first. Anyway, she had long recognized her place in the family. She had not expected much from this family from the beginning.

If she had no expectations, why would she be disappointed?

However, when she heard Xiao Juan’s words, Yu Niaoniao suddenly felt a lump in her throat.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t aggrieved. It was because she knew that the person she cared about the most was no longer alive. Even if she felt wronged, no one would comfort her anymore.

She had to force herself to be strong to lessen the discomfort.

Xiao Juan’s comfort and concern were like needles that pierced through the shell she had painstakingly propped up.

She looked down quickly, sniffed hard, and murmured a reply.

“Yes, I know.”

It was a heavy nasal voice and a little shaky. At this moment, Xiao Juan deeply understood what heartache was. He wanted to pull her into his arms.

However, considering that there were outsiders present, he held back in the end.

Madam Jiang patted her daughter’s head. She forced a smile on her tear-stained face.

“The proudest thing in my life was to have two good children like you. I can’t ruin your future because of a moment of confusion.”

At this point, Madam Jiang let go of the two children. She raised her hand and pulled the golden hairpin from her bun. She aimed the tip at her neck.

Everyone present was shocked.

Yu Kangtai shouted, “What are you doing? Put down the hairpin!”

Yu Pingping panicked. “Mother, don’t do anything stupid!”

Yu Sheng wanted to snatch the hairpin from Mrs. Jiang’s hand, but she stopped him.

“Don’t come over!”

Yu Sheng was afraid that Madam Jiang would hurt him and did not dare to approach her.

“Mother, calm down.”

Madam Jiang’s hand trembled as she held the golden hairpin, but her expression was abnormally determined.

“I’m calm! If I am still alive, I would definitely be captured by the Eagle Guards and sent to the Justice Department. Once I am convicted, Sheng and Pingping would become the children of sinners. In the future, Sheng would no longer be able to participate in the imperial examination, and Pingping would no longer be able to marry. I’m their mother. I can’t harm them.

But if I die now, the Justice Department won’t be able to convict a dead person, and Sheng and Pingping won’t be implicated by me.”

She looked at the cold-faced Duke Lang with a desperate madness in her eyes.

“Your Highness, am I right?”