Chapter 103: Shards of Trust
Lieyin had stormed out with a completely red face, while Yexue merely excused herself before stumbling out.
Ru Yi stared at the door that’d just with a bang in confusion. "Did I say anything wrong?" she asked Qingyue, who didn’t bother moving an inch.
"Not exactly." Qingyue took a seat and gestured for Ru Yi to do the same. "Two people can interpret the same thing in different ways."
Ru Yi sat down. "I don’t understand."
"I’m more concerned about how you didn’t get hurt," Qingyue continued. "What was that shadow?"
Ru Yi’s face twisted in confusion. "What shadow?"
Qingyue shook her head, that means Ru Yi wasn’t able to remember what happened. "What exactly do you remember after you tried to save Lieyin?"
Ru Yi thought about it but her memory was blank. All she knew was the excruciating pain was Lieyin was about to be attacked, everything after that was a black canvas. "I don’t remember."
"It’s fine. Don’t beat yourself up about it." Qingyue stood up. "Get some rest, I need to check in with the imperial guards on how the children will be transported to the capital."
Ru Yi nodded.
Qingyue was already out of the door when Ru Yi heard a loud groan from one of the rooms. She walked in to see Madam Lin laying on the bed with her daughter beside her.
Soft light filtered through the window, settling gently over them. Her daughter was now breathing steadily, color slowly returning to her once pale face.
Ru Yi moved over to Madam Lin whose eyes fluttered open with another groan. Slow and heavy. She seemed confused at first on where she was before her memory returned all at once.
Her hand shot out, gripping Ru Yi’s sleeve weakly. "My husband..." she rasped, voice fragile. "Is he alive?"
The question hung in the air, sharp and unavoidable.
Ru Yi froze, her lips parted but no words came out. She didn’t know how to tell her the truth. Didn’t know how to shape something that heavy into something survivable.
So she didn’t answer. And that was enough.
Madam Lin’s grip loosened. Her eyes didn’t leave Ru Yi’s face, but something inside them broke quietly.
"I see..." she whispered, turning her head to look the other way. There was no scream, no denial. Just pure understanding that transcended grief.
Her hand fell back to the bed before the tears arrived. Slow at first...then they grew heavier. "I failed..." she murmured, her voice trembling. "I couldn’t protect my daughter, I didn’t even know what was happening in my own home..."
Madam Lin’s shoulders shook.
"I trusted him...I trusted him...and—" Her voice cracked completely.
Ru Yi felt it in her chest. That sharp aching pull...the type that doesn’t belong to you but hurts just the same.
She reached out. Hesitantly at first, then more certain and gently took Madam Lin’s hand in hers. "You didn’t fail," Ru Yi said softly. "How could you have known when he hit it so perfectly from everyone?"
Madam Lin shook her head immediately. "I did. I should have seen it...I should’ve known he was capable of doing it to others if he could do it to his own child."
"No," Ru Yi said again, a little firmer this time. "You were lied to, deceived. That’s not failure, you simply weren’t aware."
Madam Lin’s tears didn’t stop. "I was his wife, we lived under the same roof. All I did was give excuses that I was too weak to help my child."
Ru Yi swallowed, hard. She understood that feeling more than she wanted to.
The what ifs.
The I should have knowns.
The blame that had nowhere to go so it turned inward.
"He was your husband, you loved him." Ru Yi spoke quietly, unsure how else to offer her comfort. "Trusting him wasn’t weakness. He was the one that chose to break that trust. You were just honest in a world where he wasn’t."
That broke something open.
Madam Lin let out a shaky breath, her hand tightening around Ru Yi’s as she cried more freely now. Not restrained or quiet. It was all grief, raw and real.
Ru Yi sat quietly by her side. She didn’t interrupt even as her own tears rolled down her cheeks.
She just sat there, holding Madam Lin’s hand, letting her feel everything she needed to feel. And somewhere in that, her own chest tightened, her vision cried.
There was something intimate and vulnerable about watching someone else full apart, feeling that helplessness all over again but this time with a witness.
It made Ru Yi crack, her lips trembling from trying so hard to hold in a heart wrenching sob. She felt bad for both Madam Lin and her daughter.
They were both hurt by the same person who should’ve protected them from the outside world. How could one really recover from such betrayal?
It was a broken vase. You should pick the shards up but you could never glue it perfectly together. Their lives would forever be changed.
Ru Yi’s tears went unnoticed until the door opened and Yexue stepped in. She stopped instantly when she saw took in the sight in front of her.
Ru Yi sitting down there, tears falling quietly, still holding Madam Lin’s hand like she was the one trying to stay strong.
For someone else.
Something in Yexue’s expression shifted. Softened. Without thinking she crossed the room. "Hey..." she said, quieter than usual.
Ru Yi looked up and that was all it took. The moment Yexue saw her...really saw her...her composure gave way completely.
She let go of Madam Lin’s hand and stood, just enough to close the distance before falling into Yexue’s arms.
No hesitation.
No holding back.
Yexue caught her instantly. "Hey," she started, surprised. But Ru Yi clung to her tightly, her shoulders shaking now as the tears she had held back finally came all at once.
It made Yexue freeze for half a second before she tightened her arms around Ru Yi, secure and protective.
"I’m here," she whispered, softer than anyone has ever heard her speak. "I’ll never let you go."
Ru Yi buried her face into her shoulder, her grip tightening like she was afraid to let go.
Yexue rested her chin lightly against her head, one hand coming up gently to steady her. "It’s okay," she said quietly. "You’re okay."
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