I Am Unfilial

Xiao Yue swallowed hard.

No, she only wanted to sneak out, see Uncle Ma for one last time. But after she sneaked out, she herself was not sure if she would be able to come back again.

Seeing that Xiao Yue did not answer, Yu Fen quickly assumed that she guessed right. Horrified, she grabbed her young lady's hands and urgently said, "Young Lady, you cannot! Do you not understand the circumstance of your marriage? If... if you run away, everyone will be executed!"

Blood drained from Xiao Yue's face.

"Yu Fen... what do you mean? Why executed?"

Yu Fen almost cried when she heard this question.

"Master is in a difficult predicament right now because there were some pieces of evidence that pointed out that he committed treason. Young Lady, your marriage is the only reason why your family is spared from execution. If you run away, everyone will die. Everyone will die!"

Keep in mind that you have promised to prioritize our house's standing after you marry into the Long household.

So this was what the letter really wanted to say. It was not to provide any information. It was for her to behave. Be a good wife and be that ray of hope for her family to survive. If she messed up, Chun Ya's family would be killed.

Third Sister, things are often not as it seems. You are now part of this household. I hope you can keep your mouth shut, just like the rest of us.

First Madam wanted her to behave as well. She might have married into the Long household as the third wife, but everyone knew who she was, and how her original family was doing. This was why Long Zhao Xue did not bother visiting her, let alone consummating the marriage with her. Her marriage was one big farce. But then... why did Chun Ya want to marry into this household? Was it not purely because of love?

As if reading her mind, Yu Fen kneaded her hands and continued, "Your falling in love with General Long and subsequent insistence to marry into this household was nothing short of heaven's blessing to your family. Master immediately put forward the match proposal, and he was so elated when General Long agreed. Young Lady... things have been messy from the start but let's just forget everything and think about your future here, alright? General Long has good standing in the Hong Kingdom. If you can bear him a son and gain favor, you will save a lot of people. It is really for the best."

Xiao Yue's throat went dry. On one side, she wanted to avenge her tribe. On the other side, was she ready to be directly responsible for the death of everyone in her original family, including all maids in her manor? Including Yu Fen? Yu Fen was the only person who truly cared for her since she was revived in Chun Ya's body. She could not bear to see Yu Fen die.

Seeing that Xiao Yue finally calmed down, Yu Fen then asked, "Young Lady, where do you want to go? Is there anything that Yu Fen can help you with?"

Xiao Yue shook her head weakly. If Yu Fen was found out when running an errand for her and later suspected of association with a criminal, she would be executed for sure. Xiao Yue did not care about her own life, but she valued the life of others. She only had a few people around her in this life. In the end, she could not be filial and send off Uncle Ma to his final resting place.

When someone died, the corpse would be burnt on a pile of wood with all their intimate belongings, and also some sage to cleanse and lead the way to the afterlife. At every cremation, the air was filled with smoke and the smell of burnt sage.

Her tribe was quite large, but everyone knew about each other since they all lived in tents that were cramped together in a small area. During such a sad event, everyone would gather to say farewell.

Xiao Yue had been to a lot of funerals since she was young. She had helped with the preparation of some funerals, too. Her last had been her grandfather's, so to say her father and the Tribe Chief's father.

During the cremation, the Tribe Chief stood by the pyre and lit it with a torch. The red flame danced and burnt everything slowly. He remained strong and unrelenting from start to end, watching as the dearly departed turned into white bones and ash, and then collecting the remains to put into an urn.

The others cried and sobbed loudly, but Uncle Ma had to be strong for all. Many times Xiao Yue peeked into the ancestral tent and saw him kneeling before the rows of urns, gazing upward with a blank expression.

Tribe Chiefs were also human beings, but they were not allowed to do something as humane as crying. Who would have known that even the manner of his death later on would be inhumane?

Uncle Ma was to be executed early morning. Xiao Yue could not sleep the whole night. When the sun just rose, she put up a makeshift funeral pyre in the yard and arranged some sage and Uncle Ma's favorite flowers and smoking weed on top of it.

After everything was done, she lit it up with a candle. Thin smoke rose from the tiny funeral pyre, dancing along with the wind, going up in form of thin white wisps, almost like a soul leaving the earth.

Xiao Yue watched as the tiny funeral pyre crumbled and collected what was left of it into a tiny brocade bag. She could only do as much.

'I am sorry, Uncle Ma.'

'Xiao Yue is not filial.'

Just then, a male voice rang out from behind Xiao Yue.

"Burning items randomly is forbidden, you know."