Chapter XXVI – The Scar of Remorse

It was nighttime, and the Zhang mansion grew even quieter. Yun wandered through the corridors, his fingers brushing the walls that had so often witnessed his cruelty. He remembered the screams, Meixin's cries, her trembling voice begging for mercy; the times he had left her alone, broken, bloodied.

He collapsed onto the floor of his room and wept as he never had before. Heavy, sincere, salty, uncontrollable tears. Meixin's face haunted him again and again, intermingled with the cries of a child never born, the image of Liu Zhen collapsing dead before his eyes, and the devastated gazes of his in-laws before they died.

A whisper in his chest, barely audible, pushed him to move. Without understanding how, his steps began to guide him—as if his soul sought redemption of its own accord. He crossed the city limits without stopping, feet covered in dirt, robe wrinkled, face contorted from crying.

And so, almost without realizing it, he arrived at the gates of the Wen mansion.

The guards looked at each other, puzzled. Zhang Yun, the powerful heir, stood there alone, red-eyed, shoulders slumped. He brought no escort, no symbol of power. Only guilt.

Before they could decide what to do, someone appeared from inside, looking at him with disdain.

—What's going on?

It was Meixin.

She wore a simple hanfu, its edges embroidered with silver thread. She walked among the blooming cherry trees, lost in thought, unaware that her steps would lead her to face the person she least wished to see. She stopped when she saw him. For a moment, her face showed no emotion—only a cold serenity, as if not even a trace of surprise remained in her heart.

Zhang Yun approached slowly, trembling, until he was just steps away from her.

—Meixin…— he whispered, his voice torn. —Forgive me…

She stared at him, motionless, unblinking.

—I don't want to see your face.

Yun fell to his knees.

—Please… I beg you… forgive me…

But Meixin did not flinch. Her gaze remained fixed, cold as a frozen lake.

—Do you not understand what you and your family did to me?

The breeze stirred the folds of her robe. She stepped closer, with an eerie calm. Then, without warning, she turned, gently lowered the back of her dress, and revealed her back. The scars were still there: red, deep, cruel strokes that spoke of whips and torture. Lower down, a horrific burn marred her skin.

—See this? You did this. With your own hands,— she said, turning to face him with tears barely held back.

Zhang Yun swallowed with difficulty. With a trembling hand, he slowly drew a small dagger from his robe, its hilt worn with time.

Meixin watched him, unmoving.

—What are you doing…?— she asked, emotionless.

Yun gripped the hilt tightly. His voice was barely a whisper:

—This face… the one you saw every day… the one that yelled at you, hit you, insulted you… the one that looked at you with contempt while you begged… no longer deserves to exist!

And without further thought, he drove the dagger into his left cheek. A single brutal downward motion. The blade sliced the skin from cheekbone to jaw with a dry sound. Blood flowed instantly, hot, dark, running down his face like a line of penance.

Meixin didn't move.

—You think that will move me? Since the day I arrived at your family's home, all I received from you was indifference and abuse. Do you remember when, under your cousin's instigation, your sister Zhang Ron burned my face? And still, I was the one punished with twenty lashes.

He cried with his face pressed to the ground, blood dripping ceaselessly.

—You let your jealousy rule you, your doubts… how many times did I beg you to trust me? And you… you never did. Do you remember when you poisoned me? I lost our child… my only child! I can't have children anymore, Yun,— she screamed. —You didn't just take my child. You took away every possibility I had of being a mother again. And because of you… I lost Liu Zhen!

Her voice cracked for the first time, but her gaze remained unflinching.

—Because of your father's ambition… I lost my parents. I hate you, Zhang Yun.

He stretched out his arms, trembling.

—Meixin, please… please, I beg you!

—I curse the day I laid eyes on you! I curse the day I insisted on marrying you! I curse you and your family! You killed me, Yun!— she screamed, soul shattered.

She turned and walked away.

General Wei, who had heard everything from the entrance, stepped forward with cold authority.

—Enough!— he commanded firmly. —This man doesn't deserve to be in this house. Guards, remove him!

Two servants lifted him by the arms. Zhang Yun did not resist. He continued crying, begging through sobs as they dragged him out of the Wen mansion.

The great door slammed shut behind him. Rain began to fall heavily. He was left alone, drenched, on his knees in the mud.

Days later, the rain had ceased, but Zhang Yun's heart remained immersed in an unrelenting storm. In the dimness of his study, where incense still burned with a faint, melancholic fragrance, his fingers gently traced the smooth surface of a jade amulet. It was small, oval-shaped, carved with the symbol for longevity and strung on a fine silk cord. The very one Meixin had given him. He held it as if its touch could summon the warmth of his wife, as if her breath were still etched in that stone.

A voice interrupted the silence.

—Yun…— Huang Fei said softly, peeking in through the door unannounced.

She entered quietly, draped in a purple robe that subtly exposed one shoulder. Her face bore a calculated mix of sorrow and sweetness.

—I heard you haven't eaten all day… I thought maybe you needed some company.

Zhang Yun didn't respond. He continued stroking the amulet, his eyes lost in a place Fei could not reach.

She came closer, placed a hand on his shoulder.

—You can't go on like this… You're wasting away. That woman has done enough…

He tensed. She noticed, but didn't stop.

—Yun… why are you still tormenting yourself over Meixin?— she whispered, leaning toward him with clear intent. —I'm here. I always have been.— Her hand slid slowly down his arm. —Let me heal your wounds…

Zhang Yun pushed her away forcefully. He stood up abruptly, his chair crashing to the floor.

—Don't you dare!— he roared, his rage palpable.

Fei looked at him, stunned, hurt. But her expression turned bitter in an instant.

—It's because of that Meixin, isn't it? That wench?

A slap rang through the air. Huang Fei's head snapped from the blow.

—You dare call her that?— he shouted, eyes blazing.— You're not even worthy of speaking her name!

Fei stared at him in anger and tears.

—You hit me for her, Yun? For that woman…?

—Don't pretend to be the victim now, Fei!— Yun spat, trembling with rage. —I know everything you did! I always suspected… and now I know for sure. You and Ron set everything up to make me believe Meixin had betrayed me!

Fei took a step back, shaken.

—And I also know you helped Ron escape. You covered it all up!

—It's not true!— she whimpered, trying to approach him. —Yun, please… I… I just…

—Enough!— he cried, his voice cracking. —Do you know why I tolerated you all these years? Why I didn't throw you out of this house when I discovered your poison?

He turned, looking at her with a mix of scorn and sadness.

—Because ever since you lost your parents and came to this mansion, I treated you like a sister… because before she died, my mother asked me to protect you.

Fei's eyes widened.

He closed his own, and his mind drifted to the past…

The room of the elder Lady Zhang was dim. Incense burned slowly. Her breath was weak, her face pale and sunken into the pillows.

Zhang Yun, still young, knelt beside her, holding her hand.

—Yun… promise me…— she whispered faintly. —Fei… she's my sister's daughter… she has no one… protect her… as if she were your own blood…

He nodded, crying.

—I swear, mother. I swear.

She gave him the faintest smile… and exhaled her final breath.

Zhang Yun opened his eyes. His face was hardened by bitterness.

—I fulfilled my promise, Fei. I will protect you no longer. You destroyed the only woman who ever truly loved me.

As Huang Fei wept on the floor, her cheek red from the slap and eyes filled with tears, she tried to reach him—but Yun stepped back, as if her presence disgusted him.

—Yun… please… I love you… I didn't mean for this to happen… everything got out of control…

He didn't respond right away. Slowly, he turned toward the window, watching the garden darken with the fall of evening. His words came with the coldness of an unyielding sentence:

—Starting tomorrow… you will be sent to Lord Han's estate. You will become his concubine.

Fei froze. Her lips trembled before she could speak.

—What…? What did you say?

—You heard me,— he repeated without looking at her. —My father always wanted to seal an alliance with the Han family through your marriage. He offered you… and I stopped him. Out of consideration for you. Out of respect for the promise I made my mother. But no longer, Fei.

She stood abruptly, unhinged.

—No! Not him, please! That man is old…! I've heard terrible things about him! They say he's a pervert, that he beats his wives, that he's cruel, sick…

Zhang Yun turned slowly, his eyes devoid of compassion.

—I don't care.— His voice was as cold as steel. —That will be your punishment. For everything you've done.

Fei collapsed to the floor, her face drenched in despair.

—No… please, Yun! I love you! Everything I did… I did it for love!

But he no longer listened. Without another word, Yun left the study, leaving behind the sealed fate of Huang Fei.