Chapter 68: The Tragic Life of Sun Yunrou

Su Mingyue watched her husband, who hadn’t cried in decades, shed tears again, and she slowly smiled.

“At such an old age, why are you still crying?” Su Mingyue touched his already white hair. “Everyone dies eventually. You should take it easy. I’ve been very happy in this life with you, and I have no regrets.”

“I just can’t help it.”

“There’s nothing you can’t help. After I die, you must continue to live well, do you understand?” Su Mingyue tapped his head.

“I understand. How can you still think of controlling me when you’re about to die?” Shen Xiuyan sniffled.

“I just want to. If there’s a next life, I still want to keep an eye on you.” Su Mingyue smiled gently.

Although she was old, with a face full of wrinkles, beauty is in the bones, not the skin, and one could still see traces of her gentle and virtuous nature.

“Alright, alright, I’ll let you control me. In the next life, too, I want no one else but you.” Shen Xiuyan didn’t know if there was a next life, but he still made the promise.

“Good.” Su Mingyue lowered her head with a smile.

“Mingyue!”

Shen Xiuyan held her hand tightly, unable to say another word.

“Beep~ The host has successfully completed the task, lived a fulfilling life, and earned 100 points. Would you like to continue the task?”

Hearing this familiar yet unfamiliar voice, Shen Xiuyan was momentarily dazed.

He had almost forgotten the system’s existence.

After all, the system had only appeared briefly, just to issue tasks, and he didn’t expect it to appear again on the day of Mingyue’s death.

But this was also a good thing…

He didn’t have to continue feeling the traces of Mingyue’s existence here. Although he felt a bit sorry for his son, at least his son had a wife and children with him, so he was at ease.

At this moment, he thought, even if it’s impossible, going to another world to continue the task might give him a chance to meet Mingyue again.

Even if it’s a one in a billion chance, he was eager to try.

Even if it doesn’t work, he still has points. If he accumulates enough points, maybe he could bring Mingyue back.

Thinking of this, he perked up and firmly said word by word, “Continue the task.”

“Beep~ The host continues the task.”

“Time-space extraction in progress, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… beep—”

With a piercing sound, Shen Xiuyan lost consciousness.

–

On the same day, the two of them passed away together. In this era where everyone knew the prestige of Imperial Chancellor Shen, the people were all deeply saddened upon hearing the news.

The young emperor even declared a national mourning for three days.

Undoubtedly, Shen Xiuyan had brought too many changes to Nanyue.

The life in Nanyue now was unimaginable in the past.

Wide roads, orderly houses, everyone living and working in peace, and even beggars were rarely seen. All of this was his doing.

When people learned that the robust Imperial Chancellor had passed away with his wife, the long-silent topic was brought up again.

Who would have thought that after so many years, even though he had reached the pinnacle of power, he could still insist on loving only his wife for life.

Moreover, his wife was just a merchant’s daughter who was of no help to him.

Such a loving story was worth spreading, and various strange stories about their life emerged.

For a time, the two deceased unexpectedly became popular again.

They even left traces in history as an eternal love story.

Of course, that’s a story for another time. At this moment, a rhyme saying “Be like Su Mingyue in life, marry like Shen Xiuyan” spread through the streets.

Sun Yunrou, who was already an elderly woman, also heard this.

She stared blankly into the distance.

Suddenly, a sharp, harsh voice came to her ears, “Mother, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and wash your grandson’s diapers. Don’t expect me to do it.”

The voice was very unpleasant, but Sun Yunrou didn’t even furrow her brows. She just silently picked up the diapers beside her.

She looked somewhat numb.

While washing the dirty, smelly diapers, she was filled with regret.

How did the life of a noble lady like hers turn out like this…

Originally, after being sent to the countryside estate, Sun Yunrou stayed there for ten years.

Lord Sun’s official position was repeatedly demoted, and he had long since abandoned the culprit who caused him so much trouble.

Although Sun Yunrou’s mother still thought of her, seeing the family’s declining situation, she didn’t dare mention her.

Usually, she could only send some money to her occasionally.

As for visiting her, she didn’t dare mention it. If Lord Sun found out, she wouldn’t fare well.

At first, the governesses on the estate treated her as the most favored daughter of the Sun family, cautiously trying to please her despite her bad temper.

But over time, they figured it out. The Sun family had a rather indifferent attitude towards this young lady.

One or two years were still manageable, but after three consecutive years without anyone visiting her, it was clear she had been completely abandoned.

So, the governesses conspired together, and years of resentment were finally vented on Sun Yunrou.

At first, Sun Yunrou resisted, but she had no one on her side.

She was no match for the old governesses, and as they continued to wear her down, she became more and more withdrawn.

Gradually, as no one came, the governesses felt at ease.

Even the money Madam Wu sent to Sun Yunrou was taken by them for their own gain.

At this point, with the emperor far away, the governesses took control, and Sun Yunrou lived a life worse than a servant girl.

This dragged on until ten years later when they received the unfortunate news that Lord Sun had been demoted to a commoner and, having no money, planned to sell the estate.

The Sun family would soon arrive, and the governesses’ actions would inevitably be exposed.

Faced with a dead end, they decided to go all out and sold Sun Yunrou to a brothel.

They took the money from selling Sun Yunrou and the silver Madam Wu had sent over the years and ran away.

By the time the Sun family arrived and realized something was wrong, Sun Yunrou had already been working in the brothel for a while.

The Sun family couldn’t bear the shame, and already full of resentment towards Sun Yunrou, they rescued her and hastily married her off to a peasant.

They thought peasants were easy to control, and since no outsiders knew about Sun Yunrou’s time in the brothel, pretending she was the Sun family’s eldest daughter marrying down was no problem.

As for why she married so low, they had already prepared an explanation.

It was simply that Sun Yunrou was too old, already in her thirties, and being able to marry at all was good enough, so they didn’t care about the choice of husband.