“Be quiet.” Shi Yutong wrenched Du Linghua’s hand away with force. “Why did you deceive me? Every single one of you has been deceiving me. You all came here today just to laugh at me, didn’t you? Now you are satisfied. I am a hen that cannot lay eggs. I am going to be the laughingstock of all of Shun Cheng.”

Shi Yutong pointed at each person in the room in turn. “All of you — every last one of you — not a decent person among you. You all wish I were dead.”

“Yutong, you have misunderstood me. I did not tell you because I was afraid of causing you grief and pain.” Du Linghua explained desperately, tears spilling down her face without her realizing it.

She did not know how a secret that had been kept for so long could have suddenly been exposed, and in front of so many people at that.

One could only imagine the blow Shi Yutong was suffering. No matter how Shi Yutong raged, Du Linghua would not blame her. If anything, she only felt more heartache for her.

“You wretched creature.” The Commander’s fury, barely suppressed moments before, surged back up. “Someone come — have this wretched creature locked up. Don’t let her go on making a scene here.”

Du Linghua heard this and suddenly dropped to her knees before him. “Commander, Yutong is a victim in all of this too. She is suffering more than anyone right now. You cannot lock her up — what if she does something rash? Commander, Yutong has always been the daughter you love most. You cannot treat her this way.”

The Commander’s brow creased. “It is precisely because I spoiled and indulged her that she has grown into someone so utterly lawless and out of control. Not only does she show no respect for her elders, she even lays hands on Lan’er.”

The thought of the slap Qian Lan had received made it impossible for the Commander to let this go.

“Commander, Yutong was only overcome with emotion for a moment.” Qian Lan quickly said. “She did not mean it. And truly, it does not hurt at all.”

The Commander looked at Qian Lan’s slightly swollen cheek. The thought of the terrible grievance she had suffered — yet here she was, still speaking on Shi Yutong’s behalf — made Shi Yutong’s behavior seem all the more reckless and thoughtless by comparison.

“I can see that your temperament also needs to be taken somewhere and straightened out.” The Commander looked at Shi Yutong, his eyes filled with nothing but contempt. “Lan’er, you spent some time at Baiyun Nunnery before. It is a fine place for quiet reflection and self-cultivation. Do you know anyone there? Arrange to have Yutong sent there to stay for a few months.”

Du Linghua was immediately alarmed. “Commander, you want to send Yutong to a nunnery? You want her to take religious vows?”

“I am only having her endure some hardship and discipline her character,” the Commander said impatiently. “When did I ever say anything about her taking vows? No daughter of the Shi family could ever become a nun.”

Shi Yutong had not anticipated that the Commander would send her to Baiyun Nunnery, and she immediately wailed in protest.

“I will not go. I refuse to go to that nunnery.” Shi Yutong screamed. “It is utterly desolate there with nothing at all. I will not live like that.”

Seeing how utterly she had failed to conduct herself with any dignity, the Commander said gravely, “It is settled. San Yitai, make the arrangements. In three days, send her to Baiyun Nunnery. She may return when she has corrected this arrogant disposition of hers — and not before.”

When he had finished, the Commander paid no further heed to Du Linghua’s weeping pleas, took Qian Lan’s hand, and walked directly out.

Yan Qing watched Du Linghua crawling on her knees after the Commander, begging him, and could not help but feel a pang of sorrow for her. Faced with Qian Lan’s methods, San Yitai and Shi Yutong had suffered a complete and utter defeat.

Yan Qing and Luo Huaimeng exchanged a glance. Luo Huaimeng shook her head with a helpless sigh.

After all of this, Shi Yutong’s reputation was utterly destroyed. And not only that — the prospect of being matched into a good family in the future was now impossible as well.

Moreover, now that she was being sent to Baiyun Nunnery, when she might be allowed to return was also an open question. As long as Qian Lan was here and did not relent, the Commander would not permit her to come back for even a single day.

Seeing that the situation had reached its conclusion, Madam Sun and Sun Changyou judged it inconvenient to linger, and rose to take their leave.

Madam Sun gave a slight nod to San Yitai and Yan Qing, perhaps feeling somewhat awkward, and quickly turned to go.

“Madam Sun.” Yan Qing fell into step behind Madam Sun, and when the area around them in the garden was clear of anyone, she called out to Madam Sun, who was walking at the rear.

Madam Sun turned back with a strained smile. “Is there something you wished to say, Seventh Young Madam?”

Yan Qing smiled. “I am curious — how did Madam Sun come to learn that Shi Yutong cannot bear children? Between you and me, very few people knew of this matter, and the Commander gave strict orders to all those with knowledge of it to hold their tongues.”

Madam Sun had long heard that the Seventh Young Madam of the Shi household was not only extremely beautiful, but possessed a sharp and perceptive mind. As those eyes like clear deep pools fixed on her, Madam Sun instinctively paused.

Seeing that Madam Sun was not speaking, Yan Qing smiled faintly. “Does Madam Sun not find it strange? Shi Yutong’s situation was the Shi family’s greatest secret. After all this time, not a whisper had leaked outside — yet it found its way to Madam Sun’s ears?”

Madam Sun considered Yan Qing’s words, her mind working quickly. “What does the Seventh Young Madam mean to say?”

Yan Qing made no reply. She simply gave a gentle bow, turned, and walked away.

Some things need not be stated outright. A clever person will understand without being told, while for a foolish one, no amount of explanation would suffice. Yan Qing believed Madam Sun was the clever sort.

When Yan Qing returned to rejoin Luo Huaimeng, Luo Huaimeng seemed somewhat melancholy.

“Mother.” Yan Qing stepped forward, eyes curving with a smile. “What is troubling Mother?”

“Don’t you and Xingzhi both have a talent for reading people’s hearts?” Luo Huaimeng’s expression softened when she saw her. “Then see if you can guess.”

Yan Qing laughed. “How would I dare try to read Mother’s thoughts?”

Luo Huaimeng tapped her on the forehead. “You have already guessed, haven’t you? Well, it is truly nothing of great consequence. Though I made my peace with it long ago, seeing San Yitai in this state now, I still cannot help feeling a touch of sadness.”

Luo Huaimeng had watched San Yitai every step of the way — watched her enter the household, watched her enjoy the Commander’s favor, and watched her sink to where she stood today.

She saw it clearly. She knew well that no flower blooms for a hundred days, and no favor lasts forever. Sooner or later the Commander’s affection would be spent.

“Look at San Yitai’s state now. She really is pitiable.” Luo Huaimeng shook her head. “How glorious she was once.”

It could not be said that there was any deep enmity between Du Linghua and Luo Huaimeng. But before Du Linghua had entered the Shi household, the Commander had still treated Luo Huaimeng quite well.

Once Du Linghua arrived, she deployed one scheme after another to compete for his favor, pulling out trick after trick, until eventually the Commander no longer came to Luo Huaimeng’s door.

Luo Huaimeng had once been heartbroken, ashamed, filled with self-reproach. There had even been a time when she could only survive by attaching herself to the protection of the First Madam.

Recalling those difficult years, Luo Huaimeng did not dwell in too much sorrow. At most, she let out a long sigh.

She had this remarkable son now, and this clever and thoughtful daughter-in-law. Her life was full and content.

“Mother, very few people knew about Shi Yutong’s inability to bear children. How did Madam Sun receive that information? And why did it surface so precisely at the timing of Jing’er’s hundred-day banquet?”

Luo Huaimeng thought carefully. “You suspect someone orchestrated this behind the scenes.”

“It is not suspicion — it is certainty.” Yan Qing smiled. “The last time, Shi Yutong dealt Qian Lan a heavy blow and forced her into a desperate position where she had to clear her name through a near-fatal act. If Qian Lan did not repay that, she would not be the Qian Lan we know.”

“But how did Qian Lan come to know about Shi Yutong’s inability to conceive?”

Yan Qing said, “Of the people who knew, aside from us, there were also the maidservants in San Yitai’s quarters. And from what I have heard, Shi Yutong treated those two maidservants very harshly — she even struck one of them on one occasion.”

“You suspect it was San Yitai’s maidservants who betrayed Shi Yutong?”

“San Yitai’s maidservants had led quite a comfortable life following her. But with Shi Yutong’s temperament, she treated them as lowly servants fit only to be scolded and beaten at will. Over time, with resentment building deeper and deeper, it was inevitable that thoughts of retaliation would arise.” Yan Qing said. “And the person they could turn to was naturally Qian Lan. They wanted to use Qian Lan’s hand to settle the score on their behalf.”

“For this Qian Lan to have such deep scheming — one link in the chain after another — how does she manage it?”

“Qian Lan had originally planned to expose Shi Yutong’s condition today in any case. As it happened, Shi Yutong was also plotting to scheme against her. Murong noticed someone delivering a letter to Qian Lan. She made inquiries and learned it was the hundred-day composition that Jiang Zeluo had written for Jing’er. I suspect that letter had passed through Shi Yutong’s hands and that she had tampered with it.”

“She swapped out the letter?”

Yan Qing shook her head. “Qian Lan is a highly accomplished musician. If the piece were not in Jiang Zeluo’s own hand, she would see through it at a glance. If Shi Yutong wanted to tamper with it, the only place she could have done so was the paper itself. But Qian Lan is no pushover either. The moment the letter reached her hands, she detected something amiss. So she played along, letting Shi Yutong believe she had already fallen for the trap, while quietly making her own thorough and meticulous arrangements in the shadows.”

“What was Shi Yutong trying to do?”

“Since it involved Jiang Zeluo, she was probably trying to fabricate the appearance of a private rendezvous between Qian Lan and him. After all, both of them have deep accomplishments in music — a talented man paired with a talented woman, perfectly natural. Yan Qing continued slowly, “The only way to deal with Qian Lan now is through the Commander. If the Commander believed he had been made a great fool of, Qian Lan would be finished. Shi Yutong’s thinking was sound enough. But the road is one foot high, while the obstacle is ten feet higher. She could never have anticipated that things would turn out this way. Jiang Zeluo became Madam Sun and Sun Changyou, and her own inability to bear children was exposed on the spot, making her the most prominent — yet most avoided — woman in all of Shun Cheng.”

“How certain are you of this theory?”

“Eight or nine parts out of ten.” The light in Yan Qing’s eyes was steady and sure.

Luo Huaimeng looked at the daughter-in-law before her — composed and serene, gaze resolute — and shook her head with a smile. “You, you.”

Yan Qing smiled too. “Mother, let us go back to the front courtyard.”

“Very well.” Luo Huaimeng sighed. “It seems this Qian Lan truly is a formidable figure. Keep your distance from her in the future, and do not provoke her lightly.”

“Mother need not worry. As long as she holds no ill will toward us, I will not clash with her.”

To return to the front hall, the two of them had to pass by an ornamental lake. It was early winter now, and a thread of cold had crept into the air.

The mother and daughter-in-law had just crossed a white jade bridge when they suddenly heard a commotion coming from ahead.

“What has happened?” Luo Huaimeng’s brow furrowed. This small hundred-day banquet had seen one incident after another, and none of them minor. Even with her breadth of experience, she could not help but feel a headache coming on.

At that moment, two maidservants came hurrying from the other side of the bridge, one of them carrying clothing in her arms.

“What has happened now?” Luo Huaimeng asked one of the maidservants.

Yan Qing recognized the maidservant as being from Zhuo Xin Garden.

Although Meng Qiu had left the Shi household, most of the servants from Zhuo Xin Garden had stayed behind. This maidservant had previously worked as a sweeper in the courtyard and now served Qian Lan.

“In reply to the Second Madam and the Seventh Young Madam,” the maidservant Cui’er said respectfully. “Someone has fallen into the water.”

“Fallen into the lake?”

The ornamental lake at the Shi household was not enormous, but it was not small either. Pavilions and covered walkways had been built over its surface. In summer, the lake would be blanketed in lotus blossoms. While it could not compare to the natural lake at the Xi Xin household, it had its own distinctive charm.

Now, the covered walkway over the lake was surrounded by people. No one yet knew who had been so unlucky as to fall in.

—