Hua Xian’s legs felt unsteady beneath her, but this time she refused to show weakness. Step by step she walked out of the room, and at the sight of the sunlight outside, tears streamed down her face without warning.
Nanny Su gently dabbed them away, her gaze sweeping over the servants kneeling in the courtyard. Among them were not only Yang Family attendants, but also those who had come as part of Hua Xian’s dowry household. The head matron had already passed away, and the several personal maids — all of whom had come of age and been presented — were dressed more like mistresses than Hua Xian herself was. Every one of them had become Yang Qi’s kept women.
Not a single one of them had ever sent word to the Hua Family about what the second young mistress was enduring here.
Hua Bailin’s young face had gone cold, and yet he carried himself with an unmistakable air of authority. “Cousin, these servants are no longer of any use. Sell them all.”
“My cousin has reminded me well.” Yang Sui’an went back into the room and, disregarding the Yang Old Madam sitting there, found a box from the cabinet and flipped through it — every contract of indenture was accounted for, not one missing. He returned to the courtyard and said, “It seems you have all forgotten whose hands your contracts of indenture are in. Gui Zi, take these to a broker. Tell her the price is negotiable — if she can come and take them immediately, I don’t mind letting them go cheap.”
“Yes.”
“Have mercy, young master!” The group went pale. Several of them dissolved into wailing — being resold rarely led to a better lot, particularly the maids who had already been set up as kept women. They might well be sold off to some unsavory establishment.
A particularly pretty girl in green slapped herself hard across the face and prostrated herself on the ground, sobbing. “This servant forgot her place — please forgive me just this once, young master. I will never dare again!”
“Forgive you? If I forgive you, how do I make it up to the hurt my mother has endured? Qiu Yu — when you climbed into the master’s bed, did you ever think about how my mother had treated you? You forgot your place. You came from the Hua Family, and yet you did not even observe mourning when my maternal grandmother passed. What face do you have to beg my forgiveness? Gui Zi, go at once.”
“Yes.”
Nanny Su eased Hua Xian up onto the back of one of the stout matrons. Hua Bailin steadied her from the side. “Let us go.”
As they emerged from the courtyard, vague figures stood watching from all around — but not one of them stepped forward.
Outside the inner gate, Yang Qi had positioned himself with a number of servants, effectively encircling the gate. The moment he saw Hua Xian being carried out on someone’s back, his chest tightened — he had counted on his mother to hold things up.
“And what does my uncle intend by this? Surely the Yang Family is not some dragon’s lair or tiger’s den, where one may enter but never leave?” Without waiting for Yang Qi to respond, Hua Bailin smiled again. “As it happens, I have always been especially fond of dragon’s lairs and tiger’s dens. Come — I’d like to see who dares lay a hand on me.”
Yang Qi truly did not dare touch Hua Bailin. He had taken the scholar’s path himself and understood precisely how much influence the Hua Family still commanded — otherwise he would never have resorted to beating Hua Xian in the first place, trying to force her to use that influence on his behalf through connections to the Hua Family.
But what he could do was raise his hand against his own son. He stepped forward and delivered Yang Sui’an a heavy slap across the face. “Insolent wretch — what do you think you are doing? Joining forces with outsiders against your own family?”
Yang Sui’an did not know whether the man who called himself his father had used his full strength. He only felt that half his face, jaw and all, had gone numb, and something wet trickled out of his mouth. He raised his hand and wiped it — blood.
He turned and looked at his father with cold, utterly emotionless eyes.
Hua Xian, however, was nearly beside herself. She struggled off the matron’s back — Nanny Su grabbed her quickly enough to keep her from sliding to the ground — and lurched toward her son. She reached out as if to touch his face, then stopped herself, and in an instant tears streamed down her face. “Mother won’t go. Sui’an, Mother won’t go…”
“Then hurry back inside.” Yang Qi was elated, and moved at once to take Hua Xian’s arm. Hua Bailin stepped directly into his path and said sharply, “I’d like to see who dares touch my second aunt!”
The Hua Family’s servants, matrons included, surged forward as one, and fixed the Yang Family servants with fierce stares. Every one of them had trained under their martial instructor — this was as good a chance as any to see how much they had actually learned.
Yang Sui’an helped his mother to her feet and gestured for a matron to crouch down. He helped his mother onto the matron’s back and said quietly, “If you stay, then the slap I just took was for nothing. Let’s go.”
Nanny Su supported them from the side. The matron set off with her and walked straight toward the gate. Hua Bailin fell in behind them as the rear guard. The Yang Family’s servants could only follow — not one of them dared approach, Yang Qi included.
It was only when they walked out the main gate and saw the Hua Family servants waiting there to receive them that Hua Bailin finally allowed himself a fraction of relief.
By now the crowd gathered outside the Yang Family estate, both openly and in the shadows, had grown considerably. Hua Bailin caught Nanny Su’s eye.
Nanny Su gave the matron’s shoulder a light pat. The matron understood, and set Hua Xian down, then flanked her on either side as they walked toward the covered sedan chair.
The injuries covering Hua Xian’s body were far too visible. Gasps rose from every direction. Hua Xian buried her head as low as she could, so mortified she wished the ground would open up and swallow her.
No wonder the Hua Family had come in such force — so their daughter had been mistreated. And the one who had made this call… surely it was that eldest young mistress who now ran the Hua household? Backbone of steel, that one.
By this point Yang Zheng had finally received word and came hurrying out — but it was too late. He saw his grandson’s face, swollen on one side, and made an attempt at damage control. “Sui’an — this is a family matter after all. Best not to make a spectacle of it.”
Yang Sui’an had no wish to give onlookers any more to talk about. He approached his grandfather and said quietly, “Grandfather — the blow he struck me, I accept it. I can bear it. But Mother cannot bear another like it. I did not dare gamble on it. If I cannot protect my own mother, if I will not protect her, then I am unworthy to be called her son, and unworthy of all the years you have spent teaching me. Grandfather, I have only one mother. She is soft-natured and incapable, and she no longer has a flourishing family name behind her — but she is still my mother.”
Yang Sui’an knelt and pressed his forehead to the ground three times. “If you acknowledge me, I am the Yang Family’s eldest grandson. If you do not, I am still Yang Sui’an.”
Yang Qi clenched his teeth in fury. “If you leave now you need never come back. I need no such son as you — do not think to inherit a single thing from the Yang Family…”
“Yang Qi!” If Yang Zheng had not known better than to discipline his son in public, he would have beaten this fool unconscious on the spot. He did not have only this one grandson — but among all his grandsons, this was the one with the finest gifts.
“What was yours I have never wanted,” Yang Sui’an said. “From now on, I will earn everything I want through my own honest effort.” He straightened. “Grandfather, take care of yourself.”
“Sui’an.”
Yang Sui’an looked back.
“You are the Yang Family’s eldest grandson. That will never change, no matter what. This is your home. Your roots are here. Never forget that. Families inevitably have their conflicts, but family remains family — they cannot become strangers.” Yang Zheng took two steps forward, smiling with all the warmth of a kindly elder. “Come back to see your grandfather more often.”
“Yes, I will.” Yang Sui’an did not spare Yang Qi so much as a glance. The only person in this household he would carry in his heart was his grandfather — even knowing that his grandfather also had his own calculations, even knowing that his grandfather had never once spoken a word for his mother despite knowing how she was treated. The kindness he had received was still real.
He watched the procession depart, then turned and walked back. “Close the gate.”
“Father…”
Crack. Yang Zheng spun around with a slap, every trace of warmth gone from his face. “Go kneel at the ancestral hall. Don’t come out until you’ve thought things through.”