Lin Jinlou escorted Xiang Lan back to the east wing. Hua Mei had already left, and Qing Lan was taking an afternoon nap. Upon hearing of Lin Jinlou’s arrival, she quickly had Chun Ling help her out. However, Lin Jinlou didn’t even glance at Qing Lan, instead pointing at Xiang Lan and instructing the maids and servants, “She hasn’t eaten lunch yet. Later, Shu Ran will bring some food over. Make her favorite soup as well.”
Qing Lan’s face paled again, and Chun Ling quickly steadied her. Xiang Lan lifted her eyelids to see everyone standing in a row inside the room, each wearing complex, startled expressions. She was too tired to care what others thought and simply lowered her head in silence.
Lin Jinlou turned around, pinched Xiang Lan’s cheek, and said, “Stay here for a couple of days. The master will make arrangements.” As he walked out, seeing Qing Lan standing at the doorway, he paused and said, “Take good care of yourself. If you need anything, ask the First Madam. If she doesn’t respond, come find me. Don’t always trouble Mother—it’s hot now, and Mother isn’t feeling well. Making her worry makes me an unfilial son.”
Xiang Lan heard clearly that Lin Jinlou’s words showed his anger at Qing Lan for causing trouble, even dragging Madam Qin into it. By calling himself “unfilial,” he was actually putting the blame on Qing Lan.
Qing Lan was full of grievances but dared not speak. She gave a slight curtsy and said softly, “I understand.”
Lin Jinlou pointed at Xiang Lan again and said, “This maid is fragile. Don’t assign her any more tasks.” With that, he lifted the curtain and left.
The room fell silent. Xiang Lan quietly turned and went back to her room, burying her face in her bedding. Soon after, Shu Ran personally brought over a red lacquered food box containing several delicate dishes and a bowl of premium rice and showed great concern for her well-being.
Soon, word spread throughout the Lin household that the Young Master had taken a liking to a new maid—Xiang Lan from Zhi Chun Hall had found favor and was about to rise in status.
Coincidentally, that evening Lin Jinlou received orders from his superiors that bandits were causing trouble in the neighboring province, and he was commanded to lead troops to suppress them. Thus, Lin Jinlou returned to the barracks that night. When Xiang Lan heard this, she felt relieved.
The next day, Zhi Chun Hall remained peaceful. Zhao Yuechan knelt in the ancestral hall for half a day, then went to Madam Qin’s quarters to cry and beat her chest; Qing Lan copied “The Women’s Rules” ten times, and after returning from Madam Qin’s main quarters, Mama Wu sat in Qing Lan’s room for half a day. The two whispered about something, and when they emerged, Qing Lan’s eyes were red, but her complexion had improved somewhat. The matter was quietly settled without much fuss.
Only Xiang Lan’s position became delicate in everyone’s eyes. People kept their distance from her respectfully, and even Xiao Juan became much more formal when speaking with her. Xiang Lan spent her days sitting on her bed in a daze. She wanted to find Song Ke again, but remembering Lin Jinlou’s dismissive words about the Song family that day made her hesitate. She knew the Lin family’s foundation well and feared involving Song Ke. After much deliberation, she gritted her teeth and thought, “If Lin Jinlou comes again, I’ll threaten him with death. If he’s not completely heartless, he should give me a way out… Buddha protect me and help me leave this hell soon.”
After praying silently, she found several half-worn books, rebound them with indigo covers, and took writing materials to copy Buddhist sutras in the garden pavilion to calm her mind. Firstly, she knew she mustn’t lose her composure, and copying sutras would help settle her thoughts; secondly, it might bring her some blessings for her future.
Several days passed like this. That day, Xiang Lan brewed a pot of tea and brought her writing materials as usual. Accompanied by birdsong and fragrant flowers in the garden, she copied slowly for a while, then wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead. Xiang Lan suddenly realized summer had arrived—spring’s fragrance was long gone, replaced by thick green foliage.
As she admired the scenery, her mood lightened somewhat. Then she saw Chun Ling supporting Qing Lan approaching from not far away. Knowing that Qing Lan was uncomfortable with her presence, Xiang Lan quickly gathered her writing materials to leave.
Unexpectedly, Qing Lan came toward her, smiling, “I thought I saw someone here from afar—so it’s you.”
Xiang Lan was startled, thinking to herself, “Concubine Lan usually ignores me completely. Why this change today?” She smiled and said, “The scenery here is nice, so I came to copy some sutras.”
Qing Lan reached for the book in her hand and flipped through it, finding a surprisingly graceful running script, the characters bold and striking, unlike a girl’s writing. Amazed, she said, “You have such excellent handwriting!”
Xiang Lan hurriedly tried to take the book back, saying, “It’s just scribbled. I shouldn’t offend Madam’s eyes.”
Qing Lan pulled the book back again, smiling, “What a coincidence! I’ve been wanting to copy sutras lately to accumulate merit for my unborn child. Sister, with your beautiful handwriting, why don’t you lend me these copied sutras?” Her true intention wasn’t the sutras—she was looking for a way to smooth things over.
Earlier, Mama Wu had advised Qing Lan: “If we weren’t in the mourning period for Old Madam Zeng, given Madam’s delicate condition, the Young Master would have already added someone by his side. If not Xiang Lan, it would be someone else—why trouble yourself over this? Now even the First Madam is showing kindness and tolerance. If Madam continues to be difficult, it wouldn’t look good. If gossips get involved and angers the Young Master, it won’t be a trivial matter. Madam should learn from Hua Mei’s example of greeting people with a smile. Xiang Lan served you before—ending on bad terms wouldn’t be nice.” Though Qing Lan felt wronged, she took these words to heart. The knot in her heart had loosened somewhat these past few days, and now encountering Xiang Lan, she took the initiative to be friendly.
Xiang Lan had no choice but to agree, handing over a volume of sutras she had already copied to Qing Lan.
At this point, Chun Ling stepped forward and said, “Madam, it seems the wind is picking up—the weather’s changing. Let’s go back and continue our conversation there.”
Qing Lan looked up and indeed saw dark clouds gathering, suggesting rain. She nodded, handed the book to Chun Ling, and let her help her back. Xiang Lan carefully packed the remaining sutra books into her bag, collected the teacup and writing materials, poured the remaining tea from the pot into the flower bed, and hurried after Qing Lan and her maid, carrying the bag and teapot in one hand, several sutra books in the other, and a half-worn silver-red dragon-patterned cushion under her arm.
Unexpectedly, on the garden path, someone came running hurriedly from ahead. Chun Ling couldn’t dodge in time, and they collided head-on. Chun Ling cried out “Ah!” and, fearing she might bump into Qing Lan, fell backward toward Xiang Lan, dropping the books in her hand. Xiang Lan’s feet slipped, and both fell to the ground.
Xiang Lan quickly protected the teapot to prevent it from breaking, but the sutras in her other hand and the cushion under her arm scattered everywhere. The other person also cried “Ouch!” as she fell, dropping her books. Getting up, she glared at Chun Ling and said, “Are you trying to get yourself killed? Running so fast—are you rushing to a funeral?” She then picked up two fallen books and ran off.
Xiang Lan saw that the person who had collided with them was Ying Shuang, a maid from the main house, and silently cursed her bad luck. Chun Ling quickly jumped up, pointing at Ying Shuang’s retreating figure, and cursed, “You little hussy! If you had bumped into Madam, you’d be dead!” She added angrily, “I’m going to tell Madam about this!”
Qing Lan quickly advised, “Enough, don’t quarrel with the First Madam’s servants. Let’s quickly gather everything and go home.”
Chun Ling grumbled while collecting the scattered books.
Given the tension between the main wife and favored concubine, Xiang Lan naturally kept quiet, silently helping to collect everything before returning with Qing Lan to their quarters.
Back in the east wing, Chun Ling arranged the teapot and writing materials. Qing Lan, reclining on the bed drinking tea, said, “Bring those sutras over for me to look at.”
Chun Ling said, “Madam, do you want to copy these things?”
Qing Lan sighed and said, “I might as well copy a few lines to pass the time. Only Buddha understands my suffering now.” Taking the book and opening it, she discovered it wasn’t Xiang Lan’s copied sutras but rather contained entries about “loans,” “interest,” and “collections,” with amounts like “One Thousand Taels” and “Three Hundred Taels.” Startled, she quickly closed the book and asked Chun Ling, “This isn’t Xiang Lan’s sutra book. Did we take the wrong one?”
Chun Ling took the book and flipped through it, but being illiterate, she couldn’t make anything out. She returned it to Qing Lan, saying, “When we bumped into Ying Shuang earlier, all three of us fell and dropped everything. I remember Ying Shuang was also carrying two indigo-colored books like these. We must have mixed them up in the confusion. Should I go exchange them?”
Qing Lan’s heart skipped a beat. After pondering for a while, she said, “No need. You go out, and don’t let anyone in. Don’t mention this to anyone. If people from the main house ask you anything, just say you don’t know anything.” Chun Ling complied and withdrew.
Qing Lan opened the book again and went through it page by page. She had some knowledge of bookkeeping and accounting. As she read through it roughly, she became increasingly alarmed, thinking to herself: “This ledger has Zhao Yuechan’s seal and fingerprint—this confirms it’s hers. The amounts are enormous, roughly seven to eight thousand taels. Her father was only a sixth-rank interrogator before being promoted to Jinling’s administrator last year. How could her dowry include such sums? The Young Master never lets her handle his money either. During previous visits to pay respects to Madam, I overheard Hong Jian and others gossiping that Zhao Yuechan had embezzled and withheld public funds, creating large deficits, but no one knew where the money went. So she’s been using it for usury! What audacity!”
Qing Lan held the account book, feeling it burn in her hands, contemplating: “What should I do now? With the Young Master away, should I give this ledger to Madam?” But then she thought: “That wouldn’t be wise. The Young Master has told me several times that after Old Madam Zeng’s mourning period, if Zhao Yuechan behaves reasonably, he’ll give her more silver for divorce; if not, he’ll give her a letter of divorce. When the Young Master hinted at this to his parents, he was scolded. Recently, Madam told me, ‘I know Zhao is somewhat harsh, but she was properly married into our family. The Zhao family is currently prospering, and her father is in the emperor’s favor. Since Zhao Yuechan hasn’t committed any major offenses, divorcing her would cause enmity between the two families, affecting many interests and connections, as well as the Lin family’s reputation. We can’t act rashly. This marriage was the result of his willfulness—how can we let his willfulness cause even greater disaster through divorce? You should also advise him more often.’ If this ledger reaches Madam’s hands, at most she’ll scold Zhao Yuechan behind closed doors. Even if she’s been lending money at high interest, Madam will cover it up for the Lin family’s reputation. After all, the Lin family has plenty of money—what’s seven or eight thousand taels to them? But… but if this ledger reaches the Young Master… He already despises Zhao Yuechan, and in his anger, he might write a divorce letter on the spot. Then when I give birth to a son…” Qing Lan’s right hand touched her swollen belly as she bit her lip, thinking, “I was personally chosen by Madam and properly registered as a concubine. The Young Master dotes on me endlessly, and even Hua Mei says so. The last time when Madam was angry with me, it was just because I overstepped my bounds, not because she disliked me. If I truly bear a son and the Young Master divorces Zhao Yuechan, he’ll surely elevate me to principal wife, and Madam will be pleased.”