Huamei snorted and turned to enter the room. Her birth mother, Lady Liu, followed behind her saying, “My dear daughter, don’t be angry with your father. What he said makes some sense. He only wants what’s best for you…”
Huamei glared and said, “What sense does he make? He’s just humiliating me. Why doesn’t he send his legitimate daughters to be someone’s concubine? You have no idea how I suffer in that household, yet you only speak nonsense.”
Lady Liu sighed heavily, “What else can we do? If your father hadn’t gotten into that trouble, you would now be a proper wife in a wealthy household. I keep thinking about how that fearsome woman in Master Lin’s household must be mistreating you…” She began to wipe away tears.
Though initially impatient, Huamei softened her voice when she saw her mother crying. “Alright, alright. It’s good that you understand my difficulties. But you just cry at every little thing. If you had been stronger, I wouldn’t be in this situation.” These words made Lady Liu sob even harder. Huamei sighed, led Lady Liu to sit on the bed, and seeing no one else around, lowered her voice, “Mother, stop crying. Perhaps my good fortune still lies ahead. I’m like jade and gold – I shouldn’t be anyone’s mere concubine.”
Lady Liu froze, then stared excitedly at Huamei’s belly, “My child, could you be with child? That would be wonderful news! Even if it’s a girl, the Lin family would surely promote you to a proper concubine.”
Huamei frowned and said, “You’re so clueless!” Then she lay down on the bed.
Time passed quietly.
In the middle of the night, Huamei felt increasingly hot as she slept. In her daze, she pushed Xique to pour her some tea. Xique walked to the table with half-closed eyes and poured half a cup of cold tea. When she turned around, the teacup crashed to the floor as she screamed, “Fire! Fire!”
The shout jolted Huamei fully awake. She hurriedly rose from bed and saw raging flames all around. The mistress and servant screamed, waking the entire household, and everyone rushed toward the door. Fortunately, the fire at the entrance wasn’t intense, and the family managed to escape to the courtyard. When Huamei looked carefully, she saw her room was completely engulfed in thick smoke.
She had only thought of escaping earlier, but now remembered the account book was still inside. She rushed back toward the fire, frightening Lady Liu who grabbed her, “My child! What are you doing?”
Huamei struggled, “Let go, stop making things worse!” After breaking free from Lady Liu, Xique caught her by the waist. Xique cried, “Young Miss, the fire is too strong. Don’t throw your life away… No matter how important that thing is, how can it be worth more than your life?”
Hearing these words, Huamei stopped struggling and stood there dazed, as if in a trance.
Huamei knew crystal clear that this fire was meant for her.
She had thought returning home would solve everything, but she had underestimated Zhao Yuechan, who now wanted her dead! Huamei shuddered. She had truly underestimated Zhao Yuechan, but now she was riding a tiger and couldn’t dismount.
Neighbors came to help fight the fire, which burned until nearly dawn before being extinguished. The room was almost completely burned through, but fortunately there was no wind that night, so it didn’t spread to other buildings. Huamei carefully searched inside and finally found the account book in a box. It was mostly burned, with several pages turning to ash at a touch. Only a few pages remained partially intact, still bearing Zhao Yuechan’s signature and seal.
Huamei gritted her teeth, carefully wrapped the remains in cloth and tucked them in her clothes, thinking: “Until the very end, the outcome remains uncertain. I refuse to believe I can’t overcome this obstacle!”
Let us turn to another part of the story.
Zhao Yuechan was incredibly bold, instructing Qian Wenze to set the fire and promising him substantial silver. Qian Wenze, being a thoroughly corrupt scoundrel, truly set fire to Huamei’s home. He sent some ruffians to gather information, who returned to report through the side door to Yingshuang: “Everything in the room burned completely, nothing was left. Huamei had nothing in her hands when she ran out.”
Hearing this, Zhao Yuechan let out a long breath.
Yingshuang brought a bowl of freshly stewed chicken soup and smiled, “Now Madam can relax, after not being able to eat or sleep well these past days.”
Zhao Yuechan took a spoonful of soup and smiled, “Indeed, without that thing there’s no evidence, though it’s unfortunate that little hussy Huamei escaped so quickly.” She paused then continued, “While things are going smoothly, tomorrow I’ll have my cousin bring the slave trader to send that little tramp away. Then there won’t be any more troublesome matters.” Yingshuang quickly agreed.
Early the next morning, when dawn was just breaking and stars still twinkled in the sky.
Xianglan was half-asleep in a corner when suddenly the door opened and two matrons entered. Without a word, they gagged Xianglan, bound her hands, and carried her away. Though Xianglan struggled fiercely in fear, she couldn’t break free. They took her directly to a secluded side gate at the back of the manor, where a tall, fair-skinned young man stood waiting – it was Qian Wenze.
Xianglan trembled uncontrollably as Qian Wenze lifted her chin with his folding fan, examining her face while saying, “Tsk tsk, poor thing, your face is in such a terrible state.” He had expected to see a beautiful maid he could enjoy first before selling, but instead found a girl whose face was so bruised and swollen it was hard to look at, with disheveled hair. Having lost interest, he beckoned to someone standing nearby, “Sun Laoqi, come here.”
Sun Laoqi was a procurer from Yihong House, a round man with a small mustache and shrewd appearance. Hearing Qian Wenze’s call, he hurried over.
Qian Wenze was intimate with a courtesan named Jin Feng at Yihong House and had spent considerable silver there. Sun Laoqi knew Qian Wenze had powerful backing and influence, so he usually tried to curry favor. Last night when he heard Qian Wenze wanted to take him to buy a maid from the Lin household, Sun Laoqi was quite pleased. The brothel had previously taken in maids from wealthy households – either those sold for serious offenses or those who had seduced the master and were sold off by angry mistresses. From Qian Wenze’s hints, this girl was the latter type. Since she had caught the master’s eye in the Lin household, her looks and figure must be exceptional.
But now seeing Xianglan, Sun Laoqi grimaced. Her features suggested beauty, but her entire face was deformed, and it was uncertain if the swelling would subside. If not, she could only serve as a low-class tea house girl. He clicked his tongue and said, “For one like this… thirty taels of silver at most, and that’s only out of respect for Master Qian.”
Qian Wenze snorted, “Sun Laoqi, you’re quite dishonest. Thirty taels for a grown girl? Even underage maids cost more than that. This girl just has an injured face – she was quite pretty before. Once the swelling goes down, she’ll be more beautiful than your Cui Xian.”
Sun Laoqi thought this master was truly talking nonsense – how would he know what the maid looked like before? But he somewhat agreed with Qian Wenze’s reasoning. He carefully examined Xianglan’s figure and hands, then gritted his teeth and said, “Forty taels at most. We’ll need silver to treat her face when we get back – everything costs money, doesn’t it?”
Qian Wenze was still unsatisfied and haggled with Sun Laoqi for a while, finally settling on forty-six taels. The matron produced Xianglan’s contract as Sun Laoqi reached for his money.
Xianglan closed her eyes. This was the first time she had been haggled over like livestock. Her vision darkened, and her eyes were too dry for tears. She bit her teeth and thought to herself, “If I’m truly unfortunate enough to enter a brothel, I must not seek death. I must find a way to survive no matter what!”
Just then, someone said, “Sun Laoqi, I’m out for an early morning stroll and see you’re here examining merchandise.”
Xianglan looked toward the voice and saw a short, thin middle-aged man with a merchant’s air and darting small eyes. This was Gao Erbao, also a procurer, from Yicui Pavilion. He knew both Qian and Sun well. After they exchanged greetings, Gao Erbao circled Xianglan once and said, “How much for this maid? I’ll offer sixty taels.”
Qian Wenze’s eyes lit up, and he quickly withdrew the contract he was about to hand to Sun Laoqi.
Sun Laoqi became anxious, “We’ve already agreed on a price, why are you bidding up now?”
Qian Wenze smiled, “Don’t worry, old Sun. Naturally, the highest bidder wins. If you offer more than fifty taels, you can take her.”
Sun Laoqi looked at Xianglan’s swollen, broken face, then at his money bag, considering whether to add five taels. But he finally shook his head. Sixty taels for a maid who might end up disfigured was too much. For that price, he could buy a fifteen or sixteen-year-old virgin from a poor family, who could be trained to receive customers and earn money.
Seeing Sun Laoqi’s silence, Qian Wenze smiled and held the contract toward Qian Wenze, saying grandly, “Master Gao offers more – the maid is yours.”
Gao Erbao said nothing more, directly producing a sixty-tael note and placing it in Qian Wenze’s hand, then pulling Xianglan away.
Qian Wenze was overjoyed – Zhao Yuechan had already said he could keep whatever price the maid fetched. He slapped Sun Laoqi’s shoulder with his fan and said, “Come on, I didn’t sleep well last night. Let’s go to your place and have Jin Feng prepare hot bath water and a warm bed for me. I need to get some more sleep.”
Sun Laoqi quickly put on a smiling face, thinking, “Making me walk my legs off early in the morning – I must earn those fifty taels from your pocket today!” He said eagerly, “Let’s go then. Master, you haven’t visited Jin Feng these past days. Our Miss Jin Feng has been crying for several days and even made you a new purse…” Their voices faded as they walked away.
Gao Erbao held Xianglan at a corner of the alley. After Qian and Sun had gone far enough, he led Xianglan in another direction. Xianglan felt dizzy and stumbled as she walked. After passing through a short alley, they saw a carriage waiting.
Gao Erbao rubbed his hands and bowed repeatedly, saying, “Master, I’ve handled the matter as you instructed. Look, look… this…”
The carriage curtain was suddenly lifted, and Xianglan saw Song Ke’s face appear inside.
Xianglan’s whole body trembled, and tears suddenly streamed from her eyes. Her heart seemed to both release and clench tightly at once. Under these successive waves of great joy and sorrow, her vision blurred, her legs weakened, and she fainted.