Fang Si crossed her arms and said, “It’s all because of that Xiang Lan…” Halfway through her words, she remembered Song Ke’s instructions not to mention Xiang Lan’s presence in the Song household to others, so she abruptly stopped speaking and carried the tray out. Han Zhi and Nan Ge followed behind asking questions, but Fang Si refused to say more.
Nan Ge went into the room and whispered something in Lin Dongling’s ear. Lin Dongling raised her eyebrows while holding her fan and said, “Oh? Such a thing happened?” Seeing Zheng Jingxian chatting and laughing with Song Tanchai, she quietly slipped out.
Lin Dongxiu, seeing Lin Dongling leave, said, “I need to use the washroom,” and followed her out.
Just then, Fang Si was walking past the covered corridor carrying a tray. Lin Dongling stopped her and asked, “You just told Nan Ge that Cousin has a new maid in his chambers. What’s this about?”
Fang Si thought this wasn’t good, but seeing Lin Dongling’s furrowed brows and stern gaze, she thought: “Everyone knows the Third Young Lady of the Lin family has a domineering personality. She has feelings for the Master, and whenever I accompany Madam to the Lin house, she always pesters me with questions about the Master. If I use her to deal with Xiang Lan, I can vent some of my anger.” Throwing Song Ke’s instructions to the winds, she sighed, placed the tray on the corridor railing, and put on a worried expression, saying, “It would be better if Young Lady didn’t ask about this, as it only brings up countless worries. Our Master bought a maid a few months ago. When she arrived, she was sick with injuries all over her face and had to lie in bed for a month to recover. Once she recovered, trouble began. Who knows what fox-spirit tricks she used, but she has the Master completely bewitched. He no longer visits relatives and doesn’t like to study, and even his morning and evening greetings to Madam seem perfunctory. As soon as he returns home, he holes up in his study with that maid all day. As servants, we can’t say much, we can only offer gentle advice occasionally. But the Master says he plans to elevate that maid’s status eventually, so we can’t say anything more. Yet seeing the Master following a mere maid’s every word, we can’t help but worry.”
As she spoke, she watched Lin Dongling’s expression, seeing her face first flush red with anger, then turn pale, and secretly felt pleased. Lin Dongxiu stepped forward, waving her handkerchief, and said, “Why haven’t you quickly told your Madam about this? How can this continue? Though she’s just a maid, it’s still concerning. Cousin is preparing for the imperial examinations—don’t let a perfectly good man be led astray.”
Fang Si clapped her hands and said, “Oh, Fourth Young Lady, they say noble ladies truly have insight, how right you are! We’re worried about exactly this… Not to mention, why would such a delicate and pretty girl be sold after being beaten black and blue? What else could it be?” She looked around and lowered her voice, “To speak frankly, I think she was caught seducing her previous master and was discovered by the mistress, who beat her and sold her off. Poor Master is such an honest and sincere person, yet he’s treating someone else’s discarded grass like a treasure, making us worry needlessly…” She pretended to wipe her eyes with her handkerchief, “Our old master passed away early, and Madam has only the Master to rely on. If something were to go wrong…”
Lin Dongxiu held Fang Si’s hand and said, “We all know you’re loyal.” Seeing Lin Dongling’s angry expression, she thought: “Third Sister is from the main wife, if she insists on marrying Cousin Song and the family agrees, I won’t have the slightest chance. This is an opportunity now—even if I can’t marry him, I won’t let you have your way either.” Knowing Lin Dongling’s rash nature, she said, “This maid is truly bold. I wonder what she looks like to have been so captivated by Brother Song. Aunt and Cousin are too honest and naturally won’t intervene, but if this continues unchecked, they’re nurturing a tiger that will turn on them. Ah, speaking candidly, this maid has already won Cousin’s favor. If she bears a son before the principal wife enters the household, it will be difficult for the future Madam…”
Lin Dongling’s face turned black as the bottom of a pot. She sneered, “I want to see what kind of demon could cause such chaos. Aunt and Sister may be weak, but with the Lin family backing them, if Cousin strays from the right path, I’ll go back and ask the elders to discipline him!” She grabbed Fang Si and demanded, “Where is that little tramp now?”
Fang Si was delighted inside but put on a flustered expression and said, “Third Young Lady, please don’t cause trouble. This is a matter of the Master’s chambers—how can you, as an unmarried lady, interfere?”
Lin Dongling thought: “What happens in Cousin’s chambers greatly concerns me. If I don’t handle this today and let that little vixen gain power, how could I have peace after marrying Cousin? Today I’ll show my authority, give her a shock to temper her behavior, and deal with her slowly later!” She said aloud, “Say no more. Today I’m disciplining a disobedient maid, nothing more.”
Lin Dongxiu said, “Third Sister, let it be. We shouldn’t meddle in others’ household affairs. Even if Cousin isn’t just keeping that maid as a concubine but wants to make her the principal wife, if Aunt doesn’t speak up, what can we say?” But secretly she laughed: “Third Sister truly has a firecracker temper, ready to explode at the slightest spark. The bigger this gets, the better. Right now, Cousin dotes on that maid—if she bullies her when pillow talk influences him later, he’ll never look favorably on Third Sister again!”
These words further inflamed Lin Dongling’s anger. She gritted her teeth and said, “She even dreams of becoming the principal wife of the Song family. Pah! What delusion! No one stopped me today—I insist on seeing her. You’re all protecting her—does she have three heads and six arms?” She pulled Fang Si and demanded, “Tell me, where is that maid now?”
Fang Si pretended to hesitate and said, “She… she’s always stayed in the Master’s study in the front… Today with the banquet, she should be helping in the kitchen at the back.” Pointing at the tray, she added, “These pastries were made by her.”
Lin Dongling thought for a moment, took a pastry, and started walking. Fang Si quickly hugged Lin Dongling’s waist, saying, “My good mistress, good young lady, please don’t go!”
But Lin Dongling wouldn’t listen. She broke free from Fang Si, lifted her skirts, and went to check the kitchen, but Xiang Lan wasn’t there. Knowing the Lin family’s young ladies were coming, Xiang Lan had decided not to go to the front, only helping with cooking in the back. After making two kinds of pastries and one dish early, she had returned to the study, locked the door tight, determined not to show her face even if the sky fell.
Yue Xi and Jun Xi had gone to serve in the front, leaving Xiang Lan alone. Knowing Song Ke would return home for lunch, she had heated water early and placed several light dishes from the kitchen in a cool spot. She then prepared a basin of clean water, soaked a cloth, and began wiping the bookshelf and curio cabinet.
While she was busy, suddenly the door was kicked open with a “bang,” and Lin Dongling burst in like a gust of wind.
Xiang Lan was startled. Looking back, she saw Lin Dongling’s face flushed red, holding a pastry as she charged forward.
Seeing her aggressive manner, Xiang Lan knew something was wrong. Before she could recover, Lin Dongling had already violently thrown the pastry at Xiang Lan’s face, shouting, “Have you lost your mind! Making such inferior pastries to fool your masters—there’s filth in this pastry! Are you trying to poison me?”
Xiang Lan looked down and saw it was the lotus seed pine nut pastry she had made that morning. Looking outside, she saw Lin Dongxiu, Nan Ge, Han Zhi, and Yue’er standing at the door. Through the silk-gauze window, she could faintly see half of Fang Si’s face peeking in, with a hint of satisfaction.
Xiang Lan thought: “I made these pastries with great care—there couldn’t be any filth in them. Lin Dongling must have been instigated by Fang Si and is just looking for trouble. But I’m no longer a maid of the Lin family—if they think they can still order me around like before, they’ve miscalculated.” She threw the cloth in her hand onto the table, took out her handkerchief to wipe her face, then suddenly darkened her expression and said sternly: “What does Young Lady think she’s doing? Bursting in here shouting accusations, as if others don’t know the Lin family’s young lady has run from the inner quarters to the front court. What kind of place is this study? The Master now sleeps here. Regardless of the pastries, let me ask Young Lady: rushing from the front court to the second gate and barging into a man’s bedroom—where are your manners?”
Lin Dongling was stunned, never expecting Xiang Lan to suddenly challenge her.
Xiang Lan stepped forward and continued: “I made these pastries with great care—how could there be any filth in them? Even if there were something unclean, you should have told Madam or our Miss to summon and question me. How could you rush in here regardless of propriety? Even if you came, you should have asked properly. As the saying goes, ‘When beating a dog, consider its master.’ I am a maid of the Song family, not the Lin family. By humiliating me like this, are you looking down on our Song family?”
Lin Dongling was not eloquent, and Xiang Lan’s words left her dumbfounded. She had been determined to teach Xiang Lan a lesson but hadn’t planned to throw the pastry at her face. However, upon entering the room and seeing such a stunningly beautiful young woman with eyes like distant mist—a beauty she could never match—jealousy and hatred arose in her heart, and without thinking, she threw the pastry to vent her anger.
Lin Dongxiu leaned against the doorway and said with a sneer, “My, aren’t you fierce? Before the masters can question you, you’re questioning them? You truly frighten me.” Lin Dongling was careless and hadn’t properly looked at Xiang Lan before, having forgotten their encounters at the Lin house. Lin Dongxiu was more observant and found Xiang Lan’s face familiar. Suddenly remembering rumors that Lin Jinlou had wanted to elevate a maid named Xiang Lan, she wondered suspiciously if this was the same person. But now Xiang Lan was living comfortably in the Song household—her face had filled out, she had grown taller, and her features had become more striking. Today she no longer showed the timid manner she had at the Lin house, so Lin Dongxiu wasn’t certain of her identity.
Hearing these words, Lin Dongling straightened her back, glaring fiercely, and said, “You dare talk back to your mistresses! Is this how the Song family teaches their people? A wicked servant like you would have been beaten to death long ago in our Lin family!”
Xiang Lan calmly replied, “Young Lady first disregarded the Lin family’s face, and I spoke those few words for our Song family’s dignity. Do the Lin family young ladies think we’re easy to bully?” She turned her head, fixing Lin Dongling with a piercing gaze, “Let me ask you if this weren’t the Lin family but the Duke of Xian’s residence, would Young Lady dare to storm into the master’s study and make accusations so aggressively?”