Yu Ping indeed became more frightened after hearing this and hastily kowtowed: “Young Miss, you have a kind heart, please don’t punish me! I’m telling the truth. Concubine Song… Concubine Song only asked me to speak more definitively! I’ve told you everything, you must believe me!”
Jin Chao glanced at Qing Pu. Even with such intimidation, the maid hadn’t changed her story—it seemed she was telling the truth.
She took a deep breath and asked again: “How did Concubine Song find you?”
Yu Ping hesitated for a moment. Seeing this, Qing Pu immediately gripped her neck, ready to apply pressure.
Yu Ping cried out in fear: “Miss, there’s no need for this… I… I’ll tell you…” She then explained how Concubine Song had found her.
Jin Chao couldn’t help but laugh coldly. Song Miaohua had truly gone to great lengths! She had expended so much effort to find this Yu Ping. With thousands upon thousands of people across Shuntian Prefecture’s five regions and nineteen counties, how did she have such capability to find Yu Ping?
“Explain clearly, how did she track you down based on those clues?”
Yu Ping thought for a moment before saying: “I… I followed Miss Qiao Wei. She was holding a letter, and I saw that the letter mentioned me. It seemed to be written by the Gu family’s eldest young master…”
Gu Jin Chao immediately realized that Gu Jin Rong had recently been corresponding with Gu Lan!
Yu Ping had served Gu Jin Rong when he was young, so he must remember something about this maid! And he had told Gu Lan about it? Jin Chao was so angry she couldn’t speak. When Gu Jin Rong returned, she would give him a good scolding!
Jin Chao suppressed her anger and wondered whether to bring Yu Ping to see her mother. But even under such threats, Yu Ping hadn’t changed her story, showing she truly believed this matter. Bringing her to see Mother would likely only cause her more heartache. After some thought, Jin Chao had Xue Shiliu assign guards to watch the maid, while she went to the inner chamber to clarify this matter with her mother, so she could better argue when speaking with her father.
Meanwhile, at Concubine Song’s quarters, when the two maids didn’t return, Qiao Wei sent someone to check the side gate, only to find Young Miss Cai Fu and Bai Yun standing guard. Frightened, the person hurried back to report. Upon hearing the maid’s words, Qiao Wei quickly entered the inner chamber and woke Concubine Song.
Concubine Song broke out in a cold sweat! While getting dressed and fixing her hair, Qiao Wei told her it was already a quarter past the Hour of the Tiger, and daybreak would come soon.
That night, no one slept well.
After a while, Concubine Song calmed down: “Although I used some methods to find Yu Ping… I didn’t ask her to lie. What am I panicking for? I just worry that Gu Jin Chao might play tricks!” But how did Gu Jin Chao get the information? How did she know she would send Yu Ping out of the estate in the middle of the night?
Lady Ji had someone in Ju Liu Pavilion. Last time, that maid had leaked the news about the rhubarb to Lady Ji, hoping to upset her. Could that maid have gone to Lady Ji again to inform her? This seemed impossible—Lady Ji was too soft-hearted, preferring to swallow her bitterness rather than disturb Gu Jin Chao. Otherwise, how could she have let her get away with so much for so many years?
Could it be that the maid herself had gone to tell Gu Jin Chao? Then upon hearing the news, Gu Jin Chao ordered people to intercept Yu Ping.
Having figured this out, she quickly had Qiao Wei pin the gold-plated plum blossom hairpin in her hair, then took Qiao Wei and two rough-work women to Qing Tong Courtyard, only to find it empty, with no maids in sight. Concubine Song’s heart sank—Gu Jin Chao must have taken people to Lady Ji’s place!
She hurriedly led her people to Xie Xiao Courtyard.
Xie Xiao Courtyard was brightly lit, with several guards standing in the covered corridor, seemingly speaking in hushed tones.
Song Miaohua’s face showed a faint smile as she adjusted her disheveled clothes: “Why is it so lively this late at night? Guards entering the Madam’s courtyard seems rather improper, doesn’t it?”
Gu Jin Chao was speaking with her mother in the inner chamber, while Madam Xu stood under the veranda. Seeing Song Miaohua approach, she hated her so much she could have ground her teeth to dust, yet she smiled especially brightly: “Concubine, running around in the middle of the night because you can’t sleep also seems rather improper, doesn’t it?”
Song Miaohua raised an eyebrow and walked along the bluestone path to the veranda. Several of Lady Ji’s maids stood outside the main hall. There was no sign of Gu Jin Chao or her trusted maid Qing Pu—they must be inside talking with Lady Ji.
She raised her voice: “I came to find my two maids! Your Xie Xiao Courtyard has used guards to forcibly take my maids. I’m here to retrieve them!”
Madam Xu smiled and said: “How can you think like that? Rhubarb in the medicine was put there by the Madam herself. Concubine Yun’s death was also because the Madam switched the medicine. Now your maids are missing, and you want to blame our Madam for hiding them? Maids have legs—perhaps they ran off with some servants for a private rendezvous!”
These words were sarcastic, and Song Miaohua’s face darkened upon hearing them.
“You’re just a servant, yet you dare speak to me this way!”
Gu Jin Chao heard this as she was walking through the main hall. Stepping over the threshold, she smiled at Song Miaohua: “She may not have the status, but surely I do?” She then gestured for Madam Xu to go to the inner chamber to watch over her mother.
Seeing Gu Jin Chao emerge, Song Miaohua’s face showed a faint smile: “What an interesting thing for the Young Miss to say! I came to retrieve my two maids… If you return them to me, I’ll just…” Before she could finish, Gu Jin Chao raised her hand and slapped her across the face, causing her head to turn sideways as a red mark quickly appeared.
Anger and humiliation instantly rose within Song Miaohua as she touched her face. No one had ever dared to slap her before. Gu Jin Chao was just a fifteen-year-old girl from the inner chambers, yet she dared to slap her?
Gu Jin Chao casually shook her hand: “This is the first time I’ve slapped you. Do you feel wronged? Feel resentful? Then hurry and tell my father, and see if he comes to question me.”
The two women behind Song Miaohua stirred, but she closed her eyes and suppressed her anger. Gu Jin Chao had always been so arrogant and domineering, yet Gu De Zhao would never say a word against her. Who was she in comparison? If she complained to Gu De Zhao, he wouldn’t speak up for her either!
She bowed and said: “I don’t know what wrong I’ve committed for the Young Miss to slap me. Please speak plainly!”
Jin Chao looked at her coldly and said softly: “You slandered my mother… saying she put rhubarb in her own medicine, saying she harmed Concubine Yun. Song Miaohua, you dared to use my words to hurt my mother…”
Song Miaohua’s face paled. How did Gu Jin Chao know about the rhubarb? Did Bi Yi tell her?
She bit her lip and said: “I know you’ve taken Yu Ping away. I can tell you, I didn’t teach Yu Ping to lie. Those things are all true… Whether the Madam did it or not, you can ask her yourself! Even if I’ve wronged the Madam in the past, I wouldn’t use Concubine Yun’s death as an excuse!”
Gu Jin Chao smiled: “Was it Gu Jin Rong who told you where to find Yu Ping?”
Song Miaohua looked at her silently.
“You don’t need to cover for him. He’s still close with Gu Lan, right?” Gu Jin Chao didn’t even know if she was smiling anymore; her anger had overwhelmed everything else. “When Gu Jin Rong returns, I’ll discuss this matter with him properly. You won’t get your maids back. If there’s nothing else, you should return now.”
At that moment, Madam Xu came out from the main hall and whispered to Jin Chao: “Young Miss, the Madam wishes to speak with Concubine Song…”
The day had already broken, and Gu Jin Chao had not slept all night.
She looked at the dawn light and nodded: “Stay by her side and watch. If Concubine Song dares to speak too harshly, come find me immediately.”
Song Miaohua remained silent and followed Madam Xu to the inner chamber.
Lady Ji lay against the large pillows, her gaze fixed directly on her, then gestured for Madam Xu to close the door.
Lady Ji seemed very tired and closed her eyes: “Song Miaohua, I have never mistreated you…”
After a long silence, Song Miaohua laughed softly: “Madam, of course, you haven’t mistreated me. Haven’t I repaid you plenty over these years? With your poor health, I’ve helped you manage the inner household, helped you guide Gu Jin Rong, and attended to you at your sickbed. What more could you be dissatisfied with?”
Lady Ji said calmly: “I’d like to ask what more you could be dissatisfied with, that you must kill me and harm Jin Chao. You know well that if I were truly jealous, you would have been dead long ago. How would it have been Yun Xiang’s turn? I understand what Yu Ping said… I truly don’t understand why you’re doing all this.”
Song Miaohua respectfully bowed and said: “Madam, you speak incorrectly. The Master’s fondness for me was merely a passing fancy. His true affection was for Yun Xiang. You must have seen that. I have no dissatisfaction, but we each have our difficulties. Think about it—the Young Miss caused Lan’er to be engaged to Young Master Mu. How could I not be anxious?”
Lady Ji smiled: “That was Gu Lan’s own doing… You want the position of the principal wife, don’t you?”
Song Miaohua was startled, then smiled: “How can Madam say such a thing? I am wholeheartedly devoted to you. I have never coveted the position of principal wife.”
Lady Ji’s voice grew softer as she said directly: “…Rest assured, you will never become the principal wife in your lifetime.”
Song Miaohua bowed again: “It seems the Master is about to rise. This concubine will go attend to him. When the Master comes to Xie Xiao Courtyard, you can save those words for him to hear.”
Song Miaohua left the inner chamber.
Gu Jin Chao stood under the veranda, watching Song Miaohua come out. As she walked past Jin Chao, she paused, curtseyed, and said: “Young Miss, you may be angry with me, but when the Master comes today, you should think carefully about what to do.”
Gu Jin Chao smiled: “I’ve learned many things from Yu Ping. No need for Concubine to worry.”
Song Miaohua frowned. She hadn’t met Yu Ping and truly didn’t know what she had told Gu Jin Chao.
Once Gu De Zhao came to speak with Lady Ji, she would understand.
Song Miaohua smiled and said, “The Young Miss is so thoughtful,” then left with her maids and women.
Gu Jin Chao sighed. She had only done what she could. How her mother would speak with her father was her mother’s business.
After some thought, she quietly instructed Qing Pu: “…Have Cai Fu return from the side gate and take Yu Zhu to watch Concubine Song and Gu Lan. If there’s any movement, come tell me immediately. Be wary of them.”