Baodi was the farthest from Shi’an, so the Ji family received Lady Ji’s mourning letter only on the morning of the second day. Madam Ji Wu was both shocked and grieved. She hurriedly arranged to travel to Shi’an by carriage, accompanied by Elder Aunt Song and Ji Yun’s wife, Madam Liu.
When Jinchao heard that her maternal grandmother had arrived, she went to the ornate gate to welcome her.
Grandmother descended from the carriage without even using the step stool and walked directly toward Jinchao, asking: “What exactly happened to your mother?”
Her gaze was stern, yet could not conceal her grief.
Seeing her grandmother’s worried expression, Jinchao could no longer hold back the emotions she had been suppressing these past days. She embraced her grandmother and began to cry.
She didn’t know how to tell her grandmother about her mother’s death. Should she say that her mother was driven to death by the concubine and her father? That she hanged herself? Her grandmother was elderly—how could she bear to hear such things?
Madam Ji Wu patted Jinchao’s back to comfort her. Seeing her so heartbroken, this woman who hadn’t cried in decades also shed tears.
But the truth couldn’t be hidden. Jinchao invited her grandmother to walk to Xiexiao Courtyard and recounted her mother’s death as calmly as possible. After hearing Jinchao’s words, Madam Ji Wu narrowed her eyes, her tone cold as a knife: “Zhao, where is your father?”
When Gu Dezhao heard that Madam Ji Wu had arrived, he hurriedly rose from his kang bed. Just as Steward Li finished delivering the message, a young maid entered.
“Master, the Old Madam of the Ji family has arrived and is waiting for you in the reception hall.”
Gu Dezhao quickly straightened his mourning attire and went to the reception hall.
Seeing him approach, Madam Ji Wu also came forward. Before Gu Dezhao could address her as “Mother,” Madam Ji Wu raised her hand and slapped him across the face.
Gu Dezhao was immediately stunned, covering his face and unable to recover for a long time.
He was a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue—who would dare to strike him, let alone in the face! But looking at Madam Ji Wu’s angry and sorrowful eyes, he couldn’t utter a single word.
Madam Ji Wu pointed at his face and scolded: “You promised to take good care of Han’er, and this is how you cared for her! Favoring concubines and destroying your wife! Why hasn’t any censor impeached you? How dare you still stand before me? It’s bad enough that you let Zhao be bullied, but you drove Han’er to suicide… What exactly are you trying to do? Are those words you spoke when marrying her still true? All those years of reading the classics—did they all go to waste?”
Gu Dezhao couldn’t say a word in response. Seeing his daughter still standing behind Madam Ji Wu watching him, his face turned ashen: “Mother… you can strike me however you wish—it’s my fault! I favored a concubine and neglected my wife, I… I have failed Xiangjun…”
Madam Ji Wu laughed coldly: “You’ve become clever now, thinking that’s all you need to say? I won’t even bother asking about that concubine of yours—without your indulgence, how could she have become so arrogant? Do you think making her copy scriptures is enough? If it were me, I would have shaved her head and sent her to a nunnery!”
Gu Dezhao remained silent. After a long while, he suddenly crouched down and began to sob uncontrollably, his entire body trembling.
“I don’t know what I can do to make up for Xiangjun’s death… Mother, if it pleases you, you can kick me…”
He was like a child who had done something wrong—both wretched and at a loss.
Jinchao couldn’t help but close her eyes and sigh upon seeing this. Her father’s temperament… no wonder he remained just a fifth-rank official until his death! If not for Lin Xianzhong and the Ji family, he probably wouldn’t even have secured that position!
Madam Ji Wu said coldly: “What good would kick you do? Han’er is already gone. Listen to this old woman today—if you ever let that concubine or her daughter touch even a hair on Zhao’s head, my Ji family will risk everything to destroy you completely!”
Hearing these words, Gu Dezhao trembled and nodded: “Rest assured… if that day ever comes, I wouldn’t forgive myself either…”
Madam Ji Wu left Juliu Pavilion with Jinchao.
She offered incense at Lady Ji’s coffin, then went with Jinchao to the inner chamber. Holding her hand, she said: “…Today’s outcome is not entirely your father’s fault. I scolded him a few times just to wake him up. Your mother’s personality was simply like that—it’s also my fault for not personally raising your mother, letting your great-grandmother raise her to be so fragile…”
“Don’t hate your father too much; after all, he gave you life. Since that concubine has gone this far, it shows your father still has some conscience… If you’re ever unhappy, Zhao, feel free to come find your grandmother in Tongzhou. Your grandmother will never let anyone bully you.”
Listening to Madam Ji Wu’s words, Jinchao couldn’t help but gently rest her head on her grandmother’s knee, closing her eyes as she breathed in the faint scent of sandalwood. No matter what, her grandmother was the person who cared for her the most, the most thoughtful person. Jinchao understood everything her grandmother said—her mother was gone, but she and her brother still had to continue living. They couldn’t truly ignore their father forever.
Madam Ji Wu remained silent for a moment, stroking Jinchao’s hair, her gaze filled with love. To lose a mother at just over ten years old—this child had suffered much…
Thinking of all the hardships Jinchao had endured, she couldn’t help but want to take Jinchao under her wing and protect her properly—after all, she had watched this child grow up. However, after Lady Ji’s death, if she wanted Yao’er to marry her, it would have to be after the one-year mourning period…
“That concubine, Song Miaohua, right? Where does she live now?” Madam Ji Wu asked Jinchao calmly.
Jinchao, seeing her grandmother’s stern gaze, suddenly realized that she wanted to help eliminate Concubine Song. She smiled, holding Madam Ji Wu’s hand, and said: “Grandmother, don’t worry about this person. I certainly won’t let her off!”
Madam Ji Wu smiled: “I like to be decisive in my actions—I don’t want to leave her alive to offend my eyes! Those words I said to your father were meant to ensure she never rises again—shaving her head and sending her to a nunnery. I wasn’t just frightening Gu Dezhao!”
Jinchao believed that the torture of someone should be done slowly—suffering should be prolonged. But her grandmother was different; she had an efficient and decisive temperament.
Her grandmother gripped her hand tightly, her tone filled with grief: “…No matter what, I must avenge your mother! Don’t worry about Concubine Song—I’ll handle her for you. Just keep an eye on Gu Lan; she’s no pushover either.”
Jinchao said no more. Her grandmother deeply valued her mother, and with her mother dying this way, she naturally wanted to do something.
As the two were talking in the inner chamber, Caifu came to report: “…Concubine Du fainted from crying at Madam’s coffin. Young Miss, should you go check on her?”
Grandmother raised her eyebrows: “This Concubine Du is so sentimental?”
Jinchao found it strange—Concubine Du usually tried to please everyone; it didn’t seem right for her to be so heartbroken over her mother’s death.
After thinking for a moment, Jinchao said to her grandmother: “Let’s go see her. Both concubines have been well-behaved these years.”
Madam Ji Wu nodded and went with Jinchao to the side room to see Concubine Du.
Concubine Du was lying on a stone-blue, gold-threaded, diamond-patterned cushion, her face pale and looking extremely weak. Concubine Guo was by her side. Seeing Jinchao and Madam Ji Wu arrive, she greeted them respectfully: “…Concubine Du has been keeping vigil for a day and a night, and these recent days have been quite hot. Perhaps she’s suffering from heat stroke.”
Jinchao noticed Concubine Du staring at the ceiling for a long time without speaking. She instructed a maid to prepare a cooling soup for Concubine Du, saying that if there was no improvement after a while, they would invite Doctor Liu to come.
After checking on Concubine Du, she left the west side room with her grandmother.
There was still a steady stream of people coming to offer incense at the mourning hall, with the Fifth Mistress attending to them. Gu Jinrong and several sisters were kneeling at the coffin burning paper offerings, while two cousins were burning paper horses on the left and right. A young man wearing a pale blue robe stood in front of the coffin with his hands behind his back, his black sash hanging at his sides, his expression calm, his complexion fair and handsome, his demeanor unparalleled.
Seeing him, her grandmother asked: “Who is this young man? If he’s a relative of the Gu family, why isn’t he wearing mourning attire?”
Jinchao had been so busy these past two days, barely sleeping two hours yesterday, that she had forgotten Ye Xian was here. There was no need to invite Master Xiao now, but she should still let him know. After thinking about it, she said to her grandmother: “That’s the heir of the Marquis of Changxing… Fifth Uncle married the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Changxing, so he’s considered of the same generation as Mother. I have to call him ‘maternal uncle.'”
Her grandmother looked at him for a long time before quietly saying: “This person… is truly not to be underestimated!”
Jinchao certainly knew that Ye Xian should not be underestimated, but she didn’t know how her grandmother had discerned this. Curiously, she asked: “How does Grandmother know?”
Her grandmother said: “Look at how many people are coming and going, each one glancing at him, yet he doesn’t move at all, his gaze perfectly straight. He shows no embarrassment or discomfort… Either he’s used to it, or he simply doesn’t care about others’ opinions. Both possibilities are frightening.”
As Jinchao was talking with her grandmother, Qingpu approached and told Jinchao: “…The matron from Linyan Pavilion came to say that the Master brought two matrons to Linyan Pavilion to shave Concubine Song’s head and send her to Jingmiao Temple… Concubine Song refused and smashed many things!”
Jinchao and her grandmother exchanged glances. Madam Ji Wu smiled and said coldly: “Your father must feel extremely guilty to do this so readily. Since that’s the case, if she doesn’t comply, I would be unworthy of being the Old Madam of the Ji family all these years!”
Madam Ji Wu took Jinchao’s hand and, along with Madam Song and several rough-working matrons, went to Linyan Pavilion. Jinchao thought for a moment and told Qingpu to invite Xiuqu to come. Since they were settling accounts, they might as well lay all the old and new grievances at Concubine Song’s feet, ensuring she would never be able to recover.
When they arrived at Linyan Pavilion, everything was indeed smashed and in disarray. Concubine Song was being held down on the kang bed by two matrons, resembling a madwoman: “How dare you treat me like this… Let go! Master, how can you be so heartless? Lady Ji did all those things—I didn’t lie! You’re the one who feels guilty, you want to make me take the blame for your mistakes… You wish! I will not go to Jingmiao Temple!”
Gu Dezhao stood by listening, his face alternating between red and white. What was Song Miaohua saying? But listening to her, he felt even more guilty—he couldn’t explain exactly how much of his thoughts Concubine Song had correctly perceived.
Without the Master’s order, the two matrons dared not use force. Seeing Concubine Song break free from the matron’s grip, she threw herself before Gu Dezhao and cried: “Master, Pinxiu has served you for sixteen years! Just because Pinxiu made a small mistake, are you going to be so heartless? You’ve already been heartless to the Madam—are you going to be so heartless to Pinxiu as well?”
Madam Ji Wu stepped through the door just in time to hear these words. She laughed coldly: “You know how to be clever! Being heartless to you would be showing tenderness to Han’er! You served Gu Dezhao for sixteen years and call it deep affection—what about my Han’er serving this official Gu for twenty years?”
Gu Dezhao waved his hand, signaling the two matrons to pull Concubine Song away. Song Miaohua cried miserably—she didn’t want to go to Jingmiao Temple to spend her life with nothing but oil lamps and ancient Buddhas! She didn’t want to leave this wealth and prosperity! She especially didn’t want her daughter Lan to be without a mother!