Yun Pan’s heart gave a sharp lurch. She did not know which family this betrothal of his was with.
If he were to stop entangling himself with Mei Fen from this point on, it would be a great good thing — but the young lady who had agreed to this match, not knowing what manner of man he truly was, had fallen into the worst of all possible fortune.
He Xiao excelled at cultivating a fine exterior — and so his reputation in the upper circles of the capital was excellent. People were happy to associate with him. His announcement naturally prompted someone to ask: “Which distinguished family’s daughter has been betrothed? When is the wedding ceremony set for?”
He Xiao smiled with elegant ease: “The formal exchange of gifts was only just completed — the wedding ceremony should be in early spring of next year. There is still quite a lot to prepare.” He paused for a moment, then his gaze drifted with studied provocation across Yun Pan’s face: “As for which distinguished family — I am sure all of you will have heard of her… She is my cousin, the legitimate daughter of Duke Shuguo.”
At these words, the entire room was stunned. The connections here were quite tangled — the legitimate daughter of Duke Shuguo had originally been betrothed to the Duke of Weiguo. After news of her illness had come out, that engagement had been dissolved. If she had been ailing, why had she then accepted He Xiao’s proposal? That inevitably invited speculation: it seemed likely that the Duke Shuguo’s daughter and her cousin He Xiao had already been developing a private attachment, and that the Duke of Weiguo had simply had his wall undermined. So it seemed he had lost some face, at least.
Yun Pan was genuinely shaken by the news. She had only been away from her maternal aunt’s household for half a month — yet in that time, something like this had happened. Her aunt and uncle had clearly stated their intent: He Xiao would never again be permitted through their door, and they would not allow him to go on pestering Mei Fen. Why then had they suddenly agreed to his proposal, and given him the confidence to come here and make such a public declaration?
For a moment, everyone’s gazes traveled back and forth between her and Li Chenjian. Yun Pan was not by nature one who liked to put herself forward — but this time she felt she could not remain silent any longer. So she said: “Was it not because of you, cousin — pushing her into the water when she was six years old, nearly drowning her — that she has kept herself sequestered at home for all these years? Cousin-sister and I are as close as true sisters, and naturally I know the story from the inside. For her, who has lived in fear of you all this time, to now agree to your proposal — you must truly be a man of remarkable capabilities, cousin. Whatever clever stratagem you employed this time, it must have been quite something.”
He Xiao had assumed that a woman who had married into a ducal family would be focused entirely on cultivating her own marriage, and would no longer involve herself in a maternal cousin’s affairs. He had thought she would hear this news and let it pass — and would not, in front of a room full of distinguished people, step forward so boldly to speak for her cousin. But it seemed he had misjudged her entirely. She still had that fearless, solitary heart — and she was still willing, for Mei Fen’s sake, to plant herself in front and stand firm against the wind.
He smiled with contemptuous ease: “The Duchess’s words are quite mistaken. Between people who care for one another, a little rough play is quite normal…”
Li Chenjian gave a measured sound — the pitch of it carried a quiet authority: “A matter of life and death, dismissed in a single phrase as ‘rough play’ — that is rather too casual. Young Master He is the distinguished talent of Luoyang, admired by all under Heaven. I’ve heard you mastered music at five and composed essays at seven — your intelligence opened early, well beyond your peers. To push a girl into the water and cause her to avoid leaving her home for eleven years… Young Master He is truly beyond measure.” He then let his expression settle back into a smile: “Still, if a betrothal has truly been agreed upon, that is indeed a matter of parental arrangement. My wife and the Duke Shuguo’s daughter are cousins — naturally she will not stand idle. When the time comes, we shall pay a visit, and see if there is anything that can be done to help. That is only the meaning of kinship.”
In an instant, glances flew about the room like arrows. The Duke of Weiguo had navigated official circles for many years and was not easily moved by fire or water. It was entirely unlike him to concern himself with matters of household gossip. If he had allowed something like this past his lips in public, he must have been absolutely certain of it — otherwise he would never have spoken so freely. He Xiao’s reputation was renowned, but in the weight his words carried in official circles, he could not begin to compare with the Duke of Weiguo. And so that old wickedness from his childhood was laid out and magnified before everyone’s eyes — it would not necessarily cause people to lose all regard for him, but the flawless surface of the gentleman had developed a crack. Those who had idolized his talents most ardently now found themselves gradually cooling.
By this point, He Xiao had begun to feel a faint, belated regret. He had been too confident — he had even wanted to test the Duke of Weiguo, to announce his betrothal to Mei Fen publicly and cause the Duke of Weiguo some small humiliation. But the circle had come all the way around and caught him instead. He had basked in too much flattery and had overestimated himself. The only thing left to do now was to try and repair what he could — and he could no longer insist with any conviction that it had merely been rough play. He could only smile and say: “Those things are only what she says happened — she was only six at the time. It’s entirely possible she misremembered…”
Yun Pan took up the thread, smiling with practiced calm: “I rather think there was no misremembering. I believe Young Master He has chosen this marriage precisely to atone for what he did when he was young.”
He Xiao was silenced for a moment. Then he laughed: “What is this, from the honorable couple? So aggressive. We are simply a union of kin — what is good or ill between us, each heart has its own account. Even if you cannot offer us a word of congratulation, surely this is not grounds for such an interrogation?”
The Duke of Weiguo and his wife only returned a cool, silent gaze. He had made himself look ridiculous, with no one to blame but himself.
Yun Pan could not afterward say how she had gotten through the rest of that banquet. She had managed to keep up appearances throughout the meal — exchanging idle pleasantries with the various ladies — but who could have known what was truly turning in her heart.
Since it was a gathering of mixed company, men and women seated apart, Li Chenjian came to check on her partway through. She was visibly distracted. He understood that she had no heart for socializing just then, and after the third round of wine had gone around, he used his old injury as an excuse and took her away before the banquet had properly concluded.
On the way back she wept into her handkerchief: “Not a single person told me about this — not even Cousin Mei. Whatever scheme was used against her, she must have suffered terribly, to end up agreeing to this marriage.”
Li Chenjian reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder: “Perhaps by now there is no longer any room for her to refuse. Judging by the smug, self-satisfied look on He Xiao’s face, he was clearly certain of his prize — he has simply used some method or other to bring her uncle and aunt around. We just don’t know what it was.”
Yun Pan was frantic: “It won’t do — I have to see Cousin. I have to understand what actually happened.”
She was desperate to go at once, but by now it was nearly midnight — bursting into someone’s home at this hour was hardly appropriate. He urged her to wait until the next day, and Yun Pan had no choice but to contain herself for now.
She tossed and turned through the night, barely managing one brief hour of hazy, restless sleep. In the bleary early morning she saw him off to court, then had Nanny Yao order a carriage harnessed, and went straight to the Duke Shuguo’s residence.
The gatekeepers sent word in ahead, and Madam Ming came out to receive her. Yun Pan looked at her at one glance — she had lost a great deal of weight. Her heart already knew something had gone very wrong.
“Yun Pan, what brings you so early today?” Madam Ming had shadows beneath her eyes, and the smile she offered was painfully strained.
Yun Pan took her by the arm and guided her inside: “Yesterday I was at a banquet with Master, and He Xiao was also there. He declared in front of everyone that he was betrothed to Cousin… Aunt, is it really true?”
Madam Ming’s expression went desolate. She sighed and began to speak, then stopped herself, shaking her head repeatedly: “I don’t know how to say this to you… Never mind, let’s not speak of it. Let’s not speak of it.”
She could get nothing out of her aunt. Yun Pan could only go to find Mei Fen. Entering the Zilan Garden, she saw Ba Bao in the courtyard watering the flowers. At the sight of her, the girl seemed to jolt — she set down the ladle in her hand, came quickly forward, and without a word, dropped straight to her knees before Yun Pan and bowed down deeply.
Yun Pan was startled. She and Qin Dan quickly helped her up, asking urgently: “What is this? Whatever you need to say, say it — what are you doing!”
Ba Bao gripped her hand tightly. At first she didn’t dare speak, her eyes darting sideways to check that Madam Ming had gone. Only then did she say through tears: “Miss Yun, our young mistress has suffered a terrible injustice. Please go in quickly and see her.”
Yun Pan hurried into the room, lifting the hem of her skirt as she went. She found Mei Fen sitting on the bed, her expression ashen and blank. Even at the sound of approaching footsteps she did not look up. Yun Pan felt a sharp anxiety in her heart — she slipped off her shoes, stepped up onto the bed, and called Mei Fen’s name several times. At last Mei Fen slowly came to herself.
“Yun Pan, you’ve come?” Mei Fen said listlessly, then turned and told Tuan Yuan: “Please prepare some lychee water.”
She was still trying to act as if nothing had happened. But Yun Pan would not let her hide. She took her by the hand and asked: “A’Jie, why did you agree to a betrothal with He Xiao? I’ve been away for half a month — what on earth happened? If you trust me, don’t conceal it from me. I can see you have only half a life left in you — and if you don’t want to lose that other half as well, you have to tell me everything.”
Mei Fen opened her mouth. The color drained from her face. After a long pause she said: “The match is already settled. There is nothing that can change it — let it be…”
“No!” Yun Pan said, suddenly loud and sharp. “You must tell me today — did He Xiao threaten you again? How did he get into the inner courtyard?”
Ba Bao stood beside them weeping: “Young mistress, please just tell her.”
Mei Fen was always like this — timidity had become her habit, enough to make one ache in frustration. She was still shaking her head, with that drifting, detached look about her. At this point Yun Pan could no longer afford to stand on ceremony. She seized Mei Fen by both arms and shook her forcefully: “Do you want to die? If you don’t want to die, then speak. Bottling it all up like this helps no one — you must save yourself, you must fight for your own life!”
The Duke Shuguo’s household was a military family, but Madam Ming and her husband had always been the most gentle of parents in raising their children — they had never once spoken to them with sharp words or harsh tones. Mei Fen had been drifting in a fog until this moment, when the force of Yun Pan’s words broke through like cold water poured over her head, and she stared at her in astonishment.
After a long pause — like someone waking from a dream — she seized hold of Yun Pan and said: “Yun Pan, I don’t want to marry He Xiao…” Then, from the deepest part of her chest, she let out a raw, violent cry: “I want to kill him!”
Yun Pan had never seen her like this. The girl looked as if she had gone mad — screaming herself hoarse. Yet some part of Yun Pan thought this might be exactly what was needed. Let her shout out everything that had been festering in her heart. Shouted out, the old, ingrained wound might finally be lanced — and only then could she be reborn through complete destruction.
Only extreme anguish was also dangerous. Yun Pan quickly drew her close and soothed her: “All right… all right… A’Jie, there is no obstacle in the world that cannot be passed. Tell me everything that is in your heart, and we’ll think through it together. There will be a way.”
Mei Fen gradually quieted, and recounted what had happened that day without concealing a single detail: “After eating the baked mollusk toffee you sent over, I fell asleep — but something was strange; my hands and feet felt as though they wouldn’t obey me…”
Yun Pan started: “When was this? When did I send over baked mollusk toffee?”
At that, Mei Fen was also taken aback: “It was the day your uncle and the Jin family conducted the gift ceremony… a young laborer from the Liang household garden sent it over. I only ate the baked mollusk toffee — the rest of the tree peony cake I gave to Ba Bao and the others…”
Yun Pan’s expression grew heavier and heavier. Mei Fen looked at her face, and finally understood: “That box of confections… you never sent it.”
It was as if a fog had been suddenly cleared away. Yun Pan herself had also been tangled in confusion, and could not make sense of it — but now the knot was untied. Someone had used Yun Pan’s name to send Mei Fen confections laced with medicine. She still remembered the young laborer making a point of mentioning that the toffee had been kept on ice and should be eaten quickly — which showed that only the toffee had been tampered with, which was why she had been drugged while Ba Bao and the others were unharmed.
For a good, decent person to be schemed against like this — only someone with the face of porcelain would not know to fight back. Mei Fen was trembling with rage, but she had no more tears left. After a long moment, she slowly straightened her spine and said: “I had intended to become a Taoist nun. That is no longer possible now… but he has pushed me too far. In the end I will be destroyed rather than submit — I am not afraid. And I won’t hide from you: he did this using your name. I knew then that this matter has a beginning and an end. I cannot simply let it continue. If I endure it again this time, one day He Xiao will use the same tactics against you — I care nothing for myself anymore, I’ve already been reduced to this state, but I cannot let you be harmed because of me.”
Beside them, Ba Bao had been frightened and tense throughout — now, seeing her mistress turn her mind around, she finally let out a long breath of relief, and wiped her tears: “Miss, you haven’t eaten properly these past days — you can’t keep on like this. Let me go and prepare something — you don’t need to eat much, just a little, to have the strength to fight that villain.”
The maids went to prepare food, and Yun Pan took Mei Fen’s hand and helped her off the bed, guiding her to sit before the dressing table. She took a comb and began to gently work through her hair: “A’Jie, for now, don’t think of anything else. You only need to let your uncle and aunt hear you out — and this betrothal will count for nothing. He Xiao — I thought him merely guilty of small-minded scheming before, but now he has done something this vile. Clearly the rot goes all the way to his roots. There is nothing to regret in destroying his future.”
Mei Fen suddenly turned to look directly into her eyes: “If we don’t strike him down this time, he will keep on biting. Can we really do this?”
Yun Pan said they absolutely could: “Since we are going to act, we must strike at his vital point. Was it not the Liang household garden from which the confections were sent? I’ll have someone go and look into it — see if there are any traces left. And that young laborer — whether he is still in the capital now or not…”
It was, however, quite some time that had passed, and it would likely be difficult to find anything. Setting that aside for now — Mei Fen finished having her hair combed, put on fresh clothes, and with Yun Pan accompanying her, stepped out of the Zilan Garden and went directly to Madam Ming’s courtyard. They did not go inside the upper chamber when they arrived — instead, braving the blazing sunlight, they knelt down in the courtyard.
Madam Ming’s maids saw this and hurried inside to relay the news. Madam Ming came rushing out, and when she saw Mei Fen kneeling there, she felt simultaneously enraged and heartbroken. She had been resolved not to pay it any attention — but looking and looking again, tears came to her own eyes. She stepped forward and pulled Mei Fen up by the arm: “Get up — whatever you have to say, come inside and say it. Don’t let the servants see and make a laughingstock of us.”
But Mei Fen looked toward the gate: “Has Father not returned from court yet? I will wait for Father. There is something I need to say.”
Madam Ming was taken aback. For these weeks past, Mei Fen had been like a sealed gourd — no matter how much anyone urged her, she would not open her mouth. Today she was suddenly and actively seeking to speak with her parents, which left Madam Ming at a complete loss.
Bewildered as she was, she still sent someone to the gate to watch: “As soon as the Master returns, bring him directly into the garden.”
The matron went to do as she was told, and Madam Ming called out: “Come inside now — don’t let yourself get a heatstroke.”
Yun Pan gave Mei Fen a gentle tug on the sleeve and helped her to the covered walkway. Madam Ming looked inquiringly at Yun Pan, who only said one thing: “Today, let Aunt and Uncle please listen to what A’Jie truly has to say.”
The three of them sat in the room together, maids and matrons all dismissed. No one spoke. The immense, pressing silence seemed faintly suffocating.
Madam Ming kept glancing at Mei Fen with anxious eyes. Mei Fen sat with her gaze fixed on the tip of her own nose, unmovable as a mountain. They endured through the wait until at last Duke Shuguo returned, and Mei Fen asked them both to take their seats in the place of honor. She knelt on the lotus-carved brick floor before them, leaving Duke Shuguo and his wife to stare at each other in bafflement, wholly unable to guess what she was about to do.
“Father, Mother — your daughter is unworthy of your care. I am sorry for all the worry I have caused you these weeks.” She pressed her forehead to the ground, then straightened herself again: “Today I have nothing else to say — only one matter. That day, someone using Yun Pan’s name sent over a box of confections from the Liang household garden. Those confections had been tampered with. I ate them and lost my senses. The man did not do anything to me — he only wanted Father and Mother to know there had been a man in my room, so that when the next suitor came, the comparison would settle the matter in his favor. I say no more than this. If you still do not believe me, I can hang myself, I can throw myself into the well — I will die rather than fall into He Xiao’s hands. But whatever I choose, I will not go.”
Yun Pan, when Mei Fen had finished, naturally needed to corroborate what she had said, and called out to her aunt and uncle: “On the day of Father’s gift ceremony, I remained at home the entire time listening for news — I did not go out, and I did not send anyone to the Liang household garden with confections for A’Jie. Had Aunt told me at the time, such a lie would have been exposed immediately and easily — there would have been no need to wait until today.”
When all was said and done, it came down to the old saying: family shame must not be let out.
Duke Shuguo and Madam Ming evidently had not realized that there was this kind of flaw in the story — and the realization struck them all at once, a fierce wave of anguish: “What confections? Why has no one ever mentioned this before?”
Unfortunately, by now there was no physical evidence left. The only remaining option was to find witnesses. Duke Shuguo slammed his palm on the table and rose to his feet: “To the Old Crow Lane — bring me He Xiao’s father and mother!”