Since the Military Commissioner had spoken such words, how would those carrying out the punishment dare hold back? There was no question of going easy — every blow fell with the full weight behind it.
This Qiuju, though born to a life of servitude, had in these years in the Xie household gained the Old Madam’s considerable favor through her talent for flattery, and lived a life of near half-mistress ease. Aside from certain personal duties of attending on the Old Madam, she never touched rough work. Her flesh was soft and tender, and before ten strokes had come down, her backside was already swollen and lacerated. Unable to endure it, she cried out, “Have mercy, my lord! It was… it was Lady Qi who told me to find out!”
Xie Changgeng stopped, signaled for the male servants to pause, turned his head, and looked at Qi Lingfeng.
An expression of disbelieving fury flooded Qi Lingfeng’s eyes, and she trembled with rage throughout her entire body.
She strode swiftly to Qiuju and gave her a hard slap across the face, then said in a sharp voice, “You worthless wretch! It was clearly you who had your own motives and did this behind everyone’s backs — how dare you make false accusations and pin it on me? Even if I am falsely accused and done to death by you, do you think you will escape? I too have been wrongfully implicated!”
Qiuju met the two sharp eyes fixed on her from Qi Lingfeng, shuddered, closed her mouth, covered her face, and burst into tears.
Qi Lingfeng turned around, her powdered face flushed a deep red, eyes shimmering with tears, and said to Xie Changgeng, “My lord! This worthless wretch has always harbored designs of using her looks to climb higher and entangle my lord. I saw it clearly, and thinking of the years we had been together, I could only urge her to behave herself. Little did I expect that she would resent me for being of no use to her and began scheming on her own. I do not know what possessed her — she somehow convinced herself that once the Young Princess was gone, she could attract my lord’s eye. Even back when the Young Princess was still at her family home, she had no regard for her, defying her while appearing to obey, and after coming here she took the Young Princess as a thorn in her side. These past days, she has been sneaking about behind my back, prying all around for information about the Young Princess and the young little lord, trying to sow discord — and it was this that gave rise to the string of vexing incidents of late. She was the one who crept to the Old Madam’s side to whisper poison, taking advantage of the Old Madam’s trusting nature to coax her into making trouble at the horse farm. When I found out, I did my best to dissuade the Old Madam from going, but that wretch was there beside her, egging her on. If my lord does not believe me, you may go and ask the Old Madam!”
She turned toward the Old Madam. “Old Madam, I am being wronged by this wretch! I ask the Old Madam to speak a just word on my behalf!”
The Old Madam came back to herself and hurried to look at her son, saying quickly, “Yes, yes, Changgeng, you must not wrong Feng’er! It was that maid Qiuju who told me about the child — it has nothing to do with Feng’er!”
Qi Lingfeng expressed her grateful thanks to the Old Madam, then dabbed at her tears and turned again to Xie Changgeng, saying, “My lord, it is already late tonight, and the Old Madam was in pain from her heart ailment just now — she is elderly and may not be able to bear the fatigue. Now that the matter is clear, punishing a lowly maid is a trivial thing not worth disturbing my lord or stirring up anger over. If my lord trusts me, you may leave it to me. I will discipline her strictly, cut out the trouble at the root, and ensure no such thing ever distracts my lord again!”
Xie Changgeng’s face was expressionless. “What next time? This maidservant first spied on her superiors, then made false accusations against you — one crime piled upon another. Beat her to death and have done with it.”
“Proceed!”
He barked the command at the steward.
Qi Lingfeng’s expression shifted slightly.
The servants received their orders and immediately resumed striking.
Earlier, Qiuju had been unable to bear the punishment and named Qi Lingfeng, for which she had been swiftly dealt a slap and silenced by Qi Lingfeng’s sharp look — and she had understood. She had been harboring a faint hope that by taking the blame herself and shielding Qi Lingfeng, she might earn her protection and escape this punishment.
She had never imagined the Military Commissioner would remain utterly unmoved and order her beaten to death on the spot. Her soul nearly fled her body with terror.
“Lady Qi, it was clearly you who ordered me to find out! And you who told me to carry the words to the Old Madam! Bad enough that you would not save me — how could you turn and put all the blame on me!”
She cried out, struggling desperately, but like a fish pressed flat on a chopping block, how could she escape the blows raining down on her body?
Amid the cracking sounds, flesh split and blood seeped through — the board quickly darkened with bloodstains.
Qi Lingfeng clenched her jaw, saying fiercely, “You worthless wretch — your death would not be too great a loss! I have always treated you well, and yet you slander me like this! I blame only my own excessive softness. My lord is wise — a wretch like you, kept alive, is nothing but a source of trouble!”
She finished speaking and turned to help support the Old Madam, who stood staring transfixed, her color completely gone, and said, “My lord, although this wretch deserves her death ten times over, the Old Madam is getting on in years and should not be exposed to such a scene. I will escort her back inside to rest first…”
Xie Changgeng only had A’Mao bring a chair, which he set himself squarely and precisely on the veranda step, directly facing the kneeling Qiuju receiving her punishment. He then took his mother by the arm and guided her to sit in it. “Mother, sit down and watch how your son deals with a troublesome servant.”
Half helped and half compelled by her son, his mother sat herself down and looked at Qiuju before her — flesh splitting with each blow, the scene altogether wretched and pitiable. She felt a twinge of reluctance and her heart grew uneasy. Her voice trembling, she said, “Child, this… this maid has served me for many years… she meant well… you spare her…”
Xie Changgeng stood at his mother’s side, his gaze resting on the maidservant on the ground whose backside and back had already become a bloody mess. Evenly, he said, “Mother, you have soft ears and are tricked by people without even knowing it. Such servants cannot be spared. Your son has been too busy and has been too inattentive to Mother. Tonight I happen to have a free moment — just sit properly and watch.”
His tone was respectful, yet shot through with a coldness that made one’s blood run chill.
His mother had always known her son to be filial and meet her with a smiling face. To see him like this was a first, and seeing him utterly unshakeable, she could not help but feel a tremor of fear, not daring to speak another word.
On the ground, Qiuju felt as though a layer of flesh had been stripped from her. The pain was enough to make her feel she was dying and being reborn with each blow. Knowing that Qi Lingfeng had abandoned her and in fact wished she would die quickly to silence her, the hatred in her heart reached its peak. Through her heartrending sobs and screams, she summoned every last ounce of strength and cried out, “My lord! Do not believe her! She truly is the one who ordered me to do this! I was formerly a servant in the Qi household. Back when she was still living at her brother’s home, I once overheard her speaking with him by chance. Her brother told her that my lord was already betrothed and would be taking the daughter of Prince Changsha as his wife, and said she was without hope, and urged her to take as much advantage as she could and find someone else to marry. She said my lord was sure to have a great future, that even as a concubine it would be better than marrying some other man. She also said my lord was a filial son, and that by relying on the favor she had once shown to the Old Madam and serving her well, with the Old Madam behind her, who would win and who would lose against the daughter of Prince Changsha — that had yet to be seen…”
The Old Madam’s eyes widened in shock. Qi Lingfeng’s face went greenish-white.
Xie Changgeng’s expression remained cold, but the look in his eyes gradually grew dark and heavy.
“Please, my lord, stop, spare me — I still have more to say…”
Qiuju closed her eyes, gasping for breath, her fingers scrabbling in agony at the broken stones and mud on the ground, her nails splitting and bleeding.
“You worthless wretch! How dare you fabricate such slander!”
Qi Lingfeng screamed in furious denunciation, yanked a hairpin from her hair, rushed to Qiuju, and jabbed it wildly at her mouth.
Qiuju let out a sharp cry and fell into a faint.
Xie Changgeng signaled for the punishment to pause. The steward and the male servants pulled Qi Lingfeng away.
Qi Lingfeng turned and flung herself before Xie Changgeng, dropping to her knees with a thud, tears streaming down her face, choked with sobs. “My lord, that wretch has fabricated lies and gnawed at me like a mad dog — not a word of hers can be trusted! I blame only my own excessive kind-heartedness, and my blindness for not seeing sooner the wickedness in that wretch’s heart, which has brought matters to this pass…”
Xie Changgeng seemed not to hear her. He ordered cold water fetched, and had the unconscious Qiuju drenched over the head to revive her.
Qiuju came to and continued struggling to speak: “After the Young Princess married into the household, Lady Qi was still living at her brother’s home at that time. She told me to watch the Young Princess closely, and whenever my lord was not at home, to speak ill of the Young Princess in front of the Old Madam, and never let the Old Madam take to the Young Princess. She also promised that once she had made her move, she would promote me to serve my lord personally. It was because of all this that no matter what the Young Princess did to serve the Old Madam, the Old Madam always found fault with her. And this matter of the child — that too was Lady Qi’s secret design, to ruin the Young Princess’s reputation so that the Old Madam would force my lord to cast the Young Princess off… Every bit of it was Lady Qi’s idea…”
Having said all this, she lay face-down on the wet icy ground, at her last gasp, half alive, half dead.
Qi Lingfeng suddenly crawled on her knees to before the Old Madam and clutched her hands tightly, weeping. “Old Madam, I am truly being wronged! Old Madam, please believe me…”
The Old Madam had long since gone stiff with shock and had no idea what to do. She repeated “this…” and “this…” under her breath, and instinctively looked toward her son.
Xie Changgeng looked at Qi Lingfeng.
Qi Lingfeng met the two eyes this man had fixed on her and knew that no amount of further concealment was any use. Her face went a deathly white, and she let go of the Old Madam’s hands without the strength to hold on, and sank onto the ground without moving.
Xie Changgeng called A’Mao to help his mother up and escort her back to her room, and ordered the steward to drag Qiuju away. Once her wounds had healed, she was to be given in marriage to an old garrison-field veteran of merit. He turned to leave, when Qi Lingfeng scrambled rapidly after him from behind and threw her arms around one of his legs.
“My lord! I was wrong! I confess — I deserve death, and I have indeed done some improper things to the Young Princess. But it was truly out of my wholehearted devotion to my lord…”
She wept.
“Back then, I had indeed decided my lord was a man among men, and I could not help but admire my lord’s character and bearing. After my elder sister’s untimely passing and my lord’s departure from home, the Old Madam was left alone and helpless. I swore an oath that for this lifetime, I would attend on the Old Madam devotedly in my lord’s stead, so that my lord need have no worries behind him. After losing my mother, in my grief I came to regard the Old Madam as my very own mother. Later, when I learned that my lord had become betrothed while away, I was foolish and — out of jealousy — let myself stray down the wrong path. Then afterward, knowing my lord had no intention of taking me as a concubine, and my hopes having come to nothing, I only compounded error upon error. I beg my lord, in consideration of the bond between our two families in those early years, and of this wholehearted devotion I have harbored for my lord all these years, to take pity on me. I swear, from this day forward, I will surely correct my ways and serve the Old Madam, my lord, and the Young Princess with a sincere and honest heart. I beg my lord to give me one more chance!”
Xie Changgeng did not move.
“When someone has been a benefactor to me, I repay that debt within my means — and both parties are satisfied.”
“When someone has been a benefactor to me and uses that debt to constrain me, I can tolerate it.”
“Now, you have been a benefactor to me. And yet not only do you constrain me — you take me for a fool and scheme against those close to me.”
He turned his head slowly.
“When I was once a bandit, I had a sworn elder brother who had saved my life. Later that man and I parted ways, and when he attempted to betray me, I found out. I had him killed.”
He looked down at Qi Lingfeng on the ground, his gaze cold as ice.
“When I give you face, your so-called favor is your talisman. When I do not give you face, it is nothing at all.”
“Do you understand?”
Qi Lingfeng shrank back, and limply released her hold, covering her face as she wept bitterly.
“I was wrong! I understand now! After returning home, I will follow my lord’s arrangements — I will marry, and live out my days peacefully from now on. I will never again dare to entertain such foolish hopes!”
Amid the woman’s despairing sobs, Xie Changgeng turned and walked away.
He came to his mother’s room.
His mother sat on the bed, not yet having lain down. Her color had still not returned, and clearly she had not yet recovered from the successive shocks of that night — one blow after another. Hearing her son tell her to rest, and again say that he would send her home tomorrow, she felt somehow that the son before her eyes was no longer the son she had known before, and a wave of grief swept over her. Through tears, she said, “Forget it, forget it — I gave birth to you and raised you, and it has come to this, that you treat me as less than some outsider woman’s bastard child that came from who knows where. What is the point of me going on living…”
As Xie Changgeng listened to his mother’s words of bitterness and resentment, before his eyes there seemed to float the image of the first time he had set eyes on that child: he had burst into the inner room, the child had woken from sleep, and with wide eyes, had watched him with cautious wariness.
Then, afterward — his own rage, transferring all his resentment and grievance toward that woman onto the child, taking him away. That night sheltering in a ruined temple, the child had kept hold of the food left over from supper and — like a small puppy — had attempted to quietly crawl out from under the altar where Xie Changgeng slept, to make his escape.
The child, knowing his identity, and having apparently been given some instruction by that woman, had kept his mouth stubbornly clamped shut, refusing to speak to him.
Then later — that child had begun to trust him, to look up to him. And had even been afraid of him getting cold, had thoughtfully made room for him in the bed, and covered him with the quilt.
Scene after scene from the past swept through Xie Changgeng’s mind.
Without his noticing, the bond between himself and that child he had originally resented had grown so very deep.
And when he heard his mother speak these two words in that tone of voice, an anger suddenly welled up within him.
He did not know when it had happened, but he had already reached the point where he could not abide hearing others think of that child in such terms — even if that person was his own mother, even if the child truly was a so-called “illegitimate child.”
He looked at his mother, who was crying and lamenting, and said coldly, “Mother, from this day forth, I do not wish to hear you call that child such a name.”
“He is my son. He is the son that Mu Shi bore for me.”
He thought of the child’s curved brows and eyes as he had smiled and said that he was so good — paused for a moment — then said it, one word at a time, through gritted teeth.
His mother was dumbstruck, her mouth hanging open, staring at her son.
Having spoken those words aloud, Xie Changgeng felt his whole person suddenly ease.
He could naturally not bring himself, for this alone, to forgive that woman’s betrayal and humiliation of him.
His reason for saying this was only for the sake of that child who trusted him completely — not willing for that child to forever be, in his mother’s eyes, an “illegitimate child” of unclear origins.
He slowly drew in a breath.
“When I went to the Kingdom of Changsha to seek betrothal back then, fearing that Prince Changsha would not agree on account of my origins, I used coercive means against the Young Princess and forced myself upon her, and only in this way secured the betrothal.”
“This child was born from that. Only because back then the circumstances were sensitive, it was not convenient to let outsiders know, and so the child was raised in her care under the name of an adopted son. Depending on circumstances, he will eventually be formally acknowledged and brought into the family registry.”
“As for not only this child’s matter, but also Mother’s dislike of Mu Shi and your many harsh reproaches toward her — if the truth be told, it is your son’s shamelessness and depravity that came first.”
“From this day forward, I hope that Mother will take good care of herself and enjoy your well-earned peace. What is not your place to manage, do not manage. What is not your place to say, say even less.”