When Eleventh Young Lady saw that Jin Lian and Yin Ping were each carrying a bundle wrapped in cloth, she was startled. “What is the meaning of this?”
Jin Lian kept her head bowed and said nothing. Yin Ping’s eyes brimmed with tears: “Madam, please go and see our First Young Mistress. Ever since she came back from Bowstring Alley that day with the Duke, she has fallen ill. These last two days she has taken not even a sip of water, and her condition has been growing steadily worse. All household affairs have been taken in hand by the Duke’s birth father and birth mother. Our First Young Mistress not only has no say in anything — she dismissed the two of us right in front of the Duke’s birth father and birth mother. She said we are bondservants of the Luo family and that she has no further use for us, so naturally we should be returned to the Luo family. She told us to come find Madam, and that henceforth life and death are no longer any concern of hers.”
Anger began to rise quietly within Eleventh Young Lady.
That Tenth Young Lady — she was always doing things without any sense. She had driven away the most capable people around her, and was staying there alone. Did she imagine she was imitating a bodhisattva offering herself as sacrifice? Did she really think that others would not dare touch her?
The maidservants in the room were seeing her with an expression cold as frost for the first time, and each one trembled, not daring to breathe.
A palpable tension instantly filled the air.
Jin Lian hurried to explain: “Madam, our First Young Mistress does not truly wish to drive us away. She truly had no other choice.” As she spoke, the rims of her eyes reddened. “The Duke’s birth father and birth mother took advantage of our First Young Mistress’s weakened state, and have been replacing and dismissing the household staff one by one — inside and out, there is now not a single person who does not act according to their will. Our First Young Mistress used this as a pretext to send us away — it was to prevent the Duke’s birth father and birth mother from getting their hands on the two of us!”
Eleventh Young Lady sensed there was more beneath the surface of these words, and dismissed the attendants from the room. She then questioned Jin Lian and Yin Ping carefully: “What exactly has happened?”
With the Luo family having returned to Yuhang, Tenth Young Lady was standing alone with no support. While what they were telling her was the truth, it was also not without the motive of hoping Eleventh Young Lady would step in on Tenth Young Lady’s behalf. Seeing that Eleventh Young Lady was willing to hear them out, they no longer weighed what should or should not be said, and let everything out at once.
“Although our First Young Mistress appears cold, her heart is exceedingly kind. When the Young Heir was still alive, he was endlessly critical of our First Young Mistress, and whenever things went badly for him outside, after two cups of wine he would come home and beat her mercilessly about the head and shoulders. According to what we know, several of the previous bedchamber attendants died from such beatings. And the children…” Jin Lian said, her tears circling and circling in the corners of her eyes, “were also lost that way. Even so, our First Young Mistress would constantly shield and protect us.”
Yin Ping wept softly.
“We remember our First Young Mistress’s goodness. After the Young Heir passed, we had resolved to serve at her side for the rest of our lives.” Jin Lian said. “But then, a few days ago, the Duke’s birth mother said that since we had served the late Young Heir, by rights we should not remain in the household. She intended to send us away—” Her face flushed crimson. “She meant to send us out of the residence entirely.”
That was the heart of the matter, was it not?
“And to whom was she sending you?” Eleventh Young Lady asked, her expression calm and still as deep water.
“Yin Ping was to be given to a close friend of the Duke’s birth father, and I was to be given to…” Jin Lian said softly, “an elderly widower.”
“How much did she accept for each of you?” Eleventh Young Lady asked quietly.
Both women were silent for a moment before answering in a low voice: “Ten taels apiece!”
Eleventh Young Lady gave a cold smile.
Yin Ping said quickly: “Madam, we are bonded attendants of the Luo household — whether the Young Heir wished to sell us or dismiss us was entirely within his rights. But it is certainly not her place to point fingers and give orders.” Her voice took on a note of indignation. “Not only that, she claimed the household is now facing financial hardship and has reduced First Young Mistress’s personal maids and matrons from eight to four. Now there is not even a single person to pour tea for First Young Mistress.”
“What of your household’s Dowager Lady — is she still ill?” Eleventh Young Lady asked.
“The late Duke and the Dowager Lady loved our First Young Mistress as if she were their own daughter.” Yin Ping spoke in defense of Tenth Young Lady’s parents-in-law. “Knowing that the Young Heir showed no respect for our First Young Mistress, they not only counseled him patiently and tirelessly, but also, on one extraordinary occasion, dragged the Young Heir to the ancestral hall to be punished according to family law. Once when the Young Heir came home drunk, the Dowager Lady, fearing he would go into a drunken rage, rushed over to reason with him and even shielded First Young Mistress by taking a blow herself. But now the late Duke has passed, and the Dowager Lady has become so confused in her illness that she no longer recognizes anyone. When we go to pay our respects, she cannot tell who we are. And now all the people around her have been replaced with those loyal to the Duke’s birth mother — we cannot get near her at all. The Elder Young Lady is clear-headed and sensible, but she lives far from Yanjing, and we have no way to get word to her. What’s more, we cannot find anyone who could carry a message to the Elder Young Lady.” She said this, carefully watching Eleventh Young Lady’s expression. “Madam, the Elder Young Masters are none of them in the capital now. Our First Young Mistress sent us to you alone precisely because she considers you someone in whom she can place her trust…”
Eleventh Young Lady reflected for a long while, then said in a low voice: “Go back. This is, after all, a matter internal to Maoguo Duke’s Mansion — I will not interfere.” Having said this, she raised her teacup, signaling that the visit was concluded.
Jin Lian and Yin Ping were greatly alarmed, and their expressions fell at once.
Once upon a time, back in Yuhang, although they had served at the First Young Mistress’s side, they had vaguely heard that Tenth Young Lady was headstrong and willful, and had often made life difficult for the gentle and timid Eleventh Young Lady — and that the two had been at odds because of it. Later, when they followed Tenth Young Lady to Maoguo Duke’s Mansion, they saw that Tenth Young Lady devoted herself single-mindedly to the late Duke and the Dowager Lady’s care, and never took part in her maiden family’s affairs. Fearing that the relationship between the two sisters would grow distant over time, and that when trouble came, the maiden family would be unwilling to step in and help, the two maids had tried advising her several times. But Tenth Young Lady had said: “A daughter who has married out is like water poured out — gone. Since they have placed me within the Wang family’s gates, I am the Wang family’s person in life and the Wang family’s ghost in death. I will attend to my parents-in-law with all propriety — what business have I meddling in Luo family affairs?” Her words, taken at face value, were not wrong on a single point. And as they were only maidservants, they could not say anything too deep, though their hearts had never quite been at ease. Later, when Tenth Young Lady fell into difficulty and the maiden family’s people came to her aid one after another, their hearts had gradually settled. Now, when Tenth Young Lady told them to go seek refuge with Eleventh Young Lady, both women had thought that with Eleventh Young Lady married to Marquis Yongping, the Duke’s birth father and mother would surely give some face to such a connection — and so they had promised Tenth Young Lady, right in front of her, that they would come and seek shelter, their true hope being that Eleventh Young Lady would stand up for Tenth Young Lady. Now, hearing Eleventh Young Lady speak as she had, the matter — though unexpected — was, by both reason and convention, something no one could find fault with.
Jin Lian and Yin Ping stood dazed for a moment, exchanged a glance, and then, their spirits fallen, bent their knees in a bow to Eleventh Young Lady and turned to leave.
“Wait a moment.” They had already reached the doorway when Eleventh Young Lady’s voice reached them, calm and carrying a note of quiet coolness.
Could she have changed her mind?
Jin Lian and Yin Ping brightened at once, turning around quickly.
They saw Eleventh Young Lady say, unhurriedly: “Since you’ve come all this way, I must at least see you safely returned. Otherwise the Wang family will be at my door looking for you.”
Jin Lian and Yin Ping felt a chill.
Eleventh Young Lady had already called out to Hupo: “Bring a few people with you and escort these two young ladies back to Maoguo Duke’s Mansion.”
A flicker of puzzlement crossed Hupo’s eyes, but she answered with a respectful “Yes.”
Eleventh Young Lady then instructed her: “When you go, you are not only to deliver these two young ladies into Tenth Elder Sister’s hands — you are also to relay a message from me.” Her expression turned serious. “Tell her this: I used to think that though she was untamed and eccentric, she still possessed a measure of genuine pride and backbone. The matters of Bitao and Hongtao — those I put down to her being young and unable to attend to everything. As it turns out, I was wrong about her. She is nothing more than a person who appears fierce on the outside but is faint of heart within. She lorded it over the people in her own household, behaving with willful arrogance, speaking and acting without restraint. But when faced with outsiders, she became like a mouse that had met a cat — not only did she hide away and refuse to act herself, she threw all pride and dignity to the wind, and came crawling to me to take in the people closest to her. It truly leaves one disgusted. From this day forward, let her keep her distance from my door.”
Every person in the room went pale. Jin Lian and Yin Ping’s faces turned the color of ash.
Hupo answered in a voice that trembled slightly, then took the two women by the arm and led them out of the main room.
Eleventh Young Lady let out a long, slow breath.
Tenth Young Lady had managed to survive Wang Lang’s abuse, which was in no small part driven by the hatred she harbored in her heart toward First Madam. Now that First Madam was gone, the driving force that had sustained her will to live had disappeared, and she had collapsed. Eleventh Young Lady could only hope that what she had just done would give Tenth Young Lady some awakening — that even if only for the sake of Jin Lian and Yin Ping, or simply out of a refusal to be looked down upon by a former adversary, she would summon the strength to go on living. That would be far better than simply fading away like dying embers.
She was only eighteen years old this year!
When Eleventh Young Lady thought of this, a heaviness settled in her heart.
She had a young maidservant bring her embroidery frame and sat down to embroider, and gradually her spirits grew calm.
When Xu Lingyi came in and noticed the faint trace of melancholy between her brows, he smiled. “What’s the matter? Has something gone wrong with the shop?”
These past few days, Eleventh Young Lady had been glowing with happiness at every turn.
“No.” Eleventh Young Lady stepped down from the kang and greeted Xu Lingyi with a bow, then took the tea from a maid and presented it to him. “Everything with the shop is going smoothly. Master Jian is in the middle of the handover with the previous tenant as we speak!”
Xu Lingyi, who knew that Eleventh Young Lady tended to put a cheerful face on things, reflected for a moment and said: “Then what is it that’s made you unhappy?”
Neither of them was the sort to press an issue relentlessly.
Eleventh Young Lady found it a little curious and was just weighing whether to tell Xu Lingyi about Tenth Young Lady’s situation when Hupo returned.
Let it be fate, then.
Eleventh Young Lady gave Xu Lingyi a brief account of what had happened, then called Hupo in.
“What did Tenth Elder Sister say?”
Seeing that Xu Lingyi was present, a trace of surprise crossed Hupo’s face, before she quickly composed herself, eyes lowered in a respectful manner, and replied: “Before I had even finished speaking, Tenth Elder Aunt struggled to sit up. She asked me to bring you a message: ‘Tell her not to worry — even if I end up as a beggar begging for scraps, I will walk around Marquis Yongping’s Mansion to get there.'” As she spoke, she quietly watched Eleventh Young Lady’s expression, and only when she saw that Eleventh Young Lady remained perfectly composed did she relax slightly. “‘From this day forward, the Wang and Xu families will have no dealings with one another until the end of their days!'”
Xu Lingyi could not help glancing at Eleventh Young Lady.
Eleventh Young Lady smiled with an air of unconcern. “When Tenth Elder Sister’s husband passed away, the First Young Madam had borrowed several household servants from our mansion. Go and find the one who was in charge of them. Have her quietly go to the Wang household these next few days to observe what is happening, then come and report to me.” Then she murmured under her breath: “I’m still worried she might lose all composure and run off, taking Jin Lian and Yin Ping with her.”
Hupo acknowledged the instruction and went.
“You’d better be careful not to overplay your hand and provoke the woman to death,” Xu Lingyi said, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“Some people respond to a gentle breeze and soft rain — others require the force of a thunderbolt.” Eleventh Young Lady smiled. “With this Tenth Elder Sister of mine, nothing less than a strong dose of medicine will do.”
As Xu Lingyi listened, the smile gradually faded from his face, and a look of gravity settled between his brows. “Eleventh Young Lady,” he said, his tone taking on a note of seriousness, “did you ever resent First Madam?”
—