At this hour, to send a maid over!
Both Xu Lingyi and Shiyiniang were rather surprised.
Shiyiniang thought of how Wen Yiniang was also a member of the main household, and something stirred in her heart. She told the little maid: “Show her in!”
The little maid assented and went, then led Donghong inside.
“My lord. Madam.” She was trembling with nerves, her eyes darting only toward Xu Lingyi, wearing an expression of fright. Shiyiniang smiled and glanced at Xu Lingyi, then beckoned to Donghong: “Come here, to my side.”
Donghong walked toward Shiyiniang as though approaching a deep abyss, and stood before her. “Did Wen Yiniang send you to see me?” Shiyiniang took her hand in a kindly manner.
Donghong nodded vigorously, her eyes drifting toward Xu Lingyi again.
Xu Lingyi understood well enough. He coughed once and retreated to the eastern side chamber.
Once Donghong saw that only she and Shiyiniang remained in the room, her heart settled greatly, and she let out a long breath of relief. She quickly leaned close to Shiyiniang’s ear and said: “Yiniang says to tell the Madam only. A few days ago, Qin Yiniang asked her to help exchange a great deal of gold. In just two or three months, it amounted to over two hundred taels all told. She has no idea what Qin Yiniang needs so much silver for.”
Shiyiniang was briefly stunned. Seeing Donghong watching her cautiously, she quickly put on a smile: “Go back and tell Wen Yiniang that I understand.”
Donghong, relieved of a great burden, smiled and dropped a curtsy, then withdrew.
Xu Lingyi came back in.
Shiyiniang told him what Donghong had said.
Xu Lingyi listened, and his brow drew into a tight knot: “Qin Shi?”
“Indeed!” Shiyiniang said thoughtfully. “Wen Yiniang has always been one to keep a foot in every camp. At this hour, to send such a message — I fear it is not as simple a matter as it looks!”
Xu Lingyi gave a faint nod, and was just about to say something when urgent footsteps approached from outside.
The little maid standing guard at the door had only just called out “Fifth Elder Brother!” when the curtain was swept aside and Xu Lingkuan burst in.
He was drenched, head to toe, his face a grim iron-grey. He strode in calling out “Fourth Elder Brother,” his lips parting slightly as though he were about to say something — then looked up and caught sight of Shiyiniang. His mouth closed, and after a brief pause, his expression shifted; he slowed his voice to a respectful tone and greeted her: “Fourth Sister-in-Law.”
“Fifth Brother!” Shiyiniang smiled in greeting and instructed Hupo to bring tea.
Xu Lingkuan looked at Xu Lingyi, a flash of anxiety in his eyes — he clearly had something urgent to say.
“I will go and tell the little maids to prepare a basin of hot water for Fifth Elder Brother to wash with!” Shiyiniang, reading the room, found a pretext and stepped into the eastern side chamber.
She had barely taken her position when she heard a loud crash from within — the sound of porcelain being thrown.
“What did you say!” Xu Lingyi’s low voice was dense as gathering storm clouds; even through the curtain, one could feel the pressure of that restrained force bearing down.
Shiyiniang’s heart lurched. She strained to listen, but could only hear a string of garbled syllables from Xu Lingkuan.
Hupo had already led the little maids in with the hot water.
Shiyiniang gestured for her not to go in, and the two of them waited in the eastern side chamber.
She watched as the steam rising from the copper basin gradually dissipated. The curtain hung still. No movement came from the room.
Shiyiniang grew quietly anxious and could not help but let her imagination run. What had Xu Lingkuan found that could make the ever-composed Xu Lingyi fly into such a rage? The prolonged silence meant — were the findings damning to Yanrong, or damning to Qin Yiniang? Or had some new discovery been made? And then there was Wen Yiniang — why had she rushed so urgently to pass along that message? Was she hinting that Shiyiniang should pay close attention to Qin Yiniang? What on earth had Wen Yiniang discovered? If she went to ask her, would Wen Yiniang tell her everything? If this truly was Qin Yiniang’s doing, how had she managed it?
She thought of Tong Yiniang’s death long ago, of the words Xu Lingyi had held her and spoken — “I have always valued you, my jade” — of Qiuluo’s death, of Qiuluo’s son’s death, and even of Yuanniang’s death… Once, she had thought that as long as she did not pry at those yellowed memories, they would slowly fade with the passage of time. But now, it was as though some invisible thread had strung past and present together, making it impossible to run from or avoid.
Deep in thought, she heard the curtain swoosh open. Xu Lingyi and Xu Lingkuan, both wearing grave expressions, walked out one after the other.
“My lord!” Shiyiniang rose to her feet instinctively, her eyes betraying her concern.
Xu Lingyi saw it clearly, and nodded to her in reassurance. “Fifth Brother found a paper effigy near the back-gate steps of Mother’s courtyard — one stuck with needles and inscribed with Zhun Ge’s birth characters.”
The first name that leapt into Shiyiniang’s mind was Qin Yiniang’s.
She looked at Xu Lingyi with a questioning glance.
Xu Lingyi’s gaze was ice-cold, his expression hard and unreadable, neither sorrow nor gladness upon it.
Xu Lingkuan’s eyes darkened slightly.
“Fourth Sister-in-Law, this matter runs rather deep,” he said quietly. “You are carrying a child. Do not trouble yourself over all this messy business — Fourth Elder Brother and I will handle it. It is getting late. Please rest early.”
Shiyiniang bit her lip.
The discovery of an effigy stuck with needles was a matter of an entirely different nature from frightening someone with a disguised ghost. Even a Crown Prince implicated in such a thing would be deposed — no wonder Xu Lingyi had erupted in fury. She truly was not well-suited to involve herself in this!
She nodded to the two brothers, and was just about to speak to make her position clear, when the ever cold-faced and stern Xu Lingyi suddenly turned and explained to her: “Those things will certainly be hidden somewhere concealed. The best approach is to search the rooms and grounds thoroughly. But to simply ransack everything without direction may not turn anything up — and then we would have made a spectacle of ourselves. What we need is for the Dowager to summon Yi Yiniang and question her, to see what she knows.”
Shiyiniang understood at once.
They suspected Qin Yiniang, but it was mere suspicion after all. To dig to the foundations and find proof — that would be as it should be. But if no proof were found, the Xu brothers would appear incompetent — and worse, word might spread that they had done this to clear Shiyiniang’s name and frame Qin Yiniang as a scapegoat, which would be a grievous insult to Xu Siyu far away in Le’an. It would also disturb the real culprit and make it possible that the practitioner of the sorcery might never be found. The best approach was to approach Yi Yiniang, who was on close terms with Qin Yiniang. But Yi Yiniang was of the Third House — it would be inappropriate for the brothers to go and question her directly. Only the Dowager could do it. Even if Yi Yiniang suffered some injustice, it was the Dowager herself who had summoned her — never mind a concubine whose own son was the Third Master’s, even the Third Madam would simply have to endure whatever injustice the Dowager chose to deliver. And it would not appear too improper.
Since the Dowager was to take the lead, who would look after the still-unconscious Zhun Ge?
Shiyiniang thought it through and said: “Then Zhun Ge’s side…”
“Nanny Du will be there,” Xu Lingyi said. “Rest well yourself. Don’t let him remain unconscious while you collapse too!”
That kick from Xu Sizhun had never stopped unsettling him.
That was true enough. Everyone was occupied now — not adding to their troubles was itself a help.
“Then I shall trouble my lord and Fifth Elder Brother!” Shiyiniang exchanged a few warm words with Xu Lingkuan, then went off with Hupo to rest in the eastern side chamber.
Word of such a grave incident in the household — even the blind knew to tread carefully. The Dowager’s residence was hushed, the slightest sounds magnified.
Shiyiniang lay on the chaise longue in the eastern side chamber and listened: a little maid reporting “Yi Yiniang has come”; the Dowager’s half-intelligible scolding; Yi Yiniang’s frightened protests and her grief-stricken weeping… By the time quiet settled again, it was already the full hour of Yin the following day.
“Madam, let me go and see what’s happening!” Hupo’s heart had been in her throat throughout; she desperately wanted this business concluded quickly. If it dragged on too long, the story of Yanrong’s detention would spread all over the household, and even if the fright given to Xu Sizhun had nothing to do with them, people would begin to say it did. Besides, matters of this sort — those involving an heir’s stepmother scheming against him for the sake of succession, property, and even murder — were exactly the kind of grand household secrets people relished. Naturally, the sooner it was resolved and the situation contained, the better.
“Be careful,” Shiyiniang reminded her. “Don’t push yourself.”
Lest she see something she should not, or hear something she should not, and find herself drawn into the tangle.
“Your servant understands!” Hupo nodded in clear comprehension and slipped quietly out the door.
About half a quarter-hour later, she returned.
“Madam!” Her eyes were bright, her face suffused with joy. “My lord and Fifth Elder Brother have gone to Qin Yiniang’s quarters.”
So Xu Lingyi and Xu Lingkuan had already obtained the evidence.
“Oh!” Shiyiniang sat up with a start of energy, pointed to the small stool before the chaise longue, and said: “Quickly — tell me what happened!”
Hupo perched on the small stool and said in a low voice: “The moment the Dowager lost her temper, Yi Yiniang poured it all out like beans from a bamboo tube. According to Yi Yiniang — Qin Yiniang had long been thinking of Xu Siyu far away in Le’an, and wanted to hire someone to hold ritual ceremonies on his behalf so that he might be safe and well in a distant land. As it happened, she encountered a period when the Empress Dowager had fallen ill and the Abbess Jining had been engaged by Marquis Jianning and was unavailable. Qin Yiniang happened to mention this to her in passing, and she thought of a Daoist healer named Zhu, a woman who had long moved in the circles of the Third Madam’s mother — skilled at making peace-amulets and reciting purification sutras, and highly regarded by the Third Madam’s mother. Moreover, she charged considerably less than Abbess Jining. So she had introduced Zhu to Qin Yiniang. The two of them struck up an immediate rapport and became frequent companions. Qin Yiniang would regularly donate lamp oil to Zhu’s Daoist shrine; in return, Zhu kept a perpetual lamp burning for Xu Siyu and recited a peace sutra for him morning and evening.”
“Because Xu Lingyi disliked Qin Yiniang burning incense and worshipping idols, Qin Yiniang dared not bring Zhu into the household. She would only meet her briefly at the back gate, and when it was inconvenient, she would ask Yi Yiniang to serve as a go-between, passing along messages or lamp-oil money.”
“Later, for reasons unknown, Qin Yiniang suddenly began showering Zhu with gifts of several hundred taels at a time, even thousands. Yi Yiniang grew suspicious, and after pressing her several times, discovered that Qin Yiniang had — guided by Zhu — installed several spirit tablets behind the niche in the heated chamber.”
“Yi Yiniang herself understood these things and could tell at a glance that this was the arrangement for practicing sorcery. She was frightened out of her wits and implored Qin Yiniang to stop several times, but Qin Yiniang remained noncommittal. Yi Yiniang wanted to report the matter to the Dowager, but since it was she herself who had introduced Zhu to Qin Yiniang, she feared being implicated and dared not speak. So she hesitated and delayed, letting the matter drag on.”
“Last night, Qin Yiniang had come to her room for a visit, and Yi Yiniang had pleaded with her at length. Qin Yiniang grew impatient, sat for barely a quarter-hour, and left.”
“When Xu Lingyi sent people to question her at the time, she had not known what it was about and hadn’t thought much of it, so she gave only a vague answer.”
“So this matter truly had nothing to do with her at all!” Shiyiniang said with a smile, the corner of her mouth curving in a faint, sardonic arc. “Not only did it have nothing to do with her — she had even spent considerable effort trying to persuade Qin Yiniang against it!”