Since the baseline had already been established that Yu Qiao would “die from smallpox,” those in the manor’s upper echelons all knew in their hearts how to handle what came next.
The very next night, someone came from Xiaotang Mountain to report. The inner hall’s cloud board sounded four times: Yu Qiao had expired at Xiaotang Mountain villa that same day toward evening due to high fever from a smallpox outbreak that wouldn’t break.
“They say the second outbreak is the most dangerous.” Madam Xu’s eyes had never dried. Just when it seemed she had no more tears, she would dab with her handkerchief and her eyes would redden again. “I thought that since I’d already had smallpox, it would be best for me to care for her—to avoid infecting anyone else in the household, young or old, who hadn’t had it yet, which would make things even more difficult. I never expected it to happen so quickly. When I visited in the morning she only had a high fever, but by evening she had already passed…”
Clan members who came to mourn immediately stepped forward to console her. “This is fate. It’s already best that it didn’t spread to others. Look at the children in the manor—none of them have had pox yet…”
Given the Qin Dynasty’s medical conditions, a young lady dying from smallpox was utterly normal. Not only had the Xu family’s First Miss and Fourth Miss failed to survive to adulthood, but even in the half year since Seventh Miss had been managing the household, there had been several funerals among friends and relatives—either elderly passing away or young children dying prematurely. For those even younger, families wouldn’t even inform friends and relatives, quietly burying them and leaving it at that. The reasoning was that failure to survive to adulthood was already an omen of thin fortune, and the deceased’s family feared that making a big fuss would damage the deceased’s blessings, preventing their soul from reincarnating in the next life. Thus the younger the age, the smaller the funeral—though in truth, it was simply because infant mortality was such a common occurrence that if each were treated as a major event, there would be white affairs every month, making social obligations too burdensome and troublesome.
At Yu Qiao’s age, though she couldn’t be called a child, she absolutely qualified as having died young. Moreover, the Grand Madam had fallen “ill” from excessive grief, Madam Xu’s health was poor, and Fourth Young Madam needed to protect her pregnancy and couldn’t be worked hard. Among the Xu family men, Xu Fengjia had accompanied the Emperor on an outing, while Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master both held official positions. Therefore Yu Qiao’s funeral was handled very simply—keeping vigil at home for seven days, selecting an excellent feng shui burial site for her, then hastily interring her outside the city. Just a few friends and relatives sent junior family members to offer roadside sacrifices, and that fulfilled the proprieties.
Though handled simply, because everything happened suddenly without time to prepare, Seventh Miss, First Young Madam, and Fifth Young Madam were indeed kept quite busy before they could properly settle all the loose ends—after all, it took nearly half a month.
After Fifth Young Madam locked Xiao Liujiang and the other two outside the city at Yu Qiao’s grave and made no further statements on the matter, Seventh Miss couldn’t be bothered playing more games with Duke Pingguo. She simply went directly to Menghua Pavilion to ask Duke Pingguo how these people should be handled.
Her directness actually pleased the old man greatly. He merely stood with hands clasped behind his back, pondering for a while, before deciding decisively, “These people cannot be kept!”
This judgment didn’t surprise Seventh Miss in the slightest. Since these servants could no longer serve at their masters’ sides, naturally wherever they were placed, Duke Pingguo could never be completely at ease. Worse still, Xiao Liujiang was literate. Even if given a silencing drug, there was no way to completely prevent the possibility of her leaking secrets. Moreover, Yu Qiao’s death already had some questionable aspects. Silencing them and sending them to an estate would seem guilty. For Duke Pingguo, naturally completely silencing them all would be cleaner.
Everyone understood in their hearts what impact this matter would have on the Xu family’s reputation if it leaked out: an unchaste elopement not only proved Yu Qiao herself was of extremely low moral character, it also demonstrated serious deficiencies in the Xu family’s education of their children. Generally law-abiding prominent families would absolutely not form marriage alliances with families who had been so careless in their instruction.
If not for the Qin family’s current undiminished prestige and the Yang family’s such prominence, whether Madam Xu would lose Duke Pingguo’s favor over this matter was still uncertain. Fortunately, Seventh Miss had entered the household not long ago and at most could be blamed for “lax supervision allowing Yu Qiao to successfully escape”—and even this charge had been deflected onto Fifth Young Madam by Xu Fengjia that night. For Duke Pingguo to blame her would truly lack justification.
Seventh Miss’s emotions surged. Seeing Duke Pingguo say these words then gaze at her quite meaningfully, she felt somewhat helpless in her heart. This old duke with his military background and decisive killing nature didn’t take human lives very seriously, yet she had no way to so easily and casually arrange for several maids to be sent to their deaths.
Over these ten-plus years, it was only because of her chance encounter with Xu Fengjia in the small courtyard that she had implicated those two households, plus her personal recommendation that led to Accountant Zhang’s entire family losing their voices forever… Just these two matters, when Seventh Miss occasionally recalled them, made her feel as if a large stone were blocking her heart. She could somewhat rationalize Accountant Zhang’s family: in a dog-eat-dog world, if she weren’t ruthless, she’d be the one trampled. But those two servants’ families back then had truly been entirely innocent—it was only because of her carelessness, Xu Fengjia’s lack of caution, and Nanny Dong’s overconfidence…
Yet Duke Pingguo now said nothing, likely intending to force her to take a position and accept this task. In his mind, whether she could steel herself to end servants’ lives probably also related to whether she was a qualified household mistress.
Even if she refused today, someday he would seize an opportunity and certainly wouldn’t mind using a few lives to temper her. After all, that evening, Duke Pingguo had already shown his dissatisfaction with her weak performance.
These thousand threads of thought flashed by in an instant. Seventh Miss had already clenched her teeth and made her decision.
“Indeed they cannot be kept.” She echoed Duke Pingguo without showing emotion. “However, Yu Qiao falling ill without summoning Mr. Zhong for diagnosis is already quite suspicious…”
Duke Pingguo’s gaze immediately sharpened.
He looked at Seventh Miss once, then fell silent.
Though not a single word was spoken, his displeasure was self-evident.
With Seventh Miss’s intelligence, how could she not understand his subtext? She was pretending not to understand, trying to change the subject and obliquely plead for Xiao Liujiang and the other maids’ lives.
If Mr. Zhong weren’t discreet, how could he move freely among various high officials and nobles’ households for so many years without causing any trouble? Regarding Yu Qiao’s funeral, he had merely sent gifts without asking a single improper question. Even if Xiao Liujiang and the other maids died suddenly overnight from poison, or were pushed into a well and said to have jumped in from excessive grief, or were forced to hang themselves or dash their heads against pillars… would anyone really be so tactless as to oppose the Xu family over two or three servants’ deaths?
Yang Shi was like scooping rice soup with an open bag—clearly pretending to be confused. For a household mistress to be soft-hearted to this degree was no good thing.
In the flash of thought, Duke Pingguo had already made his decision.
He stared at Seventh Miss and said meaningfully, “It’s fortunate your mother-in-law went to Xiaotang Mountain, otherwise seeing you so wilted and weak, she’d likely lose sleep again starting tonight.”
Yet Seventh Miss remained exceptionally calm, not the least bit flustered by Duke Pingguo’s displeasure.
Having made her decision, naturally she had the courage to bear the consequences.
“Human life is paramount.” She had no intention of continuing to play dumb, instead calmly stating her reasoning. “When ruthlessness is called for, one indeed cannot be soft-hearted, but if even one life can be spared, that’s one life spared—善衡妇人之仁. Please forgive this woman’s benevolence, Father.”
Duke Pingguo made no effort to conceal his displeasure. He snorted coldly. “Woman’s benevolence, well said. Is this not precisely woman’s benevolence?”
But seeing Seventh Miss clearly had no intention of yielding or submitting, and Duke Pingguo was ultimately only a father-in-law, continuing this conversation further would produce no results.
Duke Pingguo looked at Seventh Miss again, shook his head, and reluctantly instructed her, “These people still cannot be kept!”
By saying this, he had actually already yielded ground: the deaths of these people, after all, were not decisions made by Seventh Miss, but required Duke Pingguo to invoke his position as family patriarch to pressure his daughter-in-law.
Seventh Miss’s gaze darkened, but she didn’t continue debating with Duke Pingguo.
Ultimately, the Xu family was still ruled by Duke Pingguo, not herself. In many matters, even Xu Fengjia had no say. If not for Duke Pingguo regarding him with some favor, with the weight of filial piety pressing down, Xu Fengjia fundamentally couldn’t voice his own opinions, let alone herself, an outsider and second wife.
At root, she was still selfish. Angering Duke Pingguo once over Xiao Liujiang and the others was Seventh Miss’s limit.
“Xiao Qi knows what to do.” She lowered her eyes and agreed without hesitation. “Father can rest assured.”
Duke Pingguo was finally somewhat satisfied. He hesitated, then said in a low voice, “In great noble families, many times there are dirty deeds that must be done. If you as mistress don’t do them, who will? Someone must dirty their hands. If you won’t step up, should your mother-in-law at her advanced age still worry about family matters? Father’s words—go back and think them over carefully.”
For someone of Duke Pingguo’s status and depth to say such things showed he valued Seventh Miss greatly.
How could Seventh Miss not understand Duke Pingguo’s meaning? For someone like him with military origins who had maneuvered in political circles, every move affecting national politics—how could he take a few lives to heart?
She helplessly exhaled and produced a faint smile, placating Duke Pingguo. “Xiao Qi understands. It’s just that my heart still feels somewhat unbearable.”
Since she was willing to admit fault in a roundabout way, Duke Pingguo naturally wouldn’t press too hard. He instructed Seventh Miss a few more times, “This must be handled with utmost secrecy.” Then he remembered to add with a smile, “Regarding the Fan family marriage, you should also pay attention. Your fourth sister-in-law is now focused on her pregnancy and likely won’t be as attentive to Yu Ping. When you have time, ask her opinion. If she’s unwilling and Yu An is also unwilling, I think this matter can just as well be dropped.”
The Fan family match meant nothing to the Xu family—one more or one less made no difference. After Yu Qiao, Duke Pingguo understood to consider his daughters’ feelings. In any case, he couldn’t be called a very derelict father—by Qin Dynasty social standards, he was even somewhat too open-minded.
Precisely because he wasn’t a bad person, Seventh Miss felt despair: the inhumanity of the feudal system—without being immersed in it for over a decade, one absolutely couldn’t perceive it.
#
After Imperial Concubine Niu gave birth and news of Sixth Miss’s pregnancy spread, Feng Jin’s illness also recovered—though he had merely claimed illness for the past half year, some less important official business had been delayed, and lately he’d been frantically busy. There were also matters concerning Guangzhou that required Xu Fengjia’s counsel and discussion, so this pair of cousins with their somewhat awkward relationship had been meeting together quite frequently recently. Since finishing Yu Qiao’s funeral arrangements, Xu Fengjia went daily to the Yanyun Guard office to help them compile maritime charts from the south and intelligence on various nations, often staying busy until evening before returning. When Seventh Miss entered Mingde Hall, she found it exceptionally quiet inside.
She smiled and remarked to Lixia, “When the two children are here I don’t notice, but now that they’ve gone to school, the room feels very quiet.”
Lixia also forced a smile in response. “No matter. School will dismiss soon. Now Fourth Young Master is actually more talkative than Fifth Young Master—once they return, you’ll surely find them too noisy again.”
Seeing that though she smiled, her expression and manner all displayed deep worry, Seventh Miss couldn’t help sighing inwardly. Though she had vaguely mentioned that they would absolutely not be implicated by this matter, neither Lixia nor Shangyuan were fools. On the night of the dispute, both had attended at her side and couldn’t possibly be unaware of the conflict between Seventh Miss and Fifth Young Madam.
“You can rest assured.” She guaranteed with slight weariness, “This matter begins with Yu Qiao and ends with Yu Qiao’s quarters. Xiao Liujiang, Xiao Guijiang, and Xiao Rongjiang—Duke Pingguo personally ordered it, they can no longer be protected. As for you, as long as you’re careful with your words, nothing will happen.”
Lixia and Shangyuan exchanged glances, both showing expressions of reluctance.
Though the Yang family struggles had been cruel, even Second Madam, the biggest loser who had committed such great wrongs, was merely forced to relocate to the northwest under supervision. Ordinary servants and maids who offended their masters might be sold off, expelled, or sent to estates to work, but rarely lost their lives.
How could Seventh Miss not understand their unspoken subtext?
“After all, this is a military family,” she sighed. “This matter… Lixia will handle it. Prepare a good medicine that can let them pass in their sleep—that would be best.”
These three maids were still keeping vigil for Yu Qiao at her grave and hadn’t returned to the manor. While they were still outside, handling it quietly without attracting more trouble would be the best outcome.
Lixia started in shock. She jumped up about to speak, but seeing Seventh Miss’s expression, swallowed her words.
Serving under Seventh Miss wasn’t a difficult assignment. No matter how hard things were, she faced them herself, never shirking responsibility or expecting anyone to help. Whatever the matter, she formed her own judgment before delegating tasks to subordinates according to their capabilities.
Yet at this moment, Seventh Miss’s face rarely showed weakness, and those water-clear eyes dimmed unusually, revealing faint traces of distress. She looked at Lixia almost pleadingly, like a drowning person looking at driftwood nearby.
Lixia’s heart immediately softened and nearly melted.
Her own life had been preserved by Seventh Miss, but to preserve her position as household mistress so she could continue protecting those below her, how many things against her conscience must Seventh Miss do?
She took a deep breath and said in a low voice, “Don’t worry about this matter anymore. Just consider it the Duke directly ordering this servant to handle it, with absolutely no connection to you…”
Only then did Shangyuan understand. She quickly knelt beside Seventh Miss, carefully consoling her. “You will never drive people to their deaths in this lifetime. We servants all understand in our hearts—you’re also helpless, you’re also helpless…”
Seventh Miss closed her eyes and let out a long sigh.
Countless faces spun through her mind like a vast whirlpool, swallowing her happiness bit by bit.
Even if she refused to personally order the three maids’ silencing, in the end wouldn’t she still be the one instructing their dispatch to certain death?
More worrying still, with Duke Pingguo’s depth, if she tried to secretly send the three away, it likely wouldn’t escape his surveillance. Acting rashly in such a way would instead put herself in an unfavorable position.
Fifth Young Madam was still watching like a tiger for her to make mistakes!
Thinking of Fifth Young Madam, all the loathing in her heart seemed to find an outlet, rushing forth toward that exquisite face.
If not for her, these three people’s lives… might originally have been savable!
Seventh Miss took a deep breath, slowly pressing down her boiling emotions.
She half sat up and said flatly, “What cannot be helped shouldn’t be dwelt upon too much.—Lixia will handle this matter. Shangyuan, you make a trip to Xiaocui Embroidery Hall and invite Fifth Miss here, saying I have something to discuss with her.”
What could no longer be salvaged—excessive attachment would only disturb her mind. Now she still needed to arrange what could be properly arranged as well as possible.