Time flowed quickly through Duke Pingguo’s manor like water.
After Fifth Young Mistress’s forty-ninth day ceremony, the funeral officially concluded. Summer seemed to depart with it—though it was only late June, the capital already showed signs of autumn. Seventh Miss hadn’t expected this year’s summer to be so short. Amidst the seasonal changes, she caught a cold and struggled through several days feeling unwell. Unable to bear watching any longer, Madam Xu simply took back household management and let Seventh Miss sleep soundly for several days before she recovered.
Since Madam Xu had returned in May and now resided here for over a month, she still hadn’t mentioned going to Little Tangshan. The household naturally found this rather strange. Even Xu Fengjia mentioned it privately to Seventh Miss with some contemplation. “It’s not that I don’t want Mother staying at home, but Little Tangshan is so comfortable in summer. There haven’t been many matters here lately—if she’s not going to Little Tangshan, is she really waiting for Fifth Brother?”
After these days of carefree rest, Seventh Miss’s spirits had improved considerably. She gave Xu Fengjia a half-smiling glance but had no intention of responding.
Madam Xu’s refusal to return to Little Tangshan was of course truly to wait for Fifth Young Master.
Sending Fifth Young Master to Yangzhou for the funeral was undeniably a clever move. This immediately opened up time, giving Duke Pingguo ample space to consider how to arrange Fifth Young Master’s fate, while also giving the Grand Dowager room to negotiate terms and save face with Duke Pingguo and Madam Xu. Moreover, once that tense moment of revelation dissipated, people often forgot easily. When the matter of punishing Fifth Young Master was raised again, everyone would naturally think: “Fifth Young Mistress died young by her own hand—though it was self-inflicted, her end was quite tragic. To pursue Fifth Young Master relentlessly seems somewhat too harsh.”
No matter how severe Duke Pingguo was with household members, he was still Fifth Young Master’s biological father. Now that Fifth Young Mistress had taken all the blame upon herself—this was like Jiang Taigong fishing, willing bait for willing fish. Naturally Seventh Miss and Xu Fengjia wouldn’t take the bait, but Duke Pingguo himself seemed to have willingly swallowed the hook. Given this, expelling Fifth Young Master from the Xu family clan was no longer possible.
Throughout May and June, the Xu household remained in shock from Fifth Young Mistress’s passing. Not only were there many trivial matters to handle and ceremonies to arrange, but there were also many personnel changes that occupied Seventh Miss’s energy. Moreover, Fourth Young Mistress’s pregnancy was truly unstable. After returning to Duke Pingguo’s manor, she continued having difficulties and simply moved back to her natal family. Then Fifth Branch’s Liao Shi somehow committed suicide by poison, taking the unborn child with her. After all, it was Xu family blood—though not from the main family, a proper funeral still had to be held. By the time everything was settled, Seventh Miss immediately fell ill. Only at this point did Xu Fengjia have the mind to discuss with Seventh Miss, “I wonder how Father will handle Fifth Brother.”
Pretending nothing had happened was no longer possible. Even if everyone could erase past events and act as if nothing had occurred, as long as Fifth Young Master had any face left, he couldn’t stand firm in the capital anymore. Sending Fifth Young Master away—how to send him, where to send him—this was another area of expertise.
Seventh Miss had long decided that regarding Xu family members, she wouldn’t say an extra word. Especially concerning Duke Pingguo and Madam Xu—unless Xu Fengjia himself spoke ill of them, she would never say a word. She merely smiled and quietly listened as Xu Fengjia analyzed and reasoned things out, then reminded him, “We still hold another confession from Qiu Zhi in our hands. If you’re worried Father will be too lenient, whether or not to produce this confession—you decide for yourself.”
No matter how clever she was, many matters still required Xu Fengjia as the man to make decisions. Especially in interactions with Duke Pingguo, there was no reason for Seventh Miss to overstep. Whether to show this confession to Duke Pingguo—she didn’t plan to say much, leaving everything to Xu Fengjia’s judgment.
Xu Fengjia seemed not to have thought of this move. He immediately fell into contemplation. After a while, he slowly said, “The matter on the boat—it’s all in the past now. Fifth Sister-in-law admitted to everything, not to mention, without physical evidence, one confession alone—what good would it do for me to raise it again? Many things—if Father wants to understand, he’ll understand no matter what. If he wants to play dumb, he’ll never understand.”
That he could see through to this level showed his heart had indeed grown cold toward Duke Pingguo. Seventh Miss had no intention of offering words of comfort, merely saying coolly, “Now that your wings are full, Father naturally must consider his other sons. His treatment of you—it’s not favoritism anymore.”
Xu Fengjia lowered his brows in contemplation for a long while. On his usually cheerful face, a trace of depression and genuine sadness rarely appeared.
“Heh, not favoritism.” He said softly. “Indeed… Father’s treatment of me—it’s not favoritism anymore.”
The room fell silent for a while. After some time, Xu Fengjia rallied his spirits, stood up and paced back and forth in the room a few times, then asked Seventh Miss, “Mother has suggested dividing the household. Has she mentioned this to you? What do you think about it?”
Though Seventh Miss had been mentally prepared, hearing the two words “divide household,” she still couldn’t help but feel somewhat shocked.
While parents live, don’t divide the household. Among the great families of the capital, even those who divided households while both parents and elders were still alive only did so when the elderly had but one breath left and worried about fair division—only then did they divide the estate before death. Even so, many were mocked for brothers being disharmonious, unable to let the elderly rest easy even about household division. Most commonly, division occurred after the male head passed away, with all but the heir moving out separately. Some more harmonious families would wait until the female head passed before mentioning household division.
For a family like the Xu household, with both Duke Pingguo and Madam Xu alive and still young, with even the Grand Dowager still living well—if they proposed division now, the entire family would truly be the subject of endless gossip!
“I think this absolutely cannot be done,” she said decisively, then softened her voice to comfort Xu Fengjia. “Though Fifth Sister’s death left some grievances unresolved, now that the Fifth Branch is gone, looking at Fourth Brother’s state, he’s been quite shaken by the Fifth Branch’s fate. Not to mention Elder Brother—Seventh Brother and Eighth Brother are still young. Even without dividing the household, there’s no problem.”
Xu Fengjia turned his gaze over, contemplatively acknowledging with a sound, then let out a long breath. “But without dividing the household, you’ll never be able to rest. Forget about childbearing—even your health, I don’t see how it can improve.”
Though Madam Xu had been far from the center of power these years, she had after all been through much. How could such an absurd idea as household division come from her mind? Seventh Miss immediately understood—this was still Xu Fengjia considering her situation…
She didn’t know what to feel in her heart—there was bitterness, a trace of sweetness, and ultimately some melancholy. Without dividing the household, she would indeed have to worry about much more. Those two words “childbearing” would become even more distant.
“With Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother here, as long as Grandmother doesn’t constantly criticize me,” she said with a smile, “my pressure isn’t too great. As for household matters, without the Fifth Branch causing trouble, I can manage. Would I become useless for life just for those two words ‘child’? Xu Fengjia, you underestimate me—prepare to be hit!”
The young couple played around for a while. Seventh Miss then said thoughtfully, “Grandmother has been abnormally quiet this past month.”
Since learning the truth about Fifth Young Mistress’s death, the Grand Dowager had indeed been very quiet. As a grandmother and elder, she needn’t participate in the younger generation’s funeral. She simply observed a vegetarian diet throughout the seventh-day period in Leshan Residence, praying for Fifth Young Mistress. After the seventh day, once Fifth Young Mistress’s coffin departed, she took Hexian to Leshan Residence to raise her. Beyond this, she didn’t say a word about household affairs. Toward Seventh Miss, she showed neither smiles nor tears, and of course no longer brought up the concubine matter. This past month, though Seventh Miss had been busy, her state of mind had actually been rather pleasant. Even when Quan Zhongbai came to check her pulse, he was quite surprised. “Young Mistress should have been very busy recently—how is your vital energy not weakened?”
Mentioning the Grand Dowager, Xu Fengjia’s expression darkened. “Fifth Brother grew up at Grandmother’s side. The old lady probably can’t bear to have Fifth Brother travel too far. I think sooner or later she’ll still approach Father.”
If she only approached Duke Pingguo, that would still be acceptable. Seventh Miss said in a low voice, “I’m just afraid she’ll come to us… At that time, whether you agree or don’t agree—this matter will be difficult.”
She smiled again. “Forget it. Even if we agreed, I’m afraid your Fourth Aunt wouldn’t agree. Have you heard? Fifth Sister-in-law’s uncle has already been found at fault and will probably lose his position.”
Even Fifth Young Mistress’s family members wouldn’t be spared by the Yang and Sun families. How could Fifth Young Master possibly rely on Duke Pingguo and the Grand Dowager’s protection to safely continue his dissolute life in the capital?
“Moreover,” Seventh Miss narrowed her eyes and said softly, “I always feel Fifth Sister-in-law’s words still had some untruth. That extra medicinal ingredient… doesn’t seem like her style at all.”
Though Xu Fengjia couldn’t claim to be completely ignorant of inner household schemes, he was certainly no expert. He stared and thought for a while, then simply said, “I don’t know about this. If you have doubts, you’d better discuss it with Lixia.”
“Lixia is now busy overseeing the young maids, looking to promote someone to replace her. Discuss with me? She probably doesn’t even have time to pay attention to me.” Seventh Miss couldn’t help but laugh heartily. “Forget it, forget it. Fifth Sister-in-law’s mind was too deep. I give up tormenting myself. In any case, she admitted to everything, so I’ll consider this matter completely finished.”
Though she said this, she couldn’t help pondering. The Grand Dowager certainly didn’t know about the boat deed matter. Regarding the usury, she probably also knew nothing, or thought she knew everything in detail when she was actually just being used as a pawn by Fifth Young Mistress. So regarding the poisoning and assassination attempts, did the Grand Dowager know or not? And given Fifth Young Master’s character, he might have tacitly permitted the poisoning, but the assassination… would he have approved?
Fifth Young Mistress certainly wouldn’t shelve her plans because of her husband’s opposition. However, with her deep cunning and understanding of Fifth Young Master, she probably wouldn’t let such a conflict occur at all. Most likely she had kept Fifth Young Master completely in the dark about the assassination from start to finish.
Looking at Fifth Young Master’s dull-witted appearance, deceiving him was absolutely no difficult matter. Otherwise, if he had approved the assassination, he would have at least simultaneously tried to perform well—otherwise, Xu Fengjia’s death would merely benefit the Fourth Branch for nothing.
If she could think this way, Duke Pingguo could naturally think the same…
So regarding the poisoning, did Fifth Young Master actually know or not? That extra ingredient of saffron among the two medicines—was it Fifth Young Mistress’s sudden impulse, or was there still a murderer hidden behind the scenes?
Though Seventh Miss had rested a few days thanks to Madam Xu’s favor, she ultimately didn’t dare go too far. After dragging on two more days until her body completely recovered, she entered Qingping Garden to thank Madam Xu. “Mother still cares for me most.” She simultaneously took back household management and resumed working.
Madam Xu had only maintained the various daily operations of Duke Pingguo’s manor—some trivial matters remained unfinished. After organizing several files, Seventh Miss discovered several of Fifth Young Mistress’s personal maids were still staying in Shensi Hall, their fates unknown. She didn’t dare make decisions on her own. Learning that Duke Pingguo was in Menghua Pavilion, she simply had someone verify there were no male guests, then left through the second gate to discuss with Duke Pingguo at Menghua Pavilion.
“These several people all served at Fifth Sister-in-law’s side.” Seventh Miss consulted Duke Pingguo while reviewing the files. “Normally they could be sent to Yangzhou to guard the tomb for three years. But I feared several people couldn’t endure the loneliness—they might run away halfway or go back to their hometowns talking nonsense—so I didn’t arrange this. At the time I was so busy I forgot about it and just locked them in Shensi Hall. How do you think this should be arranged?”
Duke Pingguo’s lips moved, then he let out a helpless sigh.
Everything about this daughter-in-law was good, except when it involved human lives—she was always soft-hearted.
But now she was no longer someone he could casually discipline… Setting aside the shadowy backers behind her, just this Fifth Branch matter alone was a permanent handle she held. If he handled things even slightly improperly, it would show favoritism toward the heir. At this moment, even if she wanted to push such matters onto him, he could only let her.
“What should be done, you understand very well in your heart,” he said impassively, glancing at Seventh Miss. “These people still need to be dealt with.”
These people were close servants around Fifth Young Mistress. They might know something about many of Fifth Young Mistress’s affairs. Even if they knew nothing, Duke Pingguo would never allow the slightest possibility of Fifth Young Mistress’s death being leaked. If even Little Liujiang and the others couldn’t escape death, how could Little Fuchun and company be exceptions?
Perhaps she had already prepared herself mentally, or perhaps these people were after all Shensi Hall’s direct servants—Seventh Miss felt little disturbance in her heart. She said calmly, “In that case, it’s better to send them outside the city first. The commotion will be smaller.”
Seeing Duke Pingguo nod without speaking, Seventh Miss took her leave and found Lixia to give a few instructions.
This wasn’t Lixia’s first time handling such matters. Moreover, she’d been prepared long ago, so she went down to make arrangements herself. That evening, she brought back word. “Little Fuchun and the others know, and they’re all quite calm. Only Little Fuchun said she wanted to see you once before leaving.”
Seventh Miss had just finished dinner and was reading on the kang when she heard Lixia say this. She felt somewhat surprised.
Since Little Luowen left, Little Fuchun had been the most favored head maid at Fifth Young Mistress’s side…
“Then bring her over now,” she said without revealing emotion, putting down her book.
Lixia seemed to have anticipated Seventh Miss’s decision. Before long, she brought Little Fuchun into the west third room.
Though this young maid already knew the fate awaiting her, she maintained composure. She was dressed very neatly. Though somewhat thinner than usual, her spirits seemed fine. Seeing Seventh Miss, she respectfully paid her respects, then drew a letter from her bosom and handed it to Seventh Miss.
“Before Fifth Young Mistress passed away, she instructed this servant to deliver this letter to Young Mistress at an opportune moment,” Little Fuchun said calmly. “But since the incident, this servant has been locked in Shensi Hall with few opportunities to meet the sisters serving Young Mistress. Seeing that tomorrow we go outside the city, I finally saw Sister Lixia. Therefore, I presumptuously request an audience. Please forgive me, Young Mistress.”
Still speaking so methodically…
A wave of reluctance immediately arose in Seventh Miss’s heart. She almost evasively turned her head away, playing with the white envelope sealed only with wax in her hands, and said softly, “When did she write this?”
Seeing Little Fuchun respond with silence, knowing this was probably one batch of Fifth Young Mistress’s suicide notes, she thought for a moment and asked, “Your Young Mistress only wrote two letters?”
Little Fuchun smiled slightly and said naturally, “This servant doesn’t know.”
Seventh Miss immediately narrowed her eyes.
That Fifth Young Mistress would make arrangements before death was human nature. How many letters she wrote essentially meant how many final arrangements she made.
Know yourself and know your enemy—naturally she wanted to know how many arrangements Fifth Young Mistress had made… But Little Fuchun wasn’t afraid even with death imminent—what could frighten her?
She couldn’t help but praise Little Fuchun softly. “You’re quite a brave girl!”
Little Fuchun revealed another calm smile. “This is all this servant’s fate.”
It seemed she had indeed accepted her destiny.
Trying to pry a secret from such a person could be said to be harder than reaching heaven. For Little Fuchun, on the path she would walk hereafter, perhaps there would no longer be distinctions between master and servant.
Seventh Miss stopped questioning her, instead looking at Lixia and saying in a low voice, “Ask if she has any last wishes. If you can help, do so!”
A trace of surprise flashed across Little Fuchun’s face. She looked at Seventh Miss, opened her mouth, then closed it again. She simply stood up and, led by Lixia, slowly left the room.
Reaching the doorway, she turned back and said softly, “Young Mistress wrote only three letters in total before leaving—one for her natal family to see, one for her husband’s family as an account, and one is right in your hands.”
Before Seventh Miss could react, Little Fuchun proactively turned her head, passed Lixia, and left the west third room.
Seventh Miss watched her figure recede into the distance. For a moment, she didn’t know what to feel. After staring blankly for a while, she opened the envelope, drew out the letter, and began reading word by word.
Her expression gradually grew more grave as she read the letter’s contents.