Two hundred li southwest of Zhuojun, past Yuyang, there was a city called Yi.
Su E’huang’s carriage, having left Yuyang, traveled at a leisurely pace. On this day, they arrived at this city. Due to the fatigue of both people and horses and her physical discomfort, the group rested in the city for several days.
She was the widow of Liu Li, the former Prince of Zuopingyi, and brother of Emperor Xuan. Born into a noble family of the Zhongshan Kingdom and related to the Wei family, her status was high. When the magistrate of Yi City learned that she had stopped due to ill health on her way back to Zhongshan, he treated her with proper courtesy.
On the evening of the second day, her nephew Su Xin caught up with them. His first words upon seeing her were, “I didn’t receive the expected message, so I quickly left the city as you instructed earlier, Aunt. I assume Jiang Ao’s mission failed.”
Su Xin’s expression was very dejected.
Su E’huang’s delicate eyebrows furrowed, a flash of disappointment crossing her eyes. But quickly, her expression returned to normal, and she said calmly, “If it failed, it failed. Why be so dejected? Most things in life don’t go as planned. When I schemed, I was prepared for failure.”
Seeing her so calm, Su Xin’s dejection vanished. He said, “I followed your instructions, aunt. I fed the rural marquis’s wife the puti shan in her sleep, and left quietly before dawn.”
Thinking of the woman who would lose her life whether the plan succeeded or failed, he still felt somewhat regretful. He couldn’t help but add, “I saw she was very flattering towards you, aunt, and my interactions with her were discreet. I don’t think we were noticed by others. Even if the plan failed, I think she would have been fine. Why did you insist I kill her?”
Su E’huang replied, “How do you know your interactions with her weren’t noticed? How do you know she wouldn’t have reported me if the plan failed? What’s the matter with killing a few people? Men slaughter millions and shed rivers of blood for power and ambition. For what I want, how can I not kill a few people? You’re a proud man, how can you be so soft-hearted?”
Su Xin looked ashamed at her rebuke. He gritted his teeth and said, “You’re right, aunt. I’ve learned my lesson. It’s just a pity that Jiang Ao was incompetent, wasting all your efforts.”
He suddenly seemed to remember something: “But aunt, how do you know Jiang Ao will keep quiet about you? What if she can’t withstand interrogation and reveals your involvement?”
Su E’huang said, “The hardest thing to control in this world is the human heart. But it’s also the easiest thing to control. If you can discern what a person truly wants and desires, you can manipulate them like a puppet.”
“This Jiang Ao, not only will she not reveal me, I expect she has already taken her own life by now, to repay my kindness to her,” Su E’huang said with a slight smile.
Su Xin stared at Su E’huang in amazement. After a while, he asked, “Aunt, you’ve always been exceptionally wise and cautious. I deeply admire you. But there’s one thing I don’t understand and hope you can enlighten me. Although this attempt failed, and it’s a pity we couldn’t eliminate the Wei family’s old woman, I don’t understand why you didn’t use Jiang Ao to directly eliminate Lady Qiao instead, if you want to win the Yan Marquis’s heart. Why go to such lengths to eliminate the old woman?”
Su E’huang replied, “Who is Lady Qiao? She’s just the daughter of the Wei family’s enemy. Zhonglin marrying her was just for the sake of Yanzhou. What’s there to fear? That old woman is different. She has a deep prejudice against me, and Zhonglin listens to her without question. As long as she’s by his side, even if Zhonglin has feelings for me, he wouldn’t dare approach me. You excel at archery. To shoot a person, you must first shoot their horse. Surely I don’t need to explain this principle to you.”
Su Xin’s face showed deep admiration. He flattered her, saying, “Aunt, you truly are no ordinary woman. I am in awe! From now on, I swear to serve you with my life. I hope that one day we’ll attain wealth and status, revive the glory of our Su family, and honor our ancestors!”
Su E’huang smiled silently.
Besides the answer she had given Su Xin about why she didn’t want to eliminate Lady Qiao first, she hadn’t told her nephew that her reluctance to move against Lady Qiao now also stemmed from a subtle, unwilling-to-admit-defeat woman’s heart.
In Zhongshan, Su E’huang had first encountered Lady Qiao.
At first sight of Lady Qiao, the usually self-assured Su E’huang had to admit that Wei Zhonglin’s wife was not only younger than her but also surpassed her in beauty.
As for the special quality Lady Qiao possessed, which Su E’huang found hard to describe but could deeply feel as soon as she saw her – a kind of beauty that seemed to permeate to the bone – it was something Su E’huang could never achieve no matter how hard she tried in this lifetime.
At that time, a seed of jealousy was planted in Su E’huang’s heart. Not long ago, when she came to Yuyang and witnessed Lady Qiao ascending the high platform at Lulitai to strike the great drum under the gaze of countless soldiers,
At that moment, with the wind whipping her robes on the platform and the masses below responding to her call,
That scene was deeply etched in Su E’huang’s mind, never to be forgotten.
If her earlier jealousy was just due to her nature, from that moment on, she knew what she wanted to do to Lady Qiao.
If Zhonglin didn’t like her, she wanted Lady Qiao to see her not only winning the favor of her husband but also taking away the status and glory that should have belonged to her.
If Zhonglin did like her, she wanted even more to snatch Zhonglin from her hands, to make her taste the immense torment and pain of being gnawed by loss and jealousy.
From birth, Su E’huang had been burdened with the destiny of being “too noble to speak of.” She had never doubted this. To make this destiny come true, she had cut off the last thread of her girlhood innocence with her own hands. From the first day of her marriage, she had exhausted her mind and energy, even stooping to petty schemes. She had endured countless humiliations and suppressed her nature countless times. However, after ten years of dreaming, she found that all her efforts had been in vain, everything had returned to square one, or even worse than the starting point.
As she lost her youth and her dreams fell through, the entire family pinned their hopes on her alone. What could be more terrifying for a woman? Yet this Lady Qiao, despite being from an enemy family, effortlessly obtained what she now desired most: youth, beauty, and the position of Zhonglin’s wife.
Su Ehuang had always felt that in Wei Shao’s heart, the influence she had left on him—being two years his senior, like an elder sister who had enlightened his adolescent confusion—was unique. Wei Shao still harbored old feelings for her, even though at seventeen she had bid farewell to the fifteen-year-old him and resolutely married far away in Luoyang.
It’s just that he had always been a person who, since childhood, was accustomed to concealing his thoughts deep within. After experiencing the tremendous double blow of losing both his father and brother in his youth, it was only natural that his personality became even more profound and mercurial.
This time, she finally set foot in Yuyang under the pretext of the Deer Festival. After investigating his daily schedule to and from the magistrate’s office, she orchestrated that “chance” encounter. It was that encounter that further confirmed her thoughts.
Although initially, she felt somewhat defeated that Wei Shao was completely unaware of her arrival in Yuyang after so many days, this feeling of defeat quickly passed. When she proposed visiting Madam Xu, Wei Shao initially refused. But when she persuaded him as she had in the past, she observed his hesitation before he relented and agreed to her request.
It was this very point that made Su Ehuang feel elated and more certain that she still held a place in Wei Shao’s heart—perhaps he had just not yet emerged from the shadow cast by her marrying another year ago. Otherwise, with his status, why would he not have even a concubine by his side in all these years before he married?
As long as she could get close to him, she could grasp a man’s weaknesses and then attack his heart. No one was better at this than her. This was also why she wanted to eliminate Madam Xu.
In her original design, if Madam Xu had died as planned, and Nurse Jiang had exposed the matter of Madam Zhu oppressing her mother-in-law to Wei Shao, given Wei Shao’s feelings for his grandmother, Madam Zhu would have no chance of redemption. No matter how much he disliked herself, Madam Zhu would be nothing more than a pitiful creature who had completely lost her dignity as a mother in front of her son and could not possibly hinder her steps.
Incidentally, she could also take severe revenge on Madam Zhu for the successive humiliations she had inflicted upon her that day.
But now, her careful scheming had failed. Not only that, but she had also lost her eyes and claws in the Wei family. It could be said that the losses were heavy. It seemed unlikely that she could eliminate Madam Xu again by taking advantage of the Wei family’s unpreparedness. Moreover, for the next period, she would probably have to temporarily avoid the limelight.
But she wouldn’t give up. What she needed to do now was to adjust her mood, keep a low profile, and then carefully plan again.
In her youth, she had misjudged people once. Over the past ten years, although her efforts had been in vain, it wasn’t entirely without gain. At least, she had developed a more accurate eye for judging people than before. She believed that Wei Zhonglin would achieve great things in this chaotic world in the future.
This time, she wouldn’t misjudge again.
…
The Magistrate of Yuyang brought the physician from Leling to the Wei mansion to report to Madam Xu about the case of the Marquis’s wife. The Marquis’s wife had died last night.
The Leling physician said that when he diagnosed her, the Marquis’s wife’s symptoms seemed like a stroke, but her nails were purple, and her lips were swollen, which was slightly different from a stroke. The illness was far more violent than a stroke, and given that the Marquis’s wife didn’t fit the usual age for strokes, he had taken some residual fluid from her tongue coating. After careful examination, he believed it was poisoning. Moreover, the dose was not small, which is why it acted so quickly and was beyond remedy.
As for what kind of poison it was, it was difficult to conclude at the moment.
The Magistrate of Yuyang interrogated the Li family servants and learned that the Marquis’s wife, though nominally a widow, was promiscuous. She had secret affairs with several male servants in the household. He interrogated them under severe torture. But these male servants seemed to have nothing to do with the Marquis’s wife’s death.
As the case made no progress, the Magistrate of Yuyang felt very ashamed. Madam Xu comforted him a few times, and after sending him off, she muttered to herself, “It seems that this old woman has become an obstacle to someone.”
Nurse Zhong glanced at her but said nothing.
“This Marquis’s wife, I heard she had stayed in Luoyang for some time in the past?” Madam Xu asked again.
Nurse Zhong affirmed.
“Send someone to Luoyang to investigate her past associations thoroughly. The more detailed the investigation, the better,” Madam Xu finally instructed after pondering for a moment.
…
Xiao Qiao had originally thought that this incident would bring a great shock to Madam Xu, like the Wei Yan incident that had left her bedridden. So although the danger had been temporarily removed, she was still very worried at first, fearing that her condition would worsen, and stayed by her side early and late.
But soon, Xiao Qiao discovered that the impact of this incident on Madam Xu seemed far less severe than she had imagined. After a few days, her spirit seemed almost as good as usual, and she often got up and walked around.
After some more time, when the Leling physician came for a follow-up, he said that the medicine could be stopped, and she only needed some more rest for her body to fully recover.
Xiao Qiao was very happy. Her heart finally settled down. After that, she was busy taking care of Madam Xu, managing affairs, and socializing. When she had free time, she would hug the cat, bask in the sun, and think about her concerns. In the blink of an eye, the season had entered November.
On this day, Xiao Qiao received a family letter from Dongju. The letter was written by her younger brother, Qiao Ci. He said he had safely arrived home and had passed on his sister’s handwritten letter to their father. Uncle was extremely pleased to hear from the messenger that the trip to Yuyang had been smooth and that she had been treated with great hospitality. Everything at home was fine, except that Aunt had fallen ill and had been bedridden for half a month. There were also various other trivial matters mentioned.
Looking at the date the letter was written immediately after Qiao Ci had returned to Dongju from Yuyang. It had just taken time to be delivered along the way, and only now had it reached her hands.
After reading the letter, Xiao Qiao pondered for a long time. The thought that had been lingering in her mind these days became even stronger. She finally made up her mind. She changed her clothes and headed towards the North Chamber.
After Madam Xu’s recent illness, Xiao Qiao’s status in the North Chamber had become almost equal to that in the West Chamber. The maidservants who saw her coming were very respectful. Xiao Qiao went to Madam Xu’s room, and at the door, she heard Madam Xu talking to Nurse Zhong about Madam Zhu.
After the incident, Madam Zhu had been sent back to her own East Chamber. However, all the original maidservants in the East Chamber had been dismissed, leaving only a few maidservants sent from the North Chamber. They were there to serve and also to keep watch.
The Great Shaman of Yushan and Zheng Shu had been arrested by the Magistrate of Yuyang and thrown into prison. As the matter concerned Madam Xu, they had not been dealt with yet, waiting for the Marquis of Yan to return and make the decision personally.
Madam Xu was asking about Madam Zhu’s situation these days.
Nurse Zhong replied, “I just went to see her this morning. The lady is not constantly crying out for justice as she did at first, she has quieted down a bit and looks somewhat dazed.” After a pause, she asked, “Is the Old Madam waiting for the master to return before making a decision?”
Madam Xu said, “She is, after all, Shao’er’s birth mother. How to deal with her, let’s wait for Shao’er to return before deciding. She’s just a muddle-headed person, keeping her under watch is enough. Now that the weather has turned cold, pay attention to the supplies on her side, don’t let them run short.”
Nurse Zhong said, “I understand.” Then she added, “The master’s return should be soon, right?”
A few days ago, they received a message from Wei Shao reporting his safety to Madam Xu. He said the war was going well and he should be able to return by the end of the year.
The maidservant outside reported the young lady’s arrival. Xiao Qiao was invited by Madam Xu to sit beside her.
After some casual conversation, Xiao Qiao said, “Grandmother, I wish to return to Dongju for a while. May I have your permission to make the journey?”