Though the Sheng household did not occupy a great deal of land, its residents were few — since the young ladies had married out and Changbai had been posted to an official position elsewhere, all that remained were Sheng Hong with his wife and several Yiniangs in the main courtyard, Changfeng and his wife in another courtyard, and the Shou’an Hall — with the young infants living alongside their nearest elders.

In fact, it was precisely because Changdong had grown older that Sheng Hong had arranged for him to take over the small courtyard that Molan had previously occupied — there was no question of touching Rulan’s or Minglan’s rooms, as that required the approval of the old woman and Wang Shi. Even so, many rooms stood empty. For Minglan’s purpose of finding a secluded, little-frequented place to conduct the interrogation, it presented no difficulty at all.

After being escorted and dragged along a considerable distance by the two serving women, Kang Wang Shi arrived — dizzy and disoriented — at a row of outbuildings she vaguely remembered as once used for storing miscellaneous goods. The two serving women gripped her and turned through several corners before bringing her into a small partitioned alcove within the rooms. Kang Wang Shi was seething with the desire to curse them to their faces and give them both a sound beating — but her dislocated jaw and her limp, useless limbs made shouting impossible and struggling futile. Just as her heart was roiling with venom, she heard a commotion; she looked up, and in walked her most hated adversary, moving at an unhurried, leisurely pace.

Xiaotao placed a small stool on the open floor. Minglan slowly sat down. Several powerfully built men dragged in four serving women from outside, shoving them down to kneel in a row before Minglan. These serving women were disheveled, with several scratches and marks on their hands and faces — evidence of earlier struggling. The one at the front, a coarse-tongued older woman whose hands and feet were restrained, fumed indignantly: “We belong to the Kang household. We don’t know what the Sixth Young Mistress is playing at — even if you have a quarrel with our household, there’s no reason to take it out on us…”

Tuhu raised his hand and gave her a sharp slap across the face, then bellowed, “You open your mouth only when you’re told to speak!”

Half the woman’s face instantly swelled up. She spat out a mouthful of blood with a cracking sound, teeth mixed in. Her eyes filled with tears. The other serving women beside her were cowed into total silence and didn’t dare struggle.

Minglan looked up. “Thank you, Tuhu.” This show of force to establish authority was excellent — he clearly knew the techniques of interrogation.

Tuhu gave a solemn bow.

Minglan looked back and said straightforwardly, “My grandmother has fallen ill — and you are the ones who administered the poison. I have asked you all here today precisely to speak of this matter.”

All four women’s complexions shifted dramatically at once. Two were genuinely alarmed, two feigned alarm while their eyes darted around calculating. Inside the small partitioned alcove, Kang Yiniang’s face also changed greatly — these four serving women were all her trusted confidants; two of them indeed knew about the poisoning, and the other two had likely pieced together a rough outline of the matter as well.

The four women exchanged glances for a long moment. One with a pleasant, agreeable face, encouraged by a look from her companions, forced a laugh and said, “Merciful heavens, Sixth Young Mistress, surely there has been some mistake? For something of this magnitude, how could we possibly have…”

Tuhu delivered another heavy slap. The woman’s mouth instantly filled with blood, and she covered her face and wept with soft, muffled sobs. The room was shut tight against the outside; only a few beams of light filtered in, and in the dim interior, Tuhu’s face looked all the more terrifying — like something from the underworld. His voice came cold and flat: “Can’t understand plain speech? You open your mouth only when you’re told to speak.”

All four women went white with fear and trembled like sieves; not a single one dared open their mouth again.

Minglan’s heart was as hard as iron — she was unmoved by a single bit of it. “The Sheng household intends to confront you with the evidence. That is why I have gone to the trouble of gathering you all here. Whoever is connected to this matter — however tenuously, even if only by a thread — I ask you to speak of it. Afterward, I will reward you generously.”

The four women sat in silence. After a long pause, one of the younger serving women slowly straightened her back — she had been the most composed of the four from the very beginning. She raised her chin with an air of defiance and said proudly, “Our Mistress has treated us with grace as deep as a mountain, and it would be hard even to sacrifice our lives to repay it! That you would ask us to lie for silver and slander our Mistress — that is absolutely something we will never do!”

Minglan gave a slow, appreciative clap and smiled. “Well said, very well said — what a loyal servant!” Then she raised her voice. “Bring her in.”

Two escorts came in supporting a half-dead Nanny Qian, then dropped her casually on the floor. All four serving women turned to look, and at the sight of Nanny Qian’s hands — several fingers on each hand in a state of raw, mangled ruin — their hearts immediately began to pound.

Tuhu pointed at Nanny Qian and said, “Four fingernails ripped out. Then she talked.”

Minglan said in a cold voice, “The Sheng household has been wronged and humiliated. Let me say this plainly: none of you are going home again.” At those words, inside the hidden alcove, Kang Yiniang reeled with shock.

“If you are willing to speak properly, I will let you leave with everything intact and reward you with silver on top — consider it compensation for your fright. If not…” Minglan’s tone shifted, and she turned aside. “Tuhu, be careful not to be rough-handed — it wouldn’t look right if they had to be carried out.”

Tuhu grinned broadly. “Madam, rest easy. No breaking of skin and no drawing of blood — old Tu has plenty of methods to make them wish for death while unable to die.”

All four serving women were so frightened they went limp.

— At that moment, a low male voice came from outside: “Madam, we have returned.”

Minglan recognized Tulong’s voice and quickly had someone open the door. Tulong and several other escorts came in carrying a wriggling burlap sack. They dropped the sack heavily onto the floor, then bent down to undo the rope binding the mouth of it. The contents were gradually revealed. Everyone in the room looked closely, and the person inside — bound tightly, a cloth stuffed in their mouth — slowly raised their head.

The young serving woman cried out in recognition: “Steward Qi! Second Steward Qi… and Steward Song…”

Minglan smiled. “Elder Tuhu, impressive as always — you were back so quickly.”

Tulong pointed at the one called Steward Song. “I asked around a bit — this fellow is one of the top men in the Kang household, ranked among the most trusted. I thought I’d bring him along while I was at it.”

Following Minglan’s instructions, Nanny Liu had gone to the gatehouse and sought out Steward Qi’s two sons directly. She told them that Wang Shi had fallen into a faint, the Sheng household was in complete chaos, and Kang Yiniang did not have enough reliable people to spare — so she had been sent to call for the Qi brothers to come and help. The Sheng household was wealthy and prosperous, and in the confusion, picking up a little something on the side would be easy pickings — hearts were stirred all around. But Nanny Liu added that Kang Yiniang only wanted the most trustworthy, and Tulong and several others, disguised as Sheng household servants, played their parts convincingly. It was enough to make them believe.

The Qi brothers and this Steward Song had barely stepped out the door when a burlap sack was pulled down over their heads, and they were loaded onto a carriage.

Minglan pointed at the new arrivals and addressed the four women. “If you will not speak — they certainly will.”

Two of the older serving women exchanged a glance, their expressions wavering with visible uncertainty.

“All right — you may go and see to things.” Minglan’s expression was composed and indifferent. She turned to Tulong again. “Is one day enough time?”

Tulong glanced at the figures crumpled on the floor and laughed. “Two hours will do it — I guarantee every last thing will come spilling out!”

Minglan pointed at the defiant young serving woman and said to Tuhu, “This loyal one — I’ll trouble you to handle her personally.” The more loyal, the more she likely knew.

Tuhu laughed heartily and hoisted the woman up by one arm. “Loyal on behalf of a black-hearted mistress, poisoning a good and innocent old woman — pfft. Even loyal dogs of corrupt officials can be described as loyal! Fine! Let’s see whether it’s old Tu’s methods that are harder, or your bones!”

The woman’s face went deathly pale, a look of anguish on her face, biting down hard on her lips without a sound. The people on the ground were overcome with terror. One of the serving women had already rolled her eyes back and fainted dead away; then the escorts began dragging them one by one out the door.

When the room was empty, Kang Yiniang was finally pulled out from the little alcove by the two serving women. One of the women reached up and supported Kang Yiniang’s jaw; the other helped to work the blood and stiffness loose. Minglan rose and watched with a pleasant smile.

Kang Yiniang leaned against the chair; half of her face had gone numb with pain. After a long while, she managed to say in a hoarse voice, “Very well. I admit I underestimated you. To think the Sheng household could produce someone like you — I suppose I’ve lost this round fair and square!” She never could have dreamed that she had come to collect her winnings, only to find herself like a meat dumpling thrown into the sea — gone with no return.

Minglan hated her to the marrow of her bones. Her fingernails were digging into her own palm. “I should have realized it from the moment the Yiniang sent your cousin to the marquis’s household.”

Kang Wang Shi trembled with rage from head to foot, full of hatred and regret — hatred for how formidable this person was, and regret for not having been more careful herself. In truth, she had not failed to think through what might happen if she were discovered. But she had calculated the timing and judged that suspicion would fall on Wang Shi first, then gradually shift to involve her, followed by a round of confrontations and arguments — it should have taken at least a day or two before anything truly broke open.

She had never imagined that in the span of a single night, this girl would act with such speed and such precision — an onslaught like thunder before one could cover their ears. She had been everywhere ahead of her: detaining people, setting traps, abducting, deceiving — nothing was beneath her. She had moved with the audacity of someone who feared absolutely nothing — and caught her entirely off guard.

This was no sheltered young lady from a refined household’s inner chambers. This was a seasoned, sharp-minded official’s investigator. Who could have anticipated it?!

“Don’t think just because you’ve gotten hold of a few servants, you’ve accomplished something remarkable!” she said bitterly. “Evidence obtained under duress, under forced confessions — no one will believe it! If you want me to confess, you’re dreaming! If you dare, go ahead and use torture on me! I’d like to see how you explain yourself to the Wang and Kang families!”

Minglan smiled lightly. “Who said I need you to confess? What does it matter whether you confess or not?”

Kang Yiniang was taken aback. “You don’t need me to confess? Then what do you intend to do with me?”

“Whether it was you who did this — you and I both know perfectly well.” Minglan’s face took on a dark, ominous look, and she said slowly, “What I resent most about myself is that I have so many scruples. I think of my brother and sister’s feelings, I think of the Sheng family’s debt of raising me. If I could truly bring myself to let it all go — slit you open in six places, hang you upside down from a rafter, and let you drain slowly of blood in agony, then stuff you into a sack and dump you in the common grave to be eaten by dogs — that would have been that.”

Kang Yiniang felt a chill run through her heart. She was genuinely frightened — yet in the next moment she let out a cold laugh. “Fine. Kill me and silence the rest — then your stepmother is clean, and you can call yourself a devoted granddaughter!”

Minglan raised an eyebrow. “Who said I was going to let her go?” As for the people in Kang Yiniang’s service who knew the truth — there was no need for Minglan to act. She suspected someone else would be far more eager to silence them.

Kang Yiniang stiffened for a moment, then burst into maniacal laughter. “Ha ha ha ha — foolish little sister, foolish little sister! You think that by handing your elder sister over, you walk away unscathed! You don’t know what a wolf’s cub you’ve raised…!”

Minglan had no desire to keep listening to her raving. She said calmly, “You two, please proceed.”

The two serving women received the order at once, and reached into a large bundle on the floor, pulling out a bolt of cloth. They gave it a shake — it was a strip of coarse grey-black fabric, half a foot wide and several dozen feet long. Kang Yiniang saw it and panic seized her. She scrambled up to run, but one of the women grabbed her and pushed her back down into the chair.

Then the two women began working without pause, wrapping the cloth around her — left, right — winding flat coils around her hands, feet, and body before continuing to wind, binding her together with the chair, and finally binding her to a pillar. Round after round — dozens of layers in total. Kang Yiniang was bound fast to the chair with her back against the pillar, her whole body encased like a silkworm in a cocoon. The coarse cloth was exceptionally sturdy; she could not move so much as a finger. She cried out in alarm: “What are you doing?! You — don’t tell me you’re going to use torture on me?!” Her voice was loud but her heart had already quailed.

Minglan surveyed the result with satisfaction, looking left and right. “Quite the opposite — it’s to make sure the Yiniang doesn’t lose her composure and hurt herself.” If this dreadful woman worked herself into a state and chose to crack her own head open or inflict some other injury upon herself, the rest of the performance could not go on.

She turned with a smile. “Thank you both for your trouble. The methods from the old prince’s household are truly impressive.”

One of the serving women said, “This trick comes from the palace itself — specifically for managing those among the noble ladies who did not know how to behave, to prevent them from harming or killing themselves.”

Kang Yiniang struggled furiously, and just as she opened her mouth to shout again, the serving woman beside her quickly stuffed a wad of torn cloth into it — and not a single sound could escape.

Minglan nodded. “Give her some broth every hour or two to keep her from dehydrating. No need for solid food — she can relieve herself where she sits.” A day without food was nothing as long as she didn’t dehydrate.

The two serving women acknowledged the order, then escorted Minglan out. Two guards were left at the door to stand watch; the serving women could take turns resting from there.

By now it was approaching midday. The cooks and laborers in the various kitchens had all begun to stir. Under Wang Shi’s stern warning, not a single servant dared say half a word out of turn, and no one dared go anywhere near the row of outbuildings at the back of the compound. Wang Shi herself was rattled and unsettled, and had taken to bed with vague complaints. Hai Shi alone kept herself busy — managing the household’s affairs on one hand, and arranging for the people who had come from the marquis’s household to have a place to rest and food to eat on the other.

She was by nature cautious and careful, and though she had witnessed a string of strange events since the previous night, she asked not a single question. Toward the many escorts who had appeared out of nowhere, she behaved as though they were simply her young sister-in-law’s household attendants who had come to pay a visit — cheerful, warm, and perfectly composed.

After bustling about for a good half-day, when the sun had already begun to lean west, she finally returned to her own room. Barely had she stepped in before a serving woman who had been waiting inside came out to her, drawing close to Hai Shi’s ear and saying softly, “The person has been sent out.”

Hai Shi let out a breath, then, still not entirely at ease, asked one more question: “Were they the yellow wind stallions my family brought as a gift?”

The serving woman said, “First Madam, rest easy. Two horses per rider, alternating in relay — at this distance, they can arrive by midday.”

Hai Shi pressed her palms together and murmured a prayer under her breath. “Heaven be merciful — the household has met with catastrophe. I can only hope the Young Master arrives quickly!”

……

That day, an unusual quiet fell over the Sheng household. From a row of secluded outbuildings at the back, muffled sounds of crying and pleading drifted out faintly on the wind — carried fitfully to the courtyards along the western side of the compound, now loud, now barely audible.

Changfeng craned his neck toward the window, murmuring, “How has it been so quiet for half the day now?”

柳氏 sat on the bed, gently coaxing the baby. At his words, she looked up. “You are truly amusing, husband — when there were sounds, you couldn’t sit still; now that it’s gone quiet, you’re still fretting over it.”

Changfeng gave a wry smile and came to sit at the edge of the bed. “There’s a cat scratching at my heart.”

“It likely means the interrogation has finished,” his wife said. She tucked the swaddling around the infant, then lifted the baby to soothe her, speaking softly. “Don’t think too much about it, husband. The more we know of this matter, the worse for us. Father hasn’t said a single word to you since it began — I believe that is his meaning as well.”

The baby made soft, cooing sounds, her small pink hands, plump and round like little dumpling fists, waving through the air, her large eyes staring steadily up at her father. Changfeng’s heart filled with tenderness and delight. He reached out and took her gently into his arms, then said softly, “Your mother is right.”

……

The sun set; the moon rose. The night passed. The sky had just barely begun to lighten when a serving woman hurried to the Shou’an Hall and spoke a few words in a low voice to Nanny Fang. Nanny Fang then went to the inner chamber doorway. “Young Miss, someone from the Wang family has come.”

Minglan rose from the chaise longue and stretched her limbs leisurely. “Has no one come from the Kang family?”

All the better, then.

Nanny Fang said in a low voice, “From the Kang family, only a young master named Jin has come. But from the Wang family — quite a few people.”

Minglan walked to the old woman’s bedside. The color of her face had gradually lost its grey pallor and seemed to hold some color again — Minglan’s heart lightened. She was glad, and felt as though her whole body was filled with renewed strength. She raised her voice. “Help me change my clothes.”

With a note of laughter in her voice, she said, “Help my dear Yiniang change her clothes as well.”

Let her spend the night in her own filth — first, to vent some of the indignation; today, this would all be brought to a close.