Chapter 033
Chapter 33: I Won’t Take Your Easy Out
Huo Ying Zi saw the scratch on the back of Lin Ye Lan’s hand and grabbed it in a panic as she shouted: “Brother Ye Lan, you’re hurt. A servant dared to wound her master, so someone come and drag her out for a beating.”
Nanny Cheng moved in on Chun Yue with a dark look.
“Get lost,” Xia Meng Yan said, stepping in front of Chun Yue as she looked at Lin Ye Lan with disgust, “my people are not yours to punish.”
Seeing that Xia Meng Yan didn’t care about his injury at all, Lin Ye Lan couldn’t hold back his anger and said: “This girl hurt someone, so she should be punished. Xia Meng Yan, I’m giving you a step down. You should take it.”
Xia Meng Yan felt tired. Supporting her waist, she listened to these disgusting words and said: “It’s fine if the marquis is blind, but many people saw what happened from start to finish. Why don’t we ask why my maid would hurt you.”
Her gaze swept the area. The guards looked at each other, but no one spoke.
Thinking of how he had grabbed Xia Meng Yan just now and Chun Yue had moved to protect her, Lin Ye Lan paused. Was there more to it?
“No matter the reason, a servant who hurts her master is still wrong,” Huo Ying Zi argued.
[Trying to reason with mad dogs is just foolish,] Xia Meng Yan thought. She pulled out a banknote worth one hundred taels and said to the guards: “For whoever tells the truth about what just happened, this one hundred taels is yours. Remember, the truth.”
At her words, two guards stepped forward. One of them clearly laid out what had happened just now: Xia Meng Yan tried to leave, the Marquis of Ping An grabbed her arm and wouldn’t let her go, and Chun Yue pried his hand off to protect her lady.
The second guard nodded hard and added: “Miss Xia is pregnant. Her face was pale, so she was obviously unwell. The Marquis of Ping An ignored his former wife and traded pokes with Miss Huo. That was not proper.”
After the two of them spoke, more people stood up to criticize the pair.
Xia Meng Yan gave Lin Ye Lan a cool look and said with full mockery: “Do you remember now? Or do you need me to walk you through it again?”
“A little tug wouldn’t have killed you,” Lin Ye Lan muttered, then he saw the red mark ringed around her pale arm and his heart lurched. “I didn’t mean it. If you hadn’t provoked me, I wouldn’t have lost control.”
“If you two weren’t calling each other ‘brother and sister’ in front of me all the time, why would I be standing here while pregnant,” Xia Meng Yan shot back. “Marquis, next time you speak, try airing out your brain first. If generals were as unreasonable as you, what soldier would dare charge into battle?” [If you want to posture, who can’t?]
“And also,” she added, glancing at his hand, “go treat your wound soon, or the cut will start healing.”
Someone snorted, and then laughter burst out around them.
“A grand general, making a fuss over a scratch from a maid’s nail. On the battlefield he’d be crying to the heavens,” one guard said with open mockery.
“We live hard lives and don’t have women cheering us on and calling us ‘elder brother.’ Maybe we should ask our superiors to assign each of us a woman,” another guard joked.
Huo Ying Zi went paper-white at the guards’ jeers. Tears spilled down as she cried: “I—I don’t want to live anymore.”
Nanny Cheng shielded her, glaring at Xia Meng Yan with hate.
Xia Meng Yan glanced at the fuming Lin Ye Lan and didn’t care. She pulled out several banknotes and dipped a short bow to the guards as she said: “Thank you, brothers, for speaking up for the truth just now.”
Catching her meaning, Chun Yue handed the banknotes to those who had defended her lady. A few guards standing by the neighboring courtyard never moved at all.
With something heavy on her mind, Xia Meng Yan left with Chun Yue.
“Brother Ye Lan,” Huo Ying Zi sobbed, gasping for breath, “how can she slander me like this? If this spreads, how can I ever marry?” She had wanted to make Xia Meng Yan lose face. She hadn’t expected Xia to have an answer for every word.
Lin Ye Lan looked toward the direction where Xia Meng Yan had gone, then drew his gaze back and said gently: “They are all guards from the Imperial Palace. They won’t dare talk nonsense. Otherwise, they won’t even know how they died.” He did not lower his voice. The guards present all heard him.
Seeing it was time to stop, Huo Ying Zi wiped her tears and looked toward the inner yard as she said: “I want to check on Old Madam. I don’t know if that’s convenient.”
Lin Ye Lan hesitated. His mother’s face was half-paralyzed; it wasn’t suitable for visitors.
“I only worry about Old Madam,” Huo Ying Zi said softly, lashes still wet with tears. “If it’s not convenient, then I won’t go.”
“There is no problem,” Lin Ye Lan said at last, and he led Huo Ying Zi toward a nearby residence.
Marquis Xuan Ping’s villa was not as lavish as one might imagine. To be exact, it was an ordinary house. Other than being a bit large, it didn’t even have basic flowers or plants. Seeing the yard, a flicker of disappointment crossed Huo Ying Zi’s eyes. Lin Ye Lan was a marquis. With the main residence burned, shouldn’t there be another estate? Now it seemed there truly wasn’t.
“Get out,” a hoarse cry came from inside. A moment later, a maid came out with a tray of shards, pale and shaken. When she saw Lin Ye Lan at the door, she hurried to salute: “Greetings, marquis.”
Noticing the stains on the maid’s clothes, Lin Ye Lan frowned. In his memory, his mother always wore a proper smile and never used harsh words with servants.
“Old Madam is sick, so her temper is a bit sharp,” he said gently. “Please bear with her.”
The maid’s cheeks flushed as she answered: “This is what we should do. We understand.”
Lin Ye Lan looked at the steward and said in a tone both warm and commanding: “Give her an extra month’s pay.”
The steward glanced at Huo Ying Zi. Whatever he had been about to say twisted on his tongue, and he only answered: “Yes.”
“Ye Lan, Ye Lan…” Grand Madam Lin tried to sit up when she heard her son’s voice. Half her face wouldn’t move. Saliva leaked from one side and fell onto her clothes. If not for her fine dress, no one would guess this was the Old Madam of the Marquis Manor.
Lin Ye Lan strode forward to help her. Drool slid from the corner of her mouth onto his sleeve, and he frowned as he said: “Mother, it is your son who has been unfilial and made you suffer.”
Seeing his mother like this, he wondered how she would ever attend noble gatherings again.
Grand Madam Lin looked at her younger son and wept, the words slurred: “You—you finally came back. I missed you so much.”
Huo Ying Zi took a small step back and curtsied as she said: “Huo Ying Zi greets Old Madam.”
Grand Madam Lin tried to throw her son a look, but with her stiff face, everything she did looked strange. Lin Ye Lan did not catch her meaning. Sitting by the bed, he explained: “On the way back, Ying Zi took care of me, so my wound didn’t get infected. She will be alone in the Capital later. Mother, please take more care of her.”
Grand Madam Lin stared at him with wide eyes, as if to ask whether he had not heard the rumors outside and yet dared bring this girl in. As she looked at him, more drool fell, this time landing on the back of his hand.
Huo Ying Zi took this in and still kept a proper smile as she said: “Brother Ye Lan and Old Madam must have many things to talk about, so I will come pay my respects another day.”
She bowed to the Old Madam, turned, and walked out.
Lin Ye Lan rose to see her off, but his mother stopped him and slurred: “Do not go.”