Chapter 070
Chapter 70: Father and Daughter Plot Together
Eldest Miss Lu heard the displeasure in Xia Meng Yan’s voice, yet she still wore a faint smile as she said: “It was my poor wording; I didn’t make things clear. I’m not fishing for pity, I’m being honest. You need a shield, and we need silver. We can help each other.”
[A shield? Lu Rong Fang? Is he even worthy?]
Xia Meng Yan rested a hand on her belly, soothing the child inside as she answered, her tone cold: “If you and your brother had stopped the Ping An Marquis for me just now, I might have given your words a thought.”
Eldest Miss Lu looked embarrassed. She had indeed misjudged the moment, only thinking that the Ping An Marquis had just crushed bandits and now enjoyed the emperor’s favor, so it was unwise to offend him.
“A mere Ping An Marquis, and you couldn’t even handle him, yet you want to be my shield? Don’t you find that laughable?” Xia Meng Yan closed her eyes, not wishing to continue.
Knowing there would be no agreement today, Eldest Miss Lu wisely stopped pressing.
The carriage soon pulled up before the Xia Family’s gate. Lu Rong Fang was already waiting there. When he saw Xia Meng Yan, he spoke first, his voice low: “I’m sorry. I’ll take care of what comes next.”
Xia Meng Yan avoided him and went straight inside.
Lu Rong Fang traded a glance with his elder sister, and both of them smiled.
After Xia Meng Yan returned, the events at Green Mountain Temple spread through the Xia Manor in no time.
Riding back in a Lu Family carriage, Xia Qing Yao hurried straight to Autumn Lotus Court, only to be stopped at the door by an attendant who said: “By order of the Eldest Miss, she will see no one these next few days.”
Xia Qing Yao bit her lip. Her eyes were red as she stared toward the rooms, then she left in sorrow.
Two passing servants, seeing how upset she was, couldn’t help speaking up for her.
“Second Miss is so pitiful.”
“What can she do? The second branch is useless. Look at the Eldest Miss. Even after separating from her husband, she still lives well.”
A maid nodded: “Madam told the kitchen to change the Eldest Miss’s menu every two days, and even the bird’s nest has to be the best. Who wouldn’t be jealous of that?”
“If there’s a next life, I want to be born from Madam’s belly.”
“In your dreams.”
The two maids laughed as they walked away, not knowing that once they were gone, Xia Qing Yao stepped out from behind a tree.
Nanny Li’s heart ached for her and she said softly: “They’re just gossiping, Second Miss. Don’t take it to heart.”
“No need to worry, Nanny. I’m fine.” Everyone knew how things were. The hand in Xia Qing Yao’s sleeve slowly loosened, and she tugged at the corner of her mouth: “My elder sister is tired today. I’ll come another day to apologize.”
Nanny Li didn’t know how else to comfort her. Some things only stop hurting after you figure them out on your own.
The Eldest Miss was the only daughter of the main house, so of course the Master of the main house and Madam gave her all their love. The second branch had many sons, both legitimate and concubine-born; naturally less attention fell on the Second Miss. If the Eldest Miss were not at home, without that comparison, perhaps the Second Miss’s days wouldn’t feel so hard.
Sadly, life rarely goes the way one wishes.
Xia Meng Yan thought the business at Green Mountain Temple would end there, but after morning court Xia Ping Yuan came in high spirits and said: “Daughter, your father has avenged you.”
Before she could speak, Xia Ping Yuan launched into his story of how, during court, he had flayed the Ping An Marquis with his words. The credit the Ping An Marquis had just earned hadn’t even warmed his hands before the emperor scolded him. When court ended, Lord Lu came up to apologize, saying he had failed to teach his daughter well and asking Xia Ping Yuan not to fuss with the children. Xia Ping Yuan had snorted and given him no good face, telling him only this: have the Lu Family keep its people away from my daughter.
Hearing all this, Xia Meng Yan felt much better as she said: “Father, I didn’t suffer any loss.”
Xia Ping Yuan waved it off: “When a man’s own daughter is bullied outside, a father must seek justice for her. That’s only human. It has nothing to do with whether you lost anything.”
For someone to dare touch his daughter was to show contempt for him.
Xia Meng Yan pressed her lips into a smile. In her past life, Father had protected her the same way, but back then her heart had been full of Lin Ye Lan, and she took it for granted. She asked, calm and direct: “Father, do you want to move up?”
[Only if Father stands higher will people have fewer chances to bully me.]
From her past-life memory, soon someone would slander the Xia Family. If they could prepare early, they could win the emperor’s favor and even take another step up.
Xia Ping Yuan’s eyes turned as he stroked his eight-shaped mustache. He had been a Hanlin Academician for too long; if he could move, it would be good: “Daughter, this isn’t a small matter. It needs the right time and the right people.”
Right now, on top of managing Hanlin Academy’s day-to-day affairs he often went to the Imperial Study. That already made many people jealous. Going further would be hard.
“Does Father not want to sit as Chief Academician of the Hanlin Academy?” Xia Meng Yan didn’t push. She leisurely ate a sweet orange. Her maternal grandfather had sent them after he heard she had come back to the Xia Family.
“Chief Academician of the Hanlin Academy? Girl, don’t tease your father.” Xia Ping Yuan lost his calm a bit. How could he not have dreamed of that post?
Without a jinshi degree you don’t enter the Hanlin Academy, and without the Hanlin you don’t enter the Grand Secretariat.
If he became Chief Academician, he would be only one step away from the Grand Secretariat.
Few could resist that kind of pull.
Wiping her hands, Xia Meng Yan pretended to be surprised: “So Father never thought about it. Then I worried too much…”
“No, no, you didn’t think too much.” Xia Ping Yuan grinned until his eyes disappeared, then downed a cup of tea in one go. His daughter dared to dream and dared to act. He was half in the grave already, so what was there to fear? “Tell me, what do we do?”
While father and daughter plotted, a major event broke outside.
The Lu Family’s most favored second young master, Lu Rong Fang, was close to dying. Seven or eight physicians went in one after another, then shook their heads when they came out.
Word had it that Lu Rong Fang insisted on marrying the Xia Family’s Eldest Miss, Xia Meng Yan. The Lu Family head disagreed and had him beaten, then locked in the ancestral hall. No one expected the beating to be so heavy that by midnight his wounds turned septic, and Lu Rong Fang fainted dead away.
Rumors swirled in the Capital: Xia Meng Yan was loose and shameless. Her ex-husband, the Ping An Marquis, often went in and out of the Xia Family, and she had turned around and hooked up with Lu Rong Fang. A woman who would sleep with anyone should be drowned in a pig cage.
The rumors only grew, day after day. Servants from the Xia Family didn’t even dare admit they were from the Xia Manor when they went out to buy vegetables.
Xia Ping Yuan was so angry his beard seemed to fly. He plunged into his study, determined to win justice for his daughter.
Listening to the rumors outside, Xia Meng Yan’s expression stayed calm.
Whoever ends up gaining from this is the one behind it.
If her name was ruined, then no one in the Capital would dare marry her. At that time Lin Ye Lan would appear as a savior and be praised by everyone.
Xia Meng Yan’s lips curved. Lin Ye Lan counted as one.
And if someone reversed the rumors for her, she would be deeply grateful. If they handled it well, they might easily marry her.
That outcome could belong to anyone, but Lu Rong Fang was certainly among the candidates.
Lounging in a rocking chair, Xia Meng Yan nibbled on a pastry. The osmanthus cakes Nanny Song made were soft, sticky, and very sweet.
“Eldest Miss, you still have the mood to eat sweets? People outside would rush into the manor to scold you if they could,” Chun Yue blurted. She didn’t dare add that someone had already thrown rotten eggs at the Xia Manor’s front gate.
Nanny Song shot Chun Yue a glare: “Don’t bring that messy talk back into the house. The Eldest Miss is pregnant and should rest.”
Realizing at once, Chun Yue went pale. If the Eldest Miss grew upset and harmed the child, even a hundred deaths wouldn’t pay for it: “Please forgive me, Eldest Miss. This maid didn’t think it through.”
“It’s fine. I’m not that delicate,” Xia Meng Yan said, rocking gently as she ate. Then she asked: “Has everyone in the manor behaved?”
Such a perfect chance; she didn’t believe the second branch would stay quiet.
Sure enough, Nanny Song said: “Second Madam has been pointing and hinting in the manor. A few servants ran their mouths. This old servant has already disciplined them.”
Xia Meng Yan nodded and set the pastry aside. Nanny Song passed her a cup of flower tea.
“Tell everyone this: unless it’s necessary, no one leaves the manor these next few days.”
“Eldest Miss, do you already have a plan?”
“Not yet. Send someone to the front courtyard. When Father returns, tell him I’m looking for him.”
“This old servant will see to it,” Nanny Song said, and withdrew.
Looking out the window at the lotus blooming in the blazing sun, Xia Meng Yan smiled.