Chapter 107
Chapter 107: Qiao Shan Died
Xia Meng Yan’s eyes narrowed and her face turned cool.
Second Madam lifted her chin and stared back, as if Xia Meng Yan were the one at fault: “I married into the Lin Family years ago. I managed the inner court and honored Father and Mother-in-law. I always put the Lin Family’s reputation first. I believe I have done right by the Lin Family and by the Qian Family. Qiao Shan is my only brother. I know he did wrong. Beat me or punish me, I accept it. I only beg for his life. Why is that so hard?”
She rose slowly. The despair in her face faded, and her voice sharpened: “If the Lin Family had not offended someone, Qiao Shan would not have been used. You all know there is someone behind this, yet you refuse to help. Are you afraid of that person, or do you want to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys?”
Hearing this, Xia Meng Yan suddenly laughed.
Second Madam flushed, feeling mocked.
“These words should be said to Second Master Qian, not to me,” Xia Meng Yan replied, the warmth gone from her eyes. “The reason you came to me is because no one else in the Lin Family will help you. I am your last hope.”
She studied Second Madam like a sly little fox sizing up prey: “Where do you get the nerve to think I am like you? No, to think you stand above me. In your heart, you look down on me. You see a divorced woman with a big belly coming to give birth in Man Lin City without support, and you think I should be timid and flatter everyone in the Lin Family.”
Second Madam gripped her handkerchief: “If you don’t want to help, just say so. Why speak like this to stall me?”
Xia Meng Yan ignored the complaint and went on: “You did not expect the ‘soft’ one to be hard to pinch, so you are angry now. But you seem to forget that half my blood is the Lin Family’s, while you and your child have no blood tie to this family at all.”
“You…” Second Madam’s face flushed and paled as her thoughts were laid bare. She had no way to answer.
Xia Meng Yan waved a hand, tired of her: “Instead of wasting time here, go to the front court and talk to Qiao Shan. Tell him to think if there is anything he can do to earn merit and make up for what he did.”
Second Madam had expected a refusal, but not one so humiliating.
Burning with anger, she left and headed straight for the front court.
Xia Meng Yan’s words were harsh, but they reminded her that if Qiao Shan could earn merit, he might live.
“Second Madam is truly unlucky to have that kind of brother,” Nanny Song said. She had seen much in life and felt both pity and helplessness. Everyone has their fate. Sometimes no one can help anyone.
Xia Meng Yan set aside her feelings and ordered: “Warn everyone in the courtyard to watch their words for the next few days.”
Nanny Song understood. After helping Xia Meng Yan lie down, she went to instruct the servants.
Because of Qiao Shan’s case, all branches of the Lin Family kept quiet. No one dared anger the Old Master now.
When Madam Jia learned Second Madam had gone to beg Xia Meng Yan, she snorted: “She just made a scene here two days ago and now she has the nerve to beg Meng Yan. Send people to watch her. Don’t let anything else happen.”
She sighed then and thought of herself. No wonder Mother-in-law and the Eldest Master kept warning her to be careful with her words and not be rash.
Now she had no idea how to face Xia Meng Yan.
Thunder boomed.
A bolt of lightning cracked across the sky.
Madam Jia jumped, and before Nanny Sun could shut the window, heavy rain poured in and drenched the flowers and shrubs in the courtyard.
At that same moment, in the front court’s wood shed, Qiao Shan heard the thunder and curled up in fear.
The once proud young master was now a soaked, trembling mess.
He prayed that his sister would save him, but all he received was a bowl of plain rice.
He did not know that it was not because Second Madam refused to come. The Old Master had ordered that no one was allowed to approach Qiao Shan.
Thunder rolled again. Qiao Shan clutched his quilt, trying to hide, when footsteps sounded on the roof.
“Who is it?” He looked up. A panel shifted open, and a slice of sky appeared. A voice followed: “Qiao Shan, it’s me.”
Hearing the familiar voice, Qiao Shan was overjoyed. He stood at once and called up: “Elder Brother Yue, you finally came. I didn’t say anything. Take me away.”
The man on the roof paused, sounding unsure: “You took the blame yourself?”
Qiao Shan could not see the man’s face and only wanted to leave: “I told them I forgot what you look like. They believed me. Elder Brother Yue, I did not betray you.”
A flash of killing intent crossed the man’s eyes: “Is that so?”
“Elder Brother Yue, believe me.”
“Do you know who keeps a secret best?” the man asked.
Qiao Shan froze, not understanding. Before he could react, a silver needle flashed down and struck him between the brows.
The man still did not feel safe. He sent more needles into Qiao Shan’s vital points.
A cold wind swept through. The man turned, alert, and saw a dark figure closing in.
He dodged fast, but the shadow kept pressing forward.
A streak of silver cut through the rain toward his chest.
“Guards, assassin,” someone shouted in the courtyard.
Seeing the danger, the man shot all his needles in a burst. The shadow fell back, and the man used the chance to escape.
“What happened?” Xia Meng Yan woke to the noise outside. Nanny Song lifted the bed curtain and spoke softly: “An assassin broke in. Don’t worry, our courtyard is safe.”
Just then, someone tapped at the window.
Xia Meng Yan heard the secret signal and knew it was Song Mo: “Come in.”
Song Mo slipped inside. Nanny Song let the curtain fall and stood by the bed.
“Big Miss,” Song Mo reported, “Qiao Shan is dead. The killer’s martial arts were strong. I could not catch him.”
Xia Meng Yan sat up at once: “Does the front court know?”
“They do. By now, everyone knows,” said Song Mo.
Qiao Shan’s death at this time flipped the positions of the Lin Family and the Qiao Family.
Second Madam would surely make a scene.
“Watch everyone in the compound in secret. See who leaves,” she ordered.
Song Mo answered and vanished.
When the noise died down, Nanny Song lifted the curtain again and helped her sit up: “Qiao Shan was Second Madam’s only family. Now that he died in the Lin Family’s house, no matter what came before, the Lin Family looks like it owes the Qiao Family.”
A tremor of unease ran through Xia Meng Yan. [This is beyond what I planned. Every step I take, someone squeezes in and steals the benefit.]
Nanny Song handed her warm water: “Don’t worry. We may seem to be on the back foot, but Qiao Shan did wrong first. Second Madam is still the Second Branch’s matriarch. If she tears the relationship, it will be hard for her to go on living in Lin Manor.”
“Let’s hope,” Xia Meng Yan said. The warm water eased her irritation, but she was in no mood to relax.
Second Madam’s birth mother had been the Qiao Family’s matriarch. She had a son and a daughter. In the winter after Second Madam married Second Master Qian, her mother died. The next spring, Master Qiao took a new wife, and the following year she had a son.
It was so fast that it chilled the heart.
People say that when a stepmother comes, even a real father can feel like a stepfather.
The trouble Qiao Shan caused showed that Master Qiao did not care much about this son.
In the eyes of outsiders, Qiao Shan was useless. In Second Madam’s eyes, he was the only person she had left.
Anyone would break down in her place.
Rubbing her forehead, Xia Meng Yan thought: Qiao Shan is dead. The clues are cut off, and new trouble has arrived.
In this round, she had lost.
“Yan’er,” a familiar voice called from outside, and Xia Meng Yan’s heart trembled.
Duan Yi Chen.
She could not explain why hearing him now made her heart beat faster.
Nanny Song’s face darkened: “Big Miss, this is not a good time to let Heir Apparent Duan in.”
Xia Meng Yan gave a wry smile: “Can you stop him?”
“…” Nanny Song had no answer.
“It is still raining outside,” Xia Meng Yan said: “Let him in.”