Chapter 124
Chapter 124: Concubine Su
The maid did not dare talk back, and she nodded.
Concubine Su wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes, left the inner room, and told the maids to serve carefully, then returned to her own courtyard, saying to the servant by the door: “Go to the kitchen and simmer a bowl of red bean soup, and add extra sugar.”
Seeing there were no other orders, the maid turned to leave.
In the front courtyard, inside the Eldest Master’s study, Divine Physician Luo had already set the Eldest Master’s broken bone and used acupuncture to help it heal. The Eldest Master was much better, but bones take a hundred days to knit, so he could not get up and walk.
Concubine Su arrived outside the study with the red bean soup. The long-serving man opened the door, and the maid waited outside.
Candlelight filled the room. The Eldest Master lay on his side on a soft couch reading. Since he finally had time to rest, he had moved all his favorite books into the study.
Concubine Su walked in with a gentle smile, and the ripples at the hem of her skirt opened like a flower as she moved, as she said softly: “Eldest Master, take a little break.”
The Eldest Master saw her, put down his book, and propped himself up to sit: “Why come at this hour?”
They had grown up together. Concubine Su was four years younger than the Eldest Master. She came from a poor family and learned to be sensible early, so, when they were children, she often looked after him.
Concubine Su set the tray down and spoke lightly, though her eyes narrowed a little; when she looked up again, they were full of fondness, as she said: “I passed the front courtyard and saw the light still on in your study, so I had the kitchen make your favorite red bean soup. I told them to add two extra spoons of sugar. Eldest Master must not tell the Old Madam.”
The Eldest Master thought of stealing sugar when they were young, and the corner of his mouth lifted: “We are grown now. Mother stopped minding long ago, yet you always remember to add more sugar.”
Concubine Su gently stirred the soup, then lifted a spoon to feed him, saying with a smile: “Eldest Master has only this small liking, so of course I remember.”
He let her feed him. His hand, almost without thinking, settled at her waist and felt she was thinner there, as he asked: “Have you been working too hard lately?”
Concubine Su lowered her gaze in shy silence, her long lashes fluttering like butterflies under her eyelids, and she answered: “Not really, only that Yu’er has been a bit hard to manage.”
When he heard Yu’er’s name, the Eldest Master’s guilt rose, and he closed his fingers around her hand: “Do you still blame me for what happened back then?”
Concubine Su shook her head, without a trace of resentment on her face, as she said: “It was an accident. No one could know that loose rock would slip. Besides, anyone would have saved the eldest young master first.”
Back then, the eldest young master and Yu’er were playing on the rockery. The eldest young master lost his footing and nearly fell. Yu’er reacted fast and grabbed him, but then Yu’er himself fell.
No one expected Yu’er’s head would strike a stone.
Afterward, the Eldest Master sold off all the maids and serving lads who waited on the two young masters and searched everywhere for famous doctors to treat Yu’er.
Sadly, the Lin Family had not yet met Divine Physician Luo and missed the best window for recovery.
Now Yu’er looked like other people, but his mind had stopped at about five years old.
“It has been so long, Eldest Master. You do not need to carry it,” Concubine Su said as she wiped the corner of his mouth with a kerchief. “This is Yu’er’s fate. We have accepted it. Please do not keep it on your heart.”
Seeing her calm look, the Eldest Master thought she had truly let it go. He took her hand and said gently: “You are still young. Let us have another child.”
Concubine Su lowered her head in a blush, and her voice went soft as she said: “Eldest Master, what are you saying.”
“What I am saying is not hard to guess,” the Eldest Master murmured as his fingers slid along the curve of her neck. The faint tingling made the woman in his arms tremble, and he added: “Yu’er needs a brother to look after him. We should give him one.”
Concubine Su’s voice turned even softer as she answered: “I will do as the Eldest Master wishes.”
Madam Jia returned from the Old Madam’s rooms feeling as if all her strength had been drained.
Nanny Sun kneaded her shoulders and said in a low voice: “For a matter like this, Madam need not report to the Old Madam. You could have handled it in private.”
It was only a stove maid. If she died, she died.
“You do not understand,” Madam Jia said, pressing her eyes shut, weariness written on her face, as she added: “Chun’er herself is a small matter. The hand behind it is aimed at Meng Yan. She is the two elders’ favorite. If something goes wrong, never mind the two elders, even the Xia Family in the Capital is not someone we can afford to offend.”
You can guard against a thousand things, yet the thief inside your own house is the hardest to guard against.
She had never thought that one day this would fall on her head.
“Go over the people below you again. If something like today happens one more time, do not come to see me.”
Nanny Sun’s heart jumped, and she nodded quickly: “Please be at ease, Madam. This old servant will keep a strict gate.”
Ever since she learned that the Cousin Miss’s father was the Chief Academician of the Hanlin Academy, she had put away her hostility toward Xia Meng Yan. It was not that she did not want to push back, but that she could not win.
The Chief Academician of the Hanlin Academy oversaw scholars across the realm. In days to come, the futures of the eldest young master and the second young master could lie in his hands. It was not only that the First Branch supported her. Any household with a student would bow when they saw Xia Meng Yan.
Seeing Madam close her eyes, Nanny Sun tested the waters and asked: “Did the Old Madam agree to investigate in secret so we would not offend relatives?”
Madam Jia thought so, yet as she came back she kept turning it over. Given how much the Old Madam favored Xia Meng Yan, it was impossible she would just let Meng Yan be wronged.
Most of today’s visitors were the Lin Family’s relatives. They lived off the Lin Family, and the Lin Family did not need to watch their faces.
The only ones who did not depend on the Lin Family were the Zheng sister and brother.
She had asked around. The Lin Family’s sister and brother had not even met Xia Meng Yan.
“I do not know. Since we are told to investigate quietly, we will investigate, and while we are at it, we will sweep out the rats who eat inside and out,” Madam Jia said.
Nanny Sun silently prayed for the people in the manor and hoped none of them would bump into this at the wrong time.
When Xia Meng Yan returned to her room, she found Duan Yi Chen lying at ease on the couch. He saw her come in, rose at once, and helped her to sit as he said: “Someone dared frame you. Do they not value their lives? Do you want me to handle it?”
Xia Meng Yan pursed her lips and held back what she wanted to say, thinking: [If not for you, would I be getting framed?]
She looked at him and said plainly: “This is not about anyone else. It is about you. Shadow guard or serving lad, choose one.”
Duan Yi Chen did not follow at first, but when he met Xia Meng Yan’s eyes, joy crossed his face. Was she agreeing to let him stay by her side?
He answered without thinking: “Serving lad.”
“Fine,” Xia Meng Yan said in a calm voice, “tonight you will be a shadow guard; tomorrow you follow me.”
“Where are we going tonight?” Duan Yi Chen asked, and at the mention of moving by night, something in him seemed to switch on.
Xia Meng Yan narrowed her eyes, and her voice cooled: “To find the culprit.”
The night breeze was cool, and the bright moon hung high.
Two shadows cut across the night.
Duan Yi Chen carried Xia Meng Yan and landed at the gate of Jia Manor. He looked confused as he asked: “Jia Manor? What are we doing here?”
“Madam Wang showed up at a perfect moment. Someone must have tipped her off. If we learn who sent the message, we will find the hand behind it,” Xia Meng Yan said. The instant she first saw Madam Wang, she had disliked her. Xia had meant to let it pass, but Madam Wang had wanted to push her into the water.
Since it was like this, there was no need to endure.
What could not be done in the open could be done in the dark.
Duan Yi Chen held her and slipped past Jia Manor’s guards. They went straight to Madam Wang’s courtyard.
Inside, Madam Wang flung a hairpin onto the dressing table, anger rolling off her in waves, as she snapped: “I thought she was a soft one, but she is hard to handle.”
The maid hurried to pick up the hairpin. It was Madam’s favorite; if it broke, she would be the one to suffer. She quickly tried to soothe her, saying: “We did gain something today at least. Now we know why that Cousin Miss has the Lin Family elders’ favor. With that kind of quick mind, even if she were not in the Lin Family, she could run a household well.”
Hearing that, Madam Wang grew even angrier and asked coldly: “Whose side are you on?”
“This maid is naturally yours, Madam,” the girl said as she helped Madam Wang remove her ornaments, then added in a low voice: “But someone that capable must also have power from the Capital behind her. Will you watch her fall into someone else’s hands?”
Madam Wang paused. She did not follow.
As she slipped off another ornament, the maid explained: “The Lin Family can be the richest in Man Lin City not only because they are good at trade but also because the Xia Family in the Capital stands behind them. If Xia Meng Yan married into Jia Manor, would that backing not become yours?”
Madam Wang suddenly understood, but then another thought came to her and her face sank again, as she hissed: “That wretch is pregnant. Anyone else would have married her off by now. But look at her today, so arrogant. If she really entered the Jia Family, would she not push me down?”
The maid gave a small, disdainful laugh and said: “You hold her child. Do you still fear she will not obey you?”
As soon as the words fell, the maid let out a muffled grunt and collapsed.