Chapter 034
Chapter 34: Feudal Workplace Bullying
The gate of Auspicious Cloud Residence stood half open as four fierce maids barged in without even knocking.
Yao Xiao Man happened to be in the garden and was cornered at once by the four of them. [Bad luck?] [Even in a feudal house there is workplace bullying.]
Leading the charge, Xiao Tao wore a water red dress that pinched her waist thin, a new silver hairpin flashing in her hair, and her chin lifted higher than the sky. She swaggered up and snapped: “Yao Xiao Man, don’t think that stepping into Auspicious Cloud Residence means you’ve climbed some high branch. What are you, exactly? You think you deserve to serve the Eldest Grandson Young Master at his side?”
Behind her stood three more. One was broad shouldered and thick waisted, named Qiu Ju; one had a sharp mouth and a monkeyish face, named Chun Xing; the last, with shifty eyes, was Dong Mei. They were the type who always had to be first and loved to dream of flying up to the clouds.
Qiu Ju spat, shoved forward, and jeered: “Right! Go look in a puddle and see your shabby self!”
Xiao Man tried to slip aside, but Chun Xing and Dong Mei clamped her arms from left and right, holding her fast.
The old quilt she was carrying out to dry slipped from her arms with a soft thud, puffing a cloud of dust into the air.
She forced herself to stay calm and spoke up: “What do you think you’re doing? This is Auspicious Cloud Residence, not a place for you to run wild.”
Xiao Tao sneered, jabbing a sharp fingernail so close it almost poked Xiao Man’s face, and taunted: “So you’re the big Head Maid of Auspicious Cloud Residence, are you? Ha. And you’re the only one left? The Eldest Grandson Young Master isn’t here, Granny Chen isn’t here, and Old Chen is snoring. I’d like to see who dares back you now. Sisters, let her learn the rules.”
Xiao Man fought to pull free and protested: “Rules? You’re the ones looking for trouble.”
Qiu Ju’s fan like hand seized a handful of Xiao Man’s hair and yanked it back; the tearing pain on her scalp made her vision swim dark.
A sharp crack split the air as Xiao Tao used all her strength and slapped Xiao Man’s left cheek hard.
Fire raced across Xiao Man’s face.
Xiao Tao cursed and struck again, swinging the back of her hand into Xiao Man’s right cheek as she hissed: “This is for trying to seduce the Young Master, you shameless tramp.”
Both cheeks burned like hot irons had branded them. Xiao Man’s ears rang and a metallic tang rose in her mouth.
She clenched her teeth and refused to cry out, fixing her gaze on Xiao Tao.
Seeing that stubborn look, Qiu Ju’s anger flared; she lifted her foot and kicked straight at Xiao Man’s lower belly.
Held tight, Xiao Man had nowhere to dodge.
A muffled groan escaped her as pain exploded in her abdomen. She doubled over, and cold sweat soaked the back of her clothes in an instant.
At the same time, in the Capital City at Fahua Temple, on the Expound the Dharma platform, Buddha’s Chosen Lin Qing Xuan was expounding the key line in the Diamond Sutra, “Let the mind arise without attachment.” The followers below were silent, wrapped in the clear, gentle sound of his chant. His eyes were lowered, his face calm and dignified, a faint halo seeming to soften the air around him.
Then, all at once, a searing pain lashed his left cheek as if someone had slapped him with full force.
The fingers rolling his prayer beads froze, and his chanting cut off.
Standing closest below, Shi Tou jerked in shock as a pale red handprint bloomed, plain to see, on the Young Master’s fair left cheek.
Before he could make sense of it, another blaze of pain struck Lin Qing Xuan’s right cheek. Stars burst before his eyes, and an iron taste filled his mouth.
He lifted a hand to his face on instinct, all composure of a Buddha’s Chosen gone. The crowd below the platform stirred, whispering and craning their necks at the sight of him breaking form and clutching his cheek.
He had no time to recover before a heavy, cruel force slammed into his lower belly. He grunted, staggered a step forward, his face draining as white as paper, and fine sweat beaded at his temple.
Shi Tou forgot all ceremony and rushed up to steady him, calling: “Young Master!” He felt the Young Master’s body trembling under his hands.
Clutching his throbbing abdomen, Lin Qing Xuan was seized by a cold, stabbing fear unlike anything he had felt before. [This isn’t my own injury. It’s Xiao Man. Someone is hurting her. She is being beaten.]
That thought bit his heart like a snake. Rules, precepts, the bearing of a Buddha’s Chosen, all flew out of his mind. In eyes that usually looked on all beings with pity, a storm now raged, full of terror and fury he had never known.
He grabbed Shi Tou’s arm so hard he could have crushed bone and rasped: “Xiao Man is in danger. Back to the manor, now, at once.”
He didn’t even bother with the ten or so steps down from the Expound the Dharma platform. Ignoring the shocked faces of the thousands below, he swept aside Shi Tou’s helping hand, hitched up the hem of his robe, and leaped straight off the side.
His moon white robe cut a frantic arc in the wind.
Shi Tou’s soul nearly flew from his body as he stumbled and scrambled after him, crying: “Young Master!”
Lin Qing Xuan could not think of anything else. One thought roared in his head: [Hurry back. To Auspicious Cloud Residence. Xiao Man is being hit. She needs me.]
He lurched toward the horses tied outside the temple gate, heading for the gentle old horse the manor kept for him. Like a trapped beast turned savage, he shoved a Novice Monk aside when the boy reached to loosen the reins and snapped: “Move!” He clambered onto the horse in a rush, awkward and fierce.
He jerked the reins. The old horse shrilled and broke into a gallop, pounding toward the Heir Apparent Manor as if chased by thunder.
Hooves drummed like sudden rain, shattering the quiet outside Fahua Temple. Lin Qing Xuan lay low over the saddle, his robe snapping in the wind, the red handprints burning on his cheeks. There was no trace of calm Dharma in his eyes now, only fire and a fear that cut to the bone. He had never imagined that the little girl who haunted his dreams, who he teased and vexed until she bristled, could throw his heart into such chaos.
Back in the garden of Auspicious Cloud Residence, the enraged maids were still pinning Xiao Man to the ground and beating her.
An Old Granny carrying a broom reached the gate, saw the scene, and shrieked: “Stop! What do you think you’re doing?”
Xiao Tao planted a foot on the back of Xiao Man’s hand, turned at the shout, and said with poison bright on her face: “Where did you crawl from, old thing? Get out of the way. Mind your own sweeping.”
Eyes red with rage, the maids didn’t spare a glance for a broom holding Old Granny.