Chapter 035
Chapter 35: First Madam’s Methods
Chun Xing grew even more vicious. She seized a fistful of Xiao Man’s hair and smashed her forehead toward the cold stone slabs.
Xiao Tao screamed like a knife and ordered: “Tear up her face, so she’ll never show it while she seduces the Eldest Grandson Young Master again.”
Qiu Ju’s little eyes darted as she cooked up something fouler and suggested: “What’s the use of just scratching her face? Strip her. Let her lose all face.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Xiao Man gasped, clutching her torn collar with all her strength, only to draw harsher blows.
“Outrageous! You little hussies have turned the sky upside down,” yelled the sweeping Old Granny as she threw down her broom and rushed toward them.
Dong Mei shoved her hard and barked: “Out of the way.” The Old Granny, frail with age, stumbled and fell.
“Enough noise. What does this look like?” came a cold bark as the west wing’s door creaked open. Old Chen stepped out with a set face; seeing the scene, his features darkened to iron.
He roared with full lungs: “You fools! This is the Eldest Grandson Young Master’s Auspicious Cloud Residence. You dare run wild here?”
His thunder finally made the crazed girls falter. They no longer dared tug at Xiao Man’s clothes, though their mouths kept spitting filth.
The sweeping Old Granny grabbed the moment, scrambled up, took one look at Xiao Man curled on the ground, bruised and battered with her clothes in ruins, and steeled her heart. The Eldest Grandson Young Master was away; someone could die. Without even brushing off the dirt on her dress, she turned and ran full tilt toward Old Madam’s courtyard.
She bawled as she ran: “Help! Trouble at the Eldest Grandson Young Master’s place!”
At the gate of Old Madam’s yard, the gatekeeping Old Granny went pale and rushed inside to report to Head Maid Xiu He.
Hearing this, Xiu He did not dare delay and hurried into the inner room.
Old Madam had just woken from her nap and was lifting her tea. She frowned and asked: “A fight? Who is fighting in the Eldest Grandson Young Master’s courtyard? Bring that Old Granny in to speak.”
The sweeper was brought in and collapsed to her knees, words tumbling out in a panic as she said: “Reporting to Old Madam, the new girl in the Eldest Grandson Young Master’s residence, Xiao Man, was pinned down and beaten by Wang Xiao Tao, the daughter of the West Court second steward, with her helpers. She is hurt all over.”
Old Madam set the tea bowl down with a hard crack; tea splashed over the rim. Anger surged across her face, and her gaze turned sharp as a blade. She said, calm and icy: “Good. Very good. Let me see whether this Heir Apparent Manor means to flip the heavens.”
She called, clear and steady: “Xiu He.”
Xiu He answered at once: “Here.”
Old Madam ordered: “Take a few able Old Grannies, go to Auspicious Cloud Residence, and bind those bold girls. March them to the First Madam’s courtyard. I want to know who gave them such nerve.”
Xiu He took the command, though worry tightened her chest. She had worked with Xiao Man; the girl was straightforward but never one to stir trouble.
She rushed to Auspicious Cloud Residence with her people and, at a glance, saw Xiao Man curled on the ground, hair loose, bruises blotting her face, clothes ripped to rags. Xiu He’s heart blazed. She hurried forward, slipped off her own outer robe, and draped it over Xiao Man to cover her.
Rising, she fixed a cold stare on the ringleader and asked: “You are Xiao Tao?”
Her voice was not loud, but it carried a chill.
She continued, each word sharp: “Daughter of Wang You Cai, the West Court second steward, born and raised in this manor, correct?”
Fright drained Xiao Tao’s face, but she still braced her neck and forced herself to act tough.
Xiu He let out a short laugh and said: “What now? Still thinking that even if the sky falls, your steward father and mother will beg for you? Let me tell you, your pretty plan is wrong.”
She clipped each word like ice: “You are about to drag your parents down with you. And you lot,” she swept those knife bright eyes over the other shaking girls and added, “a flock of brainless fools—get ready to be sold.”
In the First Madam’s courtyard, the air was so heavy it was hard to breathe. Wang Xiao Tao was pinned to the floor by several Old Grannies, still trying to argue as she cried: “First Madam, please see the truth. It was that wretch Xiao Man who struck first.”
High on the seat, First Madam lifted her tea and blew lightly across the surface. She didn’t even raise her eyelids, yet the corner of her mouth held a cold, mocking smile as she said: “You little wretch, do you think everyone in this manor is blind and deaf?”
She set the cup down and her tone turned hard as she said: “You went around spreading filth, saying Xiao Man seduced the Young Master. I planned to deal with the wagging tongues in a few days.”
She leaned forward slightly and declared: “But since you have delivered yourself, we will settle old and new debts together. Someone, go.”
She pointed at Xiao Tao and spoke in a voice light as a feather and heavy as thunder: “Go to the West Court and bring her steward father and her mother here. What kind of parents raise such a daughter? If they cannot manage their own child, how can they manage the whole West Court? I think this second steward no longer cares to hold his post.”
At this, every servant in the yard turned pale.
Before long, the West Court’s second steward, Wang You Cai, and his wife were dragged in. They fell to their knees at once, knocking their heads on the ground as they pleaded: “First Madam, spare us. First Madam, spare us. We failed to teach our daughter. The fault is ours.”
First Madam looked down from above and said mildly: “I remember you two as honest and steady, and your work usually decent.”
Her voice chilled as she continued: “But the daughter you raised is far too out of line.”
She turned her gaze on Wang You Cai and said: “You no longer need to handle the West Court’s affairs. Take your wife and go work on the estate lands.”
The couple’s faces went ashen in an instant.
First Madam’s eyes slid back to Wang Xiao Tao, and the edge of her lips even curved a little as she said: “As for this daughter of yours—doesn’t she long to climb high and catch a man?”
She called out, calm and firm: “Nanny Zhou.”
A stern faced old nanny stepped forward and answered: “Here.”
First Madam said: “Find a human broker and sell her to the place with the most men.”
Nanny Zhou bowed and replied: “Yes.”
First Madam’s gaze cut to the other girls who had joined the attack as she ordered: “As for those who helped her, strip off their clothes. Bring in brokers and sell them all to the lowest, filthiest places.”
At the end, First Madam lifted the prayer beads at her elbow and gently rolled them between her fingers as she murmured: “Amitabha, Buddha be merciful.”
She flicked her eyes toward the kneeling culprits and commanded: “Take them away. Drag them all out.”
Then she added one last order to Nanny Zhou, crisp and cold: “Before the brokers arrive, drag Wang Xiao Tao and the other attackers to kneel where the manor is most crowded. Let every maid who is nursing such thoughts take a good look, and let them drop those thoughts at once.”