Chapter 62: The Black Mist’s Feast

Outside the courtyard, Old Madam sat on the stone bench, slowly rolling her prayer beads without even lifting her eyelids, yet her voice cut like a knife as it struck Madam Wang: “That restless distant niece of yours needs a thorough questioning.”

She spoke again, light as a breeze but cruel to the core: “Why are you dragging any stray cat or dog into this mansion? Is this how you run the household?”

Each word stabbed like a red hot needle. Madam Wang’s face twitched with pain and shame. This was calling her blind in judgment. This was blaming her for poor discipline. Her face flushed a dark, ugly color as anger choked her.

She whipped her head around, eyes fierce, and yanked Granny Chen close: “Where is Zheng Xiu Yun?!”

Startled by that ferocity, Granny Chen shivered and jerked her chin toward the wood shed: “L… locked up. This old servant is watching. She cannot escape.”

“Good.” Madam Wang drew a deep breath that tasted of blood, forced down her roaring rage, and shrilled, “Nanny Zhou!”

When Nanny Zhou stepped out, Madam Wang snapped, “Take several of the strongest Old Grannies and drag that little wretch to Blooming Years Court. The Young Master is still being treated inside. I will question this foolish thing first and see how many lives she thinks she has!”

Nanny Zhou answered with a cruel little smile. She picked a few Old Grannies who handled the roughest work. Their hands were full of calluses, their eyes dull, their lips twisted in practiced grim smiles. This was a crew used to dirty jobs. Together they stormed toward the wood shed.

With a crash, the broken shed door flew inward under Nanny Zhou’s kick. Zheng Xiu Yun crouched in the corner like a chased stray, shaking so hard her teeth chattered. Her once fine dress was stained with mud and grass, wrinkled and clinging to her. Her careful hairdo had fallen apart; loose strands stuck to her face; her rouge had run in streaks that made her look like a mad ghost. Seeing people enter, she screamed and tried to push deeper into the dark.

It did no good. A maidservant strode up with a cold grin, fisted the girl’s hair, and dragged her out of the hay like hauling a dead dog.

“Let me go! How dare you base servants touch me,” Zheng Xiu Yun shrieked as she flailed, “I am the Cousin Miss—”

A ringing slap cut her off. Nanny Zhou shook her stinging hand, smiled thinly, and said with icy disdain: “Cousin Miss? A Cousin Miss who drugged the Master so she could climb into his bed? I have served in this mansion for decades, and this is my first time seeing that.”

Half of Zheng Xiu Yun’s face went numb. A buzz filled her ears. The world went silent except for Nanny Zhou’s twisted smile swelling huge before her eyes. Before she could cry, two maidservants pinned her arms and lifted her off her feet, dragging her along the ground. Her embroidered shoes had flown off somewhere. Her bare, delicate feet scraped the rough cobbles until they bled, leaving streaks of red behind.

Her sobbing and begging stirred no pity. Servants along the path glanced up in fear, then ducked their heads and worked faster, as if lightning might strike them next. One thought settled in every heart: Miss Zheng is finished.

In the main hall of Blooming Years Court, the air grew so heavy it was hard to breathe. Madam Wang sat at the head seat, her face so dark it looked wet, the killing intent in her eyes almost solid.

With a thud, Zheng Xiu Yun was thrown into the center like a sack of trash and lay limp. She clawed her way up, forgot her pain, crawled on her knees to Madam Wang’s feet, and reached to cling to her leg, pleading: “Aunt, Aunt, I was wronged. That drug is not mine, truly not mine. Someone set me up—”

“Silence,” Madam Wang slammed the table so hard the teacups rattled and tea splashed. “The proof is solid. You still dare argue in front of me?!”

Catching her cue, Nanny Zhou stepped forward, lifted a fine white jade porcelain bottle above her head, and presented it: “Madam, look. There is powder still on her sleeve. The Physician has tested it. That filthy stuff is called Spring Breeze Powder.”

Staring at the bottle, Zheng Xiu Yun turned deathly pale. She lunged for another target, eyes going wild as she spat, “It was Yao Xiao Man. It must be that wicked maid!”

She fixed her stare on Madam Wang and accused, frantic: “Aunt, think about it. Who else stays by Cousin every day? She switched my spices with this drug and then lured Granny Chen over to check. She wanted to kill two birds with one stone, get rid of me as the Cousin Miss, and then keep Cousin for herself!”

Madam Wang let out a laugh uglier than weeping: “Keep my son for herself? Zheng Xiu Yun, since the day you entered this house, has my son ever once looked you in the eye? You think you deserve to be compared with that maidservant? What a joke.”

She cut off the last hope with a snarl: “Granny Chen saw you sneaking drug into the teapot with her own eyes. Do you take everyone here for a fool like you?”

Those words crushed the last straw. Zheng Xiu Yun trembled all over. Despair turned to wild laughter that scraped the ear: “Yes! Fine! I did drug him. So what?”

She lifted her head, bloodshot eyes locked on Madam Wang, and shouted like a cornered animal: “Aunt, stop pretending. You let me into the manor because you liked my looks and wanted me to tie down the heart of the Buddha’s Chosen Cousin, didn’t you? I did it all for you, for Cousin’s sake. I only wanted to ease your worries!”

Color drained from Madam Wang’s face at once. Her most hidden thought had just been shouted in public by a fool. Her voice twisted sharp with rage and fear as she snapped, “Take her away. Give her a heavy beating. Thirty strokes. At first light tomorrow, send her back to the Zheng Clan. I will ask them myself how they raised such a shameless girl with a filthy mouth.”

As if remembering something, Zheng Xiu Yun tore a crumpled lotus sachet from her breast and held it high, crying hoarsely: “Aunt, look. This is my mother’s keepsake. You spoke of the bond from those years. For my dead mother’s sake, spare me this once. I am your niece.”

First Madam only gave a cold smile and said: “Oh? If your dead mother knew how shameless you are, I fear she would die of anger a second time.”

Panic flashing, Zheng Xiu Yun tried to steady herself and argued, “But I am an official’s daughter, not your slave. You have no right to insult and beat me. Even if there must be punishment, it is not yours to give.”

“Official’s daughter?” Madam Wang scoffed. “The child of a mere sixth rank minor official dares throw rank at me? You dared to aim such dirty thoughts at my son. Even if I beat you to death here today, would the Zheng Clan dare utter half a complaint? This is not insult. I am teaching my late cousin’s good daughter on her behalf.”

Her next scream never fully left her mouth. A maidservant stuffed a rag between her teeth. They pinned her down and dragged her out like a butcher hauls a hog. Perhaps the rag was not stuffed tightly; broken sobs and curses still scraped the air: “Aunt, I was wrong, Aunt…”

“Yao Xiao Man… you will die badly… even as a ghost… I will never let you go…”

The sounds faded down the corridor and vanished.

First Madam turned her head and murmured to Nanny Zhou with a cold face: “After the beating, send her back to the Zheng Clan. Tell the Second Principal Wife there exactly how her good daughter used filthy tricks in my house, trying to climb high and stain my son’s name. Let her decide whether to marry that shameless thing to a butcher or a beggar. Either way, the House of Wang will have nothing more to do with her. We cannot afford that disgrace.”

Understanding flashed in Nanny Zhou’s eyes. She withdrew at once.

The hall fell still. Only the candles gave a soft crackle now and then. No one noticed the thin, invisible threads of black air slipping off Zheng Xiu Yun’s despair and Madam Wang’s spite, twining upward into the shadows of the beams.

The Heart Demon watched the splendid quarrel with relish, urging in silence: Hit her. Yes, harder. It loved nothing more than watching hearts rot step by step. That taste was… delicious.

[This chapter kept being revised.]