Chapter 071
Chapter 71: The Mad Princess’s Deadly Obsession
Leaving the clinic, the young ladies climbed into their carriage and turned the matter over in their minds. Third Princess Xuan Ji coveting Elder Cousin Lin Qing Xuan’s beauty was no secret among the noble ladies of the Capital City. In her Princess Manor she kept male favorites of every kind, showy and delicate, sturdy and soft, a collection like stamps. Only one type was missing: Lin Qing Xuan’s kind, cool and ascetic, like a banished immortal.
The Heavenborn Buddha’s Chosen was a bright moon hung in the sky, the pure summit of the Snow Mountains, sacred and untouchable. The more Xuan Ji could not have him, the more her heart itched. More than once at rich banquets, before a hall of power, she tapped a cup with scarlet-tipped fingers and, eyes glazed with wine, boasted: “What Buddha’s Chosen? Sooner or later I will strip off his robes and make him kneel at my feet, crying for my mercy.”
Now Qiu Ru Ying not only went in and out of the Heir Apparent Manor often, she carried a Sutra Translation personally copied by Lin Qing Xuan. In the eyes of that madwoman Xuan Ji, how was that different from saying in public, “We are about to discuss a match”?
The man she could not have, no other woman was allowed to touch.
Lin Yu Wan was the first to think: [She wants to destroy Qiu Ru Ying. If Ru Ying’s reputation is ruined, Elder Cousin the Buddha’s Chosen can never marry her.]
Lin Yu Jiao caught up fast and burst out, angry and crude: “That crazy woman. That lunatic. Is her brain sick?”
The more she thought, the more guilty she felt. Eyes reddening, she grabbed Qiu Ru Ying’s hand and said, voice breaking: “Ru Ying, I am sorry. It is all my fault. If I had not tried to match you with Elder Cousin, if I had not bragged about that sutra, how would that madwoman have targeted you? You did nothing to deserve this. It is on me.”
Qiu Ru Ying, oddly, was the calmest. She turned her hand over and patted Lin Yu Jiao’s knuckles, then shook her head and said softly, with a soothing steadiness: “It is not your fault. Even without today, she would find another excuse. A mad dog bites without a reason.”
She turned to Lin Yu Wan and Xiao Man, bowed, and said: “Thank you, both of you, for today. Without you, I…”
She did not finish, but everyone understood the cost she had just escaped.
Xiao Man sighed inwardly. The Buddha’s Chosen’s face was truly a magnet for trouble. Since ancient times, great beauty brings thin fate. In a man, such stunning looks could be a death warrant too.
They dared not waste another moment. Racing along, they escorted Qiu Ru Ying home. Only when she stepped over the high threshold of Qiu Manor did their tight hearts ease a little.
At Qiu Manor, the moment Qiu Ru Ying entered, she dismissed every servant and told her parents everything from start to finish. The sitting room fell into a deathly hush.
Vice Minister Qiu’s refined face turned iron-blue. The cup in his hand trembled; his knuckles went white from the force of his grip. He slammed the cup onto the table. Scalding tea splashed everywhere as he shouted: “Outrageous. Outrageous.”
He shook with anger, not fear. He burned with the shame of a minister and the fury of a father and said, forcing himself calm to weigh the situation: “The Third Princess is vicious and ruthless, and she enjoys the Emperor’s favor. We have no solid proof in hand. Even if we raise this before the throne, she will talk her way out. In the end, it is your name, Ru Ying, that will suffer worse.”
He set his jaw and said: “This will not end quietly.”
Madam Qiu was already faint with terror, tears falling like broken beads. She clutched her daughter and stammered: “My child, what shall we do? That madwoman will not let you go.”
Suddenly lifting her head as if seizing the last hope, she said: “Go to Jiangdu. Yes, go to Jiangdu. Ru Ying, leave at first light and hide with your grandmother in Jiangdu. Hurry.”
That night, Qiu Manor burned with lamplight. Maids and old grannies worked fast with muffled steps, packing deed boxes and jewel cases, four seasons of clothes, and common medicines into crates for their Miss. A heavy, tense hush covered the whole estate.
Before dawn, when only a strip of pale fish-belly light showed in the east, a plain blue carriage rolled out of Qiu Manor’s back gate. Thick cloth wrapped the axles to kill the noise. Avoiding every eye, it rattled away toward Jiangdu.
At first light the next day, behind the private residence of the Third Princess, in a filthy alley, several expressionless guards carried something out. A mildewed mat wrapped it, more tied than covered. Wet and rotten, it could not hold the shape. Dark, sticky blood mixed with mud seeped through the gaps and dripped down, marking a shocking trail on the dirty ground.
They heaved the body onto a handcart with the rough care one uses to toss a sack of stinking trash. One guard, voice low, wiped flecks of blood from his cheek with a sleeve and said, numb: “Another one. Last month that singer also thought he had her favor. What happened? His tongue was torn out, and he got thrown to the Potter’s Field for dogs. These out-of-town toys never learn.”
Another guard curled his lip and said with open scorn: “If you want to cling to a dragon or phoenix, ask first whether the dragon or phoenix eats people. You think the Princess’s bed is easy to climb?”
The cart creaked over the muddy morning road, leaving two broken lines of blood in the ruts. These male favorites were rootless duckweed. In the eyes of Third Princess Xuan Ji, their lives were cheaper than ants by the road.
High in a loft, Xuan Ji slowly trimmed a prized ink chrysanthemum. Hearing the noise below, she did not even lift an eyelid. Only when the cart turned the corner and vanished did she snip off the fullest blossom. She raised it to her nose, inhaled, and let a cold, mocking smile curl her lips.
A maidservant crept up and knelt to report: “Your Highness, the Qiu Clan’s Miss left the city by night and is heading to Jiangdu.”
Xuan Ji tossed the ink chrysanthemum to the floor and ground it under the gold-thread tip of her shoe.
[Qiu Ru Ying ran? No matter. I already know she is not the prey.]
She even found it amusing. A frightened rabbit. Let it run. Why would she waste effort to chase? [I have a tastier quarry.]
Her gaze, like a hawk fixed on its target, pierced roof upon roof and locked onto the direction of the Heir Apparent Manor. There lived her true goal, that cold and distant moon.
Xuan Ji’s eyes turned hot and greedy, lit with a madness that would not be denied. [Lin Qing Xuan, and that maid called Xiao Man…]
[Soon, Lin Qing Xuan, you, the Buddha’s Chosen, will become the most perfect treasure of this Princess.]