Chapter 32
Chapter 32: The Observation Team Triggers a Mansion-Wide Cleanup
The second house’s three young ladies had barely gathered their resolve when an unexpected guest cut them off.
Su Jin E, the Minister of Personnel’s legitimate daughter—and Lin Yu Jiao’s closest handkerchief friend—rushed in like a gust of wind.
“Jiao Jiao!”
Her voice arrived before she did. The moment she stepped in, she seized Lin Yu Jiao’s hands, cheeks flushed with excitement.
“Your cousin—your cousin went to Fa Hua Temple to preach again!”
When Su Jin E spoke of Lin Qing Xuan, her eyes went dazzling, brimming with open admiration and longing—the bright, reckless shine of first love.
“I go on the first and fifteenth every month!”
But that light dimmed as quickly as it flared. She sighed, a touch resentful.
“Unfortunately, the Buddhist Scion has only the Dharma in his heart. Where would he ever make room for ordinary women like us?”
She came to the General’s Residence so often that it was half friendship, half a private wish she dared not say aloud.
She always hoped, if only from afar, to accidentally glimpse that cold, moonlike figure.
But she’d visited countless times and never even seen his shadow.
And the Heir Apparent’s Residence was even more tightly guarded. As an outsider noble lady, she couldn’t step inside at all.
Lin Yu Jiao watched her friend’s infatuation, felt words rise to her lips—and swallowed them down.
Mother had warned them repeatedly: the matter of Cousin “opening up” must never be spoken of.
So Lin Yu Jiao offered only a dry comfort. “Fate is unpredictable.”
Su Jin E hadn’t expected more. She brightened again, pivoting briskly to her next excitement.
“Oh! And I’ve invited you and Sister Yu Wan—ten days from now we’ll go admire flowers at Jade Pond Spring Warmth.”
She leaned in, conspiratorial.
“The Third Princess is hosting it. Every noble lady with a name in the capital will be there.”
She patted Lin Yu Jiao’s hand.
“The invitation should arrive tomorrow or the day after. I came to give you a heads-up first.”
After Su Jin E swept out—still floating in her own little world—the three sisters looked at one another.
Lin Yu Jiao broke the silence and led the other two toward the small side gate connecting the residences. As they walked, she whispered to Lin Yu Wan.
“I almost told Jin E just now. If I told her Cousin has opened up… would she have hope too?”
Lin Yu Wan cut her off with a sharp look, voice hard. “Don’t you dare.”
“Don’t say a word. If this spreads, in less than half a day the noble ladies will trample our doorstep flat.”
She lowered her voice further, expression grave.
“And don’t forget—the Third Princess… seems to have her eye on Cousin as well.”
Lin Yu Jiao sucked in a breath and immediately shut her mouth.
Behind them, Lin Yu Ning suddenly straightened her little back and mimicked Mother’s dramatic tone, shaking her head as she sighed, “What a sin. Male beauty really ruins people.”
Lin Yu Wan and Lin Yu Jiao both laughed despite themselves, and the earlier tension loosened.
“Should we go pay respects to Grandmother first?” Lin Yu Wan suggested. “Ask what’s truly going on.”
Lin Yu Jiao nodded quickly.
“Yes. I heard Yao Xiao Man used to serve in Grandmother’s room. Somehow Cousin took a fancy to her, and after some back and forth, they… they became close.”
“That’s not it!” Lin Yu Ning jumped in at once, chin lifted with the certainty of a child holding “reliable sources.”
“I heard it from my head maid! She asked Little Peach—the daughter of the second steward at the Heir Apparent’s Residence. Little Peach said Yao Xiao Man is shameless and threw herself at Cousin! She even called her a fox spirit!”
“Lin Yu Ning!”
Lin Yu Wan’s face darkened instantly. Her voice snapped like a whip.
“What kind of people are you keeping under you? Discipline your courtyard staff! What filthy words are you letting them repeat?”
Anger tightened Lin Yu Wan’s breath.
“Tomorrow I’ll send Matron Zhang to your courtyard to warn them properly. I don’t believe Cousin is the kind who chases beauty. If he were, with so many beauties in the capital, why would he wait until now?”
Lin Yu Jiao nodded vigorously.
“Eldest Sister is right. We know Cousin. It must be that maid who’s the problem!”
They argued as they walked, thoughts tangled in different knots, and soon arrived at Old Madam’s Pine-Crane Hall.
After greetings and bows, before the older two could speak, Lin Yu Ning blurted out, unable to restrain herself.
“Grandmother! We all know about Cousin opening up!”
Old Madam’s hand paused with her teacup. For a single breath, her kindly smile froze—then returned as if nothing had happened, only her eyes turning deeper.
She set the cup down and looked at Lin Yu Wan.
“Eldest girl.”
“Granddaughter is here.”
“Tomorrow, find a capable matron and go to Third Miss’s courtyard. Warn her people properly.”
Old Madam’s voice was calm, unhurried—and utterly unquestionable.
“It’s time that mouth of hers was reined in.”
A chill ran through Lin Yu Wan. She bowed quickly. “Yes, Grandmother. Granddaughter was just speaking of it.”
She hesitated, then probed carefully. “But, Grandmother… the little maids have spread this Cousin matter everywhere. Could it… be true?”
Lin Yu Jiao nodded so hard her hairpin nearly shook loose, her face written over with curiosity.
Old Madam’s gaze swept the three granddaughters, and suddenly she smiled.
“Curious, are you?”
She lifted her cup again and blew gently across the surface.
“Your grandmother here is curious as well.”
Then she spoke lightly, as if discussing the weather.
“Your cousin merely asked me for a maid to serve his writing and ink. How big a thing is that? How did it turn into this?”
She set the cup down with a soft clink. The warmth in her face remained, but her eyes sharpened like a drawn blade.
“It seems the maids in this residence have grown too lively in their thoughts. Their hearts aren’t pure anymore.”
“It’s time for a proper cleanup.”
The three young ladies stared at one another, stunned.
They had come hunting gossip—and somehow, they’d summoned a mansion-wide purge.