Chapter 66
Chapter 66: The Maternal Family’s Sick-Visit Delegation
The news that Lin Qing Xuan had been struck hard enough to split his head open, blood running down his face, hit like thunder on flat ground.
It grew wings, fluttering straight into the Wang family on his mother’s side, stirring a quiet pond into a roaring storm.
In the Wang family’s back courtyard, Aunt and several cousin misses heard, and their teacups nearly slipped from their hands.
“What? Cousin—the Buddhist Scion—got his head cracked open?!”
“My heavens, is that true? Cousin is an Innate Buddha Child, a body of vajra that nothing can harm. How could some maid brat injure him?”
“It couldn’t have been a person. It must’ve been a Demon. The storybooks say Demons that want to eat a true Buddhist Scion start by smashing the head!”
The youngest girl in the Wang family was the most obsessed with tales and rumor.
“Sister! Didn’t you say Cousin had his eye on a little maid? We didn’t believe you—we thought you were joking!”
The cousin misses chirped and clattered like sparrows in a kicked-up nest, their faces practically stamped with four huge words:
I want the gossip.
Calling it a sick visit was a lie. They came for the spectacle.
They wanted to see with their own eyes what kind of three-headed, six-armed peerless monster a maid named Yao Xiao Man could be—someone who could drag an otherworldly Innate Buddha Child down from his pedestal.
With one order, the Wang family rolled out a grand procession—carriages, horses, and servants—making straight for Lin Manor with the weight of an invading army.
Xiao Man had just come out of the kitchen with a bowl of pitch-black medicine. The bitter stench made her frown so hard her nose wrinkled.
She looked up—and froze.
The courtyard was packed with women in fine silks and glittering jewels, lined up as if for inspection.
Necks craned. Eyes sharpened to needles. They swept her from head to toe, inside and out, like they were pricing an antique rather than looking at a person.
“There. That’s her—Yao Xiao Man.”
“She’s… so-so. Plain. Not even as fresh-faced as my second-rank maid.”
“Tsk. People really can’t be judged by appearances. I heard she smashed Cousin’s head, and not only was she not punished—Cousin guards her like a treasure.”
“My maid said Cousin took some messy medicine, fainted, and hit the corner of a table.”
One cousin miss tugged another’s sleeve. “Your maid is useless. Your information’s wrong. I paid two taels of silver for mine!”
Their voices weren’t loud or quiet, just sharp enough—each word drilling into Xiao Man’s ears like needles.
Her scalp went numb.
With the bowl in her hands, she couldn’t retreat or advance. So she forced her legs to move, curtsied, and kept her voice small.
“This servant… pays respects to the madams and misses.”
Wang Yao stood at the very front. Today she wore a tender yellow dress that made her look prettier than any blossom.
She stepped forward smiling, warm as spring, and took Xiao Man’s hand like they were old friends—yet her eyes spun and circled, measuring every inch of her.
“Sister Xiao Man, don’t be so formal. How is my cousin’s injury? Is he better now?”
Xiao Man’s skin crawled under that easy familiarity. She gave a stiff smile that felt like it might crack.
“Thanks to Miss… he’s… much better…”
Inside, she was screaming.
Inside the study, Lin Qing Xuan reclined on a couch with his eyes closed, resting.
A thin scab had formed at his temple, but the blood loss still left his face sickly pale.
Outside, the noise in the courtyard swelled and swelled. His handsome brows knit at once.
“Who is here?”
Chen Shi bent at the waist and answered softly. “Replying to Young Master, it is Aunt from the Wang family and several cousin misses. They said… they came to visit the sick.”
Lin Qing Xuan’s expression darkened so fast it was almost visible. The impatience in his eyes nearly spilled over.
“Send them back.”
His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried a cold finality that left no room to argue.
Chen Shi’s face tightened. Cold sweat threatened at his hairline.
“This… Young Master, First Madam personally welcomed them in. They are already in the courtyard.”
Lin Qing Xuan closed his eyes, pressed the roiling irritation down, and opened them again with a calm that was even colder.
“Have Xiao Man come in to attend me.”
“Keep everyone else outside.”
Back in the courtyard, Wang Yao’s sister, Wang Ying, was the first to boil over.
She was born with a spoiled sharpness, and the look she gave Xiao Man was pure provocation and disdain.
When no one was watching, she surged forward and seized Xiao Man’s wrist.
The grip was hard enough to make the medicine bowl wobble.
“Sister Xiao Man, I’ve heard Cousin treats you differently. Is it true?”
She made sure her voice rang bright enough for everyone to hear.
Xiao Man flinched and tried to pull away. “Miss is joking. This servant is only a maid attending Young Master. I wouldn’t dare think of anything else.”
Wang Ying didn’t release her. If anything, her fingers tightened.
“Only a maid? Only a maid can smash him until blood pours?”
“Why didn’t he punish you? What kind of fox-charm tricks did you use to seduce him?”
The words were filthy, cruel. Heat surged into Xiao Man’s face, turning it red to the ears.
Her mind scrambled for an excuse, but everything inside her was a churning mess.
Then—
Creak.
The inner door opened.
Lin Qing Xuan stood in the doorway in plain white robes, expression blank. The injury at his temple sharpened him into something fierce and untouchable.
His gaze swept the courtyard. Then it pinned itself to Xiao Man, still caught in Wang Ying’s grip.
“What are you making noise about?”
Silence fell like a blade.
Even the air seemed to freeze.
Wang Ying turned ghost-white. Her hand jerked free as if burned, and she stumbled back two steps, words tangling.
“C-Cousin… we—we came to see you…”
Lin Qing Xuan didn’t spare her a glance. His eyes stayed on Xiao Man, and his lips parted for two simple words.
“Come in.”
Relief hit Xiao Man so hard her knees nearly buckled. She almost wanted to drop to the ground and kowtow right there.
Clutching the bowl, she fled into the room as if chased.
High above, a wisp of black mist curled along the rafters, writhing with delight.
“Hee-hee-hee… perfect. Perfect timing! The Wang family fools—walking right in to deliver entertainment.”
It slid down without sound, slipped into the still-dazed Wang Ying’s ear, and whispered with venom sweet as rot.
“Did you see? Your godlike cousin humiliated you in public—for a lowly maid.”
“Can you accept that?”
“What do you lack compared to that maid?”
Wang Ying’s eyes darkened. Jealousy flared up in her chest like poisoned fire.
She clenched her handkerchief until her knuckles whitened.
She turned to Wang Yao and hissed in a sour whisper, “Sis, did you see? She’s not some three-headed, six-armed monster. Why does she get to hook Cousin, someone like a heavenly being?”
Then she lifted her chin stubbornly. “Sis, look at me. Am I not a hundred times prettier than that maid called Xiao Man?”
Wang Yao looked at her muddle-headed sister and felt anger spike. She let out a low, cold laugh.
“Drop it.”
“If there were anything for you, would it have waited until today? When has Cousin ever had us in his eyes?”
Her voice stayed low, but every word stabbed.
“And don’t forget why we came—this is a sick visit. Put away your shameful thoughts and stop embarrassing yourself.”
Shamed and stung, Wang Ying’s jealousy-fogged mind cleared a fraction.
She pouted, but didn’t dare argue further, trailing behind Wang Yao with her head drooping like a defeated hen.
Inside, Lin Qing Xuan reclined on the couch. The gauze at his temple made his already pale face look colder still.
Wang Yao stepped forward with several cousins and bowed, wearing concern like a well-fitted veil.
“Cousin, is your injury any better? Mother specially had us bring tonics…”
Lin Qing Xuan didn’t even lift his eyelids.
“Leave it.”
Wang Ying still wouldn’t give up. She pinched her voice sweetly and edged closer.
“Cousin, that maid is clumsy. Let me attend you instead…”
“Wang Ying.”
Lin Qing Xuan lifted his gaze at last. It was sharp as ice.
“The maid in my manor is not yours to judge.”
The room went dead quiet.
Wang Yao hurried to tug her sister back, forcing a strained laugh. “Cousin, don’t be angry. Ying’er is young and speaks without thinking…”
“Young?” Lin Qing Xuan’s mouth curved into something like a sneer. “Then she should learn rules.”
His fingers idly rubbed the rim of the teacup. His voice fell light as snow—and each word cut deeper than steel.
“If I hear even half a rumor again… the Wang family daughter’s reputation may not hold up to scrutiny.”
Wang Ying went pale. Cold sweat broke out on Wang Yao’s back.
With brittle smiles, they retreated as quickly as propriety allowed.
The moment they stepped past the courtyard gate, Wang Yao’s smile vanished, sinking into something dark enough to drip.
She seized Wang Ying’s arm, nails nearly biting into flesh, and spat in a low whisper, every word poisoned.
“You blind idiot.”
Then she caught sight of Lin Manor maids peeking from the corridor, eyes wide and curious. A sharp light flashed in Wang Yao’s gaze.
She released her sister, drew in a breath, and—like an actress snapping into a role—put on a pained, disappointed expression.
Her voice rose—just loud enough, just measured enough, for half the courtyard to hear.
“At home I warned you again and again. Cousin may be a Buddhist Scion, pure and restrained, but he is not without temper!”
“And Miss Xiao Man is now Cousin’s precious darling—yet you provoked her in public, again and again—”
She jabbed a finger hard at Wang Ying’s forehead, the gesture fierce with “tough love.”
“Do you think your face is bigger than the sky, or are you simply as stupid as a pig?!”
Wang Ying’s eyes reddened. She didn’t dare speak back. She only twisted her handkerchief until it looked ready to tear.
Wang Yao swept her gaze across the other trembling girls, her voice climbing higher, full of eldest-sister authority.
“And you too!”
“Scrub away every thought you shouldn’t have!”
“When we return, you will copy the Heart Sutra eighty-one times to pray for Cousin!”
“And from now on, when you see Miss Xiao Man, you will be more respectful than when you see me. Do you hear me?”
It looked like scolding her sister. In truth, every line was aimed at the ears within the manor—especially the Buddhist Scion who heard too well.
Wang Yao knew it perfectly. If she didn’t perform this scene to the end, once the story reached Lin Qing Xuan’s ears, none of the Wang family misses would come out of it unscathed.
She glanced again at the peeking maids and added, voice sharpened like a warning bell.
“If I learn anyone has been wagging their tongue behind our backs—”
“Family punishment will follow!”
Above them, the black mist coiled in the treetops, laughing so hard it nearly rolled.
“Tsk. The Wang family legitimate daughter—she acts better than any performer.”
It slipped into Wang Ying’s ear once more, whispering like a knife wrapped in silk.
“Your sister is using you as a stepping stone to please that Buddhist Scion. Can you accept that?”
Wang Ying’s fingers tightened around her handkerchief. A thick, venomous hate flashed through her eyes.