Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 68
Chapter 68 - Please, My Lord, Make Your Instructions Clear
The sun in the fifth month of the lunar calendar was indeed growing more and more scorching by the day.
Just like in Yunchu's past life, April still retained the lingering chill of spring, but the moment May arrived, temperatures soared violently, making people dizzy with heat.
Not even a full quarter of an hour had passed of standing outside when a minor servant came running out to announce, "Lord Xie, Madam Xie, please follow this servant inside."
Yunchu had assumed the Marquis of Wu would intentionally make things difficult for Xie Jingyu, never expecting he would grant them entry so quickly.
This was her very first time stepping foot inside the Marquis of Wu's Mansion across both of her lifetimes.
With its pavilions, waterside terraces, and painted beams and pillars, it was plain to see that the Qin family's ancestors had been people of refined tastes.
The servant led them into the gardens, where summer flowers bloomed in splendid abundance and butterflies fluttered everywhere. Just as they stepped further inside, a sudden canine bark pierced the air.
A massive hound, as tall as a man, lunged out from the side and barked frantically at Xie Jingyu. Being a mere scholar, Xie Jingyu had never witnessed such a menacing spectacle and retreated in terror, step after step.
Yunchu remained standing in her place without moving; this large hound had a leash tied around its neck, making it utterly impossible for it to lunge and bite them.
"Madam Xie truly possesses extraordinary nerve!" Qin Mingheng walked out into view. "Lord Xie is a grown man of eight feet, yet he turns out to be less courageous than a woman. Tsk, tsk."
Xie Jingyu's complexion turned unsightly.
Lowering his head, he cupped his hands in salute: "Lord Marquis, my wife and I have come to offer a humble apology bearing the rod of self-punishment. Yesterday, when Your Highness condescended to bring the young marquis to the Xie estate for wine and feasting, it was already extending great favor to the Xie family. However, this official failed to discipline his son properly, leading that scoundrel to injure the young marquis. My son's leg is ruined for life, and I have already banished him to a suburban estate to reflect upon his misdeeds. He has received the punishment he rightly deserves; I earnestly beg Your Highness, in your magnanimity, to grant this official a chance to redeem himself."
Yunchu retrieved the inkstone from Tingshuang's hands and presented it respectfully with both hands: "This is an immensely rare Songhua inkstone. We humbly ask Your Highness to graciously accept it."
Qin Mingheng had no fondness for scholarly pursuits and cared nothing for any Songhua inkstone, yet this was an item personally presented by Yunchu's own hands.
He strode over, accepted the inkstone, and glanced at it. Twirling it around in his hand to play with it, he cast a sideways glance at Xie Jingyu: "Lord Xie doesn't seriously think that by bringing his wife over to offer amends, this Marquis will let the matter rest just like that?"
Xie Jingyu's fingers clenched tightly in secret: "Please, My Lord, make your instructions clear."
"Five years ago, Lord Xie came begging at my gates, imploring me to produce an exceedingly rare divine medicine." Qin Mingheng's lips curled into a smile. "Do you still remember the price Lord Xie paid at that time?"
Xie Jingyu's heart sank heavily.
Five years ago, on the eve of his grand wedding with Yunchu, his mother, Lady Yuan's, condition had suddenly taken a sharp turn for the worse. She vomited blood incessantly day after day and spent the majority of her time unconscious.
From the time he was old enough to understand, his mother had been bedridden by illness. His two greatest aspirations in life were, first, to secure a prominent rank among the civil and military officials to bring glory to the Xie family, and second, to cure his mother's chronic affliction.
How deeply he had hoped his mother could sit in the seat of honor and drink the joyous wedding wine shared by him and Yunchu.
After inquiring everywhere, he finally discovered that the Marquis of Wu possessed a miraculous medicine passed down through his ancestors, rumored to cure all manner of illnesses.
He relied on connections through the Yun family to gain admittance to the Marquis's estate. When he knelt before the Marquis of Wu to plead for the divine medicine, the Marquis put forth a demand that made his entire body tremble whenever he recalled it now.
"Would Lord Xie be willing to let me share your wedding night?"
He still remembered the sinister, malevolent glare in the Marquis of Wu's eyes when he uttered those words, as if he longed to devour him alive.
It was only then that he learned the Marquis of Wu, who had married a daughter of the Luo family, actually harbored extraordinary, improper feelings toward Yun Chu, the eldest legitimate daughter of the great general's household.
"What is Lord Xie pondering over, looking so ghastly pale?" The mockery at the corners of Qin Mingheng's mouth grew deeper. "It is all this Marquis's fault for failing to host guests properly. Someone come, serve tea to Lord Xie and Madam Xie."
A maidservant stepped forward carrying two cups of tea, placing them before Yunchu and Xie Jingyu.
Yunchu's upbringing taught her that when a host offered tea during a visit, one must take at least a symbolic sip regardless of whether one was thirsty or not—it was basic etiquette for a guest.
She picked up the teacup and raised it toward her lips.
"Madam."
Xie Jingyu blurted out in an involuntary cry.
Yunchu's action of drinking paused, and she turned her head: "What is it?"
Qin Mingheng leaned back in his chair: "What? Does Lord Xie suspect there is something wrong with my tea?"
Xie Jingyu gripped his teacup fiercely.
Had he not anticipated this exact scene when he brought Yunchu here?
Five years ago, Yunchu had bartered away that single night in exchange for his mother's life.
The present Yunchu was long past being the innocent eldest miss of the general's estate. Using her body for one night once more to trade for the Xie family's peace—what of it?
Clearly, he had already resolved himself to this decision, yet why did a sense of hesitation well up within him the moment he laid eyes on that cup of tea?
For the very first time, he realized that he truly was an utterly hypocritical human being.
Xie Jingyu spoke in a subdued voice: "Be careful, the tea is hot."
Yunchu lowered her gaze: "Many thanks for Husband's reminder."
She brought the teacup to her lips and took a gentle sip, though she did not swallow the liquid. Using her handkerchief to dab at the corners of her mouth, she discreetly spat that mouthful of tea into the cloth.
Although her movements were extremely subtle, Qin Mingheng had been keeping her under observation out of the corner of his eye the entire time and naturally caught sight of it.
He couldn't help letting out a mocking chuckle. He hadn't laced his tea with anything at all, yet she was so fiercely guarded that she refused to take even a single drop.
Yet five years ago, within the nuptial wine shared by her and Xie Jingyu, a potent sleeping potion capable of rendering a robust grown man completely insensible had been deliberately added.
At that moment, Lady Luo arrived accompanied by her maidservants, a beaming smile on her face: "Since Lord Xie and Madam Xie have both come in person, Your Lordship should let bygones be bygones and stop dwelling on yesterday's affairs."
Not only was the Xie family's second young master left with a broken leg, but he had also been banished far away from the capital, which was tantamount to the Xie family completely abandoning the child.
Although the boy was merely a concubine-born son and couldn't possibly compare to the Marquis's heir, the Xie couple had already gone to such extreme lengths. If their Marquis's mansion continued to press the issue and haggle relentlessly, it would appear rather overbearing and uncharitable.
"I recently acquired some fine tea; why doesn't Madam Xie come sit in my quarters for a while?" Lady Luo smiled warmly as she spoke to Yunchu. "Since it is nearly midday, would Madam Xie care to stay and keep me company for lunch?"
Naturally, Yunchu did not refuse. She stood up and followed Lady Luo toward the inner courtyards.
The moment the two women departed, the smile vanished entirely from Qin Mingheng's face, replaced by a glacial expression as he snapped, "If Lord Xie isn't leaving, does he intend to stay and share a meal with me?"
Xie Jingyu clenched his fists: "This official takes his leave."
Watching his figure vanish out the gates of the Marquis's mansion, Qin Mingheng's countenance grew even frostier.
Just how could a selfish, despicable scoundrel like him ever be worthy of Yunchu? Why on earth had Lady Yun been so blind as to marry Yunchu off to such a vile creature?
He strode into his study and triggered a hidden mechanism, revealing a secret art studio inside. The walls were completely covered in portraits of the exact same woman, and a handkerchief rested upon the desk.
Taking down one of the paintings, he murmured softly, "Yunchu, I am the one who failed you. If I had defied the imperial decree and refused to marry Lady Luo, might we have been joined as husband and wife..."
The Marquis of Wu was a title of leisure holding no real political power; he could never understand why the Emperor had insisted on bestowing a marriage upon him back when he was still the heir apparent.
If he had only waited two more years, until Yunchu reached the age of guanli coming-of-age, he could have persuaded his mother to formally propose marriage. But in the end, he had arrived a step too late.
He married a daughter of the Luo family, while she became a wife of the Xie family.
Yunchu drank tea in Lady Luo's courtyard and partook of the meal in her company, remaining extremely cautious throughout. Every morsel of food that entered her mouth was discreetly spat into her handkerchief.
It wasn't that her guard was excessively paranoid, but rather that the Marquis of Wu and Xie Jingyu clearly harbored bad blood; she had to handle herself with absolute vigilance.
After chatting with Lady Luo for a while, she finally learned that the rumors outside were indeed true: apart from Lady Luo, there was not a single other woman in the entire Marquis of Wu's Mansion.
Which man of the current dynasty did not have three wives and four concubines? Yet the Marquis of Wu had actually managed to do this much for Lady Luo.
Once the time was right, Yunchu took her leave of Lady Luo and headed to the front courtyard to rendezvous with Xie Jingyu.
The minor servants in the front courtyard informed her that Xie Jingyu was currently in the Marquis of Wu's study discussing matters, and invited her to wait temporarily in the side parlor of the study.
Yunchu nodded and proceeded to the side parlor to take a seat.
Ice basins were placed on all four sides of this side parlor, so despite the blazing sun outside, not a single trace of heat could be felt within.