Against the Current - Chapter 140
Chapter 140 - Jealousy
With a head full of vexation, Lin Jinlou had come to Luan'er's room merely to find a place to sleep. Without uttering a single word, he threw himself straight onto the bed, pulled a thin quilt over his head, and fell fast asleep.
Seeing the faint trace of anger on Lin Jinlou's face and vaguely guessing that Xianglan had displeased him, Luan'er felt a surge of secret satisfaction. She gave Lin Jinlou a nudge and said, "What are you lying down here for? I'm unloved and unwanted anyway—hurry off to rest with that delightful darling of yours, and stop being an eyesore to me." Observing that Lin Jinlou remained motionless, her own anger flared up. She sneered, "The master's temper has grown quite grand lately, throwing tantrums at the drop of a hat. I'm positively terrified. Not long ago, when I accidentally broke a jade bracelet, the master said it was well broken; yet today, when I painstakingly brewed soup and brought it over, I was driven out with a face like thunder. I know the master finds his new favorite refreshing and has tossed people like us aside like rotting weeds. Since you hold her in the palm of your hand, why come bothering me in the dead of night?"
Hearing this, Lin Jinlou grew all the more impatient and snapped angrily, "Foolish woman, say one more word and you'll be kneeling in the courtyard!"
Luan'er froze. Lin Jinlou had always treated her with a measure of tenderness; even when he had scolded her back in the main quarters, he had never spoken to her with such harsh severity. Gripped by a profound sense of grievance, her eyes reddened instantly.
Cunxin hurriedly chimed in, "Our lady was just temporarily muddle-headed and misspoke! Only moments ago, she was sighing deeply with me and praising the master's good qualities. It's simply because she holds the master so dear in her heart that, seeing him take in a new person just now, she felt a pang of jealousy and threw a tiny fit. Please, Master, do not hold it against her." Cunxin had been personally trained by Shuran and was clever and tactful; thus, these few words caused Lin Jinlou's expression to soften slightly.
Who would have thought Luan'er would sneer, "You may be a smooth-talking servant, but I happen to be someone who speaks straight from the heart. I neither know how to talk nor how to serve, which is why the master of the house brought in a new person in less than three months, chased me out when I brewed soup for him, and didn't have a single kind word to say upon entering the room in the dead of night. Before long, I won't even be as good as a maid who sweeps the floors!"
Cunxin was startled by these words and thought to herself, My dear little mistress, have some sense of propriety at least! The master treated you with a good temper earlier because he was in a good mood and you were still the latest novelty. If you don't remember last time's lesson and insist on picking a fight with the master now, won't I be implicated as well? Noticing that Lin Jinlou's gaze was growing increasingly icy, Cunxin hurried over to the edge of the bed to pull Luan'er away, saying, "It is all my fault. My good lady, the master is tired. I'll go fetch a basin of hot water so you can help the master wipe his face and hands."
Luan'er felt as aggrieved as could be. Hearing Cunxin speak thus, she concluded that Cunxin didn't dare cross Lin Jinlou and wasn't truly on her side, which only made her fuming mad. She let out a few cold laughs and said, "Tired? He was probably just rolling around in the same bed with some little wench, and after having a petty dispute with her, he suddenly remembered my place? Hah! Sounding all high and noble when bringing her in as a personal maid, only to have her served all the way up to the bed." She then pointed at Cunxin and scolded, "You just know how to smooth things over, trying to show off your own cleverness in front of the master to make yourself look better, don't you?"
Before her voice had even faded, Lin Jinlou kicked Luan'er right off the kang bed. With a startled cry of "Ah," Luan'er tumbled to the floor, crashing against a chair and knocking a teapot to the ground where it shattered into a million pieces. Lin Jinlou said coldly, "You act more like the master of the house than I do. Presumably the Lin family temple is too small to contain you; tomorrow I'll have your sister take you away. With your grand mistress-like disposition, serving as a concubine's attendant is far too beneath your talents!"
Hearing this, Luan'er's grievance swelled tenfold. Tears slipped down in a steady stream as she sobbed, "The master treated me wonderfully before. Even if there were no grand oaths of eternal love, he still whispered plenty of sweet nothings. Yet barely a couple of days have passed since a new favorite arrived, and I've become an eyesore. Coming to my room in the middle of the night just to find ways to dismiss me—isn't that right?"
Beyond exasperated, Lin Jinlou got up from the bed and strode toward the door. Panicking, Cunxin dropped to her knees before him and kowtowed incessantly, pleading, "Please spare your anger, Master! Please spare your anger! The young lady spoke without thinking; I beg the master to show mercy for Sister Shuran's sake and forgive her just this once."
Lin Jinlou replied, "Shuran is fiercely loyal, and I haven't treated her poorly. But since your mistress is picking fights and throwing tantrums over nothing with me, it's better to just let her leave so I can enjoy some peace and quiet."
Only then did Luan'er truly panic. Sitting on the floor, she wept, "When did I ever say I wanted to leave? You muddle-headed man, I treated you with all my heart, yet you are so heartless that you want to cast me aside over a single stray word!" With that, she completely lost control, crying as if her heart would break.
Lin Jinlou's expression grew even gloomier.
At that moment, Shuran suddenly lifted the curtain and emerged from the inner room. She hastily knelt down alongside Lin Jinlou and pleaded, "Everything was fine just a moment ago—whatever is the matter... It's all because my foolish sister doesn't know any better; I apologize to the master on her behalf." As she spoke, she kowtowed and repeatedly shot glances at Luan'er, urging her to kowtow as well. It turned out that because she had attended to Xianglan so thoroughly that day, Shuran had stayed overnight in the manor, sleeping in Luan'er's room. When Lin Jinlou was driving Luan'er out, she had been fast asleep in the inner room and knew nothing of it. But the moment Lin Jinlou entered the room, she had been awakened by the commotion. At first, thinking Lin Jinlou had remembered Luan'er's good points and had come to spend the night, she had kept quiet inside; but when things escalated into such an unseemly spectacle, she hurried out, inwardly cursing Luan'er for being so dim-witted.
For the sake of Buddha if not the monk, Shuran was, after all, a senior servant who held some face in his presence. Lin Jinlou sighed, waved his hand, and said, "Very well, I'll spare her for your sake." He turned around and walked back to the bed.
Knowing that Lin Jinlou wanted to sleep, Shuran hurried forward to tidy the bedding, softly lowered the bed curtains, and dragged Luan'er into the inner room with Cunxin. She then blew out the candle and reclined on a bamboo couch to keep watch for the night.
The rest of the night passed without incident.
Early the next morning, Luan'er served Lin Jinlou with a submissive and compliant demeanor as he washed and dressed. Lin Jinlou even ate breakfast in her room before leaving the manor for the military camp.
The people in Zhichun Lodge knew nothing of what had transpired behind closed doors. Seeing Lin Jinlou emerge from Luan'er's room bright and early, they couldn't help but feel immensely surprised. Having heard Shuran quietly whisper that Lin Jinlou had genuinely stormed out of the main quarters in a huff and even smashed a teacup on his way out, Luan'er grew all the more smug. Seeing Xique, a maid from Famiao's side, poking her head about to pry, Luan'er covered her mouth and chuckled, "Who can ever fathom the master's thoughts? I thought for sure I had fallen out of favor, never expecting that even after acquiring a new beauty, the master could still remember me in the dead of night and spend the latter half of the night sleeping in my room. It's not that I've won any special favor in the master's eyes, but from what I can observe with a cold eye, the master doesn't think much of that one called Xianglan either."
Before long, these words had spread far and wide.
Upon hearing the gossip, Xiaojuan indignantly reported it to Xianglan. Xianglan was lounging on the bed in the inner room; her expression didn't so much as flicker at the news, her gaze fixed entirely on a pot of orchids resting on the windowsill. One of the blossoms seemed to have reached the end of its bloom and was about to wither, drooping desolately while several nearby flowers were still in full, vibrant bloom, making this lone blossom look exceptionally lifeless. As a gust of breeze blew past, the flower detached itself from the branch and drifted down into the mud.
Suddenly, a verse drifted into her mind: "At dusk, the east wind grieves for the weeping birds; fallen blossoms are much like a falling lady." And another: "Everywhere red fades and jade wanes, as the worldly splendor gradually ceases." Having lived through two lifetimes, her twists of fate could truly be described as dramatic rises and falls, much like a blossom detached from its branch. Every single time she had fought with all her might, hacking through thorns and struggling her way out, this time she was simply too exhausted—so exhausted that even the strength for a dying struggle had drained away.
She was not a woman of great ambition, nor was she unclear about her own worth. She was neither exceptionally clever nor dazzlingly talented; she was soft-hearted and stubborn, with a few untimely flaws. Aside from harboring forbidden yearnings for Song Ke in the past, she had never indulged in daydreams. All she sought was to have her household registry cleared, make an honest living by her own labor, and live a peaceful life.
When Song Ke became engaged to another, she had simply felt her most beautiful dream shatter. Yet while she would weep for Song Ke at night, she could dry her tears by day and continue living—how could the ties and bonds of two lifetimes be forgotten so easily, especially since she was a woman of deep and lasting affections? Sometimes she felt the heavens were far too cruel to her; if she was destined to have no connection to Song Ke, why make their paths cross again? And having crossed paths, why make her recognize him? Acquiring something only to lose it again would only bring a deeper, more lingering anguish.
Yet she had never anticipated that she would fall back into Lin Jinlou's hands, forced to serve a man who acted like a tyrannical bandit, with no knowing in what year or month she might ever gain her release. As for Song Ke marrying the young lady of Duke Xian's household, that was for the best—Miss Zheng was talented and accomplished in every way, with a powerful maternal family that matched Song Ke perfectly, providing him with a strong backing for his future career as an official and statesman. As for herself, she was no longer Shen Jialan of her past life; she could be of no earthly help to Song Ke, and merely relied on a pretty face to save her father's life, living out a cowardly existence.
A burst of cheerful chatter suddenly drifted in from outside. Before long, a little maid named Furong poked her head around the multi-layered treasure cabinet. Chunling asked, "Shrinking away like a turtle, what are you hiding for?"
Only then did Furong step out and say, "Mistress Mei wants to see the young lady at the entrance, but since Sister said the young lady isn't feeling well today and doesn't want to see anyone, I didn't know how to turn her away."
Chunling turned to look at Xianglan, and seeing that she was still staring blankly at that pot of flowers, lowered her voice and said, "Just tell her the young lady is asleep and not receiving guests."
Hesitating slightly, Furong replied, "I overheard a bit just now. Mistress Mei was discussing with Sister Shuran at the door that she plans to pool some silver with Yingge and Luan'er to host a banquet, saying it's to welcome our young lady. She came over right now precisely to discuss this matter with the young lady."
Chunling knitted her brows. If it was for a reason like this, it wouldn't be easy to turn her away.
Xiaojuan pulled Chunling aside and whispered, "That painted-brow woman is no good bird. Xianglan is straightforward and a bit foolish; it won't go well if she gets schemed against. If you feel embarrassed, I'll go out and turn her down."
Lowering her voice as well, Chunling reasoned, "Mistress Mei enjoys a reputation for virtue before the old lady and the mistress, not to mention she has a proper pretext this time. I'm afraid if we refuse her, some ill-intentioned gossips might start talking. After all, Xianglan had such a bitter falling out with the master yesterday..."
Xianglan had heard every word of their conversation, yet she still sat there without moving an inch. According to her usual temperament, encountering such a situation would have required her to muster up her energy and handle it; but today, she thought with a sort of reckless abandon: Whatever masters, servants, mistresses, or concubines—let them all do as they please! At this point, I've broken the jar and let it smash. What can any of you possibly do to me?