Against the Current - Chapter 145

Chapter 145 - Weeping and Wailing

Shuran was burning with exasperation. She grabbed Luan'er, slapped her twice, and scolded, "You ungrateful little hussy, kicking up a fuss and courting death! Who do you think you are? You're merely a bit more presentable than the lower maids, yet you act as though you're already the mistress of the house!"

Cunxin hurriedly stepped forward to placate her, saying, "Sister, don't lose your temper. Let's talk things through properly."

Luan'er threw herself face down onto the large gold-threaded python-patterned mattress and wept bitterly.

A look of profound exhaustion crossed Shuran's face as she sighed, "I told you long ago to steer clear of Xianglan, but you simply refused to listen. Losing face today is entirely your own doing—who else can you blame? What would happen if you truly provoked the Young Master and he drove you out of the estate?"

Luan'er jerked upright, wiping away her tears as she snapped, "I don't believe it! The Young Master has a vile temper, but he truly cares for me. If he really loses his temper with me, it's only because that loose woman is plotting against me behind my back."

A lump caught in Shuran's throat. She trembled as she pointed a finger at Luan'er and stammered, "You, you, you... You are truly going to be the death of me!"

Cunxin hastily stepped up to stroke Shuran's back, whispering, "Sister, the girl simply hasn't come to her senses yet. You should guide her slowly."

Shuran frowned and retorted, "Guide her slowly? How old is she! In the past, people could brush it off as 'foolish and headstrong,' but if she continues to throw tantrums like this, she'll suffer a massive disaster sooner or later! Xianglan has a generous spirit and merely exchanged a few sharp words with her, but what if she runs into someone who refuses to let matters drop and easily coaxes the Young Master into throwing her out? I wouldn't even have the face to beg the Young Master to let her back in!" Glaring fiercely with furrowed brows, she pointed straight at Luan'er and said, "Think carefully for yourself—isn't that the truth of it?"

Realizing the gravity of Shuran's words, Luan'er gave a start. After pondering it over for a moment, she reached out to grab Shuran's hand and pleaded, "The Young Master wouldn't treat me that way. Sister, you've said yourself that the Young Master only took a passing fancy to Xianglan because she's a novelty. I can play and sing so well; the Young Master holds me in higher regard. I..."

Irritated, Shuran violently shook off Luan'er's hand and lashed out, "Just think: apart from playing and singing, what other talent do you have to show off? Are you more beautiful than Xianglan, more eloquent than Huamei, or more obedient and observant than Yingge? From now on, you will behave yourself and stop putting on airs and throwing tantrums over every trivial matter!"

Hearing this, Luan'er felt even more aggrieved. She wept and wailed, "What's wrong with me? Am I some hideous monster, or am I deaf and mute? In what way am I inferior to anyone else? Get out of here, get out! When I rise to glory and wealth in the future, don't you dare come crawling to me for help!"

Shuran raised her hand and struck Luan'er hard across the face twice, her expression severe. "It's all your parents' fault for spoiling you rotten since childhood, telling you that you were some noble consort reborn, destined for third-rank or ninth-rank imperial titles in this lifetime and bound to wear a pearl coronet, indulging you beyond all bounds. You've been in the estate for just a few years. Back in the Old Dowager's quarters, I was on good terms with Xuezhan and even spent silver to smooth things over for you so no one would give you trouble. During festivals, I even arranged for you to sing a longevity song before the Old Dowager to earn rewards. When the Old Dowager took a liking to your musical talents and assigned you to the Young Master's quarters, I thought your minor flaws didn't matter and you'd grow wiser with age. I never imagined you would only get worse. It was my own oversight for not bringing you to heel sooner. If I had known you would turn out like this, I wouldn't have let you become the Young Master's bedchamber maid no matter what!"

Luan'er felt a burning wave of shame and humiliation. She still held a certain degree of awe and fear toward Shuran, and hearing these words, she wept herself weak and slumped back onto the bed.

Cunxin started to offer another word of persuasion, but Shuran waved a hand to stop her. With a dark expression, she said, "Look at you—disheveled, wild-eyed, and half-crazed. You look nothing like a respectable young lady; you're acting precisely like a cheap servant girl, trying to stick your nose into matters in the Young Master's rooms without even considering your status. You've utterly disgraced my face! If you carry on like this, I will beg the Young Master to marry you off to some stable boy before you stir up an even greater catastrophe that can no longer be managed!"

Luan'er naturally knew how much influence Shuran wielded before Lin Jinlou. The color drained from her face in terror, and though she wanted to plead with Shuran, her pride prevented her from lowering herself, leaving tears rolling down her cheeks like large, tumbling melon seeds. Shuran signaled to Cunxin with her eyes, and Cunxin caught her meaning. "I'll go fetch a basin of warm water for the girl to wash her face," she said, and slipped out of the room.

Shuran untied the water-green kerchief from her waist, used it to gently wipe Luan'er's face, and spoke in a subdued tone: "Dry your tears; I have something to say to you..." Seeing Luan'er sniffle and sit up, she continued, "I wouldn't tell you this if we weren't family. I entered the estate at the age of eight. What wrongful treatment, what bitter silent grievances haven't I endured? I've witnessed every scheme in the book before finally coming to serve the Young Master. You know the Young Master's temperament—is he an easy man to get along with? I've stumbled and groped my way to this day, and it took a tremendous amount of hard work to earn even this modicum of face. Now, I need to impart a few truths to you."

Luan'er's crying subsided a little. As she wiped her eyes with the kerchief, she pricked up her ears to listen.

Shuran went on, "You are nothing more than a concubine's maid, a hereditary servant of this household. To view yourself as greater than the masters is to court your own destruction. Right now you are merely a servant, and no one can guarantee what the future holds. Do you honestly intend to spend your entire life as a mere bedchamber maid?"

Luan'er immediately widened her eyes and declared, "Of course not! What fun would there be in that?"

Shuran nodded. "There you have it. Sooner or later, the Young Master will take a proper wife into the household, and a future filled with three wives and four concubines is an absolute certainty. As long as you mind your words and actions, take a page from Huamei's book, keep a sweet tongue to please the Young Master, and manage to bear a child or two to secure the position of an concubine, then with children at your side—even if you aren't the primary mistress—you can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her."

Luan'er hesitated. "Fortune-tellers all said my life would be free from worries about food and clothing, surrounded by servants, and that I'd eventually become an imperial noble lady with a royal title. If I don't become the primary wife, where would that noble title come from?"

A wave of exasperation rushed over Shuran, and she scolded, "A toad lusting after swan meat! Bah! Becoming a primary wife—how dare you say such a thing aloud! Aren't you afraid people will spit in your face for being so utterly devoid of shame? What is the Young Master's status? He is the eldest son and grandson of the Lin family, a dignified fourth-rank military general who is set to be promoted to junior third-rank after the Mid-Autumn Festival. With such power and prestige, he could even marry an emperor's daughter. What makes you think a slave-born girl like you deserves it? You've lost your mind in your delusions! If you persist in these pipe dreams, I will report this immediately to the Young Master and the Mistress to have you driven out of the estate, just to spare ourselves the public humiliation!"

With tears welling in her eyes, Luan'er choked out, "We were both born as servants, so why must you trample all over me?"

Shuran sneered, "We may share the same humble origins, but I still possess a shred of self-respect—unlike you, who have no sense of shame whatsoever! If word of what you just said gets out, people will laugh their heads off!"

Luan'er prized her pride above all else. Having never suffered such scathing reprimands and humiliation before, she buried her face in her hands, collapsed onto the kang, and burst into renewed soars, kicking her legs as she cried, "Get out! Get out!"

Shuran stood up and said, "Naturally I am going, you shameless little hussy! If you remain this muddle-headed and fail to recognize your station, I'll go straight to the Young Master with your words! That way, it won't leak out through someone else's mouth and drag down my reputation, making me the laughingstock of others. Wanting to be a primary mistress—you don't even bother to look in a mirror to see if you have the poised, dignified air of a master's wife from head to toe. What a debt from a past life, bringing such a walking disaster into the Zhichun Lodge!"

Hearing these words, Luan'er wept even more desolately, wailing to the heavens.

Shuran smoothed her ruffled breath for a good long while before finally pushing open the door and stepping outside. She found Cunxin keeping watch outside, who hurried forward and said, "Sister, don't be angry. Luan'er is still young, and coupled with the fact that Xianglan arrived so abruptly—and the Young Master is someone who abandons the old for the new—she just lost her temper in a fit of jealousy."

Tears welled in Shuran's eyes as she sighed, "My child, if only she had half your cleverness."

Hearing the faint sound of weeping still drifting from inside the room, Cunxin asked, "Then the girl..."

Shuran frowned. "Let her cry! A good cry might finally knock some sense into her! That troublemaker—heaven knows how much trouble she'll cause in the future." She shook her head and continued, "High aspirations aren't a bad thing, but wild delusions are entirely out of the question. To speak bluntly, even if she were to become an imperial concubine, once the Young Master's fresh enthusiasm for Luan'er fades, he might not even spare her a glance, let alone anything else. You're young, and you didn't see the women who were in the Young Master's favor before Lady Zhao drove them all out. Every single one of them surpassed Luan'er in both looks and temperament. And that's not even mentioning Xianglan, whom the Young Master is currently pining for—she is so exquisitely charming that Luan'er looks like a wild weed beside her. For Luan'er to keep carrying on like this is simply asking to be humiliated. She doesn't have a vicious heart, but her wits are lacking. I fear that as she ages and loses her looks, it will be even harder for her to find a secure footing in the estate. Instead of all that, she should take advantage of her youth and beauty to win more favor and bear a child or two, giving herself something to lean on for the rest of her days."

Cunxin agreed wholeheartedly. Smiling with pursed lips, she said, "Sister is a clear-headed person who knows how to assess the situation. No wonder the Young Master values you so highly."

Shuran sighed, "This comes from learning the hard way. You see how bad the Young Master's temper is, yet he undeniably possesses immense capability and a strong sense of responsibility in all things. To say I never harbored feelings for him in the earlier years would be a lie, but watching his women come and go without any constancy, not to mention his numerous affairs outside, that emotional attachment long ago faded to indifference. If Luan'er eyes great wealth and glory with envy, she needs to have the capability and the fate to match it." As she spoke, she smoothed her side-hair and said to Cunxin, "Bring your girl's mirror box here; I need to redo my hair and touch up my face."

Cunxin asked, "Sister's hair is still neat, why bother redoing it?"

Shuran sighed, "I must go to the main rooms and offer an apology to Xianglan on behalf of that little hussy." Giving Cunxin a pointed look of advice, she added, "Do not underestimate her. The Young Master treats her quite differently. I can see she isn't a troublemaker, but if Luan'er crosses paths with her again in the future, you must step in and smooth things over to mediate between them."

Right then, Shuran washed her face, recomposed her hair, and once tidy, returned to the main quarters. Xianglan was leaning against the windowsill, gazing out blankly at the flowers and grass in the courtyard. Shuran found a seat, and before she could even open her mouth, she heard Xiaoquan calling from outside, "The Young Master is back."

Xianglan didn't even turn her head, thinking to herself: Why has this living Yama come back again? Didn't he used to spend all his time outside and never show his face at home day after day? When Lin Jinlou entered, he didn't spare Xianglan a single glance, merely tightening his jaw as he announced, "I need to change my clothes."

At that exact moment, Xiaoquan's voice rang out from outside once more: "Third Young Master, Second Young Miss, Third Young Miss, and Fourth Young Miss have arrived!"

Before the words had even faded, Lin Dongling had already walked in, covering her mouth with a laugh as she said, "They all say a new beauty has been added to the eldest brother's quarters, so we've all come to join in the lively scene."

Lin Dongxiu chimed in, "Since we've come all this way, Big Brother simply must treat us to a meal."