Against the Current - Chapter 183

Chapter 183 - Talisman (Part 4)

Xiulan glanced at Madam Qin’s expression and personally served a cup of tea. She had heard the commotion outside earlier and guessed that something extraordinary must have happened; otherwise, Madam Qin would never have made such a massive fuss right after the ancestral worship, coming over to make a scene in the middle of the night. After a short while, two matrons indeed entered, ordering everyone not to move and to sit and wait inside the room. Chunling muttered anxiously inside, and Xiaoquan wanted to go out to fish for news, but upon seeing the iron-faced, merciless expressions of the two matrons, she dismissed the thought and did not dare to act rashly.

Seeing Madam Qin’s unpleasant complexion, Xiulan inwardly reminded herself to be cautious. After serving the tea, she stood quietly to the side without uttering a single sound.

Madam Qin cast a glance at Xiulan and said coldly, "You certainly put on quite an air! I can hardly afford to accept tea served by you, lest people start saying that I am still wildly arrogant in my old age."

Knowing full well that Madam Qin had never liked her in the first place, and coupled with the fact that she had yet to pay formal respects to Madam Qin since entering the manor, Xiulan felt no anger upon hearing these words. She merely lowered her head and remained silent.

Madam Qin demanded, "How has Third Young Master been these past few days?"

Xiulan weighed her words carefully before answering, "I rarely ever catch a glimpse of the Eldest Young Master, so he must be doing well."

Madam Qin arched her brows and snapped, "Are you not supposed to be serving him closely? What do you mean by 'he must be doing well'? Are you trying to fool me?"

Xiulan replied, "The Eldest Young Master gets up before dawn to practice martial arts, and at night he always returns from the study well past the third watch, washing up straight before bed. We exchange barely three or five words, but he appears vigorous and high-spirited." This was indeed the truth, except that whenever Lin Jinlou returned, he would invariably ramble on about all sorts of things with her—talking about "vanguard cavalry," "mandarin duck formations," "the eighteen spear techniques," and the like. Not understanding and having no interest in such matters, Xiulan could only listen like a decorative ornament. Later on, Lin Jinlou would also talk about the profits of the shops under his management and the exorbitant expenses of the army; Xiulan could only marvel at the astronomical profits of his business dealings and the staggering costs of the military, yet she never dared to ask too much. After that, Lin Jinlou would occasionally chat about refined topics, such as famous calligraphers and renowned landscape paintings, which would tempt Xiulan into offering a couple of remarks, but the conversation would inevitably veer off toward which little opera singer could sing novel new tunes, or which courtesan of the pleasure quarters knew how to warble sultry little ditties, even forcing Xiulan to learn and sing a couple of lines. Whatever budding desire for conversation Xiulan had managed to muster would instantly vanish like a puff of smoke, so whenever Lin Jinlou spoke to her thereafter, she simply responded with perfunctory compliance.

Madam Qin’s eyes were sharp as lightning as she fixed her gaze on Xiulan, a faint, ambiguous smile playing on her lips. "You clever, slippery little monkey, as if I didn't know!" With that, she cast an intentional yet casual glance at Nuanyue and said, "You are not the sort of out-of-favor maid who only serves overnight watches in the outer rooms. Who doesn't know that Third Young Master currently finds you pleasing to the eye? For him to speak barely three or five words with you—you must think you can fool ghosts!"

Nuanyue bit her lip hard, her hands clenched tightly into balls inside her sleeves.

Xiulan felt inwardly astonished, thinking to herself, "There must be one of Madam Qin’s spies in this room. Even the fact that Nuanyue was taken by Lin Jinlou is crystal clear to Madam Qin." Growing even more vigilant, she said, "This maid wouldn't dare deceive my Lady; things are truly as I said. If my Lady does not believe me, you have only to ask Lianxin and Shuran. When I have spare time, I merely do some needlework, occasionally paint a picture or two to pass the time, or stroll around the back courtyard. I rarely even go into the garden. With such a dull temperament, I am not particularly favored by the Eldest Young Master, and he has nothing much to say to me even when he does speak."

Lin Jinlou had always favored clever and sweet-tongued women, so Madam Qin believed a part of it, yet she still sneered, "I see that you are sharp-tongued enough; you don't look like someone with a dull temperament at all."

Knowing that saying more at this moment would only lead to mistakes, Xiulan realized that Madam Qin detested her, meaning everything she did was wrong. If she tried to argue back, it would only fuel Madam Qin’s anger even further. Consequently, she stopped talking, lowered her head, and stood quietly to the side.

This was the first time the wife of the family servant Changfa had ever set foot inside Lin Jinlou’s rooms. She found the entire chamber dazzlingly opulent and had no idea where to put her hands and feet. She wanted to pocket a couple of items, but was intimidated by Lin Jinlou’s fearsome might. Swallowing hard, she harbored a bitter resentment that none of this room belonged to her, which made her toss and turn the items even more haphazardly as she searched. Nurse Wu was carefully rummaging through chests and trunks when she cast a sidelong glance and suddenly spotted Changfang’s wife tugging at some silk garments hidden inside a bundle. Startled, she quickly stopped her and lowered her voice to hiss, "What on earth are you doing! These are the Eldest Young Master’s clothes, how dare you rummage through them so recklessly!"

Changfa’s wife said with sour envy, "Whose Eldest Young Master, pray tell? Would the Eldest Young Master wear such flamboyant patterns? These clearly belong to that little hussy! Tsk tsk, look at this fabric; it costs at least two silver liang per foot outside. The Eldest Young Master is certainly generous!"

Nurse Wu furrowed her brows repeatedly.

Changfang’s wife had never seen the wider world. Because she knew how to make a fine bowl of soup, excelled at playing dice, and had a sweet, flattering tongue, she had won the Old Lady’s esteem and been assigned a respectable post by Madam Qin. Changfa’s wife treasured the position and had always been conscientious in her duties. Although she had a minor habit of sticky fingers, the thefts were always trivial, so everyone simply turned a blind eye. Therefore, when Madam Qin called upon her today, seeing Madam Qin relentlessly denigrate Xiulan and nursing a desire to vent her anger on Meimei, she gave free rein to her impulses.

Nurse Wu hurriedly whispered, "Enough, stop your antics right now. Didn't you see that none of the managing matrons dared to touch anything? Only Nurse Han and I are supposed to search."

Changfang’s wife glanced at Madam Qin, curled her lip, and retorted, "Even the Lady isn't saying anything, so Nurse Wu can spare herself the trouble," treating the warning as wind past her ear.

Nurse Wu’s face flushed bright red with suppressed anger.

At that exact moment, a startled gasp of "Ah!" rang out. Everyone instantly turned their gaze toward the source and saw Nurse Han pulling a white cloth package out from the headboard of the bedroom bed, holding it in her hand as she walked right up to Madam Qin. When Madam Qin unwrapped it and took a look, she saw that it was inscribed with sorcerer's talismans, alongside malevolent curses bearing phrases such as "May Lin Jinlou die a severed, utterly absolute death."

Trembling all over with rage, Madam Qin strode forward and struck Xiulan across the face, hurling the talisman straight at her. Pointing a trembling finger, she cursed, "Vile hussy! What a vicious heart you have, plotting to curse my son to his death!"

Xiulan was stunned. The moment she lowered her head and caught sight of the talisman, realization dawned upon her, and she swiftly pieced together eight or nine parts of the truth. She thought to herself, "Someone is framing me, leaking the matter of this talisman so that the Lady would find out, which is why she mobilized such a large force in the middle of the night to search the place. Luan'er and Nuanyue don't have the brains for this, and Yingge is too cowardly. Nine times out of ten, this is Meimei’s handiwork." Her mind raced as she considered the consequences: if she simply took the blame now, it would be ideal if Madam Qin's blazing fury drove her out of the manor once and for all. However, thinking of Lin Jinlou’s terrifying wrath, a wave of cowardice washed over her. Last time, over a mere fan, Lin Jinlou had nearly strangled her to death; if she confessed to this talisman business now, that living Hades of a man might very well wipe out her entire clan.

Pointing at Xiulan, Madam Qin berated the surrounding crowd, "Lately I've been bogged down by miscellaneous affairs and inevitably failed to keep a close watch, but are all of you deaf and dumb as well? With a demon-like creature like this lurking by Lou'er's side, harboring wicked intentions to murder him, you lot simply let her be!"

Before her voice had even faded, Meimei was seen walking in. Upon catching sight of that talisman, she let out a shriek of horror, threw herself flat onto the floor, and wailed tearfully, "Oh, what a foolish sister! Even if you harbored resentment toward the Eldest Young Master, when you consider all the kindness he has shown you in the past, how could you ever do something so devoid of conscience!"