Against the Current - Chapter 198

Chapter 198 - Facing Off

Xiaojuan flew into a rage, jumping to her feet as she cursed, "That wretched woman! Has she lost her mind? Does she plan on moving right into this chamber tomorrow? She was just trying to cozy up to me earlier to fish for information about Sister Xianglan! It's hateful that she has Madame backing her up, or else she wouldn't even be allowed to cross the threshold of the main room!"

Chunling knitted her brows and said, "This whole business is simply suffocating. Ever since the Eldest Young Master cast out his wife, all these household affairs were originally managed by Shuran. Now that Shuran has fallen from grace and been driven out, this little frozen weasel Zidai certainly knows how to pick her timing. The moment she was promoted to first-class, she barged right in and seized control of everything, leaving even Lianxin with no choice but to cede three tenths of her authority. She even made an example of a disobedient maid by driving her out, making everyone in the courtyard walk on eggshells around her... The Eldest Young Master hasn't even taken her into his chambers yet, and already she's acting like she owns the place."

Xiaojuan muttered under her breath, "Should I go find Mother Wu later and ask her for advice?"

Xianglan laid down her book, took a sip of tea, and sat up straight. "There's no need. How big of a deal is this? She is putting on a display of dominance for my benefit. Still, as I've said before, there is undoubtedly some of Madame's intent behind all of this. Just let her be for now."

Xiaojuan anxiously protested, "How can we just let her be? Today she merely changed a chair cover; if you don't call her out on it, tomorrow she'll dare to march right in here, point fingers at everything, and tear the roof off! Sister Xianglan, we simply cannot afford to be this spineless!"

Xianglan picked up a piece of pastry from the plate, stuffed it into Xiaojuan's mouth, and smiled. "Stuff your mouth with that. I know what I'm doing in my heart, and you need to keep a tight leash on your own temper as well. You are not permitted to pick a fight with her; give her a wide berth whenever you cross paths. She is Madame's current favorite, and if you provoke her past the breaking point, I might not even be able to protect you. Human hearts are all made of flesh and blood; once Madame sees that I have yielded, she won't continue to tolerate such unruly behavior from her either. Besides, having her stir up a little chaos isn't necessarily a bad thing. Now that Shuran is gone and Lianxin is too soft-spoken to keep things under control, having someone step up to enforce a bit of deterrence will finally bring some peace and quiet to Zhichun Pavilion, won't it?"

Xiaojuan pouted and gave her assent, while Chunling could only feel that Xianglan was being spineless once again, and let out a long, heavy sigh.

The following morning, Xianglan and Zidai headed over to Madame Qin's courtyard once more. While massaging Madame Qin's shoulders, Zidai reported all the major and minor occurrences in Zhichun Pavilion, carefully selecting only the most pleasing details to relay, and smiled as she said, "Previously, Sister Shuran managed everything impeccably, but now that she has departed and the Eldest Young Master is away—as the saying goes, 'When the tiger is away from the mountain, the monkeys claim to be king'—those little monkeys underneath have grown too clever by half. Although Lianxin is capable, there are inevitably areas where her attention lapses. I am young and soft-hearted, and strictly speaking, as a newcomer, I shouldn't be poking my nose into these matters; yet I couldn't simply stand by and watch the household fall into disorder, so I had to harden my face and step in to manage things a little. Fortunately, Sister Lianxin has been instructing me and lending a helping hand—after all, someone trained personally by the Old Madame is truly different."

Xianglan was sitting silently off to one side, diligently copying the Diamond Sutra, the corners of her mouth curving upward in a faint smile. This speech managed to account for all her recent actions while lightly skating over details to avoid displeasing Madame Qin; Zidai turned out to be quite the eloquent and capable talent.

Madame Qin felt well-satisfied inwardly. Although she had no desire to pry into every trivial matter concerning Zhichun Pavilion, she equally wished to avoid being kept completely in the dark like a blind person. Shuran had previously been far too shrewd and slippery, making it impossible to extract any straightforward answers from her, while the other maids and matrons were deeply intimidated by Lin Jinlou's formidable authority and dared not speak out. Only Zidai shared her exact mindset and sentiments. Closing her eyes with a faint smile, Madame Qin remarked, "I know you are a sensible child who understands the bigger picture. When the Eldest Young Master returns, I will have him reward you."

Zidai's face flushed red, and her smile blossomed radiantly. "Listen to what Madame is saying! I am doing this purely because Madame honors me with her regard; how could I ever do it for the sake of any reward?"

Mother Han quickly chimed in from the side to curry favor. "Precisely! She spends her whole day running around causing mischief. It is only thanks to Madame's personal guidance these past few days that she has finally begun to show some promise. When all is said and done, it is because Madame knows how to teach; if she had been left in my hands, she'd simply have been raised into nothing more than an ignorant, naive little girl." Before she could finish speaking, her peripheral vision swept over Xianglan, who was sitting quietly in the distance, and she couldn't help starting slightly. Still harboring a desire to stay on good terms with Xianglan, she instantly regretted running her mouth so much, while simultaneously blaming Zidai for speaking of these things to Madame Qin right in front of Xianglan. Yet, seeing that Xianglan's expression remained as calm as still water, as if she hadn't heard a single word, Mother Han felt somewhat reassured.

After coaxing Madame Qin with pleasantries and laughter for a while, Zidai noticed that Madame Qin's expression was beginning to show signs of fatigue. She dutifully assisted her in lying down on the luxurious chaise longue, gently draped a cloud-and-crane brocade quilt over her, and prepared to withdraw. As she passed by Xianglan, she paused slightly in her tracks and cast a few lingering glances. Xianglan kept her head lowered, revealing a slender, graceful neck and an air of serene elegance, holding a brush as she meticulously penned characters in neat, standard script. Ever since Zidai had arrived at Zhichun Pavilion, she had wielded an iron fist to intervene in all its affairs, successfully subduing the entire household to the point where even certain maids and matrons scrambled to flatter her. She had originally expected Xianglan to fly into a rage and lock horns with her; even if they avoided open conflict on the surface, she anticipated no end of secret sabotage behind her back. Never did she imagine that Xianglan would remain utterly silent, refusing even to exchange a greeting with her, simply closing her door and keeping to her own chambers. Zidai truly felt she could not quite read Xianglan, a realization that left her feeling profoundly unsettled.

From that day onward, Zhichun Pavilion grew even livelier for a few days. Ever since arriving at Zhichun Pavilion, Zidai had refused to act like an outsider, fully adopting the airs of a first-class senior maid and demanding a hand in everything. On several occasions, she overstepped her bounds and took over matters that fell under Lianxin's purview. Once, when Lin Jinlou's agricultural estate sent over several baskets of crabs, Lianxin instructed people to carry them into the courtyard. The moment she turned around and came back, however, she discovered the crabs had vanished. Upon questioning a little maid, she learned that Zidai had already taken it upon herself to dispatch messengers to deliver them to all the various chambers. Distributing those supplies was a duty that had historically belonged to Lianxin; now that it had been usurped by Zidai, Lianxin felt deeply displeased, though she ultimately chose to let the matter drop. To everyone's surprise, by lunchtime it was discovered that Zidai had kept a private basket for herself, had the kitchen steam them, and distributed them as favors to Madame Qin's chambers and the various maids and matrons of Zhichun Pavilion. As a result, everyone began praising Zidai, saying she was "a person of great loyalty and righteousness who always remembers everyone else whenever good things come her way—why has such a wonderful thing never happened before?"

"...You didn't see it—when Lianxin found out about this, her face turned absolutely livid with rage and she couldn't even eat dinner. Zidai even had two round-bellied female crabs sent over to her, but Lianxin wouldn't even deign to glance at them. Tsk tsk, for someone with as fine a temper as Lianxin to be driven to such anger is really saying something!" Xiaojuan cracked melon seeds between her teeth, her eyes shining brightly.

Chunling remarked, "Ordinarily, the items given as tribute from the estate all fall under Lianxin's management, and whatever is sent to which room follows a fixed quota. Whatever is left over after supplying the masters is rewarded to everyone else, but it's always distributed in the masters' name as a treat of crab for the whole household. Zidai is truly brazen; she actually used the Eldest Young Master's estate property to build up her own personal prestige, while framing Lianxin for being stingy and making people think Lianxin was ungenerous. No wonder Lianxin is furious!" Her tone carried a distinct trace of schadenfreude.

Xianglan lifted her brush, drew a massive crab on the Xuan paper, dotted its eyes, and only then spoke up: "This Zidai is quite an interesting character. Although the things she does overstep proper bounds, she manages them so skillfully that people can find no glaring fault to pick—after all, the crabs were distributed to everyone. If Lianxin were to throw a fit over it, wouldn't she be setting herself against the entire household? She's simply swallowed a bitter pill in silence."

Chunling probed tentatively, "Should I... go invite Lianxin to come over and have a chat with you, Miss? If you join forces with her, you can avoid being bullied by Zidai."

Xianglan laid down her brush and said, "There's no need. What is there to rush for?"

A couple of days later, Zidai promoted Yinliu, who had formerly served Zhao Yuechan. Yinliu was originally the daughter of an eighth-rank assistant district magistrate whose father's integrity had been compromised by corruption and malfeasance, bringing ruin and conviction upon their entire family. Discerning observers noticed that thirteen-year-old Yinliu possessed a certain rustic charm, and precisely as the Lin family was looking to purchase maidservants, she was sent to the Lin household and assigned to Zhichun Pavilion. Who would have thought that within a few months, dark spots would begin erupting across Yinliu's face? Within half a year, the blemishes had merged into solid patches, leaving a dark, pitch-black mark pressing heavily across her cheek. Finding her an eyesore, Lin Jinlou had driven her out of his quarters.

Zhao Yuechan, however, favored employing maids whose appearances were unexceptional. Since Yinliu was literate and could read and write, she had kept her close by to serve her for two years, gaining a modest degree of favor. But the moment Zhao Yuechan left, Yinliu was instantly trampled down into the mud. Being naturally skilled at flattery and highly observant of people's moods, Yinliu had originally been a third-class maid, yet she proved entirely willing to lower her head, bend her back, and perform menial tasks like a junior maid in order to serve Zidai. She even gritted her teeth and spent her own silver to purchase a fine bolt of fabric, meticulously tailoring two complete sets of clothing which she presented to Zidai alongside a pair of silver bracelets. Lacking a right-hand woman, Zidai readily took her in and began keeping her constantly by her side.

Although Zidai was greedy for power, she also possessed a degree of competence, never lagging behind in her duties and treating Zhichun Pavilion as if it were her own home, rising early and working late with absolute dedication. Yinliu, however, lacked any genuine intelligence; while she exerted plenty of physical effort, her work was perpetually chaotic and she frequently ended up creating more trouble than she solved. Yet, because she had a glib tongue and knew how to spin words, she could effortlessly gloss over the tasks she botched, exaggerating a mere one-part merit into ten parts of praise. Zidai, being relatively young and deeply impatient, inevitably allowed herself to be hoodwinked by Yinliu. Consequently, the lower-ranking maids and matrons were filled with endless grievances; Yinliu's muddled commands and botched instructions forced everyone else to run themselves ragged and waste endless effort. Moreover, she loved forming cliques to squeeze out others, whispering poison into Zidai's ear about every single maid who was up for promotion to second-class. The maids and matrons took turns lodging complaints with Lianxin in groups of twos and threes.

After turning the matter over in her mind, Lianxin seized an opportune moment to gently and tactfully offer Yinliu a word of caution right in front of Xianglan. Yinliu, however, raised her voice in shrill self-defense, vehemently denying that she had ever done any such thing.

Seeing Lianxin caught in an awkward position, Xianglan kindly stepped in to smooth things over, offering the remark, "Correct your faults if you have them, and guard against them if you don't. Perhaps your words were merely a bit too blunt—the speaker meant no harm, but the listener took it to heart. Just be a bit more mindful next time."

Yinliu's face darkened, and she sneered, "There's no need to speak in such hidden, beating-around-the-bush riddles. Isn't it just that some people chewed the fat and came to lodge complaints against me? Those little bitches already ran crying to Sister Zidai as well, but Sister Zidai is discerning and clear-headed; she investigated the matter in a couple of steps and didn't utter a single syllable of reproach against me. Everyone says Young Mistress Xianglan is a person who understands reason, but now, seeing how things are..."

Xianglan was instantly taken aback.

Chunling flew into a rage, snapping sharply, "How things are, what? Who gave you the gall to speak to the Young Mistress in such a tone! The Young Mistress has a benevolent nature and offered you kind words to give you a graceful way out, yet you've let it go to your head and climbed right up onto our noses! Remember the words you've spoken today—when the Eldest Young Master returns tomorrow, you can repeat them right to his face! Since you hold Sister Zidai in such high regard, you'd better have her come over here as well so we can confront this matter face-to-face!"

At the very mention of the words "Eldest Young Master," the color drained instantly from Yinliu's face, leaving it stark white.

Xianglan intervened, "Forget it. It's nothing major; everyone disperses and goes back to work."

Chunling had originally wanted to use Yinliu as an opening to deal Zidai a sharp blow to her prestige, but seeing that Xianglan once again chose to let the matter rest, she couldn't help feeling furious at her lack of ambition, and could only grind her teeth as she walked away.

As for Yinliu, the moment she returned to her quarters, she grew increasingly terrified with every passing moment. After recounting the incident to Zidai, as luck would have it, Mother Han happened to be present. Having listened to the account, Mother Han pondered in silence for a good long while before instructing Yinliu on precisely what course of action to take.

That very evening, Yinliu knelt right outside the threshold of the main room. Wearing only a single layer of unlined clothing against the howling night wind, tears streaming down her face, she kowtowed and begged Xianglan for forgiveness. No matter who tried to persuade her, she refused to budge until Xianglan finally emerged to soothe and comfort her, at which point Yinliu reluctantly departed. Yet no sooner had she returned to her room than she contracted a severe cold, coughing incessantly. Terrified of passing her illness along to others, she was bundled up and sent out through the second courtyard the very next morning. The moment she departed, a fresh maid immediately stepped in to fill her vacancy. That afternoon, a managing matron arrived, unceremoniously had Yinliu packed up and sold off, stating firmly that Madame herself had issued the command.