Against the Current - Chapter 266

Chapter 266 - Mediating a Quarrel

As Xianglan pulled Tan Luhua into the adjacent alcove, Tan Luhua's face remained flushed with anger and tears streamed down her cheeks. Seeing the maids Haitang and Shiliu tending to the flowers there, Xianglan hurriedly said, "Please, could the two of you fetch a basin of water for the Second Young Mistress to wash her face?" Turning back to comfort Tan Luhua, she added, "The Second Young Mistress is a sensible person. Although you've suffered a grievance, after all, you are sisters of the same family. Once they leave for Shandong, you won't see each other often—don't let this ruin your harmony."

Tan Luhua was so infuriated that she could barely catch her breath. "Back when we were maidens, she bullied me at every turn. She resented me for being better-looking and sharper than she was, making sure she got first pick of all the clothes and jewelry, and even forbidding me from wearing anything out that was more lavish than her own attire. My father did dote on me, but he was afraid of the Mistress's displeasure, which only made things harder for me." As she spoke of these grievances, fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

Xianglan hastened to comfort her. "Don't be upset, Second Young Mistress. Now that you've made a good match, the Mistress is gentle and kind, and you and the Second Young Master are deeply devoted to each other. Isn't that better than anything else?"

Dabbing at her tears with a handkerchief, Tan Luhua muttered, "The Mistress is beyond reproach, but as for the Second Young Master's health... he falls apart at a mere breath of wind, falling ill for three days out of every five. To be married and living like this at such a young age—it's like keeping a living corpse company..."

Xianglan was startled to hear these words. Just then, Haitang entered carrying half a basin of hot water, so Xianglan pretended not to have heard Tan Luhua's remark, saying instead, "Second Young Mistress, wash your face first while I go borrow some powder and rouge." With that, she stepped outside.

Tan Luhua then instructed Haitang to wring out a hand towel to wipe her face. A moment later, Xianglan returned carrying a small round tray holding official cosmetic powder, rouge, and eyebrow dye. Xianglan offered, "I borrowed these from Sister Lilan and the others."

Tan Luhua had always taken pride in her appearance. Facing the mirror, she carefully touched up her makeup, then turned to Xianglan with a faint smile and said, "I was utterly beside myself with anger just now and let slip a lot of things I didn't mean. Thanks to you stepping in to mediate, whenever you have time to visit my quarters, I have two wonderful books I'll let you read."

This was the first time Tan Luhua had ever spoken to her with such a pleasant expression. Xianglan was momentarily taken aback, but understanding dawned on her almost instantly. She thought to herself, "Just now, stung by her older sister's words and overwhelmed with grievance, Tan Luhua couldn't keep her true thoughts bottled up any longer; in her blind rage, she spilled everything and even spoke ill of the Second Young Master. Now that she's calmed down, regret has set in, and she's buttering me up simply out of fear that I'll go around spreading what she said." Aloud, she smiled and replied, "The Second Young Mistress was simply blinded by anger at the time. When people are in the heat of the moment, they lose their senses, and nothing said then should be taken seriously. I will certainly come over to sit with you at your place whenever I have a free day—I only worry about disturbing the Second Young Master's rest."

Hearing this, Tan Luhua's heart finally settled. She thought to herself, "Xianglan has always been a quiet girl who keeps to herself and rarely makes a fuss. Even if she heard something, she won't go broadcasting it to the whole world." Out loud, she smiled and said, "He'll be fine. We can just chat in a different room." Suddenly seeing that Lady Qin had sent Hongjian to summon her, she hurried off in a rush.

Meanwhile, after Lin Jinglou went out and Xianglan went to pay her respects to Lady Qin, Shuran stayed in the front courtyard to manage affairs. Coincidentally, today was Xiaojuan's birthday, and the maids in the chambers began to indulge themselves in merrymaking. Fanshan and Lingqing cast dice and played double-sixes, while Xuening, Lingsu, Xiaojuan, and Xiaofang—a little maid from Nanny Han's side—gathered together to play dominoes. Lounging against a bolster on the edge of the heated brick bed, Xiaojuan played her hand while eating pastries, scattering crumbs all over the bed and floor.

Just then, Chunling entered carrying two vases of fresh flowers. Seeing everyone engaged in such uninhibited play, she found it thoroughly distasteful and reproached them, saying, "Enough is enough, you all need to wrap this up right now. It's just because I wasn't around to go to the capital and keep you in line that you've all gotten so completely out of hand. The Second Mistress is good-natured and lets things pass without scolding you, but you're just pushing your luck! Look at how you're trashing this room inside and out—what sort of behavior is this?"

At these words, Lingqing, Lingsu, and Xiaofang jumped in fright. Daring not play any longer, the three of them stood up one after another. Seeing this, Xuening also dropped her tiles and stood up, while Fanshan covertly glanced at Xiaojuan's expression. Paying no heed to any of this, Xiaojuan simply tossed her tiles out and declared, "Pong!" Raising her head to exchange a glance with Fanshan, the latter turned back, tugged on Lingqing's sleeve, and whispered, "Let's just keep playing our game."

Hesitating, Lingqing sat back down. The rest of them glanced between Chunling and Xiaojuan, then followed suit and sat down as well. Chunling's face darkened instantly, prompting Xuening to chime in, "Today is Xiaojuan's birthday, and the Second Mistress told us to get together and have some fun. Sister Chunling was out earlier, so she probably didn't know."

Chunling retorted, "Even so, have all the chores inside the room been taken care of? Have the Eldest Young Master's clothes been ironed?"

Those chores fell under Xiaojuan's duties, so everyone turned to look at her. Absorbed in her game, Xiaojuan completely ignored her. Xuening tried several times to smooth things over, but had no idea what to say. Upon seeing this, Lingqing awkwardly tried to salvage the situation by chiming in, "Those clothes aren't needed today anyway; ironing them tomorrow will be plenty soon enough."

Chunling sneered, "Fine, fine, very good indeed. When the Second Mistress comes back later, I'll have her judge this fair and square. Not one of you is willing to do a lick of work anymore—clothes aren't ironed, bedding isn't aired out, tables and chairs aren't wiped, the tea stove isn't lit, and the birds aren't fed. You're just running wild! The few of you might not care to place me in your eyes, but surely you shouldn't stop placing the masters in your eyes either!" With that, she flung the door curtain aside and stormed out.

A cold sneer escaped Xiaojuan as she muttered to herself, "What an obnoxious wretch! Who was the first one to stop placing the masters in their eyes anyway? She put on airs and walked out of her own accord; if she had the backbone, she should never have come back. Now that she's returned, she ought to tuck her tail between her legs and behave herself instead of putting on the airs of a secondary mistress. Trying to throw her weight around in front of me—she has no idea if this young lady will buy her act!"

Before her voice had even faded, Chunling yanked the door curtain aside with a sharp snap and rushed in like a gust of wind. Pointing straight at Xiaojuan's nose, she demanded, "Who are you talking about?"

Lifting her eyelids lazily, Xiaojuan replied, "Whoever fits the description knows who they are." With that, she stood up, swatted Chunling's pointing finger away, smoothed down her skirt, and said, "Chunling, you'd better show me some respect from now on. The Second Mistress promoted me to first-class long ago. Lingqing, Lingsu, and Fanshan are second-class now that they've arrived, and Xuening was already second-class over at the Old Mistress's place, putting her on the exact same footing as you. If you want to put on airs in the future, go find the little maids in the back courtyard—don't try showing off your supposed competence in front of us!"

Stung with a mix of fury and humiliation upon hearing this, Chunling raged, "What's this? You used to call me 'Sister Chunling' this and 'Sister Chunling' that, but the moment you get a promotion, you don't even deign to look at me! You've completely lost your senses and forgotten who you are. What special talent do you think you have? All you know how to do is eat well, dress up, and dodge work whenever you see it. You're nothing more than a bootlicking lapdog who gets by entirely on cozying up to the masters!"

Furious in turn, Xiaojuan sneered back, "You're no lapdog, are you? You've got such a proud backbone that you treat yourself like a real mistress! You let yourself be casually insulted by the Second Mistress and throw massive tantrums—well, I could never match that kind of grand style!"

Seeing the argument escalate, the others hurriedly stepped in to mediate, chiming in, "Let's all say a little less." Fanshan pulled at Xiaojuan's sleeve, urging, "Today is your special day, Sister, don't go working yourself into a lather over her." Xuening likewise advised Chunling, "We're all part of the same household and used to getting along well—why bother starting a bitter feud?"

Just as the chaos reached its peak, Xianglan returned. Seeing the room in utter disarray, she asked, "What is going on here?"

Silence instantly fell over the room. No one dared to utter a word until Chunling let out a cold laugh and snapped, "A bunch of worthless creatures banding together to bully me! Fine, fine, it's all my fault. I'll go find the Second Mistress myself right now and take my punishment!" With that, she stomped off in a huff.

Turning her gaze around the room until it landed on Fanshan, Xianglan asked, "What on earth happened?"

Although Fanshan and Xiaojuan were close friends, she did not dare fabricate stories in front of Xianglan, so she recounted the entire sequence of events from beginning to end. Cutting in before Fanshan could finish, Xiaojuan defended herself, "I did it on purpose, Milady. You don't know how insufferable she's become lately. She nitpicks everything—one minute she complains that someone's hands are clumsy and the clothes aren't folded right, and the next she's criticizing someone else for being slow-witted, claiming their needlework is sloppy while boasting about how flawless her own work would be. Over the past few days, she's practically found fault with every single one of us, acting as if she's the only capable one left on earth. Every day she comes back with an earful of boring gossip, sneering that the Second Young Mistress acts like someone from a petty household, mocking the Fourth Miss for failing to learn proper etiquette and being short-sighted, and constantly scolding the little maids. She does nothing all day but stir up trouble and make Changchun Hall look like a complete circus. We've all been bottling up our anger at her for a long time."

Nodding slowly, Xianglan said, "I understand. Even so, you are all people of Changchun Hall; keeping the peace among yourselves is what matters most, and making such a chaotic scene is simply unseemly. You are one of the people I trust most, Xiaojuan, which is why I promoted you. In the future, you should handle matters with more foresight and not act purely on impulse. If she behaves like this, whether you tell Shuran or tell me, it can be dealt with quietly—there was no need to let it blow up into such an ugly fight."

Pursing her lips and lowering her head, Xiaojuan muttered, "I know my mistake."

After offering a few words of comfort and telling the others to resume their games, Xianglan walked into the bedchamber. The moment she sat down before her dressing table and began removing the jewelry from her wrists and neck, Chunling strode into the room.

Noticing the lingering resentment still etched across Chunling's face, Xianglan sighed inwardly, feeling a dull ache behind her temples. Ever since Chunling's return, she had not offered a single word of apology or conciliation. Xianglan had previously tried reasoning with her, saying, "After all we've been through together through thick and thin, if you have anything on your mind in the future, you should just speak your heart out—I truly value and rely on you." While Chunling had agreed at the time, afterward she had remained aloof and indifferent, and her chores were no longer performed with the same meticulous care as before.

Motioning for Chunling to take a seat, Xianglan spoke first: "I've already heard what happened just now..."

Chunling immediately bristled, her brows shooting up as she protested, "Since you've heard about it, Milady, let me ask you to judge this fairly. What did I say that was wrong? What right do they have to curse at me like that? You might look at them eating, drinking, and playing around without a care in the world, but I have zero tolerance for sloppiness—I just can't stand it! I merely pointed out a couple of things, and look at all the malicious gossip it brought down on my head. What kind of logic is that? Even if you permitted them to play games, the way they made such an absolute mockery of things—if word of this reaches the Mistress's ears, whose hands are going to stay clean?"

Frowning and glaring, Chunling rattled off her complaints in a rapid, heated stream. Pausing for a moment, Xianglan replied, "This was my fault to begin with. I thought that after all the rushing around for the Third Young Master's wedding, everyone had been working hard and hadn't gotten a proper rest. Since it was Xiaojuan's birthday and the Eldest Young Master was away, I gave them the afternoon off to unwind. They were merely playing dominoes and board games; it wasn't as if they were making a disgraceful racket. I know you had good intentions, but there was truly no need to make such a big issue out of it."

Before Xianglan could finish, Chunling snapped angrily, "Oh, is that so? Then what am I supposed to make of all those vicious things they said about me? Is the only way to satisfy them to drive me out of Changchun Hall altogether?"

Xianglan tried her best to reason with her further, but Chunling remained aggressive and overbearing, clearly venting a bellyful of suppressed fury directly at her. The smile on Xianglan's face slowly faded as she asked, "Then what is it that you want?"