Against the Current - Chapter 327

Chapter 327 - Surging Tides (Part 2)

As soon as Lin Zhaoxiang left, the room suddenly fell silent. Old Madam Lin's face turned pale, filled with utter weariness, and she let out a long sigh as she leaned back against her pillow. Fearing something might be amiss, Madam Qin hurried forward to tend to her, while Madam Wang had already led the female relatives out to rest in the side room. A moment later, Madam Qin returned. Madam Wang immediately went up to meet her and asked in a low voice, "How is it?"

Madam Qin took her hand and led her to a secluded spot before speaking, "The Old Madam was frightened so badly her face turned white, and she is sighing and groaning, not knowing what is best to do. I'm afraid she might fall seriously ill, and then this birthday banquet would be completely ruined. After offering a few comforting words, I left Xuezhan and Liubei to tend to her by her side. I am sending people to search for the bracelet right now; you should keep watch here."

Madam Wang readily agreed. After the two of them conferred for a while longer, Madam Qin departed.

Meanwhile, back in the side room, once everyone had taken their seats, they began to whisper and murmur among themselves in small groups. Xuesheng walked in again to serve tea. Sitting on the edge of the brick bed, Lin Dongxiu held a teacup, blew lightly on the rising steam, and said with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, "Did you hear? The bracelet was lost in the inner room of the reception hall. I didn't even touch the doorframe of that room today, but as for who all went in there, everyone should know well enough in their own hearts, shouldn't they?"

At these words, the room instantly quieted down. Lin Dongxiu was no longer who she used to be; her presence had grown far more imposing, and she carried an even greater air of authority than Lin Dongqi, Li Miaozhi, or the others. Her tone of voice was exceptionally sharp.

The others might have let it pass, but Lin Dongwan's expression immediately darkened as she snapped, "Fourth Sister, what are you implying? Are you trying to say that the rest of us are thieves?" She had never looked favorably upon Lin Dongxiu in the first place. As married daughters, Lin Dongqi was born from the legal wife's womb and climbed higher than her, which she could accept; but what kind of creature was Lin Dongxiu? She used to be nothing more than a little sycophant scurrying at everyone's heels like a dog. Now, having married the Marquis of Yongchang, she had turned over a new leaf and started putting on airs, even coming here today to throw subtle barbs and put on a hostile face toward her! If she didn't put her in her place and crush that arrogance, she feared the little wretch would forget her own station!

Lin Dongxiu was already nursing a hidden fury toward Lin Dongwan. Wearing a false smile, she retorted, "I didn't see anything with my own eyes, so I wouldn't dare call anyone a thief. However, I do know who has a penchant for petty greed and scheming against her own flesh and blood. Eldest Sister, do you happen to know?"

Startled, Lin Dongqi hurriedly rushed over to tug at Lin Dongxiu's sleeve, hissing, "Have you lost your mind from drinking? What are you babbling about!"

Because Lin Dongwan had a guilty conscience, those words struck right at her raw nerve. Her face flushed a deep crimson as she stood up with a start, took two steps forward, and pointed angrily, "Clear your name today! If you're going to accuse someone of being a thief and pin it on me, I'll stand right here and let you search my clothes. If I stole that bracelet, I am willing to kneel and kowtow to you!"

Li Miaozhi and Lin Dongqi hurriedly stepped forward to mediate, urging, "Enough, enough! On such a wonderful day, we are all sisters of the same family—what is the point of making a scene? Calm down, quickly." "Fourth Sister always speaks without thinking; why take her words to heart?"

Lin Dongwan originally intended to use the pretense of demanding "stolen goods" to smooth things over, but unexpectedly, Lin Dongxiu refused to let the matter drop. Letting out a sharp chuckle, she mocked, "Eldest Sister certainly has quite a knack for putting on a show. I didn't say you were a thief; I said it was someone who loves petty gains and plots against her own family... Tsk, and there's no telling, they might even be greedy enough to target the Old Madam herself and steal the bracelet right out from under her nose."

This remark caused Lin Dongwan to lose face completely once more. Stepping forward again, she pointed and shouted, "Every other word out of your mouth is about petty greed and scheming against family—you are clearly pointing fingers at me! You might as well spit it out today, lest your heart rot from holding it in! I may have had too much wine and lay down in the inner room for a while, but I was fast asleep the whole time. Second Sister, Sister-in-law, and Miss Xi were all right there in the room and saw me!"

Su Meiru sat smilingly on an embroidered stool, cracking melon seeds, while Jiang Xiyun remained tight-lipped in the corner. Li Miaozhi anxiously tried to placate Lin Dongwan, while Lin Dongqi, torn between trying to soothe her and pulling on Lin Dongxiu's side, whispered frantically, "My dear grandmother, say a little less! Do you really want to start a full-blown brawl? If the Old Madam finds out, won't it just give her another bout of illness?"

Lin Dongxiu sneered, "I don't care if the Old Madam finds out. What if it blows up into a huge scene? It will give the elders a chance to judge right from wrong. It's time someone put a stop to her wildness!"

Stepping forward, Xianglan spoke in a soft voice, "If this truly turns into a messy brawl, it will completely tear apart the sisters' faces. Eldest Sister-in-law might not care since the Lu family is already a hollow shell of its former self, but you carry the reputation of the Marquis of Yongchang. If word gets out that sisters are bickering and acting despicably at the Old Madam's birthday banquet, regardless of who is right and who is wrong, Fourth Sister will suffer the greatest loss of face. That would truly be gaining a loss instead of a gain."

These words hit their mark, immediately shutting Lin Dongxiu up. She didn't reply, but merely offered a faint, cold smirk as she picked up her tea to drink, casting her eyes out the window. Xianglan let out a silent breath. Reasoning with someone like Lin Dongxiu about sisterly affection and noble character was mostly like playing the lute to a cow; it was far more effective to appeal to practical interests and make her understand the stakes.

Meanwhile, Li Miaozhi had also coaxed Lin Dongwan back to her seat. Harboring a guilty conscience, Lin Dongwan dared not make a massive scene and was merely putting on an act. She sat down in a huff, her face flushed bright red as tears welled up in her eyes. Choking back her sobs, she wept, "Did you all hear the kind of things Fourth Sister is saying? Every single word was aimed directly at me! Now that you've climbed high branches and married into a wealthy noble family, you look down on me as your older sister, don't you? Have you forgotten the days when you used to coax me into combing your hair when we were little?"

Xianglan thought to herself that Lin Dongwan was indeed a few years older; this little speech immediately made Lin Dongxiu look to be in the wrong.

Sure enough, Lin Dongxiu flew into a rage, her willow eyebrows arching sharply as she opened her mouth to retort. Xianglan quickly grabbed her sleeve and whispered, "Just let her have a way to back down. Everyone sitting in this room knows the background of everyone else—why push things to the absolute limit?"

Yet how could Lin Dongxiu bear to come out on the losing end? Letting out a slight, icy chuckle, she shot back, "Indeed, dear sister, so you still remember the affection of our childhood days. Since that's the case, you'd better dry those tears—anyone would think I was bullying you."

Hearing this, Lin Dongwan began to weep even more bitterly. Li Miaozhi and Lin Dongqi hurriedly rushed over to comfort her, while Lin Dongxiu sat in silence with a mocking sneer. Su Meiru wore the expression of a spectator enjoying a theatrical performance, and Jiang Xiyun naturally remained completely detached.

Xianglan frowned slightly. Family squabbles and conflicts were never a good thing; they should always be stopped whenever possible. Stepping toward Lin Dongxiu—wait, stepping toward Lin Dongwan, she softly urged, "Eldest Sister, what is the most urgent matter right now?"

Ignoring her, Lin Dongwan kept her shoulders trembling as she covered her face with her handkerchief.

Having spent the past few days handling Lin Jinglou by coaxing him as though he were a young child, Xianglan had long since forged an immense well of patience. She reasoned that even if Lin Dongwan threw a tantrum and rolled on the floor, she couldn't possibly be more unreasonable than the Tyrant Lin. Softening her tone, she said, "The most pressing matter right now is to find the items bestowed by the Crown Prince. Both the Old Master and Old Madam are anxious over this. If they find out that Eldest Sister is here crying and probe deeper into the cause, creating even more trouble for them, wouldn't that be regrettable?"

The mention of "probing deeper" caused a jolt in Lin Dongwan's heart. With a heavy thud, her sobbing abruptly stopped. Wiping away her tears with her handkerchief while grasping Xianglan's hand, she choked out, "What kind of person I am should be as clear as a mirror to everyone here—how could I possibly steal the Old Madam's belongings? When I entered that room, Liubei was right inside. Later, when I left, Miss Xi was still in the room eating her meal."

Before her voice had even faded, Su Meiru chimed in with a melodramatic, lilting tone, "If you put it that way, then the Jiang family's young lady was the very last one to leave? No wonder, no wonder..."

The company was taken aback. Lin Dongwan instantly realized that Su Meiru was holding a grudge against Jiang Xiyun for tripping her up and playing dirty tricks earlier. Her heart sinking, Jiang Xiyun knew that she was the sole outsider in the entire room, and given her past history of animosity with the Lin family, if blame fell upon her, she would be utterly ruined. Terrified, she sprang to her feet, took a step forward, and glared coldly at Su Meiru, demanding, "Imperial Concubine Su, what do you mean by that? Explain yourself clearly! What is the meaning of 'no wonder, no wonder'?"

Su Meiru had not expected Jiang Xiyun to challenge her so openly to her face. Taken aback for a moment, she then patted her chest and smiled sweetly, "Oh my, the young lady was as gentle as a flower in front of the Old Madam just now, but I never expected her to have such sharp teeth. You really gave me a fright! When I said 'no wonder, no wonder,' I didn't mean anything else; it just reminded me of the rumors I heard everywhere when I first arrived in the capital—vague whispers about someone fearing future competition for favor and feeding someone else a medicine that causes permanent sterility, and the like. Now that this bracelet has gone missing, when I compare it to the character of the people involved, how can my heart not harbor suspicions?"

Xianglan was stunned, thinking to herself that Su Meiru and Jiang Xiyun had never even met before—she had no idea what enmity had arisen between them. This remark was ten times more venomous than Lin Dongxiu's veiled insinuations; it was a direct strike aimed straight for the jugular.

Jiang Xiyun's face turned a deep, purplish red, trembling violently all over with fury as her chest heaved up and down. She was accustomed to being the one who choked others with her words, never imagining that a concubine of the Lin family would use such harsh language to belittle her.

Sensing something was wrong, Li Miaozhi hurried forward to smooth things over, saying, "What kind of talk is this? I must be losing my mind, because I can't understand a single word being said. Imperial Concubine Su, you've been out for half the day; you must be tired, you should go back and rest."

"Thank you for your concern, Third Sister-in-law, but I am not tired at all." Su Meiru looked at Jiang Xiyun with unconcealed contempt, then lowered her gaze to stroke her own belly as she spoke in a soft, affectionate tone, "My little darling, don't be afraid, don't kick me again." Raising her head to look back at Jiang Xiyun, she offered a charming, shallow smile and added, "I was just joking, Miss Xi shouldn't take it to heart."

Jiang Xiyun smiled coldly in her heart. Slowly lifting her head, her expression turned calm and relaxed. With a faint smile, the dimples at the corners of her mouth just beginning to bloom, she slowly sat back down and raised her voice, "Imperial Concubine Su is telling me stories about rumors in the capital, so why would I ever take them to heart? Speaking of rumors, I actually heard a few myself just the other days: word has it that the former Minister of War, Lord Jia, governed his household so poorly that he allowed his descendants to commit the scandalous crime of father and son sharing the same concubine, with a son taking his own father's concubine. The censors and officials impeached him fiercely, driving Lord Jia into such a rage that he nearly fainted. Unaware that he had such disgraceful descendants, he personally enforced family discipline to punish them, and that very evening, the concubine in question was dragged out and sold off, disappearing without a trace. Ah... how pitiful that Lord Jia, despite his advanced age, still had to submit a self-accusation letter for the Emperor's perusal, losing every shred of dignity."

The room plunged into absolute silence. Everyone present was clever enough to know that Jiang Xiyun was dropping heavy hints to mock Su Meiru for having an illicit affair with her uncle-in-law.

Turning her head to look straight at Su Meiru, Jiang Xiyun smiled cordially and continued, "I'm just telling another anecdote and joke about outsiders, of course. In my opinion, the men of the Lin family are truly blessed to have a concubine as pleasing and sharp-tongued as Imperial Concubine Su." That phrase "the men of the Lin family" dealt Su Meiru yet another heavy blow to her face.

Su Meiru's expression shifted, though she quickly recovered her spring-like smile, even as her fingers clutched her handkerchief so tightly inside her sleeve that her knuckles turned white. "I am indeed blessed, having caught a legal wife who is merciful enough not to feed me sterility-inducing medicine." As she spoke, she cast a sidelong glance at Xianglan.

In truth, ever since the confrontation between the two women began, Xianglan had felt thoroughly ill at ease. Every single word was laden with deep meaning, flashing like swords and daggers, piercing straight to the heart—all executed simply to gain the upper hand, vent a grievance, and let off steam. To make matters worse, she had been dragged right into the middle of it all, acting like a stick stirring up the bitter hatred that had long since settled in her soul. She drew a slow breath, locked eyes with Su Meiru for a moment, and was just about to speak when Lin Dongxiu stood up, pulled Xianglan outside, and whispered, "Are you trying to play the peacemaker again? Are you foolish? A Su Meiru and a Jiang Xiyun—neither of them is any good, and they've happened to lock horns right here. We can just stand back and enjoy the show! Just now, I counted on my fingers: anyone in this room, no matter who took the Old Madam's bracelet, it won't sound good once word gets out. Except for Jiang Xiyun—she's an outsider. If you ask me, there's an eight-tenths chance that little wretch has unclean hands today anyway. Let them tear into each other, but don't go sticking your neck out to mediate. If you don't succeed, you'll just end up stinking of trouble."

Just as she reached that point, Madam Wang walked in, supported by her maids Yingluo and Hubo.