Against the Current - Chapter 32

Chapter 32 - Filth

When Si Shun saw Xianglan, it was as if good fortune had suddenly descended from the heavens. He was so overjoyed he could hardly contain himself, the corners of his mouth split wide toward his ears as he scampered over and said, "Oh... Sister Xianglan, you're finally here. You've certainly kept this brother of yours waiting long enough."

Xianglan had matters weighing heavily on her mind and had no time to waste on idle chatter with him. She stepped into Cao Lihuan's room, pulled open the vanity drawer, and began rummaging through it for her small embroidered pouch. Si Shun had already lost all patience. Catching sight of Xianglan's jade-like profile, he swallowed hard, lunged forward to embrace her, and babbled incoherently with endearments like "little sister" and "good sister," declaring, "Mistress Huan has already given her approval, so let this brother treat you well today." He thrust his face forward, reeking of liquor, and tried to kiss her as he held her fast.

Terrified out of her wits, Xianglan struggled frantically, opening her mouth to scream, but Si Shun covered her nose and mouth with his large hand and dragged her toward the bed. Xianglan kicked and thrashed, but how could she match a man's strength? Seeing she was about to be pinned to the bed as her jacket was ripped open, Si Shun's eyes locked onto a patch of snowy skin. His lower region hardened like a pestle, and desperate to have his way immediately, he tore her jacket apart with a sharp rip. Filled with extreme hatred, Xianglan made a desperate lunge forward and raked her nails fiercely across Si Shun's eyes. Si Shun failed to dodge in time, letting out a howling cry as four bloody trails were clawed across his face, his head banging against the bed frame. Seizing the opportunity, Xianglan bolted toward the door, screaming at the top of her lungs, "Help! Help!" Yet the courtyard remained deathly quiet. Just as she reached the courtyard entrance, Si Shun chased after her, cursing vilely, "Little hussy!" He lunged forward to wrap his arms around her waist. Xianglan's foot slipped, and she crashed to the ground as Si Shun grabbed her by both legs and began dragging her backward.

Overwhelmed by despair and terror, Xianglan let out a few shrill cries, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face as she was dragged toward the steps. Just as she was locked in a fierce and desperate struggle, a sudden, thunderous roar echoed from the entrance: "Stop right there! Have you all lost your minds?"

Xianglan felt as though this booming shout were the sweetest music of paradise. Raising her tear-blurred eyes, she saw a young gentleman stride in from outside. Si Shun looked up and immediately recognized the tall, powerfully built young master in brocade and embroidered robes—who else could it be but Lin family's eldest young master, Lin Jinlou? He was instantly paralyzed with fright, thinking to himself, "I'm ruined!" and involuntarily loosened his grip on Xianglan's legs.

With her limbs turned to jelly and devoid of all strength, Xianglan crawled laboriously to Lin Jinlou's feet, hugged his boots, and wept bitterly. Lin Jinlou's expression was grim, a fierce hostility roiling in his eyes as he looked down at Si Shun. Si Shun felt a chill run down his spine, a cold sweat breaking out all over. He tried to run, but realized Lin Jinlou's figure completely blocked his path. Stricken with panic and uncertainty, he watched as Lin Jinlou beckoned to him and said, "Come here." With no other choice, Si Shun shuffled forward a few steps, while Lin Jinlou offered a cold, faint smile. "In broad daylight, what are you trying to pull off?"

The corners of Si Shun's mouth twitched uncontrollably as he forced a smile and stammered, "No, nothing at all... Eldest Master... This, this maid was given to me by Mistress Huan... No, wait, she tried to seduce me, and now that she has, she's trying to deny it. She, she, she..."

Before he could finish, a resounding slap cracked through the air. The fierce blow left Si Shun dizzy, his ears ringing as if he were going deaf, and he crashed heavily to the ground. Knowing things had gone terribly wrong and recalling the adage that a wise man submits to circumstance, he tried to scramble to his feet the moment his head cleared and bolted frantically toward the main gate. Lin Jinlou lashed out with his foot, sending Si Shun tumbling head over heels until he collapsed against the base of the wall, retching violently and groaning without the strength to rise. No one could have imagined that a man who usually appeared so refined could strike with such merciless force. Lin Jinlou's personal servant, Shuangxi, who was standing guard at the courtyard entrance, clicked his tongue. Anyone familiar with this young master's temper knew that their master was currently boiling with rage, and the best course of action for everyone else was to stay as far away as possible.

Shuangxi shrank his neck and stood frozen at the entrance like a statue. Noticing several matrons and senior maids trying to edge closer to watch the commotion, he puffed out his chest, planted his hands on his hips, and barked loudly, "What are you all staring at? What's there to see? Get out of here, go on, scat!"

Everyone recognized Shuangxi and knew he and his twin brother Jixiang were trusted attendants by Lin Jinlou's side, so they dared not approach any further. One by one, they muttered under their breath, shrank their heads, and scurried away in disgrace.

Lin Jinlou bent down and hauled Xianglan to her feet, but her legs gave way and she threatened to slide back down to the ground. Seeing her disheveled state—with her peach-red bodice faintly visible underneath, her hair in shambles, and her carefully braided double buns completely undone so that the cascading strands accentuated her small, pale, delicate face—he noted that she had been weeping like rain, clearly terrified out of her wits and trembling all over. As she looked up at him with wide, misty, frightened eyes, Lin Jinlou felt his heart soften, yet his anger flared up all over again. Suppressing his wrath, he spoke in a low, gentle voice, "Are you alright? Were you hurt anywhere? Shall we have a physician come take a look?"

Xianglan truly felt as though she had escaped the jaws of death. Still shaken to her core, her legs turned soft as she burst into loud, unrestrained sobs.

Lin Jinlou had originally been overseeing the preparations for Madam Qin's birthday banquet. Seeing that Jianqiu Pavilion was filled with female guests, he had simply lingered in the kitchen for a bit before stepping out to arrange for twelve lovely young maids, each holding a precious, auspicious token, to recite a collective birthday congratulation to Madam Qin. Madam Qin had been overjoyed and declared, "Reward them!" prompting Lin Jinlou to quickly order his servants to scatter reward coins. While busy with this, he caught sight of the maid named Xianglan from the corner of his eye near the rockery. She was dressed in an off-white jacket, her hair still styled in double buns without a single piece of jewelry, yet she possessed an indescribable, rustic elegance that caught his eye. Once Lin Jinlou looked her way, his heart stirred, and he found he could no longer tear his gaze away. Xianglan seemed to notice him, turned around, and walked away. Driven by some inexplicable impulse, Lin Jinlou followed at a distance. He was delayed momentarily after running into an estate steward, and by the time he resumed his pursuit, he could no longer tell which way Xianglan had gone. Then, he heard a few piercing, frantic screams and hurried in the direction of the sound, never expecting to stumble upon such a scene. Lin Jinlou felt as though his lungs were about to burst with fury. This was a blatant attempt to violate a maid right inside his own estate! Did they not know whose territory this was, daring to run wild right under his nose? They must have eaten the courage of bears and leopards! Moreover, this was a maid he had taken a liking to; it had always been his prerogative to cause trouble for others, yet here was some blind, worthless slave daring to stroke the tiger's whiskers. Lin Jinlou glanced at Xianglan's torn jacket, his anger reaching such a peak that his face went completely blank. He walked over to Si Shun, crouched down, and demanded, "Where did you come from? Who gave you permission to enter the inner courtyard?"

Trembling like chaff in the wind under Lin Jinlou's murderous aura, Si Shun still stubbornly kept his mouth shut. Without a word, Lin Jinlou raised his foot and brought it down. With a sickening crunch followed by Si Shun's shrieking agony, Lin Jinlou smiled coldly and said, "I'll start by breaking one of your legs. If you still won't tell the truth, I'll break the other. And if you still refuse, I'll snap your fingers off one by one and see how long your tongue stays stiff." With that, he kicked the already broken leg again and snapped, "Talk!"

Si Shun had no spine to speak of. The first kick from Lin Jinlou had already fractured several ribs, and this latest blow snapped his leg clean through. Writhing in agonizing pain that had him calling out to his parents, he wept and wailed, "This humble servant belongs to Mistress Huan's household... Mistress Huan is the one who let me in."

"What about that girl? Did she seduce you?"

"Yes... No, no, no, Master! It was Mistress Huan who gave her to me."

Growing impatient, Lin Jinlou lashed out with another kick. "Stop playing games with me, damn it! She gave her to you? Is that why you had to pull this animalistic stunt?"

Si Shun whimpered, "It... it was what Mistress Huan said. Xianglan belongs to the Lin family, so she couldn't make the ultimate decision on her own, but if I managed to compromise Xianglan, she wouldn't have any choice left... She planned to find an excuse on the matriarch's birthday to send Xianglan out so I could ambush her and get things done..." He hadn't anticipated, however, that despite Xianglan's delicate appearance, she would be so difficult to handle, nor that a meddling savior would suddenly emerge halfway through.

With a cold sneer, Lin Jinlou delivered another vicious kick. With a sharp crack and accompanying howls of agony from Si Shun, his other leg was broken as well. Lin Jinlou remarked, "Since I've broken both your legs, you can stay right here and reflect. If you dare try to run, I'll flinch the skin right off your back!" Having said this, he turned back, scooped Xianglan up in his arms, and shoved open the door to the side room on the left, only to be met with a startled shriek as he discovered that Siqiao and Hui'er were hiding inside.

With a dark expression, Lin Jinlou laid Xianglan down on the heated brick bed and instructed her, "Go pack your things. You won't be serving in this courtyard anymore." His eyes swept over Siqiao and Hui'er. Both girls felt their scalps tingle; Hui'er cowered in the corner of the brick bed, while Siqiao stood frozen and breathless against the wall. Lin Jinlou said coolly, "With all that commotion going on in the courtyard just now, neither of you thought to step outside and see what was happening?"

Hui'er and Siqiao were too terrified to utter a word.

Pointing at Siqiao, Lin Jinlou asked, "What is your name?"

With a shudder in her heart, Siqiao stammered, "This servant is called... called Siqiao."

With a cold huff, Lin Jinlou turned and walked out.

Trembling, Xianglan pulled a set of clothes from her chest, managed to change into them, roughly pinned her hair back, packed the four meager outfits she owned from the chest, and bundled her few daily necessities into a small cloth wrapper. Just as she reached the threshold, she paused, turned back to look at Hui'er and Siqiao, and suddenly asked, "The business with Si Shun today—both of you knew about it beforehand, didn't you?"

The two girls avoided her gaze, not daring to meet her eyes. A chilling emptiness settled in Xianglan's chest. She walked over to Siqiao, raised her hand, and delivered a fierce, ringing slap across her face, staring straight into her eyes as she said, "How I treated you, you know best in your heart." Looking ashamed, Siqiao covered her burning cheek and lowered her head.

Xianglan wanted to hurl a few more sharp reproaches, but suddenly found the effort pointless. Instead, she simply spoke quietly, "From now on, take good care of yourself!" Without looking back at her again, she pushed open the door and stepped outside.

Lin Jinlou was standing by the courtyard entrance. Seeing Xianglan emerge, he instructed Shuangxi, "Keep watch over this courtyard and don't let anyone in. Later on, spread the word discreetly among the servants that the good-for-nothing slave in the courtyard had an illicit affair with Cao Lihuan and snuck in during the excitement of the birthday banquet to meet secretly, but after drinking too much, he mistook the maid Siqiao for a cousin and tried to force himself upon her—thankfully stumbled upon by yours truly."

A cold sweat broke out on Shuangxi's back. He thought to himself that Cao Lihuan was truly lacking in judgment to provoke their master's wrath like this; wasn't this pure self-destruction? He nodded repeatedly in acknowledgment, patting his chest as he assured, "Don't you worry, Master, just leave it to me!"