Against the Current - Chapter 33

Chapter 33 - Testimony 

Now back in Jianqiu Pavilion, Madam Qin was thoroughly enjoying the feasting, drinking, and merrymaking when Hongjian quietly slipped in and murmured a few words into her ear. Upon hearing the news, Madam Qin's complexion drained of color. She immediately dispatched someone to fetch two pills of medicine and, calling Lin Dongqi into the inner room, brooked no argument as she forced her to swallow them. Before long, Lin Dongqi indeed broke out in red rashes and large welts all over her body, burning with pain and itching intensely while her eyelids swelled shut. Distraught beyond measure, Madam Qin gathered her daughter into her arms, massaging her gently over and over while clasping her hands together in prayer. "Amitabha! Thank goodness she took the medicine ahead of time. Otherwise, had her throat swollen shut as well, what would we have done if she couldn't breathe?" Gritting her teeth in fury, she raged, "That vile little wretch Cao Lihuan actually used such a vicious method to harm my daughter! To think I once showed her leniency..."

Lin Dongqi wept with broken sobs. "I've never had any enmity with her. Even when the Third and Fourth Young Ladies deliberately picked on her, I mediated and helped her out here and there, yet she harbors such a vicious mind to harm me..."

Madam Qin narrowed her eyes. Cao Lihuan was nothing more than an ungrateful, ungracious wolf with a heart of stone; she had taken her in out of pity in the first place. Adept at acting sweet, Cao Lihuan had won the favor of both the matriarchs. Now that she had harmed Dongqi—even though there was a maid to serve as a witness—Cao Lihuan had always been a slippery arguer. If she wasn't careful, it might backfire and stir up a sticky mess. Right then and there, Madam Qin resolved to root out this scourge from the household once and for all, though she needed to plan it out meticulously.

Fortunately, the drinking and merrymaking out front had already dispersed. Just as Madam Qin was seeing off her guests, Lülan came over and lowered her voice to report, "It seems something has happened over at Mistress Huan's courtyard... I heard from the Young Master that... that Mistress Huan has an illicit affair with a certain pageboy. Taking advantage of the bustling festivities in the manor today, that pageboy sneaked in and, having had too much to drink, mistook a maid for the cousin-mistress and tried to force himself on her. Fortunately, the Young Master happened to come upon them, so the deed was averted. The Young Master says that pageboy's legs have already been broken and he's lying right out in the courtyard. He's come to ask for Madam's instructions."

A brilliant flash of light sparked in Madam Qin's eyes upon hearing this—this was practically someone delivering a pillow the moment she felt sleepy. She hastily demanded, "What about the maid who was nearly assaulted?" Seeing that Lülan was stammering and unable to give a clear account, Madam Qin hurriedly summoned Lin Jinlou. The moment they met, she fixed him with a stern look and scolded, "You little rascal, don't play tricks with your own mother! What on earth is going on here?"

Lin Jinlou offered a light chuckle. "I was strolling around the west side of the manor today when I heard someone screaming for help. When I went over to check, I saw a servant dragging a young maid by the leg toward a room, clearly trying to force himself on her. In broad daylight, that's practically slapping the Lin family across the face, so of course I had to step in and handle it. Once I questioned him, I found out the slave belongs to Cao Lihuan, while that maid is one of our own assigned to serve Cao Lihuan. It turns out that mangy slave took a fancy to the maid and, fearing he wouldn't get what he wanted, Cao Lihuan cooked up the scheme and told him to use force first."

Furious, Madam Qin felt flames dancing in her eyes as she brought a heavy hand down on the table with a sharp thwack. "Outrageous! To think up such filthy, foul-hearted, low-down methods—she has completely discarded every shred of decency, propriety, and shame! What does this black-hearted, base creature take the Lin family for?"

Lin Jinlou sneered, "Precisely. Since she wants to act so basely, we'll let her be as base as she likes. I've already instructed Shuangxi to spread the word that the mangy slave is Cao Lihuan's secret lover, and that having drunk too much, he mistakenly harassed the maid."

Madam Qin paused. Her eldest son was brilliant to a fault, endlessly crafty, and possessed ruthless methods; he was actually splashing such a massive tub of filthy wastewater onto Cao Lihuan without a second thought. While she found it deeply satisfying, she also found it somewhat heavy-handed.

As if reading Madam Qin's thoughts, Lin Jinlou's lips curved in a mocking smirk. "She's merely an orphaned dependent we took in, yet she dares to scheme against us and treat the Lin family as if it belongs to her, stirring up a foul and murky mess in the inner courtyard. As a man, I don't care to meddle in inner-court affairs, but I do feel Mother has grown far too soft-hearted. Where has all that decisiveness from years past gone? If we don't bring down a fatal blow to put her in her place, she'll continue to think she's some grand personage who can play our entire family in the palm of her hand... Mother can rest easy; a person like her, even if her reputation is ruined, will never choose to seek death. Once the wind blows over in a couple of years, she'll pop right back out to strut around and make a scene just as before. And so what if she cries, makes a fuss, and can't find a marriage partner because of this? Driving her out is letting her off lightly."

Madam Qin sighed, conceding internally that her son's words made sense. Having spent these past years accumulating good karma and with her children by her side, her heart had long since grown soft and she tended to leave a bit of leeway in how she handled matters. She had mostly relied on verbal reprimands with Cao Lihuan, refusing to drop a heavy hand, and had ended up nursing a tiger cub that turned on her. If not for the young maid's tip-off and her own precaution of having Dongqi take the medicine early, who knows—if the allergic reaction had truly flared up, it might have cost her daughter's life. Hardening her heart once more with a fierce, chilling gaze, she asked, "You said that maid belongs to our household? Is her name Xianglan?"

Lin Jinlou looked slightly surprised. "How does Mother know?"

Madam Qin breathed a sigh of relief. "Indeed it is. Where is she now?"

Lin Jinlou promptly ordered someone to summon Xianglan. Standing just outside Madam Qin's main quarters with a small cloth bundle clutched in her arms, Xianglan felt her heart fluttering nervously. Hearing someone call her inside, she hurried in, not daring to let her gaze wander anywhere. Once inside, she dropped respectfully to her knees and kowtowed. "May Madam enjoy peace and well-being."

Gazing at her intently, Madam Qin saw a remarkably fair and pretty young maid who, looking thoroughly frightened, had a pale complexion, red and swollen eyes, and was still trembling slightly—a sight fully capable of stirring one's pity. However, Madam Qin held a deep aversion to delicate-looking girls, as they were usually the ones with hidden agendas who schemed to crawl into a master's bed.

Retaining a flicker of initial prejudice, Madam Qin nevertheless kept her tone mild. "Your name is Xianglan, isn't it? How pitiful, looking so frail and tender. Get up quickly."

Xianglan kowtowed once more before rising to her feet.

Madam Qin spoke in a warm and affable tone. "Today's events are thanks to you—not just this incident, but also the matter with young Ting earlier. I must reward you handsomely." With that, she glanced toward Hongjian, who immediately pulled out a small purse and pressed it into Xianglan's hands.

Weighing it in her hand, Xianglan felt a heavy, dense heft, and feeling hard objects inside, she figured it must be gold or silver. Yet she had no heart to feel pleased right now, and tears welled up as she pleaded, "This maid doesn't desire any rewards; I only ask that I no longer have to serve Mistress Huan, and I will gladly be a beast of burden for you in return."

Madam Qin nodded slightly, picked up the peony-patterned pastel porcelain cup from the plum-blossom tea table, gently blew the tea leaves aside, and spoke with deliberate slowness. "I've heard that Mistress Huan frequently summons a certain pageboy to her courtyard. Is that true or not?"

Xianglan's heart skipped a beat. Raising her gaze, she locked eyes with Madam Qin's ambiguous, knowing expression, and her mind raced through a hundred thoughts. To understand the hint is to grasp the intent; with Madam Qin putting the question this way, Xianglan understood instantly. Though she loathed Cao Lihuan to the core, she was a person of upright character, and frame-ups were something she simply couldn't bring herself to do. Since Madam Qin had already steered things to this point, Xianglan hesitated for a long moment before replying, "Mistress Huan does indeed often call Sishun over to her courtyard, and sometimes they even shut the doors to talk for a spell. As for what they were actually discussing, I truly have no idea."

This statement was entirely truthful. Feeling that merely saying "often comes to the courtyard" and "shuts the doors to talk" wasn't quite heavy enough ammunition, Madam Qin pressed further. "I have heard some rumors floating around about Mistress Huan. People below are wagging their tongues, saying she has some unclean entanglement with Sishun. As for this matter..."

The realization dawned clearly on Xianglan—this matter lacked solid proof, and Madam Qin was trying to use her as a human witness. But on one hand, she couldn't bring herself to partake in false accusations and frame-ups, and on the other hand, while her previous two tip-offs to her masters were done out of self-preservation and conscience, she had no desire to play the role of the spearhead this time. Maintaining an honest, submissive demeanor, she lowered her gaze and answered dutifully, "Sishun's reputation is quite poor. I've heard Huier and the others say he is fond of drinking, whoring, and gambling, and not a decent fellow at all. Whenever he comes to the manor, he likes to leer at the maidservants. As for whatever relations he might have with Mistress Huan... I only stayed in the back doing embroidery and chores, and never lingered around the front, so I really wouldn't know."

Madam Qin remained silent for a moment, but Lin Jinlou suddenly chuckled and remarked, "This is fine as well. Excess is as bad as deficiency."

Exchanging a glance with Lin Jinlou, Madam Qin gave a slight nod. She stood up and instructed Xianglan, "You will come with me to see the Old Matron. Once we get there, repeat these exact words to her, and there will be further rewards waiting for you when you return."

Xianglan repeatedly agreed.

Stepping back inside to check on Lin Dongqi and finding her fast asleep from the medicine, Madam Qin emerged without changing her clothes. She reached up to rumple her temples so that her side-hair hung slightly loose, dabbed a bit of osmanthus oil onto her handkerchief and rubbed it around her eyes, instantly brewing up a pair of tear-filled eyes. Flanked by her senior maid Hongjian and followed closely by Xianglan, she hurried posthaste toward Old Matron Lin's main quarters.

Old Matron Lin had just woken from her afternoon nap. When Madam Qin had previously sent someone to report that Lin Dongqi had broken out in red rashes all over, the old matriarch had been beside herself with worry, dispatching two or three batches of maids and older women to check on her, and had nearly gone to see her in person before being talked out of it by Xuecan and the others. Hearing now that Madam Qin had arrived, she hurriedly ordered her to be brought in. The moment they met, she asked anxiously, "How is the second girl?" Noticing Madam Qin's disheveled hair, red and swollen eyes, and the tears she kept wiping away, she gasped in shock, "Whatever has happened to the second girl?!"

Madam Qin strode over to Old Matron Lin's side, dropped straight to her knees with a loud thump, and wept as she embraced the old matriarch's legs, crying, "I am begging the Old Matron to seek justice for us."