Against the Current - Chapter 76

Chapter 76 - Hushing the Matter Up

Zhao Yuechan covertly glanced at Madam Qin's expression and fabricated a story, saying, "It was nothing much. This morning my maid found a Buddhist scripture copied by Mistress Lan in the garden, and out of pure good intentions, afraid she might be anxious searching for it, I personally brought it over, wanting to have a heart-to-heart talk with her. We hadn't spoken long before I realized it was going to rain, so I prepared to take my leave. Out on the porch, I wanted to ask her a few things concerning the eldest master, but because they were private matters of the inner chambers, I didn't want the maids to overhear, so I had them all step back. Who would have thought that after asking a couple of questions, Qinglan would blush and act all coy, refusing to answer? When I pressed further, she backed away and carelessly tumbled down the steps... Ah, speaking of which, this is entirely my fault; I never should have..." She instantly dropped to her knees facing the main doors, kowtowing loudly with heavy thuds as she wailed, "Heaven have mercy, all of this is my unpardonable sin! I beg the heavens to bless my sister Qinglan and the child in her belly so they remain safe and sound. If they do, I would willingly climb mountains of knives or plunge into pots of boiling oil, shortening my life by twenty years, and I would not utter a single word of complaint."

Qin's was hardly a simpleton; she naturally did not believe a single word of this explanation, thinking to herself, Zhao Yuechan is certainly slippery and glib. A mere phrase like 'private matters of the inner chambers' seals my mouth, preventing me from questioning her any further. Outwardly, she said coldly, "Very well. Once Qinglan has given birth, I will ask her myself what sort of 'private matters of the inner chambers' could have flustered her so badly that she tumbled right off the steps."

Zhao Yuechan's heart sank. In her heart, she wished Qinglan were already dead at this very moment, but aloud she replied, "I, too, pray that Mistress Lan comes through safely..."

Before her words had even faded, Yindie came scrambling into the room, crying and shrieking, "Reporting to Madam, Eldest Young Madam, Mistress Lan is gone!"

Qin's surged to her feet with a start. Zhao Yuechan was first startled, then let out a long, heavy sigh of relief. Seeing Qin's standing right beside her, she covered her face with her handkerchief and wailed loudly, "Sister! My hard-hearted sister, how could you just leave like this, carrying the eldest master's child!" She wept with such violent breast-beating and earth-shaking grief that her shoulders heaved, though the corners of her mouth ticked upward ever so slightly; had Qin's not been standing right there, she likely would have burst out laughing.

Without delay, Qin's went into the east wing and, upon seeing Qinglan's lifeless state, could not help shedding tears of sorrow. Seeing Qin's weep, the others hurriedly joined in, opening their throats to howl in grief. After a long while, Qin's managed to check her tears and gave orders to handle the funeral arrangements. Having hurried anxiously to the east wing earlier, she had been drenched on one side by the heavy rain; combined with the shock to her heart and grief she could hardly suppress, she now felt chilled to the bone as the wind blew, her head throbbing as though pierced by needles.

Seeing Qin's look deathly pale and completely exhausted, Hongjian felt a wave of worry. Stepping closer, she coaxed, "The departed is gone, but Madam must still take care of her health. If you refuse to go back and rest, at least take a little food."

Qin's shook her head. "She has only just passed away, and a mountain of matters still needs attending to. Since there's no one else capable of handling it, I can only step in and manage it myself. Besides..." Besides, Qinglan had died in a somewhat obscure manner, and there must be something fishy about it all. She still wanted to investigate and get to the bottom of it.

Hongjian offered a few more words of persuasion, but seeing that Qin's refused to budge, she turned and walked out to speak with Qiangwei, the maid who had accompanied them: "Go back and fetch a cloak for Madam, and also tell the master that Mistress Lan has just passed away. Madam wants to handle the funeral, and though her health is poor, she refuses to go back and rest. As maids, we couldn't persuade her, and we're afraid Madam's health will suffer, so we've come to ask the master for his instructions." Qiangwei nodded and hurried off.

Before long, Lin Zhangzheng arrived in person. Seeing Qiangwei drape a cloak over Qin's shoulders, he sat down nearby and said, "What on earth is going on here? Everything's thrown into such chaos—how can a healthy person just die like that? And you—taking care of your own health comes first. After all, it's just one of Lou'er's concubines who died; what are the eldest branch's daughter-in-law and servants for? There's no need for you to handle everything yourself."

Qin's said, "You don't understand. From my cold-eyed observations, this matter is inextricably linked to Zhao." Lowering her voice, she continued, "Mistress Lan had barely spoken two words with Zhao before she lost her footing and tumbled down the steps. Don't you find that strange? You know what kind of person Zhao is just as well as I do—she's as sharp as they come. Every time a life is lost in Lou'er's quarters, her shadow is vaguely lurking in the background."

Lin Zhangzheng frowned slightly. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Even if it's linked to her, what can be done? The Zhao family's influence is at its peak, and I've heard Lou'er's father-in-law is set for a promotion after this winter. No matter how deep the connection, can we possibly let him divorce his wife over this? That being the case, what good would it do to dig up the whole truth? Dragging it all out into the open will only make both families lose face. Better to issue a stern warning and confine her to her quarters. In any case, you've already stripped her of household management rights. As a woman cooped up in the inner courtyard day in and day out, how much trouble can she possibly stir up?"

Qin's replied, "Now that Mistress Lan is dead, and she was carrying the Lin family's flesh and blood, if we don't straighten things out after a disaster like this, the entire inner courtyard will turn upside down. Besides, I also feel a deep sense of injustice toward Qinglan and her family..."

Lin Zhangzheng raised his eyebrows. "If you feel it's unjust, just compensate them with more silver. As for Lou'er, we can scout around and find him another concubine... That reckless good-for-nothing spends his days chasing flowers and willows; he's never steadfast. After a while, once he finds a new favorite, he won't give this concubine another thought."

Although Qin's held little fondness for Lin Jinlou, she could not bear to hear anyone else criticize her eldest son. Glaring at Lin Zhangzheng, she snapped, "Talk sense! Lou'er is diligent, progressive, and knows how to endure hardship—how is he a good-for-nothing!"

Lin Zhangzheng arched an eyebrow. "How am I talking nonsense? I've long since heard rumors of his wild behavior outside. I've scolded him and I've beaten him, but he simply won't change. I figured that since Lou'er is just a military man who spends his days brandishing spears and enduring the wind and sun, it's not easy for him anyway. As long as he doesn't poke a massive hornet's nest, I just turn a blind eye to his wild antics outside. But the troubles in his quarters never cease: a concubined maid died the year before last, an unformed fetus miscarried this year, and now, with a double tragedy right before our eyes, another concubine has died. One after another—either the feng shui of this courtyard is terrible, or we'll need to invite some high-ranking master here to banish the evil spirits."

Qin's sneered, "The evil spirit in Zhinchun Hall is none other than that Eldest Young Madam. We don't need to invite any traveling masters. Once we've seen Qinglan off to her grave, I'm going to thoroughly discipline her."

Lin Zhangzheng furrowed his thick brows again and barked in anger, "Zhinchun Hall, Zhinchun Hall—the very name is gaudy and flashy, sounding just like a pleasure quarter. Lou'er has no proper sense of propriety; he always has to dabble in such flamboyant phrasing. Tomorrow, smash that plaque for me and replace it with something dignified and grand!"

Seeing that Lin Zhangzheng was about to lose his temper, Qin's quickly smoothed things over: "Yes, yes, yes, we'll change it tomorrow, and later I'll have someone write a proper inscription."

Lin Zhangzheng rubbed the bridge of his nose, steering the conversation back to the point. "That being the case, let's just end the matter here. No matter how clearly we unravel how that concubine died, it's useless and will only stir up a mountain of gossip. Let's just compensate them handsomely with silver. Later, draw out three thousand taels, and the two of us will pool another thousand together, making four thousand taels total, and give her a lavish, grand funeral to settle it."

Qin's sighed, feeling somewhat swayed by Lin Zhangzheng's reasoning. Indeed, investigating or not investigating would lead to the same outcome; they could not divorce Zhao Yuechan right now, and Lin Jinlou already viewed Zhao Yuechan with intense disfavor. If they truly uncovered the details and Lin Jinlou flew into a rage, the household would be thrown into turmoil once more. It was only poor Qinglan... Ah well, they could only compensate her parents generously to settle the matter. The more Qin's thought about it, the more her head pounded with blinding pain, and she forced herself to say, "In that case, I will ask my second sister-in-law to kindly step in and manage the funeral arrangements."

"Very well," Lin Zhangzheng said, raising his voice to call out, "Where is Hongjian? Come and support your mistress back to rest at once!"

Hongjian immediately stepped inside, supported Qin's, and led her away. Qiangwei went off directly to the second branch to invite Madam Wang to take charge.

Lin Zhangzheng gave a few hasty instructions to Chunling, then flicked his sleeves and walked off.

By this time it was already mid-afternoon, long past the noon meal hour. The people in the east wing were exhausted in both body and spirit. Seeing that Mistress Lan was dead and Qin's had left, while Second Madam Wang delayed her arrival to take charge, the maids and serving women lost all enthusiasm for running about.

Chunling picked out a few plain yet exquisite garments to serve as Qinglan's burial attire, selecting the hairpins and rings Qinglan usually favored to dress the corpse's hair, and then sealed up the chests containing the rest of the jewelry and clothing. Claiming she was going to the storeroom to ask for white mourning cloth, she slipped out and was not seen again.

Yindie declared, "My head hurts dreadfully; it must be from the draft earlier. I'm going to lie down." With a flick of her hand, she went into the room to lie down and did not emerge again.

Xiaojuan, feeling thoroughly panicked, grabbed Xianglan's sleeve in the veranda and whispered, "Now that Mistress Lan is dead, the maids of the east wing don't know where we'll end up. Yindie's family are hereditary bondservants, and Chunling came straight from Madam's quarters, so those two will always have somewhere to go, but me..."

Xianglan comforted her, saying, "Don't panic. You served well by Mistress's side after all; later I'll ask Mother Wu to find a good place for you."

Xiaojuan said, "I'm not going anywhere. I'll just follow you, Xianglan. You're about to turn your luck around right now and are going to become a mistress any minute—the eldest master is going to elevate you..."

Before her voice had even faded, someone let out a cold snort. Xianglan turned her head to see Chunling swaying into the room with a wiggle of her hips. Chunling gave Xiaojuan's head a light knock and scolded, "Have you no sense of proportion? Mistress has just passed away, and you're spouting such ghost stories! Why don't you hurry inside and help tidy up?" Chunling followed them into the room as well, though inwardly she sighed silently. Everyone assumed Xianglan was about to live in "glory," but who could know how anxious, terrified, and restless she truly felt inside?

Inside the room, several matrons were boiling water and scrubbing the floor, while a few bolder ones set about wiping down Qinglan's body and changing her clothes. Surprisingly, Huamei was also in the room helping change the bedding, working with nimble hands and unsparing effort, which won her praise from everyone present.

Xianglan felt a secret surge of wonder, thinking, Huamei is normally a shrewd one who stays as far away from chores like this as possible. Today she's turned over a new leaf—she isn't even afraid of offending the Eldest Young Madam.

Everyone bustled about for a while. Once the room was cleaned up and put in order, Xianglan, remembering how kindly Qinglan had treated her in the past, wept once more. With reddened eyes, she quietly recited a passage of the Amitabha Sutra to guide Qinglan's soul across.

By evening, the mourning hall had been set up in the east wing, draped entirely in plain white mourning cloth.

Exhausted and starving, Xianglan felt her hands and feet trembling slightly. After eating her evening bowl of food and finishing an extra bowl of porridge, she finally began to feel better. As she returned from dropping off her bowl and chopsticks in the small kitchen, she spotted Yindie acting suspiciously, rummaging through the pillows and bedding on her bed. Xianglan gave a sharp cough and asked coldly, "What are you doing?"

Startled, Yindie gave a small jump. Turning around and catching sight of Xianglan, she hurriedly tossed the pillow she was holding aside, forcing a smile as she said, "N-nothing at all, I dropped an earring and was just looking around..." As she spoke, she stealthily shoved a red-gem-inlaid gold hair hairpin adorned with treasures up into her sleeve.