Against the Current - Chapter 91

Chapter 91 - Conflict (Part 1)

Fangsi crossed her arms and said, "It's all because of that maid named Xianglan..." Halfway through, she remembered Song Ke's instruction that Xianglan's presence in the Song household must not be mentioned to outsiders, so she abruptly clamped her mouth shut, picked up her tray, and walked out. Hanzhi and Nange chased after her, pelting her with questions, but no matter what, Fangsi refused to utter another word.

Nange stepped into the room, whispered a few words into Lin Dongling's ear, and Lin Dongling raised an eyebrow as she twirled her fan, saying, "Oh? Such a thing actually happened?" Seeing that Zheng Jingxian was currently chatting and laughing with Song Tanchai, she stood up and quietly slipped outside.

Seeing Lin Dongling leave, Lin Dongxiu murmured, "I need to use the privy," and followed her out.

As it happened, Fangsi was walking across the winding covered veranda carrying a tray, so Lin Dongling stepped forward to block her path, demanding, "Just what did you tell Nange earlier about Cousin adding a maid to his quarters? What is going on?"

Fangsi thought to herself that things were looking bad, but looking at Lin Dongling's furrowed brow and glaring eyes, she had a second thought: "Everyone knows the third young miss of the Lin family has an overbearing temperament, and since she has feelings for the eldest young master, whenever I accompany the mistress to the Lin family, she's always pestering me asking this and that about him. If I can use her hands to put Xianglan in her place, it would vent a breath of pent-up anger from my own chest." Throwing Song Ke's warning to the winds, she let out a sigh, placed the tray down on the veranda railing, and assumed a deeply worried expression. "It would be better if Young Miss Ling hadn't asked; asking has only stirred up a hundred worries in my heart. A few months ago, our eldest young master bought a maid. When she first arrived, she was weak and sickly with scars all over her face, and she spent a whole month lying in bed before recovering. But no sooner did she get well than she used some sort of fox-spirit charms to completely turn the master's head around. He no longer cares to visit relatives, has lost all taste for reading his books, and even pays his morning and evening respects to the mistress as if he's just going through the motions. The moment he comes home, he burrows straight into the study and holes up with that maid every single day. As servants, it's not our place to flap our gums too much, so we could only offer a few gentle words of caution on the side. Who would have thought the master would say he intends to elevate that maid sooner or later? There was nothing more for us to say, but seeing the master obey a mere maid's every word and whim has us all burning with anxiety."

She spoke while watching Lin Dongling's complexion, and seeing her face flush red with anger before turning pale, she felt a quiet surge of satisfaction. Lin Dongxiu stepped closer, flicked her handkerchief, and said, "Then why haven't you quickly told your mistress? How can things be allowed to go on like this? Although she's just a maid and it might not seem like much, Cousin is a man who must take the imperial examinations; a fine gentleman like him mustn't be led astray by a bad influence."

Fangsi clapped her hands together and exclaimed, "Oh, my fourth young miss! No wonder everyone says young ladies of prominent families have true insight—who's to say otherwise! We've been worrying about the exact same thing... To put it bluntly, such a delicate, pretty little thing who was sold off with her entire body covered in beatings—what else could it possibly be for?" She glanced around, lowered her voice, and said, "If I may speak harshly, I suspect she was trying to seduce the master of the house and was discovered by the mistress, which is why she was given a sound thrashing and sold off. It's a pity our eldest young master is such a kind, sincere person; he actually took someone else's discarded weed and cradled it like a precious treasure, serving it hand and foot, leaving us to worry for nothing..." With that, she feigned wiping the corner of her eye with her handkerchief. "Our master passed away early, and the mistress relies entirely on the eldest young master as her only hope. If anything were to go wrong..."

Lin Dongxiu took Fangsi's hand and said, "We all know you're a loyal soul." Observing the trace of anger on Lin Dongling's face, she thought to herself: "Third Sister is born of the primary wife. If she insists on marrying Cousin Song and the family agrees, I won't have a shred of a chance left. This is an opportunity now; even if I can't secure this match for myself, I certainly won't let you have your way." Recalling that Lin Dongling had always been a rash and reckless sort, she said, "This girl has a lot of nerve. I wonder what she even looks like to have infatuated Brother Song so completely. Aunt and Cousin are both honest souls, so naturally they let things slide, but if you let it go unchecked like this, it'll be like raising a tiger that turns to devour you. Ah, forgive me for speaking without thinking, but this girl has already won Cousin's favor. If she manages to bear a son before the eldest young mistress officially crosses the threshold, it's going to be awfully difficult for the true mistress of the house when she finally arrives..."

Lin Dongling's face turned as dark as the bottom of a cooking pot. She sneered, "I'd like to see just what kind of monster or freak she is to be making such a fuss! Aunt and Sister are weak, but the Lin family stands behind them to prop them up. If Cousin has strayed onto a crooked path, I'll go right back and fetch our elders to discipline him!" She grabbed Fangsi and demanded, "Where is that little bitch right now?"

Though inwardly triumphant, Fangsi put on a flustered expression and pleaded, "Third Young Miss, please don't stir up trouble. This is a matter within the eldest young master's quarters—how could a young lady like you get involved?"

Lin Dongling thought to herself: "Matters in Cousin's quarters concern me deeply. If I don't interfere today and let that little seductress grow too powerful, what kind of peaceful days would I have after marrying Cousin? Today I'll flex my might, give her a severe shock to curb her arrogance, and deal with her slowly later on!" Aloud, she snapped, "Say no more. Today I am simply disciplining an unruly maid, and it has nothing to do with anything else."

Lin Dongxiu chimed in, "Third Sister, let it go. It's someone else's domestic affair; it really isn't our place to meddle. Not to mention Cousin has only taken the girl into his chambers—even if he were marrying her as his primary wife and Aunt didn't utter a peep, what could we possibly say?" Yet inwardly, she was snickering: "Third Sister really is a firecracker, bursting into flames at the slightest spark. The bigger mess this makes, the better! Cousin is currently doting on that maid; if Sister goes and bullies her, once those pillow talks start up later, Cousin won't give her a second look!"

These words only served to fan Lin Dongling's anger higher still. Gritting her teeth, she declared, "She wants to be the primary mistress of the Song family? Pah! What a preposterous pipe dream! Nobody try to stop me today; I'm going to take a look with my own eyes. All of you are standing in my way—could it be that this girl was born with three heads and six arms?" She pulled Fangsi along and demanded, "Tell me, where is that girl right now?"

Putting on a hesitating air, Fangsi replied, "She... she's always staying in the eldest young master's study up front... But today there's a banquet, so she should be helping out in the back kitchen." Pointing at the tray, she added, "These pastries are what she made."

Lin Dongling pondered for a moment, picked up a piece of pastry, and started walking. Fangsi hurriedly grabbed Lin Dongling by the waist, crying, "My good mistress, my good young miss, please don't go!"

There was no stopping Lin Dongling now. Shaking off Fangsi, she hitched up her skirts and marched straight to the kitchen to take a look, but Xianglan was nowhere to be found. As it turned out, because the Lin family young misses were visiting, Xianglan had resolved not to show her face in the front quarters and stayed exclusively in the back to help cook. Having finished making two pastries and a dish early on, she had slipped back to the study, bolted the door tight, and vowed not to show her nose even if the sky were to crack open.

Yuexi and Junxi had both gone to the front to serve, leaving Xianglan all alone. Thinking of how Song Ke was supposed to come home for lunch today, she boiled a kettle of hot water ahead of time and placed the few refreshing side dishes she had brought back from the kitchen in a cool spot. Then, she fetched a basin of clean water, soaked a cleaning cloth, and began wiping down the bookshelves and the multi-layered curio cabinet.

Just as she was busy working, she suddenly heard the door kicked open with a loud bang, and Lin Dongling rushed in like a gust of wind.

Startled, Xianglan looked back to see Lin Dongling with a flushed face, holding a piece of pastry as she charged straight up to her.

Sensing trouble from the other's aggressive stance, before Xianglan could even recover her wits, Lin Dongling hurled the pastry she was holding straight into Xianglan's face, cursing, "You've lost your mind! How dare you make such cheap, vile pastries to fool your master? There's something filthy in these cakes—are you trying to poison me to death?"

Xianglan looked down and saw that the piece rolling on the floor was none other than the lotus seed-paste pastry she had made that morning. Glancing past her toward the doorway, she saw Lin Dongxiu along with Nange, Hanzhi, and Yueer all standing at the threshold. Beyond the thin gauze window, Fangsi half-revealed her face as she peered in, a look of smug triumph on her features.

Xianglan thought to herself: "I made these pastries with the utmost care; there's certainly nothing unclean in them. Lin Dongling must have listened to Fangsi's instigation and deliberately sought me out to pick a fight and vent her spleen. But I am no longer a maid of the Lin family—if they think they can boss me around like before, they've calculated completely wrong." She tossed her cleaning rag onto the table, took out a handkerchief to wipe her face, and suddenly her expression darkened as she demanded in a sharp voice, "What is Young Miss doing here? Rushing in with loud shouts to press charges, as if the whole world doesn't know a young lady of the Lin family ran all the way from the inner residential quarters to the outer front yard. What kind of place is this study? The eldest young master sleeps here now. Leaving aside the quality of these pastries for a moment, let me first ask Young Miss: running all the way from the front yard to the second gate and crashing straight into a man's bedroom—where on earth has Young Miss's propriety gone?"

Lin Dongling never expected Xianglan to launch a sudden counterattack and was momentarily struck dumb.

Xianglan stepped forward another inch and continued, "I made these pastries with meticulous care; how could there possibly be anything filthy in them? And even taking a step back, if there truly was something unclean inside, you should have reported it to the mistress or our own young miss, and had them summon me for questioning. How could you charge in yourself, tossing aside all sense of shame and decorum in a blazing fury? Even if you did come, you ought to have made your inquiries properly. There is an old saying: 'Love the dog, respect its master.' I am a maid of the Song household, not the Lin family. For Young Miss to humiliate me like this—could it be that you look down on our Song family?"

Lin Dongling was hardly someone blessed with a sharp tongue, and Xianglan's questions left her completely flabbergasted. Her original intention had only been to put Xianglan in her place, not to actually throw the pastry in her face. But upon entering the room, her eyes had fallen upon a startlingly radiant young beauty, dazzling like evening clouds on the horizon—a peerless loveliness she could never hope to match. Envy and resentment flared up within her, and throwing all caution to the winds, she had flung the pastry first just to vent her hatred.

Leaning against the doorway, Lin Dongxiu said with a mocking tone, "My, aren't you full of majesty? The masters haven't even questioned you yet, and here you are questioning the masters instead? You've really given me a fright." Lin Dongling was careless by nature and had never paid close attention to Xianglan in the past; whatever fleeting impression she'd had of her back at the Lin family had long since slipped her mind. Lin Dongxiu, however, was observant. She felt Xianglan looked familiar, and suddenly recalling an old rumor in the household about Lin Jinlou wanting to elevate a maid named Xianglan, she was struck with the astonished suspicion that this Xianglan was one and the same. Yet now, living a comfortable life in the Song household, Xianglan's face had grown slightly fuller, her stature taller, and her features had blossomed into striking refinement. Moreover, lacking her former timid, cowering demeanor from her days at the Lin family, Lin Dongxiu hadn't dared to recognize her right away.

Hearing those words, Lin Dongling stiffened her spine, glared fiercely, and snapped, "How dare you talk back to a young mistress? Is this really how the Song family disciplines its people? An unruly, impudent slave like you would have been beaten to death with clubs long ago if you were in our Lin family!"

Xianglan replied calmly, "It was Young Miss who disregarded the Lin family's reputation first; the two sentences I just spoke were for the sake of preserving the Song family's dignity. Could it be that the young ladies of the Lin family all assume we are so easy to bully?" Turning her head, she fixed her burning gaze on Lin Dongling and asked, "Let me ask you this: if we weren't in the Song mansion today, but rather at the State Duke's estate, would Young Miss dare to charge so aggressively into the male master's study to interrogate him?"