Chapter 96: Rest Easy
Song Hemei had not expected Madam Zhang to arrive so swiftly.
Entering the residence at this early hour, it was likely she had even traveled through the night.
Now that the moment had actually come, she found herself not as flustered as she had anticipated. Instead, she felt a sense of relief. Having dodged and deflected, trying to minimize trouble as much as possible, now that trouble had truly found its way to her door, it seemed it wasn't so difficult to handle after all.
Yu Yeqing also noticed the person who had appeared behind them. He thought for a moment before matching the figure before him with the image in his memory.
This was Shao Wen'ang's mother.
"You've arrived. Why didn't you send word ahead so someone could meet you at the city gate?"
Facing Madam Zhang's overcast, angry eyes, Song Hemei curved her lips into a smile and stepped out of Yu Yeqing's embrace. As if nothing had happened, she introduced him: "This is Investigating Censor Lord Yu, who has come from the Capital. He has been staying as a guest in the residence for some time."
The servant girl who had gasped in shock had already realized something was wrong. Covering her mouth, she cowered and stepped backward, wishing she could be far away from this place. Madam Zhang's dark expression, at the words "Investigating Censor," became complicated and ugly.
The corners of her lips trembled. "Xiao He, what were you two just—?"
Yu Yeqing stepped forward to pull Song Hemei behind him, just about to speak, when Song Hemei grasped his wrist and shook her head at him.
"Aren't you supposed to be at the yamen? Hurry and go. Don't delay your official business."
Yu Yeqing's face showed concern. He couldn't possibly leave her alone here. Song Hemei said softly, "Rest assured."
Observing that the two showed no restraint even in her presence, Madam Zhang's face was already unsightly to the extreme. No matter how high an official, when confronted by a mother indignant on behalf of her son, the intimidation factor diminished by at least thirty percent.
"Xiao He, what exactly is the meaning of this? You, dragging and pulling with an outside man—what kind of decency is this!"
Song Hemei did not immediately answer her. Instead, she gently pushed Yu Yeqing. "Be good, go now."
Yu Yeqing hesitated for a moment, but ultimately couldn't defy her. He walked slowly toward the exit.
But as he passed Madam Zhang, he stopped and, in a low voice, said to her: "I wonder how Senior Lord Shao has been faring these days? Has he grown accustomed to the new place? Before I left the Capital, my mentor, Lord Duan, mentioned the matter of Senior Lord Shao."
Back when Senior Lord Shao had been implicated in that case, the judge who had ruled on it was a disciple from the Duan household.
Madam Zhang's expression changed immediately. She looked up in shock at the man beside her, whose eyes held a chilling cold.
Yu Yeqing paid her no further attention. Before leaving, he glanced once more at Song Hemei, then dropped one final line to Madam Zhang: "I hope madam will think thrice before acting."
Only after his figure disappeared beyond the moon-gate arch did Song Hemei draw out a handkerchief and wave it gently. "The weather is too hot. Whatever you have to say, let's go inside and talk."
Madam Zhang was already so angry that her lips had turned purple. But the rules etched into her bones over the years would not allow her to resort to violence like some common street dweller. And with those threatening words pressing down on her, she could only follow Song Hemei's pace.
Her voice dripped with sarcasm: "Xiao He truly has impressive skills, able to climb another branch. All these years, I never saw it. The Song family really has raised a fine daughter!"
"You speak wrongly there. No matter how well my parents taught me, it's nothing compared to how well you taught your son."
A smile lingered on her lips. "Why have you come? Have you forgotten? Besides, whatever I've become, it was all at your son's urging."
Madam Zhang's face grew even uglier. "Nonsense! You're the one lacking virtue, yet you drag Wen'ang into this! You adulter—"
She bit off the word before it was fully out. Her gaze swept around the courtyard, also afraid that the servants might overhear and make a laughingstock of this matter.
Seeing no one around, she clenched her teeth and spat out the words viciously: "Adulterous couple! How dare you carry on such filthy business under Wen'ang's very nose, here in the Shao residence! For every day you remain in the Shao family, you are a daughter-in-law of the Shao family. After the amicable divorce, whatever befalls you has nothing to do with us. But you couldn't even endure a few days! The Song family raised you with such character!"
Song Hemei glanced at her, deflecting the weight of the accusation with ease. "You are truly mistaken. Who would dare do anything in front of your precious son? Back then, it was he who begged and urged me to go before Lord Yu. If you don't believe me, you can go ask him yourself."
She paused, as if suddenly struck by a thought. "Oh, look at me. I forgot the most important thing. Your precious son isn't even in the residence right now, is he? Why don't you think about it—so early in the morning, where could he possibly be?"
Madam Zhang's whole body trembled with rage. She was advanced in years, and with the toils and worries of recent years, coupled with the travel of the past few days, she had become much thinner than before. Her entire frame seemed like skin stretched over bone. Now, in her fury, it looked as though every joint was shaking and rattling, as if at any moment she might collapse and scatter into pieces on the ground.
"Impossible!"
How could Wen'ang endure such humiliation? How could he do such a thing!
Song Hemei looked sideways at her and blinked. "What's impossible? Is it impossible that he would send his own wife away, or impossible that he would vacate his own residence to make room for me and someone else?"
Madam Zhang's face was pale. "Stop spouting nonsense! Where is Wen'ang? I want to hear it from him!"
As they spoke, they had already reached the rear hall. With only the two of them left inside, Madam Zhang no longer held back.
"You lying slut! If I had known you would bring such ruin to the Shao household, I would never have allowed you to cross our threshold! You take advantage of Wen'ang's poor health, you cannot stay chaste, you entangle yourself with an outside man, and you still try to pin the blame on Wen'ang! Do you have no heart at all? And I who watched you grow up! Touch your conscience—in all these years, have I ever treated you poorly, that you would humiliate my son like this!"
Song Hemei had her back to her. Every word of this tirade landed in her ears.
She let out a soft sigh and asked herself honestly: before they were married, Madam Zhang had treated her well.
Perhaps because she was not yet a daughter-in-law, she was still regarded as the daughter of a friend, to be treated with proper courtesy. But once the marriage was sealed, she became a daughter-in-law—someone who could be arbitrarily ground down and disciplined, bound into the shape they preferred, expected to serve her parents-in-law and husband and dote on the children beneath her knees.
She raised her hand and poured Madam Zhang a cup of tea, at least to make good on the kindness of those younger years.
"Please calm your anger first. As for who was right and who was wrong back then, you know in your heart. As for whether Shao Wen'ang had the intention of pushing me onto someone else, you can ask him yourself when he returns. But whether he will tell you the truth, I don't know. He does have his pride to consider. As for where he is right now, I am not aware."
She turned and sat down, lifting her eyes to meet Madam Zhang's. "As for who I have ties with, ultimately, you have no say in the matter. The marriage contract between me and the Shao family has yet to be officially recorded in the yamen. You know this full well, don't you? But you need not think Shao Wen'ang is so naive. He is no longer a boy of fifteen or sixteen. In two years, his son will begin his schooling. Would he willingly bear the name of a cuckold? I advise you to be at peace. If this matter is aired out, no one will look good."
Madam Zhang looked as if she might collapse at any moment. One hand pressed against her forehead, the other pointed at Song Hemei, her lips trembling for a long while. "You truly have no conscience! In all these years in the Shao household, have you ever lacked for food or clothing? Every one of us has treated you with sincerity, looked upon you as a daughter-in-law!"
Song Hemei was deeply weary and had no patience to argue further. She merely dropped one last line: "You had best hold your divine power in reserve and wait until Shao Wen'ang returns to expend your energy on him. You treasure him like the apple of your eye, but when he heard that the Investigating Censor had arrived in Linzhou, he could hardly wait to sacrifice family loyalty for justice, to personally arrest his own father to save his own skin."
She took a sip of tea, rose, and walked outside. By now, Chunhui had heard the news and rushed over. Song Hemei directly gave the order: "Have someone bring Lianzhu here. Let him be close to his grandmother."
Madam Zhang's head was buzzing. Her tottering form could no longer stay steady. With her maid's support, she sank back into a round-backed armchair, pressing her forehead and muttering "what calamity" over and over.
Before long, Lianzhu was brought in. Seeing her little grandson, the fury she had been holding back turned into tears. She gathered the boy into her arms. "Good child. You and your father have both suffered. Grandmother should never have let that poisonous woman through the door!"
Lianzhu was confused. Though he couldn't say much, he knew the word "poisonous" was bad. "What is poisonous?"
Madam Zhang clenched her teeth, her expression twisted. "That worthless mother of yours!"
Lianzhu immediately raised his hands to push her away. "Grandmother says mother. Grandmother is bad."
At these words, Madam Zhang could no longer hold back her tears. She hugged him tighter. "What bewitching soup has she fed you! I never should have left you in her hands. Our Shao family's good child—she has ruined him!"
Song Hemei knew nothing of what happened in the hall. She returned to her room and first caught up on sleep, resting for nearly an hour. When she rose, she ordered the servants to pack up her things and sent someone to deliver the Shao family's account books and the keys to the family treasury to Madam Zhang.
Seeing that these possessions were about to leave her hands—and that from now on, not to mention the Shao family, even the word Shao itself would no longer have any connection to her—she felt an immense relief in her heart.
She did not send anyone to the yamen, thinking that Yu Yeqing would surely inform Shao Wen'ang of Madam Zhang's arrival.
But as the sky began to darken, no one had returned. Even Yu Yeqing had not shown up.
She was about to send someone to ask at the homes of Linzhou colleagues when a servant boy came rushing frantically into the residence, running straight toward her. His face was covered in sweat, and he panted out his words: "Madam, please go see at once! The master has been falsely accused of killing someone in a mistake and is about to be taken in for interrogation!"
Song Hemei's temples throbbed. Why did this have to happen right now?
"Go to the side courtyard and inform the old madam. Let her go see."
The servant boy seemed not to have expected her to pass the buck, but he could only wipe his sweat and hurry off toward the side courtyard. Before long, however, he came running back, accompanied by a maidservant from Madam Zhang's side.
"Madam, the old madam fainted upon hearing the news. Please go quickly to see the master!"
Song Hemei could bear it no longer. She could only order someone to first fetch a physician, then went out the door with a darkened face. "Truly, an unpaid debt of karma!"
Get instant access to all chapters now.
Post a Comment