A Bride's Homecoming
It was the third day since Bai Jinxiu's wedding, the day she was due to return to her family's home. Second Madam Yu had risen early to prepare for her daughter's arrival, and though she sat in the Grand Princess's inner chamber, her heart was already outside the front gates. Craning her neck as she waited for a servant to announce the arrival of the newlywed couple, she could do nothing but stare out the window.
"It's past time. Why aren't they here yet?"
Second Madam Yu set down her teacup and turned her head, ordering her maid Qingshu to go out and look for them.
Fully pregnant, Fifth Madam Qi burst into laughter, unable to hold it in, and covered her mouth with her handkerchief.
"Second Sister, don't be so impatient. Those two are still in the first flush of newlywed life—no wonder they're sleeping in. You know how it is. We've all been through it ourselves."
"Fifth Sister-in-law, really—there's nothing you won't say in front of Mother!"
Third Madam Li teased.
Lady Dong sat directly below the Grand Princess. Saying nothing, she smiled and lowered her head, idly fingering the jade bracelet on her wrist. Her heart was slightly uneasy. That marriage should have been her daughter's.
The Bai family's young ladies were all seated on benches around the room, chattering merrily among themselves.
Bai Jingyan looked around at the warm, lively gathering, and her heart grew tender. Her spirits lifted accordingly.
Before long, Qingshu, Second Madam Yu's maid, hurried through the garden gate of Changshou Courtyard, and behind her came Nanny Wu of the Zhongyong Marquis Estate.
Nanny Wu was the most presentable of the servants who attended the wife of the Zhongyong Marquis. Spotting Nanny Zhang beneath the eaves, she quickened her pace, drew up before her, and offered a formal bow.
"Sister."
"Nanny Wu, what brings you here? Have the young couple not yet risen?"
Nanny Zhang asked warmly, her smile gracious, taking the other woman's hand.
But Nanny Wu's face grew darker by the moment. She spoke with obvious awkwardness.
"Our eldest young madam was playing about with the two young ladies of our household yesterday when she slipped and fell into the lake. She seemed fine yesterday, but this morning, somehow, a fever came on all of a sudden. I'm afraid she won't be able to come today…"
At those words, Nanny Zhang's heart jolted with alarm.
"Nanny Wu, wait just a moment. Let me go in and inform the Grand Princess."
Inside the room, Second Madam Yu leapt to her feet the instant she heard the news.
"What? What on earth has happened at the Zhongyong Estate! Jinxiu fell into the lake yesterday, and only today they send someone to tell us! Are they tormenting us because there's no Duke of Zhenguo in the house—no father of Jinxiu's—only women to bully?"
The teacup in Bai Jingyan's hand creaked under the force of her grip. Through the partition she watched Nanny Wu wringing an innocent handkerchief outside, and a surge of fury rose in her so fierce she clenched her teeth.
In her past life, the legitimate second daughter of the Ministry of Personnel had married into the Zhongyong Marquis Estate—and on her homecoming day, just like this, she had not been allowed to return. Back then, too, the story was that she had been playing with the marquis's young ladies, slipped, and fallen into the lake.
That daughter of the Ministry of Personnel never lived past thirty. She died of a sickness of the heart. As the memory surfaced, Bai Jingyan's face drained as white as the knuckles gripping her teacup.
Could it be that Bai Jinxiu, married into the Zhongyong Estate, could not escape this fate either?
Her hand trembled so violently the teacup shook. She could not tell whether it was the strain of all her recent martial training, or simply rage at what was unfolding before her.
"Second Aunt, don't be hasty."
Bai Jingyan set down her teacup, forced her temper down, and rose to her feet.
"Grandmother, let Second Aunt take Physician Hong with her, and grant her leave to go to the Zhongyong Estate to see Jinxiu!"
"But she was only just married. If her maternal family descends on her in-laws' home with a physician in tow, won't they grumble that the Zhenguo Duke Estate is being high-handed?"
Gentle-natured Fourth Madam Wang asked cautiously.
"Jinxiu trained in martial arts and swims well. You're telling me she played around, slipped into a lake, and took to her sickbed? Impossible. Something is wrong—there has to be."
Bai Jingyan could not keep the sharp edge from her voice.
"Grandmother, you are the Grand Princess, and my mother bears a conferred title—neither of you could properly call on the Zhongyong Estate in person with a physician. But if Second Aunt goes out of a mother's worry for her daughter, there is nothing the least bit improper in it."
"I want to go too!"
Bai Jinchi, the fourth young lady, sprang up and bowed to the Grand Princess.
"Grandmother, I'm too worried about Second Sister. I have to go and see her!"
"Grandmother, I'll go as well!"
Bai Jindong, the third young lady, stood up.
"Me too! I want to go!"
One after another, the young ladies who had been sitting quietly around the room rose, all declaring they would go see Bai Jinxiu.
"Mother!"
Second Madam Yu's eyes were rimmed with red.
"Mother, please, let me go! I'm so worried about Jinxiu!"
The Grand Princess, her face set like stone, turned her sandalwood prayer beads over in her fingers. Her second daughter-in-law was quick-tempered, and the children were still too young to have learned patience. And yet… something about this affair smelled of hidden dealings.
It seems Jinxiu has been wronged. If we send enough people, the Zhongyong Estate will surely take the hint—that the Zhenguo Duke Estate is not to be trifled with.
The Grand Princess turned her gaze to Bai Jingyan, and only after a long moment did she speak.
"Second Sister, take the children and go see Jinxiu. A-Yan, you go too, and find out exactly what has happened. I did not marry my granddaughter into the Zhongyong Estate to be wronged there! Nanny Zhang, you will accompany them."
Nanny Zhang bowed and answered in the affirmative.
Second Madam Yu, moved to tears by the Grand Princess's permission, bowed deeply. Nanny Zhang was, in effect, the Grand Princess's representative—her presence would tell the Zhongyong Estate plainly how much weight the Grand Princess placed on Bai Jinxiu.
But when Lady Dong heard that her own daughter was to be sent, anxiety seized her.
"Mother, Jingyan's health is still poor…"
"Mother, don't worry about me. If I stay behind, I'll only fret over Jinxiu and be miserable anyway."
Bai Jingyan gently persuaded her. In truth, her heart was burning like paper in a fire. Unless she saw Bai Jinxiu's condition with her own eyes, she would never be able to judge whether her sister could safely be left at the Zhongyong Estate.
Bai Jingyan was the legitimate eldest daughter of the house. Before the other children were born, Second Madam Yu had doted on her devotedly. And Bai Jingyan was calm and deep-thinking—if she went, Jinxiu might be able to confide in her elder sister things she could not say to her own mother.
A thousand, ten thousand times Lady Dong wanted to refuse in her heart—but in the end, she ordered Jin Mama to have the carriages made ready.
Meanwhile, when Nanny Wu learned that Second Madam Yu intended to escort the physician and the Bai family's young ladies to the Zhongyong Estate to see Bai Jinxiu, she was thrown into a panic. Muttering that she had to report back first so that the madam could prepare, she hurriedly boarded a carriage and rushed home.
Lady Dong followed Bai Jingyan to Qinghui Courtyard. There she wrapped her daughter in a great fur-lined cloak, fastening it snugly about her shoulders to see her off.
"I tell you not to go, and still you won't listen to your mother. When you get there, you must not step forward rashly. If word gets out, people will whisper that you disapprove of Jinxiu marrying the Zhongyong heir—that you're jealous and small-hearted. Do you understand?"
"Mother, don't worry. I'll behave and come home safe."
At the gate of the Zhenguo Duke Estate's side entrance, several large, splendid carriages rolled slowly into motion and set out toward the Zhongyong Marquis Estate.
At the Zhongyong Marquis Estate, the moment Second Madam Yu saw her daughter lying colorless and lifeless on the bed, her legs gave out beneath her and she nearly collapsed. She sank onto the edge of the bed, seized her daughter's hand, and called her name over and over.
"Jinxiu! Jinxiu… your mother is here! My darling, open your eyes—please!"
Na Mama, the steward nanny attending Second Madam Yu, steadied her by the arm and said tearfully,
"Madam, it would be best to let Physician Hong examine the second young lady at once."
When Bai Jingyan looked upon Bai Jinxiu—her breathing grown so faint—the hand hidden inside her sleeve shook uncontrollably. An ungovernable fury seemed to boil up from her very blood. She wanted nothing more than to drive a blade through the vicious wife of the Zhongyong Marquis, that beast wearing a human face, this instant.
Her eyes turned grave. She walked out of the inner chamber, drew Bai Jinchi close, and whispered instructions against her ear.
A light flashed across Bai Jinchi's reddened eyes. She gripped the whip at her waist, nodded once, and darted straight outside.
"You go too. Make sure the fourth young lady comes to no harm."
Bai Jingyan turned and gave the order to Chunyan.
"Eldest Sister!"
Bai Jindong came close and looked at Bai Jingyan with puzzled eyes.
"What did you say to Jinchi? Where did she run off to?"
Bai Jingyan clutched her hand warmer tightly. Her voice was cold—and brimming with fury.
"Isn't that what they claim? That Jinxiu fell ill from playing about with her sisters-in-law? If they love games so much, they can go play with Jinchi—she's famous for her tricks, after all. She ought to live up to her reputation."
The fifth and sixth young ladies stood around the bed, tears glistening, gazing at Bai Jinxiu.
"Physician Hong, will Jinxiu be all right?"
Second Madam Yu wrung her handkerchief, sick with worry.
"She has fallen ill from the cold, and the high fever will not break. It also appears she struck her head somewhere."
Physician Hong rolled up his sleeves and moved to examine Bai Jinxiu's head.
At once, Nanny Wu of the Zhongyong Marquis's household raised her voice and shouted,
"The eldest young madam is a lady of noble standing! How dare some physician of no standing lay hands on her so freely!"
Bai Jingyan fixed Nanny Wu with a blade-sharp gaze.
Second Madam Yu was not one to hold back. Before Na Mama could even move, she shoved Nanny Wu aside.
"My well-raised daughter married into your Zhongyong Estate, and now she lies here unable to wake! And who are you, to obstruct the physician treating her? You low-born, shameless hussy—"
Before Second Madam Yu could spit out anything worse, Bai Jindong glanced sideways at Nanny Wu and spoke up.
"So the Zhongyong Estate dares call an honored guest of the Zhenguo Duke Estate a physician of no standing? What imposing airs the Zhongyong household has!"
Sensing the strange turn in the atmosphere, Nanny Zhang watched Nanny Wu quietly, her guard rising.
Nanny Wu shrank back and stepped to one side, stealing glances at Nanny Zhang's grave expression. Her heart sank like a stone. Hastily, she arranged her face into a smile.
"Yesterday, when the eldest young madam fell into the water, we brought an imperial physician at once, bearing the madam's calling card, to examine her. Madam, third young lady—it is all a misunderstanding."
"And where is your heir?"
Second Madam Yu flew into a rage at the sight that her son-in-law was nowhere to be found even now, with her daughter in such a state.
"Since the eldest young madam cannot visit her family today, the heir has gone to a poetry gathering at Fanxing Tower to meet with his friends."
Nanny Wu deliberately fanned the flames, hoping to sow discord.
"Shouldn't… shouldn't someone be sent at once to bring the young master back?"
Na Mama looked toward Nanny Zhang, who had come in the Grand Princess's stead.