Chapter 19 — Human Nature Is Evil
"Big Sister, you were incredible!"
The Fifth Young Miss came bounding over and seized the hem of Bai Jingyan's robes, clinging to her with an affectionate whine, her eyes brimming with nothing but admiration.
"When I grow up, I'm going to be someone as amazing as you!"
Bai Jingyan smoothed the sachet on the girl's head. Watching her little sister beam up at her so brightly and sweetly, warmth bloomed in her chest, and it felt as though even the cold had melted away. Her whole body felt comfortably warm.
"Big Sister, come sit down!"
Bai Jindong pressed Bai Jingyan down onto a chair, then shooed off Bai Jinchi, the Fifth Young Miss, and the Sixth Young Miss, ordering them to fetch her sister's refreshments from the kitchen.
Early that morning, Bai Jindong had told Bai Jinxiu what Bai Jingyan had said to Jin Lang the night before, and Bai Jinxiu had turned red-eyed, weeping softly.
"Big Sister."
Bai Jingyan knew exactly what her sister wanted to say. She took her hand and gave it a gentle pat, then smiled serenely and spoke in a soft, unhurried voice.
"This morning, Jin Lang came to see me and asked Grandmother for her help. He intends to lay down the Crown Prince's position of his own accord. From now on, Jin Lang will lose his title as Crown Prince, but the whole world will learn of Lady Zhang's merciless conduct. You and the others can use this as your excuse to leave the Marquis Zhongyong's estate, close the gates, and live the lives you want to live."
At Bai Jingyan's words, Bai Jinxiu's eyes reddened once more. It seemed she had failed to keep the promise she'd made when her elder sister had given her a blade. Guilt weighed on her as she nodded through her tears.
"I know, Sister. Yesterday, I said the same thing to the Crown Prince myself."
When Bai Jinxiu's tears began to fall in earnest, Bai Jingyan's heart ached, and her own eyes grew warm. She reached out and wiped the tears from her sister's cheeks.
"Later, I'll ask Mother and Second Aunt to pick out the most capable servants for you. Once you're free of your mother-in-law's hands, everything will be better. So don't be afraid. Our Zhenguo Duke Estate and Grandmother will always stand behind you as your pillar. In all of Dadu, no one can bully the daughters of our Bai family."
"I never imagined Jin Lang had such boldness in him, or that he could make such a decisive choice."
Bai Jindong sat down beside Bai Jingyan and continued, her expression grave.
"Those two snakes and scorpions in the Marquis Zhongyong's estate who hurt Second Sister — I hope they learn just how powerful the Zhenguo Duke Estate is, and never dare come near her again."
"They say that if you leave fragrant herbs soaking together with foul-smelling weeds, ten years later the whole lot will still reek. That human nature is evil from birth. Do you think it can truly be changed? That would be harder than plucking a star from the sky."
Bai Jingyan warmed her hands over the brazier, then lifted her head and smiled at Bai Jinxiu.
"To tame them, you must smash the pillar in one blow and bring down the great mountain that props them up. Once you teach them what pain is and what fear is, they'll tremble at the mere mention of your name. And only then will Jinchi be able to live on in peace, without trouble finding her."
"The great mountain that props them up? Big Sister, do you mean Lady Zhang, the marquis's wife?"
Bai Jindong's eyes gleamed.
Now that Bai Jingyan had made her move, it would never end with merely frightening the Marquis Zhongyong and his mother out of their wits. Nothing was more contemptible than people like them — those who shut their gates and schemed against others behind closed doors. They were fleas of the world; unless you crushed them dead, sooner or later they would go wild again and inflict far greater harm on Bai Jinxiu.
Bai Jingyan wanted to root out the threat once and for all — and she had no wish for Bai Jinxiu's hands to be stained by it either. This time, she was determined to deal with the marquis's wife properly.
"The deeds of ownership for the maids you took with you when you married — where are they?"
"In the very bottom layer of my cosmetic chest."
Bai Jinxiu had assumed her sister would have use for the deeds, and had already asked Bai Jindong to fetch them.
"The land deeds Grandmother and Mother gave me as my dowry, and the deeds for the maids — they're all kept here. I was planning to come back and retrieve them on the day we returned to visit our kin, anyway."
Bai Jindong rose, drew the deeds from within a mother-of-pearl-inlaid rosewood cosmetic chest, and handed them to Bai Jingyan.
Bai Jingyan took out only Mingyu's deed and told Bai Jindong to return the rest to their place.
"Keep these deeds safe. We'll have use for them again."
"Mingyu…"
Bai Jinxiu gripped the patterned silk blanket draped over her body.
"Mingyu…"
Bai Jingyan had no intention of letting her injured sister dwell on anything else. She took her hand and spoke with quiet firmness.
"You just lie still and recover. Don't waste a thought on the wretches who betrayed their mistress. We have plenty of capable people to call on — they can handle it."
Then Bai Jingyan turned and handed Mingyu's deed to Chun Tao with a pointed look.
"Tell your uncle — the Fifth Master on the Jin side — that Mingyu forgot the kindness she was shown and betrayed her mistress. The Second Young Miss of the Bai family is kind-hearted, but that doesn't mean we can simply look past a breach of loyalty like this. And tell him that if this matter is handled well, a generous reward will follow."
As it happened, the timing was perfect. The servants of the Zhenguo Duke Estate needed to see, with their own wide-open eyes, exactly what became of those who betrayed their masters.
Chun Tao answered at once, received the deed with both hands, and left the Green Bamboo Pavilion.
That day, around midday, the Grand Princess brought Jin Lang out of the palace. Less than two hours later, word had already spread through Dadu that the heir of the Marquis Zhongyong's estate had voluntarily relinquished his position as Crown Prince.
When Lady Zhang, wife of the Marquis Zhongyong, heard the news, the strength drained from both her legs and she collapsed into a chair, drenched in cold sweat.
"Mother, isn't this a good thing? Why do you look so pale?"
Jin Lang's younger sister grabbed at Lady Zhang's robes, giddy and beaming.
With Jin Lang having stepped down of his own accord, her little brother would now ascend to the position of Crown Prince.
Lady Zhang hadn't the strength left to scold her daughter. She pressed a hand hard against her chest. Now her reputation, everything, was finished. Reputation she could perhaps have borne losing — but her children were still so young. Who in the future would dare take a daughter of the Jin family as a wife? And who would marry their daughter into the Jin household?
Rage boiled up in Lady Zhang, and she slapped her daughter across the face. The girl crumpled to the floor where she stood.
She touched her stinging cheek with one hand, staring at Lady Zhang with wide eyes, tears welling up in both of them.
"Mother! Why did you hit me?"
"You cursed girl! If you hadn't kept picking quarrels with Bai Jinxiu, this never would have grown into something this big!"
After berating her daughter, Lady Zhang forced herself to gather her wits. His Majesty had not yet issued an imperial decree — there was still room to turn this around. It was already too late today, but tomorrow she would enter the palace first thing and beg the Empress to persuade His Majesty so that Jin Lang would not be allowed to step down. She would have to play the part of the devoted stepmother. If she made it absolutely clear that Jin Lang was the only heir the Marquis Zhongyong's estate had, the situation could still be reversed.
"Nanny Wu!"
Lady Zhang called for Nanny Wu, who entered looking sickly yellow-faced. Lady Zhang gave her orders.
"Submit a visiting plaque to the palace at once. Tomorrow, I must pay my respects to Her Majesty the Empress."
Nanny Wu bowed to her ladyship and then answered.
"Madam, there's terrible news! The steward from your dowry residence has come with a wound on his face — he says the guards from the Zhenguo Duke Estate went to your dowry residence today carrying Mingyu's deed of ownership, and dragged Mingyu away!"
Lady Zhang's breath caught in her throat and she slumped against the side table. She very nearly fainted on the spot.
"Madam! Madam!"
Nanny Wu hurried to support her.
"The Zhenguo Duke Estate knows everything? Does it know that we drowned the maids who came to our residence?"
She clutched at her chest, unable to breathe properly.
"For a house like ours, beating a few maids to death might pass as nothing — but that girl Mingyu knows every last detail of the truth. If she ever speaks it all to the Zhenguo Duke Estate, we will have nothing to say for ourselves before the Grand Princess."
Nanny Wu looked at Jin Lang's younger sister with a face full of dread, tears dripping down her cheeks.
"Mother!"
At the mere memory of the Grand Princess's imposing dignity, terror seized the girl and her legs went weak. She clutched at Lady Zhang's clothes and wailed.
"What do we do now? If the Grand Princess finds out everything, she will never let me or my sister go!"
Lady Zhang had suffered a truly terrible misfortune this time. If she had not heard the rumor that the Bai family of the Zhenguo Duke Estate was on the verge of ruin, she would never have flown so wildly as to mistreat Bai Jinxiu, who had only just married in.
She had been far too rash. When the news that the Zhenguo Duke and every last man of the Bai family had died spread through Dadu, she could have made her move on Bai Jinxiu then and it still wouldn't have been too late. And besides, the Bai family had the Grand Princess standing guard over them.
For years, Lady Zhang had lived a lesser life than Lady Dong, the Bai family's eldest daughter-in-law. And now, finally, she believed she could live above her — the thought had made her lose all restraint and put on airs.
Nanny Wu rolled her eyes, then poured tea for Lady Zhang and spoke softly at her side.
"Madam, and you too, Miss — don't panic! If you ask me, even if the Grand Princess learns of this matter, she won't blow it up into something beyond all control. At worst, she'll give Madam and our two young misses a stern talking-to. Think about it: the Second Young Miss of the Bai family is a daughter-in-law of the Jin household. If the Zhenguo Duke Estate stirs up an uproar, what benefit could possibly come of it for her, their own daughter-in-law? She is Madam's daughter-in-law. She has to live under Madam's eye, watching her every word. The single word 'filial piety' is enough to bend her however you please! Surely the Grand Princess would never fail to understand a duty this basic!"
At Nanny Wu's words, Lady Zhang nodded and slowly calmed her heart. When she thought of the news from the Southern Border that would soon arrive, her jangled emotions gradually steadied.
Seeing Lady Zhang's color improve at her own words, Nanny Wu pressed on.
"Besides, the eldest Miss Bai said something else too. She said the Second Young Miss of the Bai family is skilled in the martial arts, and that her swimming is better than most men in Dadu. A woman who took a blade on the battlefield and survived — is it plausible that one knock against a stone in our marquis's estate could lay her low? When she was at our residence in the daytime, she seemed so frail her breath could stop at any moment, yet the instant she returned to the Zhenguo Duke Estate, she woke right up! Our two young misses were merely playing a joke on her in the first place. The way they've latched on over a simple fall into the water, dragging it out without end — clearly they mean to use this as leverage to seize hold of their mother-in-law. There's not an ounce of a proper daughter-in-law's duty in them!"
Bai Jingyan had once ordered men to bind Nanny Wu on the spot, and Nanny Wu had been humiliated before the entire Marquis Zhongyong's household. Every time she recalled it, fury surged up in her again. She was the most trusted nanny of the marquis's wife — surely she could handle one Bai Jinxiu, even if the eldest Miss Bai was beyond her. She had to vent this resentment somehow, whatever it took.
Lady Zhang panted with fury, her breath ragged.
"The heart of the Zhenguo Duke Estate is nothing but schemes upon schemes! I knew this would happen! Tell them to wake up from their dream!"
"Madam, please, don't let your anger consume you! Hold it in for now, and once you've brought the Second Young Miss of the Bai family to the residence, summon her before you and give her a proper scolding — one that leaves the Zhenguo Duke Estate with nothing to say in reply!"
Nanny Wu supported Lady Zhang by the back and murmured close to her.
Lady Zhang let out a long, deep breath and straightened her spine.
"You're right! But for now is not the time to stand on pride. Nanny Wu, go and prepare a lavish gift. Tomorrow, the moment I leave the palace, I will stop by the Grand Princess's residence and personally bring Bai Jinxiu home. Go to the storehouse and pick it out yourself. Top-grade thousand-year ginseng — the more precious, the better!"
"Madam, you are truly magnanimous. For a mother-in-law such as yourself to humble her standing and go fetch her daughter-in-law in person — there is no kinder mother-in-law in all of Dadu! I'll go and prepare everything right away!"