The Slander
Madame Dong hurried out to order the doors of the storehouse opened.
Mrs. Zhang lifted her teacup and took a slow sip. News that every man of the Bai family had died in the Southern Border needed to spread as quickly as possible. Only when she laid eyes on the wretched state of Dong, wife of the Zhenguo Duke's heir, would her heart finally feel at ease.
In her maiden days, Dong had outshone Mrs. Zhang in everything—family, looks, all of it. With her natal family's weak backing, Mrs. Zhang had been forced to bow her head whenever Dong appeared. She had waited endlessly for the day that order would be overturned.
Then Mrs. Zhang married into the prestigious Zhongyong Marquis Estate. Though she entered as a second wife, she believed she had finally climbed above Dong at last—only for Dong, by some means Mrs. Zhang could never fathom, to wed the heir of the Zhenguo Duke barely a year after Mrs. Zhang's own marriage. And the Zhenguo Duke Estate outranked the marquisate her husband held.
Two years had passed since Mrs. Zhang entered the Zhongyong Marquis Estate, and still she had not conceived. Yet Dong had become pregnant the moment she crossed the threshold of the Zhenguo Duke Estate. When she learned that the child Dong carried for ten months was a daughter, Mrs. Zhang had breathed a sigh of relief. But the Duke and the Grand Princess, as if bewitched by some spell, cherished that baby girl like a priceless treasure, loving her more than the sons of the household. Jealousy burned like fire in Mrs. Zhang's chest.
All those years, she had swallowed her rage and endured, and endured again. Determined never to fall too far behind Dong, she had yearned—for Jin Lang to falter on his path, and for her own son to be named heir of the Zhongyong Marquis. But heaven, it seemed, was forever indifferent to her wishes.
Was heaven finally coming to her aid at last? Dong's husband and son had both met their deaths in the Southern Border. Once the men of the Zhenguo Duke Estate were gone, the Bai family would have no place left to stand in Dadu—and all the venom she had bottled up over the years would finally drain away.
At the thought of Dong's pitiable circumstances, Mrs. Zhang felt a wave of exhilaration wash through her. For now, she resolved, she would hold her tongue and let the Zhenguo Duke Estate thrash about for a few more days.
But this was nothing more than Mrs. Zhang's own clever scheming. Before she could even present her memorial at the palace, the Emperor had already accepted Jin Lang's plea to step down from the position of heir, issuing an imperial edict and ordering the eunuch to bestow a generous reward as well.
Jin Lang, son of the Zhongyong Marquis, refuses to live out his days resting on the merits of his ancestors, and seeks instead to win honor through his own burning devotion, loyalty, and fearless courage, so as to ease the burdens of his sovereign. Such is the bearing that all sons of the gentry ought to emulate. Therefore, We bestow upon him two hundred taels of gold and a residence. We trust that through ardent striving, Jin Lang shall achieve distinguished results in the palace examination to be held next year.
Kneeling at the very front of the Zhongyong Marquis household, Jin Lang shed hot tears and bowed with the utmost reverence. Then, receiving the edict with both hands raised above his head, he gave thanks for the sovereign's grace.
The eunuch who had read the decree wore a face brimming with smiles. He raised the red-eyed Jin Lang to his feet and spoke warmly.
"Young master, you possess the vision to forsake the profit before your eyes and look far into the future. Truly worthy of respect! Her Majesty the Empress entrusted this humble servant with a message for you. She bade me remind you that His Majesty holds great expectations, and that you must on no account betray them. She said further that, having become a model for the sons of the gentry, you should move into your new residence and forge a new path forward—and that a brilliant future lies ahead of you!"
At the Empress's message, Jin Lang sank to his knees once more and bowed deeply again.
"My thanks to Your Majesty! My thanks to Her Majesty the Empress! This humble Jin Lang vows, with tireless effort, never to fail the expectations of His Majesty and Her Highness, and to make his own way in the world!"
The Marquis of Zhongyong's face turned an ashen blue. True, the Emperor had issued the decree and even granted a reward—but Jin Lang's decision to relinquish the position of heir was never something he had discussed with his father. Jin Lang had gone to the Grand Princess to beg for her help. And now the Emperor had granted him a residence, while the Empress urged him to seek out a new path from his new home.
This amounted to deliberately baring the discord within the Zhongyong Marquis household for all to see. Come tomorrow, he would undoubtedly be a laughingstock before the merit-nobility of Dadu.
The Marquis turned his head and fixed Mrs. Zhang with a gaze sharp as a blade and cold as a serpent. Mrs. Zhang, her face drained white, trembled like an aspen leaf.
A cold certainty seized her: not only had her husband been humiliated, but her own reputation had plummeted into the abyss. She had longed so desperately for the position of heir to pass to her son—yet that position had become a bed of nails. Could she possibly bear to seat her son there now, with her face burning with shame?
Jin Lang was placing the edict upon the incense table and preparing to return to his own courtyard when the Marquis summoned him and, without a word of warning, struck him across the cheek. One of Jin Lang's ears went numb and ringing.
"You wretched, unfilial brat! You surrender the position of heir—no small matter—and never once deign to consult your own father! Was the heir's seat nothing but an old shoe to you? You toss it aside without a second thought? And you went to the Grand Princess on top of it! For the sake of your own petty future, you have dragged our marquisate's dignity through the mud!"
Jin Lang's eyes reddened, and his throat closed tight. He held his silence for a long while, then stepped back and performed a deep, formal bow to the Marquis.
"After my mother passed, you remarried at once, Father. However faithfully I honored filial duty, I could never win the favor of my stepmother; however diligently I studied, I could not, for the life of me, discover what it was that fed your displeasure. Then one day, when my youngest brother was at your and Mother's side, you praised him without reserve—his learning so brilliant that every word he spoke formed itself into prose. And Mother wept as she lamented that the boy had not been born the eldest son, that the rites and teachings of propriety dealt him such an unfair hand. Only then did I understand everything. The one my parents wished to see seated in the heir's position was never me—it was my youngest brother!
This son is too lacking to ease your worries in any way, and I know full well that abandoning my place is itself unfilial. That is precisely why, in penitence, I have withdrawn from the position of heir with my own hands, in hopes of atoning even a little—not out of any desire to defy you. Before long, this son will leave this household. I ask only for harmony in the family, health for my parents, and peace in my wife's home. I beg you, Father, to forgive me with a generous heart."
The Marquis's eyes wavered violently. He watched Jin Lang rise, bow deeply once more, and turn away—raised his hand, opened his mouth—but in the end could not bring himself to call his son back.
After supper, Bai Jingyan trained until she was drenched in sweat. Her body was showing signs of gradual adaptation, and the ache was no longer as fierce as it had been a few days ago.
Once she had finished her bath, Chunyan was tidying the loose strands of Bai Jingyan's hair as she read by lamplight when Chun Tao came in carrying warm tea.
"My lady, the task you assigned Elder Cousin has been seen through, he says. He couldn't enter the inner quarters so late at night, so he asked me to pass the word along."
Chun Tao set the warm tea at Bai Jingyan's hand.
Chen Gengsheng was a remarkably perceptive man. Bai Jingyan felt she could now trust him fully and entrust him with her affairs. When she had given today's instructions, her words had been deliberately veiled, yet he had understood exactly how to handle the matter.
Bai Jingyan looked up from her book and asked, "And how did your uncle settle things?"
Chun Tao had no wish to describe such filthy, sordid business to her lady, but she could hardly dodge the question when asked directly.
"He took Nuo Ping and some men and stormed the trousseau residence of Mrs. Zhang's people at the Zhongyong Marquis Estate. Then he dragged Mingyu out by force, clutching the household registry, ringing a gong and beating a drum all the way into Dadu. After that, he took her home and told her family that Mingyu had betrayed her mistress. He said that for the sake of the affection born of years of service, he would not press charges for what she'd done—but that he could no longer keep her at his side, and so he was sending her home, and that her family should buy her back with money."
Chen Gengsheng was clever indeed. He handled matters with exquisite thoroughness.
Not a single stain could be allowed to touch the Bai Estate's name.
Bai Jingyan closed her book with an easy mind and set it on the recessed table. Certain there was more to the story, she took a sip of tea and spoke.
"Go on."
"Mingyu's older brother was terrified of the Zhenguo Duke Estate's power—he ran from money house to money house borrowing coin until he could finally repay the debt to our household. Elder Cousin had secretly provoked the brother before he returned, and it seems the money house enforcers later paid a visit to Mingyu's brother as well, to press him. In the end, her brother declared she had shamed the whole family, broke both of Mingyu's legs, and sold her off to a private brothel!"
Bai Jingyan set down her teacup. Chen Gengsheng was the real article, without question. A trace of laughter touched her eyes.
"And?"
Though her ears had gone crimson, Chun Tao continued.
"Elder Cousin said you needn't worry, my lady. He slipped word to the brothel, and Mingyu is being kept now as the lowest rank of courtesan. As long as there is breath in her body…"
Chun Tao could not bring herself to finish.
Hearing it all, Chunyan gave a violent shudder.
"Chen Gengsheng always seemed so gentle and warmhearted—how can his methods be so merciless? He knew Mingyu personally, didn't he?"
Cast down to the lowest brothel girl. To be forced to receive customers without end as long as she drew breath—that meant becoming a thing despised by anyone and everyone.
Chun Tao stole an anxious glance at Bai Jingyan, her heart in her throat—terrified that her lady might think Chen Gengsheng had acted too cruelly, too cold-bloodedly.
"Your uncle did exactly the right thing. A servant whose mind wanders elsewhere needs to be taught what happens to those who betray their masters."
Bai Jingyan looked at Chun Tao with a smiling face.
"Tomorrow, bring a hundred taels of silver to your uncle."
"Thank you, my lady, on my uncle's behalf!"
Bai Jingyan turned her head and looked at Chunyan, whose face had gone deathly pale.
"You. Go to the kitchen and see whether the goat's-milk custard is finished. If it's done, bring it to Second Madam."
"Yes, my lady!"
Chun Tao, catching on at once, picked up the handkerchief and finished tidying Bai Jingyan's hair in Chunyan's place.
Once Chunyan had gone, Bai Jingyan spoke.
"Tell your uncle there are two more matters he should attend to for me."
"Speak, my lady."
Bai Jingyan picked up her book and idly turned a page.
"I think it's time to let loose the rumor that Mrs. Zhang's people drowned the maids who were sent off as part of Jinxiu's trousseau."