Bestowed Blessings
A voice rang out again, leisurely this time, threaded with a clear and guileless laugh.
"No need to refuse, Zhangyuan. When the seventeen younger siblings of our household first took up the brush, I gave every one of them inkstones and stationery as gifts. My uncle and aunt doted on me as though I were their own daughter, so naturally I ought to treat you, Zhangyuan, as a true brother of mine. I hear you've already been made Duke Haiyuan, so I chose the inkstone and paper with particular care. If you consider me a sister, don't turn them down."
At these words, Lady Cui lifted her head sharply and looked toward Bai Jingyan and Lady Dong. A surge of emotion—joy or grief, she could not tell—washed over her in that instant.
Lady Dong had not imagined that Bai Jingyan would settle the matter so decisively in front of so many people. But she had already braced herself for it, and so she was not startled the way Old Taijun Dong and the others present were. She merely raised her teacup and took a quiet sip.
Dong Zhangyuan stood frozen for a moment before the meaning finally landed, and then, for the first time, he truly looked at his elder cousin.
Bai Jingyan wore a skirt of moon-white silk, her features crisp and distinct. She stood at just the right distance—not so far as to seem aloof, nor so near as to presume—and smiled. There was not a trace of shyness or affectation about her.
Her hair was swept up in a half-chignon, a white jade hairpin pinned to one side—a modest, simple adornment that yet showed her flawless beauty to full effect. Though her looks were dazzling enough to startle, an air of refined elegance suffused her whole bearing, lending her a peculiar gravity.
Dong Zhangyuan's heart suddenly began to race, and he hurriedly lowered his head. The tips of his ears had gone scarlet, betraying his embarrassment.
He had come here brimming with nothing but resentment and grievance, blackmailed by his grandmother's threats that he must take his cousin as his wife or die. That was why he had come to loathe this sister whose face he had never even seen, and why he had refused all this while to look at Bai Jingyan properly.
And yet, against all expectation, this elder cousin showed not the slightest intention of marrying him. Her calm, magnanimous manner made him look like the petty, small-minded one instead.
After taking lunch at the Dong estate, Lady Dong exchanged a few private words with Old Taijun Dong and then returned to the Zhenguo Duke Estate.
Chunyan, her mind still wandering somewhere far away, changed Bai Jingyan out of her formal attire into everyday dress, then asked with feigned indifference:
"I suppose that family's second son can't see straight ever since he was made Duke Haiyuan. Standing right in front of the Dong estate's main gate, he didn't even spare our Eldest Miss a proper glance. It's a plain affront to her, without question."
Bai Jingyan was leaning against a cushion by the window, reading. Though she heard Chunyan's words, she did not so much as glance up.
"And what are you trying to do this time, bringing up Zhangyuan before me?"
Chunyan flushed, caught out at her own scheme showing through.
Ever since that earlier incident, she had grown somewhat more careful. She had not mentioned Prince Liang since.
"This servant just thinks the man is climbing a tree he'll never reach. With our Eldest Miss's breeding and beauty, she could marry into any powerful house she chose—yet he dreams so grandly, doesn't he?"
When Bai Jingyan's expression did not change in the slightest, Chunyan overstepped the line yet again and brought up Prince Liang.
"Even a prince like His Highness the Liang King doesn't spurn you, Miss! His sincere heart is a blessing heaven has bestowed upon you! You must never bow your head to this match, Miss!"
Ha... a blessing from heaven, is it?
Bai Jingyan marveled at how great a fool she had been in her past life. Chunyan's heart of betrayal showed so plainly to her now—and yet back then, she had swallowed Chunyan's every word about Prince Liang's supposed affection without a flicker of doubt.
Bai Jingyan snapped her book shut and flung it onto the reclining couch. On the table, the crabapple-and-green-stone teacup toppled over.
"Your heart is truly extraordinary, Chunyan—plotting even my marriage for me. Who on earth gave you the nerve?"
Chunyan's legs gave out and she crumpled to her knees on the floor.
"Forgive me, Eldest Miss! I didn't mean it that way! I only— I only thought it too cruel a fate for you to marry that family's second son! I said it out of concern for you, truly!"
Chunyan trembled like an aspen leaf, tears dripping down her face.
"I only grieved at the waste of you! Even a prince like His Highness the Liang King shows you humility—and who is a mere Duke Haiyuan that he won't even look at you properly?"
Just then, Chun Tao lifted the screen curtain and entered. She had come to report that the Court of Judicial Review had taken Lady Zhongyong into custody, and walked straight into this scene. She hastily wiped the spilled tea from the table.
Bai Jingyan felt rage searing up from the depths of her chest.
"Get out!"
Chunyan fled the room weeping, and Chun Tao ordered someone to bring fresh paoer tea for Bai Jingyan, then soothed her mistress with a smiling face.
"It's fine to be angry at Chunyan, Miss, but smash this finest-grade crabapple-and-green-stone teacup and you'll be losing the teaware you cherish most."
Bai Jingyan quelled her fury, picked the book back up, and turned a page.
"Send someone to watch Chunyan in secret. If she does anything strange, report it to me at once."
Though reluctant, Chun Tao gave a single word of assent, then collected herself and continued.
"Eldest Miss, early this morning the parents of the maids sent along as Second Miss's dowry went to the Court of Judicial Review to identify the bodies. Before noon, the Court sent officers to the Zhongyong Marquis Estate to ask Lady Zhongyong where she had sold the maids to—to which human trafficker. Word is that Lady Zhongyong finally confessed outright: that the maids had failed to serve Second Miss properly, so she had them beaten to death. Right now the Court's officers are standing at the entrance of the Zhongyong Marquis Estate in a standoff with its guards, and they haven't yet been able to drag the woman away."
"The Court will handle Lady Zhongyong's affair itself. All we need do is watch," said Bai Jingyan. Then she went on, "But I'm worried this may make Jin Lang's departure from the Zhongyong Marquis Estate tomorrow anything but smooth."
Jin Lang was leaving the Zhongyong Marquis Estate by imperial decree, and even the marquis could not stop him—which left Jin Dezuo chafing with frustration.
Zhongyong Marquis Jin Dezuo had clawed his way, tooth and nail, into the post of Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, barely carving out a foothold among the capital's distinguished old families—and now everyone who passed by pointed fingers at the marquis estate's scheming stepmother and its legitimate heir, gossiping without end. The shame was more than he could bear.
Fortunately, an advisor from the Liang King's estate had come in person, claiming to offer comfort. He had promised the marquis that once the great affair in the Southern Border was concluded, he would petition His Majesty to seat him as Minister of War. Then, surely, even the proudest of the capital's old families would not dare look down on him again.
In a quiet room in the tower, the wine-sodden Jin Dezuo, thinking of the Zhenguo Duke and the Zhenguo Duke's heir so far away in the Southern Border, poured himself another cup, raised it high, and gazed at the sky.
"Duke, Young Heir—don't blame me. The merits your estate piled up had become a threat to His Majesty, so it was only that His Majesty could no longer keep you close. The court could take you in no longer. I merely followed orders. The army grain and baggage I owe you—let me repay it in my next life... hic—"
Mid-hiccup, Jin Dezuo suddenly burst out laughing, as if he had lost his mind.
"It seems I won't be able to repay it in the next life either."
He tilted his head back and swallowed the harsh liquor.
"Master! Master! Something's happened at the estate!"
Jin Dezuo's servant threw open the door and rushed in, shouting in a panic.
"What's all this racket!"
Already suppressing his temper, Jin Dezuo slammed his wine cup down hard and fixed the servant with a sharp glare.
"Jin Lang leaving the estate—what's so momentous about that!"
"No, Master! The officers of the Court of Judicial Review have blocked our gate—they say they've come to arrest the Lady!"
"What?"
Jin Dezuo assumed the wine had muddled his ears.
"Has the Court of Judicial Review eaten something bad? Coming here without cause to seize a Lady of titled rank?"
"The bodies of the maids Lady Zhongyong sold—Eldest Miss Bai's dowry maids—were found in Nanjhang Creek outside the city walls. Their parents came to identify the corpses. The Court came to arrest her only after the identification was complete! The household servants are running about searching for you, Master, waiting for your word!"
The servant spoke with a face on the verge of tears.
The drunken Jin Dezuo smashed his fist on the table and roared with furious eyes.
"All this over a few dead maids? Has the Court of Judicial Review gone mad? Or is it picking a fight with me?"
"No, Master! The maids were no longer slaves—they'd become commoners! The Lady is implicated in a murder case, and the Court has come to take her in! Master, you must return to the estate at once!"
Sweat streamed down the servant's face; he was a breath away from breaking into sobs.
Jin Dezuo felt himself sober up by half. The Duke's estate truly was strange—sending ordinary commoners as dowry maids? In all his life, he had never once seen commoners attached to a dowry!
"Let's go!"
The servant hurriedly helped Jin Dezuo into his gauze outer robe, supported him by the arm, and led him downstairs.
Just as Jin Dezuo stepped over the threshold of the tower and made to board his carriage in haste, the carriage of his elder cousin, Deputy Censor Sima Yan, pulled to a stop in front of his own. Sima Yan raised a hand and lifted the carriage curtain, looking out at him.
Jin Dezuo hastily clasped his hands in salute.
"Brother."
Sima Yan's face was full of displeasure.
"Word that the Lady was implicated in a murder case reached the Censorate half a shichen ago—and you, Dezuo, appear to be in the mood for drinking?"
A chill ran down Jin Dezuo's spine.
"I shall return to the estate at once!"
"His Majesty of late loathes nothing more than meritorious noble houses entrenching themselves. So heed my advice. Send word to the Lady that she must follow the Court of Judicial Review's officers at once and answer every question they ask truthfully. She must absolutely not pit the marquis estate's standing against the Court. Right now rumors are everywhere that the estate's stepmother and legitimate heir are at odds. The legitimate heir Jin Lang withdrew of his own accord from the heir's position and won His Majesty's praise—so the fawning ministers at court could well use this chance to bleed the estate dry. Whether His Majesty will strip the Zhongyong Marquis Estate of its dignity, no one can say. Remember it well."
A cold wind blew, and Jin Dezuo, drenched in sweat, felt gooseflesh rise all over him.
"Thank you for waking me, Brother."
Jin Dezuo bowed with utmost deference.
Sima Yan sighed as he looked at his cousin and shook his head.
"The year is drawing to a close. Tell the Lady to keep quiet. Not one stir of trouble."
Deputy Censor Sima Yan lowered the carriage curtain and ordered his driver onward.
Jin Dezuo too hurried his driver and headed back for the estate.
Ever since Lady Zhang had stood by and done nothing while her daughter schemed against Bai Jinxiu, married into the Zhongyong Marquis Estate, ill fortune seemed to have coiled around the estate. Jin Dezuo found himself suddenly loathing Lady Zhang.