Chapter 15: Smart People
"Have you found the eldest young master?" Mrs. Xie knocked the teacup hard, and the splashing water spread on the rosewood table.
Nanny Chao hunched her neck and replied, "Young Master Wuqi took Miss Liu to dinner at the other courtyard yesterday, and then left for the East Market at three quarters past midnight." She observed her mistress's expression, "This morning, the pawnbroker reported that the young master had pawned the Qilin jade pendant. I guess he's looking for a new house to live in."
"Asshole!" Madam Xie abruptly stood up, her lotus-patterned skirt sweeping the Ru kiln brush washer off the table. "For a vixen like that, you even dared to pawn your ancestral jade pendant!"
The broken porcelain flew to the door and hit the skirt of the maid who came to report the news.
"Madam, Miss Luo's Chunxi has arrived."
Mrs. Xie's rapid breathing suddenly stopped. She adjusted the phoenix hairpin with kingfisher feathers on her temples, her fingertips trembling slightly in her sleeves. "Please come in." Her voice was as steady as the surface of a frozen lake.
When Chunxi stepped over the threshold, she saw Mrs. Xie sitting there stroking her jade rosary.
The morning light filtered through the swastika-patterned window lattice, splitting the well-maintained face in the main seat into two halves, light and dark.
"This servant pays respects to the Madam."
Chunxi had just knelt when Madam Xie leaned forward hastily. "Has Zhaozhao thought it through? I told you it was just a quarrel between the young couple. It's not worth getting so impulsive. Why are you trying to cancel the engagement?"
"The young lady ordered me to come and see Aunt Zhang." Chunxi interrupted her with her eyes lowered.
The rosary beads clattered onto the table.
Mrs. Xie dug her nails, painted red, into the cushioned armrest, her knuckles turning pale. "What did you say?"
"This morning, my young master had an argument with Second Young Master Xie at the Imperial College." Chunxi remained calm. "My lady thought it was important for me to apologize to Madam Zhang on my young master's behalf. Madam, please show me the way."
The room was dead silent.
Nanny Chao looked at the veins bulging on her mistress's neck and hurriedly tried to smooth things over: "Why bother disturbing Madam for such a trivial matter? I'll have someone lead the way right away."
"Great! Great Luo family!" Madam Xie laughed out loud, her gold and jade earrings dangling. "They can't tell the difference between legitimate and illegitimate children! Do you think my general's mansion is a common place?" She grabbed the teacup and was about to smash it, but suddenly froze as if she remembered something.
Chunxi still stood with his hands hanging down, as if watching a bland play.
If she didn't still have a trace of attachment to the marriage with the Luo family in her heart, Mrs. Xie would have wanted to whip Chunxi and kick her out of the house!
There is a principal wife in the mansion, so no matter what happens to the illegitimate sons or daughters, they only need to report it to the mistress and the problem can be solved.
However, Luo Zhaohan insisted on summoning his aunt in person, which was undoubtedly a blatant challenge to her authority and made her lose face.
Within the capital, rumors about General Wuwei's favorite concubine bullying his wife were always circulating.
However, given the prominent status of the legitimate son Xie Wuqi and his marriage to the Luo family, these rumors have always been difficult to gain a foothold.
Now Xie Wuqi has been expelled from the mansion because of Liu Yueli's incident, and his marriage with the Luo family has also broken down. All signs seem to be turning these rumors into solid evidence.
Luo Zhaohan's behavior today was like a loud slap in the face of Madam Xie in public!
Nanny Chao stood silently in the corner, watching Madam Xie's breathing become heavier, her face as red as the sunset, and her expression seemed like she could get out of control at any time.
Noticing this, Nanny Chao quickly waved to the maid beside her and said, "Quickly lead Miss Chunxi to Aunt Zhang's place."
Chunxi was obviously smart and immediately understood what was going on. She followed the maid out of the room.
However, just as they stepped out of the courtyard, they heard the sharp sound of broken porcelain from inside the house.
When the celadon cup shattered into powder in Mrs. Xie's palm, the iron horse under the eaves happened to be hit by the evening wind, making a clear sound.
Before Nanny Chao could wipe the tea stains off the table with her silk handkerchief, Madam Xie dug her nails, stained with rouge, deep into the rosewood armrests. "Search! Dig three feet underground to find that bitch Liu Yueli!"
"Madam, be careful, your hand hurts." Nanny Chao hurriedly tried to pry her fingers apart, but saw that the well-maintained nail cover broke with a "crack", and the jade ring face rolled into the crack of the brick.
Chunxi followed the maid who led the way through the moon-shaped gate and arrived at Aunt Zhang's courtyard.
The trumpet creepers in the yard are in full bloom, their vines climbing up the screen wall and their scarlet petals poking out.
Aunt Zhang was leaning against the porch pillar peeling lotus seeds.
The hem of her pomegranate-red skirt brushed the moss in the cracks of the green bricks, and she stood in the sun, smiling: "Miss, you've come at the right time. I just dried the osmanthus honey yesterday. Come and try it."
"You're welcome, Madam." Chunxi handed over the indigo envelope. "Our young lady said she saw a white jade pen in the Treasure Pavilion last time, and it really complements the Second Young Master's knowledge."
The wax seal was printed with the Luo Mansion emblem, which shone coldly in the sunlight.
Aunt Zhang rubbed her fingernails, stained with Impatiens juice, across the letter paper and suddenly chuckled, "Miss Luo is truly amusing." She turned and walked towards the study. "Please wait a moment, young lady. I'll write my reply right away."
While grinding ink, Madam Ling caught a glimpse of the letter's contents—just a polite compliment to Xie Wuchen on his studies. Just as she was wondering, she saw the aunt had added a line of small regular script at the end of the reply: 3:30 PM, Sophora japonica Lane, East Market.
When Chunxi took the letter, Aunt Zhang stuffed a gold melon seed into her sleeve pocket and said, "It's hot, young lady, buy a bowl of ice yogurt to cool down." The jade bracelet on her wrist made a clear sound, startling the sparrows under the eaves.
After the aqua-green figure disappeared behind the screen wall, Matron Ling rubbed her hands anxiously, "How could Auntie have revealed the eldest young master's whereabouts to Miss Luo?"
"The lady in the main house broke several sets of Ru kiln tea sets?" Aunt Zhang interrupted the nanny, waving her round fan.
Seeing the other party raise three fingers, she chuckled: "Do you think Miss Luo is the kind of young lady who's waiting to cry?" The fan handle lifted the letter on the desk and said, "Look at the handwriting, the force can be seen through the paper. It's obvious that he is using Liu Yueli as a knife."
Nanny Ling took a closer look and suddenly realized, "So he wants to use Madam to get rid of Liu Yueli and win back the eldest young master's heart?"
"Wrong!" Aunt Zhang narrowed her eyes, not smiling, "She wanted to see if I dared to hand the knife back."
Aunt Zhang looked at the withering peonies in the corner of the courtyard and said, "When the general proposed marriage, Miss Luo was only seven years old. She held a wooden sword and said she wanted to be a female general. How could a girl like her be trapped by love?"
As dusk drifted through the window lattice, Madam Ling watched her aunt copy the reply three times. Suddenly, something occurred to her: "What if Miss Luo is really determined to break off the engagement?"
"That's great." Aunt Zhang blew away the ink. "If Wuchen could become General Luo's disciple, wouldn't that be better than guarding an empty general's mansion?"
She folded the letter into a square, the candlelight dancing in her eyes. "Just wait, this stagnant pool of water is about to start a wave!"
…
Fuyuan General's Mansion.
Chunxi lifted her skirt and walked through the moon gate. The glazed tiles of Jinghong Garden shone coldly under the sun.
Luo Zhaohan was feeding birds in the corridor, her jade-colored skirt rustling in the draft.
"Miss!" Chunxi took out the letter from her bosom, "Madam Zhang really did reply."
Luo Zhaohan picked up a grain of corn and threw it under the eaves: "I said, smart people know how to take advantage of the situation." She unfolded the letter and the corners of her lips slowly rose.
Chunxi stood on tiptoe to look, and the words "three quarters of an hour after the hour of Xu" on the paper pierced her eyes, startling her so much that she knocked over the incense burner on the table.
"This, Aunt Zhang even found out exactly which alley Miss Liu is hiding in?"
"Mrs. Zhang has been keeping a low profile in the Xie Mansion for twenty years. She's no pushover."
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