Chapter 4: News from an Old Acquaintance
"This servant..."
"You seem to know a great deal about Yangzhou's local customs and culture. You must truly be from Yangzhou."
Yan Xuerui cut off Yao Er’s defense, her starlit eyes clear as water. "What exactly are you scheming? Out of consideration for our shared hometown, speak plainly, and I won’t take your life."
Yao Er fell silent. She looked at Yan Xuerui—this woman still appeared as delicate and gentle as when they first met, like a mere parasitic dodder plant, yet she spoke so casually of taking a life.
Had she misjudged her? Her adoptive father had said that noblewomen in prestigious households often had two faces. Was she the same?
Though Yao Er looked down on her inwardly, curiosity got the better of her. She couldn’t help but ask, "How exactly would you harm me if I refuse to speak?"
Would she have her beaten to death? Or go to her husband, shedding a few tears, keeping her hands clean while still being praised as the kind and benevolent Madam Yan?
"If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn’t need to do anything at all."
Yan Xuerui spoke gently, "Everyone around me knows their place. Someone like you, with sinister designs, will eventually be noticed by Gu Yan and lose your life."
"Just like that maid you replaced—skillful and sharp, only seventeen years old. Such a waste."
Yao Er’s heart shuddered, and she took a fresh look at the beautiful, delicate Madam Yan before her.
Just as her story of "fleeing to the capital and being sold into servitude by her aunt" was fabricated, she hadn’t spent her days in the marquis’s estate as an honest maid. The flower room maid she replaced was inexplicably murdered, and the whole estate was ordered to keep silent; the lady is kind and timid, so she wasn't to be told a single word.
So this only strengthened Yao Er's prejudice: a weak woman overly protected was nothing to fear.
Yao Er frowned in confusion, "So you knew?"
Marquis Gu went to great lengths to keep it from her, yet she was fully aware and chose not to speak up—this couple is truly something.
A faint, helpless smile crossed Yan Xuerui's lips. She simply preferred not to dwell on things, but that didn’t mean she was foolish. There was only one well in the entire courtyard—who goes strolling by a remote well late at night and just happens to slip and fall into it?
Even if they were going to make up a story, they could have at least put some effort into it.
"…"
Yao'er fell silent. Yan Xuerui was more clever than she had expected. Unwilling to concede, Yao'er pressed, "How did you see through me?"
Was it just because of those few words she had said? Rumors said Marquis Gu, a man of exceptional intelligence, hadn’t noticed anything—yet she had been bested by a woman she looked down on. She couldn’t accept it.
Yan Xuerui smiled. The spring sun was brilliant, dappled light filtering through the trees into the flower room. The young girl before her, dressed in a green vest, stood out vividly amid the riot of colorful blooms, full of life.
Perhaps it was because Yan Xuerui was in a good mood today, or perhaps it was the defiance in the girl’s eyes that stirred a sense of nostalgia—or maybe she was just too lonely and wanted someone to talk to. Gathering the hem of her skirt, Yan Xuerui sat down on a stone bench and patiently explained:
"Your gaze."
"From the moment you first saw me, your gaze never left me."
Yao'er looked embarrassed and muttered reluctantly, "You’re quite attractive…"
Even a room full of dazzling treasures couldn’t compare to the radiance of a single glance from her. Though Yao'er didn’t like her, she couldn’t help but marvel at her beauty.
No wonder her adoptive father had never been able to forget her all these years.
Yan Xuerui gave a light laugh at Yao'er’s words and offered another explanation. "No matter how others might lose their composure, no one would stare at me the way you did—with admiration and… resentment."
Now it was Yan Xuerui’s turn to be curious. The Gu family wielded immense power—Gu Yan tutored the Crown Prince, Gu Yuan held military authority, and one of the Gu daughters was Consort Shu in the palace. With such deep-rooted influence, it stood to reason that someone would plant spies within the household.
It remained unknown which side the original flower room maid was a spy for, or perhaps she was merely bought off to pass along information. Yan Xuerui didn’t ask further. Since Gu Yan didn’t want her to know, she'd play along and "not know." To get by peacefully, sometimes it's better to play dumb.
In the past, those spies quietly gathered information and rarely targeted her to avoid raising suspicion. Even when they looked at her, it was with sneaking curious glances. Someone as bold and so emotional as Yao Er was a first.
She had Bi He keep a close watch on Yao Er. These days, Yao Er hadn’t sent out any messages but had been probing about Madam Yan both openly and covertly, leaving Yan Xuerui baffled. She had planned to watch for a few more days but didn’t expect Yao Er to show up on her own today.
Yan Xuerui said, “You’re almost young enough to be my daughter. I've got no beef with you, and I have no old acquaintances in Yangzhou. What's your deal anyway…”
“No old acquaintances? Ha! Some way to say ‘no old acquaintances’!”
Yao Er seemed provoked, not acting anything like a maid should. She sneered repeatedly, “Madam, you’ve enjoyed all these years of wealth and luxury. How could you possibly remember the poor scholar you abandoned back then?”
Like she'd been struck by lightning, Yan Xuerui’s dark pupils dilated abruptly. She took a few deep breaths and spoke with difficulty, “You… you are…”
“Has he… been well all these years?”
“With a virtuous wife and filial children, his household thriving—extremely well.”
Yao Er gritted her teeth as she spoke. She looked at Yan Xuerui, and in that instant, Yan Xuerui’s eyes like clear spring water held too many emotions for Yao Er to decipher clearly. She only felt awful sad.
Pursing her lips, Yao Er suddenly didn’t know what to say.
In truth, she had lied. Her dad had not been well at all. His former fiancée had become a powerful man’s concubine. Everyone urged him to let it go, but he was foolish. He took his petition to the prefectural office to file a complaint. Commoners accusing officials first faced forty strokes of the disciplinary rod, which left him half-dead. After the beating, the Yangzhou Prefect refused to hear the case, accusing him of falsely charging a court official—a crime punishable by additional penalties. He was imprisoned for three years and then exiled. Later, for some unknown reason, he was suddenly released.
If only he had laid low after his release. But he was stubborn, constantly muttering that his fiancée had been forced and he must save her. He believed that right would win out and refused to accept that anyone could manipulate the law with impunity.
Clutching his petition, he went to the capital to seek his justice. Later, he lost a leg, an eye, and his handsome face was burned so bad you couldn't recognize him. Yao Er couldn’t understand why, even after all that, he still couldn’t forget the woman who had ruined his life!
Swallowing down the lump in her throat, Yao Er said, “He’s in the capital now. Do you want to see him?”
This was her selfish desire. Her dad’s task for her was only to see Yan Xuerui—to see if she was well. If she was happy and content, Yao Er would simply protect her from the shadows. But if she was not…
“There’s no need.”
Yan Xuerui pulled herself together, her gaze drifting toward the distant high walls, her tone faraway. “Since I’ve heard he is well, I have no regrets. There’s no need to meet again.”
This is for the best—for me, for him.
Yan Xuerui thought calmly, but her arms trembled beneath her sleeves, giving away how she really felt.
Fang Zhixu, her cousin, her former fiancé. Nearly twenty years had passed. Memories of picking flowers and catching insects together as children, of shelling lotus seeds amid the fragrance of lotus blossoms in their youth, had gradually faded. Even his face was no longer clear—she only remembered a handsome young man. But two scenes she would never forget in her lifetime.
The first was when he proposed, his face flushed with nervousness as he asked her, “Cousin Rui, though it’s parents’ orders and the matchmaker’s words, I… I still want to ask you: are you willing?”
The second was in a Yangzhou prison cell. He had been beaten until he was covered in blood, too weak to speak, yet his tone was firm.
“Cousin, don’t be afraid. There is always justice in this world. I will definitely save you.”
He was almost beaten to a pulp, yet he told her not to be afraid. Back then, even her mother had urged her to accept her fate.
It hit her right in the heart. Cousin Zhixu was a good man; she shouldn’t have brought him harm. She learned to play along. Once, after an encounter, she reached for the arm of the man still catching his breath and said, “I’ll go to the capital with you. Just let him go.”
Yao Er said he now had a virtuous wife and filial children, living a harmonious life. Surely her decision back then had been the right one, hadn’t it?
Yan Xuerui didn’t want to rock the boat. Yao Er gritted her teeth, her gaze filled with resentment as she stared at Yan Xuerui, as if condemning her heartlessness. As the two were stuck in a standoff, a clear, bright female voice suddenly rang out.
“Mother, Mother—”
“Mother, I’m back!”
It was Ming Wei.
Yan Xuerui quickly lowered her head, wiped the corners of her eyes with her sleeve, and stood up to walk out.
"Mother, I missed you so much!"
She was embraced the moment she stepped out of the conservatory. Ming Wei had returned in such a hurry that she hadn't even changed her clothes, still wearing the academy's uniform—a pale white cross-collared scholar's robe. Her dark hair was tied up with a wooden hairpin, a white ribbon fastened to it. Despite such a simple and elegant attire, it couldn't hide the girl's exquisite and charming beauty.
Ming Wei was about to turn fifteen, and the young girl had grown tall and graceful, almost as tall as her mother. Yan Xuerui pinched her arm lightly and forced a smile. "Hurry up and let go. After studying for so long, you’ve become even more ill-mannered."
Her words were stern, but her hands couldn’t bear to use any real force. Ming Wei, seizing the chance, whined playfully as she clung affectionately to Yan Xuerui’s arm and cooed, "I won’t let go, just won’t."
"Mother, look, have I grown taller again? Why are you looking behind? I’m right here."
Yan Xuerui sighed helplessly. "Weren’t you supposed to return in the evening? Why are you back so early?"
"To surprise you! And... well, it’s a long story."
"Then make it short."
"No, I want to tell Mother properly."
"..."
Ming Wei was an extremely lively and bright girl, eager to share every interesting thing that had happened at the academy with Yan Xuerui. With her around, Yan Xuerui found it difficult to even glance back at Yao Er. Mother and daughter walked linked arm-in-arm into the room, chatting intimately for a long while until a maid came in to report that the bathwater was ready, inviting Miss Ming Wei to bathe and change.
Seizing this moment, Yan Xuerui called Bi He over and increased Yao Er’s provisions, assigning her to serve closely by her side in the future.
Earlier, there hadn’t been enough time to ask about Yao Er’s relationship with Cousin Zhixu, but since she was his person, Yan Xuerui felt she must protect her. The provisions were secondary; she didn’t want her to disappear inexplicably like the last maid. She would find an opportunity to send her away from the estate.
This was her final gesture of regard for Cousin Zhixu.
Ming Wei’s constant chattering eased Yan Xuerui’s turbulent emotions stirred by Yao Er. By dinnertime, she took Ming Wei to Chunhui Hall to pay respects and dined with the dowager there. The marquess’s mother, her hair half-silvered, was dignified and imposing, yet very kind to her daughter-in-law and granddaughter, especially toward Yan Xuerui. As the evening wind picked up, she specially instructed her maid to bring a cloak for Yan Xuerui.
Ming Wei then went as usual to other courtyards to greet her aunts, sisters, and cousins. By the time she returned to the main courtyard, stars already blanketed the entire night sky.
***
That night, seeing the young girl in her nightclothes holding a soft pillow, Bi He hesitated. "Miss Ming Wei, the marquis has given orders. Madam sleeps lightly and is not to be disturbed by others."
Compared to Gu Yan’s original words, Bi He had put it very tactfully. Ming Wei widened her dark eyes and argued, "Not to be disturbed by others? Am I 'others'?"
Gu Yan was extremely strict with Ming Lan, raising him according to the standards of the marquis’s heir and future leader of the Gu family. Not only was he well-versed in classics and history, but he was also sent to the border at twelve for military training. But toward Ming Wei, he was a doting father. In an era harsh on women, where boys and girls were separated after seven, he defied convention by sending Ming Wei to study at the academy. Even when she caused trouble, Gu Yan would settle the consequences and only lightly punish her upon her return.
Ming Wei didn’t share Bi He’s fear of Gu Yan, but she was a good-natured girl. Bi He was Yan Xuerui’s maid, and even the pets of elders were accorded more respect. She wheedled a bit, but if Bi He insisted, she would eventually take her soft pillow and return to her room.
Their back-and-forth was overheard by Yan Xuerui in the inner room, who called her in. After all, she was her own flesh and blood. No matter how humiliating it had been to carry Ming Lan and Ming Wei, what fault did the children have? They were so adorable and sensible.
Ming Wei happily slipped into her mother’s bed. Her mother’s bed was soft and fragrant, extremely comfortable. Although studying away offered freedom and joy, with only five days off a month plus travel time, she could only see her mother for three days. A teenage girl brimming with thoughts, some things were hard to share with others—only her gentle and accepting mother could she confide in.
The lights were blown out, leaving only a faint candle flame. Ming Wei tossed and turned, her expressive face shifting from anger to furrowed brows, full of distress, and at times even flushing slightly.
As Gu Yan had predicted, Yan Xuerui was indeed kept awake by Ming Wei. When she turned over yet again, Yan Xuerui sighed. "Still not asleep?"
"I’m going to sleep now."
Ming Wei closed her eyes and stayed quiet for a moment before whispering, "Mother, how about... we have a chat?"
Yan Xuerui opened her eyes helplessly. "Haven’t you talked enough during the day?"
"Let’s talk about something different."
A rare shyness appeared on Ming Wei’s face, but after stammering for a long time, she couldn’t get the words out. Finally, she buried her face in the brocade quilt. The hazy candlelight illuminated Yan Xuerui’s jade-smooth complexion. Ming Wei looked up at her and suddenly asked:
"Mother, how did you and Father meet back then?"