Chapter 15: Searching for the Culprit
By the time they arrived at Slanting Cloud Garden, the two concubines were already there. Jinchao immediately instructed the maids to open the windows for ventilation and moved the charcoal brazier closer to the bed. Everyone else was asked to wait in the East Side Room, leaving only Mama Xu to keep watch. Soon after, Concubine Song and Aunt Gu arrived, followed shortly by Gu Lan, Gu Xi, and others, who all went to sit in the West Side Room. Finally, Gu Jinrong rushed in, his bookboy Qing Xiu unable to hold him back.
"Mother!" His eyes reddened as he dashed to the bedside and grasped his mother's hand.
No matter how mature he seemed, he was still just an eleven-year-old boy. With his mother critically ill, he had lost all composure.
Mama Xu tried to persuade him, "Young Master, please wait in the West Side Room!"
Gu Jinrong stubbornly shook his head. "I want to stay here with Mother!"
Jinchao frowned. Her younger brother was being utterly unreasonable. She nodded at Qing Xiu and Qing An. "Take the young master to the West Side Room."
The two bookboys exchanged hesitant glances—they had always obeyed only the young master.
Jinchao's tone turned icy. "If you don't act now, I'll have you both expelled from the Gu household immediately. Do you believe me?"
She hadn't forgotten how these two bookboys had later led Jinrong down a path of ruin.
Only then did they pull Jinrong to his feet. Jinrong glared at her with undisguised hatred. "Gu Jinzhao, why won't you let me stay with Mother? What right do you have? What kind of woman is as venomous as you? Do you even know why everyone despises you?"
He struggled against the bookboys' grip. As Jinchao listened to his loud curses, she took a step forward.
"You staying here—are you a physician? What use is your presence? You're only getting in the way and delaying others, don't you realize that? You call me venomous, yet while Mother is ill, you shout and make a scene by her bedside, forcing her to witness discord between us siblings. What exactly are you scheming?" Her voice was calm and measured as she delivered each word deliberately.
Moyu stepped forward to help drag Jinrong out. Jinchao couldn't even bear to look at his face.
When the maid brought the medicine, Jinchao took it and first sipped to test the temperature. Qingpu tried to stop her. "Miss... all medicine is somewhat toxic!"
Jinchao replied, "There's no time to worry about that now. Help Mother sit up." She personally spoon-fed the medicine to her mother's lips, but her mother barely swallowed any before spitting it back out—it was impossible to get her to take it.
Wiping the medicine stains from her mother's mouth with a silk handkerchief, Jinchao asked, "Has the physician not arrived yet?"
Moyu answered, "Physician Liu, who treats Madam, lives on Green Lotus Lane. A carriage has already been sent for him—he should be here soon."
Jinchao didn't recall her mother ever falling so seriously ill before, but she remembered her mother had died on the eighteenth day of the fourth month in the sixth year of Longqing—next year. She didn’t know if these events had changed because of her actions. Her mind raced—what would she do if her mother didn’t survive this?
In less than half an hour, the physician arrived carrying his medicine chest, with her father following close behind.
Seeing his eldest daughter sitting silently on the stool, gripping her sleeves tightly, her gaze fixed intently beyond the screen, her father spoke.
"Chaojie, don’t worry. Your mother will be fine." He reached out as if to pat her hair but hesitated, remembering she had already come of age and that they had never shared such intimacy. His hand froze mid-air before slowly lowering.Jinchao looked up to see her father's worried expression and smiled faintly. If he truly cared for Mother, why had he elevated Concubine Song to the position of wife less than half a year after Mother's death in her past life? He hadn't even observed the full year of mourning! Even the cook from her small kitchen had mourned his wife for half a year.
At this moment, Liu Daifu emerged: "...The mistress suffered from qi rushing to the heart and reversed blood flow. She needs acupuncture to regain consciousness. Once awake, taking medicine will help. However, the acupuncture..."
Jinchao understood. Even the most skilled physician could make mistakes when performing acupuncture through clothing, yet they couldn't disregard propriety between men and women.
As expected, Gu Dezhao hesitated: "Acupuncture seems inappropriate. Is there an alternative method?"
Liu Daifu replied, "This old man could try medicinal washes, but the effect would be limited and might harm the mistress's health."
Jinchao suggested, "Then let the physician perform the acupuncture with his eyes covered by gauze. This way, he can see the points clearly while avoiding gossip. Would that work?"
Liu Daifu nodded: "A physician's heart is like that of parents. This old man naturally understands."
Seeing both his daughter and the physician in agreement, Gu Dezhao said no more. He dismissed all the maids and matrons from the inner chamber, remaining himself to observe the procedure.
Jinchao went to the western side room.
Gu Lan was still comforting Jinrong: "...You're grown up now, don't cry anymore."
When Gu Jinrong saw Jinchao enter, he wiped his tears—he didn't want to cry in front of her. Collecting himself, he stood and said to Jinchao, "Eldest Miss was right to scold me earlier. I shouldn't have been willful." As he spoke, he still clung to Gu Lan's sleeve.
Jinchao had no time to manage his feelings now. She nodded and said, "Eldest Miss only wanted what was best for Mother. Don't hold it against her."
The aunt asked, "How is your mother now? Has she woken?"
Jinchao replied, "The physician is still attending to her. I don't know yet."
After a while, Mama Xu came over: "The mistress has woken, but she cannot rise. Liu Daifu suggests no one visit today. Come tomorrow when the mistress has regained her strength." She then turned to Jinchao, "Eldest Miss, please stay."
Jinchao nodded: "That's fine. Has Liu Daifu left yet? I have some questions for him."
Liu Daifu's medical skills were renowned throughout Yanjing, and his clinic was always bustling with patients. Yet he remained remarkably approachable.
Now in his seventies, he was still vigorous, with a kindly smile.
"...Eldest Miss asks about the mistress's condition—it's difficult to say. The mistress suffers from a chronic weakness. With proper care and avoiding such disturbances as today, she could live several more years. But if her condition isn't well managed and her mind remains burdened, the outlook is uncertain."
Jinchao nodded: "Thank you, Liu Daifu. Please accept this." She had already instructed servants to fetch several jars of Autumn Dew White Wine from the family stores. Having dealt with him in her past life, she knew he had few indulgences but cherished fine wine above all.
He had expected to decline if offered vulgar gifts of gold or silver, but never imagined the Gu family would present him with Autumn Dew White. This was an exceptionally rare wine, the finest produced in Jinan. It was made by collecting dew from lush grasses and overhanging leaves beneath steep cliffs into shallow pans, resulting in a rich, aromatic brew.Doctor Liu sniffed the aroma of the wine, clearly reluctant to part with it. He personally cradled the jar in his arms instead of handing it to the medicine boy beside him, expressing his gratitude: "The Eldest Miss is most thoughtful." He then gave Jinchao more detailed instructions on what to pay attention to and handed over a prescription for recuperation.
After having a maid escort Doctor Liu out through the festooned gate, Jinchao wanted to visit her mother.
As Jinchao reached the doorway, she heard voices inside. Mama Xu was startled, but Jinchao whispered to her, "Don't make a sound."
Standing there, she listened to her mother's weak arguments and her father's impatient dismissals: "Who has ever bullied Chaojie? If anything, you’re the one who’s biased. You had the Gold filigree hair ornaments made for her without considering Lan Er, making our aunt laugh at us... Pinshu serves you and me tirelessly every day, and now she has to manage the household affairs, handling the inner court’s burdens. Yet you don’t even think of her daughter!" Pinshu must be Song Yiniang’s childhood name.
"Lan Er hasn’t come of age yet. I had them made for Chaojie because she was attending the lantern festival," her mother explained weakly, her voice faltering. "The rubies on them were from that box you gave me when we were young... Do you remember?"
Her father fell silent for a moment before replying, "At a time like this, do you expect me to go and take them back?"
Jinchao stood in the night breeze, feeling her body grow cold as she listened. The red lantern light spilled quietly onto the stone steps, the winter night utterly still.
If she felt this distressed, how much worse must it be for her mother?
Jinchao turned and said, "Since Mother and Father are still talking, Mama Xu, please gather all the maids and matrons of Slanting Cloud Garden. I have something to instruct." Mama Xu complied, noticing that though the young mistress’s expression was resolute, her posture remained upright, as if she possessed an unshakable pride. Her nose stung, and she hurried off to summon the household.
Soon, everyone was assembled in the rear courtyard. The bitter cold was made worse by the light snowflakes drifting down, and they all shivered uncontrollably.
Jinchao first had Qingpu and Liu Xiang, who were behind her, step aside. She swept her gaze over the maids and asked coldly, "Who knew about Mother’s plan to have the Gold filigree hair ornaments made for me?"
She had already considered this—unless someone had informed Gu Lan beforehand, how else could she have seized the opportunity to stir trouble? The Gold filigree hairpiece made exclusively for her had not only branded her mother as biased and selfish but had also driven her to such fury that she nearly didn’t wake up!
If she found out who had leaked the information, she would show no mercy!
Three people stepped forward immediately: Moyu and Mozhu, who had been attending to her mother that day, and a young maid Jinchao didn’t recognize.
Mama Xu bowed and said, "This servant was also present and knew about it. But I can vouch for myself, Moyu, and Mozhu—we are absolutely loyal to Madam and would never leak the news!"
Trust those you employ, and employ those you trust—Jinchao naturally had faith in Mama Xu. Her eyes settled on the unfamiliar young maid.
The girl, no more than eleven or twelve, burst into tears: "This servant... this servant was only tending the brazier inside and never left Slanting Cloud Garden afterward. It wasn’t me who told! Eldest Miss, you must believe me!"
One look told Jinchao it wasn’t her. The girl was too timid, her hands and feet trembling—she lacked both the courage and the cunning to betray a secret.
If it wasn’t someone from her mother’s household, then... Liu Xiang had also been serving in the room that day!Liu Xiang and Gu Lan were in close contact. Did Liu Xiang leak it?
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