Liang Chen Mei Jin

Chapter 73 Finale

The commotion last night was considerable, and by dawn, all the concubines had learned of it. Concubine Luo came specifically to see, but didn't dare say anything, merely sitting to the side sipping tea. Gu Jinzhao stayed by her mother's side, keeping her company.

Over at Tong Ruo Lou, Concubine Guo pondered the news for a long while before heading downstairs to chat with Concubine Du. However, Concubine Du was seated in the main hall reciting Buddhist scriptures. She had enshrined a statue of the Compassionate Guanyin there and spent years burning incense and chanting sutras.

A maid served tea, which Concubine Guo held in her hands as she spoke to Concubine Du: "Shouldn’t we go and offer some support? Over the years, Madam has treated us well. I find it hard to believe she would harm Concubine Yun."

Concubine Du murmured her sutras, but her mind was occupied with Song Miaohua’s words. She shook her head and said, "Stay out of it. You’ve always known how to protect yourself—don’t get involved now. Whether it’s Madam or Concubine Song… neither is someone we can contend with."

Concubine Guo thought it over and agreed. If even Concubine Du wasn’t getting involved, how could she speak up? So she went to pay her usual respects to Madam Ji, pretending nothing had happened, and returned to Tong Ruo Lou.

Gu Dezhao, however, never came.

Before long, Madam Ji grew weary. She hadn’t slept well the night before and now lay with her eyes open, watching the sunlight filtering through the lattice window. Though utterly exhausted, she couldn’t sleep at all. Seeing Jinzhao’s concern, she smiled at her. "I remember everything you said last night. Yu Ping’s matter isn’t as simple as it seems. I’ll speak to your father about it…"

Jinzhao noticed her mother’s fingers clutching a corner of the embroidered quilt and knew her heart was still unsettled.

Yet Madam Ji gazed at Gu Jinzhao for a long time without looking away. Then she released the quilt and reached out to grasp her hand tightly, smiling as she said, "My Chaojie has already surpassed her mother in capability. You take more after your grandmother… Did you see your cousin Ji Yao when you last visited your grandmother’s house?"

Her grandmother must have told her mother about the proposal for Ji Yao to marry her.

Jinzhao replied, "I did."

Madam Ji nodded with a smile. "Ji Yao is handsome, gentle, and well-mannered… Even if you’ve never liked him, he’s truly a good match."

Jinzhao gave a helpless smile. "Mother, if you like Cousin Ji Yao so much, I’ll ask Grandmother to send him here to keep you company."

Madam Ji laughed and squeezed her hand again. "There’s no one I love more than my Jinzhao."

Just then, Mama Xu lifted the curtain and entered the western chamber, bowing as she announced, "Madam, the master has arrived."

Jinzhao glanced at the slanting sunset outside the window and sighed in relief. The sooner her mother clarified things with her father, the sooner her heart would be at ease.

She stood just as Gu Dezhao entered. Jinzhao took one look at him—his expression was far from pleasant. She curtsied and said, "Father, I hope you are well. It’s rare for you to visit Mother. Since she’s seriously ill, please speak gently with her… It will ease her heart."

Her father must have known about last night’s events. She was urging him to be mindful of her mother’s health.

Gu Dezhao couldn’t very well scowl at Jinzhao, so he nodded and said, "You and Mama Xu may leave. I’d like to speak with your mother alone."

The lattice window of the western chamber was closed. Gu Jinzhao walked to the main hall’s entrance and had a maid bring an embroidered stool for her to sit on.

Gu Dezhao stared at Madam Ji for a long time.She was no longer young, her face sallow and gaunt, the veins on her hands resting on the brocade quilt clearly visible. A few strands of white hair hid among her dark locks, tucked into the small bun she wore. Where had that Ji Han gone—the bright and lovely girl he had first met?

How had the years passed so quickly? While Song Miaohua remained youthful and beautiful, she had aged like this.

Gu Dezhao couldn’t help but sigh over these thoughts. He had spent so long in the Chrysanthemum Willow Pavilion, reminiscing about his past with Madam Ji and Concubine Yun. But the moment he recalled the blood beneath Concubine Yun when she died, her pale and tragic appearance, his anger toward Madam Ji flared anew. No matter how ill she was now, he couldn’t shake a malicious satisfaction, feeling she had brought this upon herself.

Finally, he spoke: "You must already know what happened last night—Chaojie stopped Yu Ping at the festooned gate. The guards told me."

Madam Ji looked at his face. Gu Dezhao was nearing forty, yet he appeared even more composed and handsome. No wonder Concubine Luo had been so devoted to him.

She nodded. "I know, Master. Please, come sit and talk."

Gu Dezhao replied coldly, "Sit and talk? No need. I’ll say a few words and leave."

His gaze remained fixed on her, still unable to fathom how she could have been so cruel to Yun Xiang, who had always treated her so well.

"Tell me," he asked after a long pause, "did you switch Yun Xiang’s medicine? Did you cause her death?"

Madam Ji gave a bitter smile. "Master, have you taken Concubine Song’s word as truth, believing I harmed Yun Xiang?" She took a deep breath. Even though Jinchao had warned her about this, facing Gu Dezhao’s icy expression still made her feel as though she were covered in cold needles.

How easily he was swayed by Concubine Song, how readily he believed Yu Ping’s words. She had been married to him for twenty years—wasn’t that enough for him to understand what kind of person she was?

"Chaojie has already investigated. Yu Ping wasn’t someone Concubine Song just happened upon—she deliberately sought her out to frame me. Otherwise, why would she have sent her away in the dead of night? Master, you must think carefully about this."

Gu Dezhao let out a cold laugh. "However Concubine Song found this maid, let’s set that aside for now. What she said, I believe to be true. Do you think this is the first time I’ve doubted you? I know others don’t believe you’d harm Yun Xiang. But I understand you better than they do. You didn’t harm Concubine Song because she posed no threat to you. But Yun Xiang was different… I… I truly cared for her. You could see that, and that’s why you feared her!"

Madam Ji inhaled sharply, angered by his words. "She grew up serving me and was utterly loyal. How could I possibly want to harm her?"

It was true that she had felt uneasy about Gu Dezhao’s affection for Yun Xiang, but she would never have actually harmed her.

Gu Dezhao spoke slowly. "People change. You were afraid. When Rong’er was born, Yun Xiang was the one who cared for him. You saw how close they were, and it displeased you. You punished Yun Xiang by sending her to the kitchen for months. When she returned, you gave Rong’er to Yu Ping to raise. Do you deny this?"Madam Ji suddenly felt extremely weary. She closed her eyes briefly before opening them again to explain, "Any mother would dislike seeing her own children grow closer to someone else than to herself... I... Naturally, I have my own selfish reasons too. Though she treated Chaojie and Rongge well, I never truly liked it. They are my children—even if they were handed to the nurses to raise, they shouldn't have been so intimate with Yun Xiang..."

Moreover, at that time, Gu Dezhao's heart was entirely set on Yun Xiang. How could she not have noticed?

She was human, and Gu Dezhao's wife at that. How could she not feel jealous?

Hearing her words, Gu Dezhao's tone grew even colder: "...Those two maids were originally your confidantes. After Concubine Yun died because of Cui Ping, I suspected you immediately. You were utterly grief-stricken, saying you might as well have died with Yun Xiang. But when I saw you cry for so long without even glancing at Yun Xiang's remains, I knew exactly what you were thinking! If you were truly so close to her, why didn’t you really follow her in death?"

His words were truly venomous! Madam Ji pressed her lips tightly together—Gu Dezhao had suspected her long ago!

She had been jealous of Yun Xiang, jealous that she died so early, ensuring Gu Dezhao would remember her forever. She hadn’t wanted to see Yun Xiang’s lifeless face—she admitted all of this. After Yun Xiang became pregnant, she had distanced herself. But... she would never have harmed her! After all, they had once shared a bond as mistress and servant, and Yun Xiang had been carrying Gu Dezhao’s child...

"If you truly don’t believe me, then there’s nothing more I can say..." Madam Ji murmured softly.

Gu Dezhao sneered. "Your temperament has always been unpleasant. Stop acting like the victim. Even setting aside Yun Xiang’s death... How could your illness relapse repeatedly unless you were causing it yourself? You wanted to compete with Concubine Song for favor, so you added rhubarb to your own medicine and even incited Chaojie to trouble her... Concubine Song has managed the inner household for you with great difficulty—why must you always oppose her?"

"You always say you raised these concubines for me. Yet after doing so, you play the martyr. Let me ask you—did I ever demand that any of them, including Yun Xiang, be elevated? You’ve claimed the reputation of virtue while casting yourself as the wronged party, reaping all the benefits."

Madam Ji lifted her gaze to him, but her tear-blurred vision made everything indistinct.

She couldn’t even see this man clearly anymore!

She had been married to Gu Dezhao for twenty years. In the first five years, unable to conceive, she sought remedies everywhere. Just as she finally carried Jinchao, he took a liking to Song Miaohua. Could she have refused to arrange his marriage to her? When he attended a banquet at the Song family and was seen strolling alone with their third young mistress—Song Miaohua without even a maid in tow—what else could it have been but an affair? He might not have cared about ruining Song Miaohua’s reputation, but she feared it would harm his career.

Even while pregnant with Jinchao, she prepared his wedding and arranged Song Miaohua’s courtyard.

Seeing how attached Gu Dezhao was to his two Bed Warming Maids—especially that Du girl—she elevated them to concubines as well, lest pregnancies become inconvenient.

After all she had done for him... did he truly believe she only sought a reputation for virtue?

Madam Ji felt she ought to be overwhelmed with sorrow, yet she felt nothing at all. Only her trembling hands, unable to grip the quilt, and a suffocating tightness in her chest. She closed her eyes, tears slipping from the corners into her hairline—icy cold.It seemed that words were useless now, let alone affection. Gu Dezhao had been with her for twenty years, yet he could so thoroughly misunderstand her.

Madam Ji murmured, "Although I no longer trusted Yun Xiang, I never harmed her... As for the rhubarb in the medicine, I didn’t put it there myself—it was Concubine Song who did it... I just never thought to tell you... Why won’t you believe me?"

Gu Dezhao sighed. "For me to believe you, do you think you’re even trustworthy? All these years, I’ve kept my distance from you—not just because of Concubine Yun’s death, but because of your own temperament. If your illness were truly as severe as you claim, you would have died long ago. You know perfectly well how suspicious this ailment is... Stop using your sickness to vie for favor. It only disgusts me further."

It took Madam Ji a long time to recover from his words. In the end, hearing this, she only smiled faintly.

Using her illness to vie for favor? What an absurd notion.

She had spent her youth on this man, yet Gu Dezhao took concubine after concubine.

Madam Ji turned her head slightly, gazing at the half-open lattice window, where a cluster of poppies bloomed beautifully outside.

Year after year, the flowers remain the same, but the people are never the same.

Gu Dezhao finally spoke coldly, "Concubine Yun is dead after all. If you have even a shred of conscience left, you should torment yourself with guilt every night!"

With his hands clasped behind his back, he stared at Madam Ji indifferently. "There is no marital affection left between us. Ji Han, you should just focus on recovering in peace and stop stirring up trouble... Truthfully, I’ve drafted several letters of divorce in my study, but in the end, I burned them all. If not for you, then at least for Chaojie’s sake. She still has to marry someday..."

Gu Dezhao left Xiexiao Courtyard.

Madam Ji stared blankly at the flowers outside the window. The sunlight slanted in, yet she felt no warmth at all.