Chapter 43: Who Would Scheme Against You
The guests had all departed.
The vast courtyard was left with only the Xie family members.
Though Xie Laotaitai was advanced in years, she was typically hale and hearty, rarely falling ill. Yet now she lay limp and powerless in her reclining chair.
"Wretched scoundrels, base-born trash!"
The Old Madam glared at the two figures kneeling before her, snatching up a teacup and hurling it downward.
The shattering porcelain shards grazed Xie Jingyu's cheek, jolting him to sudden awareness as memories from before his consciousness faded came flooding back.
He clenched his fists tightly. "Grandmother, I was set up."
He Shi also gradually regained her senses. She only remembered being pulled by Xie Jingyu into a small courtyard near the rockery to talk, their conversation quickly escalating into an argument.
Not wanting to completely rupture relations with Xie Jingyu, she had casually poured a cup from a pot of tea on the table and handed it to him.
They sat facing each other, drinking tea... and then... then she remembered nothing more... only vague recollections of herself and Xie Jingyu entangled in passion, surrounded by watching guests from the birthday banquet...
She also remembered someone addressing her as Concubine He.
"Set up?" The Old Madam straightened in her seat. "Who would scheme against you?"
"Who else but Mother He?" Tao Yiniang supported her large belly as she spoke coldly. "Everyone knows our Mother He harbors improper feelings for Lord Xie. Drugging him at such an occasion—wasn't she trying to force the issue, to elevate herself from servant to mistress?"
He Shi immediately protested, "It wasn't me! I didn't scheme against Lord Xie, I never thought of becoming a concubine..."
"If not you, then who?" The Old Madam's eyes seemed to spit fire. Though she knew He Shi had no ambitions to become a concubine, the Xie family had suffered this tremendous loss of face precisely because He Shi couldn't stay in her place. If she had remained content in her humble position, would all these troubles have occurred?
Xie Jingyu pressed his lips together, finally speaking after a long pause. "It was the Yuan family."
Both he and Yuan Daren held the fifth-rank position of Director in the Ministry of Revenue. Yuan Daren had been stuck in this position for over ten years, nearly forty years old with no promotion opportunities.
There had been a chance for promotion to upper fifth-rank, which should have unquestionably gone to him, Xie Jingyu. But for some reason, Lord Yu had suddenly turned cold toward him. Combined with the recent rumors about the Xie and Yun families spreading throughout the capital, the position had suddenly become contested.
If news of his illicit affair with a household maid reached the imperial court, he could forget about promotion for at least five or six years.
Yuan Daren must have seized this opportunity to crush him, ensuring he lost this chance completely.
He Shi pressed her lips together.
She couldn't help feeling the Yuan family's influence didn't extend this far. Her intuition told her someone within the Xie residence had schemed against her.
Those capable of such a deed were limited to the few concubines and the primary wife, yet none of them would want another woman by Lord Xie's side. They had no motive to target her.
After much thought, she still couldn't determine who had brought about her downfall.
"Determining who schemed against us is pointless now," Yun Chu said calmly. "We should focus on minimizing the damage. If word spreads that a current official was caught in an illicit affair with a household maid during his grandmother's birthday banquet—if this reaches the Censor's ears—my husband faces not only stalled promotion but potential demotion and loss of substantive power... It was precisely considering this that I addressed Mother He as Concubine He before those ladies. To avoid giving people grounds for criticism, we must now officially register Concubine He's name in the Xie family records..."Yuan Shi breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Chu'er, you're the one who thinks of everything."
"No, I won't become a concubine," He Shi said, her face pale. "Madam, I never intended to become a concubine."
Tao Yiniang spoke up in a fluster, "He Shi once harmed the child in my womb. If she becomes a concubine, my unborn child will be in danger."
Xie Jingyu declared, "He Shi cannot become a concubine."
Tao Yiniang, Jiang Yiniang, and Ting Yu all showed expressions of relief simultaneously.
They had known all along that He Shi, aged and faded, would never catch the master's eye. Even offering herself wouldn't earn her an ounce of his pity.
Yun Chu became even more convinced that He Shi's background must be somewhat unusual.
The more unwilling she was to become a concubine, the more Yun Chu had to elevate her to that position. Otherwise, why would she have orchestrated this entire play?
She spoke up, "Then does husband have any better solution?"
Xie Jingyu pressed his lips together tightly.
He couldn't think of a second option.
"I do have another method," Yun Chu paused. "Have Mama He drink a cup of poisoned wine to end her life. That would naturally resolve the matter."
He Shi collapsed directly onto the floor.
Xie Jingyu's lips tightened into a straight line as he fell into deep turmoil.
Xie Laotaitai said sternly, "Choose between becoming a concubine or the poisoned wine."
Yuan Shi truly couldn't understand. "He Shi, you admire Jingyu, yet you refuse to become his concubine. Is being a concubine such an utterly miserable fate?"
He Shi trembled all over, tears welling in her eyes as she looked pleadingly at Xie Jingyu.
Xie Jingyu closed his eyes and said softly, "Then let Concubine He be recorded in the Xie family register."
In this dynasty, even concubines could be entered into family registers, all because centuries ago there emerged a Zhenguo Furen who significantly elevated women's status.
Yun Chu stepped forward and helped He Shi up. "Concubine He, from now on we'll serve our husband together as one family. What's your original name?"
He Shi was still caught in fearful unease. Hearing this, she replied instinctively, "He Lingying."
Yun Chu wore a faint smile. "Father-in-law is usually busy, so we won't trouble the old master to make a special trip back. Husband, why are you still kneeling? Let's first open the ancestral hall, retrieve the family register, and enroll Concubine He."
Xie Jingyu struggled to rise from the floor.
His steps were unsteady, and he couldn't stand firmly.
Yun Chu moved aside, mainly afraid that Xie Jingyu might lean on her—she certainly didn't want to take several extra baths tonight.
She turned and led the way out.
Watching her retreating figure, Tao Yiniang sighed. Why couldn't she be as detached as the madam? Just thinking about another woman by the master's side made her heart feel pierced by needles. The only consolation was that she was pregnant, giving her some security. And He Shi was so old—she'd likely struggle to conceive. Over time, the master would probably forget about He Shi completely...
Yun Chu and Xie Jingyu left the courtyard with He Shi.
Once they were gone, Old Madam said sternly, "Bring that steward surnamed He here!"
Mama Zhou had already been waiting nearby with He Xu. With the masters' matters settled, it was naturally He Xu's turn.
Mama Zhou forced He Xu to his knees and presented a large bundle. "Old Madam, this was found in He Xu's room."
Old Madam glanced at it—inside were several hundred gleaming white taels of silver."How dare you!" Old Madam angrily delivered a fierce kick in his direction.
This He Xu had originally been brought into the Xie residence by He Shi, who claimed he was a clansman and elder brother, thus requesting some care for him.
Because of this connection, He Xu had become a managing steward with considerable say in the outer courtyard within just four or five years of entering the residence. The Xie family had shown utmost kindness to these two siblings, yet they jointly dug pitfalls for the Xies—one brought unprecedented humiliation upon the Xie family, while the other secretly embezzled the family's silver!
Mama Zhou continued, "Just now, this servant checked several shops and discovered that the stores managed by Steward He have been operating at a loss for half a month."
Those shops were located right on the main street—it was absolutely impossible for them to be unprofitable. Clearly, the funds had been embezzled by He Xu.
"Give him twenty strokes with the heavy bamboo, then throw him out!" Old Madam felt her head was about to explode. "Henceforth, he is forbidden from entering the Xie residence!"
He Xu, with his mouth gagged, mumbled and struggled to explain something, but was pinned down by four stout matrons. Thwack after thwack, he received twenty strokes. The grown man fainted directly from the pain and was subsequently discarded at the entrance of a dilapidated temple where beggars gathered in the outskirts of the capital.
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