Chapter 113 : Confidential Matters (Part I)
Trigger Warning: self induced vomiting (NOT bulimia), mention of abortion.
A whirlwind of chaos descended, yet it was the instigator who suffered in the end.
Inside Ruan Ju, Lian Qiao tsked and commented, “She had it coming. Such a vicious heart, trying to slander our Miss. Let’s see her try to wriggle out of it now!” Bai Zhi, who was applying medicine to the wound on Jiang Ruan’s face, was very distressed. The slap mark seemed to have become redder and stood out starkly against her pale skin. “Master was too harsh, Miss is still this family’s di daughter no matter what. How could he punish her like this with outsiders present, and even use this much force?” Bai Zhi and Lian Qiao finally understood that Jiang Quan probably never took Jiang Ruan as his own daughter, so her tone inevitably contained reproach and anger. Tian Zhu watched from the side. As a martial artist, she naturally knew just how powerful the slap Jiang Ruan suffered was. She couldn’t help pondering over this matter- it was the first time she had personally witnessed Jiang Quan’s cold treatment of Jiang Ruan. There really weren’t many blood-related fathers who would use such a heavy hand in the world. Jiang Ruan, seeing Tian Zhu in a daze, said to Bai Zhi, “Go give Tian Zhu some medicine too.” Tian Zhu had taken one of Jiang Quan’s slaps for her, and it wasn’t a light one either.
Tian Zhu replied, “There’s no need, this subordinate is a servant. If outsiders find out that this subordinate’s face heals too quickly, they’ll become suspicious.”
Jiang Ruan thought for a bit, then acceded. “You won’t have suffered this in vain.” Tian Zhu said nothing. The night passed. The next day, Lu Zhu brought news from outside that Jiang Quan had sent people to investigate Bao Zhi Hall. As the middle-aged physician had said, Xia Yan sent a personal maid to Bao Zhi Hall for herbs which were all for nursing the body after an abortion. Furious, Jiang Quan immediately ordered Lin Lang and Fei Cui caught and interrogated them about Xia Yan’s affair. Of course, the two girls couldn’t answer, so in his anger Jiang Quan had the two executed then thrown into mass graves. Lin Lang and Fei Cui were such high-ranking maids in the Jiang fu, yet they ended up with such a terrible outcome. No one was safe. Jiang Quan angrily rounded up all the maids and servants in Yan Hua Yuan, then tortured them until they confessed. For those who couldn’t withstand it, they reported that he was a traveller who’d already left the capital. This cemented the fact that Xia Yan had an affair, making Jiang Quan immediately demand for a divorce. Jiang Su Su knelt outside his study for an entire night and Jiang Chao, upon hearing of it, hurriedly invited Xuan Li to intercede. The Xia family also felt that they had lost face, but ultimately it was Xia Yan who bound the Jiang and Xia families together. After discussing it, Jiang Quan finally relented on divorcing Xia Yan, but this didn’t mean he let her go. He set up a small Buddhist hall inside the residence and forced Xia Yan to dwell there to read scriptures all day, telling others she’d converted to Buddhism. Since then, the Jiang fu changed drastically, and everyone knew that Xia Yan had lost Jiang Quan’s favour and all her power. Everyone in the residence with a bit of foresight began to subtly show support for Fifth Yiniang, Hong Ying. Some were also optimistic about Second Yiniang, so they circled around the Jiang Li mother and daughter pair. Though Hong Ying was young, beautiful, and received Jiang Quan’s doting, unfortunately she had no children and her status was too low. On the other hand, Second Yiniang not only had her maternal family’s support but also a daughter with Jiang Quan. The network of power within the Jiang fu soon became bewildering. Lu Zhu sneered as she brushed Jiang Ruan’s hair and commented, “I don’t know why there are so many stupid people in the fu, all going around sucking up to those people. If you ask me, they should pay attention to Miss. Our Miss is not only the fu’s rightful master, but also a junzhu who was conferred the title by the Empress Dowager herself. How could a troublesome concubine even compare?” Jiang Ruan glanced at her. “If that’s the case, then you’re the smartest here?” Smiling awkwardly, Lu Zhu replied, “This servant didn’t mean that, but those people are really stupid. I just can’t stand by idly and watch.” Jiang Ruan smiled slightly. The reason everyone in the fu fawned over Fifth Yiniang and Second Yiniang, and not the eldest di daughter, was actually very simple. It was because Jiang Quan so clearly showed his disdain towards her that the servants could tell. For a daughter who was reviled by her own father, what kind of future could she have? When Lu Zhu finished brushing her hair and inserted the last hairpin, Jiang Ruan stood. “Let’s go, it’s time to visit Mother.”
* * *
The news that Xia Yan had lost power spread to Jiang Ruan, so naturally the ‘pure-hearted’ Jiang Dan knew of it too.
A maid said, “I didn’t expect Furen to end up like this.” Jiang Dan supported her chin with a hand as she gazed out of the window. Compared to her immature form three years ago, she now showed hints of a young lady’s unique charm. At a glance, she was different from the enchanting Jiang Ruan and Jiang Su Su’s delicate beauty, herself being more gentle and well-behaved. Only, her current expression was slightly gloomy, not at all like her usually timid look. “Wanting to scheme against Jiang Ruan, yet the brain is so stupid,” she ridiculed. The maid immediately fell silent. In the past three years, her young miss had turned moody and unpredictable, as if she had grown up ten years overnight. Sometimes even her closest maids would get chills at the look in her eyes. “It’s such a pity, a big mess like this only pulled down Jiang Furen.” Jiang Dan’s tone was cold. “Why couldn’t it also implicate Jiang Ruan? How good it would be if she died too.” The maid, shocked, hurriedly looked down at her toes. She fervently wished to disappear from the room. Jiang Dan caught her movement from the corner of her eye. Her lips twisted into a sarcastic smile before she turned away to look at the banana tree outside.
* * *
“Miss, please take care.” Qing Ting carefully patted Jiang Su Su on the back, who was currently digging into her own throat to induce vomiting.
Ever since the day of Xia Yan’s incident, Jiang Su Su vomited everything she ate. If she didn’t know the inside story, even the maid would think Jiang Su Su was the one who got pregnant. Jiang Su Su roughly pushed Qing Ting away and covered her mouth with a handkerchief. “Get out!” Qing Ting could only retreat with the silver plate. Jiang Su Su supported herself with a chair, feeling as if her stomach roiled like a storm. She couldn’t escape Jiang Ruan’s words from that day: “Because, that placenta was in actual fact the very same one that Mother personally discarded.” Only when one understood Jiang Ruan’s meaning would you know how scary those words were. Jiang Su Su hated that she couldn’t scrape out her stomach. As soon as she remembered what she voluntarily ate… she would vomit without pause. Since that bi*ch Hu Die dared to bring back such a placenta, Jiang Su Su tortured her severely before throwing her out of the fu. It was naturally impossible to keep anyone who did something like that to her. Jiang Su Su woke screaming from nightmares every night, sweaty and anxious. When she looked into a bronze mirror, her previously beautiful face had become extremely haggard. “Bi*ch!” She hurled the mirror to the ground with furrowed brows.
* * *
The Jiang fu supposedly built a new Buddhist hall, but in reality it was just an old and dilapidated black shack. Located in the most remote corner of the fu, its courtyard was covered in debris from construction and had only a single dry well with some dead tree stumps. It looked exceedingly gloomy, as if it was never touched by sunlight.
Two weather-beaten, elderly female servants stood guard at the door. They chatted as they cracked melon seeds; perhaps they were talking about the person inside the small Buddhist hall because they occasionally turned around to look back with contempt. It was this scene which greeted Jiang Ruan when she arrived with Tian Zhu and Bai Zhi in tow. When the two servants saw Jiang Ruan, they stood and bowed in such a hurry that they couldn’t even care to tidy the melon seeds. The events of a few days ago had long caused the servants to boil over. Xia Yan was the one who wanted to seize an opportunity, yet she was defeated so handily by the normally unobtrusive eldest daughter. They weren’t blind, especially towards their masters. It was clear that Eldest Miss’ skills were on a completely different level to Furen’s. Seeing as Jiang Ruan was also very favoured by the Empress Dowager, it would be a piece of cake for her to deal with a servant. In this way, even if everyone knew Jiang Quan disliked this daughter of his, they still didn’t dare to take her lightly and were carefully respectful towards her. Jiang Ruan gave a small smile and waved her hand. “I came to see Mother.”
Bai Zhi stepped forwards and stuffed two pouches full of silver into the elderly female servants’ hands.
The two silently weighed the pouches, then smiles soon bloomed on their faces. “Eldest Miss doesn’t need to be so polite, if you want to visit you need only ask. This old servant will open the door for Eldest Miss.” Saying so, she took an iron key from around her neck and opened the door. Only then did they notice that the door was barred by a shaft of iron and bolted from the outside. It was all to lock Xia Yan up tight.
After the two servants had opened the door, they stepped aside to let Jiang Ruan and Tian Zhu in while Bai Zhi stood guard outside. The servants, self-aware, also walked away for a distance until they couldn’t hear anything from the people inside.
The room was dark with only a single small window, but even the window was boarded up tightly. The place was more or less empty. Xia Yan had long heard Jiang Ruan’s voice through the window, but she stubbornly pretended she didn’t exist. Tian Zhu lit the lamps, brightening the room. There was only a wooden bed with a filthy and damp blanket, a wooden table, a rattan cushion, an altar for offerings, and a Guanyin statue* made of clay. Xia Yan knelt on the rattan cushion with her eyes closed as if she was sincerely praying.
* Guanyin (观音): the Buddhist bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, associated with compassion.
Jiang Ruan sat on the only seat before the wooden table and took in her surroundings. It seemed as if Jiang Quan was truly furious with Xia Yan this time, as this place wasn’t much different from her ‘home’ in the rural residence. Such was the wheel of fortune. When Xia Yan instructed Zhang Lan’s family to ‘take care’ of Jiang Ruan back then, she couldn’t have imagined she would one day fall into the same dire straits.
Xia Yan’s legs were already numb from kneeling and her knees were both painful and itchy. The room was damp and poorly ventilated. When it rained, the chill would easily seep into the bones, and in just a matter of days she had developed rheumatism. But Jiang Quan had issued a death penalty forbiddening anyone from visiting her. However, this day had finally ushered in a visitor, but it was the one person who was a thorn in her side: Jiang Ruan.
