Chapter 252

"Now the Zhao family was up in arms."

Her eyes were somewhat unfocused, her mind filled with Lord Wu's droning voice: "...Fortunately, you didn't get involved in what happened afterward."

Madam Wu said, "I've made inquiries—the Zhao and Shen families appear to be close allies. When Mrs. Zhao was in confinement, Mrs. Shen was by her side the whole time caring for her, and her two sons also lodged at the Zhao residence. The Zhao family referred to Mrs. Shen as Third Concubine, and I assumed she was Mrs. Zhao's sister, but now it seems they must have been sworn sisters."

Concubine Wu thanked her and sat down.

"Wait." Madam Wu interrupted Concubine Wu's words, clearly not having taken any of Concubine Wu's self-reproachful remarks to heart. Instead, she murmured, "Mrs. Zhao told you personally that she was at odds with the Yu family... and then the eldest son of the Yu family lost the post he'd been seeking... and then Shen Renshi got that post, yet Shen Renshi is from the same place as Mrs. Zhao..." As she spoke, she called loudly for her personal maid to come in and asked, "Has the master returned?"

Concubine Wu's heart was suddenly in turmoil, and she didn't know what to do, but she still asked, "Did you find out where Mrs. Zhao is from?"

"Now? Let me go to the Wu residence!" Concubine Wu stared at Lianxin in bewilderment. "What's happened?"

Concubine Wu's heart was pounding wildly.

"Then, then what do we do now?" Madam Wu was dumbfounded. "If the Yu and Zhao families clash, won't we be dragged into the disaster too!"

But Madam Wu wasn't listening to Concubine Wu's explanations at all.

Thinking of all this, she could no longer hold back and said stiffly, "Even if I lack proper manners, I'm still better than the Yu family—they made an enemy of Mrs. Zhao, and now they've provoked Mrs. Zhao into wanting to destroy the Yu family entirely!"

The personal maid hurriedly said, "The master just returned and is changing clothes in his room!"

"Sixth Great-Uncle Zhao had no choice but to use his coffin savings to fight a lawsuit against the neighbors, and even his daughter-in-law's jewelry was pawned off."

She was frightened by her own words!

How could anyone be so lacking in conscience?

Lord Wu couldn't help complaining, "I told you long ago not to get involved in this kind of matter, but you wouldn't listen. Now look—you've dragged yourself into it, haven't you?"

How was this going to be resolved?

She grabbed hold of Concubine Wu, who was kneeling on the ground, her expression somewhat terrified: "You tell me clearly, what exactly is going on here?"

"What nonsense are you talking?" Madam Wu was shocked and alarmed, her hand sweeping across the teacup beside her, producing a clattering sound. "Shut your mouth at once!" Her eyes flickered with a restless light. "You, what exactly have you heard?"

A thought flashed by, and Concubine Wu fell to her knees with a thud before Madam Wu: "I, I, I was talking nonsense... Madam must not listen to me... It was all my own assumptions..." Her face had turned as white as plain silk. "This has nothing to do with Mrs. Zhao! Truly! It was all my wild talk..."

But such words, she dared not say. She could only say, "Why don't we bring Concubine Wu back? After all, she's nothing more than a decoration in the Yu household now!"

Yet Lianxin was still sobbing in her ear: "The sedan chair sent by Madam Wu is waiting at the side gate... The personal maid has already informed the mistress, saying you were thoughtful, still remembering the Third Young Mistress's birthday, and wanted to invite her over for some festivity... The mistress has already agreed and sent me to relay the message to you..."

Concubine Wu's expression was somewhat dazed.

"Killing someone is nothing more than a nod of the head. Zhao Ling merely lost his parents and had his property seized, yet he wants to wipe out an entire family line—such a person, we cannot afford to offend!"

Thinking back to when you initially refused, could I have sent relatives of the Wu family to be concubines?

"In the end, the lawsuit was lost, the son was sentenced to military exile at the frontier, and the daughter-in-law, upon hearing this, abandoned her grandson and ran away..."

Now my child is gone, the eldest young master of the Yu family treats me as if I don't exist, and your tune has completely changed.

She felt as though she knew something, and yet as though she knew nothing at all...

As for the rest of the Wu family, they didn't even glance at Concubine Wu.

The Wu family's attitude actually made Concubine Wu feel much more at ease.

Let alone the fact that Concubine Wu was now a concubine in the Yu household—even when she was a young lady at the Wu residence, there was no place for her in the Wu family's main hall.

"Feeling that what Sixth Great-Uncle Zhao did back then was indeed wrong, but Sixth Great-Uncle Zhao had already compensated Zhao Ling with silver. When the lawsuit against the neighbors was underway, Eighth Great-Uncle Zhao, as clan head, should have stepped in to help. Otherwise, Sixth Great-Uncle Zhao wouldn't have had to hang himself in the ancestral hall."

Madam Wu's face was full of grievance.

"The Zhao family was in an uproar."

When the maid reported that Concubine Wu had arrived, Madam Wu remained as steady as a mountain, continuing her game of cards, only glancing up at Concubine Wu between plays and casually saying, "You've come."

If this got out, would the Yu family and Mrs. Zhao let it go? Wouldn't Mrs. Zhao suffer undeserved calamity because of her?

"Then some clan members came forward, saying that when the son of Sixth Great-Uncle Zhao had gotten into trouble, the authorities had once summoned Eighth Master Zhao for questioning..."

Lianxin's head hung even lower.

Madam Wu sat on the arhat bed and gestured for her to sit on the embroidered stool beside her.

"Think about it—Zhao Ling is one of the Nine Border Commanders-in-Chief. Everyone knows each other well, and in times of war they must support one another. If he wanted to deal with Sixth Great-Uncle Zhao's son, he wouldn't even need to say a word—just a hint would be enough, and there would be plenty of sycophants eager to do his bidding."

All from Shaanxi... a grudge... rice wine... lost his post...

Because Madam Wu was still above her, Third Young Madam Wu's birthday was celebrated merely with a table of wine at home, a meal among family members. By the time Concubine Wu arrived, the Wu family was already playing mahjong in the flower hall.

"I found out." Lianxin sobbed. "They say Mrs. Zhao is from Shaanxi. The one who took the Elder Young Master's post is a man named Shen Renshi, who passed the imperial examination in the same year as the Elder Young Master—from Hancheng, Shaanxi..."

"Zhao Ling had the Zhao family thoroughly investigated before he even returned. As soon as he came back to Songjiang, he put on an act of 'if the Zhao family hands over those who bullied them back then, I'll let bygones be bygones; otherwise, I'll take the case to the emperor himself,' forcing Eighth Master Zhao to make Sixth Great-Uncle Zhao kneel before the entire clan in the ancestral hall and apologize to Zhao Ling's mother, and to compensate Zhao Ling with family property.

That's not what you said when you had me enter the Yu family back then.

"Yes, it's my fault." She began to sob. "I went to find out how the Elder Young Master's post was lost... Madam Wu found out... She, she wants to summon you for questioning." With that, she burst into loud wails. "I, I didn't mean to... I never thought they would report it to Madam Wu..."

So Madam Wu had found out!

"Who would have thought that a few days later, the authorities suddenly arrested Sixth Great-Uncle Zhao's only son, saying that five years ago, during a dispute over irrigation water with the neighboring estate, it was Sixth Great-Uncle Zhao's only son who led the household retainers to beat the other family's people to death. Now the neighbors had filed charges against Sixth Great-Uncle Zhao's son, demanding a life for a life."

Concubine Wu had no choice but to compose herself, letting Lianxin help her freshen up in a daze. She took her leave of Madam Yu and boarded the Wu family's sedan chair.

"Don't move." Madam Wu instructed Concubine Wu upon hearing this. "Wait for me to return." Then, surrounded by maidservants and matrons, she went to the main hall.

"Everyone felt that Eighth Master Zhao had gone too far. Not only was he disrespectful to his elders, but he also stirred discord among the clan and refused to help in a time of crisis."

"Perhaps Sixth Great-Uncle Zhao finally understood by then—the matter had been over for years, so for the neighbors to file a lawsuit only now meant someone must have been behind it, and that someone wanted to destroy his family. And the only person with such ability was Zhao Ling. To save his grandson's life, Sixth Great-Uncle Zhao hanged himself in the Zhao ancestral hall, giving Zhao Ling the reckoning he demanded."

She didn't know why she had said such a thing!

She stood there quietly, waiting until Madam Wu finished a round of mahjong, stood up, and said coldly to her, "Follow me." She bent her knees in a bow to the people in the room and followed Madam Wu into a small retiring room beside the flower hall.

It felt as though a fire was burning in her chest—Concubine Wu's face flushed bright red in an instant.

Master Wu was greatly alarmed. He abandoned the flower hall and said, "I'll go to Hao Jianfeng's place right away to find out about Shen Renshi's background. You should also try to find out whether the Zhao family has any connections with Shen Renshi."

Concubine Wu, afraid that Madam Wu might misunderstand Fu Tingjun, recounted in full detail how she had first met Fu Tingjun at Tanzhe Temple, how she had spotted an acquaintance and wanted to chat with Fu Tingjun, but Fu Tingjun had told her she had a grudge with the Yu family, how Madam Yu had panicked upon hearing that Concubine Wu had met Fu Tingjun, and had even sent Chief Steward Yu quietly to Xi'an... and so on, telling Madam Wu everything: "...I just spoke rashly in the heat of the moment and made a wild guess..."

Now that you can't wash your hands of it, you blame me.

Master Wu was sweating profusely: "That Shen Renshi got his post as Left Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel precisely through the Zhao family's backing. And what the Zhao family sought was the emperor's favor." He gave a bitter laugh. "When I went to ask Hao Jianfeng, he even asked me if I knew any way to make the acquaintance of this Shen Renshi, saying the emperor seems to think very highly of him—Eunuch Liansheng, the brush-holder of the Directorate of Ceremonial, even sent a young eunuch to the Ministry of Personnel to ask whether Shen Renshi's matter had been settled..."

"Then the collateral branches started clamoring for a new clan head to be elected, and even put forward Zhao Qi..."

That evening, the two met.

Once the young maidservant had served tea, Madam Wu dismissed those attending her, and her gaze toward Concubine Wu turned sharp. "What are you up to? How did the position Master Yu was seeking get lost—is that something you should be asking about? All you need to do is stay put in the back courtyard of the Yu family. They won't stint you on food or clothing. Why meddle in so much idle business? I took you for a fairly honest and sensible girl—how is it you've suddenly changed your temper? Luckily, it was I who saw through you today. Had someone else discovered it and told Madam Yu, what would she think? Why don't you use your head?" She added, "Let me put the ugly truth on the table: if you step out of line and the Yu family catches you and wants to punish you, don't expect me to lose face and plead on your behalf!"

Madam Wu, without another word, took Master Wu by the arm and led him into the adjoining side room, where she recounted everything Concubine Wu had just said.

At the thought, Madam Wu couldn't help but shiver.

Madam Wu went off in response.