Chapter 181: Chapter 181: Life and Death (Part 2)
"Mother!" Tong Xiyan pleaded with the Lady, full of hope in her eyes: "Please let me see him, just once, only once, and I’ll do anything you want." She would be content to die.
The Lady was so angry that she almost fainted, pointing at Tong Xiyan and cursing: "You scoundrel!" Clutching her chest, she was gasping for air. Nanny Fang immediately came up to support the Lady, coaxing her: "Fourth Miss is just momentarily confused, don’t be angry, just persuade her gently."
The Lady shook her head, just about to say something when she suddenly noticed Xiqiu still in the room. She glared at Xiqiu and said, "There’s nothing here for you, you can leave now!" After all, it was Tong Xiyan’s scandal, and the fewer people knew, the better.
"Yes!" Xiqiu glanced at the grief-stricken Tong Xiyan who was crying under the covers, bowed to the Lady, and retreated. Behind her came the Lady’s angry rebuke: "You are the legitimate daughter of the Tong Mansion, taught to be compassionate and respectful of norms from a young age. Now you’ve forgotten it all, consorting improperly with a man. Do you know if this gets out, not only will your reputation be ruined, but the entire Tong Mansion will be ridiculed? Fine! Even if none of that matters, who is Jiang Shilin? He’s a literary rogue, an arrogant man who sees only himself. Though he once achieved third place, he wouldn’t serve the court and quit like some ancient moralist, thinking himself noble and pure. Bah! He’s nothing but a mere opportunist with no substance!"
"No, Mother, you don’t understand him, back then..." The Lady waved her hand, not wanting to hear another word from Tong Xiyan, and continued: "I have no desire to understand him. Such a shameless person will never set foot in the Tong Mansion. He should be thankful I didn’t report him to the government office!"
Tong Xiyan was sobbing uncontrollably. Things ended just as the Sixth Sister had said, her mother’s reaction was so intense, she wouldn’t listen to any explanation.
The Lady was internally fuming. Her daughter, whom she had always been proud of, was now outdone by even a few illegitimate children, doing such disgraceful things. How could she face anyone now? The night’s uproar would definitely reach the ears of some ladies, and if Madam Qian found out, this marriage would likely be in jeopardy.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She slumped into a chair, pointed at Nanny Fang, and said: "Go! Drag those girls out for me, fifty strokes each, then call their families to take them away!"
Nanny Fang nodded, and Tong Xiyan exclaimed in surprise: "No!" She got off the bed and threw herself at the Lady’s feet: "Mother, it has nothing to do with them, if you want to punish someone, punish me instead."
"Punish you?" The Lady sneered: "When the mistress makes a mistake, it’s either their poor service or their complicity. They cannot be forgiven lightly." She looked at Nanny Fang and said: "Go, give them a stern beating!"
Tong Xiyan lay on the Lady’s lap, her eyes swollen from crying, her face pale as paper. Shivering, she said: "If it’s really like this, then Mother, just let them go, don’t beat them. Fifty strokes would kill them."
The Lady smirked, signaling Daihe to pull Tong Xiyan up and put her on the bed. She stood by the bedside and said: "This is so you can learn a lesson, to know what you can and can’t do." She glanced at Nanny Fang, who immediately bowed and left. Not long after, the courtyard echoed with the cries of Xinzhu, Xinmei, and a few servant girls. Their mouths were covered, their cries muffled like drowning victims. Nanny Fang gave the command: "Beat them!" and immediately the sound of blows hitting flesh reverberated in the yard...
Tong Xiyan listened, heart-wrenchingly, as the cries filled the air, while the Lady sat motionless in her chair. Daihe hugged her arms involuntarily and shrank back.
A while later, even the low sobs in the courtyard ceased, leaving only the monotonous sound of the stick. Nanny Fang entered and whispered in the Lady’s ear, the Lady laughed coldly: "If any of them die, just call their families to take them away, give them twenty taels for burial expenses each."
"Xinzhu!" Tong Xiyan screamed, collapsing onto the bed, staring vacantly at the ceiling, tears silently falling onto the pillow.
The Lady turned to Nanny Fang and said: "Find a stretcher to carry her to my courtyard, so she doesn’t cause more trouble." Then she looked at Tong Xiyan: "You should rest up. From now on, if you dare to act recklessly again, I’ll send you to Baoding!"
Nanny Fang went out to find a stretcher. Together with a few servants, they moved Tong Xiyan onto it, found a quilt to cover her, and carried her out. In the snowy courtyard, Xinzhu and Xinmei were being dragged off a long bench by the servants from the outer courtyard, blood dripping from their mutilated backs onto the snow, filling the air with the tang of blood.
Tong Xiyan cried like rain, several times trying to jump off the stretcher, but Nanny Fang and several stout maids held her down with all their strength. The Lady was in a rage, and no one dared provoke her further.
Sixing and Chunyan turned away to wipe their tears; Xinzhu and Xinmei were born in the house, with one parent on the Zhuangzi estate and the other guarding the old house in Baoding, both well-regarded in the mansion. But the Lady ordered a beating like it was nothing, even fifty strokes a man couldn’t withstand, how could they?
"Did you go see them?" Xiqiu put down the embroidery hoop in her hand, her face also looked unpleasant.
Sixing nodded, showing a shared sorrow with the fox for the rabbit’s death: "Xinzhu’s leg is probably crippled... Xinmei... died, and although the other little maids didn’t die, their lives are ruined. Their families won’t get the news quickly, they’ll likely stay in the mansion a few more days. We were afraid those who favor the powerful would mistreat them, so we secretly left some silver. Whether it’s useful or not, it fulfills our sisterly bond."
They were quite relieved at this moment to be by the Sixth Miss’s side. Though it was nerve-wracking, they avoided such catastrophes. Perhaps for servants like them, having no such disasters and leaving the mansion safely was the greatest blessing.
Xiqiu also sighed, Xinzhu’s smiling face seemed to linger before her eyes. She remembered once Tong Xiyan had an attack in the little garden, her face swollen and breathless, and Xinzhu dared not carry her for fear of suffocating her, so she held Tong Xiyan in her arms and walked back to the West Courtyard. At that time, she was only twelve, and after bringing Tong Xiyan back, her arms were swollen thicker than her legs for three months, unable to even touch.
"If their families haven’t arrived yet, sneak over and check on them." Pausing, she added: "Take my bottles of healing medicine with you!"
Sixing nodded and bowed to Xiqiu: "On behalf of Xinzhu and Xinmei, thank you, Miss."
Xiqiu didn’t reply, lowering her head to continue embroidering, while in her heart she was thinking about Jiang Shilin. She wondered if he had woken up, and knew that because of him, several people had lost their lives, some people’s fates drastically changed, and Tong Xiyan had fallen seriously ill, whether he would disregard everything and come to propose to the Lady?