Gu Lan was led out of the study by Qiaowei. Along the way, Qiaowei quietly filled her in on everything that had happened.
Lately, Gu Lan had been quietly practicing calligraphy, and much of her earlier restlessness had faded. After listening to Qiaowei’s words, she remained silent for a long while, her expression exceptionally calm.
Qiaowei whispered, “You don’t need to worry, Miss. Yiniang will surely come up with a way…”
Gu Lan shook her head and said evenly, “I’m not worried. Things are already this bad—worrying won’t help.” But in her heart, she knew she couldn’t keep relying on her mother forever. Madam Song could help her for now, but not for life. She had to learn to solve things on her own.
Once they arrived at Linyan Pavilion, Gu Lan entered the inner chamber alone, leaving Ziling and Qiaowei outside.
Inside, Song Yiniang was reclining on a heated brick bed by the window. A tall bronze lamp flickered nearby. She casually removed a gilded silver hairpin from her head and used it to adjust the flame.
The firelight wavered, dimmed for a moment, then slowly grew brighter again.
Gu Lan sat down beside her and quietly watched the dancing flame. Suddenly, she spoke, “Mother, you’re still using this old gilded hairpin… I remember you wore it even when I was little. I always found it odd—though you’re not the main wife, you’re still a noble concubine, yet you always wear this plain silver-and-gilt hairpin…”
Song Yiniang gazed at the simply styled plum blossom hairpin in her hand and sighed. “It was left behind by someone from the past. I wear it as a reminder to live clearly and consciously—not to fall into momentary confusion and end up dead without even knowing who caused it.”
Killed… by someone.
Gu Lan’s gaze toward the hairpin grew cautious. After a moment of hesitation, she asked softly, “Mother, who was it from?”
“It belonged to your Aunt Yun,” Song Yiniang replied with a faint smile. “She was the gentlest soul. I often think of her… On the day she died in childbirth, her screams were so wretched. Everyone had gathered in the outer room, but I slipped into her chamber and took this inconspicuous hairpin.”
“Later, your father saw it many times but never once recognized it as hers. That’s when I realized—no matter how much he claimed to care for Yun Yiniang, it was all superficial.”
Gu Lan lowered her voice. “Are you saying… Aunt Yun was murdered?”
Song Yiniang gave a cold laugh, her fingers gently stroking the body of the hairpin. “That maid might’ve been careless, but not to the point of mixing up the medicine like that.”
“Do you know what Gu Jinchao’s greatest weakness is? She doesn’t care about her reputation. She doesn’t care whether your father favors her. She doesn’t even care about Gu Jinrong. What she cares most about… is Ji Shi.”
Her gaze turned icy. “I may have spread a few rumors about her in the past, but I never truly tried to harm her. As for her reputation—she knows better than anyone how it came to be. And now she wants to pin it all on you! If she hadn’t led Madam Wen to the side room… if she hadn’t secretly helped spread the rumors… if she weren’t trying to pile all the blame onto you, how would you have ended up like this?”
Gu Lan stared at Song Miaohua for a long time, a vague sorrow rising in her heart. She reached out and took her mother’s hand, whispering, “Mother… I don’t want to marry Mu Zhizhai…”
“He’s so foolish… so fat and round… I don’t like him…” Her voice broke into sobs. Since that incident, she had cried in front of others for sympathy—but now, for the first time, she was crying out of genuine fear.
Song Yiniang gently patted her back until her tears subsided. Gu Lan clutched her mother’s hand and said, “I won’t marry Mu Zhizhai. I’ll find a way to stop it… Mother, we have to make Ji Shi die sooner. If she dies, then I won’t have to marry.”
Her eyes, washed clean with tears, looked especially clear and bright.
Seeing her daughter weep so bitterly, Song Yiniang felt as if her own heart were being torn apart. In the past, she had loved Gu Deshao so deeply that she had married him despite his having a wife. Because of her birth, Lan’er had suffered endless grievances compared to Gu Jinchao.
And now she was to marry Mu Zhizhai! How could she bear it?
Stroking Gu Lan’s hair, she whispered, “Mother understands.”
The two spoke softly for a long while before Gu Lan finally dried her tears and bid farewell to return to her copying work.
As the inner chamber’s door opened, Gu Lan stepped out. Ziling, with her head lowered, quickly followed behind her, her steps flustered. Only once they had gone did Qiaowei enter the room.
She removed the jeweled hairpin from Song Yiniang’s head and said gently, “Yiniang, this new elmwood door of ours may have lovely carvings, but it’s not as soundproof as the old Chinese ash one. You can hear voices from inside faintly even when you’re standing outside…”
Song Miaohua took off her coral earrings and said, “Then it’s time to root out the spy…”
The last time she and Gu Lan had discussed Lady Li’s matter in private, there had been a newly appointed young maid outside. She remembered scolding her in a bad mood… Song Miaohua narrowed her eyes. “That maid named Xiuqu—where did she come from?”
Qiaowei replied, “She was assigned from the Service Quarters. I heard she was quite friendly with Yuzhu, Gu Jinchao’s little maid. I inquired discreetly, and a matron said she’d seen them heading to Qingtong Courtyard together that day.”
Song Miaohua chuckled and said quietly, “Have her beaten to death in private, then dump her body at the pauper’s graveyard. Tell others she was sent home to visit her family and simply never came back.”
Qiaowei nodded in acknowledgment, but then thought of Ziling’s anxious steps earlier and asked, “That Ziling is foolish and slow-witted, completely unfit to serve Miss… And she overheard your conversation with Miss today. What if she’s like Xiuqu? What should we do…”
Song Yiniang let out a sigh. “Though she’s dim-witted, she’s always been loyal to Lan’er—that’s the only reason I’ve kept her this long. It’s clear now she has no sense of judgment. She was standing outside the room that day, yet didn’t even think to come in and inform me… Never mind. She’s already sixteen. Find someone suitable and marry her off.”
Qiaowei responded with a smile and a nod.
Ziling, meanwhile, was feeling uneasy. What she had just heard outside the room was not something a maid like her should have overheard. Normally, assisting her mistress in dealing with Gu Jinchao was trouble enough, but today, Miss had gone so far as to speak of wanting Madam Ji to die soon. Would Miss suspect her of eavesdropping?
As these thoughts stirred in her mind, she suddenly realized that Gu Lan was not heading back toward Cui Xuan Courtyard at all, but was instead walking in the direction of Qingtong Courtyard.
Startled, Ziling asked, “Miss, weren’t we going back to copy books?”
Gu Lan replied calmly, “Since I left under the pretext of visiting my ‘ailing elder sister,’ wouldn’t it be a waste not to go see her?”
Even though night had already fallen, Jinchao had only just returned from her mother’s place. She had spent the entire day there. After all, today was the eighteenth of the fourth lunar month—the day her mother had died in her past life. She needed to see for herself that her mother was well in order to find peace of mind.
Ji Shi had tried several times to send her back, insisting that Jinchao was supposed to be “seriously ill” and that lingering at her side was inappropriate. But Jinchao simply smiled and refused to leave, only returning at dusk after ensuring her mother had rested. She had just sat down when Baiyun arrived to report that Gu Lan had come to visit.
Jinchao thought for a moment, then smiled. “She must be here to confront me… Let her in.”
Gu Lan entered and curtseyed. “Elder Sister has been ill for so long. I’ve been quite worried and came today especially to visit.”
Jinchao looked her over. Gu Lan wore a pale bluish-green robe embroidered with lotus petal patterns, paired with a simple pleated skirt. Her hair was tied in a neat chignon, adorned only with a carved mutton-fat jade hairpin. Her expression was calm, but her gaze was icy.
Jinchao nodded. “It’s kind of you to come.” She instructed Qingpu to bring over a cushioned stool.
Gu Lan spoke softly, “Second Sister was copying texts in her study when she came across a line that read, ‘Endure disgrace and bear humiliation, always as if in fear.’ It struck me as very apt. Elder Sister has shown me great kindness—I must never forget it. But you too must remember how I’ve been humiliated by you today. Someday, you’ll come to understand how it feels.”
Jinchao rose and walked over to her, smiling. “Endure disgrace and bear humiliation, always as if in fear? I believe the full quote is: ‘Be humble and respectful, put others before oneself. Accept praise without pride, accept blame without excuse. Endure disgrace and bear humiliation, always as if in fear.’ I may not have studied the Admonitions for Women as thoroughly as you, Second Sister, but I remember that much.”
She looked at Gu Lan’s calm face and suddenly found it laughable. “You’re calling yourself the one enduring disgrace and humiliation? Second Sister, don’t you see? This isn’t about me humiliating you—it’s simply your retribution.” Jinchao’s voice was soft. “If you truly lived by those words—accepting praise without pride, and blame without excuse—how could I ever have had the chance to trap you? I retaliated just once, yet you’ve schemed against me countless times before. Where was my endurance and humility then?”
Gu Lan glared at her and muttered, “If I wronged you in the past, it was because you were too stupid! You’ve only yourself to blame!”
Jinchao let out a cold laugh. “How amusing. So it’s fine for you to slander me, destroy my reputation from the shadows—but I’m not allowed to strike back? Second Sister, the world does not operate on such one-sided logic.”
Gu Lan took a deep breath. “I did scheme against you, yes—but I never pushed you into a fire! I only tried to drive a wedge between you and Gu Jinrong. Your ruined reputation—fine, I had a part in that. But you can’t blame it all on me! Yet you had Madam Wen spread slander about me all over the city—now my name is ruined! And I’ll be forced to marry Mu Zhizhai, Eldest Young Master Mu, because of it. You’re trying to destroy me!”
Jinchao hadn’t expected that’s how Gu Lan saw things. She sighed. “I never asked Madam Wen to spread those rumors. And besides, what she said was true. If you hadn’t done those things, no one could have fabricated such gossip in the first place.”
She paused, then decided to offer Gu Lan one final word of advice. “…Don’t judge by appearances. The brightest flowers don’t always bear the sweetest fruit. Though Young Master Mu may be plain-looking, he would make a decent match. You’d do well to consider it carefully.”
Gu Lan stared at her with burning hatred—then suddenly smiled. “I will never marry him. And Elder Sister… you’d best watch yourself. I’m afraid I won’t let this rest so easily.” She curtseyed once more and left with Ziling in tow.
Jinchao said nothing more, merely instructing Qingpu to fetch a basin of water.
Gu Lan, it seemed, didn’t think she had done anything wrong—as if everything were somehow Jinchao’s fault.
That pride of hers… it would be her undoing.