Song Miaohua’s gaze drifted to her belly and softened.
She stroked the still-flat curve and murmured, “It’s all your mother’s fault—your mother is useless. Child, bear with me… your mother has no other way…”
Her eyes reddened at once; her lips trembled. Then her hand clenched into a fist—and, without hesitation, she drove it into her abdomen.
Once. Twice. Pain doubled her over. At first it was only the dull shock of the blows; then a true cramping seized her from within. Song Miaohua cried out, “Caoying—my belly! Ah… it hurts! Someone… quickly…”
In the west side chamber, the two little maids heard her. Caoying was about to go when Huangli tugged her back. “Who knows what tricks she’s up to in there? We were playing just fine—don’t go!”
Caoying wavered. “Whatever wrongs Concubine Song has done, she’s still carrying a child of the Gu family… We should at least look. If a life is lost, do you think the stewards will shield us? Xu Mama will throw us to the wolves. I’ve always heard it said—the great ghosts clash, the little ones suffer…”
Huangli thought it over and felt a prickle of fear. If something happened to Concubine Song’s baby, the blame would fall on them.
Caoying slipped off her kingfisher-inlaid bangles, lifted the candlestick, and went in with Huangli. On the inner kang, Concubine Song lay curled, her face ashen, her brow beaded with cold sweat.
Thank goodness we came in! Huangli shot Caoying a glance and hurried forward. “Concubine Song? How are you?”
Concubine Song could only moan, too racked with pain to hear.
“You watch her,” Caoying said. “I’ll fetch the matrons outside.” She darted off to the servants at the door; they, in turn, ran to report to Gu Jinchao and Gu Deshao.
Gu Jinchao had just been about to retire when a little maid came to announce the commotion. She drew on a mantle and, seated on the warm kang, listened to the matron’s account.
After a moment’s thought, she instructed Xu Mama, “Father is likely on his way to Linyan Pavilion. Send for Doctor Liu.” Xu Mama acknowledged and left. Jinchao then had Qingpu help her dress and arrange her hair; unhurried, she weighed a pair of tasselled earrings in her palm, set them down, and chose coral drops instead.
Qingpu could not help asking, “Miss doesn’t seem anxious.”
Calmly, Jinchao replied, “Calling a physician is merely for propriety’s sake. She’s in good health, why would she suddenly have belly pains for no reason?”
Concubine Song was no soft bun to knead at will; cornered, she would fight back. Now she had only the child to work with. If Jinchao went too early, she would only be an eyesore. Better to wait until Father arrived; whatever Concubine Song attempted, nothing would escape her notice.
When the report reached Gu Deshao, he hesitated.
In the end he had a maid fetch his Hangzhou-silk mantle and strode quickly toward Linyan Pavilion.
Vicious as Song Miaohua was—she had harmed Xiangjun and Jinchao—she was still carrying his child, and she had served him more than ten years. For Xiangjun’s sake he could hate and spurn her, even plan to send her to a nunnery once the child was born. But at this moment, he could not simply stand aside.
The maids and matrons at Linyan Pavilion greeted him with curtsies.
Gu Deshao mounted the steps in one stride and glanced at Concubine Song on the bed, clutching her belly and groaning without cease.
She wore only a plain satin jacket the color of autumn ochre; her hair was in disarray, her cheeks hollowed. In half a month she seemed to have aged.
“How is she? Has the physician been called?” he asked Xu Mama, who stood to the side.
“By the Eldest Young Miss’s order,” Xu Mama replied, “we’ve sent for him. Concubine Song only says she has belly pains. We don’t yet know the particulars.”
A maid brought in hot water, wrung out a cloth, and reached to wipe Concubine Song’s face. Concubine Song shrank away, opened her eyes with effort, and whispered to Gu Deshao, “Master… Master, I’m in such pain. Is it… is it that the child cannot be saved…”
Before Gu Deshao could speak, Xu Mama said briskly, “There’s been no bleeding, so be at ease—the child is all right.”
Gu Deshao nodded. “Xu Mama has experience. Don’t let your thoughts run wild.”
In truth, the pain was no longer as it had been, but Concubine Song dug her nails into her palm, and tears rolled like beads as she keened, “Master, I feel I won’t survive this… It must be retribution. I… I harmed Madam—this must be Heaven’s answer. But I truly know my fault now!”
“You do know you harmed her,” Gu Deshao said coolly. “After all the things you’ve done against heaven and reason—if you didn’t know your fault, there would be no saving you.”
Concubine Song understood at once: Gu Jinchao must have dragged more of her misdeeds into the light.
She wept on, “Let retribution fall on me if it must—but spare the Master’s child. I cling to life now for the child alone. I only wish to keep this baby; hereafter I will eat vegetarian and chant for Madam’s sake…”
Xu Mama’s mouth twitched. Shameless—daring to invoke Madam.
If she were truly awakened, why not take the child and dash herself to death at once?
Gu Deshao said to Concubine Song, “Do not panic. The child will be fine. Doctor Liu will be here shortly… If you would indeed keep vegetarian and recite for Xiangjun, that is well. You owe her much.”
Summoned, Doctor Liu arrived by the Gu carriage and passed through the Chuihua Gate.
He took Concubine Song’s pulse, listened a while, and frowned. “Though the fetal pulse is a touch unsettled, there is no grave concern. By rights there should be no abdominal pain…” He examined her more closely for a long time, then bowed to Gu Deshao. “Forgive this old man’s poor skill, but I can find nothing amiss. If anything, it may stem from fright and brooding. She must be well nourished and calmed.”
There had been no illness to begin with; even the finest physician could not conjure one.
Concubine Song refused to yield. “My pains were so fierce just now—how can there be nothing wrong? Doctor, have you examined me properly?”
Doctor Liu’s brows drew together at that. “Poor skill” was a self-deprecating courtesy, not an invitation for her to take him at his word.
Gu Deshao, too, found her words unseemly. The man had come at midnight to tend her—not an easy thing. He said to Doctor Liu, “I must trouble you. Since there’s nothing out of order, please write a prescription to steady the child.”
Doctor Liu held his tongue, gathered his box, and went to write.
Tearful, Concubine Song said, “I was too anxious… When I woke from a nap, I found it already dark, and no one in the rooms. My belly began to hurt, and I called for the maids—but for so long no one answered… It truly…”
She had said her belly hurt—they answered her at once! Huangli was about to speak when Caoying tugged her sleeve.
They had been toying with Concubine Song’s jewels. If anyone learned they dared handle their mistress’s things, they would be dragged out and beaten to death!
Softly, Caoying said, “We were sweeping the courtyard and didn’t hear Concubine Song call… it’s a crime deserving death.”
Gu Deshao had, until now, turned a blind eye to the goings-on at Linyan Pavilion; but as the child was now imperiled, he felt bound to speak.
He addressed the two maids. “Let it pass this time. Hereafter, attend to Concubine Song carefully—do not let harm come to her body.”
Relief loosened Concubine Song’s heart. Whatever else could be said, he still could not harden himself against his child. Seizing the moment, she choked out, “I do not blame them. It is I who carry guilt in my heart, fearing Heaven’s retribution will fall upon the child. Master, might we set up a shrine to Guanyin in my rooms? I would chant sutras for Madam…”
It was no great matter; Gu Deshao agreed at once.
Concubine Song added, “I hear Lan has tried several times to see me and failed. I beg the Master to show mercy just this once. I only wish to see her, to let her know I am safe, so she need not worry.”
Gu Deshao was silent. He did not wish Gu Lan to see Song Miaohua again. Had it not been for Song Miaohua, Gu Lan would never have become what she was.
At last he said to Concubine Song, “You must reflect on your faults and not lead Lan astray. Seeing that you seem sincerely repentant and are unwell, I’ll allow her to visit—once. But she must not come again after that. Be prudent.”
He cast her one more glance, then left with the maids.
Even once is enough. Song Miaohua’s breath eased. The risk had not been in vain.
Xu Mama gave Concubine Song a measuring look. Doubt stirred in her heart. She had Huangli settle Concubine Song to sleep, then took Caoying to the west side chamber and murmured, “When she’s asleep, lift her clothes and look at her belly.” Caoying took the order and went.
By the time Gu Jinchao arrived at Linyan Pavilion, Concubine Song was already abed. Xu Mama stood waiting beneath the covered walkway.
Jinchao tilted her head toward the inner room. “Is the child in danger?”
Smiling, Xu Mama shook her head and lowered her voice. “Far from it—Concubine Song has even wrung benefit from it…” She repeated all that had passed between Concubine Song and Gu Deshao, then added, “I sent Caoying to look. Concubine Song’s belly is mottled with bruises. There was no ‘bellyache’—she beat herself to feign it. Master pities the child; he will not press her hard.”
Jinchao had always known her father was unreliable. A few words from Concubine Song, and he had already granted Gu Lan an audience. When the child was born—if Concubine Song pleaded pitiably again—would the baby not end up in her hands to raise?
Jinchao’s fingers tightened; a quick heat of anger flickered through her. This cannot be allowed to go on.
In a low voice she said to Xu Mama, “She even dares to drag Mother into it—claiming she fears retribution will strike her child. Is she trying to say it is Mother’s spirit that harms the baby?” Mother was long gone, and still Concubine Song would not let her rest—invoking her at every turn. It was intolerable.
“I, too, was enraged,” Xu Mama muttered. “Concubine Song is hard-hearted and unrepentant.” Then, tentatively, “Shall we… tell Master she was feigning illness?”
Jinchao’s mind was already set. This child could not be kept. Not only the child—Concubine Song herself was an eyesore.
Her smile thinned. “No need. She says she’s ill—then let her be truly ill. If she hopes to climb back up by clinging to the child, she can give up that hope for this lifetime.”
Xu Mama turned the words over for a long moment. To make Concubine Song truly ill—did the Eldest Miss mean…
Coolly, Jinchao went on, “It was my softness that let things come to this. The child, left to grow, will be a calamity. She sneers that Doctor Liu’s skill is poor? Then we shall invite a better physician. Since there is an illness, it must be treated… If we drag it out until she miscarries later, that would be… unfortunate.”
So she would feign sickness? How could that be allowed? Jinchao would help her—by making sure the sickness was real. Only then would the matter sit right.
Her hatred for Concubine Song ran to the bone. To stomach such slander of Mother would require a heart far larger than hers.
Remove the flesh she clings to in her womb, and see if she can still stir the waters afterward.
Smiling, Jinchao instructed Xu Mama, “From now on, see she is served with good food and drink—lest she complain to Father that we mistreat her.”
Hearing this, Xu Mama understood perfectly. The Eldest Miss meant to cut the grass and pull the root. She smiled in turn and said, “Your servant understands.”