Steward Sun’s expression changed drastically.
Impossible.
Wasn’t Concubine Song only recently confirmed to be pregnant? How could she have been confined under guard, with no one even tending to her?
Jinchao said coolly,
“Perhaps Steward Sun is unaware—my mother’s death was no simple suicide. It was Concubine Song who caused it, and my father placed her under house arrest. So what if she’s carrying a child? Even if she manages to give birth, she will never rise again.”
This, Steward Sun truly hadn’t known.
Still, he couldn’t be sure if Jinchao was simply bluffing.
But Luo Liu was truly frightened now. And with Xue Sixteen eyeing him like a hawk, he scrambled to Jinchao’s feet, kowtowing frantically.
“Miss, I’ll speak! I’ll say everything! I didn’t go to the inner courtyard to harass that maid—I was ordered to! Please, spare me! Don’t let Xue Sixteen kill me!”
So frightened, he finally caved.
Jinchao pressed him calmly,
“Who ordered you? And what were you told to do in the inner courtyard? Speak clearly. Every detail.”
Steward Sun, in a panic, lunged as if to silence Luo Liu—but Xue Sixteen and another guard held him firmly down. He struggled furiously, threatening through clenched teeth,
“…You dare speak a word, and you’ll be begging for death!”
Luo Liu flinched, but blurted out in a rush:
“It was Steward Sun! Concubine Song wanted to harm the Madam. She sent her maid Yuxiang to meet me in the thicket by the Drooping Flower Gate. I was told to pass messages to Steward Sun—to add rhubarb root into the Madam’s medicine! I went four times in total, and Steward Sun tampered with the medicine for over six months… I didn’t want to, but Steward Sun threatened me…”
Steward Sun stared in disbelief.
The damn dog actually confessed—all of it.
Luo Liu hadn’t finished. He stammered on,
“The matter of the Madam’s ledger, that the Eldest Miss brought up… the truth is, her belongings were stored separately. The ledger still exists. It was Steward Sun who—”
Jinchao cut in gently,
“—Who intended to pocket my mother’s possessions, and so lied to Nanny Xu, claiming things had been mixed up. Is that it?”
Luo Liu was stunned at first. Even if Steward Sun were bold, he wouldn’t dare openly embezzle from the household. But he quickly caught on to Jinchao’s implication and nodded eagerly.
“Yes, exactly! He meant to take Madam’s belongings for himself, and claimed he’d mixed them up!”
Steward Sun’s veins bulged at the temples. He had tampered with the medicine, but now this girl dared to accuse him of embezzlement too—clearly she was out to ruin him!
“Luo Liu, you mangy dog!” he roared. Then to Jinchao,
“Eldest Miss, you twist the truth! I have never plotted to steal from the household. You must be reasonable!”
Jinchao nodded serenely.
“I am always reasonable—with those who deserve it. But Steward Sun clearly does not. You dared take my mother’s possessions and hand them over to Concubine Song, then told Nanny Xu you couldn’t find them. If I hadn’t intervened, would you have claimed even her private treasury was missing? Is that how you curry favor? You thought if you didn’t anger me, I’d let it slide?”
She leaned forward slightly.
“But even if I were reasonable—do you truly think it would do you any good? Colluding with a concubine to harm the legitimate wife—you’ve already earned yourself more than one death sentence.”
Steward Sun paled. She was right.
Just the crime of conspiring to murder the household’s main wife was enough to have him executed. Add theft to that, and even ten lives wouldn’t be enough.
But he clenched his teeth, unwilling to yield.
“You may wish to punish me, Eldest Miss, but I am the steward of the accounting office. You cannot convict me with just your word. Only the Master has that authority! I will not accept this injustice!”
As if it mattered whether he accepted it.
Jinchao’s tone remained light:
“Xue Sixteen—this steward colluded with a concubine to murder the lady of the house and embezzled household property. He is of foul character and unworthy of mercy. Bind him, break his legs, take nothing with him, and throw him out!”
“Yes, Miss.”
Xue Sixteen stepped forward without hesitation. Steward Sun thrashed and shouted, but another guard joined in, and the two of them had him dragged away in a matter of moments. His fists and feet flailed, and his screams echoed down the corridor.
Luo Liu, seeing this, collapsed in a trembling heap.
Jinchao turned to him.
“Do you want to live?”
He was pale as death.
“Mi… Miss, I’ve done everything you asked. Please don’t kill me…”
“I won’t kill you,” Jinchao said gently. She even smiled.
“You confessed your role and named your superior—that’s a merit. Not only will I spare you, I’ll give you a hundred taels of silver to leave the Gu household for good. But I trust you saw what became of Steward Sun. If you dare betray me, I swear your end will be a hundred times worse than his.”
Luo Liu nodded frantically.
“Of course, of course! Whatever the Eldest Miss says, I will obey!”
Jinchao gave a pleased smile.
“That’s best. All you need to do is repeat what you told me to my father. I’ll have witnesses ready to back you up.”
She summoned Nanny Xu and instructed her to take Luo Liu and Yuxiang to see her father and explain everything about Steward Sun and Concubine Song. With two witnesses, the evidence was solid and irrefutable.
Nanny Xu agreed and left with them.
Meanwhile, Gu Deshao was in his study, copying Buddhist scriptures. Ever since Ji Shi’s death, guilt had weighed heavily on him. He hadn’t visited Concubine Luo’s quarters at all. He spent his days alone, copying the Great Compassion Dharani Sutra.
Just days ago, he had donated a thousand taels of silver to Ciguang Temple to have scriptures printed and a merit stele erected for Ji Shi.
He had just completed a scroll when Shuiying came knocking.
“Master, Nanny Xu requests an audience.”
Hearing it was Nanny Xu, Gu Deshao quickly allowed her in.
She entered with a small servant boy and a maid trailing behind her.
Nanny Xu bowed deeply.
“Greetings, Master. I come to report a grave matter. It concerns the late Madam Ji. I beg your patience as I explain.”
Gu Deshao’s brow furrowed.
“What is it, Nanny Xu? Is something amiss with Xiangjun’s funeral?”
Nanny Xu shook her head.
“It’s not that, Master… Today, the Eldest Miss went to the accounting office to inventory the Madam’s possessions. Steward Sun insisted the items had been mixed up and refused to hand them over. Perhaps he thought the Eldest Miss, having lost her mother, could be pushed aside. As the Miss grew distressed, a man named Luo Liu came forward. He claimed he had something to confess.”
Luo Liu stepped forward, dropping to his knees.
“Master, I am Luo Liu…”
Gu Deshao’s expression darkened the moment he heard that Steward Sun had treated Chao’er so dismissively.
Ji Shi hadn’t been gone long, and yet these stewards already dared to bully her daughter? Did they think he was dead too? To even go so far as to hide Ji Shi’s belongings and refuse to hand them over?
He forced himself to suppress his anger and turned to Luo Liu.
“What did you say to Chao’er?”
Luo Liu quickly replied,
“Ever since the Madam passed, this servant has lived in constant fear. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something about her death was terribly wrong. I once saw Concubine Song’s maid, Yuxiang, deliver something to Steward Sun—she told him to mix it into the Madam’s medicine…”
“I was in charge of preparing her medicines, and only later did I realize—it was rhubarb root! Concubine Song had been plotting with Steward Sun all along to take the Madam’s life!”
“After the Madam’s death, I’ve been wracked with guilt. If I don’t speak out, I will never know peace. When the Eldest Miss came today, I finally dared to confess… Turns out, she already suspected as much. What I didn’t know was that Steward Sun was also involved.”
He prostrated himself,
“Please, Master, see the truth clearly—let the Madam be given justice.”
Yuxiang stepped forward and bowed.
“I am Yuxiang. What Luo Liu said is true. I once served under Concubine Song and witnessed many things firsthand. But I was under her thumb, and did not dare speak up before.”
“What Concubine Song did to harm the Madam left me horrified. And that wasn’t all—there are other matters as well. If the Master is willing, I will recount them all in detail…”
Gu Deshao’s fury surged.
When Concubine Song had first mentioned rhubarb root, he had believed it was Ji Shi’s desperate attempt to win back his affection…
When Chao’er told him about the medicine, he had thought only that Concubine Song might have bribed a servant to act on her own. But now—now he learned that she had conspired with the outer courtyard steward to murder Xiangjun?
And not only that—she had worked to drive a wedge between Chao’er and Jinrong, and to smear Chao’er’s name?
Such vile malice. And all under his very roof.
Did she take him for a corpse?
His chest heaved with rage. For a long while, he could not even speak.
At last, gritting his teeth, he demanded,
“Where is Steward Sun? Bring him to me!”
Nanny Xu replied,
“Master, Steward Sun has already been dealt with. The Eldest Miss ordered him beaten and thrown out.”
In truth, outer-courtyard stewards rarely had signed contracts, so his life couldn’t be taken without formal cause. This was already the harshest punishment that could be dealt.
Gu Deshao exhaled heavily, his voice thunderous:
“Find him. Break his legs. I want to see how he intends to live now!”
Nanny Xu paused briefly, then said softly,
“That was the Eldest Miss’s order as well.”
Gu Deshao’s lips pressed into a hard line. He began pacing the room, unable to contain the fire in his chest.
After a moment, Nanny Xu added,
“There is one more thing. Second Miss came to me today, saying she wanted to bring back the maids who used to serve Concubine Song. She claimed Concubine Song isn’t satisfied with the two currently attending her.”
Gu Deshao’s face darkened.
“She dares ask for her old maids? Not one of them is to be returned! All of them are gossipy little wretches! If she dares throw another tantrum over servants, drive out the two she has left as well!”
“And once she gives birth, send her off to a Buddhist nunnery. She is not to remain in this house.”
He paused for breath, then added coldly,
“Gu Lan is not to visit her mother. She is to stay in the study and practice her calligraphy. If she dares to go to Linyan Pavilion, break her legs too.”
Nanny Xu bowed silently.
Gu Deshao stood in place, fists clenched, unable to say more.
Seeing this, Nanny Xu asked gently,
“The Eldest Miss also gave me tasks to see to. If the Master has no further orders, I’ll take my leave.”
Gu Deshao closed his eyes and nodded, waving her off.
Just as Nanny Xu turned to go, she heard him speak again, voice lowered and quiet.
“Help Chao’er manage the inner courtyard. Take care of her. If she suffers even a hint of grievance… let me know.”