Before long, the heavy rain finally ceased. Jinchao instructed Tong Mama to go to Jingfang Pavilion and recount to Gu Jinrong all that had transpired yesterday regarding Steward Sun and Yuxiang.
Jinchao herself had begun to reflect on her past approach. Toward Gu Jinrong, she had always felt pity for his misfortune and anger at his weakness—yet pity and anger alone were not guidance. It was not right to simply let him drift into ruin. After their mother’s passing, she had thought deeply: Jinrong, after all, was still just a child who had never truly grown up. He would always need someone to steer him back to the right path. If he was told clearly what Concubine Song and Gu Lan had once done, perhaps he would finally take it to heart and not repeat such errors in the future.
When Jinrong heard Xu Mama’s words, his face twisted with rage and grief, but above all with bitter regret. He bit his lip, unable to utter a single word, while tears streamed ceaselessly down his cheeks.
Though he had long known of Gu Lan’s wolfish ambition, never had it struck him so deeply as now! To collude with Steward Sun to harm their mother? To sow discord between him and his elder sister? The most hateful thing was not Concubine Song and Gu Lan’s schemes—it was that he himself had believed them for so long, hurting his elder sister and their mother for so many years!
But now their mother was gone. How could he ever make amends?
And his elder sister—she did not even wish to see him anymore. What was he to do?
Tong Mama raised her eyes to look at him and said:
“Eldest Young Master, you must pull yourself together. Madam has been gone for half a month already. If you go on like this, it is nothing but grief to kin and delight to your enemies. The Eldest Miss now shoulders all the duties of the household, running about day and night. Though you cannot yet take over Madam’s responsibilities, there are still other matters you can help with. The Eldest Miss said herself—you should think of returning to Qifang Hutong to continue your studies. You must not drown in sorrow like this…”
Jinrong was taken aback. In the days since their mother’s death, he had sunk into despair, wracked by guilt.
The funeral rites had been handled mostly by his elder sister and Second Madam. He, the legitimate eldest son, had done nothing beyond attending the required ceremonies. He had shut himself away in Jingfang Pavilion, wallowing in grief. But was his elder sister not grieving as well? Yet she had never succumbed to weakness as he had.
Now, thinking on it, he realized he ought to shoulder his duty as eldest son, not waste away in self-pity.
Tong Mama continued:
“…It is well that you understand. The Eldest Miss does care for you. You know her nature—what she feels, she will not easily speak aloud.”
Jinrong nodded and personally escorted Tong Mama out.
But as Tong Mama stepped through the courtyard gate of Jingfang Pavilion, she caught sight of Gu Lan approaching in the distance with her maid.
What was Gu Lan doing, coming here to seek out the Eldest Young Master? Had they not quarreled bitterly?
As she drew closer, Tong Mama’s suspicions grew. She quietly retreated back into Jingfang Pavilion. One of the little maids, startled at her reappearance, was about to cry out, but Tong Mama quickly motioned for silence. The girl, clever enough, shut her mouth at once. Tong Mama slipped behind a Taihu rock to conceal herself.
Soon, Gu Lan stepped inside, carrying a lacquered box in her arms. After a maidservant announced her arrival, she was led to the study where Jinrong awaited. Tong Mama crept from her hiding place and stole toward the study, peering in through the bamboo blinds.
Qing’an and Qingxiu saw her lurking and could not help wanting to speak—after all, inside were their Eldest Young Master and Second Young Miss, while this was Tong Mama, a trusted retainer of the Eldest Miss. Gu Lan had always been at odds with the Eldest Miss—surely this was not right.
But Tong Mama had already turned, glaring at them with icy eyes.
“Not a word,” she hissed, “or I shall report you to the Eldest Miss and have you sent to the stables.”
The two bookboys blanched. They, pampered as Young Master’s attendants, would never endure the rough life of the stables. They quickly shrank back, pretending to have seen nothing, though their hearts simmered with resentment. They were Jinrong’s own attendants, after all. Even if Tong Mama held authority, she need not treat them so harshly.
Tong Mama, however, had no time for their petty grievances. Inside, Gu Lan was already speaking.
“…I know you must despise me now. But Brother Jinrong, we grew up together. That letter asking about Yuping—I never imagined Aunt Song would twist it into something so cruel. Even if I was wrong, do you truly not remember how I once cared for you? When you lay burning with fever, longing for fresh lotus pods though autumn had already passed, I searched the city until I found them. When you fell from the rockery and broke your leg, I stayed by your side for more than a month, cutting paper figures to keep you company so you would not feel alone…”
Jinrong stared at her in silence. Her face was full of innocence and tender affection.
Once, such words would have moved him deeply. But now, when he heard them, he saw only his mother’s deathly stillness, and the look of pain and disappointment in his elder sister’s eyes. His gaze turned cold. Hidden in his sleeve, his hand clenched tightly.
Tong Mama had said that Gu Lan had long worked to estrange him from his sister—Yuxiang herself had confessed it. And all of it had been under Concubine Song’s orders. If the siblings were set against each other, the position of the main wife’s line would be easier to usurp.
Nonsense! She claimed to have cared for him? What she truly desired was the glory and honor of a legitimate daughter’s station!
Was she so innocent, as she now pretended? Even now she sought to deceive him! That once-gentle, pretty face now seemed hateful in his eyes.
Gu Lan grew anxious at his silence. Why was he unmoved?
She opened the box she carried. Inside lay a carved ivory piece, eighteen Arhats painstakingly etched upon it, lifelike and exquisite.
She pleaded:
“…This was a gift you once gave me. I have kept it always, treasuring the regard it bore. Brother Rong’er, I beg you for one thing. Aunt Song now lives at Linyan Pavilion, heavy with child, yet with no one to truly care for her. The two maids sent to her are constantly tormenting her—she cannot bear it!
That day, when Aunt Song brought Yuping before Father, it was only to speak the truth, not to harm Madam. The Eldest Miss misunderstood, and now shows such cruelty—sending two sharp-tongued maids to serve her. But Aunt Song carries the Gu family’s child. You must help her.
If you refuse, then Elder Sister can only kneel before you to beg!”
Her eyes brimmed with tears, her expression pitiable beyond words—as though burdened with grievous injustice.
But Gu Jinrong, gazing at the ivory carving in her hands, felt no stir of tenderness—only a swelling fury in his chest.
In the past, he had treated her so sincerely as his elder sister. She once said she liked ivory carvings, so he forced himself to learn the craft, neglecting his studies just to please her. The gift he brought for his true elder sister, however, was nothing but a trinket from Jade Stone Hall—a common jade pendant carved with the symbols of fortune and longevity!
When his elder sister saw the present he had prepared for Gu Lan, then compared it to the one he had given her, how could she not have felt chilled to the core?
A coldness swept through Jinrong’s body. What foolish, shameful things had I done?
Fixing Gu Lan with a frosty gaze, he said:
“When I lay fevered and burning, it was my mother who nursed me day and night, never resting, never loosening her clothes. When I broke my leg, it was she who sought physicians and remedies for me everywhere. All those things you did—how could they compare to what my mother gave me?”
“And now you play the innocent, shifting all blame onto Concubine Song? In truth, you are just as selfish and self-serving! Do you think I know nothing? The affair with Da Huang, your maid Ziling, the matter with Madam Wen—dare you claim you knew nothing, that it was all your mother’s doing? This pitiful act of yours—you wear it well!”
He sneered and pressed on:
“Heaven sees all, and man cannot hide from it. There will always be voices to speak the truth. Yuxiang, that maid of your mother’s, has confessed everything—how you conspired with your concubine-mother, deed after deed. Listening to it, I felt only shame on your behalf! How dare you still come weeping innocence before me?”
Gu Lan froze. Yuxiang… Yuxiang… No wonder the stewards had ignored her these past few days, no wonder she had been barred from seeing her mother. So Yuxiang had betrayed them—told everything!
A tremor of fear ran through her. If her mother could not rise again, what would become of them? Desperate, she flung herself forward, clutching Jinrong’s sleeve, sobbing:
“That maid is no longer my mother’s! It must be the Eldest Miss who forced her to invent lies… Brother Rong’er, you cannot refuse me—please, you must help!”
But Jinrong suddenly tore his arm free and roared:
“You dare still ask my help? Ask me to help the concubine who destroyed my mother? And you even dare slander my elder sister, laying all blame at her feet—do you feel no shame? Do you have no face left?”
He seized the ivory carving from her box and hurled it at her with all his might.
“Take this and get out! Pretend I never gave it to you! Get out!”
The carving’s sharp edge grazed her brow, leaving a crimson gash from which blood welled instantly. Stunned, Gu Lan clutched her forehead, dazed with disbelief. Jinrong—he had actually struck her, dared to fling a gift at her head!
How had she forgotten? Jinrong was the easiest to provoke, impulsive to the extreme! Once, she had wielded this very weakness against Jinchao. Now it was Jinchao who wielded it against her!
Gu Lan wiped the blood away, her shame mingled with rage. To come begging like this, only to be not merely refused but humiliated!
Cruel-hearted Jinrong! Even if she had harmed his mother, she had never harmed him directly. Had her heart been truly vicious, she could have struck at him long ago!
And after all, they had been brother and sister for so many years. Was he truly resolved to sever all ties?
For a moment she was silent. Then, to Jinrong’s surprise, she began to laugh. Tears still glistened on her cheeks, yet her lips curved in a ghostly smile.
“Brother Rong’er, with this, you truly no longer see me as your sister.”
Her tone carried a wistful note, and then she nodded, as though in lament.
“Do you know why you rage so fiercely? Because deep down you know the truth—can you truly place all blame for your mother’s death on me? No. You rage because of guilt, because of self-reproach. You know your elder sister will never forgive you. That knowledge gnaws at you, doesn’t it?”
Jinrong glared, lips pressed tight.
Gu Lan gave a cold laugh.
“The truth is, your mother always knew of the discord between you and your sister. It broke her heart. I daresay, even at her dying breath, she still thought of you. It was you who killed her, not me. Do you understand?”
His hands clenched hard. Somewhere deep within, he could not deny it. Yes—his anger was but a mask for guilt. He knew it was his own fault. He bit down on his lip.
“This is my burden,” he said hoarsely. “It has nothing to do with you.”
Blood trickled down Gu Lan’s brow, mingling with her tears, yet her smile only grew brighter. She looked at him with a chilling radiance and declared:
“…Remember this well. Everything you and Gu Jinchao have taken from me—I will take back, one by one. This is far from over.”
With that, she rose, straightened her spine with graceful poise, and walked away. She did not so much as glance at the ivory carving that lay discarded on the floor.