Supporting the old madam, Li Jiayu endured her pain and hurried along on bound feet, eager to haul this troublemaker to the front courtyard. Once there, they would hold a proper tribunal and teach the foolish woman a harsh lesson.
At the very least, they needed to make her realize today that slandering the Xie family of the Cheng Manor came with consequences far beyond what an unlucky, discarded woman from the gutter could ever bear.
Intent on punishing Yu Fanfan, the group moved directly to the main hall where the men usually received guests.
The old madam led the way, and the mistresses took their seats one after another, their expressions dark as they glared at Yu Fanfan, deliberately left standing alone in the center of the hall.
“Madam Yu, what insolence!”
As soon as they were seated, the duchess, occupying the guest of honor’s seat to the left below the old madam, slammed her hand onto the table, her voice sharp with fury.
Her fierce demeanor brought a look of satisfaction to the old madam, who had barely settled into her own seat. To her mind, the former granddaughter-in-law standing below was merely an ignorant fool from a ruined household, hardly worthy of her personal rebuke.
Fortunately, the eldest daughter-in-law knew her place. Realizing she had botched the matter, she was eager to make amends, and the old madam was willing to spare her some face.
Having lured the troublemaker inside where things could be handled behind closed doors away from prying eyes, the old madam’s previous fury dissolved into a calm, unhurried composure. She was more than happy to let her eldest daughter-in-law redeem herself.
Watching the sudden shift in demeanor as everyone adopted an air of smug superiority, Yu Fanfan found it absurd. Did they honestly think that stepping into their courtyard, surrounded by their servants and guards, would make her cower? Did they think they could bully her however they pleased? She was not the original Yu Fanfan.
If she were so easily intimidated, she would never have walked in here in the first place. Did they think everything she had just shouted to the onlookers outside was an empty bluff?
Standing in the center of the hall, Yu Fanfan surveyed the room full of women. A cold smirk touched her lips as she shot back at the meddlesome woman who had practically pointed a finger in her face:
“How amusing. If I didn’t have nerve, I wouldn’t have stepped into a den of vicious women who eat people alive.”
The flippant tone and blunt mockery stung the meddlesome old woman so sharply that she slammed her jade-white palm onto the table again, heedless of the pain. Whether trying to bolster her authority or simply driven mad with rage, the resounding bang set the freshly served teacups rattling.
Eyes wide with fury, she pointed a trembling finger at Yu Fanfan’s nose, clutching a handkerchief in her other fist.
“You—you, Madam Yu, how dare you!”
Dare I? Yu Fanfan sneered inwardly.
She had far worse in store for them, and they were about to see it. Refusing to endure the stifling life the original host had lived, she cast all restraint aside.
Yu Fanfan raised her right hand and casually picked at her ear with her pinky finger. Her brazen, insolent demeanor flaunted every ounce of her rebellious streak, sending the noblewomen in the room into fits of apoplexy.
As they struggled to calm their heaving chests and rein in their rising fury, she pressed on, utterly merciless.
“Listen, can we stop wasting time? I have a tight schedule. Don’t say I didn’t warn you—an incense stick burns down fast! If I’m not out of here by then, it won’t even take until tomorrow for everyone to hear how the Duke of Cheng’s Manor murders for money and slaughters the orphan of an imperial court frontier general. So, darlings, can we talk properly now?”
She spoke with such breezy smugness that Yu Fanfan could practically hear the women grinding their teeth.
“You… you… Madam Yu, how did you become so vicious? You deserve to die!”
Furious with themselves, they wondered how they could have forgotten that this wretched woman had laid such a trap before even stepping through their doors. When had she ever possessed that kind of cunning?
No matter how humiliated and indignant they felt, now was not the time to dwell on it. The pressing issue was defusing the crisis—getting rid of this damned fool without causing a public scandal, while somehow clearing their own names in the process.
“Madam Yu, what on earth do you want from all this fuss?” the duchess practically roared.
“What do I want?” Yu Fanfan spread her hands innocently. “It’s quite simple, really. It just depends on whether you’re willing to give it to me.”
“You… you’ve got nerve, Madam Yu! Aren’t you afraid to die?”
After enduring years of hardship to finally rise to her current position as duchess, she would not allow anything to go wrong. Nor would she tolerate defiance from someone she despised—especially an insignificant insect she had never cared about.
Yu Fanfan deserved to die.
Murderous intent dripped from the duchess’s eyes and voice.
Yet Yu Fanfan remained completely unbothered. Chuckling mockingly, she ignored Li Jiayu’s fury and swept her gaze across the room.
These people wished she would drop dead this instant, eager to flay her alive for staining their reputations. But Yu Fanfan had nothing left to lose, and she carried herself with reckless abandon.
“Oh my, I’m so scared! Hahaha…”
The drama queen in Yu Fanfan took center stage again, court-martialing death with relish.
“Really, I’m terrified! There are so many of you and only one of me. All it would take is for each of you to spit once, and I’d drown. How could I not be scared?
“Terrified as I am, my death is a small price to pay if it exposes your vicious nature to the world and shows everyone just how ruthless the Cheng Manor truly is.
“I have nothing to lose, so why should I fear those who have everything? Since you leave me no way out, I might as well charge headlong toward death with a broadsword on my shoulder.
“Of course, my death alone might not cause you any real harm. After all, who are you? You’re the noble, untouchable ladies of a ducal estate.
“Still, my dear ladies, don’t forget what I said before. Since I dared to come here, I was fully prepared to die and never make it out alive. If I don’t walk out of here by the appointed time today, your manor will pay the price.
“Whenever the people of Great Qi mention the Xie family over tea, they’ll call you a den of black-hearted cannibals. Every single one of you will be known as vicious, venomous shrews, earning a glorious reputation that will surely live on for ages.”
“People might keep quiet to your faces out of fear of your power, but behind your backs, across all of Great Qi—from city playhouses to country folk songs, in stage plays and over idle teahouse gossip—you venomous women and the Cheng Manor will be the laughingstock of the entire world!
“Sure, you might never hear it, or you might not even care. Perched high above everyone else, you can easily brush off the talk of commoners. But your reputation is ruined, and with two generations of vile mothers-in-law tormenting people under your roof, what decent family with any pedigree would dare marry into the Xie family from now on? Whether it’s your sons taking wives or your daughters finding husbands, nobody will touch you.”
Yu Fanfan tapped her forehead repeatedly in mock realization, radiating pure schadenfreude.
“Oh, right, how could I forget! The Xie family is truly formidable. The Duke of Cheng holds a grant of iron-inscribed exemption—so formidable you don’t even put His Majesty or the imperial court in your eyes!”
“To you, the orphan of a border general can be killed on a whim. The laws of the imperial court mean nothing! In your eyes, you are heaven itself!
“So tell me—does your ‘heaven’ know how arrogant you are, treating him as though he is nothing? Behind your backs, how does he view you? And what about the rest of the world? How will they see people who act with such blatant malice?
“Tell me, with such unchecked arrogance, will someone eventually bestow upon you the grand reputation of holding both the court and His Majesty in contempt? Tsk, tsk…”
“Stop! Stop it!” the old madam cried out, her head throbbing in terror with every word.
“Eldest Daughter-in-law, make her shut up! Settle this and get rid of her immediately—do not let her say another word!”
She had never imagined that this foolish woman, who had spent the last three years cowering with her head bowed, could be so sharp, aggressive, and articulate.
With her head buzzing, the old madam wanted nothing more than to silence this abandoned wretch and throw the reckless nuisance out through the front gates.
The wretched girl had hit them right where it hurt, laying bare the ugly truths they feared most. How could it not make their blood boil and their heads throb?
The old madam let out an involuntary groan, pressing a hand to her brow.
Refusing to even look at Yu Fanfan, she wanted nothing more than to end this mess—satisfy the foolish woman’s demands and throw her out before she caused an even bigger scene.
Yet while the old madam sought to wash her hands of the matter, the duchess was left dumbfounded by the order. How was she supposed to just get rid of her? Was this mess hers alone to deal with?
Still, the old crone held all the power in the household. Li Jiayu’s position as duchess was hollow and illegitimate, leaving her constantly constrained. Under someone else’s roof, she had no choice but to bow her head.
Swallowing her fury, Li Jiayu glared venomously at Yu Fanfan.
“Fine, you win!” she spat, biting off every word. “Stop talking, Madam Yu. Since you’ve come to our door, you must want something. Out with it. If it’s within my power, I’ll be generous this once—for the sake of the three years you spent with my son—and indulge you.”
There was nothing to be done today. The little wretch had seized the upper hand and backed her into a corner. But it did not matter. Once today’s commotion settled and the crowd outside dispersed… Li Jiayu sneered inwardly. With so many people in the capital, who would notice if one or two went missing?
Patience and endurance were things she had in abundance. She could afford to wait.
Yu Fanfan had no idea the old hen was plotting malice again; she was too busy negotiating her immediate terms. As for what would happen later—where she would go once she had her money, or how she would stay alive after walking out these gates—those were problems for when she was actually outside.
“Of course I have conditions,” Yu Fanfan said bluntly.
Why else would she have gone to the trouble of staging such an elaborate scene? Ruining the reputations of these vicious women and the Cheng Manor to avenge the original host was only part of it.
More importantly, she needed to secure her own future.