“Mmm… hmm…”
The sticky, breathless sounds drifting from the room made everyone’s expressions turn grim. Mixed in were the low, heavy groans of a man leaving no doubt as to the shameful, absurd scene playing out behind the door. There was no need to push it open; everyone present knew exactly what was happening inside.
“Ah !” Cao Lingtang drew in a sharp breath. He immediately stepped forward to stand in front of Zhou Hongbo, barking orders, “What are you all standing around for? Get all the servants out of the courtyard at once!!”
He turned back to see his father, Cao Jianfeng, his face dark as thunder, while his mother, Liu Ruoyan, was so pale she looked ready to faint.
Cao Lingtang had thought his friend would be upset, but when he glanced down, he saw that Zhou Hongbo’s palms were raw and bleeding he had clenched his fists so tight in heartbreak that his nails had pierced right through the skin.
“Hongbo, you ”
Amid the lewd noises, chaos erupted in the courtyard. No one dared to step forward and open the door until Aunt Peng Xue sauntered over, swaying her hips. Hearing the sounds inside, she let out a dramatic gasp, feigning deep distress as she pressed a hand to her chest and wailed, “Oh my goodness! How could Yun’er do something so disgraceful?!”
She glanced sharply at the old nanny standing nearby and commanded, “Go inside this instant! Drag that shameless adulterer out here!”
Before Cao Lingtang could stop her, the nanny rushed forward like a bolt of lightning and threw open the door. Ignoring the obscene spectacle inside, she grabbed the two people tangled together and dragged them out, one by each arm.
Acting on Peng Xue’s unspoken instructions, she did not even bother to wrap the woman on the bed in proper clothing. Instead, she threw them both onto the ground disheveled, disoriented, and exposed.
“You… you… you!”
Cao Jianfeng was so furious his mustache bristled. Liu Ruoyan had long since dissolved into tears. The figure lying on the ground, whom everyone believed to be Cao Lingyun, was still under the influence of the drug. Her face was hidden by messy hair, and she writhed restlessly like a wild, delirious animal.
“Ah, Yun’er… how could you be so foolish?!” Peng Xue fanned herself slowly, her face twisting with undisguised triumph and schadenfreude.
Cao Lingtang, heartbroken and ashamed, was about to take off his outer robe and cover the woman on the ground when a clear, crisp voice rang out from the corridor.
“What in the world is happening here?”
Shocked, everyone turned at once. Standing under the eaves was Cao Lingyun, dressed in her pomegranate-red silk gown. She was nibbling on a dried persimmon, her eyes wide with apparent surprise.
No one spoke immediately in response to her innocent question; they all stood frozen in place. But Zhou Hongbo who had been dazed and devastated until that moment suddenly seemed to come back to life. The next second, he rushed toward her like a gust of wind, looking her over from head to toe to make sure she was unharmed. Only then did he let out a long, shaky breath. He stepped closer, wrapped his arms firmly around her, and held her tight.
“Thank heavens… you’re safe…”
The quiet, earnest whisper brushed against her ear. Cao Lingyun shivered slightly. Unbidden, her mind drifted back to her past life after she had been married off to that poor, petty scholar. This famous, noble Duke Bo had insisted on coming to her home several times just to formally break off their engagement. He had even returned the betrothal gifts, doubling the amount and telling her to keep it to support her family. In the end, frustrated and angry on her behalf, he had volunteered for a post at the border, vowing never to return to the capital until he had conquered the Bailiangda tribe.
She wondered… when she died back then, had he ever come back?
Her wandering thoughts were pulled sharply back to the present by the tightness of his embrace, which was starting to ache. Cao Lingyun collected herself, sighed softly, and reminded him gently near his ear, “Young Duke… please let go of me first. This isn’t proper.”
Only then did Zhou Hongbo seem to realize what he was doing. He released her reluctantly, looking down at her intently. His eyes were misted over, bright with the overwhelming relief of having found something he thought he had lost forever.
“I apologize. I was out of line.”
Sensing his clear, unwavering gaze following her every move, Cao Lingyun’s heart stirred. She quickly looked away. Then, exactly as she had planned, she glanced with feigned hesitation at the disheveled woman lying on the ground, and called out loudly in surprise, “Sister?!”
Her cry finally broke the spell holding the crowd. Peng Xue was the first to react. She rushed forward in a frenzy and roughly pulled the hair back from the woman’s face revealing the flushed, dazed features of Cao Linglan.
“Good heavens!! Lan’er… it’s you!!”
Peng Xue collapsed onto the ground, unable to believe her eyes, shrieking in spasms of panic.
“You… you… wicked, unfilial girl !” Cao Jianfeng’s heart, which had just begun to settle, leapt into his throat again. He was so enraged his mustache seemed to turn gray right before their eyes. He stared at Cao Linglan still delirious, her body exposed and marked with the traces of her misconduct and sucked in a sharp breath. “Guards! Kill that adulterer! Drag him out and feed him to the dogs!”
Cao Linglan flinched violently at his roar. Some clarity finally returned to her mind. She looked down at her own body, covered in telltale bruises and signs of intimacy, and let out a bloodcurdling scream before fainting dead away.
Before Peng Xue could beg for mercy, Cao Jianfeng swept his sleeves aside in fury and declared, “This is the fine daughter you raised! Guards! Lock her up in the ancestral hall and make her kneel in repentance! Let our ancestors look upon this face that has brought shame and ruin to the entire Cao clan!!”
“Master! Master !”
Amid Peng Xue’s wailing and pleas, Cao Linglan was wrapped roughly in a tattered cloth and dragged away like a corpse.
In the silence that fell over the servants, Cao Lingyun finished her dried persimmon at a leisurely pace and wiped her fingers with a look of deep satisfaction.
Noticing her brother and brother-in-law watching her with concern, she put on a face of pure, innocent bewilderment and smiled sweetly.
Now that her score with Cao Linglan was settled, Cao Lingyun felt a heavy weight lift from her shoulders. Of the two people she hated most in the world, she had already dealt with one. As for the other… she calculated the dates for the provincial examinations. It would still be some time before Zhang Yachu would appear on the scene.
And in the time between now and then, there were things she intended to do things she had always wanted to do.
That day, after helping Cao Jianfeng and Liu Ruoyan sort through the chaos left behind by the ruined birthday celebration, her parents feeling guilty over everything that had happened gave her permission to come and go from the estate as she pleased. She was no longer bound by the old rule that allowed her out only once every fifteen days.
The weather was bright and crisp. She boarded her light carriage and traveled once again to the Tang residence.
She gave Madam Tang a half-truthful account of the “thief incident” in her courtyard, speaking vaguely and nervously to avoid any probing questions. Then she leaned out and caught hold of the hem of Old Master Tang’s robe he was sneaking quietly toward the gate, bent over, trying to slip out unnoticed.
“Auntie Tang! Look at this! Uncle Tang is trying to sneak out fishing behind your back again!”
Caught red-handed, the old man stood awkwardly as Madam Tang dragged him inside by the ear. When he saw Cao Lingyun standing there smiling, he glared at her and huffed, his beard bristling.
“Little girl… what do you want with this old man?”
Cao Lingyun did not beat around the bush. She spoke directly. “Master… I want to open a school!”
Something I’ve wanted to do since my last life… she added silently in her heart. She loved children, but had never been able to watch her own child grow up healthy and strong. That regret had haunted her ever since.
“What’s that got to do with me?” The old scholar lifted an eyelid and yawned.
“Everyone knows how respected and wise you are! Who else could take on the great responsibility of teaching and guiding children?” Cao Lingyun beamed, moving closer to the couple. She decided to take an indirect approach and began gently massaging Madam Tang’s back. “Auntie, you’ve always been so kind to me… please, won’t you speak to Uncle Tang on my behalf…?”
Her tactic proved brilliant. It took barely a quarter of an hour before the old scholar finally gave in and nodded in resignation. Still, he could not help but grumble, “You little imp… I doubt you’ll keep this up for more than a few days. And if you really want to open a school, do you expect an old man like me to be the only teacher?!”