“I was embroidering a handkerchief,” Zhang Zhiyan calmly shifted her posture and took out a piece of snow-shadow gauze from her embroidery frame, on which only a single petal had been stitched.
“Since you’re ill, why didn’t you rest properly and instead went to Ji Ming Si? And you even had a run-in with the officers from Wu De Si. Do you know that Liu Lang is notorious for his philandering? He’s nothing but a cunning and wicked scoundrel.”
Zhang Zhiyan showed no intention of rising to greet her husband. She simply gazed at the needle and thread in her hand and replied calmly, “I went to the temple to pray for a child. It just so happened that the guards from Wu De Si were pursuing an assassin. The ladies from other households witnessed it as well.”
“Hah,” Liao Chuan stood with his hands behind his back and sneered, “But they weren’t escorted back by the guards of Liu Lang from the Surveillance Bureau. Only you were.”
Zhang Zhiyan didn’t even glance at Liao Chuan. “What should I do then? Will you divorce me?”
Liao Chuan took a step closer and pinched her chin. “If you truly wish to leave, one day, I might just grant your wish. I also heard you spoke back to Mother and bullied Mingzhu?”
Zhang Zhiyan slapped his hand away and stood up angrily. “Liao Chuan, let me be clear with you. Whoever wants to be the mistress of this household can have it. If you don’t want to live in peace, there will be quite a show to watch.”
The Zhang Zhiyan of the past had always been gentle and meek, eagerly speaking to him whenever he arrived, enduring everything without complaint. She had never been like this before, and Liao Chuan felt as though something had changed.
His expression turned stern as he frowned at her. “You truly are audacious. Mother was right.”
Before he could finish, Zhang Zhiyan interrupted him. “Your mother and sister are, of course, always right. If there’s nothing else, you may leave. I still need to recuperate. As for when you plan to divorce me, just let me know in advance.”
Liao Chuan was momentarily at a loss for words. Just as he was about to retort, Zhang Zhiyan pushed him out the door and slammed the inner chamber door shut.
For the first time, Liao Chuan was left standing outside a closed door. He strode briskly to his study.
On the first day of the fourth lunar month, Madam Xia, the Duchess of Huguo, took Liao Mingzhu to White Horse Temple to pray for a good marriage for her beloved daughter.
Zhang Zhiyan excused herself on account of her illness and did not accompany them. Madam Xia had no desire to bring her along either, preferring to keep her out of sight and out of mind.
In Yu Qiong Yuan, after several days of rest and recuperation, Zhang Zhiyan had fully recovered from her cold. She changed into a brocade dress with scattered floral patterns and wide sleeves, styled her hair into a peach-heart bun, and applied a refined and formal makeup. Accompanied by the maids from her courtyard, she made her way to the outer residence.
Duke of Huguo, Liao Pengzhen, had just returned from court not long ago. After finishing his breakfast, he was now in his study reading letters.
“Your Grace, the mistress requests an audience. She says it is a matter of great importance,” the attendant Liao Zhong announced at the door.
The Duke frowned. Matters of the inner courtyard were usually handled by his daughter-in-law, Madam Zhang. Why would she suddenly come to report to him, her father-in-law, in his study?
“Let her in.”
“Your daughter-in-law pays her respects to Father-in-law,” Zhang Zhiyan curtsied.
“Matters of the inner courtyard should be reported to your mother-in-law,” the Duke said, having no time to deal with such affairs.
“Your daughter-in-law does not know what to do. During my illness, someone attempted to poison my food with arsenic. I secretly caught the culprit, who confessed that Mingzhu was the one who ordered it.” As she spoke, Zhang Zhiyan wore a look of grievance, her eyes reddening. “I know I have never won my husband’s affection since entering this household, but my sister-in-law need not resort to poisoning to harm me.”
Family scandals should not be aired in public. The Duke knew his legitimate daughter was troublesome and privately suspected this might very well be true, but he could not admit it. “It must be a wicked servant scheming against her mistress. Have that servant woman beaten to death.”
"I was thinking the same, that we must not implicate Mingzhu, but unexpectedly, the servant woman claimed to be Mingzhu's paternal aunt. I was momentarily at a loss, so I questioned her further…" Zhang Zhiyan's voice grew softer.
"What did the wicked servant say?" Huguo-gong set down the letter and tucked it into a drawer.
"I suspected it was a wicked servant framing her master, so I didn't believe her and subjected her to severe interrogation. She said that Mingzhu is the daughter of her brother and the Duchess." After speaking, Zhang Zhiyan cautiously observed Huguo-gong's expression.
This earth-shattering secret was something Zhang Zhiyan had accidentally discovered in her previous life, but out of kindness, she had kept it to herself. Looking back now, perhaps this was also one of the triggers that led to her poisoning. Well, she would let the storm come faster and fiercer.
Huguo-gong's expression turned extremely grim. Gnashing his teeth, he said, "I don't believe a single word of it. Bring them all here."
"Yes. I have already brought them, including the midwife from back then, for you to interrogate personally." This was the moment Zhang Zhiyan had been waiting for. On the third day of the lunar month, Liao Mingzhu would likely be unable to attend the flower-viewing banquet at Wenguo-gong-fu.
Zhang Zhiyan voluntarily stepped outside the study and stood with her head bowed. Ever since discovering that arsenic had been added to her food, she had instructed Lüzhu to take trusted dowry maids to investigate, following the clues step by step.
This secret—she would not hide it as she had in her previous life. Exposing it would make things far more interesting.
Before long, Huguo-gong's furious voice erupted from the study, and the steward was summoned inside.
Before noon arrived, Duchess Xia returned with Liao Mingzhu in tow. She was somewhat impatient and led her maids to wait in the outer study.
"What is going on? Why did His Lordship urgently summon us back? Has something happened in the estate again?" As Madam Xia rounded the corridor, she saw Zhang Zhiyan standing respectfully at the study door. Looking down at her, she asked, "It couldn't be because you were escorted back to the estate by a group of unrelated men, and His Lordship flew into a rage, could it?"
Zhang Zhiyan smiled gently. "In reply to Mother-in-law, it is not about me, but about Mingzhu."
At this moment, Madam Xia was completely unaware and utterly confused. Puzzled, she entered the study, and the steward closed the door behind her.
A short while later, Liao Mingzhu, having changed her clothes, also came to the outer study to request an audience with His Lordship. Unexpectedly, the steward suddenly gestured, and two matrons stepped forward to bind Liao Mingzhu, stuffing a cloth strip into her mouth.
Liao Mingzhu had no idea what was happening and could only stare wide-eyed, continuously making "mmph" sounds from her gagged mouth, but no one paid her any attention.
From the study came Madam Xia's weeping, angry shouts, which then turned into pleas for mercy before finally falling silent.
Madam Xia's attendant, Matron Xia, was dragged out by two servants into the outer courtyard. There, the steward pulled off her false hair bun and stripped off her pants. Two servants stood on either side, ready to begin the caning.
"Summon all the servants to witness the punishment," ordered His Lordship, standing at the study door, his voice booming.
Zhang Zhiyan glanced inside. There, looking like a defeated dog, was Madam Xia—a cloth strip stuffed in her mouth, her hair disheveled, her eyes vacant.
When the gathered servants arrived in the outer courtyard, they discovered that Matron Xia, who was being caned, was actually a man disguised as a woman. Though filled with questions, they dared not speak, swallowing their words and resolving never to discuss the matter openly again.
The sound of the board striking flesh rose and fell intermittently. Duchess Xia emitted faint, broken sobs. She could never have imagined that she, who should have been living a life of luxury and honor, would suddenly fall into such a predicament. She could not understand where things had gone wrong.
The young lady Liao Mingzhu, also bound and struggling incessantly, kept whimpering, unable to utter a complete sentence. Her gaze toward Zhang Zhiyan was as if laced with venom.
Zhang Zhiyan paid no mind, instead looking at Liao Mingzhu with a faint smile and a slight nod.
After the caning punishment concluded, the Duke stood with his hands behind his back, letting out a long sigh. "Everyone, disperse." All the servants and maids in the courtyard withdrew.
Zhang Zhiyan curtsied and then left the outer study. The steward gave a meaningful glance, and two matrons escorted Liao Mingzhu into the study.
"Matron Xia" on the long bench had been beaten until she was covered in blood, barely breathing. The steward ordered someone to wrap "Matron Xia" in a mat and carry her toward the rear gate of the estate. All the standing servants and guards in the courtyard lowered their heads and kept silent, the quietness eerie.
The night was long and deep, the moon dim and obscure.
Zhang Zhiyan was diligently copying Buddhist scriptures in her small study when suddenly, the door was kicked open. The intruder was Liao Chuan. "You wretch, was it you who plotted against my mother and sister?"