The handkerchief slid slowly to the ground from the hem of Mingyi’s pale blue dress. Mingyi’s eyelid twitched.
What she had feared had happened after all.
Yuegui was stunned, too, when she saw the familiar handkerchief.
Huayan gave Mingyi no chance to deny it. Pressing her relentlessly, she said, “There are plum blossoms embroidered on this handkerchief. Yours is the only one like it in the entire Zong Residence. Tell me, then—how did something so personal of yours end up in Second Master[1]A household title identifying a male master by his position in the family’s birth order, rather than by his personal name. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3733112_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3733112_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });’s room? Don’t just stand there pretending to be mute. Speak!”
“Did you seduce Second Master because you wanted to climb into a higher branch? Is that why you secretly slipped your handkerchief into his room?”
Huayan wore an expression that said she had known all along. She sneered, “First Madam[2]A household form of address for the wife of the senior son or principal master of a family branch. It denotes her position within the household hierarchy. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3733112_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3733112_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); and Old Madam[3]A respectful household title for the senior female family elder or matriarch, often the mother of the household’s adult masters. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3733112_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3733112_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); have treated you well, and yet you’ve let yourself harbor such wicked thoughts? You have no shame!”
Slap!
Without a word, Mingyi struck Huayan hard across the face.
Dazed by the blow, Huayan clutched her cheek and stared at her in disbelief.
Mingyi paid no attention to her reaction. She bent down, picked up the handkerchief, then looked at Huayan with calm, icy detachment.
Until now, she had thought Huayan’s pretty face made her quite likable. Now she found her utterly tiresome, no different from the flowers and weeds by the roadside.
The clear, cool gaze in Mingyi’s eyes inexplicably unnerved Huayan. The string of insults on her tongue died there, and her bravado faltered.
Mingyi said coldly, “Is this how the Zong Residence teaches its servants—to point fingers at their masters and shout at them?”
Huayan was about to retort, “What kind of master are you?” when Mingyi cut in sharply, “Or is Old Madam displeased with me and sent you to humiliate me?”
“Fine! Even if I have to pack up and leave the Zong Residence today, I’ll get to the bottom of this. What have I done to offend you all, that you hate me so much and would ruin my reputation like this?”
Before Huayan could react, Mingyi seized her wrist, gripping it hard, as if determined to make a scene of the whole affair.
Huayan had stolen something from Zong Xian’s room, so she was already guilty enough. How could she let Old Madam find out?
If Old Madam found out, Zong Xian would find out too. The Zong Residence punished servants severely for sticky fingers, and Huayan was afraid.
She had only meant to make Mingyi back down. She had never wanted things to get out of hand!
She struggled frantically and blurted, “Wait, don’t drag me! Old Madam didn’t send me. Let go of me…”
Mingyi ignored her. Though slender, she was surprisingly strong, and Huayan couldn’t break free no matter how hard she struggled.
Seeing that Mingyi was determined, Huayan gritted her teeth and shouted, “I was wrong! I was wrong!!”
Only then did Mingyi stop and turn to look at her, her face icy.
Huayan was truly afraid of her now. She glanced at the handkerchief in Mingyi’s hand and said, reluctantly, “I picked it up somewhere else. I didn’t find it in Second Master’s room!”
When Mingyi saw her back down, she gave a cold snort and released her wrist. “Then why did you accuse me?”
Huayan bit her lip hard and said nothing.
She would never tell Ji Mingyi that she had taken out her resentment on her because Second Master had been ignoring her. Mingyi was so beautiful—and, on top of that, the easiest to bully.
Huayan had never expected that Ji Mingyi, who usually seemed the meekest of all, would be so stubborn when angered—and would even dare to hit someone!
Mingyi saw that Huayan remained silent and didn’t expect her to have anything worthwhile to say. She carefully put away the handkerchief she had finally recovered, intending to leave with Yuegui.
But when she looked up, she saw Yuegui with her head bowed, eyes fixed on the tips of her shoes.
Mingyi’s gaze inadvertently passed over the bronze mirror on the wall, and her scalp prickled.
Huayan saw Zong Xian, too. Her face went deathly pale, and she stumbled back a step. “S-Second Master…”
Zong Xian asked, “What’s going on?”
Huayan said, “N-nothing. This servant was just talking with Cousin…”
Before Huayan could finish, Zong Xian interrupted her in a quiet voice. “I wasn’t asking you.”
Mingyi turned around, bracing herself, and kept her eyes on the belt of his official robe. “It’s nothing serious. Huayan and I were just fooling around.”
Zong Xian stood with his hands behind his back and raised an eyebrow. “If you were just fooling around, why is there a handprint on her face? Did you hit her?”
Mingyi was briefly at a loss for words, unsure how best to answer.
If she admitted it, she would have to explain why she had hit Huayan. She could say Huayan had been rude and disrespectful, but then the image she had cultivated in the Zong Residence as meek and harmless would be ruined.
That hardly mattered. The real problem was that Zong Xian might insist on taking her side and demand every detail. Then she would inevitably have to bring up the handkerchief, and that was a land mine.
Besides, Mingyi wasn’t confident she could lie to Zong Xian and get away unscathed. If it reached Old Madam Zong, things would get complicated.
Mingyi was flustered and just about to speak when Huayan suddenly said behind her, “Cousin didn’t hit me. I did it to myself. It has nothing to do with her!”
Mingyi’s expression changed slightly, and she instinctively looked up at Zong Xian.
Zong Xian said, “Liar.”
The two coolly spoken words made Huayan’s legs go weak. She dropped to her knees with a thud!
What difference was there between that and admitting it?
Mingyi glanced back at her. What a coward! Where had all that bluster gone when she was smearing Mingyi just now?
Mingyi drew a quiet breath and lowered her eyes, explaining softly, “She was disrespectful to me first. I struck her in a moment of anger. I was impulsive; please forgive me for making you witness it, Second Uncle.”
Huayan trembled and didn’t dare say a word.
Zong Xian didn’t spare Huayan another glance. His gaze settled on Mingyi’s cheek, and he said casually,
“A lowly maid who dares defy her betters and ignores the proper order of rank has committed a grave offense. You were angry; you could have killed her outright and needn’t feel guilty. But if it happens again, just hand the maid over to the household steward. There’s no need to act yourself.”
Zong Xian tilted his head slightly. “Chang Yu.”
Chang Yu understood at once and stepped forward. To Huayan, who was already deathly pale and unable to make a sound, he said coldly, “Come with me.”
Zong Xian’s utterly cold words sent a chill through Mingyi.
But what shocked and bewildered her even more was that he had agreed only moments ago to take Huayan as a bedchamber attendant at Old Madam’s request, yet now he treated her life as if it were worthless, with utter callousness!
Huayan cried for mercy, kneeling and banging her head against the floor.
Mingyi hurriedly clasped the man’s arm with both hands, her gaze fixed on Zong Xian as she pleaded,
“Second Master, Huayan’s crime doesn’t deserve death. I’ve already gotten justice for myself. Please let this matter end here, all right?”
She had never hurt anyone, much less killed anyone. If Huayan died because of her, Mingyi would never be able to eat or sleep in peace.
Besides, Huayan truly didn’t deserve to die.
Seeing Mingyi plead for her, Huayan was startled. Then a glimmer of hope rose in her, and she gazed at Zong Xian with tear-filled eyes.
Chang Yu waited nearby without moving.
Zong Xian lowered his eyes to look at Ji Mingyi, his dark gaze unreadable. “You want me to spare her?”
Mingyi nodded quickly.
But then Zong Xian raised his hand.
The jade thumb ring on his finger brushed Mingyi’s face. Its touch was bone-chillingly cold, and she shuddered violently.
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