In the Small Buddhist Chapel behind Rongshou Hall, the air was thick with sandalwood incense. The rhythmic tapping of the wooden fish did not bring peace to Old Madam Xu’s mind; instead, it only heightened her restlessness.
“Has someone been sent to check on Zheng’er?” Old Madam Xu had no heart for reciting scriptures, so she knelt before the Buddha statue with her eyes closed, trying to calm her mind.
Nanny Chen looked at her mistress’s weary figure and sighed softly:
“Food was sent over, but… but the Third Young Miss is still furious. The things she said… oh.”
She hesitated, leaving her words unfinished.
By convention, all the concubine-born daughters in the household should be raised by the principal wife. However, out of pity for Concubine Wang, Old Madam had decided to let the Third Young Miss be raised by her birth mother.
But then again, Nanny Chen thought, the First Madam might not have been willing to raise the Third Young Miss either. Back in the day, when the Marquis brought the three-month-old Eldest Young Master to the First Madam’s room, everyone assumed that since she had no sons of her own, she would accept the infant in swaddling clothes. Yet, she paid no attention to him, and the child went hungry for three full days.
Concubine Wang wept and wailed, and the Marquis, enraged, cursed the First Madam as a “shrew.”
At that, the First Madam immediately threw the Eldest Young Master, still wrapped in his swaddling clothes, right at the entrance of the main courtyard:
“I, Wen Li, accept that I am fated to have no sons, but I have no obligation to raise another woman’s child. My dowry, my wealth—all of it will be left to my daughter in the future. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re scheming. I haven’t exposed it outright only to spare you some dignity.”
Old Madam nearly choked with anger at the time, vowing to take the matter to the palace.
But Empress Wen in the palace doted on her younger sister most of all.
Thinking of this, Nanny Chen let out another heavy sigh.
Old Madam Xu, clutching her prayer beads, suddenly asked:
“A Chang, do you think I was wrong?”
Nanny Chen was startled:
“Old Madam, how could you be wrong? You’ve worked so tirelessly, all for the enduring legacy of the Marquis’s household.”
Hearing this, Old Madam Xu’s eyes flickered slightly. She sighed deeply and instructed:
“Have someone keep an eye on A Sheng’s side. Don’t let any trouble break out. We’ll discuss this further when the Marquis returns.”
“Also, have someone carefully select a few fertile women to place in the Marquis’s chambers. The lineage of the Marquis’s household is still too thin.”
Meanwhile, in Zhixia Courtyard.
Xu Rusheng felt herself trapped in a hazy, fog-filled illusion:
“Where is this? Let me out.”
Staring into the endless expanse of white, she forced herself to stay calm:
“Wretch, you are already a dead person. Not only have you clung to life, but you have also dared to harbor murderous intent.”
A white-bearded Taoist priest, holding a horsetail whisk, appeared in mid-air. He looked at Xu Rusheng with sharp words:
“Come with me now to be reborn in the cycle of reincarnation.”
Xu Rusheng broke into a cold sweat. Was this a dream? Or reality? Was this some kind of joke?
Clenching her fists, she shouted at him:
“No! Since I have been given a second chance at life, it must be the will of Heaven. What right do you have to take away my right to live?”
The white-bearded Taoist frowned, patiently explaining:
“Even the Heavenly Way has its moments of oversight. I am here to rectify it.”
Xu Rusheng felt her blood boiling within her, and she retorted indignantly:
“Heavenly Way, Heavenly Way—what is the Heavenly Way?”
“Where was the Heavenly Way when my mother died unjustly? Where was it when my aunt was poisoned?”
“The Heavenly Way is deaf and blind. It only bullies the good and kind, while turning a blind eye to evildoers.”
The white-bearded Taoist’s face darkened, his brows knitted together as he rebuked her loudly:
"You wretched creature, still unrepentant. Watch as I send you into the cycle of reincarnation."
Xu Rusheng's heart turned cold, filled with unwillingness and rage. What kind of thing was the Heavenly Dao?
She had struggled so hard to live again, yet the Heavenly Dao would not tolerate her? How absurd!
Her mother had died unjustly, her aunt had been poisoned, and her only close friend, Xi, had been sent away for a political marriage, only to meet her end in a foreign land.
Powerful black energy seeped from Xu Rusheng's body, strand by strand, crashing against the vast white barrier.
"Boom!"
A deafening roar echoed at the edge of the whiteness, and a crack split open.
Xu Rusheng's heart surged with joy. She rose and desperately sprinted toward the crack.
The white-bearded Taoist was shocked—such intense resentment had actually torn through the barrier!
Seeing Xu Rusheng about to escape, the white-bearded Taoist grew frantic. He could only shout a warning to her already vanishing figure:
"Xu Rusheng, as you cling to life in this world, remember to hold goodness in your heart. If you commit evil without cause or forcibly alter the fate of others, Heaven will not tolerate you."
In her heart, Xu Rusheng cursed, "Get lost, you old fool."
"Ah!"
A scream echoed through Zhixia Courtyard as Xu Rusheng jolted upright in bed.
Mama Wu, wiping away tears, asked why the physician hadn't arrived yet.
"No need to call the physician."
Xu Rusheng stared blankly, dazed.
Qingbi hurriedly wrung out a cloth to wipe Xu Rusheng's face, her voice trembling with tears:
"Miss, are you alright? What happened just now? You scared me to death."
"Where is Qinglian?"
Remembering the dream she had just had, Xu Rusheng's heart burned with fury.
What kind of lousy Heavenly Dao was this? Having been reborn, was she supposed to stand by and watch the tragedies of her past life repeat themselves?
She might as well have died completely in that fire.
Since Heaven had allowed her to open her eyes again, she would save her mother even if it meant defying the heavens.
Xu Rusheng made up her mind:
"Qingbi, help me up."
Mama Wu pleaded through tear-filled eyes:
"My dear miss, please rest a while longer. Your body can't take this."
"Why must you confront Old Madam so stubbornly? If you don't like that maid Qinglian, I can find an excuse to send her away. Don't anger Old Madam."
Xu Rusheng leaned forward, fixing her gaze on Mama Wu:
"Mama Wu, do you also think the Wen Family is finished?"
"I… this old servant… oh, miss!" Mama Wu fell to her knees with a thud and burst into tears.
Xu Rusheng smiled bitterly in her heart. Indeed, even Mama Wu thought this way, let alone others.
No wonder her grandmother had begun scheming to abandon their Wen Family as soon as she heard the news of her maternal grandfather's passing.
No wonder Princess Chunyi had dared to ambush and kill her mother!
What a fine Marquis of Linjiang's Xu Family!
What a fine Princess Chunyi!
The Heavenly Dao? Hah.
She would see for herself what defying the heavens could do to her.
She'd start by killing Qinglian as a test.
"Stop crying, all of you. Gather every servant in the courtyard. Don't leave anyone out."
Mama Wu stifled her sobs and wiped her tears:
"Does the miss have orders?"
Xu Rusheng waved a hand, her head aching:
"Just gather everyone first."
Qingbi quickly volunteered:
"Miss, I'll go call everyone."
In the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, everyone in Zhixia Courtyard had assembled.
Qinglian was on the verge of fainting. Now, with all the servants gathered and staring at her, she felt exhausted and humiliated.
Supported by Mama Wu, Xu Rusheng slowly walked out of her room. Her eyes swept across the courtyard as she asked:
"Is everyone here?"
Qingbi replied earnestly:
"Yes, miss, even the kitchen maid who tends the fire has come."
The people standing below were inwardly anxious, their hearts pounding. Had the young mistress summoned them because she discovered they hadn't been diligent in their duties lately?
Xu Rusheng had no idea what those below were thinking, but she knew that in her previous life, during the time when her mother returned to Qujiang, her grandmother's indifference and deliberate neglect had subjected her to the harsh realities of human nature within the household.
In her past life, unwilling to tarnish her own reputation and not wanting to cause trouble for her mother upon her return, she had chosen to endure the humiliation in silence.
Yet who could have known that her mother would never return, and later, after being taken into the palace, she herself never set foot in Linjiang Houfu again.
Xu Rusheng calmed her emotions. Though her face still bore a childlike innocence, her tone was steady:
"I've called you all here today to inform you of one matter."
"Qinglian has overstepped her bounds, stolen her master's belongings, and deliberately plotted against me. I have decided how to deal with her."
She paused, scanning the room, and under the astonished gazes of everyone, her crimson lips parted to utter two words:
"Beat her to death!"