“Guards! Take Steward Zhou to the authorities and report him to the officials, then notify the Duke and the others, have them use severe interrogation to question him thoroughly, see where the silver he embezzled over the years went to where!”
Since she could not get answers herself, she would send him to the yamen—a place specifically for interrogating criminals. She believed those tortures would surely make Steward Zhou remember for life.
Hearing he was to be sent to the officials, Steward Zhou panicked terribly, thinking: If he were in the Duke’s Estate, he could bear everything on his own shoulders, and the Duchess would likely show mercy for his decade-plus of service in the estate. But if sent to the government offices, he feared he could not hold out. His death was a small matter—what he feared was implicating Rumeng. Her life was already bitter enough, and that silver absolutely must not be discovered.
With that thought, Steward Zhou suddenly broke free of the servants’ restraints and slammed his head hard against the pillar.
“Stop him! He seeks death! Block him!” The Duchess of Guo hurriedly ordered people to stop him, but in the end, they were a step too slow. They watched as Steward Zhou’s body slowly slid down the pillar, blood splattering on the spot.
Seeing this, the Duchess of Guo was so furious her chest heaved. It took her a while to recover before she said sharply: “Throw this corpse to the mass grave! Let all the servants of the Duke’s Estate see clearly—if anyone bites the hand that feeds them, this is what awaits!”
Hearing the Duchess’s words, the servants were all silent as cicadas in winter, trembling with fear, as if standing at the edge of an abyss.
The Second and Third branches, however, were not particularly frightened. Instead, after recovering their senses, they looked at the Duchess with bright eyes and asked: “From now on, our monthly allowance is eighteen taels, right? And eight servings of bird’s nest per month?”
The Duchess of Guo nodded and said: “Of course. Now that the pest has been removed, what is due to you will all be given.”
“That’s wonderful! Thank you, Madam!” Led by Madam Qin, the Second Branch all expressed their gratitude to the Duchess.
Hearing the praise from the Second and Third branches, the Duchess looked at Xu Qingyan beside her. She stepped forward with a smile, took Xu Qingyan’s hand, and said gently: “The one you should thank is not me, but Qingyan. If not for her today, we would have thought we were merely at a loss, and the truth would never have come to light.”
“Right, right, right… We truly must thank the Consort of the Heir Apparent! Otherwise, we would still be kept in the dark.” Madam Qin was not at all awkward—she had likely long forgotten her earlier aggressive demeanor. Now she felt only gratitude toward Xu Qingyan.
“Qingyan, you did very well this time. It was no easy feat to root out a pest that had burrowed in the Duke’s Estate for over a decade! Qingping, go fetch that Night-Luminous Pearl. I want to give it to Qingyan.” The Duchess of Guo held Xu Qingyan’s hand affectionately. She was becoming more and more satisfied with this daughter-in-law.
“Wow! A Night-Luminous Pearl! Mother, you’re too good to me! I’ve never even seen a real Night-Luminous Pearl before—this time I’ll feast my eyes!” Xu Qingyan said with delight.
Standing nearby, Xu Qingyue bit her lip hard. She had not only failed to bring Xu Qingyan down today, but had instead made the Duchess like her even more. And now Steward Zhou had lost his life—if Concubine Liu found out, she could not imagine how great the fury would be.
The full story quickly spread through the Duke’s Estate by word of mouth. Liu Rumeng learned of it within moments and immediately sent someone to summon Xu Qingyue to her room.
“You useless waste! You accomplish nothing but ruin everything! Do you know how much effort I poured into cultivating Steward Zhou?” Seeing Xu Qingyue standing there as if it were none of her concern, Liu Rumeng was so enraged she picked up a teacup and smashed it before her.
Over the years, to live a life of luxury within the Duke’s Estate, she had kept Steward Zhou firmly in her grip—in simple terms, Steward Zhou was her money bag. But now, Steward Zhou had died helping Xu Qingyue frame Xu Qingyan, causing years of painstaking effort to flow away like water. It was truly a case of losing both the bait and the fish.
Knowing she was in the wrong, Xu Qingyue said nothing and simply stood quietly to the side.
Liu Rumeng continued furiously: “Not only did you fail to get your dowry back, but you’ve also cost me my man. Xu Qingyue, how could the Xu family have raised such a useless thing like you! If I’d known you were this worthless, I’d rather have let Jingyuan marry that shu-daughter—she at least seems quite clever!”
“Concubine E!” Hearing Liu Rumeng call her useless and say she was inferior to a shu-daughter—an utter humiliation to her—Xu Qingyue finally could not hold back and shouted in anger.
Liu Rumeng glanced at her and sneered: “What, you’re angry? Think about it yourself—everything that has happened now only proves you are inferior to her in every way, doesn’t it?”
“Mother, this time I will definitely make sure Xu Qingyan is cast out of the Duke’s Estate. My husband has already administered the drug to the Heir Apparent. If Xu Qingyan ends up without a child, she will surely be despised. Besides, I am already carrying my husband’s child. In a few more days, it can be made public, and then Xu Qingyan will certainly be humiliated.” Xu Qingyue said anxiously.
“Very well, I will trust you one more time. But from now on, do not take matters into your own hands regarding the Duke’s Estate.” Liu Rumeng glanced at Xu Qingyue’s belly, and only then did the anger in her heart subside somewhat.
Liu Rumeng thought to herself at this moment: “As long as Pei Jingchuan has no offspring, then the position of Heir Apparent will sooner or later belong to my son Pei Jingyuan. No matter how much the Duke of Guo dotes on them, he will certainly not let the Duke’s Estate’s lineage come to an end.”
————Jade Pavilion————
Pei Jinyu had been confined to her quarters for a full ten days now. These days of not leaving the house felt like an eternity to her. She looked at the copies of “Admonitions for Women” she had been made to transcribe as punishment, her face full of complaints and irritation.
“Copy, copy, copy… What use is copying all this? I’m about to die of boredom! That last incident was just a coincidence. It’s not like Xu Qingyan is some immortal—she can’t be right every time, can she? Young Master Lin is definitely not that kind of person! It’s already been so many days—I wonder how Young Master Lin is doing now?” Pei Jinyu held a writing brush, propping her cheek with one hand as she muttered to herself.
“Miss, the Madam said that today she will take you to the Embroidery Workshop to have clothes made and jewelry crafted. In a few days, there will be a banquet at the Princess’s Estate, and she said you are to attend with her.” Xianglan said softly to Pei Jinyu after entering the room.
“Mother is taking me out today? You’re not tricking me, are you?” Pei Jinyu immediately sprang up from her chair.
“Miss, it’s true! The Madam just sent word especially. Miss, you should now freshen up and get dressed, and prepare to go out with the Madam!” Xianglan nodded in confirmation upon hearing this.
“Wonderful! I can finally go out!” A smile instantly appeared on Pei Jinyu’s face. After tidying herself up a bit, she excitedly went to find the Duchess of Guo.
Ever since the last time, when the Duchess of Guo had heard Xu Qingyan’s inner thoughts, she had been worried about Pei Jinyu. She had thought it over carefully for several days and decided that it would be best to first find a suitable match for Jinyu. She believed that once Pei Jinyu’s marriage was settled, she would no longer have to worry about those matters.
So, she planned to take Pei Jinyu to attend the banquet at the Princess’s Estate in a few days. At that time, those who could attend at the Princess’s Estate would surely be from prominent and distinguished families, which would make it convenient for both sides to assess each other. And attending such a banquet would certainly require proper dressing up.
Therefore, taking advantage of being free today, she intended to bring Pei Jinyu to the famous Embroidery Workshop in the capital to have clothes made and jewelry crafted.
But little did she know, just as they had barely stepped out of the Duke’s Estate, a furtive figure appeared behind them.