When Fang Yao learned the Li family was also holding a return-feast that very day, she knew at once Xu Manjiang had spun his lies and gotten away with it.
Wang Cuilian’s claim that Old Madam Xu was hosting the guests was clearly a lie she had been cornered and forced to go along with the charade. Everything added up: Wang Cuilian had clearly conspired with the Li family. And this “discussion” they demanded? It was nothing more than a brazen attempt now that Xu Qingzhou had returned to duty to come and bully her into returning the compensation money!
Fang Yao would not stand idly by. Before Wang Hua could speak, she stood and walked straight up to Wang Cuilian.
“Second Aunt what exactly is it you wish to discuss? That we should share the blame? That I should return the compensation to your family? Very well! I shall go fetch the village head at once and then report this matter to the authorities in town! We shall lay every single detail bare! Then we shall see whose responsibility is heavier: mistaking a bride or climbing into the wrong bed and sleeping with her!”
Wang Cuilian turned purple with rage. “Pah! You dare go shouting this abroad? As if this were something to boast about! You shameless little hussy!”
“My marriage to Xu Qingzhou was properly arranged and honourably entered into! That stands fair in anyone’s eyes! Unlike certain others who crept into the bridal chamber like rats! Shameful enough as it is and yet you come here demanding respect!”
“You you insolent, ungrateful girl! Have you no respect for your elders? Sister-in-law how can you let her speak to me like this?” Wang Cuilian, unable to refute Fang Yao, turned her fury upon Wang Hua instead.
Wang Hua ordinarily let such slights pass but not when her daughter-in-law was being wronged. She stood firm.
“Go home, Sister-in-law. There is nothing left to say between us. Fang Yao speaks with my full agreement. If you truly insist on justice then let the authorities come and judge. Private arguments settle nothing.”
“Very well! I see it all now!” Wang Cuilian wailed at the top of her voice, rushing out into the courtyard and throwing herself onto the ground. “You have ganged up to protect your own you would let my Manjiang suffer! You would drive me to my grave! Oh Heaven above look down and see how this household grinds us into the dust!”
Her shrieks soon drew neighbours, who gathered along the wall to watch.
Wang Hua would have stepped out but Fang Yao held her back. “Let her rave, Mother. She will not stop until she has made a complete fool of herself. To answer her is to give her exactly what she wants.”
Wang Hua, though deeply anxious, stayed indoors.
Wang Cuilian performed her one-woman show in the courtyard weeping, wailing, and rolling upon the ground all to be met with silence and growing amusement from the onlookers.
Xu Manjiang and Li Xuemiao arrived late. Seeing the spectacle, they hurried forward to pull her up.
“Mother stop this at once! Get to your feet everyone is watching!” Xu Manjiang burned with shame as the village stared.
Li Xuemiao maintained a calmer countenance. She had swapped bridal chambers with Fang Yao and lost every betrothal gift she had brought. Unwilling to accept such loss, she had subtly guided her parents and conspired with Wang Cuilian to come and reclaim the compensation while Xu Qingzhou was away. Now that plan had failed and she raised her voice in shrill, tearful lament.
“Grandmother please! All the fault lies with Manjiang and me! If we are being judged and punished then so be it! My fate is bitter indeed! I accepted Manjiang in good faith, I asked for nothing and yet I am the one who suffers! Why is it that Fang Yao who won a fine officer for a husband must turn around and demand compensation? Why must we be shamed before the entire village? Who has wronged whom… woe is me…”
Li Xuemiao wept with such seeming sorrow that the whispering neighbours fell silent and began weighing her words.
“Truth be told… the bride was far better suited to Qingzhou. She has gained by this swap.”
“Aye. The Li girl stepped far beneath herself. She accepted the match honourably and now sees her dowry kept and compensation demanded. Hard lot, that.”
“That Qingzhou’s wife is sharp struck Manjiang black and blue two days past! Yet she wasted no time taking the better husband! Knows exactly which way the wind blows!”
“Such a fine wedding what a shameful mess it has become! Sad to see.”
Every word drifted clearly indoors. Wang Hua trembled with indignation and would have rushed out only to be held back by Fang Yao.
“Mother stay. I shall go.”
Fang Yao stepped out into the courtyard, beneath every eye. And in that moment, she understood exactly why Xu Qingzhou had chosen her. He had known his mother’s gentle nature all too well. He needed someone sharp and unyielding a blade to guard the home front while he was gone.
“Since everyone is gathered here let me speak plainly once more!” Fang Yao’s voice rang clear across the courtyard. “When the mistake was discovered, Xu Qingzhou and I rushed immediately to set things right. And what did we find? Xu Manjiang and Li Xuemiao they lit no lamp, they called no one and they lay together in the bridal bed! Because of that my marriage was tainted! Xu Qingzhou lost the honour of a proper wedding! Which one of you would have accepted such a thing?”
“The fault belongs entirely to those two! Xu Qingzhou and I are the victims! If Li Xuemiao truly believes she has been wronged let her go and accuse Xu Manjiang of wrongdoing before the law! She has no business standing in my courtyard weeping and pretending! Anyone may speak with tears but I am not fooled! If they possessed even a shred of decency they would not come here to harass those they have wronged! They seek to deny responsibility! If wrongdoers bear no blame then what justice remains for those who suffer? If this is how the world turns then let no one ever again ask for justice! Let all wrongs go unanswered!”
Silence fell over the onlookers. Those who had spoken fell quiet, shamefaced. Several who had long disliked Wang Cuilian spoke up plainly.
“Wang Cuilian your son took another man’s bride! You have no business coming here making a scene! The honour your family has squandered in these past few days would take a lifetime to restore!”
“And think on it however foolish a bride may be… who mistakes their own husband in the bridal chamber? And to lie together in the dark without a single word spoken? That village chief’s daughter was in far too great a hurry to wed, if you ask me!”
“Then blame none but the guilty! To come here and deny it all that is nothing but shamelessness!”
Wang Cuilian flushed crimson. Xu Manjiang, burning with shame, wrenched his hand free from his mother’s grasp. “Do as you please!” he spat and fled the courtyard.
Li Xuemiao pale, ashen, defeated turned and ran after him without a word.
Wang Cuilian stood alone for a moment. Then, with nothing left but her thick skin, she gathered her skirts and shuffled weeping from the yard.
The farce ended. Fang Yao watched them go three figures fleeing in disgrace brushed her sleeves, and stepped back indoors.
She thought the matter concluded. But at noon, Old Madam Xu herself arrived bowed and humble begging them to come to the front courtyard and meet with Li Xuemiao’s parents.
“Wang Hua… Qingzhou and Fang Yao are properly wed, and I rejoice for them. But I cannot stand idly by… and see Manjiang sent to prison by the Li family!”