In front of the General’s Residence, two big red lanterns remained vividly bright and fiery.
When Xie Ning returned here once again, it was another dusk. The warm golden glow of the setting sun spilled over the lofty main gates of the General’s Residence—a place that had once trapped her like a cage for an entire lifetime, yet at this moment finally possessed a trace of warmth.
There would no longer be that father who treated her as a piece of goods to be offered up, nor that husband who would beat Li Wan to death after the Lantern Festival. Returning to life up to this point, Xie Ning had carried the immense courage of burning her bridges to fight a winning battle of desperate counterattack—silent and unannounced, yet bringing Xie Ning an immense sense of joy at this very moment.
Though this joy came late, the taste of victory was indeed intoxicating.
Xie Ning’s courage grew all the stronger.
Rousing her spirits, she strode boldly into the General’s Residence. Seeing her return, the household servants had already gone to report to the General’s wife. The residence’s housekeeper, who originally possessed little presence, was currently stationed outside Li Wan’s bedchamber, waiting for Xie Ning with an air of apparent deference.
An orphaned daughter, a widowed mother was it not up to him, the housekeeper, to hold up this grand General’s Residence now?
“Miss, Madam has issued an order: the moment you return, you are to be brought to see her immediately.”
Xie Ning paused in her tracks. In truth, she had no particular memory of the middle-aged man before her. In her past life in the capital, half her time had been spent in the Institute of Fine Arts, half in Xiao Rong’s villa, with a few scattered moments wasted in the Eastern Palace. She had barely spent many days in the General’s Residence, and thus possessed no memory of the housekeeper she did not even know his name. Looking at him now, his features appeared fairly upright, with eyebrows as thick as a pinky finger set on his face, giving him a very loyal and honest appearance, and his attitude was reasonably polite. Yet the tone of his voice bore a condescending, domineering air that made Xie Ning feel deeply uncomfortable.
It was as if with Xie Yuanshan gone, the one who called the shots in the General’s Residence had become this housekeeper, rather than Xie Ning or her mother, Li Wan.
However, Xie Ning did not flare up immediately. She merely cast a faint glance at this unnamed housekeeper before passing right by his side, completely ignoring his superfluous words, and entered her mother’s room directly.
Li Wan was already awake, and a woman wearing a hair-pin flower wrapped around her head was feeding her water. Hearing the door creak open, she glanced over and saw Xie Ning returning; Li Wan choked in her panic, hurriedly trying to sit up, “Ning’er”
The hair-pin woman hurriedly supported her, “Madam, do not be anxious!” She then bowed to Xie Ning, “This old woman greets the Miss!”
The moment Xie Ning reached the bedside, Li Wan frantically grabbed her hand, “You have finally returned! Do not be willful; listen to your father’s words—becoming the Crown Princess is…”
Before Li Wan could finish her sentence, Xie Ning interrupted her, “Xie Yuanshan is dead.”
“…how many people… pray for…” Li Wan’s train of thought seemed to snap, as if unable to comprehend Xie Ning’s words, “What?”
Xie Ning bore a cold expression, “Xie Yuanshan is dead.”
“In the wild boar forest outside Anding Gate, he was bitten to death by a pack of wild boars. His body is currently at the City Patrol; the Emperor will make arrangements for his funeral.”
Like a wooden puppet with severed strings, Li Wan listened to Xie Ning finish with a blank, wooden expression, before collapsing back onto the bed in a dead faint.
Xie Ning remained exceedingly calm, saying to the woman, “Go fetch a physician.”
The hair-pin woman looked at the unconscious Li Wan, then at Xie Ning, who radiated an icy aura. Showing great discernment, she quickly trotted off.
Xie Ning guarded the bedside, quietly gazing at her mother’s face. Aside from the invisible injuries on her mother’s body, her once-gentle face now had sunken eyes, a demeanor like a wandering ghost, and gaunt cheeks like a starved spirit. Yet Xie Ning clearly remembered that during her childhood, her mother had a gentle disposition and loved most to hold her on the city walls of Bianyang Pass as they waited, telling her, “Your father will be back very soon.”
She could not remember when it started, but her mother’s smiles grew fewer and fewer, while her demeanor turned increasingly unhinged. At times timid as a quail, at times venomous as a malevolent ghost, at times withered as a fallen leaf.
The gentleness was gone, the smiles were gone, and her mother saw her husband less and less and on the rare occasions they met, she was subjected to beatings and kickings. She seemed to have completely lost all reliance on this world, to the point where the only thing she could grasp onto later was Xie Ning.
She demanded that Xie Ning not leave her side for a single step, dictated how much Xie Ning must eat for a meal, what she could eat for every dish, and poured her entire mind into Xie Ning. Every word Xie Ning learned, every line of a book she read, had to satisfy her.
She had become a puppet pulling strings, and the only time she still seemed like a living person was when she treated Xie Ning as her new puppet.
Xie Ning pained for her pained for her since childhood. Whenever her father pushed her mother to the brink of despair time and again, Xie Ning’s tiny figure would step forward to serve as her mother’s solace. Until she, too, degenerated into her mother’s plaything, throwing her own lifetime into the fray as well
This time, it would not happen again.
Xie Ning lowered her eyes. The fate belonging to her mother could only be carried by her mother herself; she could not take her place. Xie Ning could kill Xie Yuanshan to save her mother from the fate of being beaten to death, yet she had no way to pull her mother out of the abyss of mental exhaustion.
That depended on Li Wan herself.
With a squeak, the door opened once more. The hair-pin woman brought the invited physician and the housekeeper, appearing together in Li Wan’s room.
Xie Ning stepped aside slightly, making space for the physician to examine the patient.
Who knew that just as the physician was about to step forward, that unnamed housekeeper suddenly stepped out, “Hold on!” He said, “Quickly pull down the bed curtain for Madam”
The hair-pin woman hurriedly complied.
The physician asked, “Housekeeper Zhang, what is the meaning of this?”
Only then did Xie Ning raise her eyesso this housekeeper was named Zhang.
Housekeeper Zhang was heard saying, “Now that General Xie’s bones are not yet cold, by rights, Madam ought to observe mourning for the General and must not see outsiders. However, as Madam is gravely ill, for the sake of Madam’s reputation and virtue, we can only pull down the bed curtain and check her pulse through the curtain!”
The physician argued, “That is not how it works! A patient cannot hide from a physician. Besides, when a physician diagnoses an illness, one must observe, listen, inquire, and feel the pulse with observation being paramount. Are you not delaying the patient’s condition by acting thus? Go find your master to speak; if it is to be like this, I cannot treat this illness!”
Housekeeper Zhang snapped angrily, “I see you are a quack! Now that the former master of the residence has passed and the new master is gravely ill, leaving only an unmarried young lady, should she come to see you instead?” He did not ask for Xie Ning’s opinion, merely sweeping a glance over Xie Ning, “Miss, you need not worry; I shall certainly handle this matter properly.” He then forcibly demanded that the physician examine the patient according to his requirements, or else he would rather replace him.
The physician was furious, “Are you not being completely unreasonable? Talking about a woman’s reputation and virtuecould that possibly be more important than life itself?”
The hair-pin woman, Yu Sanniang, stole a glance at Xie Ning. Seeing Xie Ning remain unmoved, she turned to Housekeeper Zhang and urged, “Brother Zhang, Madam’s illness is urgent; extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures. You should accommodate a little” As she spoke, she could not help casting another glance at Xie Ning, though this glance carried a hint of a sigh and pity.
Who would not feel that the mother and daughter of the Xie family were pitiful? Having traveled with great toil to the capital, they were originally the family of the dignified Zhenyuan General, and rumors had even spread that she was to be granted as the Crown Princess. Originally, they were to enjoy endless wealth and honor for a lifetime, yet who could have expected that General Xie would lose his life in an instant, leaving this Xie family with no one left to rely on! Some, like Yu Sanniang, felt that the orphaned daughter and widowed mother were deeply pitiful, while others, like Housekeeper Zhang, felt they could bully the vulnerable pair, seeking to act as treacherous servants domineering over their masters.
Housekeeper Zhang was right in the middle of flexing his authority; how could he be willing to yield half a step? He dug in his heels firmly and refused to budge. Seeing that Xie Ning had not moved throughout, his arrogance flared all the more, glaring at the woman who advised him: “Yu Sanniang, this is a major matter concerning the purity and reputation of our master’s house! If I truly leave it unchecked and something goes wrong, will you take responsibility?”
“You—” Yu Sanniang looked furious, yet dared to be angry without daring to speak out.
Right at this moment, an “Ouch!” suddenly burst from Housekeeper Zhang. It turned out that Xie Ning had delivered a fierce kick right to his shinbone, sending him lunging forward directly onto his knees, dropping on both knees right before the physician.
The physician was dumbfounded, and Yu Sanniang was startled as well; no one had expected Xie Ning to suddenly strike.
Having confirmed that this Housekeeper Zhang was foul and unusable, Xie Ning showed no further mercy, stating directly, “Come, drive this man out of the residence!”
Originally, the servants of the General’s Residence were still reading the room, thinking that Housekeeper Zhang flexing his authority might truly allow him to leap up and turn into the master of the General’s Residence. They had not expected Xie Ning’s kick to shatter everyone’s illusions especially since that kick was heavy and loud, sounding painfully agonizing just to hear.
Unable to straighten up from the pain, Housekeeper Zhang cried out while clutching his leg, “You you cannot drive me out! I was recommended by Master Wang of the Ministry of Rites “
“Noisy!” Xie Ning’s brows furrowed. A servant immediately took off his shoe and stuffed it into Housekeeper Zhang’s mouth, quickly dragging him out.
Quiet was finally restored in the room.
Without needing Xie Ning to move a hand, the hair-pin woman, Yu Sanniang, took the initiative to step forward, pulling open the bed curtain once again and inviting the physician forward to treat the patient.
Fortunately, the physician ultimately stated that Li Wan suffered no major harm; it was merely an accumulation of sudden rage hitting her heart combined with bodily weakness that caused her to faint. He wrote a prescription, and upon drinking it, she woke up immediately.
However, Li Wan remained very weak. Though awake, she lacked strength, so Yu Sanniang was left to look after her.
Seeing that Yu Sanniang was attentive and possessed a sense of integrity, Xie Ning could not help admiring her. Upon asking, she learned that Yu Sanniang had been arranged in the General’s Residence specifically to serve the mistress of the house: “Miss, please rest assured. We were all recommended by the Ministry of Rites and specifically sent to the General’s Residence to serve. Now that Housekeeper that scoundrel Zhang Wei offended the master himself and was driven out, if the Ministry of Rites does not know, so be it; once they find out, they might even make things difficult for him, and no one will dare employ him in the future.”
Seeing that she spoke with great clarity and handled tasks methodically, Xie Ning felt a sudden stir in her heart and said, “Since the residence currently lacks a housekeeper, how about I invite you to serve as the housekeeper?”
Yu Sanniang froze, “This… this has never happened before—having a woman serve as a housekeeper”
Xie Ning waved her hand, “Just say whether you are willing or not.”
Seeing that Xie Ning’s expression did not seem fake, Yu Sanniang’s heart pounded wildly. She hurriedly knelt down to state her position, “So long as the Young Master does not disdain me, this old woman is willing to bend her back and exhaust her energy for the Young Master!”
Xie Ning helped her up, “Perform your duties well, and I will not treat you unfairly.” Watching Yu Sanniang’s face flush red with excitement, brimming with immense gratitude toward her, Xie Ning actually felt a moment of trance. Only now did she realize that many of her actions and demeanor nowadays had unconsciously picked up Xiao Rong’s shadow. She had indeed learned far, far too much from Xiao Rong!
“Additionally, there are currently only my mother and I in the residence, so the discipline of servants must be stricter. Master the servants in the residence as quickly as possible—keep those who should be kept, and replace those who should be replaced. For those arrogant ones who disobey orders, drive out all the men without exception; for the women, let them reform for a period first, and if they remain disobedient, there is no need to keep them either.”
She arranged everything with utmost clarity, causing Yu Sanniang to secretly admire her in her heart. Since Yu Sanniang had been specifically selected by the Ministry of Rites to care for the mistress of the house, she naturally possessed experience assisting in official households. For a young girl of Xie Ning’s age who was not even married yet to possess such decisiveness and courage was truly a rare sight!
Yu Sanniang said with half-emotion and half-flattery, “The world only claims that men are capable, unaware that in this old woman’s half-lifetime of experience, I have seen no small number of capable women it is merely a pity that no one appreciated them! Thanks to the Young Master’s brilliance in giving this old woman a chance, the Young Master may rest assured!”
Listening to her words, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck Xie Ning’s mind
She recalled that Xiao Rong kept male consorts, with one of the primary motives being to cultivate her own forces under the guise of male consorts so as not to draw attention. However, if Xiao Rong’s cultivation of forces were placed entirely upon women, would it not be far more than merely laying low even if displayed right on the surface, it likely would not be taken to heart by the Emperor at all, right?