“What are you trying to do?!” Chen Chunsi’s eyes were filled with terror as she kept retreating into the corner.
Nanny Wang carried a bowl of medicine, her smile cold and false. “Miss Chunsi, why ask when you already know? Come, drink this safflower decoction quickly, and you’ll suffer less.”
Chen Chunsi cried out in agitation, “I won’t drink it! How dare you? I’m carrying the Third Young Master’s child—your master’s child!”
She truly could not understand how things had come to this. If Xiao Yunzhu could become the Third Young Madam of the He household, why couldn’t she?
She was not of lowly birth, nor an uneducated country girl, but the daughter of an official family whose ancestors had once prospered!
Xiao Yunzhu might be called the daughter of a marquis’s household, but in reality, she was like an orphan, with no support except Old Madam He.
She was not much worse than Xiao Yunzhu!
With a child as leverage, marrying into the He family should not have been difficult. So why was everything turning out differently from what she imagined? Where had it all gone wrong?!
Nanny Wang’s face showed disdain. “Miss Chunsi, that lump of flesh in your belly—the Third Young Master doesn’t care for it, nor do the Master and Madam.”
The First Madam had ordered that this child must not be kept. If the Third Young Master had a child before marriage, what respectable family would still consider him? Therefore, for the sake of his marriage prospects, the child had to be dealt with quickly.
With a wave of her hand, two strong servant women stepped forward to seize Chen Chunsi. She tried to run, but the room for bed-servants was small—where could she go? Soon she was caught.
Still unwilling to accept her fate, she struggled and cried out, “Grand-Aunt, save me! I know I was wrong—please save me just this once!”
Nanny Wang sneered, “Spare us! The Old Madam has already decreed: from now on, there is no Miss Chen in this household, only Chunsi the maid!”
The Old Madam had pitied her, yet she seduced the Third Young Master behind her back, flaunted herself, and forced the cousin to break off her engagement. And now she dared to beg the Old Madam for rescue—what thick skin!
One servant woman laughed, “You could have been a proper relative, but insisted on becoming a concubine or bed-servant. Who else is to blame?”
Another added, “Even a bed-servant must be pure. Miss Chunsi, with your belly swollen, you cannot enter the Third Young Master’s chambers!”
With that, they forced open Chen Chunsi’s mouth, and Nanny Wang immediately poured the medicine down.
Not a single drop was spilled.
Chen Chunsi wanted to vomit but couldn’t. In despair, she collapsed to the ground, crying, “Third Young Master, Third Young Master! Save our child!”
But He Baoyan could not hear her cries for help. After his last meeting with Xiao Yunzhu, he had been confined.
Madam Jiang knew he did not want to annul the engagement. She feared he might plead with Xiao Yunzhu or Old Madam He, persuading them to reconsider, which would render all her efforts useless. So she locked him away, preventing him from seeing either Xiao Yunzhu or the Old Madam.
On the day Xiao Yunzhu left, he was not even allowed to bid farewell.
A few days later, the Chen family did indeed come to make trouble. Madam Jiang was unfazed—after a round of threats and intimidation, she finally paid five hundred taels to buy off Chen Chunsi. This was also hush money to keep the Chen family from spreading the matter.
Yet even though Madam Jiang issued strict orders to suppress the news, word gradually leaked out.
The families she had hoped to ally with either ignored her or laughed, saying, “Your son already has a favored woman, already taken into the household—why speak of marriage?”
Madam Jiang tried desperately to explain, even sending Chen Chunsi away to a country estate to fend for herself. But it was useless. Those families still refused to consider He Baoyan. At this rate, it was impossible to find a bride of higher status than Xiao Yunzhu. They could only look to girls from lesser households.
This was the opposite of Madam Jiang’s original intent. She grew anxious and angry, yet had no solution. Deep down, she felt that in her son’s marriage, she had lost twice—once in arranging the engagement with Xiao Yunzhu, and once in breaking it off.
Xiao Yunzhu truly was Baoyan’s nemesis!
After several days of travel, Xiao Yunzhu finally returned to the capital.
The Xiao residence was located on the eastern side of the city, surrounded by nobles of similar rank and status. Its walls were tall and imposing, its gates grand and dignified—far more magnificent than the He household. From the corner of the wall, they walked for quite a while before reaching the main gate.
Qiao Xiu and her husband Liu Gui were awestruck, secretly thinking: with such a family background, how could the First Madam have looked down on it? Her pride was far too high.
But in truth, the Xiao family had already declined, far from its former glory. It was only the shadow of a fallen tiger—still enough to intimidate those without insight.
The plaque did not read “Marquis Xingyuan Residence,” but “Earl Xingyuan Residence.”
Lifting the carriage curtain slightly to look at the plaque, Xiao Yunzhu felt a surge of complicated emotions. Her family’s hereditary title was Marquis Xingyuan, granted by the Taizu Emperor with the privilege of perpetual succession. But after her father, Xiao Yun, passed away, her second uncle, Xiao Hui, inherited the title. He mishandled an official matter, angering the Emperor, who demoted him to a count.
Her second uncle considered it a deep shame and felt he had disgraced the ancestors. For years, he had racked his brains, hoping to regain the marquisate. Yet she believed, with his limited ability, it was unlikely he would succeed.
The Xiao family’s decline had not begun with his demotion. The moment he inherited the title, the family had already stepped onto a downward path.
Her father, in his lifetime, had been a trusted minister with real power. Her second uncle, however, was always a minor idle official.
“Sixth Miss has returned!” The main gate swung open, and the gatekeepers and guards all saluted.
Xiao Yunzhu thanked them for their service and instructed Lü Mei and Qing Zhi to give them rewards.
The carriage rolled straight through to the second gate.
Several servant women were already waiting. As she alighted, they crowded forward to greet her, smiling. “Sixth Miss, the Old Madam has been thinking of you constantly. Now that she knows you’ve returned, she is finally at ease.”
Xiao Yunzhu replied, “It is unfilial of me to trouble Grandmother (paternal) with worry.” After a pause, she asked, “Has Grandmother risen from her midday rest?”
As a younger generation returning home, it was proper etiquette to pay respects to elders.
One servant woman smiled. “She has risen. But the Old Madam said, since Sixth Miss has come back from afar, you must be tired. You need not go to her—rest instead.”
Xiao Yunzhu said gratefully, “I thank Grandmother for her kindness.”
She bowed in the direction of Furong Residence before returning to her own quarters at Cangyu Courtyard. She knew her grandmother did not wish to see her. For some reason, she had memories earlier than most.
She remembered as a child, her grandmother doted on her greatly, taking her everywhere as a guest, calling her the pearl and jade of the Xiao family. But after rumors spread that her birth chart was inauspicious and harmed her kin, her grandmother gradually grew distant. By now, in her grandmother’s eyes, she was worth less than a poor relative coming to beg favors.
At first, she did not understand why and could not accept the change, feeling deeply hurt. Later, she realized her grandmother resented her for “bringing misfortune” to her father and brother and feared she might harm her as well. So she avoided seeing her whenever possible.
Perhaps her grandmother’s affection had never been for her as a person, but for the daughter of Marquis Xingyuan. Now, her grandmother’s greatest affection was for her fourth sister.
Fourth Sister Xiao Ruqiong—she truly was a remarkable person.