Volume 1 Chapter 13: Shocking the Insolent Servant
Yan Qing hurriedly ran back to Qingyi Courtyard.
In that short distance, she felt she had used all her strength in her life, never having been so flustered before.
It was as if a demon was chasing after her.
Once she returned to her residence, she immediately clutched her chest, panting heavily.
"Miss, what happened to you?"
Qing Luan came out from inside the room and, seeing Yan Qing's flushed face, drenched in sweat, and gasping for breath, exclaimed in shock, "Has something happened?"
Yan Qing shook her head, panting as she spoke quickly, "Hurry, go with Lu Zhi to the back of Qingzhu Courtyard. There's an unconscious woman there… Don't let anyone see you. Take advantage of the night to throw that woman at the back gate of Xiangfu… Go quickly!"
Even in her panic, Yan Qing hadn't forgotten to quickly deal with the trouble that was Yang Xuan.
Qing Luan nodded calmly, "Yes."
She didn't ask why there would be a woman in the young master's Qingzhu Courtyard so late at night, nor did she ask why the young lady wanted to handle this matter. Instead, she called other maids to help Yan Qing into the room and hurried off to find Lu Zhi.
Yan Qing lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
One moment she worried that Qing Luan and Lu Zhi would be discovered, the next she regretted forgetting to ask Gu Huaizhou to request an imperial physician for her mother.
Since he was a descendant of the current emperor and had seized the throne in her previous life, the emperor must have sent people to protect him. He surely had a way to request an imperial physician from the palace.
Just now, she had only been focused on the matter of Yang Xuan.
She had actually forgotten about the imperial physician!
Yan Qing felt anxious and uneasy.
It wasn't until the latter half of the night when Qing Luan and Lu Zhi returned to the courtyard and told her everything had been taken care of that Yan Qing's hanging heart finally settled.
With this, Yang Xuan would be unable to marry Gu Huaizhou.
Only if Gu Huaizhou wasn't driven out of the Yan residence would she have a chance to get closer to him. As long as she helped him, protected him, and guarded him during this time, when Gu Huaizhou ascended the throne, even if he didn't feel grateful enough to repay her, he would likely look upon the affection of these days and show some care for the Ye Family and her mother.
Thinking of this, Yan Qing fell asleep contentedly.
…
The next day.
As dawn was just breaking, Yan Qing sat up in bed.
"Miss, why not sleep a little longer today?"
Lu Zhi brought in a copper basin and, upon seeing Yan Qing's face, suddenly exclaimed, "Miss, you…"
Yan Qing picked up a bronze mirror and looked at herself.
In the mirror, the woman's face looked weary, with dark circles under her eyes—clearly a state of poor sleep.
She put down the mirror and sighed.
She didn't know what had come over her, but after falling asleep last night, she dreamed of Gu Huaizhou again.
Only this time, it wasn't a spring dream.
But it was even more terrifying than a spring dream.
She dreamed that Gu Huaizhou was standing in a resplendent, golden secret chamber, the walls of which were covered with portraits of her.
Gu Huaizhou murmured to himself while facing those portraits.
He cried and laughed intermittently, and in the end, he actually lay down in a coffin while holding a portrait!
Yan Qing instantly woke up.
She was so frightened that she couldn't sleep well all night.
Whenever she closed her eyes, her mind was filled with images of Gu Huaizhou's madness and those portraits.
It was truly horrifying!
"Go get two pieces of ice."
Yan Qing washed her face and applied the ice.
After the dark circles under her eyes improved somewhat, she applied a thin layer of powder, finally concealing her tired appearance.
After having breakfast, she went to Xiruo Courtyard.
Madam Ye was originally in good health and recovered quickly after taking medicine. When she saw Yan Qing visiting her, she pulled her close and took turns cursing Madam Zhen and Yan Tan.
Yan Qing didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
But seeing her mother in such high spirits, most of her worries faded away.
It seemed they had given her mother a slow-acting poison; otherwise, it wouldn't have taken two years to take effect…
At this thought, Yan Qing's eyes darkened.
Two years later, her maternal grandfather's family would be executed. She needed to make arrangements as soon as possible.
Gu Huaizhou was indeed a bargaining chip.
But she couldn't stake her entire life and fortune on him.
Ultimately, relying on others is never as reliable as relying on oneself. Nothing is safer than having fate firmly in one's own hands.
However, while she had ideas, Yan Qing hadn't yet figured out exactly how to proceed or what she could do.
Until her death in her previous life, she had always been confined within Wu'an Marquis Manor and had little understanding of Yongjing or the political situation in court.
Therefore, after visiting her mother, Yan Qing planned to go out for a stroll.
But just after returning to Qingyi Courtyard to change clothes, Nanny Li suddenly barged in: "Second Miss, Madam asks you to come!"
Her attitude was even more arrogant than Nanny Cao's.
Yan Qing leisurely sat down, sipped some tea, and then said: "If Madam Zhen invites me, why hasn't she come herself?"
Nanny Li sneered coldly: "Second Miss has quite the grand airs, daring to expect Madam to come personally to invite you?"
Yan Qing smiled faintly: "I am the legitimate daughter of this manor. She is merely a concubine in my father's chambers. If she wishes to see me, shouldn't she come herself?"
"Second Miss, are you confused? Madam is the master's equal wife, a wife! Not some lowly concubine. Coming to invite you? Could you bear such an honor?"
Nanny Li glanced Yan Qing up and down, disdainfully muttering: "Legitimate daughter of the manor? Just an unloved one…"
"Slap her."
"Smack!"
Lu Zhi abruptly stepped forward and slapped Nanny Li hard across the face, angrily saying: "A mere lowly servant dares to be insolent to the Miss!"
Nanny Li clutched her face in shock: "You!"
"What 'you'? If you dare disrespect the Miss again, I'll beat this old hag to death!" Lu Zhi angrily scolded, hands on hips.
She had long disliked the matrons around Madam Zhen. Though they were servants of the manor, they always bossed their Miss around, never treating her as the legitimate daughter.
Yet the Miss had always endured it before.
Now that the Miss ordered her to slap, she wished she could go up and slap a few more times!
Yan Qing looked at Nanny Li, her face cold as frost: "A noble cannot have two legitimate wives. My mother, Ye Xi Ruo, is the wife my father married with a grand procession and proper ceremony! What kind of wife is Wang Zhenzhen?"
"The term 'equal wife' is merely a merchant's parlance. My father is a minister of the court and should abide by the Dayong Code! According to the Household and Marriage Code, if a man marries while having a wife, he is sentenced to one year of penal servitude, and the woman's family receives a lesser penalty. Nanny Li, do you wish to send my father to Xingbu Prison?"
After uttering these final words, Yan Qing slammed the teacup heavily onto the table.
"Second Miss, spare me!"
Nanny Li, terrified, knelt on the floor with a "thump." She didn't understand the Household and Marriage Code, but she grasped that if she acknowledged Madam as the master's wife, the master would be imprisoned.
Who could have imagined that the Second Miss, who previously couldn't even utter a word, suddenly invoked the Dayong Code?
She had never seen her so articulate before!
Nanny Li, pale with fright, began slapping her own face: "It's all my fault, I'm clumsy with words. Second Miss, please be magnanimous and spare me this once. I'll never dare again…"
Sending the master to prison would mean being beaten to death with rods.
She didn't want to follow Nanny Cao's fate.
Nanny Li wept with genuine emotion.
Yan Qing stood up and said: "Lu Zhi, henceforth, anyone in the manor who rashly discusses the notion of an equal wife shall be beaten to death with rods!"
Nanny Li trembled.
Lu Zhi immediately glared at her: "Did you hear that? Get lost now!"
Nanny Li scrambled away in a panic.
Lu Zhi burst into laughter: "Miss, Nanny Li looked just like a dog! I’ve never felt so relieved!"
"Just a dog relying on its master’s power."
In the past, she avoided conflict, always believing that patience would bring calm.
But in the end, she realized that if you don’t fight for what’s yours, you’ll only lose more and more…
Yan Qing’s expression remained indifferent: "Let’s go."
Just as the mistress and servant left Qingyi Courtyard, Qing Luan, who had gone to prepare the carriage, suddenly hurried back and whispered a few words into Yan Qing’s ear.
Yan Qing’s expression instantly turned cold.
Lu Qiao Nan, how dare he still come looking for her?!
“No feudal lord may have two principal wives” is quoted from The Spring and Autumn Annals.
“If a man takes a wife while still married, he shall be sentenced to one year of penal servitude; the woman’s family shall receive a punishment one degree lighter.” is quoted from Tang Code: Household and Marriage Code and Song Penal Code: Household and Marriage Code.