Volume 1 Chapter 2: Catching the Adulterer
"Heavens, there's a fire!"
"Come quickly, put out the fire—"
The billowing smoke finally alarmed the guests in the front courtyard.
When Marquis Wu'an arrived at the inner courtyard with the crowd, he saw the entire study engulfed in flames and immediately exclaimed in panic, "Quick, quick, put out the fire! All my years of collected manuscripts are inside…"
Madam Li, the Marquise, flustered and anxious, cried, "How could a fire start out of nowhere? Where is the Heir? Go check if the Heir is safe!"
Servants rushed about in a panic to fight the fire.
The matron by Madam Li's side hurriedly reported, "Madam, the Heir is missing."
"What?"
Madam Li said in confusion, "Nan'er should be in the bridal chamber, shouldn't he? How could he be missing? That Yan Qing—"
Suddenly, Yan Qing's figure appeared in Madam Li's line of sight.
The entire courtyard was filled with smoke and chaos, everyone was in a flurry, yet Yan Qing sat in the center of the yard in her bright red wedding robe, motionless like a clay statue.
Madam Li approached with an unpleasant expression, "Why aren't you staying in the bridal chamber? What are you doing here?"
She originally had no complaints about her son's new bride—the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Revenue, with a maternal grandfather who was a veteran general of three dynasties, her status was indeed a match for her Nan'er.
But the problem was that before the wedding, this woman had actually made her son agree to three rules, forbidding him from taking concubines for life!
What man doesn't have three wives and four concubines? Yan Qing's jealousy like this was cutting off the lineage of their Marquisate!
Yet her son insisted on marrying her.
Madam Li reached out to push Yan Qing, "Don't get in the way here, go quickly and see where my son is!"
Yan Qing sidestepped to avoid her, calmly sitting on the rosewood chair, "Mother-in-law, I am waiting right here for my husband."
The aloof attitude left Madam Li stunned.
Since when did Yan Qing dare to show her such a face?
But she quickly shook off that strange feeling. Madam Li looked around, frowning, "You say you're waiting here for Qiao Nan? I don't see him anywhere. Where is he?"
"There—"
Yan Qing leisurely raised her head, gesturing with her eyes.
Madam Li followed her gaze and saw the fiercely burning study and the courtyard filled with thick smoke.
Madam Li froze.
Then she heard cries for help coming from within the flames.
"Marquis, it seems there's someone!"
"It's the Heir! The Heir is in the study!"
Lu Qiao Nan's servant recognized his master's voice and anxiously stepped forward, "Marquis, it's the Heir, the Heir is in the study!"
Marquis Wu'an was also stunned for a moment before erupting in anger, "Then what are we waiting for? Save him quickly!"
Madam Li finally reacted, wailing as she rushed forward, "Nan'er! My Nan'er! Mother is coming to save you…"
"Madam, Madam!"
Marquis Wu'an quickly held Madam Li, urging, "Don't act rashly, I will definitely save Nan'er!"
"Hurry and save the Heir!"
After calming Madam Li, Marquis Wu'an coldly ordered, "If anything happens to the Heir, I won't spare any of you!"
The servants hurriedly tried to rescue him.
But the fire in the study was raging, and the main door had long been swallowed by flames. Someone grabbed a quilt, soaked it in water, and tried to charge in, only to be forced back by the intense heat after taking just two steps.
"It's no use, the fire is too strong, we can't get in at all!"
"Heir! Heir, can you hear us?"
"What should we do? If he doesn't come out soon, I'm afraid…"
Everyone was in a panic. If they didn't go in to save him soon, Lu Qiao Nan might die inside.
Even the guests attending the banquet grew anxious.
"Nan'er! My Nan'er…"
Madam Li, seeing that no one dared to rush into the fire to save anyone, cried herself hoarse: "What are you all standing around for? I order you to go save my son immediately!"
Yet even the servants of the Marquisate dared not recklessly throw their lives away.
The Marquis of Wu'an's face was ashen with rage. Madam Li, taking advantage of his distraction, broke free from his embrace and charged toward the study without a second thought.
"Madam—"
Madam Li rushed desperately under the corridor just as a burst of sparks exploded from the wood shavings, showering onto her head.
"Ah! Fire, fire!"
Instantly terrified, Madam Li covered her head and screamed, only to accidentally step on a bucket and fall with a splash, landing hard on the ground.
The cold water drenching her made her realize she wasn’t actually on fire. She sat there in a wretched state, the scorching heat of the flames burning her cheeks painfully.
"Madam…"
A maid stepped forward to help her up.
Madam Li wept silently. She refused to leave, yet she no longer dared to shout and charge into the fire to save her son.
"My son…"
Suddenly, she caught sight of Yan Qing's face.
Amidst the many anxious and panicked expressions, Yan Qing's calm, indifferent face stood out glaringly.
Madam Li's anger flared up instantly.
Her husband was trapped in the fire, yet she showed not a hint of sorrow?
Madam Li pushed the maid aside and rushed up to Yan Qing.
"You, go save Nan'er!"
Pointing at Yan Qing, Madam Li commanded: "Now that you have married into the Marquisate, your fate is tied to Nan'er's—you rise and fall together. If you don't want to be a widow, go in there right now and bring Nan'er out!"
"You're sending my mistress to her death!"
Unexpectedly, Lu Zhi, who had been frightened pale by the day's events, suddenly rushed out furiously, shielding Yan Qing tightly like a mother hen protecting her chicks.
She looked ready to fight Madam Li to the death.
Madam Li trembled with rage: "Yan Qing is now Nan'er's wife. When her husband is in danger, it is her duty as a wife to share his hardship. Someone, drag this wretched girl away, drape the Heir's Wife in a wet quilt, and send her in!"
The Marquisate servants immediately stepped forward.
Qing Luan also stood in front of Yan Qing, her face cold as she declared: "Our young lady is Old General Ye's own granddaughter. Who dares lay a hand on her!"
"Outrageous! Outrageous!"
Seeing the servants intimidated, Madam Li personally reached out to grab Yan Qing: "Yan Qing, if you acknowledge me as your mother-in-law, go save Nan'er now. Otherwise, from now on—"
"There will be no 'from now on,' Mother-in-law."
Yan Qing stepped out from behind her two maids, looking at Madam Li with sorrowful eyes. "It is not that I am unwilling to save my husband, but there is not only my husband in the study. If I go in, I truly do not know whom I should save."
Her words were clear and distinct, like pearls falling onto a plate.
All the guests and the Marquisate household heard them clearly.
Everyone was stunned. Then, someone listened intently for a moment and exclaimed in surprise, "It seems there really is another person… a woman?"
As soon as the words were spoken, with a bang, the study window was suddenly smashed open, and two figures tumbled into the courtyard.
"Nan'er!"
Madam Li immediately forgot about Yan Qing.
The guests also crowded forward to see.
They saw Lu Qiao Nan, clad only in thin undergarments and covered with a quilt, kneeling awkwardly on the ground.
"My son, you've finally—"
Overjoyed to see her son emerge from the fire, Madam Li rushed forward, wanting to embrace Lu Qiao Nan and weep, when suddenly a head poked out from his arms.
That head, seeing Madam Li and the crowd, shrank back into Lu Qiao Nan's embrace.
Then, a woman's sobbing could be heard.
Madam Li froze: "…"
The guests were equally bewildered: "…"
Wasn't today the day of Heir Lu's wedding?
They must all be here to attend Heir Lu's wedding banquet, right? But now the bride is standing right beside them, yet a woman's weeping can be heard from Heir Lu's embrace?
Seeing the two of them fleeing from the study in disheveled clothes, the crowd instantly seemed to catch a whiff of some scandal, casting secretive glances at Marquis Wu'an and Madam Li.
Then, they looked sympathetically at Yan Qing.