Chun Tao delivered the screen panel to the outer study, and Chang Yuan received it.
Having stayed up late with A’Yuan for the past seven days, her eyes were now red and swollen.
Chang Yuan poked her forehead teasingly, “What’s wrong? Did you go digging into rat holes at night? Your eyes are red as can be.”
Chun Tao was already seething with anger. Her mistress had nearly ruined her hands over this screen panel, and here was Chang Yuan still in the mood for jokes.
She snorted coldly, “I wish I had the leisure for that. Do you really think double-sided embroidery is easy, something you can just whip up casually? Go ahead and take this screen panel to curry favor with your new master. Why bother about whether I live or die!”
Her torrent of words left Chang Yuan stunned. “You… what do you mean by that?”
It was just a joke—why get so worked up?
Chun Tao had no intention of arguing with him. Her mistress’s hands still needed her to apply medicine.
After delivering the screen panel, Chun Tao hurried away, leaving Chang Yuan fuming with anger.
“Is it finished?”
In the study, Wei Xun’s mood was far from calm.
He had assumed A’Yuan would deliver the embroidery herself. After all, given her scheming nature as his concubine, she wouldn’t miss the chance to seek favor and flattery.
But A’Yuan hadn’t come.
Wei Xun’s expression grew slightly dazed. Had he misunderstood her?
Chang Yuan placed the screen panel on the table sullenly. “It’s finished.”
The screen panel was no larger than a palm, yet the embroidery was exceptionally intricate.
On the front was a scene of a celestial maiden offering peaches of immortality, while the back transformed into an evergreen pine on a timeless mountain—a testament to the embroiderer’s meticulous care.
Wei Xun’s expression gradually softened. A’Yuan had indeed taken his words to heart.
Once the future mistress of the household arrived, seeing her so obedient would surely earn her leniency and generosity.
Wei Xun fiddled with the screen panel, a pleased smile curling at the corner of his lips. “Did the maid say anything else?”
Chang Yuan knew he was asking about A’Yuan and instinctively shook his head. “Chun Tao didn’t mention anything about Mistress Xie, but her eyes were as red as a rabbit’s, as if she hadn’t slept at all…”
If the maid hadn’t slept, her mistress couldn’t have fared much better.
Thud!
The screen panel in Wei Xun’s hand fell onto the table with a crisp sound. His face turned cold as he stood up. “To the Jade Clarity Courtyard.”
…
In the Jade Clarity Courtyard, Chun Tao, with reddened eyes, applied medicine to A’Yuan’s hands.
The burns from that day had never fully healed, and after days of needlework with injured hands, the original blisters had festered.
Chun Tao carefully cleaned away the decayed flesh and applied a thick layer of ointment. A’Yuan trembled in pain, large beads of cold sweat dripping from her forehead.
“If it hurts, Mistress, bite me instead. My skin is thick.”
Chun Tao pursed her lips, tears welling in her eyes.
Why should someone as delicate as her mistress suffer such grievances?
It was all the Young Master’s fault for failing to see clearly, making her mistress endure so much hardship.
Her resentment spilled over, evident on her face.
A’Yuan gently patted her head with her uninjured hand. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
“How can you be fine? Your hands were nearly ruined!”
“Whose hands were nearly ruined?”
Wei Xun entered just in time to hear Chun Tao’s words. His gaze sharpened, landing on A’Yuan’s hands.
Engrossed in their conversation, the mistress and maid hadn’t noticed the commotion outside, and Wei Xun caught them off guard.
Though medicine had been applied, the scarred and mottled hands still revealed the severity of the injury.
A’Yuan instinctively tried to withdraw her hands into her sleeves, but the man seized her wrist.
Wei Xun leaned slightly forward, looking down at her with a commanding presence, his tone sharp. “How were you injured?”
A’Yuan remained silent, the room so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Wei Xun felt as if a heavy stone were pressing on his chest, suffocating and painful. He turned to question Chun Tao, “You tell me!”
Chun Tao had long been unable to hold back. Her mistress had suffered so many injuries, and the young master had only just noticed. Even if she couldn’t seek justice for her mistress, she couldn’t let the perpetrator off easily.
“It was all because of Shen…”
“Chun Tao, shut up!”
A’Yuan closed her eyes, her trembling voice stopping her.
“No one did it. I accidentally hurt myself.”
Shen Qiuyu was the future wife recognized by Wei Xun and Madam Wei, and the embroidery work had been assigned to her on Wei Xun’s orders. What good would it do to complain? It would only make Chun Tao offend several masters for nothing.
She withdrew her hand from Wei Xun’s palm, hiding it in her sleeve, and forced a compliant smile onto her face. “I’ve frightened the young master. It’s my fault.”
“Xie Yuan!”
Wei Xun’s eyes reddened at the corners, his face cold enough to freeze over. He had once loved A’Yuan’s compliant demeanor the most, but now it only made him feel miserable.
He would rather she cried or made a scene—he was willing to bear it all.
But not like this, as if she were merely a walking corpse.
Hearing his anger, A’Yuan knelt on the ground, her forehead touching the blue bricks. Her quiet, obedient voice reached the man’s ears.
“I have angered the young master. I am willing to accept punishment.”
“Punish you?” Wei Xun’s heart tightened, his eyes growing increasingly bloodshot.
“If I punish anyone, it will be her! Failing to take good care of her mistress—drag her out and beat her to death!”
He pointed at Chun Tao, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.
A’Yuan’s vision darkened. Staggering, she crawled forward on her knees, her injured hand clutching the hem of his robe, no longer maintaining her earlier compliant demeanor.
“Master, Chun Tao was only following my orders. Punish me instead!”
Wei Xun stared at the bloodstains on his robe, his heart aching and angry, though his face remained cold and unreadable.
Beside them, Chun Tao was already terrified out of her wits, and Chang Yuan also knelt down to plead for mercy.
“Master, although Chun Tao is straightforward and simple-minded, she is loyal to Mistress Xie. Please spare her life for the sake of the many years she has cared for Mistress Xie. I am also willing to take her punishment.”
“After caring for her for so many years, she ends up covered in injuries. If she stays, aren’t you afraid the injuries will only get worse?”
Wei Xun stared at A’Yuan’s hands, his anger palpable.
Chun Tao sobbed, wanting to beg for mercy but not daring to.
All the sounds in the room seemed to fade into nothingness. A’Yuan’s body stiffened, her mind blank.
She looked up dazedly, her eyes unfocused, her voice sounding as if it had taken all her strength.
“If I tell you, will the young master believe me?”
Wei Xun’s chest grew even more suffocating and painful. He clenched his fist and slowly nodded. “I will believe you.”
“It was Lady Shen… it was Lady Shen who scalded me.”
A’Yuan repeated it twice. The pain in her hands left her feeling weak, but she forced herself to kneel upright, waiting for the man’s response.
After a long while, Wei Xun finally spoke. He asked, “Do you have proof?”
A’Yuan smiled, as if the expected answer had finally landed, and her heart felt hollow.
“No.”
“There is no proof.”
Someone like Shen Qiuyu would never leave evidence behind. Even when she tormented others, she was meticulous and left no trace.
A’Yuan didn’t expect Wei Xun to stand up for her. All she wanted was for Chun Tao to survive.
Even if it meant ruining her own hands, she was willing.
Wei Xun was stung by the emptiness in her eyes and looked away uncomfortably.
Without proof, he couldn’t stand up for A’Yuan.
Moreover, this was only A’Yuan’s side of the story. It didn’t prove that Shen Qiuyu had truly mistreated her.
“Do you know that slander is a grave offense, especially when it involves a noble lady? Even I cannot protect you.”
A’Yuan pressed her forehead to the floor, her voice resolute. “I know.”
Wei Xun fell silent once more, and after a long pause, he spoke again.
“Let this matter be laid to rest. Do not speak of it again.”
Shen Qiuyu was the daughter of an official. Without evidence, punishing her would only bring harm to A’Yuan.
A’Yuan had long anticipated this outcome. She lowered herself even further, reverting to her usual obedient demeanor. “Yes.”
Wei Xun felt a pang of guilt, clenching and unclenching his fist. “Is there anything you desire?”
This was his way of offering compensation to keep her silent.
A’Yuan’s tears fell onto the blue bricks, her voice choked with suppressed sobs. “I wish to go to the Great Buddha Temple to light an incense stick for… Biwu.”