He had not expected the situation to be so serious. Lu Ze was stricken with alarm. “Mother, why didn’t you tell me you were unwell?”
“These past days, it was because I acted without good judgment and got you punished by your father. My heart ached for you. I was afraid if I told you, you’d rush home disregarding your training just like last time—and anger your father all over again.”
Aunt Liu put in at once: “There now—this is a real mother, someone who truly loves you and thinks only of your best interests. You’ve stood up for Xiao Jiang all this while, yet time and again she has sown discord, so that the Division Commander might punish you. Can you not see clearly now who truly cares for you, and who has ulterior motives? Let me speak plainly! Comrade Song’s health is gravely weakened. If we continue letting Xiao Jiang remain here and vex her so… I fear Comrade Song—”
Song Yuhua cut her off: “Aunt Liu, it’s nothing really—these days I simply cannot sleep, nor can I eat.”
At those words, Lu Ze finally grasped how serious things were. “Mother—how can you say ‘simply cannot sleep nor eat’? The doctor told you plainly: those are the very things you must avoid most of all. Why did you not tell me sooner?”
Aunt Liu picked up the thread: “And what good would telling him have done? Would you have Xiao Jiang driven away?”
Hearing this, Jiang Yuan could no longer hold back a scoff. She set down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth, and said:
“Going round and round in circles—so all this was just to get rid of me! You should have said so earlier! I am not an unreasonable woman. If the masters of the house bid me leave, would I stay and shame myself by lingering on?”
Song Yuhua made a show of trying to deny it, but Aunt Liu—quicker still—spoke before her: “Since you are so reasonable and understanding, go pack your things at once. I shall arrange for you to leave tonight.”
“Oh?” Jiang Yuan feigned surprise. “You’ve already arranged for someone to see me off? Then it seems I must leave this very day!”
Everything Aunt Liu had said finally turned over in Lu Ze’s mind. That Song Yuhua loved him and cherished him was beyond question—she was his own mother after all. The very trouble was that she was his mother: blinded by excessive fondness, she had lost her sense of judgment.
Jiang Yuan was different. On the surface it seemed she stirred up strife; but in truth, she had found ways to ensure Lu Qinian paid him greater heed, and advanced his standing. Both women loved him—only in their own ways. His mother and his intended—both were dear to him; to cast either aside tore at his heart.
Lu Ze looked at his mother: frail, ailing, and full of grievance with nowhere to turn. Much as he wished Jiang Yuan would not leave, he could not bring himself to say so. At length he looked to Jiang Yuan and spoke:
“When you first came, I warned you: you must obey my mother, wait upon her well, and strive to be a virtuous, obedient wife. Fail in this, and I shall send you back to the countryside. Now you have not only failed to do as I asked—you have openly opposed her at every turn and made her angry. Under the circumstances, I have no choice but to ask you to leave.”
His words left Jiang Yuan every chance to yield. She need only humble herself, admit fault, and vow to do as he bade—and she might stay. When she said nothing, Lu Ze parted his lips and offered a compromise: “Then I shall take you to the guesthouse for now. Stay there and reflect upon your conduct. When you have seen reason, you may return.”
Seeing this, Song Yuhua feared matters might take an unexpected turn. She cast a sharp look at Aunt Liu, who understood at once: “I shall go and pack Xiao Jiang’s belongings this instant.”
Leave—and she would never set foot here again.
Jiang Yuan watched them all think they could manage her as they pleased. She stepped forward and barred Aunt Liu’s way. Her gaze drifted slowly over everyone present, and she arched an eyebrow with quiet amusement:
“I am the one whom Division Commander Lu himself bade remain. Are you certain you wish to drive me away?”
Had she not been left here by Lu Qinian, Song Yuhua would have had her cast out long ago. She had waited all this while for this very moment—and she would not let it pass.
“We are not driving you away in the least,” Song Yuhua said. “You yourself declared you would not remain here and shame yourself.”
“That much is true,” Jiang Yuan agreed readily. “But I said I would not stay if bidden away by the masters of the house. However—” She paused, then asked: “Are you the mistress of this house?”
Song Yuhua had already accepted she was no match for her—and yet even now, having all but admitted defeat and turned her out, this woman would press her advantage. Lu Ze sensed what was coming next and cut in sharply: “Enough! We all know my father wished her to stay. She shall not leave. Is that clear? Go to your room at once—I shall speak with you later.”
He turned then to soothe Song Yuhua: “Mother—she is here at Father’s order. If we send her away now, he will think we dared act in his absence and turn out his guest. He has punished me twice already. If we provoke him further, I—”
It was not merely himself Lu Ze feared. Lu Qinian was a man of iron reserve at his core. He seemed indifferent to all around him, making neither demands nor demands—yet that was only because most matters were beneath his concern. Song Yuhua had trodden carefully for years, securing her place beside him—and she would not see it all undone by a single woman. She would have to find another means of driving her out.
Jiang Yuan watched Song Yuhua—who loathed her yet could not be rid of her—chafe helplessly and force herself to appear generous. The sight brought a faint, satisfied smile to her lips. Before ascending the stairs, she turned back deliberately, looked Song Yuhua in the eye, and said clearly:
“Are you the mistress of this house? Do you have the authority to bid me leave?”
Her tone was such that she might as well have pointed a finger and demanded to know what right she had. Song Yuhua choked back her rage—she gasped for breath, clutching Lu Ze’s sleeve, her face flushing mottled shades of purple, blue, and yellow. A most striking sight indeed.
Jiang Yuan went upstairs, bathed, and prepared for bed. By then Lu Ze had finished soothing Song Yuhua and came to see her. She stood in the doorway and barred his way. “Speak your mind—and if you have nothing to say, begone.”
Lu Ze was struck speechless for a long moment. He sighed at last. “Yuanyuan… it has been months. Have you not thought of me at all?”
Had she thought of him?
The Jiang Yuan of old had thought of him constantly—while working, while eating, and most of all while sleeping. She had dreamed of his handsome face, his gentle smile, the warmth in his eyes as he looked upon her… She had wondered what he was doing, whether he thought of her, why he had been away so long, whether he had come to harm on duty…
After all that had happened, she had dared no longer think of him. To think of him was to remember what had been taken from her—that she was no longer pure. To think of him was to curse the cruelty of fate. To think of him was to wish she had perished there…
Now, the Jiang Yuan standing before him wished only that he would vanish from her sight.
“After all this time, you have found me at last—why must you speak to me so?”
“How I speak to you is no more than how you treat me. Before you question me, look first to your own conduct.”
“Yuanyuan!” Lu Ze caught her arm as she turned to close the door. His voice was heavy with helplessness. “My mother gave me life and raised me. You are the woman I love—the one with whom I mean to spend my days. You are the two most precious people in all the world to me. I told you before—my mother is easy to please. Humor her, and all shall be well. Why must you always oppose her?”