“Someone, tie up Concubine Qiao for me.”
Two servant women immediately pressed Concubine Qiao down.
Shen Chu’s expression changed slightly.
Old Madame Shen said, “Either you drink it, or Concubine Qiao drinks it. Choose for yourself.”
A flash of triumph crossed Madam Chen’s eyes. Thinking of the torment of being interrogated layer by layer by the people of Jingzhao Prefecture, she wished she could flay Shen Chu alive.
Concubine Qiao, pinned to the ground, pleaded, “Old Madame, Chu has lived at the Daoist temple for seventeen years—no matter how heavy the Shaqi, it has all been cleansed away. If the Old Madame insists that someone must drink the talisman decoction before she will believe it, then let me drink it. Once I’ve drunk it, I’ll go kneel at the ancestral hall. I beg the Old Madame not to punish Chu.”
With that, she reached out to grab the talisman decoction from the servant woman’s hands.
The woman sidestepped to avoid her, and the other servant woman pressed Concubine Qiao down again.
Shen Chu kicked the woman away and pulled Concubine Qiao behind her, shielding her.
“Grandmother, if you have issues, direct them at me. Why trouble my concubine-mother?”
Old Madame Shen trembled with rage. “You rebellious, unfilial thing! Have you no respect at all? Someone, pull the eldest young master away and force the evil-dispelling talisman decoction down his throat.”
The two servant women stepped forward to restrain Shen Chu.
Concubine Qiao struggled to stand in front of Shen Chu.
Mama Zhang rolled up her sleeves and slapped Concubine Qiao across the face.
“Concubine Qiao, the Old Madame is doing this for the eldest young master’s own good. If you keep blocking her, you’re being willfully disobedient.”
“Concubine-mother.” Shen Chu pulled Concubine Qiao over, and seeing five finger marks instantly rising on her fair face, anger flashed in her eyes.
“Don’t be angry, Chu.” Concubine Qiao grabbed her hand and shook her head slightly. “I’m fine.”
“Fine, when you’re already swollen?” Shen Chu’s fingers twitched, then she raised her hand and fiercely returned two slaps to Mama Zhang.
Slap, slap.
“Who do you think you are? My concubine-mother is not someone you get to discipline.”
Mama Zhang’s face instantly swelled up like a steamed bun, her mouth split open, and she could barely speak.
“Old… Old Madame…”
Before she could finish shouting, Shen Chu seized her by the chin and poured the entire bowl of talisman decoction down her throat.
“Cough, cough…”
Mama Zhang choked, tears and snot streaming down her face.
The moment Shen Chu let go, she crumpled softly to the floor and vomited everything up.
A sour, foul stench spread through the room.
Shen Chu pulled Concubine Qiao back a step, looked up at Old Madame Shen and Madam Chen, and smiled coolly:
“The Shaqi on me probably can’t be fully cleansed after all. Grandmother and Mother should go to Jingguosi and request more talismans—a bowl for everyone in the household, to preserve everyone’s lives.”
“You… you wretched creature!”
Old Madame Shen was so furious her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
Madam Chen shrieked, “The Old Madame has fainted from rage! Someone, tie Shen Chu up and make her kneel at the ancestral hall!”
“What is all this commotion?”
A low voice, neither light nor heavy, drifted in from outside the door as Changning Hou lifted the curtain and entered.
Madam Chen’s face was full of grievance. “My lord, I kindly went to request the evil-dispelling talisman decoction, but Chu not only refused my kindness, she spilled the talisman decoction, struck Mama Zhang, and angered the Old Madame into fainting.”
Changning Hou’s gaze swept over Shen Chu and Concubine Qiao, his brow furrowing slightly. He said flatly, “Chu, take your concubine-mother down to apply medicine first. I will handle things here.”
Madam Chen’s eyes blazed with fury, but she dared not talk back to Changning Hou.
Concubine Qiao gazed tenderly at Changning Hou.
Shen Chu bowed with her hands folded, then led Concubine Qiao away.
Back at Concubine Qiao’s courtyard, she fetched the ointment and carefully applied it to Concubine Qiao’s wounds.
“Does it hurt?”
Concubine Qiao drew in a sharp breath, yet a smile floated onto her face. “It doesn’t hurt. Are you angry?”
Shen Chu pressed her lips together, her movements growing even gentler. “Why did you block in front of me? You know I could have handled two old servants.”
Concubine Qiao was dismissive. “You’re the Zhuangyuanlang. Things like women pulling each other’s hair—I’ll handle those for you.”
Shen Chu… She really did see her as a man?
Concubine Qiao paused, gauging her expression, and said softly, “You weren’t by my side before, but now that you’re back, I can’t just watch those two old hags bully you in front of me.”
Shen Chu’s hand faltered slightly.
“I know what you want to say—that you’re all grown up now, past the age of needing your parents’ protection, and that I’m being superfluous. Fine, have it your way.”
Shen Chu said nothing and continued applying the medicine.
When she finished, she half-knelt beside Concubine Qiao and asked solemnly, “Mother, would you like to leave the marquis’s residence with me? We could split from the household and live on our own.”
Concubine Qiao was shocked. “Why would we split the household when everything is fine?”
“You call this kind of life fine?”
“Yes, there are occasional unpleasant things, but with the Marquis sincerely protecting us, we won’t suffer any losses.”
Concubine Qiao took Shen Chu’s hand, eager to dispel the thought from her mind. “Chu, you absolutely must not entertain the idea of splitting the household. You don’t know how hard it is to support a family alone without a clan’s protection. Besides, I truly love the Marquis. Without him, how could I go on living?”
Shen Chu gazed at the tears welling in Concubine Qiao’s bright eyes and silently swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue.
The Qiao family were merchants, and Concubine Qiao was their only daughter. After her parents died unexpectedly, the Qiao clan members devoured the family’s assets like hungry wolves.
Concubine Qiao gritted her teeth and shouldered the family business, standing alone against the entire clan. When she could no longer hold on by herself, Changning Hou appeared, using the power of the marquis’s residence to suppress the Qiao clan members and protect her.
At that time, Changning Hou, only twenty-five, was a handsome man renowned throughout the capital, with striking features and a dignified appearance.
Concubine Qiao was only sixteen, inexperienced in the ways of the world, and utterly defenseless against a handsome man who protected her with all his heart.
She fell in love with Changning Hou and entered the Changning Marquis’s residence with her substantial dowry as an honored concubine.
How could such a Concubine Qiao ever see reality clearly just because of a few words from her?
“What are you two talking about?”
Changning Hou lifted the curtain and entered.
Concubine Qiao’s eyes lit up, and she hurriedly rose to greet him. “My lord, you’re here.”
Changning Hou looked down at her, gently stroking her face, his voice soft. “Does it still hurt?”
Concubine Qiao pouted, her earlier toughness in front of Shen Chu completely gone. “It hurts. Blow on it for me, my lord.”
Changning Hou chuckled low. “You and your coquettish ways.”
Concubine Qiao stomped her foot and playfully punched him, but he caught her hand in his.
Feeling superfluous, Shen Chu quietly turned to leave.
Changning Hou turned and called out to her. “I’ve already spoken with Old Madame. You won’t be made to drink talisman decoction anymore. But you shouldn’t have defied Old Madame either. Remember to go apologize to her tomorrow.”
Concubine Qiao smiled happily. “Chu, see? I told you the Marquis sincerely protects us.”
Shen Chu was silent for a moment. “Thank you, Father.”
Returning to Xizhao Hall, where she lived, her personal maid Hong Xiu came up to greet her. “Young Master, I’ve heated some water. Take a bath first to ease your fatigue.”
It had truly been an exhausting day, and even now Shen Chu’s whole body ached.
But she couldn’t bathe yet.
“Find me a change of clothes. I have to go out right away.”
While Hong Xiu was getting her clothes, Shen Chu instructed her, “In the next couple of days, take some time to look into all of the Qiao family’s businesses and see which ones have been handed over to the communal accounts.”
Hearing this, Hong Xiu asked excitedly, “Has Concubine Qiao come to her senses and decided to consolidate the Qiao family’s businesses?”
“Do you think that’s possible?”
“Probably not. Concubine Qiao—she’s got nothing but a pretty face, and her head is stuffed full of nothing but the Marquis.”
Shen Chu was amused. What an apt description.
By the time she had changed her clothes, it was still early. She rode out of the city, her destination: the dark chamber where she and Pei Yuan had entangled themselves last night.
That fellow Pei Yuan should have left Jingguosi by now, shouldn’t he?