Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Yunxi clapped and cheered. Madam Jiang ordered someone to carry her away, then looked at Fu Qiu with worry.
“Why put yourself through this? What if you end up dragged into a lawsuit?”
That kept woman had no formal status in the Jiang family, but in the eyes of the court, she was a registered commoner in good standing. If this truly went before a magistrate, Fu Qiu would be in the wrong for striking her.
“It’s fine.”
For a dispute like this, the worst that would happen was a few strokes of the paddle.
If Madam Jiang was willing to spend some silver, the yamen runners would not bring the paddle down too hard.
Besides, no matter how many times a corpse was beaten, it could not die a second time.
Madam Jiang gave a bitter smile and shook her head. “I was wrong.”
It was impossible to know which matter she meant.
Mama Lu let out a long sigh. “What’s done is done. My lady, try to let it go. Don’t damage your health over it.”
The senior maid serving at Madam Jiang’s side could not hold herself back. She snapped angrily, “He’s nothing but a son-in-law who married into the family, and he still dares to keep a woman outside? Bah!”
“Longyan!” Mama Lu glared at her. “How dare you gossip about your masters? Go take two strikes across the palms!”
Longyan was still indignant, but Mama Lu’s word had to be obeyed. In the end, she swallowed her anger and went to receive her punishment.
Fu Qiu clearly had not expected Jiang Manor to actually be Madam Jiang’s natal home.
Because Madam Jiang’s surname was not Jiang.
Her surname was Ji, and her given name was Heng.
Yet almost no one in the manor ever mentioned it.
That was not strange, either.
Fu Qiu thought it was probably because Master Jiang could not bear to hear it.
After this incident, Fu Qiu firmly established herself in the Jiang family’s inner courtyard. In particular, she won Miss Yunxi’s favor.
Yunxi often asked Fu Qiu to keep her company, calling out “Ah Qiu” again and again.
“Ah Qiu, Ah Qiu, I want to fly!”
“Ah Qiu, Ah Qiu, I want to climb a tree!”
Nanny Li said she had no sense of propriety.
“How can you call an elder by her name like that?”
Yunxi pouted. “Aren’t names made so people can call them? Besides, Ah Qiu, Ah Qiu-it sounds like a sneeze. It’s so fun!”
Nanny Li looked helplessly at Fu Qiu.
Fu Qiu smiled. “Miss Yunxi is simply innocent and lively.”
Yunxi was a little girl who had never been pruned or trimmed. In truth, she was just like a little boy: unable to sit still, full of curiosity, with no idea what it meant to show weakness, much less how to please others.
She was like a little leopard baring its claws and teeth.
After tearing around the courtyard, she climbed onto Fu Qiu’s lap and settled in, then whispered to her.
“I heard Big Sister Longyan say Mother is always fish-fish unhappy.
“Why is the fish unhappy? What does an unhappy fish have to do with Mother?”
Fu Qiu: “…”
She pinched Yunxi’s little cheek. “Miss Yunxi, when your tutor is teaching, you really ought to sleep a little less.”
The moment the words left her mouth, Yunxi had already fallen asleep in her arms.
At some point, Ji Heng had arrived.
She stood beneath the corridor, haggard in appearance, but her eyes were gentle.
Clearly, she had digested Jiang Jingzhi’s plunder and betrayal and did not intend to hold him accountable.
Fu Qiu ran her tongue over her teeth and thought, Ji Heng truly was the most delicious sort of woman.
Just like Fu Qiu herself had once been.
Unable to bear making things difficult for others, she always made things difficult for herself instead.
Fu Qiu was already dead. What about Ji Heng?