Chapter 8
Uncle was cleverer than Aunt. He and Father talked pleasantly, and he took care to soothe me too. He knew perfectly well that if I agreed to let the matter rest, everything would be settled to his satisfaction.
“Yaoguang and your brother will be engaged soon. If anything happened to Little Four now, it would be inauspicious. Even if your father means to set his household in order, there’s no need to hurry. A miserable life is better than a good death. Gain a little time. Who knows? In a happier mood, he may let her live.”
Uncle knew just where I was vulnerable. What a master strategist he was.
I smiled.
Uncle brightened. “Ah Ci has always been a sensible girl.”
As though everything were in his grasp.
A He servant stumbled through the door, soaked to the skin. He dropped to his knees. “Master! The young master… His carriage overturned into the river… We pulled him out… He’s not breathing…”
Aunt and Grandmother screamed and fainted together.
“You.” Uncle turned on me, his eyes suddenly vicious.
Now he knew why I had smiled.
I met his gaze calmly. “I don’t know what you mean, Uncle. I only remember you saying Cousin should be left to you, since he was to die in any case. And now he is dead. You are a man of your word.”
Uncle’s eyes seemed ready to split with rage. He reached for me.
Before my maids could move, a short blade flew through the air. It sliced Uncle’s palm, skimmed past Father’s ear, and buried itself in the window frame.
“Lord He, to uphold justice even at the expense of your own son—you are an example to us all. When I attend His Majesty tomorrow, I shall be sure to report your actions. His Majesty will surely reward such impartial devotion to justice.”
Liang Xi walked in, still wearing his armor.
He had returned to the capital.
This was only our second meeting since our wedding.
I inclined my head to him.
He nodded.
Uncle’s face turned ashen. In an instant he weighed his choices, then bowed with clasped hands, planting himself upon his own son’s corpse. “I am deeply grateful, General, that you would speak well of me before His Majesty.”
The army was still camped outside the city. Liang Xi had ridden straight to the Jiang residence, hoping to catch Grandmother’s birthday feast. He had missed the banquet and arrived just in time for this unexpected affair.
“I brought a statue of Buddha for the old lady’s birthday. It seems I can’t present it now.”
“No matter. You’ve already given us a splendid gift, General.”
I saw my mother-in-law and Liang Xi to the gate.
“Stay here a few more days and keep Little Four company,” my mother-in-law told me. “You and Eldest haven’t seen one another for two years. A few more days won’t hurt.”
Liang Xi stood with his hands behind his back, unshaven and travel-worn. He bore no resemblance to the elegant young man my mother-in-law so often described.
She glanced at him sideways, then drew me close to whisper, “I haven’t lied to you. He really is a handsome man, as fine-looking as Pan An. Give him two days at home to recover, and I promise you’ll come back to a good-looking husband.”
My memory of Liang Xi on our wedding day had blurred. The image built from his mother’s daily descriptions was very different from the man before me.
Suddenly Liang Xi smiled. “Mother’s letters say Ah Ci is gentle, virtuous, kind and obedient. I trust she hasn’t lied to me either?”
My mother-in-law coughed.
I looked up at the sky.
As the carriage rolled away, I could just make out her voice. “You couldn’t wash your face and change before seeing your wife? These past two years, keeping this marriage alive has worn me to the bone…”