Chapter 6

Chapter 6

When I opened my eyes again, I knew I had made the right gamble.

I had only used a small portion of that packet of medicine. I just hadn’t expected it to still be so potent.

I had deliberately calculated the timing and drugged myself the day before the Lu Family entered the capital. I was betting that the Young Master would never pretend nothing had happened. And since this concerned the Young Master’s life, the Lu Family would surely investigate it to the end.

While I was still unconscious, hovering between life and death, Madam would be unable to do anything else to me.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying in an unfamiliar room.

The girl by the bed noticed I was awake and hurriedly helped me sit up, then fed me some medicine.

I looked at her carefully. She seemed to be one of the senior maids from the Old Madam’s courtyard-Zhenzhu.

“Miss Xiacao, you’re finally awake. Hurry and drink the medicine. The physician said that as long as you woke up today, you would be out of danger.”

“Thank you, Sister Zhenzhu. I… I’m still alive?”

She gave a light laugh. “Fortunately, you have a strong fate. You were only unconscious for one night.”

“Is the Young Master all right?” I asked softly.

“Still worrying about your Young Master? Don’t worry, the Eldest Young Master is fine. Thanks to you, you protected your master well and didn’t let that wretched maid succeed.”

Wretched maid?

I looked at her in confusion. Her eyes were curved with a gentle smile, yet the sight made my heart tighten.

“Sister Zhenzhu, what do you mean?” I asked.

She kept smiling. “Xiacao, you’re a kind girl. But we servants have to learn to read the situation. As long as we can stay alive, nothing else matters.”

I didn’t understand what she was trying to say.

She patted my shoulder and said, “All right, I’ll go report to the Old Madam first. In a moment, go to the front hall to see the masters.”

When she reached the door, she suddenly turned back. “Remember, the masters saved you not because your life is especially precious.”

With that, she left.

Sister Zhenzhu’s final words jolted me awake. For a servant like me to have my life spared, it wasn’t because my life was valuable. It could only mean I was still useful to the masters.

And what she had said earlier must have been a hint for me in advance.

“Didn’t let that wretched maid succeed?”

This was the Old Madam’s courtyard. I tidied myself up and hurried to the front hall.

I was stopped outside the room. It seemed it was not yet time for me to appear.

After waiting a while, Sister Zhenzhu came out and led me inside.

Seated directly ahead were the Old Madam and the Marquis. Madam sat to the left, while the Young Master sat to the right beside a woman dressed in the same rich finery.

Seeing the Young Master there steadied my heart a little.

Only, his face was full of coldness, without any trace of his usual gentleness.

And kneeling below the hall was another person, hair disheveled, clearly having suffered punishment.

I knelt respectfully and bowed.

The Old Madam did not say much. She gave Mama Zhang beside her a look, and Mama Zhang questioned me directly.

“The poison you drank-were you instructed by someone? Was it originally meant to poison the Eldest Young Master?”

I nodded. “Yes. This servant was threatened by someone, but the Young Master has treated this servant well. This servant truly couldn’t bear to…”

“Threatened? What could a wretched maid like Hong Xiu threaten you with? More likely, you accepted some benefit from her, didn’t you?”

I froze and said nothing. In that instant, I understood. So Madam had pushed Hong Xiu out to take the blame.

I looked again at the maid kneeling beside me. Her head was lowered, her face hidden, but judging by her figure, she did indeed look like Hong Xiu.

But no matter what, I could not admit guilt.

“This servant did not. This servant has been wronged!”

Mama Zhang threw something in front of me. “If you didn’t accept any benefit, then what is this?”

I lowered my head and looked. My mind buzzed at once. It was the hairpin Madam had forced into my hand that day…

I hurriedly said, “This is… this is…”

I had wanted to tell the truth, but then I remembered Sister Zhenzhu’s warning, and suddenly the words would not come out.

But did it really matter whether I told the truth or not?

Did they truly not know? I didn’t believe they didn’t.

Mama Zhang continued, “Was the person who gave you the poison that day someone beside you?”

I looked to the side. The person there even cooperated by raising her head. Sure enough, it was Hong Xiu.

In a hoarse voice, she said, “This servant confesses.”

The person who had given me the poison… It was indeed her, but not only her. I knew very well what I ought to say now, and yet… I turned my gaze toward the Young Master.

The Young Master kept his face taut and expressionless, his hands clenched tightly at his sides. Sensing my gaze, he gave a stiff nod.

Since that was the case, I had no choice but to admit it.

The Old Madam, who had been silent for a long while, finally spoke. “Hong Xiu poisoned her master. Send her to the Court of the Commandant of Justice and have her beaten to death.”

Hong Xiu was dragged away. She did not struggle in the slightest.

A chill of fear ran through me, and I felt the sorrow of a fox grieving for the dead rabbit.

She and I could be considered fellow sufferers. We were both nothing more than pawns in the hands of those who sat high above us.

Originally, the crime of plotting against one’s master should have fallen on my head. But no one could have imagined that I would put the poison into my own body.

The Old Madam continued, “Although Xiacao was an accomplice, she did come to her senses and repent in time. As for her punishment…”

I was listening, waiting to hear what fate awaited me next, when the Young Master suddenly interrupted the Old Madam.

“Grandmother, she is my own maid. I should take her back and deal with her myself.”

The Old Madam frowned. “Ting Zong…”

“Grandmother, Xiacao can also be said to have shielded me from a calamity. Besides, there is already no one else in my courtyard whom I can trust.”

The Young Master was determined not to follow the Old Madam’s decision.

After some thought, the Old Madam finally nodded. “Very well, then. We’ll do as you say. But once you take her back, you must discipline her properly.”

The Young Master smiled faintly, but it was no longer the gentle smile he usually wore. “Grandmother is right. However… I will still have to trouble Mother to hand over the indenture contracts for the servants in my courtyard, so that… I may discipline them better in the future.”

Joy stirred in my heart. So the Young Master still remembered.

Madam forced a smile. “Ting Zong… This time, it was Mother’s failure to manage the household properly that allowed a maid by my side to harbor such wicked thoughts. In the future, Mother will put the servants in order properly. Nothing like this will happen again.”

What she meant was that she would not hand them over. The Young Master did not reply.

The Marquis said impatiently, “Enough. If he wants them, just give them to him.”

Since the Marquis had spoken, Madam could only nod and agree.

Though the Marquis did not value his eldest son, the Young Master was still his flesh and blood.

The madam beside the Young Master also spoke up. “Marquis, Old Madam, please don’t take offense. Just now, I heard there was no one suitable in Ting Zong’s courtyard. As it happens, my husband has always been concerned about his nephew, so he asked me to bring several guards for Ting Zong, also for the sake of protecting his safety.”

This should be the Young Master’s aunt by marriage, Madam Lu.

As soon as Madam heard this, she hurriedly refused. “What could possibly be unsafe in the Marquis’s Mansion?”

Madam Lu hesitated. “Well… my husband gave me very clear instructions yesterday. He could not be absent from court today, as it is his first time attending morning court, but if he returns and finds that I failed to handle this matter properly, I fear he will blame me.”

The Young Master ignored Madam and agreed directly. “In that case, many thanks to Uncle and Aunt.”

Only then did this farce finally come to an end.

I raised my head slightly and looked around. The masters all wore different expressions.

The Old Madam’s face was full of satisfaction, as if she was very pleased with this outcome.

The Marquis looked thoroughly impatient.

Madam’s eyes revealed hatred. Her scheme had failed.

In the Young Master’s eyes, however, there was unwillingness and powerlessness.

And yet this family all pretended to be perfectly harmonious and happy.

Every one of them knew the truth. Even the maids by the Old Madam’s side knew it.

But they had woven a lie for themselves, inventing a perfect “truth.” Of course, the lie was not meant to deceive me, but to deceive themselves.

They had called me here only so that I would cooperate with them in acting out the ending to this lie, so that I would help them create the illusion of a happy, harmonious household.