Chapter 7
When Xie Bi arrived, Li Ruolan was dealing sternly with the servants.
“Today… when Rou’er came to serve tea, did everything go well?”
He sounded her out cautiously.
“Everything was quite well. Why do you ask, my lord?”
Li Ruolan looked faintly surprised.
“Her servants say she was miserable when she got back. She couldn’t even eat.”
The maid at her side quickly stepped forward.
“You wrong our mistress, my lord. She did not make the slightest difficulty for Concubine Rou today. Quite the opposite: she was concerned about her pregnancy, excused her from kneeling, and kept everything simple to spare her the strain.”
Li Ruolan turned aside, looking dispirited.
“Concubine Rou is your darling. Whatever I do, you find me hateful.”
Xie Bi looked awkward. What the maid said matched what he had learned from his inquiries.
There was no fault to find with anything Li Ruolan had done today.
But Concubine Rou’s tears had made him suspect there must be more to it.
“Don’t say that, Lan’er. I was only asking…”
“I don’t know what she told you. But to come and question me without finding out the truth means you don’t trust me. It truly hurts.”
Li Ruolan dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief.
“I treated her so sincerely, putting her first in everything, and still she’s dissatisfied. Is it because I didn’t ask her to stay for a meal?”
“Nothing of the sort. Don’t imagine things, Lan’er…”
“If that’s it, I dare not invite her at all. Should anything go wrong, I’d be accused of harming her unborn child.”
She covered her eyes and began to sob.
Xie Bi did not know what to do.
“I’ve spoiled her and let her forget her place. Don’t be angry, Lan’er. I know how generous you are. I won’t be so quick to believe her again!”
He coaxed her for ages and said he would stay in the main courtyard for dinner. Only then did she smile through her tears.
She turned to him.
“You’ve come at just the right time. I was about to send for you. Something terrible has happened in my courtyard.”
“Oh? What’s happened?”
“My storeroom has been robbed. Several pieces from my dowry have vanished. Some light-fingered servant must have taken them. I was just about to report it to the authorities!”
Xie Bi’s face turned livid as he looked at the list of stolen items Li Ruolan handed him.
He had secretly taken every one of them and given them to Concubine Rou.
It was a thoroughly discreditable business.
He had assumed that, with Li Ruolan’s temperament, she would merely swallow the loss in silence when she discovered it.
A few coaxing words, a little intimidation, and she would give in.
He had never expected her to go to the authorities without consulting him.
If outsiders learned that he had taken his wife’s dowry to support a concubine, how could he show his face again?
“My lady, family disgrace should stay within the family. There’s no need to involve the authorities over such a trifle.”
He looked displeased.
“Why would you say that, husband? If these were ordinary dowry pieces, I might let it pass. But my grandmother gave them to me. They are priceless heirlooms of the Li family. The thief must have known their value. The more I think about it, the more frightening it becomes. How can we leave such a danger in our household?”
Xie Bi had no answer. He had taken them because the workmanship was beautiful. How was he to know they were so valuable?
He began to regret it, but could not find a way to speak.
Just then, a servant announced that Qianjin Jewelers had sent an assistant to request an audience.
“Your household sent us a message today, accusing us of colluding with thieves, buying stolen property, and selling it for profit. You threatened to take us to the authorities.”
The assistant stood before them in the hall.
“Our proprietor sent me specially to clear this up. Qianjin Jewelers is a legitimate business with a reputation going back a hundred years. We would never do such a thing. Someone must be deliberately slandering us.”
Xie Bi was bewildered. How had Qianjin Jewelers become involved?
An older servant who had accompanied Li Ruolan as part of her dowry stepped forward.
“When Concubine Rou came today, my lady recognized the pearl-and-jade hairpin in her hair as a Li family heirloom, part of her own dowry. But Concubine Rou said the master bought it at Qianjin Jewelers. She spoke so convincingly that she surely cannot have been lying. Your shop must have colluded with thieves and sold the stolen goods.”
Li Ruolan took a leisurely sip of tea.
“I ought to thank Concubine Rou, really. If I hadn’t noticed that hairpin today, I would never have thought to check the storeroom. Only then did I learn how much of my dowry had been stolen.”
Xie Bi’s face went from pale to flushed. Inwardly, he cursed Concubine Rou for showing off.
But the shop assistant would not let the matter rest. He insisted the Xie family produce the supposed stolen item.
Servants had already gone to fetch Concubine Rou, the woman who had started it all.
The assistant examined the hairpin carefully and declared that Qianjin Jewelers had never sold it.
“Every piece of jewelry we sell is recorded. The proprietor, the accounts office, and the storeroom each keep a copy. If you don’t believe me, my lord and lady, you may inspect them yourselves!”
Unaware of the truth, Concubine Rou refused to release him.
“Nonsense! The master bought this at Qianjin Jewelers himself. It cost five hundred taels…”
Xie Bi kept signaling to her with his eyes.
“I remembered wrongly. It must have come from another shop.”
“Which shop, my lord? Do think carefully. We mustn’t let them get away with it!”
Li Ruolan pressed him too.
With everyone in the room staring, Xie Bi was both ashamed and furious.
“Since it belongs to my wife, return it to her for now. We can discuss the rest later!”
Concubine Rou naturally refused.
“You gave it to me. Why should I pass it on to her?”
Li Ruolan’s maids and older servants had already snatched the pin away. They turned it over, revealing a few tiny characters on the inside: “Imperially bestowed upon Li.”
“This was given to the Li family by the emperor. Our old mistress included it in my lady’s dowry. Open your eyes, Concubine Rou. How could you possibly be entitled to wear it?”
Concubine Rou gaped, unable to speak. She could only glare at Xie Bi.
Humiliated and angry, he rose and hurriedly dismissed the assistant.
If the man stayed any longer, the entire capital would know the Xie family’s disgrace by tomorrow.