Chapter 4
Chapter 4
I left the ruined temple that had trapped me for ten years.
In all those ten years, I had never imagined that the first thing I would do after getting out was dig a grave.
I found a patch of auspicious land and cut down a century-old nanmu tree.
I buried Chu Yu and her child’s remains there, then set up an unmarked tombstone.
After that, I hired a carriage.
From Chu Yu’s hometown to the capital, the carriage traveled day and night without stopping. The journey took half a month.
By the time I arrived, it was dusk.
I stepped down from the carriage and looked up at the manor gates.
The vermilion gates stood tall and solemn, with a plaque hanging above them.
“Rong’an Marquis Manor.”
The guards at the entrance were startled when they saw me.
They hurried inside to report my arrival.
Before long, two women in fine clothes came to the gate with a crowd of maids and old servant women behind them.
One wore plain makeup, her hair arranged in a flawless, meticulous bun, giving her an air of dignity and restraint.
This was Madam Wang, the mistress in charge of the Marquis household.
The other wore vivid makeup and had a graceful, willowy figure. Pearls and jade adorned her hair, and her phoenix eyes tilted upward.
This was Concubine Jiang, the favored concubine of the manor.
Madam Wang frowned slightly. “Sister Chu, you left without a word a month ago, and now you have returned to the gates of the Marquis manor. Do you know your crime?”
“As a concubine, you should know your place and serve the household. I understand the pain of losing a child, but leaving the manor without permission has brought shame upon us.”
“You have truly put me in a difficult position.”
Concubine Jiang gave a derisive laugh. “Indeed. Sister Chu, the way you act makes it seem as though the Marquis manor is some vegetable market in the south. You come and go as you please.”
Her eyes swept over me. “Could it be that you went off to meet some lover in secret? After all, you were gone for an entire month. As for your chastity…”
She covered her mouth. “In that case, perhaps even the child’s parentage was uncertain… No wonder Heaven made you give birth to a stillborn child.”
The two of them played off each other perfectly, determined to make my crime stick.
Chu Yu had given me her beauty skin, along with her memories.
Through those memories, I knew that this wife and concubine had never gotten along. They had always been at each other’s throats.
But when it came to bullying Chu Yu, they were remarkably united.
I lifted my eyes to them and casually spun a lie.
“After An’er left this world, I remembered a custom from my hometown. It says that if a newborn’s ashes are scattered before the graves of his mother’s family, his resentment can be dispelled.”
“Otherwise, that resentment will cling to the household and obstruct the family’s fate with children.”
“I was afraid that if I told the Marquis and Madam, you would dismiss it as superstitious nonsense.”
“But I truly did not dare risk such ill fortune, so I returned to my hometown to avert disaster for the Marquis household.”
Concubine Jiang’s expression shifted. She no longer looked as arrogant and aggressive as before.
Madam Wang, however, looked displeased. “Ridiculous. Such absurd claims are only tricks used by wandering charlatans to deceive people. How could you take them seriously?”
“I know that after losing your child, you have become overly suspicious, but…”
The old servant woman beside her took over. “The rules of the Marquis manor cannot be ignored. Whatever the reason, leaving the manor without permission is a violation of household rules.”
“She should be punished according to family law. Twenty strokes of the paddle, then one month confined in the ancestral hall to reflect on her wrongdoing.”
Madam Wang shook her head. “Considering that Sister Chu has only just lost her child and is in poor health, reduce the twenty strokes by half.”
“It is not that I am cruel. The rules of the Marquis household are there, and I have no choice.”
One played the villain, the other the merciful one.
Just like that, they were about to settle my punishment at ten strokes.
If it had been Chu Yu standing here, those ten strokes would have left her crippled if they did not kill her.
I looked at Madam Wang’s face and smiled with a touch of curiosity.
The peace and compassion cultivated through vegetarian meals and Buddhist prayers were, unfortunately, fake.
Back then, in order to counterbalance the favored Concubine Jiang, Madam Wang had bought Chu Yu from her maternal aunt with half threats and half coaxing.
Concubine Jiang had tormented and framed Chu Yu at every turn, while Madam Wang merely turned a blind eye.
Later, when Chu Yu gave birth to the Marquis household’s eldest son, it was also this very Madam Wang who secretly instructed the midwife to act.
That was how the child became stillborn.
Such a bodhisattva’s face, and such a venomous heart.
I could not help marveling as I looked at that face.
What a pity that it was as bland as plain boiled water.
I did not want it. It disgusted me.
The old servant woman gestured for the maids and walked toward me.
Her hips swayed from side to side as she stepped over the threshold.
She was just about to reach out and press down on my waist.
Just then, a splendid carriage came speeding by.
The Marquis stepped down from the carriage and happened to witness the scene.
My lips curved into a smile.
As early as when I was defending myself, I had sensed the Marquis’s aura returning to the manor.
I raised my head to look at the Marquis, my amorous eyes brimming with grievance.
I was a Painted-Skin Spirit.
In the beginning, our ancestors used beauty to lure lustful scholars.
Then they flayed their skin and dug out their hearts.