Chapter 5
Chapter 5
The Marquis’s gaze froze. It took him a moment to come back to himself.
He looked toward Madam Wang at the doorway and barked, “What is going on here?”
Madam Wang explained, “Sister Chu left the estate without permission, so I had the old maids deal with her according to the household rules, to set the family discipline straight.”
The Marquis nodded, then turned to me. “Chu Yu, why did you leave the estate without permission half a month ago?”
I gave my wrist a slight twist, pretending the old maid had hurt me.
With a cry of pain, I stumbled and fell straight into the Marquis’s arms.
Burying my entire face against his chest, I sobbed, “I was grieving the loss of my child. In my heartbreak, I also wanted to pray for blessings for the Marquis’s household. That was why I resorted to such a foolish measure.”
“I simply cared too much about you, Marquis. My concern made me lose my head, and that was how I caused this trouble.”
Concubine Jiang spat in disgust.
The Marquis, however, was clearly pleased. He lowered his voice and comforted me.
Then he carried me back into the estate.
Leaning against the Marquis’s chest, I drew back my two fangs.
This man was Chu Yu’s husband.
When Chu Yu first entered the household, he had liked this beauty with a face like a hibiscus blossom.
But as time passed, he grew bored.
His favor shifted back to Concubine Jiang, with all her endless tricks and charms.
When Chu Yu was framed, he listened only to one side and believed Concubine Jiang without question.
After Chu Yu lost her child, he refused to listen to her accusations and instead had her locked up.
Because she had disturbed his sweet dreams.
How disgusting.
I turned my head toward a gap in the air.
This skin should be sold to the assistant at a butcher shop.
At least then it would stop making me want to retch.
The Marquis carried me back to my room.
As soon as he sat down, he first arranged for the maids to help me change.
Then he ordered the kitchen women to prepare dinner.
He watched me with fresh fascination and infatuation.
I, too, spoke softly of how much I had missed him.
It had been only a little over a month since I lost the child, so I wore no powder or rouge.
But this Phantom Bone of mine gave off a ghostly aura that could steal a person’s soul.
Sure enough, after dinner, the Marquis began to loosen his robes.
I pressed down on his hand. “My body has not fully recovered yet.”
“Marquis, please go to Sister Jiang’s room instead.”
Seeing the reluctance in the Marquis’s eyes, I suppressed the curve of my lips.
I needed to give Concubine Jiang this favor, so that fool would become my bait.
Besides, a Painted-Skin Spirit was best at entering dreams.
In his dream, the Marquis and I spent a lingering, passionate night together.
Early the next morning, the Marquis came to see me again.
After I sent him away, Concubine Jiang arrived, fully dressed and made up.
The moment she saw me, she gave a mocking laugh.
“Last night you schemed so hard to play the seductress and lure the Marquis in, yet in the end you still couldn’t keep him.”
“What a pathetic little clown. Nothing but a joke.”
I laughed aloud.
Concubine Jiang glared at me in anger. “What are you laughing at?”
I touched a finger to my lips. “Sister, I’m laughing because you’re foolish.”
Concubine Jiang’s expression changed. “How dare you! It seems you still haven’t suffered enough!”
I cut her off. “Sister, why must we fight each other?”
“If we keep this up, won’t someone else simply sit back, watch the tigers fight, and reap the benefits for nothing?”
Concubine Jiang frowned. “You mean Madam Wang?”
I nodded. “Sister, you must be wondering why my temperament changed so drastically after I returned to the estate.”
“That is because when I went back to my hometown, I discovered the truth.”
“You know I have no favor here, and there is no valuable jewelry in my room. If there is anything worth money, it would be the Lingling Incense Madam gave us.”
“So I took some of the incense with me as travel money.”
“But after I returned home, a physician told me there was musk in the Lingling Incense.”
“Think about it. Why has the Marquis’s household gone so many years without a son? Why was my child stillborn?”
I watched Concubine Jiang and guided her along, step by step.
The Lingling Incense Madam Wang gave Chu Yu and Concubine Jiang had indeed contained musk.
But Chu Yu, that fool, had never known.
Before we parted back then, however, I had seen how weak she was and given her a treasured talisman paper from my own collection.
So she had not been affected by the musk.
Her child was stillborn entirely because Madam Wang had ordered the midwife to do it.
But the truth did not matter.
As long as a lie could serve my purposes, what difference did it make whether it was true or false?
What I wanted was to further ruin the relationship between Concubine Jiang, that fool, and Madam Wang.
I wanted her to believe I was on her side.
Sure enough, Concubine Jiang’s face went white.
Furious, she said, “I knew it. She’s usually so stingy and petty, so how could she have been generous enough to give me such precious incense?”
“I thought she was only pretending to be virtuous while hiding a knife behind her smile. I never imagined her heart was this vicious!”
What Concubine Jiang regretted most in ordinary days was that despite enjoying such great favor, she had never managed to have even a single son or daughter. Now, naturally, rage consumed her.
She could hardly wait.
She was about to rush to the main hall and confront Madam Wang.
But I grabbed her. “This matter needs to be considered carefully.”
“If you question her now, she will never admit it.”
“She might even secretly find someone to switch out the incense.”
“And,” I paused.
Concubine Jiang immediately asked, “Speak. And what?”
I let my gaze dart away and said in a small voice, “And that physician also said my body was tainted with ghostly energy.”
“I believe there must be an enormous secret hidden in all this.”