Chapter 4
Xie Jingrang’s face turned livid at her words.
Afterward,
he softened his manner and came to coax me into protecting his former beloved and her son.
Yet every time he reached my courtyard, Song Chang’an appeared at exactly the right moment to stop him outside my door.
Sometimes he brought a character he could not read. Sometimes he had a headache or fever. Once he wanted crab-roe pastries from Hongyan Tower; another time, he wanted to watch the pleasure boats by the city moat.
Every time, mother and son drew Xie Jingrang away.
After enough repetitions, he came again to find my gates tightly shut. My maids seemed to have grown deaf; no matter how long he knocked, no one opened them.
Ah Zheng laughed at him.
“If someone drags you away before you ever cross the threshold, why not stay with that poor mother and son and display the full breadth of your fatherly benevolence? Why bother knocking on Mother’s closed door?”
“The Empress Dowager has devoted herself to Buddhism and no longer concerns herself with worldly affairs. She cannot stop Father from saying one thing and doing another—or from siding with outsiders against his own family.”
Xie Jingrang went rigid.
He had just opened his mouth to rebuke her
when his gaze met mine beneath the gallery.
“If you came to scold my daughter, my lord, then do not enter this courtyard again.”
His lips twitched. He changed his expression.
“There is a horse trial outside the capital tomorrow. I wanted to take you and Ah Zheng.”
I meant to refuse,
but Ah Zheng’s eyes flashed and she agreed.
“We’ll go!”
“I want to choose the finest horse there!”
Song Chang’an, crouching in a corner, darted back to his courtyard.
Ah Zheng watched him go and gave me a sly smile.
“I chose the fiercest red stallion. He is stubborn and won’t tolerate strangers.”
“They love stealing so much. This time, I’ll deliver the consequences right to their door.”
Understanding dawned, and I laughed.
“The Empress Dowager taught you well. That little head of yours is full of schemes!”
At the riding ground the next day,
the noblewomen sat in the viewing stands, waiting for their children’s horses to appear.
Before long, Xie Jingrang led Ah Zheng into the arena on her magnificent mount.
Song Chang’an sprang from nowhere, crying as he clung to Xie Jingrang’s leg.
“Father, Chang’an has never ridden a horse. Chang’an wants to ride too.”
Every noble present changed expression at the word Father.
Lin Qingru hurried after him.
“Chang’an, don’t make trouble.”
“His Lordship has taken pity on you and given you fine clothes and food. You already live better than others. How dare you compete with the young lady?”
Her voice weakened into a choked murmur.
“Mother is useless and cannot teach you to ride. Blame your dead father. You were born to be looked down on all your life.”
“If you keep this up, even His Lordship won’t want you.”
Xie Jingrang froze, then spoke with infinite gentleness.
“Why say such things to a child? It is only riding. I can teach him.”
Lin Qingru hid behind her handkerchief and stole a glance at Xie Zheng.
“Wouldn’t that be too much trouble?”
Xie Jingrang turned.
“Ah Zheng…”
“Red Hare is fierce and afraid of strangers. I cannot give him up.”
Ah Zheng cut him off.
Xie Jingrang’s face darkened.
“You have everything already. It is one horse trial. What harm would it do to yield to him?”
“A child of the marquis’s household should not be so selfish.”
Ah Zheng threw down her crop and dismounted.
In a voice everyone could hear, she mocked him.
“I envy him. His father is dead, but he has never lacked a father’s love. Mine is alive, yet I might as well have none.”
Xie Jingrang’s expression changed. He hurried after her.
“Mother and son have only each other. Their life has been difficult…”
“And Mother’s hasn’t?”
Ah Zheng laughed coldly.
“You left for three years. The entire estate and both of us rested on her shoulders.”
“We finally waited until you returned, only for you to bring back two filthy creatures determined to tear out her heart.”
“That woman’s intentions are written across her forehead. Everyone in the capital has eyes, but you insist on playing blind.
“Stop pretending to care about us. It’s disgusting.”
Ah Zheng strode toward my viewing stand.
Xie Jingrang had taken only a few steps after her
when Lin Qingru, hiding her delight, suddenly helped Song Chang’an onto the horse.
“My lord, the horse is moving.”
She seized the excuse to stop Xie Jingrang with false concern.
But the horse suddenly went wild, whinnying as it charged through the wooden rail.
Song Chang’an screamed in terror.
“Mother, save me!”
Lin Qingru shrieked as though her heart were being torn apart.
“Brother Jingrang, save Chang’an!”
Like an arrow leaving the bow, Xie Jingrang spun and raced into the arena.
A groom whistled, and the stallion checked its stride.
The boy was thrown hard.
Xie Jingrang lunged and caught him as he flew from the saddle,
but the wooden rail gashed his arm.
Song Chang’an had only scraped his cheek and been frightened. He huddled in Xie Jingrang’s arms and wailed.
Xie Jingrang’s heart ached for him. He looked at Red Hare with eyes like a frozen lake.
“Dispose of that damned horse.”
“No one dares!”
Ah Zheng blocked his path.
“You steal someone else’s property, and when it doesn’t serve you, you destroy it. What kind of justice is that?”
“It nearly killed someone.”
“That was his punishment for stealing what belonged to someone else!”
“Insolent girl!”
“You are the insolent one!”
I finally spoke.
“The Empress Dowager bestowed Red Hare on Ah Zheng. Taking him without permission is an offense against the throne. Does the marquis mean to bully a child and scorn imperial authority?”
Xie Jingrang’s spine stiffened.
I enunciated every word.
“Without a great family’s token, how did mother and son enter the riding ground? You may have no shame, my lord, but we do.”
Lin Qingru’s pupils contracted.
My servants dragged over a guard. Terrified of punishment, he hurried to confess.
“She carried His Lordship’s waist token and called herself a woman of the marquis’s household. We did not dare stop her.”
Whispers swept through the stands.
“A woman of his household? His marriage was granted by the emperor. Keeping a mistress and illegitimate child would be deceiving the throne!”
“She ran onto the field to steal a horse—anyone can see a shameless mistress trying to humiliate the lawful wife. Only heartless men are blind enough to indulge such women.”
“Red Hare was merciful not to kill the boy. The way they’re calling for the horse’s death, one would think the child had been born to a beast.”
“How can a man govern beyond his gates when he cannot order his own household? The Marquis of Yongning must find peaceful days tiresome.”
Stripped of dignity, Xie Jingrang clenched his fists until the veins rose.
I ignored him and flattened my lips.
“Apologize.”