Chapter 5
Xie Jingrang stared at me.
“Apologize?”
“You stole Ah Zheng’s horse, frightened Red Hare, spoiled the pleasure of every lady present, and disgusted me. All three of you—”
My finger swept over the trio huddled together like a family.
“Apologize.”
My daughter needed a whetstone. As her mother, how could I fail to provide one?
Many noblewomen here had received favors from the Empress Dowager.
One after another, they joined my demand.
“Shameless wretch! When the Xie family fell, you fled your betrothal for fear they would drag you down. Now you press yourself against them again, no better than a bedwarmer beneath a concubine.”
“Every family set aside time and prepared carefully for this trial, only to have the day fouled by that filthy pair.”
“They’ll corrupt every well-mannered child in the capital. Disgusting!”
“If they do not apologize, we will seek justice from His Majesty today.”
The princess emerged from the crowd, lazily waving her folding fan.
“The marquis puts on such airs. Must this princess personally trouble my imperial brother?”
Under the relentless pressure, Xie Jingrang’s face went from white to green.
He swallowed his resentment and rasped,
“I mishandled my household today and disturbed the ladies’ enjoyment. I offer you all my apology.”
Xie Jingrang rose with Song Chang’an in his arms.
Ah Zheng called after him.
“What about them?”
Xie Jingrang’s face sank.
Ah Zheng continued,
“You were wrong to indulge and protect them. But they also turned the horse trial Her Highness arranged into a game for winning your affection. Don’t they owe everyone an explanation?”
The princess leaned back and waited at her leisure.
Utterly humiliated, Lin Qingru bit her bloodless lip and spoke through her shame.
“I behaved foolishly. I beg Her Highness and all the ladies to forgive me.”
With that, she admitted before everyone that the entire scene had been a scheme to compete for Xie Jingrang’s favor.
That evening, after His Majesty struck Xie Jingrang in the face with a stack of memorials, he came to my study.
He tried to explain.
“Jingqiu, believe me. I did not mean for any of this to happen.”
I ran my fingers over the account book without looking up.
“You used your power to force the Song family to issue a divorce letter. You didn’t mean it.”
“You abused your office and traded a noble title for Song Chang’an’s freedom. You didn’t mean it.”
“You trampled my dignity and brought them into this estate. You didn’t mean it.”
“She slapped all three of us across the face, and you pretended not to see. You didn’t mean it.”
“Today you broke Ah Zheng’s heart and made this house a laughingstock. That wasn’t deliberate either.”
I closed the ledger and looked up.
“What, then, does the marquis ever do deliberately? Help his childhood sweetheart torment me?”
“If that is what you want, shall I yield the principal courtyard and let her become mistress of this estate?”
Xie Jingrang’s pupils trembled. He had just stepped forward when—
Crash!
A cup shattered outside the door.
Lin Qingru clutched an empty tray, tears spilling down her face.
“It is all my fault. I could not bear Chang’an’s crying, so I stole His Lordship’s token and went to the riding ground. Blame me, Madam. Please do not let this cause a rift between you and His Lordship.”
“I never meant to compete with you. I only wanted Chang’an to see the capital’s fine horses. If that truly troubled you, then I will—”
“Move out.”
I cut her off.
“I bought you a courtyard on West Street. Move there, and neither of us will trouble the other. It will also protect the marquis’s reputation and career.”
“After all, one does not help a stranger by installing her in one’s own inner court.”
Lin Qingru’s tears froze on her face.
Timid and helpless, she turned her frightened gaze on Xie Jingrang.
His brows knotted tightly.
There was a letter from the Empress Dowager tucked inside my ledger.
One corner of the imperial tribute paper protruded.
He saw it.
He lowered his head and softened his voice to a murmur.
“The sixth of next month is auspicious for moving house.”
Lin Qingru swayed.
“You’re driving me away? Brother Jingrang, have you forgotten what you promised—”
“Enough!”
Xie Jingrang interrupted, reluctance written across his face.
“On West Street, this household can still protect you both.”
Unsteady on her feet, Lin Qingru bit her lip and let a maid help her from the study.
Xie Jingrang turned a cold gaze on me.
“Are you satisfied now?”
“You care too much for rules and appearances. You are cold and heartless in every dealing.”
The long shadow of the upturned eaves slid across his throat like the hook of an underworld bailiff.
I lowered my lashes.
“Rules belong to everyone. Personal feelings belong to you. I know perfectly well which carries more weight.”
I rubbed the exposed corner of the tribute paper between my fingers.
“There are only ten days until the sixth. Tell your darling to stop trying to poison my heart with those little performances. I do not indulge such tricks.”
“But I can have mother and son carried from this estate feet first.”