Chapter 4
Once the fire was out, the marchioness fainted twice at the sight of the shattered Xiao Zhuye they carried out.
When the household physician, wiping sweat from his brow, reported that Xiao Zhuye had lost both testicles and Ji Furong had miscarried, she collapsed onto her couch with a hand to her chest. She seemed to have aged ten years.
“My son was young and valiant, in the prime of his life, with great deeds ahead of him. How could a perfectly healthy man suffer such a calamity?”
She looked around, a flash of ruthlessness crossing her face. “They failed to protect their master. Sell every servant in his courtyard!”
They locked me in the woodshed and stripped off my outer garment and jewelry. “Such a disaster the moment you marry into our house! What a curse you are!”
Nanny Zhuang, who stood beside her, promptly stepped forward and slapped me. “Tell Madam what happened tonight!”
I pressed a feeble hand to my chest, still seemingly terrified. “After—after my husband consummated our marriage, he said he wasn’t satisfied. He summoned Concubine Ji to attend him and—even told her to put on a bridal gown, to humiliate me…”
Tears trembled in my eyes; my face was full of shame. “While they were amusing themselves, they knocked over the candlestick. Concubine Ji was startled and bit off his testicles! In his pain and shock, he hurt her by accident… Flames sprang up everywhere, but my injured legs kept me from moving. I could only watch as his leg was crushed. I have failed as his wife.”
Dragging the leg burned at the brazier, I struggled to stand and beg forgiveness. But I was too weak. I tried several times and remained firmly seated.
The marchioness looked grim. I lowered my head and wiped away tears.
“Since my husband despises me, I ask to leave this marriage. Please grant me a letter of divorce on his behalf, Mother!”
Nanny Zhuang murmured in encouragement, “The young master only behaved so outrageously because he doesn’t like his wife. To stop her from spreading this story, perhaps we should simply…”
Making no effort to conceal it from me, she drew a hand across her throat.
At that moment I quietly pressed my lower belly and drew a soft, sharp breath.
My mother-in-law murmured in sudden realization, “Concubine Ji’s pregnancy is lost… If she conceived tonight, my son could still have an heir!”
Her face filled with wild joy. Turning, she slapped Nanny Zhuang hard. “You old wretch! How dare you disrespect the young madam? Kneel and apologize!”
Seething, Nanny Zhuang knelt before me and slapped herself dozens of times. I let her continue until blood ran from her ear, then leisurely told her to stop.
I helped her up myself and whispered in her ear, “Mother certainly is formidable. You’ve served her for so long, yet she punished you so harshly. I was so frightened that I forgot to ask you to rise. I’m sorry you suffered.”
Following my words, Nanny Zhuang looked at my serenely seated mother-in-law. A flicker of resentment crossed her eyes.
I curled my lips.
When Xiao Zhuye woke and learned he had been castrated, he flew into a rage. He beat the household physician until blood streamed from the man’s head and had his personal attendant put to death on the spot.
By the time I arrived, his rage had not subsided. Gloom covered his handsome face.
“Wei Qiao… you still dare show your face before me!”
He pounded the bed. “Servants! Servants! Report this to the authorities! Have this bitch arrested!”
But however hoarse he shouted, the servants acted as though they heard nothing, busily choosing fruit for me.
“…Are you all deaf?” he demanded in disbelief.
One even turned to reassure me. “Don’t be afraid, young madam. The young master has suffered a shock. Stay back for now, so he doesn’t hurt you.”
I lowered my head with a shy smile. “He’s ill. As his wife, I should care for him myself.”
Then I carried a cup of tea into the room.
Alarm flickered in Xiao Zhuye’s eyes. He struggled up, gritting his teeth. “Get out! Stay away from me…”
“Please have some tea, my husband.”
I carefully brought the cup to his lips. Then my hand trembled in apparent fright. Scalding tea ran down his bare chest and beneath the thin quilt covering his wound.
“Aaagh!”
He convulsed, curling like a dying shrimp. His clenched knuckles whitened; even his cries changed pitch.
Feigning panic, I dropped the cup and reached to steady him. My fingers slipped, pressing down hard where they shouldn’t.
Pain blackened his vision. Cold sweat soaked his inner clothes. He glared at me, his eyes bloodshot, but couldn’t form a complete curse. Only broken sounds rattled from his throat. “You—you did that on purpose…”
My voice was weak and trembling, aggrieved and frightened. “I—I didn’t.”
Then my expression changed. I curved my lips, smiling as I poured the whole pot of water onto the floor. “Here, take your scraps.”
I lowered my voice, each word striking deep.
“When Mother heard you could no longer be a man, she suppressed the news at once and had Concubine Ji killed. Yet she dared not touch me. Don’t you understand? You’ve been discarded. If I don’t conceive, your brothers waiting in the wings will descend on you and your mother and strip you to the bone!”
His lips trembled. “Rong’er… you dared do such a cruel thing! Poisonous bitch! I will never let you go!”
I smiled scornfully. “You’d do better to worry about yourself.”
He stared at me as though he had seen a ghost. His chest heaved. At last fear overcame his anger. He reined in his temper and asked, swallowing his humiliation:
“Wei Qiao, what exactly do you want? I never touched you! Where are you going to find a child?”
Slowly I undid the fastenings at my chest. My silk skirt trailed on the floor, revealing my slightly rounded belly.
His face went red, then green, as I said with perfect calm, “That’s why I’ve come to give you a son.”