Chapter 3
Chapter 3
On Miss’s wedding day, gongs and drums thundered. All the neighbors said the Jiang family had climbed onto a high branch: Miss Jiang had become the young madam of a marquis household and would enjoy wealth and honor for the rest of her life.
The ceremony was splendid. Yet on the wedding night, the dragon-and-phoenix candles burned to their ends without the groom ever entering the bridal chamber.
The servants in the room stared at one another.
For the fifth time, the wedding matron tried to smooth things over. “Young Madam, wait a little longer. Perhaps the eldest young master has too many guests to entertain…”
I smiled. “Haven’t all the guests outside already left?”
The matron had no answer.
Miss, however, seemed relieved that the groom had not come. She felt around the bed for the longans and red dates scattered there and secretly ate them beneath her bridal veil.
I smiled helplessly. Only she could still think about food at a time like this.
Song Jing’s behavior tonight would decide her standing in the household. There was no sense waiting forever, so I rose to ask what was happening.
The door creaked open just then, and a maid entered carrying a rooster.
A large red bow hung from the bird’s chest, making it look absurdly festive.
The maid glanced toward the bride on the bed and smiled without warmth.
“Young Madam, this servant is Suxin. The eldest young master is occupied with important business and has no time to consummate the marriage. He feared you would be lonely tonight, so he sent the General to keep you company.”
Her “General” was the rooster.
As soon as she finished, the bird crowed. The sound rang deafeningly through the silent bridal chamber.
Song Jing certainly knew how to humiliate a person. Miss tore off her veil, her eyes shining with tears of shame that she fought not to shed.
Suxin lifted her chin, triumph in every line of her face.
The servants exchanged glances. No one dared speak, and no one thought to ask the Dowager Marchioness to intervene.
I stood quietly to one side, as still as the chicken.
There was indeed no use calling the old lady.
Song Jing kept plenty of women outside the estate, but only Liu Xixi—his so-called confidante—had won enough favor with her wit and beauty to be brought openly into the household.
She was called an adviser, though everyone knew her duties extended to his bed.
The Dowager Marchioness doted on her only legitimate son and pretended not to see. Because Song Jing’s reputation was so foul, she had forced him to marry Miss. He agreed on one condition: he would bring the bride through the door, but once she entered, he could torment or neglect her as he pleased.
It was clear that neither the marquis nor his wife was any better than their son. None of them cared whether Miss lived well.
They had all calculated their own advantage.
I recognized Suxin. She was the maid who had followed Liu Xixi to the Jiang residence to intimidate us.
The next morning, Liu Xixi came to pay her respects.
Her steps were light and her figure willow-slender. Gone was the aggressiveness she had shown at the Jiang residence. Today she resembled a harmless white lotus, pure and delicate.
She had barely begun to bow when she gave a soft cry, pressed a hand to her waist, and said shyly, “The young master was so wild last night. He kept me up until dawn.”
Her dark hair shifted, revealing faint red marks on her neck.
Song Jing had spent his wedding night in Liu Xixi’s room, and she could not wait to flaunt his affection. She thought she had dealt Miss a devastating blow.
Miss only frowned and asked with innocent concern, “Are you ill?”
I burst out laughing.
Liu Xixi’s smile froze. She had performed for an audience that did not understand the show.
The morning’s entertainment put me in an excellent mood. Holding back my laughter, I explained to Miss, “Perhaps a ghost pressed her in her sleep. I hear that after a lustful ghost lies on someone, she is weak and breathless the next morning.”
I watched Liu Xixi at my leisure.
Her face twisted with rage. She signaled to Suxin, who immediately curled her lip.
“Miss Liu, why bother arguing with her? The eldest young master said Jiang Wanning is spoiled fruit, used and filthy after that scholar had his way with her. He told you not to speak to her too often, lest you lower yourself.”
Liu Xixi smiled smugly at Miss.
Miss’s face dimmed. She twisted her handkerchief and hurried to explain, “Scholar Zhang mistook me for someone else. I never knew him.”
“You must stop spreading such stories. They will only damage the marquis household’s reputation.”
Liu Xixi and Suxin looked at one another, then dissolved into giggles.
Suxin turned back with false regret. “No matter how poor he was, that scholar was an outstanding student of White Egret Academy. Now that Young Madam has married the eldest young master, she suddenly despises him. How heartless.”
She cast Miss a mocking glance. “No wonder the young master calls you wanton.”
Liu Xixi nodded, satisfied with her maid’s sharp tongue.
How stupid.
Why did people enjoy fighting with words? What was the point?
Wasn’t it simpler to use your hands?
After the two of them had mocked Miss to their satisfaction, they left. Liu Xixi even glanced back at me, her eyes full of challenge.
When I had a moment, I rummaged through my private box.
Miss came over. “Qiu Yue, what are you looking for?”
I lifted a gold hairpin and showed my little canine teeth. “Nothing important. Our position in this household is awkward, so I thought I should smooth the way with a few gifts.”
Miss suspected nothing. She even took extra silver from her dowry and gave it to me.
I accepted it with a smile.
“I will go make the right connections now.”
“I think I’ll start with Suxin.”
That evening, I arranged to meet her.
I wore my sweetest, most ingratiating smile and held out the glittering hairpin.
Suxin’s eyes shone. “At least you know your place. I suppose I can reluctantly—”
The final word died in her throat.
I had driven the hairpin into the side of her neck. Blood poured from the wound.
The pin was coated with a numbing drug. She could not cry out, only struggle weakly and stare in terror as I took out a pair of scissors and pried open her mouth.
I leaned close to whisper in her ear. “Your mouth is filthy. I don’t think you need that tongue anymore.”
I had done this sort of work many times. My hands were practiced.
And I had not wronged her.
Scholar Zhang had always claimed he was a countryman who came to the capital for the examinations. He said Miss gave him aid and the two of them fell in love, but he never once claimed to be a student at White Egret Academy.
Yet Suxin had named his supposed background without hesitation. She must have known him well.
When I was finished, I pulled the pin free, wiped it on her skirt, and slid it neatly back into my hair.
Good. My hair was undisturbed, and not a drop of blood stained my clothes.
I was about to leave when I noticed someone nearby.
A man stood some distance away, watching in silence.
I recognized him from Miss’s wedding. He had occupied the most inconspicuous corner of the celebration.
Song Ji, the marquis’s unfavored illegitimate son—and a thorn in his elder brother’s eye.
We stared at each other without speaking. Neither of us showed surprise. We were equally calm, equally cold.
I lowered my eyes, wiped the blood from my hands with a handkerchief, then tilted my head and gave him my most innocent smile before turning away.
I was not afraid he would expose me.
Who would believe that kindhearted Jiang Wanning kept a vicious maid at her side?
I watched for several days. Nothing happened.
The loss of one maid meant little in a house this large. Suxin had relied on her mistress’s favor to bully the other servants, so few cared that she was gone.
Liu Xixi threw tantrums for two days, then another flatterer eagerly filled the empty place beside her.
Five days later, Suxin’s body was found in the river, swollen and rotting beyond recognition. I had concealed the true cause of death well enough that everyone assumed she had fallen into the water.
But killing Suxin was nothing. Liu Xixi was the one who had set the entire scheme in motion.