Chapter 87: Playing the Part in Public, Concealing the Blade’s Edge, Part Three

“Chuxiu!” At the sight of the vivid blood staining her skirt, the Dowager Lady was at once supported by a maid and hurried to her side. “What has happened?”

By now Chuxiu’s face was as white as paper, her lips drained of all color. Pressing both hands to her lower belly, she said weakly, “I… the child…”

The Dowager Lady’s expression hardened at once. Turning toward the dining hall, she cried sharply, “No one is to clear away a single bowl or plate!” Then she turned to Qianyun and ordered, “What are you standing there for? Go fetch Divine Physician Qu at once!”

Before her words had fully fallen, two male figures were already striding in through the moon gate. One was an older man, Qu Fang, who had come to take the household’s routine pulse readings; the other was the younger Shen Yu, who had intended to bid the Dowager Lady farewell. The moment they stepped through the archway and saw what had happened before the dining hall, they exchanged a look and ran over.

“Divine Physician Qu is here!” Wen Xian, sharp-eyed, was the first to cry out.

Qu Fang wasted no words. One glance at the blood on Chuxiu’s skirt and he immediately reached for her wrist to take her pulse. “Madam has taken a miscarriage-inducing drug.”

“A miscarriage!” At that single sentence, the Dowager Lady reeled backward with a hand to her forehead, nearly collapsing. A maid quickly caught her, and she heard the Dowager Lady say again to the physician, “You must do everything in your power to save her… This is the Marquis’s posthumous child!”

Divine Physician Qu looked grave. “Where is the nearest room? Let Madam lie down first.”

At that, Shen Yu could no longer bother with propriety between men and women. He stepped forward, swept Chuxiu up in his arms, and strode toward the nearest side chamber.

“How is it that the Young Marquis is here?” Hua Wuying of the Second Household suddenly asked.

The Dowager Lady and Wen Xian both turned to look at her at once, as though blaming her for speaking without regard for time or place.

Hua Wuying realized she had spoken out of turn and looked embarrassed. Then Qu Fang explained, “The Young Marquis’s residence has already been prepared. He came today especially to take leave of the Dowager Lady.” With that, he hurried after Shen Yu to preserve Chuxiu’s pregnancy.

The Dowager Lady’s face was taut with anxiety, yet she did not forget to give orders. “Luanqing, guard the dining hall. No one is to touch any of the dishes or bowls on the table.”

Luanqing answered softly and turned toward the dining hall.

The Dowager Lady then instructed Nurse Chi, “Go tell the chief of the guards and Yun Zhong: no one in the manor, master or servant, is to leave today. Also, everyone in Word-Knowing Pavilion and Hall of Glorious Brocade is confined to their courtyards.”

Nurse Chi’s face turned solemn, and she left to carry out the order.

Only then did the Dowager Lady look at the concubines of the various households and Zhuoyan. Her voice turned icy. “The lot of you are not to leave my side by a single step today.” With that, she turned and followed after Divine Physician Qu.

Those left behind looked at one another in shock and confusion, yet none dared speak. Wen Xian of the Third Household gave Zhuoyan a long look and sighed. “Come. We must not delay any longer.”

Half an hour later, Chuxiu miscarried. The dead infant she delivered was nearly five months along, and one could already faintly tell it was a boy.

When the Dowager Lady learned of it, tears streamed down her aged face and she nearly fainted. The concubines of the several households all lowered their heads and wept. Not long after, news came from the dining hall: in the butterfly-patterned beauty bowl from which Chuxiu had drunk her soup, Luanqing had detected traces of oleander.

Oleander: lovely to the eye, deadly in nature; cold in property, forbidden to pregnant women.

The moment the news reached the Dowager Lady’s ears, the cook who had made the soup, the servants who had carried it, Qianyun who had served it, and finally Zhuoyan who had exchanged bowls with Chuxiu were all summoned to the punishment hall for questioning. Now that Chuxiu’s miscarriage was already a fact, all they could do was soothe her gently and urge her to recuperate, while seeking out the one behind it all.

This time Shen Yu did not remain by Chuxiu’s side. Instead, he accompanied the Dowager Lady to the punishment hall to hear the case, leaving only Qu Fang, Danxin, and Nurse Chi behind to care for Chuxiu, who had fainted from overwhelming grief.

Inside the punishment hall, cold and sinister, only the Dowager Lady, Xie Miaodan, sat in the seat of honor. Everyone else stood, trembling and silent. The air was so still and oppressive that even the fall of a needle would have been heard.

Hua Wuying of the Second Household, Wen Xian of the Third, Zhuoyan, Qianyun, the steward Yun Zhong, the chief warden of the punishment hall, the commander of the shadow guards, and Shen Yu all filled the room.

“Heaven means to destroy the Yun clan!” the Dowager Lady said in a low, severe voice, gripping the armrest of her chair. “Who could be so vicious as to spare not even the Marquis’s posthumous child?”

For a long while no one in the hall spoke. At last Wen Xian said sorrowfully, “Dowager Lady, please restrain your grief. Fortunately, there is still the child Zhuoyan carries.”

It would have been better had she not mentioned Zhuoyan. The instant she did, the Dowager Lady fixed a fierce, silent stare upon her.

Zhuoyan’s heart skipped violently. She swallowed and said timidly, “Dowager Lady… please grieve less.”

With a sharp crash, the Dowager Lady swept the teacup beside her onto the floor and commanded Zhuoyan, “Kneel!”

Though she did not understand, Zhuoyan immediately dropped to her knees. “Dowager Lady…”

“Oleander was found in that bowl. It was that bowl of soup you insisted on exchanging with Chuxiu. Zhuoyan, your suspicion is grave,” the Dowager Lady said coldly.

Zhuoyan’s eyes flew wide in disbelief. It took her a long moment to react. “No! No! This is a frame-up! I did not do it! How could I be so foolish? If I truly meant to harm Madam, why would I openly exchange bowls with her?”

“You do have a bit of wit,” the Dowager Lady said with a nod. “At least enough to offer yourself a few excuses.”

Zhuoyan did not understand the deeper meaning in those words. Panic flickered in her eyes. She immediately raised her head and pointed at Qianyun. “Dowager Lady! It must have been Qianyun! She was the one who brought the soup in! She was fond of the Marquis and has always hated Chuxiu most. She must have wanted to harm Chuxiu and then shift the blame onto me!”

Zhuoyan had secretly suspected this was one of Chuxiu’s own bitter tricks, but whenever she thought of the child in Chuxiu’s womb, Yun Ci’s child, she felt she must be imagining things. Even if Chuxiu wished to frame her, how could she gamble with the life of her own flesh and blood? That child was Yun Ci’s only child; once born, whether boy or girl, it would have been beyond precious.

Still Zhuoyan kept pointing at Qianyun, trying to clear herself. Naturally she had no idea that Chuxiu’s pregnancy, from beginning to end, had been nothing but a sham.

As for Qianyun, her delicate brows had long since drawn together. She rebuked her, “Zhuoyan, we were sisters once. After I was demoted to a third-rank maid, you were the only one I stayed close to… Madam knew we were on good terms, and that is why she assigned me to attend you during your pregnancy. How can you…”

“Since when were we close? If we truly were, then that night why did you…” At this point Zhuoyan suddenly cut herself off, swallowing the words broken promise. At a moment like this, she could not afford to invite further trouble.

Qianyun’s face showed righteous anger. “Everyone in the Yun manor knows what kind of person I am, from the Dowager Lady down to the lowest maid and servant. Even if I wanted to harm someone, I would do it openly, never by sneaking in the shadows. Besides, the child in Madam’s womb was the Marquis’s. How could I possibly harm her…” As she spoke, her voice changed, thickening as if with tears.

Everyone present knew of Qianyun’s loyalty to Yun Ci and knew what sort of person she was in daily life. Even those who had heard rumors that she once tried to assassinate Chuxiu only believed more firmly that her temperament was fierce as fire and never one for secret poisonings and furtive harm. What was more, this had been Yun Ci’s only child. However much Qianyun hated Chuxiu, she should still have understood the weight of that life and would never have hurt the child.

Thus no one present believed Zhuoyan’s attempt to shift the blame onto her. The Dowager Lady too said coldly, “Qianyun was personally trained by me. I know exactly what sort of character she has. By saying this, do you mean that I cannot judge people clearly, that I employ the wrong ones, and thereby caused the death of the Marquis’s heir?”

How could Zhuoyan bear such a charge? She hurriedly bowed her head to the floor. “I would never dare! But I truly am innocent!”

“Innocent? At a time like this, you can even shift blame onto a Qianyun you once claimed was close to you. What your character is like needs no further proving.” Suddenly Shen Yu spoke, his voice like frost. His eyes were bloodshot, as though he wished to flay Zhuoyan alive with his gaze alone. “That was Wan Zhi’s child!”

His hands clenched into fists. Then he turned to the Dowager Lady on the dais. “If Chuxiu were to lose this child, who stands to gain the most? It would be this vile maid, Zhuoyan! So long as Chuxiu lived, the child in her womb would not even count as a proper secondary-born heir. But if anything happened to Chuxiu, then the child Zhuoyan carries would become Wan Zhi’s only descendant. And she, elevated by her son, would rise in rank soon enough!”

The moment he said it, realization dawned across every face in the room. Put that way, Zhuoyan truly had the strongest motive.

“No! No! Dowager Lady, do not listen to the Young Marquis’s nonsense! He… he…” Zhuoyan wanted to say Shen Yu had an illicit affair with Chuxiu, but then thought better of it. Shen Yu was, after all, the son of the Marquis of Wenchang and the foster son of the current emperor. She absolutely could not afford to offend him, so she stopped herself in haste. For a moment, she did not know how to defend herself.

To outsiders, the child she carried was Yun Ci’s, and so of course she had the strongest motive to harm Chuxiu. But that child was plainly not… and yet she could not say so aloud. Besides, she truly had entertained that very thought, only she had not yet found the chance to act.

Who was it? Who had devised this perfect stroke, killing two birds with one stone? Who could harm Chuxiu and ruin her at the same time? Who would profit most? Chuxiu would never willingly risk Yun Ci’s own flesh and blood to frame her, so who was it…

Zhuoyan looked around at the people in the hall, but she had no clue. If the Second Household stood to gain, then the child in her womb was Yun Qi’s flesh and blood; why would mother and son need to go to such lengths?

Could it be the Third Household?

The thought sprang up, and Zhuoyan immediately said, “Dowager Lady! Someone is framing me! With one move they seek to sweep away both Madam and me, so that another may sit by and reap the fisherman’s profit!”

At this, the Dowager Lady truly did furrow her brow in thought, as though weighing the truth of her words. Seeing this, hope stirred in Zhuoyan’s heart, and she hurried on, “Dowager Lady, you must uphold justice for me! I am with child. Even for the sake of the baby in my womb, I should be storing virtue and blessing. How could I commit such a thing against my conscience?”

“And after slandering Qianyun so brazenly just now, you still dare claim you are storing virtue and blessing?” Shen Yu gave a cold laugh, his dark pupils flashing with fury. “You had it all calculated. You knew that even if your wicked deed were exposed, the Dowager Lady would spare your life for the sake of the child in your womb. That is why you were so fearless!”

“Why is the Young Marquis pressing me so relentlessly?” Zhuoyan was growing angry too and finally struck back. “Besides, this is a private matter of the Yun household. What right have you to interfere?”

“I accepted Wan Zhi’s dying request to look after his widowed mother and widowed wife. I was also witness to his marriage with Chuxiu. Why should I not interfere? Should I stand by and watch an evil woman like you murder Chuxiu?” Shen Yu’s words rang out like hammered iron.

“Oh? Is that so? I fear your motives are not so simple as that!” Zhuoyan said through her fury, her meaning pointed.

That one sentence sent Shen Yu’s anger blazing sky-high. Forgetting all restraint, he strode forward, yanked Zhuoyan up from the floor, and drew back his hand to strike. “In all my life, I have only ever hit one woman. Today you will be the second!”

As he spoke, his fist crashed heavily toward Zhuoyan’s face…