“My lord, why do you look at me like this?” Jiang Xinqin noticed that Li Chenxuan had been staring at her ever since they left the palace.
Li Chenxuan withdrew his gaze and said indifferently, "Jiang Xinqin, I don't know what you truly intend to do, but it's best if you are as you claim to be."
“Otherwise?” Jiang Xinqin tilted her head to look at Li Chenxuan.
Li Chenxuan remained silent.
Jiang Xinqin's gaze gradually turned cold, but she quickly resumed her usual demeanor. "My lord, I truly have understood."
"So it would seem," Li Chenxuan said.
Jiang Xinqin clenched her fist within her sleeve, her face still adorned with a smile. "Rest assured, my lord."
Upon returning to the residence, Li Chenxuan went directly to his study, leaving Jiang Xinqin by the doorway. Jiang Xinqin lowered her gaze, and Xiu’er, standing nearby, whispered, “Madam, his lordship has gone to attend to matters. This servant will help you back to your room.”
Jiang Xinqin nodded. "Very well."
As Xiu’er helped Jiang Xinqin, she felt the firm grip on her arm. She assisted her mistress into the room.
Jiang Xinqin dismissed Xiu’er. The moment Xiu’er stepped out of the room, she heard a voice that was not her mistress’.
Curiosity compelled her to lean closer.
“I have entered the palace as you instructed, but whether I have dispelled the Empress Dowager’s suspicions, I do not know,” Jiang Xinqin said.
“Xue Zining is not one to hold grudges. If it doesn’t work once, try twice, then thrice. Eventually, you will move her.”
“What exactly do you want?” Jiang Xinqin asked.
“Some things are better for you not to know. Do as I say.”
“Alright.” Jiang Xinqin agreed.
The voices inside the room ceased. Outside, Xiu’er, startled, covered her mouth.
She stumbled back several steps. Once she was out of the courtyard, she ran towards his lordship’s study.
“My lord…” Xiu’er entered Li Chenxuan’s study, panting.
Li Chenxuan looked up, seeing the flustered Xiu’er, and couldn’t help but ask, “Xiu’er, what is wrong?”
“My lord, this servant just…”
“Xiu’er, did you bring the soup I asked you to serve his lordship?”
Xiu’er trembled and turned to see Jiang Xinqin smiling as she entered the study.
“It’s clear you’ve forgotten. Don’t disturb his lordship here.” With that, Jiang Xinqin stepped forward, grabbing Xiu’er’s hand and pulling her outside.
Xiu’er stood rooted, unwilling to leave, and pleaded with her eyes at Li Chenxuan.
Li Chenxuan frowned slightly. “Xiu’er, is there something you need?”
“This servant…”
Jiang Xinqin chuckled softly, a sinister smile on her face. “Xiu’er, I heard your mother is ill, which is why you are distracted. I’ll give you a few days off to visit your mother!”
Xiu’er shuddered, her body trembling.
“If that is the case, then Madam should give Xiu’er some silver to take back home,” Li Chenxuan said.
“Yes, my lord.” Jiang Xinqin bowed and looked at Xiu’er. “Xiu’er, aren’t you leaving?”
Xiu’er closed her eyes and then followed Jiang Xinqin out of the study.
They reached the entrance of Jiang Xinqin’s room, but Xiu’er dared not enter. She knew that once she stepped inside, her life would no longer be her own.
Jiang Xinqin released her hand and smiled. “I heard you also have a sickly younger brother. What if I were to instruct the physicians to stop providing medicine for your brother, or perhaps substitute some of the ingredients in his medicine…”
Xiu’er fell to her knees with a thud, shaking her head. “Madam, please don’t…”
“Come in.” Jiang Xinqin entered the room and coldly addressed Xiu’er, who was kneeling outside.
Xiu’er knelt as she walked into the room. The door closed, and Jiang Xinqin, seated there, seemed like a stranger.
“Xiu’er, I thought I treated you well, yet I never imagined you would be the first to betray me,” Jiang Xinqin said, her words slow and deliberate.
Xiu’er’s body trembled. “Madam, this servant…”
“You heard everything outside the door earlier, didn’t you? You intended to report me to his lordship?”
“Madam, the things you are doing on your own will harm his lordship,” Xiu’er said, unwilling to concede.
“Harm him? And him? He ignores me completely. All of this… he forced me to do it…” Jiang Xinqin’s face contorted with rage.
Xiu’er bit her lower lip. “Madam, you are married to his lordship. You are one with him. You…”
“Enough. I’ve heard enough of this talk…” Jiang Xinqin stood up and walked over to Xiu’er, grabbing her by the collar. “You could have stayed well within the estate. But you chose the path of hell instead of the right path. Very well, I shall grant you your wish.”
Xiu’er trembled violently, looking at the now ferocious and terrifying Jiang Xinqin. Her voice quivered as she asked, “Madam, what… what do you intend to do?”
Jiang Xinqin leaned down, lowering her head, and said each word deliberately, “Make your life worse than death.”
Suddenly, Xiu’er pushed her away and ran towards the door. A figure blocked her path, followed by a sharp pain in her neck, and she fainted.
Jiang Xinqin, panting, looked at Xiu’er, who had fallen to the ground. She then turned to the person at the door and asked, “How should she be dealt with?”
“Madam, did you not just say ‘make her life worse than death’?”
“Where is that place?” Jiang Xinqin asked.
“A place that women fear, a place where purity and chastity are lost.”
Jiang Xinqin’s body trembled. “The Jiaofang Si?”
“Madam, you know quite a lot…”
Jiang Xinqin lowered her gaze. “Would killing her make you feel more at ease?”
“If Madam lets the news leak? Madam worries too much. The Jiaofang Si is a place one can enter but never leave. Or perhaps Madam has grown soft?”
Jiang Xinqin turned her face away. “I will not be soft.”
“Madam, being soft with enemies is harming yourself.”
“You make the arrangements!” Jiang Xinqin turned around.
Xiu’er, don’t blame me. You brought this upon yourself.
The next day
Li Chenxuan noticed that Xiu’er was no longer by Jiang Xinqin’s side and asked, “Where is Xiu’er?”
Jiang Xinqin’s hand, holding chopsticks, trembled. The food she had picked up fell into her bowl. She composed herself, then looked up and said, “My lord, have you forgotten? Yesterday, Xiu’er pleaded to return home to care for her ill mother, and I agreed.”
Li Chenxuan thought for a moment, and it seemed there was indeed such a request. He said, “Did you give her extra silver?”
“My lord, she was merely a servant…”
Li Chenxuan put down his chopsticks and looked at Jiang Xinqin. “Madam, you may not know that Xiu’er was once the daughter of an official. However, her father offended the Regent, and their family was purged. Her father and I were old acquaintances, and I secretly rescued her family. In order to repay this kindness, she entered the residence as a servant.”
Jiang Xinqin was taken aback. “Xiu’er, she…”
Li Chenxuan nodded. “I hope Madam will treat her kindly.”
Jiang Xinqin lowered her head. “This concubine will.”
After finishing their meal, Jiang Xinqin hurried back to her room. “Are you here?”
She called out several times, but there was no answer. Jiang Xinqin gritted her teeth, opened the door, and called for Cao’er, asking, “Has his lordship gone out?”
Cao’er nodded. “He has gone out.”
Jiang Xinqin returned to her room, changed into men’s attire, and was about to leave when a voice from behind called out, “Madam Li, where are you going?”