Chapter 215: Telling
After the beginning of spring, the weather got better day by day, and time seemed to pass quickly too. In the blink of an eye, everything was full of colorful flowers and green willows.
Xue Silang felt it the most. Walking out of the ancestral hall, standing outside the courtyard, tears streamed down his face.
It felt like a lifetime ago.
“My eldest uncle is too cruel,” he said tearfully to the maids who came to greet him. “He actually locked me up for a whole month.”
In the past, the so-called confinement was just for show. He could still return to his own courtyard, eat and drink, and then climb over the wall or through the dog hole to go out and have fun.
Everyone in the family would turn a blind eye.
He didn’t expect that this time he would be kept in the courtyard where the ancestral hall was located, and he couldn’t even climb over the wall.
“Young Master, you have suffered.”
“Young Master, you have lost weight.”
The maids said sympathetically, surrounding him and offering him tea and snacks.
Xue Silang drank tea and ate snacks, being pulled and supported by the maids as they crowded around him towards his courtyard. He continued to complain, “Why didn’t Grandmother care about me?”
“Oh, now that Madam is in charge, Old Madam probably doesn’t even know you were locked up in the ancestral hall.”
Alright, Xue Silang thought, since my eldest aunt had that serious illness, she’s become a different person. Well, not a different person, she’s still as kind and gentle as ever, smiling all the time, but it’s scary.
Grandmother can’t even make a fuss in front of her.
“What about my mother?” Xue Silang felt wronged. “My mother didn’t even care about me.”
She’s my own mother, she should have made a scene!
“Young Master, you don’t know, Madam is also afraid.” A maid said.
Xue Silang curled his lip. “My mother is afraid of my eldest aunt too?”
Another maid shook her head. “Not really…”
Another maid interrupted, her eyes excited. “Young Master, you don’t know…”
“The Marquis’s Heir has been frequenting the pleasure boat this month.” The previous maid hurriedly said.
Ah, right, a pleasure boat, such a good place, who wouldn’t like it after going there once? Xue Silang couldn’t help but feel proud.
“Ah, then what is my mother afraid of?” Xue Silang came back to his senses and asked.
Before the maids could speak, a cold snort came from ahead.
Although he hadn’t heard it for a month, Xue Silang’s memory was still fresh. He shivered and froze in place. “Eldest Uncle.”
Master Xue stood by a cluster of flowering trees, his expression cold. “What is your mother afraid of? Your mother is afraid that Jingyun will become a good-for-nothing like you, and the Marquis of Dongyang’s Residence will be ruined. In the future, who will you good-for-nothings rely on when something happens!”
Ah? Xue Silang hurriedly pleaded his innocence. “Eldest Uncle, it really wasn’t me who took him there, it was Jingyun himself—”
Master Xue angrily interrupted him. “You still dare to deny your mistake! Do you want to continue living in the ancestral hall!”
Xue Silang’s legs went weak and he knelt down. “Uncle, I was wrong.”
He didn’t want to live in the ancestral hall anymore.
Master Xue snorted coldly, especially angrily. “You are not allowed to go out and fool around for a month!”
Xue Silang felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
What’s going on? Zhou Jingyun can now often go to the pleasure boat and fool around, but he can’t go anymore?!
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Madam Xue’s carriage stopped at the second gate. She lifted the curtain and saw Zhou Jingyun standing there with a smile, besides the servants who came to greet her.
The smile on Madam Xue’s face faded, and then she frowned.
“It’s really rare to see the Marquis’s Heir. ” She said. “I hope I’m not interrupting your fun?”
Zhou Jingyun laughed heartily and personally stepped forward to help Madam Xue out of the carriage. “Aunt, what are you saying?” He said, raising an eyebrow slightly. “The pleasure boat doesn’t open until evening.”
Madam Xue was amused and spat, supporting him as he got out of the carriage.
“Aunt, I know there are a lot of rumors going around.” Zhou Jingyun walked with her, smiling. “But please rest assured, I know what I’m doing.”
Madam Xue glanced at him. “No one can stop you from doing what you want. When you said you wanted to go out and be an educational inspector, you went, and no one could stop you.”
Zhou Jingyun smiled. “At that time, wasn’t everyone in the capital saying that I was going to become a monk? But look, didn’t I marry a new wife later?”
But the new wife is gone again. Madam Xue’s tears almost welled up, and she quickly steadied her emotions, listening to Zhou Jingyun’s smiling voice continue.
“….So, now there are rumors that I’m dissolute. Aunt, you can rest assured, in the future you will see that I am still me.”
Madam Xue looked at him, seemingly helpless. “Alright.”
Zhou Jingyun smiled and handed her hand to Mama Xu, who was coming out of the main courtyard ahead.
“I won’t accompany you inside, Aunt.” He said with a smile. “Mother is still angry and doesn’t want to see me.”
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“No matter how angry she is, she can’t keep ignoring him. You have to teach your son, you can’t just give up on him.” Madam Xue said to the Marchioness of Dongyang, with disapproval. “It’s been so long.”
The Marchioness of Dongyang lowered her head and sipped her tea. “It hasn’t been that long.”
“It’s been a month, and he’s been there several times, but apart from the rumors about him going to the pleasure boat, there’s nothing else.” Madam Xue said. “So many people say he just sits there drinking, watching the music and dancing, doesn’t gamble, doesn’t flirt with the singing and dancing girls, and doesn’t even interact with other guests.”
Hearing this, the Marchioness of Dongyang raised her head and sneered. “Isn’t there a beautiful woman accompanying him all the time?”
“That’s the owner of the pleasure boat.” Madam Xue said. Thanks to Zhou Jingyun, she now also knew about pleasure boats. “Isn’t it the boat owner’s duty to entertain the guests with all her heart?”
The Marchioness of Dongyang curled her lip and said nothing more.
“I think he’s actually in a much better mood, there’s a smile in his eyes.” Madam Xue said. “He’s never been like this before, even when he was carefree as a child. He’s always been proper and dignified, like an immortal who doesn’t eat earthly food.”
She sighed as she said this.
“Others say he’s an immortal as a compliment, pleasing to the eye, but for our family, a cold and aloof immortal always makes people feel a little uneasy.”
“Alright, no need to speak well of him.” The Marchioness of Dongyang said. “I’m not angry, he can go to the pleasure boat if he wants to.”
She sneered as she said this.
“I’d like to see what else he can do.”
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“Mother, why are you here?”
Concubine Mei entered, clutching a bunch of pomegranate flowers in her hand, and saw Mama Li sitting in the room.
“Isn’t Madam Xue here? Isn’t your kitchen busy?”
Mama Li seemed to be in a daze. Concubine Mei called her again before she came back to her senses and looked at her, asking, “Is the Marquis’s Heir at home?”
Concubine Mei replied, “He just went out.”
“Madam Xue is here…” Mama Li said. “He still goes out even though she’s here.”
“He has things to do.” Concubine Mei said, calling a young maid to put the pomegranate flowers in a vase. She looked back at Mama Li, who seemed to be in a daze again. “Mother, what’s wrong? Is something the matter?”
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Suddenly, she remembered that she had been coming over frequently this month, and then just sitting there in a daze, which was strange.
Mama Li replied, “Nothing.” Her eyes fixed on Concubine Mei. “Has the Marquis’s Heir stayed overnight?”
Actually, ever since the first night she was promoted to concubine, the Marquis’s Heir’s overnight stays were just for show, and very rare. Of course, this was a private agreement between her and the Marquis’s Heir, and she couldn’t even tell her own mother.
“Mother, what are you saying?” Concubine Mei pretended to be annoyed. “He’s still in mourning, it’s only been three months since the Young Madam passed away.”
Mama Li murmured, “What mourning? He already has a child…”
Concubine Mei didn’t hear clearly. “Mother, what are you saying?”
Mama Li came back to her senses, glanced at her, and said, “Nothing. I’m leaving.”
She stood up and walked out.
Concubine Mei was left behind, bewildered. “Mother, you care about me, why don’t you bring me anything to eat every time you come? Last time I asked you to buy me the Jade Dew Balls from Granny Wang’s shop, you didn’t buy them for me either…”
Concubine Mei’s voice was left behind. Granny Li walked through the passageway and out of the Marquis’s Heir’s courtyard. She looked back again and pressed her hand against her pounding heart.
She couldn’t count on her silly daughter who only knew how to eat.
But as a mother, she couldn’t just let things be. If things really got messy, Concubine Mei’s position in front of the Marquis’s Heir would be even worse, she was already no better than a maid…
Granny Li took a deep breath and made up her mind, looking towards where the Marchioness of Dongyang was.
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“Jingyun went out saying he had business at the government office, and I actually know what it is.”
Madam Xue said, accompanying the Marchioness of Dongyang in playing cards.
“The Transport Commissioner, Luo Wen, has been accused, and they’ve been arguing about it in court for three days. His Majesty has even been so annoyed that he hasn’t been attending court.”
Mama Xu asked curiously, “Then what can the Marquis’s Heir do?”
Madam Xue smiled. “Of course, he’s going to check the accounts of the transport department for all these years, check them thoroughly, so that His Majesty can make a clear judgment.”
The Marchioness of Dongyang seemed not to have heard, putting down the cards in her hand. “I win.” She stretched out her hand to the three of them. “Pay up.”
Madam Xue glared at her, Mama Xu and Mama Huang both laughed and took out their money. Someone lifted the curtain and came in.
“Madam, Madam Xue, I’ve brewed some tea.”
Mama Xu glanced at the person and frowned slightly. She recognized her as Granny Li from the kitchen. Logically speaking, this kind of errand shouldn’t be her responsibility…
What is this old woman doing here?
Mama Xu hurriedly winked at the maids in the room. A quick-witted maid stepped forward. “Give it to me…”
She had just reached out her hand when Granny Li knelt down.
“Madam, this old servant has a secret to tell. Please dismiss everyone else.”
The atmosphere in the room froze.
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Granny Li was a very cautious person. That day, after seeing the Marquis’s Heir bid farewell to the woman holding the child, she didn’t dare to stay any longer and hurried away with her basket.
She didn’t blurt it out immediately after returning home.
This matter was too important, she couldn’t speak carelessly. What if she had seen wrong? What if the woman and child were the wife and child of the Marquis’s Heir’s friend?
She had to confirm it again.
Over the next month, she saw at home that the Marquis’s Heir would stay out all night every few days, but not always because he was going to the pleasure boat.
She used the excuse of shopping to secretly go to the alley over there. Although she didn’t see anything eight out of ten times, she did see the Marquis’s Heir come out from inside twice, with a woman and child seeing him off. The Marquis’s Heir even fastened the woman’s cloak for her. Although this wasn’t a very intimate gesture, the Marquis’s Heir’s eyes were full of tenderness.
That was enough.
It was confirmed.
There was no doubt.
The Marquis’s Heir was indeed keeping a woman outside, and they even had a child.
She could tell from the child’s cry that it was a newborn…
The carriage swayed. Hearing this, the Marchioness of Dongyang, sitting inside, breathed heavily and closed her eyes.
A newborn child.
It had only been three months since Ah Li passed away.
That meant that the child had been conceived long ago.
Madam Xue also took a deep breath and interrupted Granny Li. “Did you see the child with your own eyes?”
Granny Li huddled in the corner of the carriage and shook her head. “No, this old servant didn’t dare to get close.”
“Then don’t speculate for now.” Madam Xue said, looking at the Marchioness of Dongyang again and gently persuading her. “Don’t worry, let’s go and see first, maybe it’s a misunderstanding.” She paused and added, “You stay in the carriage later, I’ll go and have a look myself first…”
The Marchioness of Dongyang opened her eyes and sneered. “What am I afraid of? I’m not the one who has something to hide.” She then asked Granny Li, “How much further?”
Granny Li glanced outside and whispered, “The alley ahead is it.”
The Marchioness of Dongyang stared at the swaying carriage curtain with a grim expression.
Earlier, at home, they had dismissed the servants, leaving only Madam Xue. After listening to Granny Li’s story, they were both stunned. Madam Xue suggested asking Zhou Jingyun first, but the Marchioness of Dongyang directly ordered the carriage to be prepared and immediately set off to see for herself, taking Granny Li with her.
“Ask Zhou Jingyun? I won’t ask him, I have my own eyes, I’ll see for myself.”
The carriage slowly came to a stop. Without waiting for Granny Li to help her, the Marchioness of Dongyang jumped out of the carriage. Madam Xue hurriedly followed behind, holding her hand. “Slow down, slow down.”
Madam Xue didn’t dare to shout loudly either. She held the Marchioness of Dongyang’s hand. It was afternoon, and this alley seemed to have few residents, making it particularly quiet. Only the footsteps of the three of them could be heard.
“Which one?” The Marchioness of Dongyang’s voice suddenly rang out.
Granny Li trembled and pointed to a door a few steps away. Before she could speak, the Marchioness of Dongyang shook off Madam Xue’s hand and stepped forward, raising her hand to knock on the door.
The sound of knocking echoed in the alley.
Madam Xue felt as if each knock was hitting her heart. Her ears were buzzing, and she smelled something sweet in the air.
Was someone burning incense?
The door remained closed. The Marchioness of Dongyang felt impatient and lifted her skirt, kicking the door.
With a bang, the door was kicked open.
At the same time, a sound came from next door.
“What are you two Madams… doing?”
The Marchioness of Dongyang and Madam Xue instinctively turned their heads and saw a young woman standing at the door next door, dressed in an apricot-colored dress, standing gracefully, with charming eyes and brows.
“Are you… looking for someone?” She asked, her eyes staring at them intently.
The Marchioness of Dongyang and Madam Xue instinctively nodded slowly. “Yes, we’re looking for someone.”
The woman looked surprised. “But… no one lives here.”
No one lives here?
The Marchioness of Dongyang and Madam Xue were stunned. They slowly turned their heads to look at the door that had been kicked open. Through the half-open door, in the dim afternoon light, they saw a courtyard overgrown with weeds, desolate and dilapidated.
