Chapter 13: Mother And Daughter

The young maid attending the inner chamber replied that it was so.

The young madam had returned to her family home this afternoon.

In the evening, someone had come from the Pu household to report that Madam Pu was unwell and had requested Pu Jinyu remain there for a few days.

 

Yan Chiyun frowned.

He was half doubtful.

He glanced toward the moon-shaped window.

The night was already deep.

Even if he wished to go to the Pu household, this was no hour to impose.

 

As he pondered, Si Yan, the young maidservant he had assigned to attend Madam Pu, arrived to report.

She confirmed it was indeed because of Madam Pu’s illness.

“The Pu household summoned a physician and sent this servant back to relay the message.”

Having heard her out, Yan Chiyun reflected for a moment.

He nodded faintly.

The young maidservants could not attend him in the inner chamber and withdrew.

 

He bathed.

Then he entered the study to examine the case files submitted by the Northern Bastille.

There was not much to handle.

Soon he emerged and retired alone to the bed.

 

After lying down, Yan Chiyun found himself unable to sleep for a long while.

He did not know what was wrong with him tonight.

Even while reviewing the case files in the study, he had felt that his surroundings were too quiet.

In truth, Madam Pu was quiet even when she was present.

She was by nature a quiet person.

When entertaining household guests, she smiled warmly and attended to every detail with care.

Yet when she returned to their courtyard, unless necessary, she rarely initiated conversation.

 

She managed all matters of the inner household with consistent propriety.

Even when uncertain, she sought guidance from his mother.

She seldom came to him of her own accord.

 

In these years of marriage, his and Madam Pu’s interactions had actually been quite few.

He had entered official service and was perpetually occupied with court business.

He left early and returned late.

They rarely crossed paths.

For three years, they had maintained a courteous, respectful distance.

 

Was it because these past few days, urged by his parents to produce an heir, they had been intimate too frequently?

Thus, with this sudden cooling, he found himself unaccustomed to it?

 

In any case, with no one beside him, the space felt hollow and empty.

Only yesterday, she had clung to him, kissed him, refused to release him for even a moment.

After their bath, they had slept entwined.

Yet today, she had suddenly returned home.

Was Madam Pu’s condition truly serious?

Or was this about the replacement of her personal maidservant?

His thoughts were somewhat disordered.

He frowned and closed his eyes, willing himself to calm.

 

He did not like this inability to untangle his thoughts.

Chaos impaired his judgment.

How could he investigate the great cases of the Imperial Prison without maintaining composure?

Thus, he strove to steady himself, to restore order.

 

Yan Chiyun suppressed the emotions within him.

After a long while, he did indeed calm considerably.

 

Perhaps it was good that Madam Pu had returned home for these few days.

The excessive intimacy had unsettled him.

He needed stillness.

He could not indulge in private, romantic sentiments.

 

Perhaps it was only after this cooling that his thoughts had regrouped.

Reflecting now on how, upon first hearing that Pu Wange had not returned, he had actually entertained the notion of braving the night to go to her—

That was truly absurd.

 

It was merely the replacement of a personal maidservant.

The replacement maid would inform the Pu household.

Even if Madam Pu had summoned her home over this matter, at most she would question her.

What else could she do?

Surely she would not punish Madam Pu.

 

At this thought, Yan Chiyun’s heart steadied further.

He dismissed the matter from his mind.

He turned his thoughts instead to the case files awaiting conclusion at the Northern Bastille, ensuring no omission in the statement he would make before His Majesty on the morrow.

“…”

 

***

Pu Jinyu knelt like this the entire night.

Her knees were stiff and agonizing.

Her back had begun to curve.

 

The slap mark on her cheek had swollen to the size of a steamed cake.

The blood at the corner of her mouth had long dried.

Yet she uttered not a single sound.

She did not cry out in pain.

Madam Pu’s anger had not subsided.

She wished to make Pu Jinyu kneel until she died.

She wished her to kneel until death took her, to be buried alive as sacrifice for her daughter, to serve as a beast of burden for her Wange in the underworld.

 

The old matron urged her not to do this.

Pu Jinyu now bore the eldest young lady’s identity and had married out.

She was not only Pu Wange.

She was also a wife of the Yan household.

No matter how immense the fury, they must consider the Yan family.

“A small impatience ruins a great plan, Madam.”

 

The Pu lineage was thin.

The eldest branch had no male heir.

They still required the Yan family’s assistance.

If Pu Jinyu died, where would the Pu household find another daughter to marry into the Yan family in her stead?

 

“My heart is so bitter.”

Facing the old matron who had served her for many years, Madam Pu could no longer contain herself.

The corners of her eyes reddened.

The hatred in her gaze could not be concealed.

“This servant knows your heart is bitter.

But the eldest young lady is already gone.

You must still grieve in moderation.

The days ahead are long, and nothing is certain.”

 

The old matron wrung a cloth and helped Madam Pu wipe her face.

She dressed her hair.

She barely managed to steady Madam Pu’s emotions.

 

“That woman has also gone hungry for several days.

Since the little wretch has returned, let mother and daughter see each other.”

Madam Pu laughed coldly.

 

***

Pu Jinyu knew Madam Pu would not make her kneel much longer.

She still had to consider the Yan household.

Thus, she was not surprised when the young maids arrived.

She allowed them to support her back to her courtyard.

 

The young maids set down the medicinal wine and departed.

Pu Jinyu flexed her wrist.

She braced herself against the table’s edge and lifted her skirts.

Just as she was about to apply the medicine, the door creaked open.

She heard a long-unheard yet deeply familiar wail.

 

Her fingers stilled instantly.

Her face tightened.

Her grip on the medicine bottle clenched.

But the beautiful woman who pushed through the door, weeping and scolding, did not notice her change.

 

She wailed and reproached Pu Jinyu.

“Which nerve of yours has misfired this time?

Why won’t you obey?

Why must you oppose that venomous woman?

Why did you drive away all the people she placed there?”

 

The moment Concubine Ruan entered, she began to sob.

She recounted to Pu Jinyu how bitterly she had suffered these past days.

After that old wretch Matron Wu was carried back to the Pu household, Madam Pu had blamed Concubine Ruan for her misfortune.

She refused her food.

She sustained her only with spoiled congee.

 

“Your mother’s stomach is so empty it’s collapsed against her spine.

Do you know how hard it is that I still stand here alive before you?”

Even as she wailed, Concubine Ruan wept beautifully.

 

Pu Jinyu looked at her face.

Looked at the tears streaming down her cheeks.

She thought of her previous life, when she died.

Her mother had wept then, too.

But her weeping then had been far more pitiful than now.

Her eyes had been lined with many fine wrinkles.

“What are you looking at me for—”

Concubine Ruan realized she had been lamenting for a long while, yet Pu Jinyu remained silent.

She was about to question her.

She stopped crying and looked at her.

She saw her cheek, swollen terribly.

Her expression shifted instantly to fury.

“That venomous woman struck you?!”

 

Pu Jinyu looked at her without speaking.

The medicine bottle remained clutched tightly in her hand.

She realized her emotions were slipping beyond her control.

Perhaps it was because she had finally seen through the disguise of the person she had once trusted most.

Concubine Ruan’s anger appeared so genuine.

Her glare and bristling seemed to promise she would fight on Pu Jinyu’s behalf.

Yet in truth, it was not concern over the beating.

It was fear that if her face were ruined, she would lose her usefulness.

At this thought, Pu Jinyu lowered her eyes.

A film of tears gathered within them, drowning the mockery and resentment that surged beneath.

 

Concubine Ruan was anxious to examine her face.

Still, she did not notice her daughter’s unusual demeanor.

She stepped closer, lifted Pu Jinyu’s chin.

Carefully inspected her swollen cheek.

She saw that it was merely swollen, the lip slightly split.

The bones of her face were not damaged.

 

Concubine Ruan exhaled in reluctant relief.

She snatched the medicine bottle from Pu Jinyu’s hand.

She scolded her with the frustration of failed expectations.

“Are you trying to die?

Someone strikes you and you don’t think to dodge?

What power does that venomous woman truly wield now?

She tells you to kneel and you kneel.

She raises her hand and you take the blow.

Do you truly see yourself as her filial daughter?”

 

“If your face is ruined, how do you expect to survive?”

Seeing Pu Jinyu mute as an idiot, Concubine Ruan grew so angry she pressed the medicine directly onto her wound with heavy force.

Yet she realized Pu Jinyu did not even furrow her brow.

Did not make a single sound.

 

Concubine Ruan finally sensed something amiss.

“You… what is wrong with you?”

She lightened her touch.

She studied her daughter’s face.

Pu Jinyu kept her eyes lowered.

She did not speak.

Concubine Ruan shook her urgently.

She even wondered if Madam Pu had fed Pu Jinyu some potion that stole her voice.

Why else would she not speak?

 

In the past, if Concubine Ruan wept and complained of her suffering in the Pu household, Pu Jinyu would surely come to comfort her.

But today, she was as unmoved as though she had become a different person.

There was even a coldness to her that bordered on frightening.

“What has happened?”

Pu Jinyu remained silent.

Concubine Ruan dared not press further.

 

After a moment, Concubine Ruan’s patience expired.

She was about to demand again that Pu Jinyu speak, to stop wearing this expression as though her parents had died.

Yet unexpectedly, Pu Jinyu suddenly curved her lips into a smile.

“Mother, my elder sister is still alive.

Did you know?”

Concubine Ruan’s pupils trembled violently.

“You— what did you say?!”

Her face was a mask of disbelief.

The medicine bottle slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor.

 

Pu Jinyu savored her loss of composure.

She watched her panic.

Watched her tremble.

Watched her struggle to conceal her terror.

She smiled again and repeated what she had just said.

 

Seeing that Pu Jinyu was not joking, Concubine Ruan swallowed thickly.

She first glanced around, confirming the door was tightly shut.

Only then did she ask, her heart in her throat.

“You speak truly?

That venomous woman’s daughter still lives?

How do you know this?”

She demanded Pu Jinyu speak quickly.

 

“Jing Chun let it slip.

My elder sister is alive.

She did not die.”

“Where is she now?”

 

Concubine Ruan’s heart nearly climbed into her throat.

How could Pu Wange not be dead?

Had she not succumbed to illness?

Did Madam Pu know of this?

 

Pu Jinyu repeated with certainty that it was no jest.

There was no benefit to her in such falsehood.

How could Pu Wange be alive?

If Pu Wange had never died, if she returned—

Would there still be room in the Pu household for her and Pu Jinyu?

No.

She would never permit such a thing to come to pass.

 

“Tell me quickly!

Do you mean to hasten your mother to her grave?”

 

“My elder sister feigned death to escape and elope with her lover.

I do not know her exact whereabouts.”

In her previous life, she had only known that her elder sister lived.

She had never discovered where she dwelled.

 

Who in this world most wished her elder sister dead?

It was her good mother.

Pu Jinyu laughed coldly in her heart.

 

“Elope?”

Concubine Ruan was stunned.

After a long pause, she too laughed, bitterly.

“So this is the genteel lady that venomous woman raised.

Outwardly noble and unmatched, but in her bones— just as low and base!”

Pu Jinyu listened to her laugh and curse.

She said nothing.

She took a new medicine bottle and silk cloth from the side.

Before the mirror, she dabbed at her face and knees.

 

By the time she had finished applying the medicine, Concubine Ruan had barely managed to suppress her voice.

She continued questioning Pu Jinyu about the details concerning Pu Wange.

Pu Jinyu told her everything she knew.

Having heard her out, Concubine Ruan instructed her.

“I will send people to investigate this matter discreetly.

Do not alert the enemy.”

Fortunately, Madam Pu did not yet know that Pu Wange still lived.

“Rest assured.

If that Pu Wange truly still lives, I will ensure she never returns.

No one will shake our position in the Pu household and the Yan household.

No one will obstruct our path.”

Pu Jinyu looked at her profile, so certain of victory.

She lowered her eyes and drank her tea, concealing the thoughts within.

 

***

 

Before long, Madam Pu sent someone to summon her.

As they were about to part, Concubine Ruan gave her many more instructions.

Having learned that Pu Wange still lived, she no longer mentioned Jing Chun at all.

She only told Pu Jinyu to keep watch.

Beyond that, she urged her to grow close to Yan Chiyun and conceive a child soon.

 

“What a pity that your face cannot yet be revealed.

The time is not right…”

At the very least, she must wait until she was with child.

Only with leverage could she negotiate.

“This is a little booklet I found for you.

Study it in private.

Learn from it!”

Concubine Ruan pressed a bridal manual into her hands.

Pu Jinyu flipped through it, her expression calm.

She accepted it.

 

***

 

The medicine worked well.

The slap mark on Pu Jinyu’s face had mostly faded.

Madam Pu looked at her.

Her lips curved in a cold smile.

“You have seen your mother?”

Pu Jinyu performed her greeting and paid her respects.

She did not respond.

She simply stood quietly, eyes lowered.

Madam Pu looked at the woman before her— at that face, delicate as white jade.

Fury kindled in her heart once more.

She had to admit, this little wretch’s features were exceptionally fine.

Even with the vicious slap mark running across her face, she did not appear the least bit disheveled.

Instead, it lent her an added, moving pathos.

No wonder Jing Chun had said Yan Chiyun shared her bed frequently of late.

What man under heaven could escape such a snare of beauty?

The woman in his own household was proof enough.

 

“I told you not to covet what is not yours.

I forbade you from seducing the Yan family head.

Do you take my words for wind passing your ears?”

 

If she were not still useful, Madam Pu would have taken a red-hot branding iron and seared Pu Jinyu’s face beyond recognition.

 

“Mother misunderstands your daughter.

The matter of Matron Wu has nothing to do with your daughter.

Nor was Jing Chun driven back by your daughter.”

“What do you mean?”

Madam Pu narrowed her eyes, studying her expression.

 

“From my husband’s tone, it seemed Jing Chun had been deliberately attempting to seduce him.

Thus, he…”

 

Pu Jinyu understood clearly.

Now that Jing Chun had been sent back, she would surely report every detail of recent events to Madam Pu.

No matter what excuse Pu Jinyu offered, Madam Pu would blame her for both Matron Wu and Jing Chun.

 

She spoke thus openly because she had calculated that Yan Chiyun would not readily mention this matter.

And Madam Pu would not go directly to the Yan household to question Yan Chiyun.

 

She was simply muddying the waters.

“You mean that little slut Jing Chun harbored thoughts of climbing into the master’s bed?”

Pu Jinyu deliberately repeated to Madam Pu the probing questions Jing Chun had asked her that night beside the bath, the night before she was sent away.

“When your daughter awoke the next morning, Jing Chun was already gone.

My personal maidservant had been suddenly replaced.

Thus, I invented an excuse to return home and inquire what had actually happened.”

She stated this calmly.

 

Madam Pu recalled Jing Chun’s tearful clamor when she was returned yesterday.

The things she had said.

And Pu Jinyu’s first words upon entering the household yesterday, when she stated her case.

She had said Madam Pu misunderstood her.

 

When Pu Jinyu had given Matron Wu that soup, all three of them had tasted it.

If Pu Jinyu was innocent and Jing Chun had harbored improper intentions, then Matron Wu’s misfortune might also be Jing Chun’s doing.

 

Thus, whose account was true?

 

Just as Madam Pu was pondering this, an old matron hurried in from outside to report.

Yan Chiyun had arrived.

 

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