Lovable Beauty

Xie Yao’s miscarriage and divorce were private matters between women; Madam Jiang wasn’t inclined towards dirtying her young daughters’ ears with such things, so she had the two sisters go and comfort Fang Ling.

Xie Lanqiao had no patience for handling a child; she was off like a wisp of smoke, leaving Fang Ling to her younger sister.

Older Sister was too sly! Xie Lanyin fought the urge to stomp her feet in indignation. Catching sight of Fang Ling’s timid and wary gaze, she couldn’t vent her frustration on a child.

Taking Fang Ling back to Yao Yue Pavilion, Xie Lanyin took a seat on the couch. Seeing Fang Ling timidly following behind her, her little face was streaked with tears and her eyes were swollen, Xie Lanyin couldn’t harden her heart and took a deep breath, making her voice as gentle as possible as she asked, “Does A’Ling know who I am?”

Fang Ling nodded, answering, “You are my fifth cousin. Mother said that Fifth Cousin is the prettiest.”

The corner of Xie Lanyin’s mouth twitched. She suspected Xie Yao taught her daughter to say this to coax them to take them in. But seeing the awe glimmering in the little girl’s eyes was more useful than any kind of flattery. Sighing, she ordered Sangzhi, “Bring the water basin over and help my cousin wash her face.”

Sangzhi did as she asked.

Xie Lanyin gestured with her hand. When Fang Ling cautiously approached, she lifted Fang Ling’s hand and lowered her head, asking, “A’ling, why did Auntie say Uncle didn’t want the two of you? Was he the one who kicked you out?” Her mother didn’t wish them to hear in the main rooms; she had no choice but to wheedle out the news from Fang Ling.

At the mention of her father, Fang Ling’s eyes turned red again. “Daddy wants to marry my Auntie, so he doesn’t want us anymore. Mommy said she will take me to Grandmother’s home in Hangzhou…Daddy went to the magistrate’s office this morning and hasn’t come back yet. Mommy is afraid Daddy won’t allow me to go to Hangzhou, so she brought me here to ask Auntie for help….”

Xie Lanyin patted the little girl’s head as doubts clouded her eyes.

Xie Yao ran away in secret, but if it was only to take her daughter with her, Xie Yao could wait until her body recovered before taking action. As the magistrate, Fang Ze spent most of the day at the magistrate’s office. Why drag such a weak body all the way here? Could it be that she wanted to force her aunt to take her in due to the impending wedding?

That must be it. Eldest Cousin’s marriage was of paramount importance. Her aunt’s entire focus was on making preparations for the marriage; she didn’t have the energy to deal with Xie Yao.

After suffering such humiliation, Xie Yao had become more and more experienced with vexing others.

The thought of Xie Yao returning to Hangzhou after all this—even planning to come along with her mother and sister—made Xie Lanyin feel like her chest was stuffed with a ball of cotton, feeling painfully miserable.

“Fifth Cousin, I want to be with Mommy. Can you please beg Auntie for me? Please don’t let Daddy take me away?” Fang Ling studied her cousin’s expression nervously. Seeing her frown, the little girl became even more worried. Big teardrops rolled down in pairs as gazed at her cousin pitifully.

She was the blood of the Fang family. As long as Fang Ze doesn’t agree, no one could convince him otherwise. Xie Lanyin believed her elders wouldn’t rashly intervene and offend Fang Ze for Xie Yao’s sake. She didn’t want to lie to Fang Ling, nor did she want to make her cry again, Xie Lanyin caught sight of Sangzhi returning with the water she requested, softly coaxing her, “A’ling, no fear, Auntie will find a way to take you with her. Enough of that; go wash your face. I’ll take you to find Auntie afterward.”

Her voice was pleasant; it was easy to make people feel at ease when comforting them. Fang Ling relaxed and obediently washed her face.

After washing, Sangzhi led her to the vanity mirror to fix her appearance,  only to find that there was only the ‘Lovable Beauty’ set on the rosewood dressing table. Through the mirror, she looked at the young lady sitting on the couch who had her head bowed in deep thought. Sang Zhi was reluctant to give Fang Ling the nice things Third Young Master specially gave to the young lady. Picking up the pastel balm box, she feigned a sound of surprise and turned to ask Yingge, “Young Lady used up her balm this morning. Didn’t I ask you to replace it with a new one? Did you forget?”

Hearing this, Xie Lanyin looked up.

Yingge, with much practice, went along with Sangzhi by exclaiming, “Look at my poor memory! Give me a minute, I’ll get it right away!” Saying this, she sped out of the room. The balm the young lady used previously was also a gift from the Third Young Master. A small box of it cost over a dozen taels. After the young lady got the new one, she gave them the old one. It wasn’t belittling to give it to Fang Ling’s use.

Xie Lanyin only found the two maidservants’ impishness funny. ‘Lovable Beauty’ was exceptional. Besides her own sisters, she wouldn’t give it to anyone else; but if it was only to use it once in her room, she wasn’t so petty. But since the maids already acted of their own accord, it wouldn’t do for her to expose them. Fortunately, Fang Ling was still young, so she shouldn’t be able to figure out what was going on.

Soon, Yingge returned with a box full of balm. After opening it, a serene orchid fragrance wafted out.

Fang Ling couldn’t help taking in a deep breath and knew it was something high-quality. But recollecting the faint scent of roses she smelled on her fifth cousin, the little girl’s gaze drifted to the pastel balm box. Clutching the cuff of her sleeve, she lowered her eyes.

***

When Xie Yao arrived at the Jiangs’ family home with her daughter, the steward of the Fang family also rushed into the magistrate’s office.

Fang Ze was in the middle of deciding a verdict on a case. Hearing the steward say that Du Yinger had gone to his wife’s place but hadn’t come out yet, all the while his wife ran away with his daughter in tow, he suspected something had happened. He postponed the case with the reason of the lack of evidence, he rushed back anxiously. Once home, he went straight for his wife’s courtyard.

“Where did Madam go?” Fang Ze demanded in a dark tone when he saw Nanny Liu standing in front of the door as if expecting him.

Nanny Liu knelt down, wiping her tears with her handkerchief as she cried, “Master, the lady cousin had gone too far! She heard Madam’s refusal to divorce and tried to harm Madam while we weren’t present in the room. Fortunately, we came back in time and Madam’s life was saved. Madam is terrified after her near escape from death. She doesn’t dare live in the manor any longer, so she took Eldest Miss to the Jiang family. The lady cousin…”

“How is she?” Suddenly, a bad feeling settled into his heart.

Nanny Liu curled up her lips imperceptibly, lowered her head, and said, “The lady cousin wanted to kill Madam with a hairpin, but when were restraining her, she accidentally hurt herself…”

“Where is she!” Fang Ze was enraged as he kicked Nanny Liu.

Nanny Liu wailed in pain. Fang Ze had no patience to wait for her to continue and barged into the room with a livid face. When he entered the room, he saw Du Yinger and her servants tied back to back to the bedpost. Du Yinger’s back was turned to him. Wutong struggled, her cries muffled, but Du Yinger didn’t move at all.

Fang Ze circled around hastily, “Cousin…”

Before he had the chance to finish calling out to his cousin, he stumbled back in horror, staring in disbelief at the two slender bloody slashes on Du Yinger’s face, one on each side of her face. Even the untouched surfaces were stained with blood, making it even more terrifying.

“Master, Madam said that though Master is cruel and wants to divorce, for the sake of the eight years of marriage, she can’t bear to ruin Master’s reputation. The lady cousin has committed a terrible act, but fortunately, nothing bad happened, so Madam won’t send the lady cousin to court. The rest is up to Master. But Madam doesn’t dare stay in the manor any longer, dragging her sick body to the Jiang family. She only asks Master to allow her to take the Eldest Miss with her. When Master remarries, you will be other children, but Madam will only have Eldest Miss…”

Nanny Liu was bowed over as she followed him inside, lamenting in sorrow.

How could Fang Ze believe her words? Looking at Du Yinger, who he was intimate with last night, now injured and unconscious, Fang Ze ripped the handkerchief from Wutong’s mouth. Before he had the chance to demand answers, Wutong shrieked, “Master, the young lady is the victim! Madam invited the young lady to come and retrieve an old gift from the lady and took advantage of the opportunity to bully and harm the young lady.”

“Bah!” Nanny Liu spat on her face, “We were ordered to fetch things and when we came back, we saw you acting shifty outside the door, as if on the lookout. When we rushed in, the lady cousin was about to stab Madam. Witnesses and the evidence are all present, yet you still dare to make false accusations. Do you think Madam is a pushover?”

Wutong didn’t give up and snapped back.

Nanny Liu has a louder voice than her like she wanted to make a scene to make it known to everyone.

A vein throbbed in Fang Ze’s forehead. His eyes swept over the bloody white jade hairpin next to Du Yinger. He recognized that it was indeed Du Yinger’s. He snapped, cutting the two off, and glowered at Wutong, “The lady cousin was speaking with Madam, so why weren’t you inside with her?”

Wutong knew that this wasn’t looking good for the young lady. Her eyes flickered. After being hollered at by Fang Ze, she lied in a trembling voice, “Madam- Madam has something to say to the young lady and ordered me to leave…”

Nanny Liu sneered, “When have you ever listened to Madam?”

Wutong pursed her lips. Seeing Fang Ze’s darkening face, she immediately appealed for her mistress’s sake, “Master, the young lady is innocent! You already promised to marry the young lady; the divorce papers are signed. She has no choice but to agree. Why would the young lady bother do to this?”

“The divorce papers are only stamped with the government seal. Our Madam hasn’t signed it yet! She was here to force her to press her fingerprint!” Nanny Liu snapped back with a heated glare. As if she couldn’t be bothered to argue with Wutong, Nanny Liu turned Fang Ze, “Master, since Wutong insists that it was Madam who framed the young lady, I will report back to Madam and take it to court. I ask Master to make a verdict in court!”

If this was brought to court, her lady, who miscarried and was forced to divorce, was the victim. Du Yinger had a motive to commit the crime. Who would the people believe?

Besides, was Fang Ze willing to lose all face?

Just as she was smug about this, a slap struck her face hard.

Nanny Liu lost her balance and fell, her head buzzing.

“Get out! Go tell Xie Yao to move her things out tomorrow! Today, I, Fang Ze, break all ties with her. In the future, if anything happens to her and that brat, don’t come to me for mercy!”

Fang Ze has been in navigating the political ground for many years. How can he not see that this was all a setup by Xie Yao? Xie Yao had both witnesses and evidence. Wutong helped her by hiding outside. Du Yinger wouldn’t win the lawsuit, not to mention he wouldn’t allow this matter to get out. Things have come to this point. He could only blame himself for underestimating Xie Yao’s ruthlessness and overestimating Du Yinger’s intelligence. The matter was pretty much set in stone; Du Yinger only had to stay in Wensheng Courtyard and she’ll be able to become the new mistress in a month. Yet, she insisted on coming here to spite Xie Yao…

After driving away Nanny Liu, Fang Ze had Wutong locked up in the woodshed and then sent someone to summon a doctor.

Sending Du Ying’er back to Wensheng Courtyard, Fang Ze felt distressed and angry when he saw his cousin’s ruined face and slammed the bedboard hard.

His cousin was all alone. All he had to do was comfort her. Xie Yao and her daughter were useless to him. It was even better they left, lest they be an eyesore, but he couldn’t swallow this outrage. Xie Yao was the daughter of an official family, and the life of divorce won’t be too hard, but he lost his beautiful wife!

Enraged to the boiling point, Xie Lanyin’s face, which was already devasting in beauty at such a young age, and that lovely call of”uncle” suddenly appeared in his mind.

Fang Ze’s eyes gradually calmed, and he raised his hand to rub his chin.

Since the Jiang family is Xie Yao’s backing, then don’t blame him for using their people to vent his anger!