Chapter Thirty-Four: Teaching the Old Servant a Lesson

Auntie Mo was pointing at Mother Xu while scolding Caiping. Everyone could tell she was speaking in metaphors to cast aspersions. Chu Xi stood frozen, asking herself in bewilderment, "I have never been married; how have I suddenly become a widow?" To hear such words from Auntie Mo, who had once been the person most fond of her, felt like a needle pricking her heart, causing her to clench her sleeves tightly.

Upon hearing that it was the Old Madam, Caiping fell silent. Chu Xi said in a low voice, "I am tired. Let us return. Wang Mu, there is still some time before dawn; you should go back and get some sleep as well." Knowing she was distressed, Wang Mu nodded and said, "Miss, as long as General Mo treats us well, we can endure anything else." Chu Xi merely sighed softly and turned toward her own courtyard.

Even with the charcoal fire burning in her room, Chu Xi felt a deep chill in her bones and lay down. Fearing she had caught a cold, Caiping hurried to find the steward and brought a doctor. After taking the medicine, Chu Xi remained in a feverish, delirious state, unable to wake.

"What are we to do? The Miss fell ill right after the General left," Caiping lamented, tears streaming down her face. Wang Mu was also burning with anxiety outside. Just then, the voice of Mother Li echoed through the courtyard. "Is Miss Chu awake? The Old Madam wants her to come to her quarters."

Caiping’s heart sank. She realized that since the General had just departed, the Old Madam must have planned this harassment in advance. Wang Mu stepped toward Mother Li and said, "Mother, our Miss has caught a cold and is lying down. The doctor just examined her, and she has yet to recover after taking the medicine. Please, convey our apologies to the Old Madam; we will pay our respects as soon as the Miss feels better."

"Hmph, putting on airs, are we? I don't believe for a second that she fell ill the moment the General left," Mother Li sneered, casting a disdainful look at Wang Mu before pushing forward to check for herself. However, as soon as she lifted the curtain, she found Caiping standing guard at the door with a fierce expression.

"Oh, so you don’t believe us and want to see for yourself if the Miss is faking it?"

Mother Li, being the Old Madam’s most trusted servant, looked down on everyone—especially Chu Xi, who was merely a guest with no real family ties to the estate, and her servants even more so. "The Old Madam calls for her, yet she makes excuses of illness. Living in the General’s estate, eating and drinking for free, yet she acts so high and mighty."

Caiping refused to back down. She laughed, "You certainly think quite highly of yourself, Mother. Anyone who didn't know better would think we were freeloading off your own family. A dog acting on its master's power."

"Who are you calling a dog? You little wench, I’ll skin you alive today!" Mother Li lunged toward Caiping. Wang Mu rushed in from outside. "Mother, what are you doing? Why stoop to the level of a young servant?" Though he spoke calmly, he intervened, pulling Mother Li back with such force that she stumbled and nearly fell.

Mother Li, who had served the Old Madam for three years and was accustomed to being feared and respected, could not tolerate this. Not only had she been talked back to by Caiping, but now she had been manhandled by Wang Mu. Furious, she overturned the tea set and hand warmer on the nearby table and began smashing everything in sight with frantic desperation. In an instant, the room was left in a chaotic state of ruin.

"Mother Li, what are you doing? This is insolence!" Steward Zhao lifted the curtain to find the room in total disarray, destroyed by Mother Li’s own hand. Mother Li had never held the steward in high regard, and his arrival only fueled her arrogance. "This old servant is merely teaching these ill-mannered commoners a lesson on behalf of the Old Madam." Before she could finish, a crisp, sharp sound echoed across her face.