Chapter 17
Seventh Concubine was clearly gravely ill. She could barely get out a few words before coughing nonstop. Li Weiyang hurried over and took her hand. “Mother.”
In all her previous and present lives, this was the first time Li Weiyang had called someone Mother. Panic surged through her. She shouldn’t have been so certain. If the First Madam had acted even a little sooner, she might never have seen her birth mother again!
The little maid called Cui’er was frightened, but she wasn’t foolish. Knowing how serious things were, she hurried to find a sack. Then she and Bai Zhi stuffed Nanny Zhao inside and went to fetch bluestone slabs from the courtyard to put in the sack. But Nanny Zhao was too heavy for the two of them to lift. Seeing this, Li Weiyang went over and helped them hoist it. They were so exhausted they could barely catch their breath. At last, they opened the window and threw the sack down. A splash sounded below. The three exchanged a glance and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Clean up the blood in the room, and bury the medicine that was brought here as well. Be quick about it. Don’t let anyone find out,” Li Weiyang ordered calmly.
Seventh Concubine watched from the side, almost dazed. She had never imagined that at such a crucial moment, Weiyang would save her life. And she had been so decisive!
Once everything had been cleaned up, Seventh Concubine clutched Li Weiyang’s hand. “Child, hurry back. Don’t stay here. You’ll get dragged into this!”
Li Weiyang looked at Madam Tan’s face and shook her head slowly but firmly. “No. I’m not leaving. I want to stay here with you, Mother.”
“Nanny Zhao was acting on the First Madam’s—” Madam Tan began coughing again. Weiyang hurried over to pat her back, then softened her voice. “Mother, don’t worry that the First Madam will make trouble for me. I’ll find a way!”
Madam Tan shook her head. “No. The First Madam is not someone you can easily deal with.”
Li Weiyang nodded and touched Madam Tan’s face. Her forehead was burning hot. Then she asked Cui’er, “How ill is my mother?”
Cui’er’s eyes filled with tears. Madam Tan stared at her, signaling her not to say anything rash, but Cui’er couldn’t hold back. “Third Miss, Seventh Concubine has suffered so much! At first, she’d only caught a chill, but no one called a doctor, and they even cut our food rations. That’s why her illness kept getting worse!”
Li Weiyang took five ingots of silver from her robe and tucked them under Madam Tan’s pillow. “Mother, keep these. Have Cui’er exchange them for smaller coins and find a way to buy medicine outside.”
Madam Tan refused without a moment’s hesitation. “No. I should be the one helping you. How could I take your money?” As she spoke, she wrenched the jade bangle from her wrist and pressed it into Li Weiyang’s hand.
Even someone with a heart of stone could tell who truly cared for them. Madam Tan’s eyes were full of heartfelt concern. Li Weiyang’s eyes grew hot, and she shook her head. “Mother, the Old Madam likes me very much, and she gave me the silver. Don’t worry. I’m doing well.”
Madam Tan nodded, holding back the urge to throw her arms around her daughter and weep. Her eyes glistening with tears, she said, “Weiyang, I haven’t been of any use to you.”
“Mother, whoever made you this way... One day, I’ll make her suffer the same!” A chill crept into Li Weiyang’s voice, revealing a precociousness far beyond her years.
Seventh Concubine panicked and quickly covered Li Weiyang’s mouth. Cui’er was her only trusted confidante, and Bai Zhi was clearly trustworthy too, but—
“Don’t say things like that! The best thing would be for you to grow up safely, get married, and have children. Don’t even think about revenge! Living a quiet, peaceful life is better than anything else!”
Those were words only a birth mother could say. Li Weiyang felt warmth surge through her, but said nothing.
Madam Tan was about to say something when she suddenly heard a strange sound.
At the sound of a splash, her face turned deathly pale. Hardly daring to trust her ears, she gripped Li Weiyang’s hand. “Weiyang, listen!”
“Did Nanny Zhao climb back up?!” Cui’er cried in fright.
Li Weiyang got out of bed. “I’ll go take a look.” She hurried to the window and looked across the lotus pond. Faint figures seemed to be moving behind the rockery. Then several more stones fell into the water, splashing one after another. She turned and smiled at Madam Tan. “Mother, don’t worry. Some stones from the rockery must have fallen into the pond after years of disrepair.”
With that one glance, Li Weiyang had confirmed that someone was behind the rockery. But who was it? They had just thrown Nanny Zhao out the window. Had anyone seen them? She rose and clasped Seventh Concubine’s hand. “It’s about time. I should go, Mother. I’ll come see you again.”
Madam Tan knew Li Weiyang couldn’t stay long. Though she was loath to part with her, she still reminded her, “Be sure to take extra care.”
Li Weiyang knew the First Madam would soon arrive with Chancellor Li, so she had to be ready for anything. But she said nothing about it to Madam Tan.
After leaving the South Courtyard, Li Weiyang asked Cui’er for directions, then went with Bai Zhi across the lotus pond to the rockery piled with Taihu rocks. From there, they looked toward the South Courtyard’s only window. A dense reed marsh grew beside the pond, its reeds nearly half a person tall. No one could see what was happening on the other side. Only after confirming that no one could have seen Nanny Zhao thrown into the pond did Li Weiyang breathe a sigh of relief.
Just as she was about to turn back, they heard a muffled cry.
The two of them looked over and saw a child of eight or nine being held fast by two nannies whose faces they couldn’t make out. One of them was viciously gripping his throat. The child struggled desperately. His delicate skin quickly turned pale, his black bangs were completely disheveled, and his arms and legs flailed to no avail.
Li Weiyang froze. Bai Zhi whispered urgently in her ear, “Miss, that’s the Third Young Master!”
Li Weiyang was stunned. Li Minde was the adopted son of Third Aunt Madam Zhou! Seven years ago, after Third Master Li Xiaohe died of an illness, the Third Branch had no heir. There was talk of finding an adopted son. The First Madam had wanted to choose a child from a collateral branch of the Li clan she could control, so he could one day inherit Madam Zhou’s vast dowry and the Third Branch’s property. The Second Madam had the same idea, and the two fought over it for quite some time. Who would have thought that although Madam Zhou was gentle, she wasn’t a pushover? With the Old Madam’s support, she defied everyone’s objections and adopted Zhou Minde from the family of a distant clan relative. At the time, she had offended both the First and Second Madams. In other words, the boy before her was one of the First Madam’s thorns in her side.
Bai Zhi’s eyes were tinged with fear. Li Weiyang hesitated. How could she save him? There were two nannies out there, and she wasn’t foolish enough to think she could take them on.
In only a moment, the child stopped moving, his neck drooping like that of a dead crane. One of the nannies sneered. “Throw him into the lotus pond. We’ll say he slipped, fell in, and drowned.”
Li Weiyang watched it all and suddenly understood. So this was how the child had died in her previous life. No wonder that after she returned to the Li household, Third Aunt had shut herself away from the world and stopped seeing anyone. The shock must have shattered her.
The child was tossed into the water, completely limp. His red brocade robe billowed on the surface for a moment before the pond swallowed him.
The two nannies watched him sink. One of them even looked around carefully to make sure no one was there. Only then did they leave together.
Once they were gone, Bai Zhi grabbed Li Weiyang in terror. “Miss, what do we do?”
Seventh Concubine and Li Minde had both been targeted one after the other. Somehow, it all seemed connected to her! Li Weiyang suddenly stood, kicked off her shoes without a word, and leapt into the freezing water...
Bai Zhi was so startled that she couldn’t stop her in time. She could only watch as the dark strands of Li Weiyang’s hair left a mottled trail on the water’s surface, then vanished completely in an instant...