Preventing Conception

"Xiliu was really unlucky to end up serving Cousin Miss! She's such a good person, yet she got beaten with a board for nothing. In this summer heat, the flesh on her backside has rotted."

Ping Ye had been bringing Wu'er medicinal ointment for several days, and she said the same thing every day when she returned.

Tao Ye's ears had practically grown calluses from hearing it. She told her, "It's good that you care, but stop going on about it. If the people from the Hall of Longevity hear you, who knows what trouble they might stir up?"

Lin Yunwan had been busy arranging things around the household these past few days.

She had just returned when she heard Tao Ye's words. Lifting the curtain, she came in and said, "Tao Ye has a point. Ping Ye, be careful what you say, or you'll invite trouble."

Ping Ye stuck out her tongue. "I understand, Madam."

Seeing that Lin Yunwan's lips were a little pale, she hurried over with a cup of tea. "Madam, the water is just the right temperature."

Lin Yunwan took the tea and asked, "How is Xiliu? Is she any better?"

Ping Ye said, "She's better. But Cousin Miss has no senior maid to attend her, so as soon as Xiliu improved a little, she had to go back to serving her."

Lin Yunwan instructed her, "Keep trying to persuade her. If she really can't see a way out, you don't need to rush back to report to me. Use your own judgment. Saving her life comes first."

"Yes, Madam."

Lin Yunwan closed her eyes, recalling what had happened to Xiliu...

That day, she had just woken up and was preparing to go to the meeting hall to manage affairs when she heard that a maid had thrown herself into a well.

In all her years in the Lu family, it was the first time she had heard of a maid throwing herself into a well.

Before, she had thought it was a quarrel between maids, and that the girl had acted on impulse.

Now that she thought about it, it might well have had something to do with Ge Bao'er.

"Madam, Concubine Zhu Qing is here."

A young maid serving outside came to deliver the message.

Ping Ye said, "She's here again?" She sounded curious rather than displeased.

Lin Yunwan had clearly told Concubine Zhu Qing to avoid arousing suspicion and to take care to keep her doors shut lately, so why was she still coming over every few days?

"Let her in."

Ping Ye went out and showed Zhu Qing in. Zhu Qing looked utterly miserable, no longer as radiant and spirited as she had been some time ago.

Lin Yunwan told the maids to serve tea, then asked Zhu Qing, "What's wrong? You have dark circles under your eyes."

Zhu Qing gave a bitter smile. "You have a sharp eye, Madam. I haven't slept well these past few days."

She glanced at the maids in the room.

Lin Yunwan waved them all away and asked Zhu Qing, "What is it? Go on and tell me."

Embarrassed, Zhu Qing said, "Madam, the Heir Apparent has recently been making me drink contraceptive soup."

She said resentfully, "It's really strange. The principal wife doesn't make the concubines drink the medicine, yet the Heir Apparent makes me drink it!"

Lin Yunwan asked her, "You're not that young anymore, are you?"

Zhu Qing said, heartbroken, "I'm already twenty-five." She was two years older than Madam and had no children of her own.

As she spoke, she began to cry. "If I get a few years older, who knows whether I'll still be able to bear children? The Heir Apparent really has no pity for me."

Lin Yunwan said nothing.

She would still be able to bear children, but Zhu Qing's luck with offspring was indeed rather ordinary. She had been with Lu Zhengliu for years and had only one child.

Of course, that was still better than Lin Yunwan, who had spent her life raising someone else's son!

Zhu Qing wiped away her tears and murmured to herself, "Everything was fine a little while ago. Why is he suddenly making me drink the medicine now?" She looked at Lin Yunwan, thinking she might be able to get an answer from her.

Lin Yunwan looked at Zhu Qing and asked in return, "What do you think?"

Zhu Qing froze, a strange thought flashing through her mind.

She smiled. "I'm slow-witted. I don't understand."

That was what she said, but after returning to the Rain Apricot Pavilion, she pondered it for a long time and began to see a hint of something.

On a highly auspicious day in the seventh month.

Everyone in the Lu household went to pay their respects to Old Madam Lu.

Zhu Qing ran into Ge Bao'er and spoke to her in private. "You look well, Cousin Miss. Even with your veil on, I can see how rosy your skin is."

Ge Bao'er touched her cheek. "It's hot. The heat made me flush."

She had no desire to talk much with Zhu Qing. After all, Zhu Qing was a concubine, while she herself now had the status of a young woman "awaiting marriage."

"Concubine, if there's nothing else, I'll go attend to Old Madam."

Zhu Qing smiled faintly and did not stop her.

Though Ge Bao'er had left, she felt her hair stand on end. She could not shake the feeling that something had its eyes on her!

That day, she went out with Nanny Yan to offer incense again. She was going to stay at the temple for several days, saying she would pray and recite scriptures for her deceased parents.

"Please bless us, Bodhisattva..."

Ge Bao'er knelt before the Bodhisattva and prayed earnestly, though not for her deceased adoptive parents, but for her birth parents.

"Please let Bao'er see her parents soon, and let Qing see her maternal grandparents soon..."

Although she knew the chances were slim, she still hoped to be reunited with her birth parents someday. Lu Zhengliu had said that the jade pendant she had worn since she was a baby was extremely valuable, not the kind of jade an ordinary family could afford!

"The Heir Apparent is here."

Nanny Yan appeared behind Ge Bao'er and reminded her in a low voice.

Ge Bao'er immediately opened her eyes and went to a side room to meet Lu Zhengliu.

Nanny Yan kept watch outside, her ears aching.

Ge Bao'er had turned this peaceful Buddhist sanctuary into a place of utter filth.

And the Heir Apparent, honestly! Indulging that little hussy in her antics.

"Why are you still wearing this bracelet?"

Lu Zhengliu held Ge Bao'er's hand, stroking the bamboo bracelet.

Ge Bao'er smiled as she recalled, "When I was in the flower of my youth, you wanted to give me something valuable, but I refused. So you pulled off a piece of bamboo and wove a bracelet for me. Only then was I willing to accept it."

Lu Zhengliu smiled faintly too. It really was the sort of thing he would only have done when he was young.

There was no chance at all that he would weave such a thing for a woman now.

"This bracelet is cheap. You can find one anywhere," Lu Zhengliu said. "It's not as though Old Madam hasn't given you jewelry. Wear something better from now on."

Ge Bao'er shook her head and put her arms around him. "Brother Azhen, have you forgotten what this bracelet means...?"

"I haven't forgotten."

For the sake of that bracelet alone, the foolish girl had given him her innocence.

So he had once promised, "When I come back, I'll marry you and give you a jade bracelet in its place."

Later, he had been forced to marry Lin Yunwan.

And he still had not had a chance to replace Ge Bao'er's bracelet.

Lu Zhengliu suddenly thought of Lin Yunwan and grew somewhat distracted. If he had married Lin Yunwan first and met Ge Bao'er afterward, would he have made Ge Bao'er the same promise?

His own question startled him.

"Brother Azhen, what's wrong?"

Lu Zhengliu came back to himself. "Nothing," he said coldly.

Ge Bao'er thought he was still angry about that matter and obediently admitted her fault. "It's only right for Concubine Zhu Qing to bear children for you and help your family put forth branches and leaves, but I... I just don't want other women having your children."

"Brother Azhen, I'm that petty. You know that."

She spoke as though she were entirely in the right.

"I know. I'm not angry."

For he had not made Zhu Qing drink contraceptive soup because of what Ge Bao'er had said.

By the time Ge Bao'er returned home, three days had passed.

As it happened, she ran into Zhu Qing again.

"Greetings, Cousin Miss. You really do look well. It seems worshipping Buddha truly can purify one's thoughts and improve one's complexion."

Ge Bao'er's expression soured a little.

What was wrong with this Zhu Qing? It was bad enough that she had such sharp eyes, but she was always watching her too!

"If you're feeling unsettled, Concubine, you could try worshipping Buddha too."

Zhu Qing smiled. "I couldn't. Unlike you, Miss, I can't settle my mind. I'm a restless person."

Ge Bao'er exchanged a few pleasantries with her, then hurried away.

Lin Yunwan came over and asked Zhu Qing, "What were you and Cousin Miss talking about?"

Zhu Qing curtsied. "Madam, it was nothing. What brings you to Old Madam's quarters at this hour?"

Lin Yunwan's expression was grave, and she held something concealed in her sleeve. "I've come to discuss an important matter with Old Madam. Since you're here, come in with me."

Looking puzzled, Zhu Qing followed her.