Jian Zhang rushed out in one breath, heading straight for Wei's Eastlight Lodge.
A peach tree grew in the front courtyard of Eastlight Lodge. He had planted it himself when Wei first arrived.
Recalling those sweet early days, Jian Zhang felt as though he had fed all his devotion to a dog.
Once the earth was dug up, medicinal dregs were indeed buried beneath it.
Presumably, the child buried in Wei's belly had not been his either.
Jian Zhang was furious!
But inner thoughts and medicinal dregs alone were not enough evidence to convict Wei.
Jian Zhang summoned his trusted servant, Chang Fu. "Collect the medicinal dregs and have someone find out what they were used for. Not a word of this must get out."
Chang Fu had served Jian Zhang since childhood. Even Min could not order him about, and Jian Zhang trusted him completely.
Jian Zhang had left in a great hurry, storming out like a whirlwind. After his departure, the remaining servants in Westglow Garden could only stare at one another.
Min had been strictly raised, and her father was the current vice minister of rites. Composed and dignified, she was remarkably good at keeping her cool. Even after Jian Zhang left, she remained as steady as Mount Tai.
Still, curiosity was itching at her.
She held back for a while, but finally decided to see whether medicinal dregs really had been buried in Wei's courtyard.
"Wait here for the master. I'm going out for a moment." After giving her instructions, Min took two older serving women and headed straight for Wei's Eastlight Lodge.
If Wei really had buried medicinal dregs beneath the peach tree in her courtyard, that would prove Jian Ruonan's information was accurate. Xilu's marriage would need careful reconsideration.
She was not going to watch the gossip unfold. She was going to verify the truth of those inner thoughts.
Having been thoroughly instructed by Min, Jian Xilu was dignified, gracious, and composed.
After Min left, Jian Xilu, as the family's eldest young lady, became the highest-ranking mistress in the room.
Jian Xilu had helped Min manage the household for a year and commanded some respect among the servants. They all waited for her to speak.
Ordinarily, she would certainly have kept her composure and waited for her parents to return.
But she really wanted to verify the accuracy of those inner thoughts.
"I just remembered something I need to do. Wait here for Mother and Father." With that, Jian Xilu left as well, taking her personal maid.
Jian Xilu was not going to watch the gossip unfold either. She was going for the sake of her happiness for the rest of her life.
Jian Ruonan: *??*
Why did everyone leave?
Where did they go?
Wei was still lying here, wasn't she?
Wei was equally bewildered. Cradling her belly, she did not know whether she should keep wailing.
Min arrived at Wei's Eastlight Lodge with the serving women. The moment she entered, she saw Jian Zhang digging beneath the peach tree with a hoe in his hands. Chang Fu held a pile of medicinal dregs still covered in soil, clearly freshly dug from the ground.
Jian Zhang: "..."
Min: "..."
When Jian Xilu arrived, she found her father holding a hoe and staring at Min, who stared right back.
"Father, Mother, what are you doing here?"
"Xilu, what are you doing here?"
"Min, why are you holding a hoe?"
"Xilu, why are you holding a hoe too?"
"Father, did you find the medicinal dregs?"
After a moment's thought, all three understood at once: they could all hear Jian Ruonan's inner thoughts.
Jian Zhang: "..."
So I wasn't the chosen one after all.
Xilu: Wonderful! Everyone could hear her. I didn't have to be afraid anymore.
Min: I hoped Nannan would tell us more honest truths.
After they dug up the medicinal dregs, Chang Fu took them away to have them identified.
Jian Zhang returned to Westglow Garden with Min and Jian Xilu. Seeing him return, Wei gazed at him tenderly, one hand covering her belly and the other supporting her body.
Her fragile appearance truly stirred pity in anyone who saw her.
In the past, Jian Zhang would have been utterly bewitched by Wei. Now, the very sight of her irritated him. "Why is she still lying here? Carry her back already!"
Min asked, "Master, where should we place the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's Fundamental Vows Sutra as an offering once we finish copying it?"
[My father really went the extra mile. He was even praying for some other man's child. Bravo, bravo!]
Min: "..."
She could barely hold it in anymore.
Jian Xilu: "Pfft-"
Jian Zhang: "..."
"Copy what? We're not copying it anymore!"
"What rotten luck!"
[Huh? Why weren't we copying it anymore?]
[Why was my father so fickle? Was he on his man-period?!]
Jian Zhang: "..."
What on earth was a man-period?
Judging by her tone, it did not sound like anything good.
Wei was stunned.
What was wrong with the master? He had been so affectionate toward her just now. How could he go out for a moment and come back acting as though he no longer knew her?
After Wei left, Jian Chuxue grew lively again. She looked at Jian Ruonan. "Mother, who is this younger sister?"
Jian Ruonan felt a little nervous. This girl was the female lead.
As the female lead, she had a certain halo around her. Take her family, for instance: even though everyone knew Jian Ruonan was the marquis's true legitimate daughter, they still treated Jian Chuxue as a legitimate daughter. Fearing Jian Chuxue would feel hurt, Min even treated her better.
Jian Ruonan had never intended to compete with Jian Chuxue for affection. She only wanted to coast through life in the marquis's household, eating and waiting for death, lounging like a salted fish, and enjoying gossip in her spare time.
So she did not have high hopes for how Min would introduce her.
Who would have thought Min would pull her into her arms, her voice gentle as water? "This is your fifth younger sister, Ruonan."
Seeing Min being so affectionate with Jian Ruonan, Jian Chuxue felt displeased. "Which concubine's courtyard is Fifth Sister from? Why haven't I seen her before?"
Min said, "Fifth Sister is my own flesh and blood."
Jian Ruonan: *!!*
She had been acknowledged that easily?!
[That was my birth mother for you! Blood really was thicker than water!]
[My birth mother was the GOAT!!]
[Beautiful Mother, I LOVE YOU! I'll wave your banner high!!]
Min: "..."
Jian Chuxue asked, "Really? Then why haven't I seen her before?"
"That's because..." The investigation results had not come back yet. By rights, she should not have acknowledged their relationship so hastily. But the more Min looked at Jian Ruonan, the more she liked her, and she felt an urgent desire to claim her daughter.
Although the results were not in, Jian Ruonan's parentage was all but certain.
Min looked at Jian Zhang and tossed the hot potato to him. "Ask your father."
Everyone's gaze fell on Jian Zhang. He coughed. "Go back and serve your confinement first. I have something to discuss with your mother."
Jian Chuxue: "..."
Only after dismissing both Jian Xilu and Jian Chuxue did Jian Zhang examine Jian Ruonan carefully. With her fair skin and large, dewy eyes, she looked as though she and Min had been cast from the same mold.
Their bearing, however, was different.
Min was dignified and gracious, the very image of a marquis's principal wife; Jian Ruonan was timid and shrinking, a country girl who had never seen the world.
But Jian Zhang had heard her inner thoughts and knew that beneath her timid exterior, she was exceedingly lively.
Jian Zhang and Min went into the inner room, leaving Zang Chun and Zang Qiu to take Jian Ruonan to rest in the gauze-screened alcove.
"Master, how should we handle this?" Min asked.
"We'll tell outsiders that Ruonan was in poor health, and Master Chengyuan of the Temple of National Grace said she had to be sent to Jiangnan before the age of ten to avert calamity and secure blessings. Now that she's ten, we've brought her back. All you need to do is teach her more etiquette and take her out to socialize."
Great Xia revered Buddhism, and Master Chengyuan was renowned far and wide. With his name behind the story, no one should question it.
Jian Zhang only needed to make the arrangements beforehand.
"I'll speak to Mother."
The old madam was superstitious. Back then, she had been critically ill and nearly died. Later, a wandering monk came to the estate and declared that Jian Ruonan brought misfortune upon her kin. After Jian Ruonan was sent away, the old madam miraculously recovered.
The concern was that once Jian Ruonan returned, the old madam would blame every headache and fever on her.
The wandering monk had presumably been Madam Zhou's doing as well.
"What about Chuxue?" Min felt conflicted. She had been the youngest daughter Min cherished like the jewel of her heart. Suddenly learning that she was not her own flesh and blood left Min uncomfortable.
When Jian Chuxue called her Mother just now, she had felt deeply awkward.
"If it makes you uncomfortable, simply avoid her from now on. In another few years, we can give her a dowry and marry her off," Jian Zhang said. "Where will Nannan stay?"
"Nan Nan will stay with me for now." Having been separated from her biological daughter for ten years, Min wanted to raise and teach her personally.
Jian Ruonan enjoyed a lovely nap in the gauze-screened alcove. By the time she woke, it was dinner time, and the maids had laid out the meal in the main room of Westglow Garden.
After washing her hands, Jian Ruonan sat down at the gemstone-inlaid low table.
For Jian Ruonan's first meal back home, both Jian Zhang and Jian Xilu were present. Min had borne four children: besides her two daughters, she had two sons. Her elder son, Jian Huayuan, was away on official business and would return in a few days. Her younger son, Jian Huateng, attended the Imperial College and came home once a week.
Two concubines stood nearby, helping serve the dishes.
[Just how many concubines did my father have?]
[Men were all big pig's trotters.]
Jian Zhang: "..."
Where were the pig's trotters? Wasn't there only pheasant?
Min placed a piece of pheasant in Jian Ruonan's bowl and instructed Zang Chun to arrange a dish of pig's trotters stewed with snow peas for the next day.
As Jian Ruonan ate, a familiar mechanical voice sounded-
System: [There's gossip.]
Jian Ruonan: [Let's have it.]
The other three people at the table stirred.
Jian Ruonan chewed her ribs, savoring both the delicious food and the gossip.
[Wei really was bold! She was meeting her lover in the little grove by the courtyard's west side gate!]
[She had only just miscarried, and she was already that impatient?!]
[Oh, oh, oh, so she was clinging to her lover and pouring out her grievances!]
[When Wei cried, she was like pear blossoms drenched in rain. Who could resist that?!]
Jian Ruonan shoveled a mouthful of rice into her mouth and looked up.
[Huh? Why had my father disappeared again?!]
Min and Jian Xilu exchanged a look, silently commenting, He had gone to catch the lovers in the act.
Damn it, they wanted to go and watch too.
Before you continue