The Protective Guan Qing

Guan Qing had marched into the house to protect Song Caitang and used just a few sentences to render Madam Zhang completely speechless. Guan Rongrong didn’t dare to speak either, so the entire living room was eerily silent for a long time.

The tension in the air was… rather uncomfortable.

The auntie standing behind Guan Rongrong decided to speak up, because it didn’t seem appropriate for her to remain silent anymore.

She bowed toward Guan Qing and smiled warmly, “I think Miss Guan is mistaken about our family. My Madam is a magnanimous woman and my Master is in such a high position within the government, so they wouldn’t have such a narrow view of the situation. Since Concubine Rongrong is one of ours, we will certainly care and protect her and will not despise her. The Jiangs would not be unhappy with the way Mrs. Guan addressed them earlier.”

“I see,” Guan Qing lowered her gaze slightly. “So I’m the petty one? I’m the one who’s narrow minded?”

Neither of those questions were friendly ones.

The auntie laughed awkwardly, “No, no, I wouldn’t dare to imply such things.”

Guan Qing nodded. “Well, I get what you’re saying. In short, the Jiangs are very tolerant and magnanimous, they are polite and well-mannered and not only do they not despise the Guans, they are also willing to give us some space to move about?”

As she spoke, she glanced at Guan Rongrong.

This concubine that was allowed to literally move about was proof of that, so the auntie couldn’t possibly disagree. She immediately nodded and said, “That is exactly the case. My Mistress told me before coming here to take good care of Concubine Rongrong.”

Guan Qing responded, “That ought to be the way a prominent family behaves.”

The auntie smiled humbly, “You’re too kind.”

She thought they could continue to converse in a peaceful manner now, but Guan Qing suddenly switched her tone again, “Since your family is a polite one who respects the Guans, why are you the only one accompanying my younger cousin back home? Where’s Jiang Wenrui? Where’s your Mistress?”

The auntie was put on the spot. “Well… Concubine Rongrong is a concubine after all, so it’s not appropriate.”

Guan Qing snorted. “If you really cared about rules, you wouldn’t allow a concubine to step out of the house, would you?”

The auntie really didn’t know how to respond.

“These Jiangs are so greedy. They want a good reputation, but they also hope to benefit from their in-laws, yet they refuse to admit their intentions and cover it up with noble words. They get other people to do what they want, so if it’s not done well, it’s that person’s fault. The Jiangs just sit at home in elegance and class, expecting others to be polite to them…”

Guan Qing snorted. “And they think everyone will give in to them just because of their status?”

“They think that the Guans are pushovers?!”

Guan Qing slammed the table with her palm as she glared angrily at the auntie.

The auntie clearly looked very unhappy now. This girl spoke way too harshly.

“Miss Guan, you are an unmarried young woman, so I think it’s best that you watch the way you behave and speak. What if your grandmother hears about this, gets anxious and rushes over, then something happens to her?”

The auntie was in a bit of a pickle and she couldn’t think of any other way to get Guan Qing to listen to her, so she decided to make use of Guan Qing’s marital status.

But of course, Guan Qing wasn’t afraid of that. She had heard such words for years now, so this was nothing to get worked up about. She wasn’t the slightest bit hurt and could even take her time to fight back. “Trying to decide on what happens to me now? A servant is allowed to decide on what an employer does? That’s the way things run in the Jiang household? That’s the relationship between the Jiangs and their servants?”

Actually, the auntie immediately regretted saying those words after she said them. She couldn’t stop going “oh no” in her heart.

A young lady was using her own words to trap her now! What was she going to do!

“I don’t like saying this, but seriously? Who do you think you are?” Guan Qing raised her chin slightly as she exuded the aura of a queen despite not being dressed in luxurious, royal robes. “You’re just a servant, and you think you could do something to make my grandmother come here? Even if your Old Madam came today, my grandmother could still choose not to meet her if she just didn’t feel like it!”

When she saw that the auntie was speechless, she stared straight at the auntie and said calmly, “You don’t believe me? It doesn’t matter anyway. I don’t care if anybody believes me or not. If you try to cross me, I can tell you right now that I will not be afraid of you.”

“And I’m going to tell you right now, this younger sister of mine is young and immature,” she said as she pointed at Guan Rongrong. “It’s not as if your Madam doesn’t know that. So what is she trying to say by doing this?”

Guan Qing took two steps toward the auntie. “It’s true that Guan Rongrong is married into the Jiang family and now, she’s one of yours and we cannot do anything about it. But she carries the blood of the Guan family. Whether she lives well or not, whether her life is smooth sailing or not, as long as it’s a consequence of her choices, she will have to face those consequences and we will not interfere. But if she has been bullied, humiliated, or her life is purposely put in danger – the Guans are not going to take this lying down! Drowning a bunch of people or dragging an entire clan down is nothing to us!”

She spoke with such confidence and passion, Song Caitang nearly started clapping and cheering.

Guan Qing was so cool! She was always so protective of her own family!

Even though Guan Qing never liked Guan Rongrong and never agreed with the way she did things, and even though she never missed Guan Rongrong after she got married and moved away, she was still willing to stand up for Guan Rongrong.

No matter how irritating Guan Rongrong was, she was still a Guan. As long as she didn’t commit any unforgivable crimes, Guan Qing was only going to allow the Guans to discipline her and no one else!

Guan Qing’s fierce words made the living room fall silent once more.

Even the usually quick to react Madam Zhang had her gaze lowered silently. She even forgot to put down the teacup in her hand.

She was surprised that Guan Qing was willing to stand up for Guan Rongrong like that…

Had she never understood this young lady all this time after all?

What in the world was going through this girl’s mind? If she was on the same side, why would she fight with her all these years?

She couldn’t find immediate answers to any of these questions, but since there was someone willing to speak up and protect her own daughter so fiercely, she wasn’t going to put this person down.

After a short pause, Madam Zhang went back to sipping her tea slowly.

Guan Qing had been very direct and had pretty much exposed the Jiangs’ nasty behavior. If word of what she said got out, the Jiangs’ reputation would be ruined.

The auntie never thought she would face such a difficult situation in a mere merchant’s home!

But arguing with Guan Qing clearly didn’t work, especially because Guan Qing was a sharp-tongued woman, and she was of a higher status than herself. The auntie would have to start screaming unreasonably to win. But if she really did that and Guan Qing suddenly broke down crying, the Jiangs’ reputation would still be ruined!

The auntie was quite a clever person after all. Since there was no way to defeat or deal with Guan Qing, she decided to just pretend to faint.

It was a solution that worked anywhere.

This way, if she was sent out of the house, she could claim that the Eldest Young Mistress of the Guan family bullied her, and it would be Guan Qing’s reputation that would suffer.

The auntie’s acting was superb. She fell to the floor with such a loud thud, yet she didn’t wince at all. Guan Qing rolled her eyes, then looked at Madam Zhang.

She didn’t say anything, but what she implied was clear. Do you want me to do this? Or you?

Madam Zhang wasn’t going to let Guan Qing take charge since she was the mistress of this house. Moreover, this auntie was from the Jiang household, so it was her own daughter’s business. She quickly pretended to panic and yelled at the maids standing nearby, “Why are all of you just standing there! Hurry up and carry her to a bedroom to rest!”

Of course they weren’t going to throw the auntie out just like that. The Guans didn’t want their reputation to suffer.

Once the auntie was carried out, the living room fell silent again.

Guan Rongrong bit her lip, took a deep breath, then walked to Song Caitang and grabbed her arm. “Song Caitang! I’ve never begged you once since you arrived here, but just this once! Just this one time, won’t you? Won’t you help me out and let my father-in-law off the hook? Won’t you?”

Song Caitang looked down at the pale, trembling fingers that were holding onto her arm tightly and sighed quietly. “Why do you do this to yourself?”

Guan Rongrong’s eyes reddened. “Will you help or not?”

Song Caitang shook her head. “I can’t help you with such matters.”

Guan Rongrong trembled as she let go of Song Caitang with despair in her eyes. Her voice cracked, “You… won’t help… then what… what am I going to do? How… how am I going to live?”

She never thought that her way of thinking was wrong. She had been certain that no matter what happened, she would be able to live well. She was the one who wanted to be part of a rich and powerful family, and she never thought she would regret it.

But after becoming a concubine, she had to move into someone else’s house. She had to fight for everything herself without her mother’s help. It was hard.

Reality had taught her many things, but unfortunately, it was too late for her to change course.

She had to finish this journey she had chosen for herself.

“I have nowhere else to go now…” she stared at Song Caitang.

“So,” Song Caitang stared back at her calmly, “are you still going to offend everyone from your own family?”

If Guan Rongrong failed to secure her position in the Jiang household and was also thrown out by the Guans, then she would really have nowhere else to go.

Guan Rongrong blinked in shock at her.

Song Caitang took this chance to move two steps away from Guan Rongrong. Then she turned to walk out of the room as she glanced at the woman waiting outside the door. “I need to speak to Eldest Sis, so I’ll take my leave first.”

Guan Rongrong looked at Guan Qing.

Guan Qing was very skinny and had narrow shoulders, but she stood very straight and did not look like a stereotypical frail, young woman.

Guan Rongrong hated how Guan Qing always acted like she was in control of everything and bossed people around.

But for some reason, even as she stared at the woman she hated so much, she felt her vision grow blurry as tears started pouring down her cheeks.

…

While exciting things were happening at the Guans’, Zhao Zhi’s side was very quiet.

Jiang Shaoyuan refused to cooperate.

Unlike how he had been cooperative before, he was sullen and silent now. No matter how hard he was pressed, he refused to speak. And when he actually did speak, all he said was, “If you’re so capable, go and investigate further yourselves! Hit me with evidence, not questions!”

Basically, the whole session had come to nothing.

But that didn’t matter. The investigation team would definitely dig into every little detail. If Jiang Shaoyuan preferred being slapped in the face with evidence, they were happy to do so.

Zhao Zhi did not feel discouraged at all.

The good part was that the investigation into mercury had gotten somewhere.

The list they had earlier did not contain all the victims in this serial murder case. After digging some more, they found three more cases that resembled death by mercury poisoning.

Cinnabar contained large amounts of mercury which could be distilled out by heat, but the mercury extracted in this manner evaporated easily and was difficult to collect, so a lot of people in this line often died from mercury poisoning. After some time and experimentation, someone found a way to do this more effectively and safely. Not many people knew this secret technique, so after checking and asking extensively, it didn’t take long for one name to appear.

It was a man from Bianliang named Ling Minfang. His family had been in this business for generations. But no matter how much safer this new secret technique was, accidents were bound to happen. Most of the Lings did not live long. Ling Minfang’ was the last one in his family to inherit this technique, and he died 18 years ago.

He died at a very odd time. He died the night the Beiqing Mountain bandits were raided.

After his death, his son also went missing.

Zhao Zhi had some doubts in his mind and went to investigate this matter personally. He checked with Ling Minfang’s neighbors back then and tried to confirm if Ling Minfang’s child had really been a boy.

His question stumped everyone. Nobody was really certain of that.

The Lings’ technique was mostly safe, but if they were not careful, they might cause harm to others from exposure to too much mercury. In order to minimize harm to others, Ling Minfang’s family made sure to keep to themselves and not interact too much with outsiders. Everyone thought that Ling Minfang’s child was a boy because every time they saw the child, the child was in boys’ clothing.

Before puberty, most children did not look particularly male or female and their voices were mostly on the higher side. It was hard to say for sure what sex the child was, unless you stripped them of their clothes.

Since nobody had much interaction with the Lings, nobody dared to say with certainty that their child was a boy.

…

Wen Yuansi had run into some difficulties too.

Prince Ling had cornered him.

The prince looked a lot like the emperor. His face was especially squarish and his jaw was especially wide. But he was young, had a thick head of hair, skinny and tall, so he still looked rather charming.

He stood in Wen Yuansi’s way and smiled at him. “How’s the investigation into the serial murders going?”

Wen Yuansi wasn’t sure if this meeting was just a coincidence or not. He smiled back and gave a neutral answer, “We’re still working on it.”

Prince Ling raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, even dropping his voice to a whisper as though he was sharing a secret, “Have you found the killer?”

Wen Yuansi folded his hands politely in front of him and lowered his gaze. “The authorities have not determined the killer for sure yet.”

“What about evidence? Clues? Have you found enough to convict someone?”

Wen Yuansi replied slowly, “Some people think that as long as we have some, that’s enough, while some people feel that we need to have everything before we can call it. I hope you don’t mind me asking, but which category do you belong to, Your Highness?”

Prince Ling raised his eyebrow higher as he unfolded his fan with flourish and covered half his face as he chuckled, “Mr. Wen thinks very deeply, I see.”

He had asked three questions about the serial murders, three fairly direct questions. Wen Yuansi seemed to have given him answers quickly, but he hadn’t really given any information away at all.

Wen Yuansi’s expression did not flinch. He smiled and responded quietly, “Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness.”

“But…” Prince Ling fanned himself as his eyes glinted, “I really admire careful people. Especially if you’re both careful and clever.”

He stared straight at Wen Yuansi. “Do you think you have a future by sticking to Zhao Zhi?”

“What do you mean by that, Your Highness?” Wen Yuansi looked shocked and his gaze was solemn. “I am just doing my job as an official who is loyal to the emperor and loves my country. I would not dare to form any faction or side with any party for political gain.”

Prince Ling’s smile broadened.

Was Wen Yuansi pulling in the emperor and the country to shut him up, or was Wen Yuansi trying to look like a noble person?

Prince Ling was always someone who loved a challenge. Wen Yuansi had piqued his interest, so he refused to let the man go. He asked directly, “What do you think of the crown prince?”

Wen Yuansi’s expression was even more solemn now. “I would not dare to make any comments on the crown prince.”

Prince Ling knew that he would definitely respond that way. So he used his fan to point at himself and said, “Then what do you think about me? I give you permission to comment.”

“Your Highness is from His Majesty’s line, so you are brought up to be a leader, to have elegance, and to enjoy high status.”

More useless words.

Prince Ling figured he wouldn’t be able to get much out of Wen Yuansi since this was their first meeting, so he nodded and smiled as he said, “I heard that Old Madam Li and the empress had a little run in some years ago and are not on the best terms… I’m willing to mediate and resolve this conflict. What do you think, Mr. Wen?”

Wen Yuansi got angry.

His parents had passed away when he was a child and his grandmother went through a lot to bring him up. He didn’t care if someone tried to attack him, but if they tried to come for his grandmother…

But Wen Yuansi had a naturally mild temper and his grandmother had taught him to be a gentle, humble and elegant man at all times, so even though he was very angry inside, nobody could tell from the outside.

Prince Ling did not push him for a response and went on, “Don’t misunderstand, Mr. Wen. I just think that you have potential and so I wanted to give you a boost, that’s all.”

“This serial murder case has rocked all of Bianliang and I’m very interested in it too. If there’s any advancement in the investigation, I hope you’ll share the details with me.”

He then blinked a few times and said flippantly, “I’m not trying to interfere with the case. I just want a little information. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”

“And about what I said earlier, there’s no need to answer me right now. Go back and take your time to consider it, then let me know once you’ve come to a decision.”

Prince Ling didn’t seem to care about Wen Yuansi’s answer. Once he had said his piece, he walked away.

Wen Yuansi watched as Prince Ling walked away.

His eyes slowly narrowed. Why would a prince be interested in this murder case?