The Battle of the Noble Ladies (Book 2)

Chapter 48 - Severed Ties

Unable to suppress his rage, he forgot to turn back and ask how Old Lady Xiang had received the news. Pushing Concubine Bai aside, he stormed off toward Song Linlang's courtyard.

In his anger, he applied considerable force, frightening a nearby maid so much that she rushed to steady the retreating Concubine Bai, muttering her complaints, "Concubine Bai, you're too kind-hearted, coming all this way to plead on the mistress's behalf. She won't appreciate it at all. Look at Young Master Lian—he's been sick for so long, and she hasn't even visited once. If you ask me, Master should give her a good beating; that'd set her straight. Back in our village, that's how all the big men handled their unruly wives."

Concubine Bai couldn't help but smile and tapped the maid's forehead lightly. "What do you know?"

Handling a refined scholar like Xiang Yunzhang required more than aggression. Being gentle, understanding, and pitiful was the true way to win him over. See, no matter how noble Song Linlang's status was, she still crumbled in the face of Concubine Bai's soft and tender approach.

Supporting her waist, Concubine Bai cheerfully descended the steps, returned to her room in high spirits, and immediately penned a letter. She handed it to the young maid to deliver to the gatekeeper. "Make sure this letter reaches the Lady back home. Trouble is brewing, and without an elder, who can keep things in order?"

Without Old Lady Xiang to stir up trouble, how could the waters become muddied? Without her, Old Lady Song wouldn't be able to make a scene, and Xiang Yunzhang and Song Linlang wouldn't have the opportunity to sever ties completely.

The young maid couldn't help but sigh at Concubine Bai's kind-heartedness as she reluctantly took the letter and ran off.

Xiang Lian, hearing the commotion, came out with a pale face. He leaned back impatiently on the couch, stretching and feeling sore all over. "Lying around like this—I'm practically crippled. How much longer do I have to keep pretending to be sick?"

Concubine Bai smiled genuinely, lovingly bringing over a bowl of ginseng soup to feed him, coaxing him with gentle words. "Of course, you'll keep 'resting' until that woman finally leaves. Don't worry; it won't be much longer."

Xiang Lian looked at his birth mother. She wore a radiant smile, her eyes sparkling with a captivating charm, as beautiful as a fairy stepping out of a painting, softening anyone who looked at her.

With her extraordinary looks and the elegance cultivated from years of training in the arts, she could easily change her demeanor from humble to gentle. No wonder she could push the legitimate daughter of the Changning Marquis Residence to a dead end.

At only ten years old, Xiang Lian had absorbed everything he'd seen growing up, naturally inheriting Concubine Bai's talents. Now, without causing a fuss, he obediently drank the ginseng soup and asked her, "Old Lady Song sounds like a formidable person. Aren't you afraid?"

Afraid? Why would she be afraid?

Winning a man's heart was a skill, and if Song Linlang couldn't keep her husband's heart, that was on her. Outwardly, Concubine Bai was as virtuous as anyone could be, never openly clashing with the mistress and even earnestly advising Xiang Yunzhang to be considerate of his wife. It wasn't her fault he didn't listen.

And who could even expose the matter of the shaman? Qingzhou had long been a stronghold for shamans, who were almost like revered deities. Who would believe anything against them? Even if Old Lady Song were powerful, would she dare to challenge the shamans? The people of Qingzhou would tear her apart!

Concubine Bai casually crossed her legs, picked up a candied fruit with delicate fingers, and popped it into her mouth. "If I were afraid, I wouldn't have worked so hard to climb into your father's bed back then. Since I could get here, I'm not worried about my place now. Don't fret."

Xiang Lian swallowed hard, turning his head, yet curiosity got the better of him. "What were you just up to?"

Concubine Bai's smile grew even brighter, and she coyly waggled a finger. "Why, stirring the pot, of course. Before that demoness Old Lady Song arrives, if that little disaster Xiang Mingzi meets her misfortune and Song Linlang is half-dead with anger, then the real drama can begin. When Old Lady Song is forced to leave with her tattered daughter, won't the entire household fall under our control?"

Concubine Bai had read Xiang Yunzhang's heart like an open book. Standing before the courtyard gate, he felt nothing but bitterness and resentment, watching as the gate was slowly battered open.

Inside, two of Song Linlang's servants, Nanny Zheng and Nanny Wang, had called in the sturdier maids and servants to block the door. They stood like two immovable statues at the entrance, glaring coldly at those outside.

Huddled inside, Song Linlang felt a wave of pain radiating from her heart to every part of her body. In her distress, she suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

This was the man she had once loved with all her heart, the man she had once knelt before her parents and brothers to beg for—yet he'd taken concubine after concubine, bore a son, and still wasn't satisfied. Now, he was forcing her daughter to die for his son.

At this point, love and hatred had lost their meaning. Her heart was now empty, devoid of anything but numbness.

She could hear Xiang Yunzhang cursing and shouting outside, but she had no energy left to respond, managing only a cold smile.

He scolded her for not respecting his mother, for failing to bear children, for giving birth to a jinx who would harm his son and mother, as if he were talking about a stranger.

He had forgotten how Old Lady Xiang had bit by bit mistreated and neglected her and her daughter, how she had slowly depleted her dowry. He had also forgotten where he had gotten the money to send bribes for his bureaucratic career or the funds to return to his hometown in style.

People often forget the good others do for them, remembering only the bad. She had only herself to blame for being blind and choosing the wrong person.

Yunhe, sitting beside her, shivered but tried to keep calm, gently reassuring Song Linlang, "No matter how big the trouble is, once Old Lady arrives, everything will be resolved. Please, don't let this upset you further..."

Song Linlang knew Yunhe's straightforward nature and patted her hand to comfort her. "Don't worry. If I still don't understand things by now, I wouldn't be a true member of the Song family. It's just that I hate to see you and Yunshang constantly on edge, running around for my sake, even though you're both married."

Yunhe brought over a bowl of soup, feeding it to Song Linlang one spoonful at a time. She casually tossed the blood-stained handkerchief out the window and, in a steady but loud voice, replied, "Misstress, you shouldn't say that. You were always kind to us, and we have a conscience. Unlike those heartless and rotten people who only bear grudges and ignore kindness, forcing their lawful wife to cough up blood for the sake of a concubine's son. Who knows, once word of this gets out, perhaps the imperial censors will refuse to ignore it!"

Her words hit Xiang Yunzhang like raindrops, making him feel strangely unsettled and guilty.