Volume 1, Chapter 18: My Lord, It Is Not That This Servant Has Not Tried

The Treasure Pavilion closed early today, yet a crowd remained gathered before its doors. They pointed and gestured at the two figures kneeling in the center, who were busy slapping their own faces, their voices a constant hum of speculation.

A man in a brown tunic nudged his companion and whispered, "Do you know who that is?"

His companion looked them up and down. "With their faces swollen like that, how could I know? I don't know who they offended to end up like this—even the woman beside him has been beaten into a pig's head."

The man in brown leaned in conspiratorially. "That is the heir to the Marquis of Pingyang's estate."

"What?" his companion exclaimed, horrified. "Who would dare touch that scion?"

The man in brown grew even more cautious, glancing left and right to ensure no one was watching before whispering, "I heard it was that man from the Eastern Depot—an act of rage for the sake of a beauty."

Before he could elaborate, a flurry of shoving and cursing broke out behind them.

"Get out of the way! Everyone, move!"

"Who dares to gawk at the misfortune of the Marquis of Pingyang's house?"

Two guards in azure robes, unable to squeeze through the dense crowd, drew their swords with a sharp 'clang' and brandished them at the onlookers.

Before long, the crowd scattered like birds and beasts. A carriage approached from afar, and a middle-aged beauty, adorned with pearls and jade, hurriedly alighted and rushed over.

Lady Lin pulled the heir to the Marquis into her arms. She took one look at his face, and tears welled up in her eyes. Calling him her "darling" and "precious heart," she reached for the handkerchief in her sleeve to wipe the blood from his face, but Zou Yuheng let out a pained cry as he lay weakly in her embrace.

Lady Lin froze in terror. Wiping away her tears, she ordered the guards to carefully lift her son into the carriage. Before boarding, Zou Yuheng gestured toward Xue Shuyao, who remained where she was. Lady Lin, though reluctant, had her men lift the woman into the carriage behind them.

Once inside the carriage, away from prying eyes, Lady Lin looked at her frail son and finally burst out, "How could Tantai Jianan be so arrogant as to beat my son like this?"

"Mother, I did this to myself. Lord Tantai didn't lay a hand on me," Zou Yuheng managed to say. He knew what he had done; if Tantai Jianan was willing to let it go, it was over. If this reached his father, the Marquis, he would likely face the 'righteous destruction of kin.'

"Woe is me!" Lady Lin sobbed. Her son had been raised in the lap of luxury; he had never suffered such indignity. If it weren't for that Tantai Jianan using his power to bully them, her son would never have been reduced to this state.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. "Just you wait. When your father returns to the capital to report his duties, I will certainly lodge a formal complaint and have him submit a memorial to impeach that eunuch."

Zou Yuheng felt his heart sink, but he could only cling to his mother’s sleeve and play the victim. "Mother, please, don't tell Father. You know how he is—whenever I cause trouble, he beats me first before even listening to the details."

"My son is in such a state now; he cannot survive another beating."

Lady Lin looked at him, puzzled. "How did you provoke that madman?"

Zou Yuheng’s eyes darted away. Just then, the carriage jolted, and he let out an involuntary cry of pain. Lady Lin hurriedly steadied her son and shouted at the driver, "How are you driving?! Do you not want your job anymore?"

The driver apologized profusely. Fearing his mother would return to her original question, Zou Yuheng groaned and called for his mother, keeping her too occupied with scolding the driver and worrying about the carriage's speed to press him further.

Upon arriving at the estate, Wu, the elderly nursemaid to the Matriarch, stood waiting with several burly maids. After paying their respects to Lady Lin and the heir, she said, "The Matriarch requests the presence of the heir and Concubine Xue in the ancestral hall."

At the mention of the ancestral hall, Zou Yuheng’s pain seemed to intensify tenfold. He looked at Lady Lin, pleading, "Mother..."

Lady Lin looked at Nurse Wu, but before she could speak, she was interrupted.

"The Matriarch said if the heir refuses to come, she will have him dragged there."

Realizing there was no escaping a beating, Zou Yuheng gave up and allowed the guards to help him toward the hall.

Not far behind, Xue Shuyao followed with her head hung low, stumbling as the two maids hauled her along. Her swollen face had lost all its former charm, and her peach-blossom eyes were reduced to mere slits.

She couldn't understand why Liu Wuyi was so lucky. Even as a lowly official prostitute, Liu Wuyi had earned the favor of the training matrons and was being kept in the back quarters, still learning arts and refined skills as she had in her boudoir.

Meanwhile, she was forced to serve the renowned courtesans in the front halls, her progress dependent entirely on whether she could win their favor.

And if the courtesans were displeased? They would simply make her wait in a patron's room while they delayed their arrival, leaving her to be punished by the impatient client—all without the matrons suspecting the women of bullying a newcomer.

Liu Wuyi not only failed to understand why she struck back at those who bullied her, but she also repeatedly urged her to be 'kind.' It was laughable—how could she preach kindness when she hadn't suffered what she had?

If kindness were useful, why had the Xue family been implicated in the first place?

The two maids released their grip and tossed Xue Shuyao onto the floor outside the ancestral hall. As she looked up, she saw the Matriarch, Lady Zou, sitting squarely in a grand armchair.

Seventy-two years old, the Matriarch was a woman who had followed her husband to the frontier in her youth. She was a shrewd and capable woman who had raised three sons; the first two had died on the battlefield. The current Marquis was her youngest, and though her hair had turned white, her eyes remained sharp and piercing.

"Grandmother," Zou Yuheng called out obediently.

"Kneel! Repent properly before the ancestors of the Zou family!" The Matriarch slammed her hand onto the table with such force that the Buddhist prayer beads on her wrist snapped.

Zou Yuheng dared not argue and knelt as ordered.

Watching the beads scatter across the floor, the Matriarch paused. "It seems I am not meant for fasting and prayer after all." A fleeting moment of stillness passed before her gaze hardened once more upon Zou Yuheng.

"Do you know your error?"

"Grandmother, I know I was wrong."

The Matriarch nodded. "Since you know, you shall stay in this hall from today, picking up these prayer beads in contemplation until your father returns to the capital to deal with you."

Zou Yuheng’s expression soured. He was about to protest when he caught Lady Lin’s warning glance, signaling him not to court disaster.

"Yes, Grandmother," he replied, stifling his resentment.

The Matriarch did not miss the silent exchange, but she was indifferent. Whether Zou Yuheng was truly convinced or not, he would be eventually.

"Lady Lin, have someone sell off all the messy women in the heir's courtyard."

Lady Lin bowed. "As you command, Mother."

Zou Yuheng remained motionless; such scenes were played out every time his father returned home.

"As for the woman at the door," the Matriarch continued, "drag her to the courtyard and have her beaten to death. See that everyone in the heir's service is brought to watch."

The murderous command stunned everyone present. Only Nurse Wu responded calmly. She walked outside, ordered the guards to bring a bench, and had the maids drag Xue Shuyao onto it with a practiced ease, as if they had done this a thousand times before.

The executioner stood ready, while the maids and servants began to gather, one after another.