Four Seasons Brocade – CH 034

Chapter 34 ☆、Intelligent Ah Wu’s Strategic Respite

A maid brought a kneeling cushion, and Third Master Rong lifted his robe and knelt, his back ramrod straight.

“What are you standing there for? Kneel!” The Old Madam, displeased, shouted at Lady Cui and her group by the door. The three, including Lady Cui, knelt in turn. The Old Madam pulled Rong Jue over and pushed him in front of Third Master Rong and Lady Cui. “Look,” she said, “it was our third son, Yin’er, who did this! He’s his own cousin! How could he do this? So young and already so vicious! What will become of us?”

The second branch’s wife, seeing an opportunity, also began to wail, “My dear Jue’er! What will we do? If anything happens to you, what will I do? Ah—ah—ah—” Her cries were drawn out like a long, drawn-out opera aria, as if a theatrical performance were taking place on a stage, Ah Wu thought to herself.

The second branch’s wife sobbed incessantly, and Ah Wu was afraid she would not be able to breathe.

Meanwhile, Lady Cui, having already been prepared by Ah Wu, feigned concern and said, “Yin’er, how could you hit your sixth brother?” Lady Cui pretended to strike Yin’er.

“I did not,” Rong Yin said, shrugging his shoulders and stamping his foot to the side. “Today, Master Lu had us practice our martial arts. I happened to be paired with Sixth Brother. Since it was sparring, how could I not have any injuries? I have some too. If Madam does not believe me, I will take my clothes off and show you.”

Ah Wu nodded inwardly. To be honest, Lady Cui really lacked acting skills. Her cry of “How could you hit your sixth brother?” lacked any surprise or emotion, and the hitting motion was too gentle. Rong Yin, on the other hand, was talented. Despite his strong physique, his acting was quite realistic.

Before Lady Cui could object, Rong Yin tore open his shirt, revealing bruises on his chest. Some were from Rong Jue’s blows, and some were drawn on him by Ah Wu. It looked truly gruesome and frightening.

To avoid being exposed, Rong Yin immediately covered his clothes when the First Madam, the Second Madam, and the surrounding maids and servants exclaimed in surprise, indicating that he also knew shame but was forced into it and had no choice but to undress to prove his “innocence.”

“Heavens! How did you get hurt like this? My son! Your sixth brother is so much older than you; how could he not show mercy? Ugh—ugh—ugh—” This time, Lady Cui was truly moved; initially, she had not known Rong Yin’s injuries were so “severe.”

Ah Wu felt that drawing “injuries” on Rong Yin was actually the right thing to do; at least it got Lady Cui into character.

Now things were really messed up. With the Second Madam’s “Ah, ah, ah” and Lady Cui’s “Ugh, ugh, ugh,” the Old Madam’s head started to throb. She roared, “Shut up, all of you!”

This roar silenced the Second Madam, but it did not stop Lady Cui, who was now truly emotional.

Lady Cui then began kowtowing repeatedly, pleading, “Mother, please do justice for Yin’er! Our Yin’er is only ten years old this year; how can he withstand being beaten like this by Jue’er? If he gets hurt, how will I live?!—!” Lady Cui was quite clever; when fighting, she referred to Yin’er’s actual age, not his nominal age of eleven, to make him seem younger.

“What?! Do justice for you? Do you not see how badly my Jue’er is injured!” The Second Madam protested, standing up to scratch Lady Cui.

Third Master Rong quickly stopped her, taking a scratch to the face, drawing blood. “Sister-in-law, just say what you want. How can you hit someone? Sister-in-law is a lady of high birth; how can you act like this? The current Empress is the mother of the nation; her virtue and conduct are exemplary. Her Majesty the Empress once wrote a book for women; the first thing she taught was that women should be chaste and quiet…” Third Master Rong began to ramble on about the book, making the Old Madam dizzy, especially since he was talking about the Empress. He gagged both the Old Madam and the second branch’s wife.

“Why did you hit my mother? Why did you hit my father?” Rong Yin stood up, his eyes red.

“I will beat you to death, you little beast! It’s all your fault! You’ve beaten my Jue’er like this! I will beat you to death!” The second branch’s wife, enraged by Third Master Rong’s outburst, seized the opportunity to retaliate.

Rong Yin, having been warned by Ah Wu, knew his chance had come. He immediately turned and pushed aside the maids blocking his way, running away while shouting, “Someone’s being beaten to death! Someone’s being beaten to death! Second Aunt is going to beat me to death! I am going to find the Old Master! I am going to find the Old Master!”

Rong Yin was somewhat skilled in martial arts, and the inner courtyard was full of maids and servants. No one could stop him; with a push, three or five maids and servants who tried to stop him fell into a heap. In the end, Rong Yin still managed to escape.

The Old Madam kept stamping her cane and shouting, “Catch him! Catch him!”

But it was all in vain. Seeing no sign of Rong Yin, the Old Madam could only turn her anger towards Lady Cui. “It’s all your fault! You raised such a fine son! A woman like you, who does not educate her son or daughter, would have been better off divorced!”

Lady Cui prostrated herself on the ground, weeping bitterly, her voice hoarse, “My Rong Yin has also been beaten, beaten so badly! Third Master, you must do justice for us, mother and son! Otherwise… otherwise… I will take Rong Yin and jump into the river…”

This drama was now unfolding as a wicked stepmother driving her illegitimate son’s wife and grandson to their deaths.

The Old Madam was so enraged by Lady Cui’s tantrum that she nearly fainted. As the saying goes, “For every clever plan, there’s a countermeasure,” and Ah Wu realized that dealing with someone like the Old Madam meant you’d lose face completely; you had to be even more shameless, more unruly, and more brazen than her.

Although Lady Cui disdained this approach, she had been exposed to it since childhood and learned it very quickly.

At this moment, Ah Wu could only play the innocent victim, crying, “Madam, do not cry. Madam, do not cry… You still have Ah Wu! What will Ah Wu do? What will Ah Wu do…” Ah Wu cried as she spoke, trying to wipe away Lady Cui’s tears with one hand and her own with the other. Her large, red eyes were brimming with tears, and she could not stop them from flowing. Heaven help her; she was crying so pitifully, so tragically. To an outsider, it would seem as if some terrible calamity had befallen her family.

This was the scene the old man saw as soon as he entered the room. He would not have cared if he had not seen Ah Wu, but upon seeing her, he felt a deep pang of pity for the child. Her pale face was marked with sickly red welts from rubbing, and her weeping was truly pitiful, enough to bring tears to one’s eyes and break one’s heart.

Ah Wu thought to herself, who could rival her in feigning pitifulness and weakness? In her past life, she had been sickly and frail her entire life; the image of Xi Shi clutching her heart and Daiyu suffering from tuberculosis was nothing to her.

“What happened?” the old man asked gruffly.

Before anyone could speak, Ah Wu immediately crawled to the old man’s side and blurted out, “Seventh Brother and Sixth Brother were sparring, and both were injured. Second Aunt is yelling that she wants to kill Seventh Brother.” She could not mention that Lady Cui wanted to jump into the river with Rong Yin, lest the old man think Lady Cui was threatening him.

The old man listened but did not speak, instead glaring at Third Master Rong and saying, “What are you kneeling here for? Is there nothing wrong at the yamen?”

Third Master Rong quickly replied, “My mother sent someone to the Hanlin Academy to summon me, saying there was an urgent matter at home, so I returned. My mother did not say anything, just told me to kneel.” Third Master Rong was also quite aggrieved.

“Nonsense! Nonsense! For such a trivial matter, you summon a high-ranking official on duty to your home?! If the Emperor asks, what will people say? That my two grandsons were sparring, and you have to kneel?” the old man roared at the old woman.

The old woman stomped her dragon-headed cane, making a loud “thud,” but dared not speak. No matter how powerful her backing or how fiery her temper, she would not dare to confront her angry husband.

The old man glanced at Rong Yin and Rong Jue. A former soldier with considerable martial arts skills, he could easily tell who was more seriously injured. Rong Jue, two years older than Rong Yin, had been beaten like a coward by his younger brother, which displeased the Old Master. “How can sparring not result in injuries? To learn martial arts well, you cannot avoid bumps and bruises. This time, Yin’er won fair and square. Jue’er, being less skilled, complained to the women in the inner courtyard about a minor injury. Are you not ashamed?”

Ah Wu had not expected the old man to be so reasonable.

“But Yin’er is also wrong. Why have I not seen anyone get such serious injuries in your previous sparring sessions? Tell me, did you do it on purpose?” the old man asked gruffly.

“Hmph, what could he do? He’s disliked our Jue’er for a long time. He’s just stirring up trouble.” The second branch’s wife disagreed with the old man’s words; a mother’s heart ached for her son’s injury. Rong Yin lowered his head guiltily.

“Go and apologize to your sixth brother. You’ve blown such a small matter into this, almost causing a death! You are all quite capable,” the old master glared at everyone.

The Old Madam remained silent. This time was different from last time. Rong Yin and Rong Jue were having a proper sparring match, and he was her grandson. The old master always kept a close eye on his grandsons and had once praised Rong Yin in casual conversation, saying that he was the one in the family who could inherit his mantle. Therefore, he certainly would not stand idly by like he had with Ah Wu last time.

But it was precisely because of this that the Old Madam and the second branch’s wife had this opportunity to teach Rong Yin a lesson, to let him know who the real son of the Duke’s Mansion was.

But with the Old Master’s arrival, their chances were over.

Rong Yin walked up to Rong Jue, bowed deeply, and said, “Please forgive me, Sixth Brother. I was really angry because I heard that Fourth Sister slapped Ah Wu, and I accidentally hurt you. Please forgive me.” Rong Yin continued, “Ah Wu is just a child. How could Fourth Sister bear to slap her? Even my parents never laid a hand on her.”

Ah Wu looked at Rong Yin, tears welling up in her eyes. Actually, Rong Yin could have simply apologized and been done with it, but he deliberately brought it up to warn Second Madam: if she allowed Fourth Young Lady Rong to hit Ah Wu again, he would take revenge on her son.

“Look, look! I knew it! This little beast did it on purpose!” Second Madam pointed at Rong Yin and scolded him.

“Who are you calling a little beast?” Old Master Rong was furious. If Rong Yin was a little beast, then what was he, the grandfather?

The second branch’s wife realized her mistake and quickly shut up, only continuing to cry.

The Old Master, annoyed beyond measure, said, “Your personal grudges were settled during a friendly sparring session. You will be doing half an hour of horse stance every day for a month, not a single day off.” He cut to the chase, having no time for the women of the inner quarters, and said to Third Master Rong, “What are you still standing there for? Take your wife back home.”

The Old Master then turned to the second branch’s wife and said, “You need to keep an eye on Yue’er from now on. How can an older sister slap her younger sister like that?!”

These words made the second branch’s wife feel a lump in her throat, almost causing her to faint.

The farce ended there, and the Old Madam was temporarily powerless against the third branch of the family.