Chapter 58 One Plays the Bad Cop, the Other Plays the Good Cop

Yunjiao turned her head to look at the tree in the courtyard. The servants had long been startled by the commotion in the main hall, but none dared to show their faces, choosing instead to hide beneath the tree and watch the spectacle in secret.

She pulled Ji Yaru along and walked over.

The servants were startled at first—not out of fear for Yunjiao, but because if Madam Ding were to catch them loitering here while already in a rage, they would surely suffer.

Hearing that Yunjiao was merely asking for the Second Aunt's quarters, they breathed sighs of relief and hastily pointed the way.

Qian Fangru and her sisters were in a room discussing the arrangements for the seventh-day memorial service and had not yet retired for the night.

Hearing what the two nieces had to report, the sisters hurriedly got to their feet and strode directly toward the front hall.

Yunjiao and Ji Yaru followed closely behind, but fearing the wrath of the adults, they hid by the doorway to peer inside.

As soon as the third aunt, Qian Fangji, laid eyes on the scene in the hall, a blaze of fury ignited within her. She pointed straight at Madam Ding and cursed bitterly, "Ding the Chicken-catcher! My mother's spirit has not even left this house yet! What kind of insolent madness are you pulling? She must have been blind to take a creature like you as a daughter-in-law, making a mockery of mourning even in death!"

Deep down, Madam Ding harbored some fear of this third sister-in-law. Yet with so many people gathered in the hall and her own sister standing right behind her, backing down now would mean losing all face. How could she ever hold her head high again?

Thus, despite her inner cowardice, she put on a fierce front and retorted shrilly, "Am I the one looking for trouble? Why don't you ask your precious brother-in-law what kind of filthy deal he struck! Do they think I am so easily bullied that every stray chicken comes to peck and every duck comes to trample over me?

Let me tell you sisters, don't think the elders are all resting in their graves. If you want to climb to the heavens, you had better bring a ladder! Push me too far, and none of you will ever have this maiden home to return to again!"

"Ding the Chicken-catcher!" Qian Fangji crossed the room in a few strides and stood right before her. "My mother rests right here today, so I will not bicker with you. If you dare to throw another tantrum, I'll see to it that your sister never sets foot back in the imperial capital!"

At these words, Madam Zhou instantly choked off her wails and curses. Though Qian Fangji's husband held no high government office, she ran a thriving business in the capital and possessed endless wealth. Dealing with a countrywoman like Zhou was child's play for her, and the threat struck terror into Zhou's heart.

With Madam Zhou finally falling silent, Yunjiao felt her ears instantly blessed with peace.

Madam Ding, however, turned red from anger, her neck swelling as she stomped her feet and roared, "What if my sister goes home? What if she does? I refuse to believe you have the guts to murder her—"

The second aunt, Qian Fang意 (Fangyi), stepped forward and grabbed her arm, coaxing her in a soothing tone, "My good sister-in-law, calm your temper. Tell me whatever the grievance is, and I shall judge the matter fairly for you."

Madam Ding seized the chance to step down the stairs. Clutching Qian Fangyi, she launched into a tearful, snot-filled lamentation, as though she alone bore all the injustices of the entire world.

Working in tandem, one playing the villain and the other the peacemaker, the two sisters finally managed to dismiss Madam Ding and her sister-in-law.

Yunjiao and Ji Yaru slipped away before the women emerged.

"Sister, I am exhausted and wish to return to sleep. There will be plenty of work tomorrow. Will you go sleep with the fourth aunt?" Yunjiao asked, covering her mouth with a hand to stifle a yawn.

"Don't leave me, I'll sleep with you," Ji Yaru said, catching Yunjiao by the sleeve. "I'm afraid my mother will scold me again if I go to her."

"But aren't you afraid?" Yunjiao paused her steps.

Ji Yaru wrinkled her face in distress. "I am afraid, but I am even more terrified of my mother's scoldings. You know what she is like..."

Naturally, Yunjiao knew all too well.

Years ago, on Qian Shihai's birthday, Ji Yaru had accompanied her mother to this very estate. Ji Yaru was six that year, and Yunjiao four.

The cousins had spent half the day playing together in the courtyard.

Finding it rather dull, Yunjiao had whispered to her in secret that the river outside held a particular kind of tiny fish, extraordinarily small yet possessing enormous eyes. Yunjiao had dubbed them "big-eyed fish," having once seen other neighborhood children catch them.

Yet her grandmother strictly forbade her from ever going near the river, and with Mama Li constantly watching, Yunjiao had never found an opportunity.

With the household in turmoil over family matters this time, the adults had paid no heed to the flock of children.

Entreating her cousin to join her, she had filled a net pouch with a handful of grains, and the two of them had slipped out of the estate to catch big-eyed fish to keep as pets.

By the time the sun dipped below the horizon, the adults had scoured the manor, nearly out of their minds with panic.

It was only when Old Madam Qian suddenly recalled Yunjiao's constant chatter about catching fish and wondered if they had gone to the river that a search party was dispatched.

They were caught red-handed by the water's edge.

Right there in front of everyone, Qian Fangxiang said not a word. She snapped off a slender bamboo reed, yanked Ji Yaru over, and began raining merciless lashes down upon her head and face.

Yunjiao had frozen in terror. Although her life under her grandmother's care brought moments of bitterness and secret slights, her grandmother had always shielded her, and no one had ever laid a hand on her in violence.

Seeing the fourth aunt beat her cousin so savagely because of her, Yunjiao had initially been too stunned to react.

None of the other aunts could pull Qian Fangxiang away. Not that they truly couldn't—Qian Fangxiang had a peculiar temper when disciplining children; the more people tried to intervene, the harder she struck, leaving the other aunts too cowed to provoke her further.

A moment later, sense returned to Yunjiao. She threw her arms around Ji Yaru, weeping, "Fourth Aunt, beat me instead! It was I who asked my sister to come along!"

Only then did Qian Fangxiang halt, breathing heavily with rage.

By then, Ji Yaru's body was covered in bright red welts. Burning with pain, she stood with her head bowed, sniffling silently, too terrified to cry aloud.

"I told you to keep your younger sister away from the river! If you ever pull a stunt like this again, see if I don't beat you to death!"

With that, Qian Fangxiang cast the bamboo switch heavily to the ground.

Ji Yaru shivered violently, utterly incapable of uttering a single word in self-defense.

Consumed by guilt, Yunjiao picked up the bamboo rod and offered it to Qian Fangxiang with trembling hands. "Fourth Aunt, it was all my fault. Please beat me too."

Instead of taking it, Qian Fangxiang shoved her away and glared at Ji Yaru. "Even if your sister asked you to come, should you have agreed?"

"No..." Ji Yaru's head dropped even lower.

"Tell me, where did you go wrong?"

Ji Yaru shrank her neck. "I shouldn't have brought my sister to the river. Even if she wanted to come, I should have stopped her. The river is far too dangerous."

With a final, scathing glare, Qian Fangxiang let the matter rest.

Because of that long-ago incident, Yunjiao had grown up speaking and acting with heightened caution, terrified of implicating anyone else.

Now that her cousin was grown up, the fourth aunt naturally wouldn't beat her anymore, but a tongue-lashing was still part of daily life.

It was only natural that her cousin felt afraid.

With this thought, Yunjiao relented. "Come with me then. If you wish to sleep in my room, let us go together."

Still uneasy, Ji Yaru instructed Muxin and Huangyi—one walking beside her, the other trailing behind—before following Yunjiao to Xixia Courtyard.

After washing up, the two girls climbed into bed. At Ji Yaru's insistence, the candle in the room was left burning.

Jianjia was likewise faint-hearted, so Yunjiao simply had the three maids make pallet beds on the floor to sleep together. There was no need for a night watchman anyway; Shen Changdong was locked away and could no longer cause mischief, and there was no need to rise during the night to tend to her grandmother.

Worn out by the exhausting day, Yunjiao drifted into a light sleep the moment her head touched the pillow.

Ji Yaru, tucked under her own blanket on the inner side of the bed, tossed and turned in restless anxiety until she finally pulled Yunjiao's quilt over herself to share it.

Though Yunjiao disliked sharing a bed, knowing the girl's genuine terror, she offered no resistance, merely murmuring a parting advice: "Sister, go to sleep now. Tomorrow we must prepare the final parting meal. With so many people and so many tasks, we must preserve our strength."