Xing Muzheng had always been sharp. Qian Jiaoniang had never asked about Zhao Yaoqian, had even avoided her, yet today she was suddenly so interested—down to knowing her relatives. Clearly, she had investigated.
Hearing his question, Qian Jiaoniang became certain Qin Shaoyuan had sought her out without telling him. She laughed lightly and didn’t plan to give Qin Shaoyuan away. “With nothing better to do, I asked Ah Da to check. … Did you really have Chunwu look carefully?”
Xing Muzheng gazed deeply at her. “Chunwu watched from the rooftop while Zhao Yaoqian was bathing. She said there was no tattoo on her body.”
Qian Jiaoniang was disappointed. Thinking more carefully, it made sense—if Zhao Yaoqian bore a tattoo, even if on her back she didn’t know of it, her maids and nursemaids should have known.
After breakfast, Hongjuan came in to report: “My lord, my lady, the young master and the honored guest have returned.”
Xing Muzheng said, “From now on, call him Young Master Li.” Then he turned to Qian Jiaoniang. “I’ll go meet him.”
Qian Jiaoniang nodded, reminding him to change into another pair of boots first. Xing Muzheng went back to the inner room as told, and Qian Jiaoniang, thinking it was still rather cold, fetched him a heavy cloak. Xing Muzheng wasn’t afraid of the chill, but didn’t refuse her care. He let her tie the fastenings for him. “You needn’t trouble yourself over Zhao Yaoqian. She has nothing to do with us.”
Qian Jiaoniang paused, then lifted her head and smiled at him.
After Xing Muzheng left, Qian Jiaoniang too didn’t stay idle. She went out toward Zhao Yaoqian’s courtyard, and happened to meet Ah Da delivering fresh cow’s milk at the gate. Ah Da had indeed been most attentive to Zhao Yaoqian in recent days, acting as if he would marry none but her. Qian Jiaoniang, seeing this, could only feel helpless. She pulled him aside to ask, “Has Miss Zhao’s attitude toward you changed at all?”
Ah Da answered in defeat: “Never have I met such a stone-hearted girl. No matter how I try to warm her, she stays cold.”
Qian Jiaoniang said, “And you still have the face to blame her? You men never had good intentions to begin with.”
Ah Da’s skin was thick. “What are you saying, my lady? Men marry when they come of age, women too—how are my intentions bad?”
Qian Jiaoniang didn’t want to argue. “Enough, don’t force this anymore. If Miss Zhao wanted to marry, she’d have long ago. I’ll think of something, but you stop making a mess.”
Ah Da hesitated. “My lady, you don’t mean to bring Miss Zhao into the Marquis’ household, do you?”
Qian Jiaoniang gave a cold laugh. “I’m not that spineless.”
Hearing this, Ah Da let out a breath of relief, as if a burden had fallen off his shoulders. “If my lady takes it in hand, it’ll surely be settled! I’ve no ideas left. I’ll go confess to the lord now.”
He put down the milk and was about to leave, but Qian Jiaoniang stopped him. “You’re not young anymore—why haven’t you taken a wife? Still pining for Yuluo?” But when Yuluo left, she hadn’t seen him grieve much.
Ah Da rubbed his bald head, a flash of sadness darting through his eyes before vanishing. He grinned. “Ugly as I am, who’d want me!”
It was said offhand. Qian Jiaoniang knew well—Ah Da, Wang Yong, and the others were admired by many pretty maids. “At the prime minister’s gate, even seventh-rank officials line up.” Though Ah Da had no formal office, serving at Xing Muzheng’s side put his standing equal to a prefect.
Shanzha, knowing her mistress cared, whispered to her: “My lady, I heard from my husband that Ah Da once fell for a courtesan during the wars. She died for him. Ever since, he’s never truly been with another. As for Yuluo, he was only teasing her.”
Qian Jiaoniang mused. “So that’s how it is. He’s a man of deep feeling.”
Since he bore an old wound in his heart, Qian Jiaoniang didn’t press further. She took the milk and entered Zhao Yaoqian’s courtyard.
Zhao Yaoqian, ever since being abducted, had been bedridden off and on. For this, Qian Jiaoniang felt some guilt. Though it hadn’t been her who sent the men, debts of the husband fall upon the wife, so she often came to visit, even bringing costly ginseng, bird’s nest, and the like.
Yesterday was Xing Muzheng’s birthday. Naturally, Qian Jiaoniang also invited Zhao Yaoqian, who was living in the manor, but Zhao Yaoqian’s wet nurse came to decline, saying Zhao Yaoqian had fallen ill again. Qian Jiaoniang did not press, only had some fine dishes sent over.
Today, before coming, she asked Doctor Bai about Zhao Yaoqian’s condition. Yet Doctor Bai, after some hemming and hawing, told her the truth: Zhao Yaoqian had not been ill yesterday at all, but because of her awkward position, she was unwilling to go out and thus pretended to be sick.
Qian Jiaoniang did not fail to understand Zhao Yaoqian’s feelings, only she felt that if this matter was not resolved, it would become the last straw to crush her.
She spoke openly with Zhao Yaoqian, stating outright that Xing Muzheng would not take her as a concubine. Zhao Yaoqian seemed to have given up hope as well, but still refused to marry anyone else, insisting on going up the mountain to become a nun.
Qian Jiaoniang said directly: “Miss Zhao, as the saying goes, to hold a jade is to invite guilt. Now that you bear such a great secret, even under the protection of the Marquis’s manor you were abducted. If you were to go alone to a temple, would that not be letting others butcher you at will?”
At these words, Zhao Yaoqian’s face turned ashen. Her wet nurse, who loved her most dearly, immediately wept, saying her poor young mistress could not even fulfill the wish of becoming a nun.
Zhao Yaoqian’s dark eyes also brimmed with tears. How could she not know that marrying her savior Ah Da was the way out? Yet she was born with a stubborn sickness—once she set her mind, she would never turn back. Her father must have known her temperament too, and only because he wished for her to marry the man she loved, had he given that treasure map as her dowry. But if in the underworld he knew that she had not even become a concubine, and had instead fallen into such deadly straits, how grieved he would be!
Qian Jiaoniang said: “Now only when the treasure map is revealed can Miss Zhao be freed from this perilous situation.”
Zhao Yaoqian wept, “Madam, I have already told you, I truly do not know where that other half of the map is!”
“I believe you, Miss Zhao,” said Qian Jiaoniang. “But more hands make work light. If you trust me, could you perhaps speak of some old matters? Perhaps we might find some clue.”
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