Although Xie Xuanying tried to persuade Minister Wang with beauty, Minister Wang persisted in righteousness and righteously refused his act of doing good deeds but not leaving a name.
Cheng Danruo was sent to the resting flower hall, changed a skirt, and when she came out, she knew who the culprit was.
She: “…” An arrow shot from across the lake, one cannot demand too much.
Anyway, this was not the most important thing.
What was key was that Commandery Princess Jianing had brought a mad dog that almost bit someone to death.
The Wang family reacted quickly, calling a doctor to check the pulses of the frightened young ladies, treating the two maids’ injuries, and after evacuating everyone from the waterside pavilion, ordered the guards to capture Huang’er alive.
The opera continued singing, only most of the audience was gone. The madams cared about their children and each sought out their own daughters, holding them in their arms to comfort them.
And none of the girls did not nestle in their mothers’ arms, faces pale, still in shock. “That dog was so scary.”
The boldest one said no more than: “It tore a maid’s face right off.”
Before the words finished, her mother pinched her mouth. “You talk too much.”
She stuck out her tongue and lay on her mother’s shoulder without making a sound.
First Madam was not especially close to Cheng Danruo, but with such an incident, she naturally had to show concern. However, when she hurried to the inner bedroom, she saw that she had already changed her skirt and was giving Wang Yongxu acupuncture.
Wang Yongxu said ashamed, “Today I caused you to be frightened, and I already feel terrible, yet I still made you worry about me.”
Cheng Danruo had escaped death too many times and had already grown numb, saying, “It’s nothing, hurry and don’t move. If the doctor had not said it was feasible, I would not dare to needle you either.”
Wang Yongxu obediently lay still.
First Madam called from outside. “Dan-niang?”
“Sister-in-law, I’m fine.” Cheng Danruo lifted the curtain and went out, explaining, “Xu-niang is a little unwell, and it is not convenient for the doctor to needle her, so ‘m doing it instead.”
First Madam frowned, looking at her swollen and bloodied temple. “What happened to your face?”
“I bumped it, it’s nothing.” Cheng Danruo asked, “Are the others all right?”
First Madam gazed at her for a moment, then slowly shook her head.
“That’s good then.” She bowed slightly, “You have been troubled.”
First Madam said, “You are in no state to go out again. Since things here are settled, come back with me earlier.”
Cheng Danruo had no objection. “Yes.”
Half an hour later, the acupuncture ended, and she took her leave from Wang Yongxu.
Wang Yongxu held her hand and said sincerely, “Next time I will invite you alone.”
Cheng Danruo smiled and agreed, ending today’s socializing half a day early.
The journey passed without incident.
Back at the Yan household, Mo Dian was already waiting at the gate. “The master asks the Third Young Miss to come to the study.”
First Madam was somewhat surprised, but Cheng Danruo thought for a moment, then smiled. “All right, I also wanted to speak with him. I will come after changing clothes.”
She took off the outer clothes for receiving guests, undid the tightly bound hair bun, removed all the gold hairpins and bracelets, washed her face again, and changed into old everyday clothes. Only then could she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Only then did she go to the study in the front courtyard, preparing to tell Yan Hongzhi about today’s events.
However…”The commandery princess has already returned to the palace to confess her fault.” She heard a tail end of the sentence.
Cheng Danruo stopped and looked in surprise at the person who had come.
Why was he here again?
Xie Xuanying nodded to her, pretending to focus on serious matters, opened his mouth to continue, but suddenly paused, having forgotten where he had just been speaking.
Fortunately, Yan Hongzhi had not noticed and was greatly astonished. “What happened here?”
“I fell, and it will be fine after the swelling subsides in a few days.” Cheng Danruo did not take it seriously. “I still wanted to explain the whole matter to you, but now it seems you already know.”
“I do know, but I did not know you had fallen so badly.” Yan Hongzhi looked her over with concern. “Is it serious? Have you called a doctor?”
“No need for a doctor. It is only a superficial wound and will heal on its own in a couple of days.” Cheng Danruo said.
But Yan Hongzhi ordered an old servant to bring a boiled egg. “The bruise must be rubbed open to heal well.”
“It really is nothing serious with me. Rather, the two people who were bitten probably cannot be saved.” Cheng Danruo drank a sip of hot tea, still not fully recovered from the shock. “That was a sick dog. Even just being licked by it could kill you.”
“Is it really rabies?” Yan Hongzhi asked. “I remember the books say that taking realgar wine for forty-nine days may save them.”
Cheng Danruo shook her head. “It really is rabies. Death is certain and there is no cure. The only difference is that some people develop symptoms immediately, while others may have an incubation period, but once symptoms appear, no medicine can save them.”
Yan Hongzhi drew in a soft breath. “Was it an accident, or…”
“Rabies does not appear suddenly. Huang’er must have been bitten by an animal with the disease.” Cheng Danruo analyzed objectively. “Whether it was an accident is hard to say. Dogs like to pounce on birds and rats, so it is not impossible that it was bitten.”
Xie Xuanying said, “We must prepare for the worst.”
“If it was man-made, it would be too vicious.” Yan Hongzhi frowned.
“The onset of the dog’s illness cannot be predicted.” Cheng Danruo said. “If it only injured Commandery Princess Jianing, or the maids beside her, what meaning would there be in that?”
Today’s accident was indeed very serious. Huang’er had only frightened many of the women, and the ones bitten were maids and palace attendants. Commandery Princess Jianing had already been made to return to the palace to confess her fault. If it had been a mistress instead, the matter would inevitably have been even harder to settle.
Even so, with something like this happening at the Wang family’s plum-viewing gathering, the goodwill Commandery Princess Jianing had built up today would instantly drop to zero, and maybe even be reduced to negative points.
But there was a problem here: no one could control the onset of rabies.
Perhaps it would have shown symptoms earlier, or perhaps the trouble would only occur after returning. There was no way to be sure.
However, Xie Xuanying shook his head and said softly, “That the dog could go mad when there were many people is enough.”
Cheng Danruo immediately frowned. After a long while, she asked him, “Will there be an investigation?”
Xie Xuanying shook his head. “Most likely not. This matter is difficult to verify. If Commandery Princess Jianing makes a fuss about it, she will truly offend people.”
“So it will be counted as an accident?”
“It will be said that the palace attendants caring for it were negligent, causing the commandery princess’s dog to contract the disease.”
She looked incredulous.
As expected, those who studied medicine were softhearted. Xie Xuanying thought silently, then explained, “This is the best outcome, involving the fewest people.”
Cheng Danruo was speechless.
The truth had never mattered in the palace and the court; only the result mattered.
Then, what about human lives?
Yan Hongzhi sighed. “We are going to have to swallow this loss for nothing.”
Cheng Danruo came back to herself and quickly said, “It is nothing serious with me. I just did not stand steadily and fell.”
Xie Xuanying paused in the act of raising his teacup to drink, then set it down again.
“I was just… just curious.” She said with a smile.
Yan Hongzhi looked at her and asked, “What do you think?”
Cheng Danruo said, “I cannot see clearly. It is not good to guess rashly.”
Yan Hongzhi could not help laughing. “I thought you would say Commandery Prince Feng.”
“It should not be that simple.” She said, puzzled. “Although he seems to benefit, he also becomes a suspect. Would the Prince Qi’s household not bite him?”
“Of course they would.” Yan Hongzhi smiled slightly. “So, right now no one knows the truth.”
Cheng Danruo could not help feeling regretful, and glanced at Xie Xuanying again.
He: “…”
Yan Hongzhi suddenly coughed and called for someone. “Mo Dian, help me to the bathroom.”
“Yes.” Mo Dian immediately supported the old gentleman and helped him to the side room to relieve himself.
The timing was too coincidental. Xie Xuanying’s heart skipped a beat and he suddenly became suspicious.
But before he could think deeply, Cheng Danruo suddenly spoke, “Young Master Xie.”
“What is it?” He immediately focused his attention.
She hesitated for a moment, then smiled apologetically. “Thank you for saving me, and…” The words lingered on her lips, and she did not know whether she should continue.
Xie Xuanying saw her hesitation and said in a low voice: “Just say it. There is no harm.”
“It is Miss Xu.” Cheng Danruo said with difficulty. “She said some things to me. I think she probably hoped I would pass them on to you. You…”
She looked at him inquiringly, uncertain whether she should say it.
Xie Xuanying was indeed very concerned. Hearing this, he turned his head and looked straight at her face.
Did this mean he wanted to hear it? Cheng Danruo tried to read his gaze and probed. “She said…”
“I, do, not, want, to, hear.” He said, word by word.
She immediately fell silent.
Xie Xuanying pressed his lips together and gazed at her face. She had changed out of the outer robe she wore when going out. The old everyday clothes were made of fabric that had been washed many times, the color faded for the most part, so that only a faint red could be vaguely seen, making her complexion look even paler and the wound at her temple even more frightening.
She had almost been bitten by a mad dog and had fallen so badly, yet when she saw him, she actually opened her mouth to speak of Xu Yi-niang.
“If she had not made that pointless move to close the window, I would have shot that dog dead long ago.” Heaven knew how much he had wanted to curse when, at the lake-centered pavilion, he saw Xu Yi-niang order someone to close the window. “And you still speak up for her?”
Cheng Danruo said, “…She did not know you were going to shoot an arrow.”
“You…” He was furious, and only just managed to hold it back. “The Xu family is fickle and unpredictable. She is not as good as you think.”
Before the engagement, Xie Xuanying had no impression of Xu Yi-niang at all. Now that the marriage had fallen through, he instead saw clearly. “She is using you. Can you not see it?”
Cheng Danruo said calmly, “I know.”
“Then why bring it up?” He tried his utmost to lower his voice.
“I thought you might want to hear it.”
She could not figure out what Xie Xuanying was thinking. He seemed to bear great resentment toward the Xu family, yet that day at the Water Official Festival, Xu Yi-niang was standing right there, and he did not avoid her. Instead, he glanced at her once.
It seemed there was still some affection there.
The words Xu Yi-niang had said today appeared on the surface to be an opening of her heart to Wang Yongxu, but if that were truly so, why say them in front of her, an outsider?
Xie Xuanying had saved her several times. She did not mind serving once as a mouthpiece, but… why was he so angry?
After thinking for a short while, she decided to keep it simple. “If I misunderstood, I am sorry.”
Xie Xuanying drew a deep breath and endured not speaking.
In the silence, Yan Hongzhi returned.
Xie Xuanying suddenly rose to his feet. “It is getting late. I must go home and inform my father of this matter.”
“That is as it should be.” Yan Hongzhi said with a smile. “Your filial piety, as your teacher, I have received it. I will certainly admire it well.” He looked at the red plum blossoms on the table by the window and praised: “The Wang family’s plum garden truly lives up to its reputation.”
Cheng Danruo followed his gaze and only then noticed the plum blossoms in the two white porcelain vases.
Compared with the plum blossoms in the grove, the plum blossoms in the vases lacked a bit of unrestrained pride and gained some delicate brightness, with a distinctive charm of their own.
Yan Hongzhi seemed to be in high spirits and asked casually, “Dan-niang, you returned in such a hurry today. I fear you did not enjoy yourself fully. How about I give you a branch, so you can admire it for a few more days?”
But Cheng Danruo said, “I have already admired them. It is better to put them in Mother’s room…”
No sooner had she spoken than there was a gust of wind beside her. Xie Xuanying finished his salute and turned to leave.
“Young Master Xie, the vase you wanted has been found…” The old servant came holding a slender beauty vase, but before he could finish speaking, the figure had already gone around the screen wall.
He said helplessly in report, “Master, this vase?”
“Change it for another one.” Yan Hongzhi stroked his beard and smiled. “San-lang is right. For the red plum on the left, a beauty vase is indeed more graceful.”
Cheng Danruo looked at him, then at the vase, and thought to herself that literati were truly refined. Even a flower vase had so many particularities.
Xie Xuanying sat in the carriage, almost angry enough to die.
Minister Wang had given him three plum branches. Why had two been sent to the Yan family? Could she not think a little more about it? He had left the plum garden and come straight to his teacher’s house. Was that a coincidence? Was it not because he wanted to avoid people and see how badly she had fallen?
She did not care at all, was not shy at all, and did not ask at all why he was also there. In the rare chance to say a few words, she actually brought up Xu Yi-niang. That was the girl he had nearly been betrothed to. Did she not mind in the slightest?
Xie Xuanying was both angry and miserable.
He had never known that loving someone could involve suffering so much. What was even more sorrowful was that before his anger had subsided, his heart had already softened.
After such a fright, how could she act as if nothing had happened? It was probably because she had no one to rely on, so even if she was afraid, she had no choice but to force a smile.
“It is nothing, it is not serious, I just fell…” What silly things were those to say.
If only she had already married him today.
Then he would not have to watch from afar, fearing gossip, but could appear directly by her side, ask where she was hurt, and rub her temple.
At midnight, if she woke from a nightmare, he could naturally comfort her with gentle words.
But with all the virtues of marriage, how could it be achieved?
