Chapter 205: Talk Back

Fire broke out in Nonghua Courtyard.

Second Madam stared at the thick smoke, badly frightened, clutching Nanny Li's hand and asking what was happening.

Nanny Li knew what she was thinking and squeezed her hand back. "Don't be afraid, madam. Everyone is safe. No one got hurt."

She added, "The small shrine held many sutras. Perhaps they were stacked too tightly. Or perhaps someone tampered with the sutras, and that caused the fire."

Second Madam caught the implication and paused. "Tampered with?"

"Fires don't just start for no reason," Nanny Li said.

She shot Second Madam a meaningful look.

Second Madam, never quick-witted in her life, understood Nanny Li's intent with unusual clarity.

Whatever the cause of the fire, since the small shrine contained sutras sent by others, they would insist someone had sabotaged them!

And Second Madam was famous throughout the marquis manor for having no guile.

Certain words were best spoken by her!

That night, the entire marquis manor was roused, including the servants quarters in the back. Fearing another fire, the head steward ordered the inner gates unlocked so people could move about freely—either to flee or to fight the fire.

The Dowager arrived at Nonghua Courtyard, accompanied by Huan Qingtang. Madam Song, the eldest madam, arrived shortly after.

The smoke refused to dissipate, so the crowd kept their distance, standing behind the pavilion to talk.

A single palace lantern sat in the pavilion, its light dim. There was no moon that night, and every face seemed veiled in shadow, hard to make out clearly.

"Did everyone get out?" Huan Qingtang asked with concern.

Nanny Li answered promptly: "Everyone is out. Someone is on duty every night, and tonight it was me. I saw the flames and first woke everyone staying in the courtyard, then went to fight the fire."

Huan Qingtang nodded slightly. "Very good. Lives come first."

She asked again, "What caught fire?"

"The east side room," Nanny Li said. "The two main rooms beside it also caught fire, but fortunately the inner bedchamber was spared."

Nanny Li turned to the Dowager. "Luckily the Duke and the young madam were not in residence tonight. If anything had happened to them, we would deserve death."

The Dowager expression was unreadable.

Second Madam spoke up: "Someone must have tampered with things. Our house hasn't had a fire in years."

Huan Qingtang said, "Second Aunt, this needs to be investigated carefully."

"The sutras are the problem. They caught fire all of a sudden, out of nowhere," Second Madam said.

Huan Qingtang fell silent.

Madam Song then said, "Sister-in-law, what's wrong with the sutras? Don't be quick to blame others."

"You sent sutras for offering, and then a fire broke out," Second Madam said.

Madam Song was furious: "Absurd! We sent them to pray for her to bear children, and now we're the guilty ones? Your words make no sense. You don't know gratitude when you see it!"

"Could it be you have a guilty conscience?" Second Madam shot back.

Madam Song opened her mouth, too stunned to respond, and merely gave a heavy snort.

The Dowager, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke: "Second son, control your wife. Don't let her fling wild accusations. She's not a barking dog."

Second Master had been standing in the shadows, not saying a word, unnoticed by everyone.

Until the Dowager spoke.

"Mother, what Madam Fan says has some merit. The courtyard only gained those sutras and then caught fire. She's not making things up.

I don't understand the tricks of the inner quarters, but you should know them better than I do. Why not let your daughter-in-law speak?" Second Master said.

Huan Qingtang and Madam Song looked at him in surprise.

They hadn't expected Second Master to dare defy the Dowager.

Zhou Yuanshen and Cheng Zhao were disobedient, Second Madam had learned to speak with barbed irony, and now even Second Master had grown a spine.

The second branch of the family was in rebellion.

The Dowager stared hard at Second Master.

He did not meet her eyes. His gaze dropped, and he bent slightly at the waist: "Of course, household matters aren't about right and wrong. If Mother says don't investigate, don't speak of it, then we'll treat it as if it never happened."

He turned to Second Madam. "Apologize to Mother. From now on, keep the truth bottled up inside. You're a mother-in-law yourself now—you should have learned some discretion by now."

His words, crisp and deliberate, reached everyone's ears.

The Dowager said, "So it's my fault, then? Fine. If you want an investigation, if you want someone held responsible, then investigate thoroughly."

She extended her hand.

Huan Qingtang steadied her.

The Dowager said nothing more. She turned and, supported by Huan Qingtang, boarded a small carriage and returned to Shou'an Courtyard.

Shou'an Courtyard was brightly lit.

The Dowager sat down, her face dark, all traces of her usual softness gone. Her glance was like a blade, sharp with a thirst for blood.

"Grandmother, please calm down," Huan Qingtang said, offering her tea in a gentle voice.

"That little weasel Cheng Zhao—this time she's openly scheming against us," the Dowager said.

"Grandmother, what burned was the statue of the Child-Giving Guanyin. Sister-in-law wasn't just scheming against the family—she also offended the Bodhisattva." Huan Qingtang's brow furrowed with worry. "Pray she doesn't bring misfortune down on the rest of us."

The Dowager's eyelid twitched.

She was a devout believer. She would never have done anything sacrilegious in her own shrine.

She hadn't anticipated Cheng Zhao pulling such a trick.

How dare Cheng Zhao!

So brazen as to defile even a sacred image—was she not afraid of divine retribution?

At the thought, the Dowager was nearly choking with rage.

"Send someone to the General's mansion. Tell them to come home at once!" the Dowager ordered.

Huan Qingtang was surprised. "At this hour?"

"Tell them to return immediately," the Dowager said.

Nanny Sun went to give the order.

Before leaving, she glanced at Huan Qingtang with considerable displeasure.

Huan Qingtang had done nothing to soothe the Dowager—in fact, she had only provoked her into even greater fury with a few words.

Nanny Sun frowned, thinking Huan Qingtang was no saint either.

The Dowager closed her eyes. She didn't drink the tea, just turned her prayer beads in her hand, trying to calm herself.

Beneath her aged, drooping eyelids, her eyes darted rapidly.

Huan Qingtang sat silently beside her, occasionally glancing at the Dowager, her own thoughts restless.

After a long while, the steward sent to the Pingxi General's mansion returned.

There was no curfew in the capital, but the streets were empty at night, and riding was quick. The steward had made the round trip with fair speed.

"...Great Dowager, I didn't see the Duke. The deputy general on duty was fierce. If I hadn't left, he would have shot me with an arrow." The steward lifted his sleeve to show the Dowager.

His sleeve had a hole in it.

That was from the arrow shot by the gatekeeper deputy general at the General's mansion. The deputy had said that if he didn't leave at once, the next arrow would go through his head.

The steward had no choice but to come back.

The Dowager asked, "Didn't you announce who you were?"

"I did. The deputy wouldn't listen," the steward said.

The Dowager was silent.

Huan Qingtang felt the Dowager might suffocate from sheer fury.

That night, Cheng Zhao and Zhou Yuanshen didn't return to the mansion.

Nonghua Courtyard suffered considerable damage—two main rooms burned down.

But Cheng Zhao's losses were minimal. The fire hadn't reached her inner bedchamber or her storeroom. Her dowry maids and servants, her clothing and jewelry, her silver and valuables—all were unharmed.

The next day, she still didn't return.

The Dowager sent someone to find her again.

This time, the steward returned and knelt at the Dowager's feet: "The Third Young Madam has gone back to the Cheng family. A servant at the General's mansion said she left a message: someone tried to kill her by setting fire to her courtyard. She's very frightened and has gone back to her mother's house to take shelter."

The Dowager's anger had cooled. She said coldly, "There's no need to fetch her again."

If she didn't want to come back, fine—she could stay away forever.

But the Dowager's defiant words could not reach Cheng Zhao.

Cheng Zhao, meanwhile, had gone to the palace.

She went to pour out her grievances to the Empress.

Soon, the entire capital would know that Cheng Zhao, the Duchess of the State of Chen, had been relegated to a remote corner of the duke's residence. Yet even so, some would not let her be, and sought to burn her to death.

Who was behind it? Speculation ran rife.

The Grand Lady, who had always prized her dignity and kept family shame buried within the walls, was nearly driven mad by the sudden flood of gossip.