Chapter 6: Anger

Chapter 6: Anger

After meeting Wei Mingjin, Xin He began planning how to get rid of the child in her womb without arousing suspicion or implicating Wei Mingjin.

It couldn’t be done within the mansion.

At present, the entire Wei family was watching the child in her womb closely. If the child were lost, even if she took all the blame herself, she wouldn’t be able to stop others from suspecting and slandering her.

And since Wei Mingjin valued his reputation highly, the child could only be dealt with cleanly if something happened outside the mansion.

Just as Xin He was looking for an excuse to leave the mansion, she heard that in ten days it would be the fifth seventh-day ceremony for the elder Master Wei, and Wei Mingjin would hold a Land and Water Dharma Service for him at a Buddhist temple outside the city.

When she heard this news, Xin He understood that this was an opportunity Wei Mingjin had created for her.

Since that was the case, Xin He stopped making further plans and decided to act on the day of the elder Master Wei’s fifth seventh-day ceremony.

After that, several more incidents occurred in the mansion.

First, one of the concubines grew restless and tried to secretly seduce Wei Mingjin at night.

Unlike the elder Master Wei, who was philandering and kept a mansion full of beauties, Wei Mingjin was very chaste.

He was nearly twenty but had not yet married, and there were neither maidservants nor concubines in his courtyard. The one who tried to sneak into his bed at night to seduce him was one of the elder Master Wei’s concubines.

Now that the elder Master Wei was gone, the concubine wanted to plan for her future but ended up crossing a line.

Hearing the commotion, Xin He crept over to look and saw Wei Mingjin standing under the corridor in a loose-sleeved plain robe. The night wind billowed his sleeves, making him look like an ascetic immortal about to take flight.

But now this immortal was furious.

The usually gentle and smiling man now had an expression like ice. He coldly ordered, “Expel her from the mansion immediately. Everyone on duty in the courtyard tonight was derelict in their duties—replace them all.”

The concubine was forced to kneel in the courtyard.

Under the soft glow of the lanterns, she could be seen as alluring and poignant, with tears rolling down like pearls, inviting pity.

But the man standing under the corridor remained unaffected, his eyes even showing a hint of disgust.

Suddenly, Wei Mingjin glanced in Xin He’s direction.

Startled, Xin He quickly hid behind a tree. After Feng Mo led the concubine away, she tiptoed back to her room and lay down, but her heart remained unsettled for a long time.

The next morning, all the concubines except Xin He, who was pregnant, were summoned to the main hall.

As Xin He had expected, Wei Mingjin gave them severance pay and allowed the concubines in the women's quarters to return to their families.

When Qiong Hua came in to bring Xin He sweet soup, she also mentioned this: “After the young master dealt with Concubine Sun last night, the other concubines gave up their ambitions. Most of them took the severance pay and left. Only a few who had been in the mansion for many years said they had nowhere to go and wished to live out their remaining years in the mansion. The young master agreed and moved them together to the Qingwu Courtyard in the north. I must say, Concubine, you are truly fortunate!”

Although their master was gone, everyone could see how well the young master treated Concubine Xin and the child in her womb.

“When your son or daughter is born, the young master will surely be a good father. Concubine, your days of happiness are still ahead!”

Qiong Hua had been assigned by the house steward to take care of Xin He after she entered the mansion.

From the first day, Xin He felt she was like a sparrow, chattering nonstop once she started talking. Xin He found her too talkative and rarely called her to serve unless necessary.

Now, hearing her ramble on again, Xin He was about to interrupt when she saw the expectation on Qiong Hua’s face for the child in her womb.

Xin He was suddenly stunned.

The child’s father didn’t know of its existence, and as its mother, her first reaction upon learning of it was fear.

Afterward, she thought of making the best of a bad situation and using the child to secure a life of luxury for herself.

But after discovering that Wei Mingjin was the one who had spent that night with her, she unhesitatingly decided to get rid of the child.

From beginning to end, she had never felt any anticipation for this child.

Xin He fell silent abruptly.

Qiong Hua chattered on for a while, seemingly aware that she was talking too much, and quickly added, “It’s time for Concubine to rest. Let me make the bed for you.”

With that, she hurried into the inner room and deftly prepared the bed.

After Xin He lay down, she heard the door close softly.

She opened her eyes and saw the pomegranate and vine motif embroidered on the canopy above.

Pomegranates symbolize fertility and auspiciousness. The elder Master Wei had always wanted the mansion to have more descendants, so many places in the mansion were adorned with patterns symbolizing offspring.

Xin He gazed at it for a moment before coldly turning over and closing her eyes.

After the elder Master Wei’s concubines left the mansion, the Wei family became much quieter.

Xin He’s uncle and aunt somehow heard about her pregnancy and came to the Wei mansion to see her.

The couple had never treated Xin He well, and she had little affection for them. But they were, after all, her nominal relatives, and by the time Xin He learned of their visit, they had already been invited into the mansion. Xin He had no choice but to suppress her displeasure and meet them.

In the past, it was always Xin He who tried to please them, but now the roles were reversed, with Xin Youzhi and his wife fawning over Xin He.

Aunt Li shed her former harsh demeanor and warmly flattered Xin He: “I always said our He girl was blessed. How could those unfit suitors in our village ever deserve her? Now it’s come true—look at our He girl’s elegance, even many proper wives of wealthy families can’t compare!”

In the past, though Xin He was exceptionally beautiful, she always dressed simply with wooden hairpins and plain clothes, which diminished her charm.

Now, though she still dressed modestly, the fabric of her clothes shimmered like moonlight, radiant even indoors and clearly expensive. Though she wore only a white jade hairpin, its quality was worth years of a common family’s upkeep!

Aunt Li watched with envy, and Xin Youzhi also fawned and agreed beside her.

Xin He had no patience for them and, dismissing them with a few perfunctory words, made an excuse to send them away.

Xin Youzhi moved his lips as if to say something, but Aunt Li cut in first: “Then rest well during your pregnancy. Your uncle and I will come to see you again later.”

A maid escorted the couple out of the mansion.

Walking behind, Xin Youzhi asked in a low voice, “Weren’t we here today to ask that girl for money? Why did we leave just like that?”

“Can’t you see that girl still resents us for what happened before? If you ask now, she’ll definitely refuse. We need to win her over first and wait for her anger to subside before bringing it up.”

Xin Youzhi thought his wife made sense and said no more.

After the couple left, Qiong Hua looked at the local produce they had brought and asked Xin He, “Concubine, shall I have the kitchen prepare these for you?”

Xin Youzhi and his wife were usually stingy, but today they were extremely generous, bringing not only wild delicacies from the mountains but also a full basket of eggs.

The eggs were placed in a bamboo basket lined with thick straw. They had been carried from Ten-Li Village to the Wei mansion without a single one cracked.

The chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs in Xin Youzhi’s household had all been raised by Xin He.

Finding grass, cutting it up, and cleaning the pens—Xin He had done it all alone. But during all those years in the Xin family, she had never tasted a single egg.

When she was a child, her cousin once teased Xin He with a hard-boiled egg, and Xin He, craving it intensely, took a bite.

Before she could even swallow that mouthful of egg, Mrs. Li rushed over, grabbed her ear, and scolded her as a glutton reincarnated who would eat them out of house and home, then slapped her across the mouth hard several times.

After that, Xin He never ate hard-boiled eggs again.

Until last month, on the day she was sent to the Wei family as a concubine.

Before leaving home, the usually stingy and miserly Mrs. Li surprisingly boiled two hard-boiled eggs for her. While feeding her, she also urged Xin He to remember to always help out the family after arriving at the Wei household.

And today, her aunt and uncle actually brought a whole basket of them.

Xin He’s eyes flashed with disgust: "Take them all and throw them away."

"Throw them all away? What a waste." Qiong Hua muttered softly, but seeing Xin He's unpleasant expression, she immediately dared not say more and hurriedly had someone dispose of them.

Just as she finished speaking with a few maids, she turned around and saw Xin He already walking out the door, so she quickly hurried after her.

Xin He felt a bit stuffy in the room and thought to go out for some fresh air, but unexpectedly ended up in the garden.

Since Master Wei passed away, even the lanterns in the Wei household had been replaced with plain white lanterns, and not a single bright or gaudy spot could be seen anywhere in the estate. Only the flowers in the garden still bloomed recklessly in a riot of brilliant colors.

At that moment, a woman in a pale beige dress stood in the garden.

It was actually Fang Xu.

A flash of surprise passed through Xin He's eyes. Although Fang Xu had entered the household earlier than her, she was actually a year younger.

According to Qiong Hua, Wei Mingjin had given a very generous severance silver, and Fang Xu still had relatives, yet she had actually stayed in the Wei household.

Fang Xu also saw Xin He and walked directly toward her.

Fang Xu had never liked Xin He before, and still didn't. She glanced at Xin He's abdomen and sneered, "If you don't want others to know, don't do it—we'll see."

As she finished speaking, Fang Xu turned around, and the silver bracelet on her wrist swayed, revealing the engraved pattern of a hundred sons and ruyi.

Xin He found it utterly baffling.

She could understand Fang Xu's previous hostility toward her, but now that Master Wei had already passed away, why didn't she take the severance money and live her life instead of clinging to her like a leech?

However, after that day, Xin He never saw Fang Xu again and soon forgot all about her.

After all, she would soon send this child away, and who the child’s father was didn't matter.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the day of Master Wei's fifth-week memorial ceremony.

Wei Mingjin took the few concubines who still remained in the Wei household to a Buddhist temple outside the city to hold a Land and Water Mass for Master Wei.

The streets were crowded with pedestrians at that hour, and the Wei family's carriage moved very slowly, drawing sidelong glances from everyone, with some people whispering and pointing among themselves.

From a gambling den beside the street came a burst of noisy shouting, and soon a gambler was thrown out.

After a few thugs hurled some harsh words at him, they turned and went back into the gambling den.

The gambler lay on the ground for a while, as if shaking off the pain, then stood up cursing and spat fiercely toward the entrance of the gambling den. When he turned around, he happened to see the Wei family's carriage.

Someone nearby was discussing: "That concubine who came into the Wei household last month is really fortunate! Now Young Master Wei can only get half of the shops on that street in the east city."

"That's true, but Master Wei was a womanizer for so many years without a single son or daughter. How is it that right after he died, the concubine who came into the household last month is already pregnant? Could it be that Master Wei was cuckolded—wore a green hat?"

The Wei family's carriages gradually moved away, and the two people discussing walked off into the distance.

Only Zhou Shuisheng remained standing in place, his eyes blazing with ambition.

After a moment, Zhou Shuisheng took off running, chasing in the direction the Wei family's carriage had gone.