The 4th young master returned at dusk and heard the story of Bi Yuan getting hit over the soup he had given her.
Qiao-Shi definitely couldn't tell Bi Yuan that she was making an example out of her for cavorting with her husband in broad daylight. The soup she "personally" made was just an excuse.
Of course, this excuse would only fool those who weren't familiar with the situation. The event with the bowl of soup happened several days ago. No one in the Jinxiu Pavilion wasn't aware of the real reason Bi Yuan was hit.
Bi Yuan's eyes were red from crying, and upon seeing the young master return cried even more plaintively, as though her mom had passed away.
The few maids on the side all spoke up at once to tell the young master what had happened as if they were the main character in this situation. They also freely embellished a few details, making Qiao-Shi out to be very vicious and vengeful.
They couldn't really be blamed for provoking the situation. The fox grieves when the rabbit dies. If the 4th young master really indulged his wife's fierceness, they wouldn't be able to rest easy in the pavilion anymore.
Bi Yuan lowered her head and wiped away her tears, extremely satisfied in her heart. People were speaking up for her, and she didn't have to personally exaggerate the story to the young master.
Xiao Hua looked from afar at the crowd of maids surrounding the young master, whose face was alternating between green and red.
The situation was unfolding in a similar fashion as her previous life, but this time the main character was Bi Yuan instead of her.
"Young master, you have to help mediate for big sis Bi Yuan. Even if it's the young madam, she can't just humiliate someone for no reason." Cui Lan spoke in a lovable voice to the side.
"Precisely, precisely young master. The young madam can't just shadily have someone beaten over a bowl of soup. Especially since..." Liu Ye paused, and then stammered on, "Especially since the soup was given to Bi Yuan by the young master. By hitting Bi Yuan, isn't she also slapping young master's face..."
Liu Ye didn't complete her sentence, but she had already stirred up people's thoughts. This Liu Ye was also no saint. Her skills as an instigator did not lose out to anyone.
Qiao-Shi's move in killing the chicken to scare the monkey was truly muddleheaded and she had chosen the wrong target. If she had chosen a common maid without any backing, the rest would have felt fear without being able to react too much. Her mistake was being too hasty, making an example out of Bi Yuan, who was the senior maid in charge. Since even the head of the servants was beaten, the rest would certainly feel sympathetic and unite against their common enemy. Even more so since Bi Yuan was someone close to the young master.
As the saying goes, if you hit the dog its owner will show up.
As expected, the young master's expression turned dark upon hearing these words.
Without saying anything else he left the room. Whenever Qiao-Shi was involved, his gentlemanly character was shoved to the back of his mind. It was apparent how much he disliked her.
When the young master entered the main residence, Qiao-Shi was in the middle of eating dinner.
His usually mild and handsome face was filled with rarely seen fury. The moment he entered he swept Qiao Shi's meal to the floor, and gave Chun Tao who was about to serve her an aggrieved kick.
The room was filled with crashing and clattering. Qiao-Shi's clothes were also stained by the spilled meal.
Seeing the young master in such a rage she was also a little baffled, but as his treatment of her sank in, her eyes immediately turned red.
Chun Tao who was kicked to the floor was unable to get up, and Matron Chen did not have the ability to care about her as she immediately pulled Qiao-Shi to the side and wiped her stained clothing. Seeing the young master making such a commotion, she was worried he would lay his hands on Qiao-Shi, and so used the dirty clothing as an excuse to pull her away.
After flipping the table and kicking the maid, the young master had actually somewhat calmed down, watching Matron Chen busily wipe Qiao-Shi's clothing with a calm expression.
Only now did Qiao-Shi react, letting out a scream.
"What is the meaning of this? You normally don't bother to come see me, and when you do show up, it's to flip the table and hit my maid?"
If Qiao-Shi had understood the 4th young master well, she wouldn't have chosen to scream accusations at him at this moment. She should have first gone up and acted soft, admitting her mistakes. Once he had calmed down, he would have reflected on his actions and realized he had lost his temper. While he wouldn't have expressed it outwardly, he would have at least felt a little guilty towards Qiao-Shi. If Qiao-Shi expressed her grievances then, the couple's relationship might have eased a little.
As a whole, the young master was still a decent person. He would never abuse women because he felt such behavior was unbecoming of a man. The reason he lost his temper this time was firstly due to his recently unstable mood, and secondly because he felt Qiao-Shi didn't give him face. Of course, there was some intention of white knighting, since Bi Yuan had served him from a young age and their relationship was definitely uncommon.
Unfortunately, Qiao-Shi didn't truly understand the 4th young master, and ended up yelling accusations.
The anger in his heart had yet to fade, and Qiao-Shi's hysterics grated upon his ears, her inelegant sorry figure reflected in his eyes –
Her pair of small eyes bulged out of her round face, her neck rising and falling, the picture reminding him of a toad.
The 4th young master immediately turned his face away in disgust.
In his heart, he started complaining about his family picking such a wife for him again. Not only was she clumsy and round like a pig, but sharp and unkind with her words.
In reality, was our Qiao-Shi really as unappealing as the young master made it out to be? Her figure was just a little rounder and her shorter neck made her appear a little stouter, but definitely not comparable to a pig. It was just that the young master liked beautiful things since he was a child, and the pavilion's maids where all good looking. Having gotten used to such beauty made it harder to accept Qiao-Shi's appearance.
Qiao-Shi saw the young master not just ignoring her but also appearing to be disgusted, she felt something snap in her mind.
"Ruan Siyi, what is the meaning of this! You shun me on a regular basis and are unwilling to get close? Fine. But the moment you show up, you flip the table and hit my maid...." Qiao-Shi yelled while crying, grabbing Matron Chen's handkerchief and throwing it at the young master.
Upon seeing the disgust in his eyes, she immediately recalled their wedding night. When the veil was lifted, her heart had been filed with expectation, shyness and some timidity, yet it was met with his startled and poorly concealed look of disgust.
The 4th young master saw Qiao-Shi's shrew-like behavior and his temper instantly flared again, not caring if it was a loss of face to argue with his wife and denouncing her as soon as he opened his mouth: "I felt that the soup you gave me was too oily and didn't want to drink it, so I gave it to Bi Yuan. You slapped Bi Yuan over a bowl of soup. Does such shrew-like behavior still show an ounce of consideration for your husband's dignity?"
"Dignity?" Qiao-Shi sneered and wiped her tears resentfully. "Did you ever leave me any dignity? The night of our wedding you argued with me until the whole estate heard about it. If you disliked my appearance, why did you marry me initially? Now you even come slap my face over a maid. Since she's a mere maid, I could have had her beaten to death instead of just giving her a slap, and no one would say a word."
The young master stood there, his pale and handsome face turning red in anger.
Qiao-Shi's words were not wrong. The servants that entered Jinyang Marquis Estate had all signed life and death contracts. Masters who had disobedient servants beaten to death could be found everywhere, and not once did any authorities come get involved.
Life wasn't worth much, especially that of servants.
The young master understood this concept but had always cherished the opposite sex and never abused the maids by his side. He was deeply against those that would beat their maids randomly, often saying that this was an act of destroying something beautiful with a wicked hand. But he couldn't refute Qiao-Shi's words, especially since he was always someone who was good with logic and reasoning. He wouldn't call something white if it was clearly black.
He became aware of his inelegant actions at this moment. Why would he be so stupid as to come argue with his unattractive wife?
"I don't care how you treat the maids by your side, but you're not allowed to touch the maids by mine." The young master spoke and gave Qiao-Shi a disdainful glance. "Really, what a shrew!"
After speaking, he flung his sleeve and walked out the door.
Qiao-Shi was silent for a long while before laughing loudly in distress.
Matron Chen saw that her behavior wasn't quite normal, and went up to placate her. Qiao-Shi shook off Matron Chen's hand, picked up the decorations in the house and threw it to the floor.
A cacophony of crashes and clattering sounded, just like the broken pieces of her heart.
****
The argument in the main residence was too intense, and could even be heard from the guest house.
After some time, the 4th young master reappeared with a dark expression.
After returning, he sat there without saying anything. Following the crashing and clattering sounds from the main residence, his expression turned even darker.
Dinner had been served and the few maids lightly set the table. Bi Yuan could also no longer nurse her sadness, and hurriedly stood to serve the young master his meal.
He gave her permission to rest but Bi Yuan refused, saying that no matter how serious the situation, serving the young master was most important.
The 4th young master was very moved, and looked at Bi Yuan with a gentle gaze with eyes like they were about to water. No longer angry, he began to eat while being served by the maids.
Those that could become senior maids were all skilled. Xiao Hua watched as Bi Yuan, Cui Lan and Liu Ye's interruptions and antics caused the young master's expression to gradually improve.
After dinner, the young master's habit was to read and write. The maids all crowded around grinding the ink or lighting the lamps.
Xiao Hua let out a breath and slowly retreated outside.
The nightscape outside was as beautiful as the moon and water. The lights flickered behind while the birds chirped. Xiao Hua took a look at the pitch black main residence that was close by.
Though she was beaten to death on Qiao-Shi's orders in her previous life, and even suspected her to be the one that slipped her an infertility pill, she couldn't find it within herself to hate her.
Qiao-Shi was also a very pitiful woman. Her appearance wasn't her fault. Her mistake was in marrying the beauty loving, and eventually frivolous 4th young master.
In her last life, Qiao-Shi had never experienced happiness the entire time she was a principal wife at the estate. There was always someone jumping around above her, first Bi Yuan then Xiao Hua herself. Afterwards there were many other girls that the 4th young master brought in....and since she had no backers to rely on, she could only watch helplessly as her husband held public displays of affection with these birds. She lived alone for years, without being able to give birth to a child...
Without a child, even her mother-in-law didn't treat her well. In the end, she was forced to turn from a pampered girl into one who schemed deeply, gradually becoming ruthless in the end.
But in her previous life, right up to when she died, Xiao Hua had not seen Qiao-Shi give birth to a child....