Chapter 279: Not Sorry
Translated by Gumihou
Edited by Vinisha
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“Of course she believed it.” Concubine Jiang smiled softly. She continued quietly, “In fact, this matter really cannot be blamed on us. I truly never expect Madam Lan to be so bold and quick-acting. Clearly, she was the one who chose her own death and thought of this method to entrap First Madam on her own. Now that I have already explained myself to Madam, any dirt on our side has already been cleared away. Madam Lan herself had created this trap to harm First Madam, therefore all fault would be on her head. Should her scheme be successful, she would have struck two birds with one stone, ah. If you are First Madam, who would you suspect?”
Rong’er began to smile too and held her thumb up at Concubine Jiang. She said softly, “Madam Lan clearly has no shame, which explains why she dared to come up with such a scheme. How could she have known that Madam Concubine is the one who had opened up the way for her? I thought we might have to wait for a long time before she would make use of this information, but who would have thought she’d act on it so quickly?”
Concubine Jiang sneered, “Madam Lan is very used to schemes like this. She and Madam Yun are veterans at this game. Whenever they harm people, would they personally dirty their hands? It’s all borrowing knives and making use of other people’s hand to stick the knife into others and enjoying the chaos from the side. I’ve followed Madam Yun for many years, but never had the chance to use this method until now. I never expected my knife to move so ruthlessly and so smoothly. To think that she would take advantage of Madam Yun’s death. Whatever, what is done, is done. If there are any retributions in the future, I am fully prepared to face it as long as my Chuan’er is safe. For him, I will gladly give up this life for my sins.”
Rong’er quickly said, “Madam Concubine, please don’t blame yourself. Madam Yun was the one who bullied everyone indiscriminately in the first place. Madam just had to fight back to preserve your safety, otherwise, none of us would survive this place. Ever since the incident with Little Master Chuan, have we not seen Madam Yun’s vicious heart? If not because of her actions, would this maid risk her life to conduct these investigations for Madam Concubine? However, what should we do now? When should we have Cai Sang come forward?”
Concubine Jiang said, “From here on, matters are out of our hands. Though Cai Sang might be honest, she is not stupid. You let her decide when to reveal the cards in her hands. Just let her know, as long as she did as I instructed, she will not be implicated.”
Rong’er said, “Yes, this maid understands.” With that, she stood up and went out of the room. At the corridor, she said to the low-level servant, “Will you go to the kitchen and find out if dinner is ready? Madam Concubine said that with First Madam expecting and all the incident that happened today, the master might have a lot to talk about with First Madam. It would be better for Little Master Ming to have his dinner here and not disturb master or mistress.”
The maid bobbed an agreement and left. She just happened to see Duan Tingxuan striding in through the main gates, seeing his thundercloud like face, she dared not catch his attention and scurried off towards the kitchen.
Naturally, the actions of one low-level maid did not leave any impression on Duan Tingxuan. He stepped quickly into the house, upon seeing Su Nuan Nuan huddled on the couch in a daze, he hurried over and said, “Why are you curled up here for? Do keep the child in mind, have you just come back from Old Madam’s place? How is the old lady?”
Su Nuan Nuan straightened up from her curled position and looked up at her husband, “I found out about what happened at Autumn Rain Pavilion. What did the representative Count of Cheng Ming say?”
Duan Tingxuan knew that he could not simply brush off this matter with Su Nuan Nuan, and said calmly, “What else could be said? I promised that I will find out the true cause of Ran Yun’s death and give them a clear explanation.”
“And they just accept it?” Su Nuan Nuan said, half disbelievingly.
Her husband puffed up and said arrogantly, “Once I’ve said this, what else could they do? While it’s true that the dead holds great influence, they do not have power over everything under the heavens. As for me, I still have some authority of my own against them.”
“So… are you really prepared to investigate further?” Su Nuan Nuan sighed.
At this, Duan Tingxuan’s nostrils flared and he snarled, “Investigate. Of course, I’ll be investigating the matter. In fact, I’ll be looking into Chuan’er’s matter and investigate both cases. If we continued on this way, just what kind of place would the Estate of An Ping become? Hell on earth?”
Su Nuan Nuan gave a bitter smiled, “Then, have you thought of how, with Xu Ran Yun dead, just how many people are left in your inner court? If you investigate further, you might find yourself several women short.”
“It will be all fine as long as you are here.” The little marquis’ eyes flashed with murder. “Nuan Nuan, I may not have your instinctive desire to protect your fellow women, but I do understand that Xu Ran Yun had died under suspicious circumstances. Because of this, I shall seek justice for her. How could I have such a murderous woman stirring up trouble within my inner court?”
Su Nuan Nuan nodded. In fact, what she wanted to ask was, “What if I was the one who killed Xu Ran Yun? What would you do?” Fortunately, she had not lost all her reason and did not give in to this pointless desire for validation. Aside from bringing unnecessary suspicion onto her head, if Duan Tingxuan decided to cover up the matter for her sake, would she be happy with this kind of man? This kind of question has the same level of stupidity as ‘If your mother and I fell into a river, who would you save first?’
Aside from causing unnecessary conflict, nothing else would come out of it.
From outside, Hong Lian asked them if they were ready for dinner. When Duan Tingxuan said yes, she answered, “Little Master Ming and Little Master Chuan are having their dinner with Concubine Jiang in her wing. Little Master Ming has stopped crying and this maid has heard Little Master Ming and Little Master Chuan talking together about how ‘Real Men Should not Cry Easily’.”
Duan Tingxuan and Su Nuan Nuan nodded at her news in some relief. Su Nuan Nuan said, “Then let Ming’er stay at Concubine Jiang’s place. After this, the Lord will bring Little Miss Qin over…”
Duan Tingxuan interrupted her, “Qin’er has gone to stay with mother, so there’s no need for you to worry about her.”
“Oh, oh, I see, that’s good.” Su Nuan Nuan relaxed and had her dinner with Duan Tingxuan. After dinner, they sat together, digesting their meal as well as today’s events. It would not be easy to make a pool of muddy water clear again. Without a full stomach, how would they even begin to exert the necessary energy to begin, ah?
Once the dishes were cleared and the maids retired, Su Nuan Nuan began to inform Duan Tingxuan about Xu Ran Yun’s lotus root allergy. She thought that she ought to inform Duan Tingxuan about how Xue Zhi Lan have heard of the matter from Concubine Jiang. The Little Marquis’ expression grew grimmer and he said, “We’d already heard all about it from Lan’er today. Humph! She thinks she’s being very clever, making use of this opportunity to loudly scold some hidden culprit when she was really pointing her fingers at you. How could we all not know that she was deliberately trying to push the guilt into your person?”
Su Nuan Nuan tilted her head, her eyes sparkling as she said, “If my Lord already formed his opinions, surely it would conflict with his investigation later?”
Duan Tingxuan stared at her for a moment, then said softly, “You’re not upset?”
“Not at all, ah?” Su Nuan Nuan looked up at him with wide eyes. “Should I be upset? Have you forgotten what I said to you last time? I shall remind you then, I hate the person who tried to have Chuan’er killed just to entrap me. Do you think that just because Xu Ran Yun had died that all her sins she had committed would just disappear?
To be honest, I am a little happy that she had died. If she had not died, I’ll always worry, what if Chuan’er or our child die in her hands? This kind of women has clearly gone crazy. Whatever sadness I felt are all reserved for Little Ming and Little Qin. As for her? Hahah! Excuse me for being honest, but I don’t feel a bit sorry for her at all.”
[Gumihou: I am a bit upset by Xu Ran Yun’s death. It seems so… abrupt?]
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