Chapter 48: The Heart of Gossip, Ever Since Ancient Times

The next day, Tan Qingjiu did not wake until nearly noon. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Qingdai peering anxiously around the doorway.

Tan Qingjiu raised her brows slightly. “What’s the matter?”

“Master, you’re finally awake!” Qingdai hurried over. “I got up at the crack of dawn to find out what was happening in the main house. Ever since I got back, I’ve been dying to tell you, but you hadn’t woken up, and I didn’t dare disturb your rest over something so trivial. It nearly drove me mad.”

Tan Qingjiu gave a soft laugh and allowed Zisu to help her into her shoes.

“All right, you can tell me now.”

“I found out that Chen Yueru lay beneath that window the entire night, and was only discovered this morning.”

Tan Qingjiu was not surprised; after all, she had drugged everyone in Chen Yueru’s courtyard.

When the guards came to, they would simply assume they’d dozed off by accident, never suspecting they’d been drugged. In the dead of night, with no one to call for help, no one would risk bad luck by checking in on Chen Yueru.

“I heard that when they found Chen Yueru, she was still unconscious, no matter how the servants tried to rouse her. They hurried to fetch a physician, who administered acupuncture before she finally awoke.”

“As soon as she woke, she shrieked as if mad, crying out that she’d seen a ghost and begging it not to kill her.”

“It took a long time to calm her down, but now she’s so shaken that she’s in a daze.”

Qingdai’s eyes danced with excitement. “Everyone in the back courtyard is gossiping about it. They say two people just died in the manor last night, in a gruesome manner, and now Chen Yueru claims to have seen a ghost. Maybe those deaths are connected to her.”

Tan Qingjiu smiled. “Rumors can be deadly weapons. Give it a little time, and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone claims Chen Yueru is the murderer herself.”

Once she was dressed, Tan Qingjiu had breakfast brought in.

“After I’ve eaten, I’ll go visit the main house. Since something so grave has happened to Lady Tan, as the second daughter of the Tan family, it’s only right that I pay my respects.”

Qingdai could not help but laugh. “Master, you’re too wicked. Is that really a visit? It sounds more like you’re spoiling for a fight.”

“But after last night, I doubt Chen Yueru will want to see you at all.”

Tan Qingjiu chuckled. “Oh, she will. If she refuses, I have my ways.”

As it happened, Qingdai’s prediction was right. When Tan Qingjiu arrived at the main house, the maid who went inside to announce her soon returned. “I’m truly sorry, Second Miss. The Lady is unwell today and cannot see you. Please return another time.”

“Is that so?” Tan Qingjiu stood at the busy courtyard gate, raising a hand to wipe away nonexistent tears, her voice choked with sorrow. “Is Lady Tan truly too ill to see me?”

“Or is it only because she doesn’t want to? I know she’s never liked me, since I’m the daughter of the rightful wife. Ever since I returned yesterday, she’s made no secret of her dislike, finding fault with me again and again, and now she won’t even see me.”

Tan Qingjiu sobbed softly. “It’s all right. Since she doesn’t wish to see me, I shouldn’t impose myself on her, courting her displeasure.”

“My mother died young. Though I’m a legitimate daughter, there’s no one left in this household to stand up for me.”

The servants sweeping outside the courtyard paused, craning their necks to watch and listen.

Behind her wide sleeves, Tan Qingjiu’s lips curled in a faint smile. Truly, gossip is an ancient vice.

The maid from the main house seemed at her wit’s end. In a fluster, she said, “Please wait, Second Miss. I’ll go report to the Lady once more.”

Tan Qingjiu replied softly, “Go on. If Lady Tan does not wish to see me, I understand. After all, I’m not her own child; it’s only natural she dislikes me.”

The maid hurried off.

Once she was gone, Tan Qingjiu lowered her sleeves and stood with head bowed at the main door, looking so forlorn and aggrieved that even an onlooker would have pitied her.

This time, the maid returned even faster, though her expression was less than pleasant. “Second Miss, please come inside.”

Tan Qingjiu lowered her gaze. “Thank you.”

Inside the main hall, Tan Qingjiu saw Chen Yueru seated, dressed in green, her face pale and her manner listless.

Hearing footsteps, Chen Yueru glanced up at Tan Qingjiu. The instant her gaze fell on that face, terror flickered in her eyes before she quickly looked away.

They looked too much alike—Tan Qingjiu and that woman. Uncannily so.

Was what happened last night real, or not?

Chen Yueru bit her lip. If it was real, how had Tan Qingjiu managed to sneak from Yunshang Courtyard to the main house without alerting the servants or guards?

She had specially sent someone to question the guards near Yunshang Courtyard. They all insisted everything was normal last night; Tan Qingjiu had never left.

Yet if it was all her imagination, why had her servants found her lying on the floor beside her bed?

And her neck…

Chen Yueru couldn’t help but touch her neck, where there truly was the mark of strangling fingers.

What’s more, the mark was not the usual purplish bruise, but a deep, bluish-black.

Chen Yueru’s face changed several times before she drew a deep breath and forced down her anger. She gritted her teeth and asked, “Did you make a scene at the door on purpose?”

Tan Qingjiu looked perfectly innocent. “Why would you say that, Lady? I was only speaking from the heart. How was that making a scene?”

Chen Yueru’s rage burned. For some reason, seeing Tan Qingjiu’s face made her want to strangle the wretched girl, to flay her inch by inch.

Only then, perhaps, would her hatred be satisfied.

That little wretch—she had to have done it on purpose.

But there was something else Chen Yueru cared about more.

She picked up her teacup and drank, steadying her nerves and forcing down her fury. “You only just returned to the manor yesterday, Second Miss. Did you sleep well last night?”

Tan Qingjiu blinked. “Very well. Not a single dream—I slept until noon.”

Chen Yueru looked up. “Nothing strange happened last night?”

Tan Qingjiu looked perplexed. “Anything strange?”

“Did you leave Yunshang Courtyard?”

“Me? No. I went to bed early last night. Why would I have left Yunshang Courtyard?”

Chen Yueru studied Tan Qingjiu’s expression carefully, frowning slightly. What was happening here?

Could it really be, as the guards claimed, that Tan Qingjiu had never left Yunshang Courtyard?

Then the Tan Qingjiu she saw last night…