A Willing Mistake, My Lady – Chapter 46

Searching Wu Manor

Encountering Li Qingmei on the Road

The two of them returned to Jiang Manor, reluctant to part from one another’s side. These past few days, with no one from the neighboring Wu Manor to act as an eyesore, they had truly been happier than they could say.

            

The next day, after Shen Hetang finished her shift at the yamen, a girl suddenly lunged out from the side of the road. Her face was wrapped in a headscarf, and she rushed forward to grab Shen Hetang’s sash.

“Miss, if you have something to say, just say it. What are you doing? Besides, you look rather familiar to me.” Shen Hetang quickly wrenched her sash back from her hands.

“Shen-dage, I am Qingmei! Please save my mother! I beg you, save my mother!” Li Qingmei tried once more to step forward and grab the corner of Shen Hetang’s robe.

            

Shen Hetang was now a taken woman. Even though she was a woman herself, she felt she should consciously keep herself pure and distant from everyone, whether male or female.

How terrifying was it for someone to just lunge at her like that!

“What happened to your mother? Just speak!” Shen Hetang hastily pushed away her reaching hands.

            

In the past, being grabbed by a girl wouldn’t have been a big deal, but she was still dressed in men’s clothing now, so she absolutely could not let another girl misunderstand.

“Shen-dage, my mother has been locked in the cellar by Wu Daoyuan for several days now. I do not even know if she is alive or dead!” Li Qingmei sobbed pitifully.

“Why would he lock your mother in a cellar?” Hearing this, Shen Hetang’s expression turned serious as she questioned her.

            

“A few days ago, he tried to force himself on me. Then… then my mother knocked him unconscious with a stool so I could escape. But over the last two days, Wu Manor hasn’t reported anything to the yamen, nor have I heard of anything happening to Wu Daoyuan.” Li Qingmei told Shen Hetang the whole story.

“This… how do you know your mother is locked in the cellar?”

“I snuck around the back of Wu Manor to look. The woodshed didn’t look like anyone was inside, so the only place left is the cellar. My mother hit him quite hard; that man surnamed Wu will definitely not spare her! Shen-dage, please help me. There is no one else I can turn to!” Li Qingmei stood in place, looking extremely anxious.

            

“How about this: have you eaten yet? Let’s find a place to sit down and talk!” Seeing that the girl looked a bit disheveled and covered in dust, and knowing that this was not a matter that could be resolved on the street, Shen Hetang suggested.

The two of them found a noodle shop. As Li Qingmei spoke, she grew more and more aggrieved, eventually even dragging Jiang Chenyu into the conversation.

“Shen-dage, that man surnamed Wu is no good. I don’t even know how he bullied Jiang-jiejie in the past. You must absolutely have the yamen arrest him!” As she spoke, Li Qingmei quietly observed Shen Hetang’s expression.

            

At first, there seemed to be nothing wrong with these words, but Shen Hetang was no straight man; how could she possibly buy into this act?

“Speak of your own affairs, and stop dragging others into it,” Shen Hetang said, her gaze turning stern.

Seeing this, Li Qingmei did not dare to say anything for a moment; she merely lowered her head with reddened eyes.

            

“I will look into this matter when I go back. Your mother and Wu Daoyuan are husband and wife. Without concrete evidence, taking this to the yamen won’t do anything to him. On the contrary, your mother was the one who injured him. If Wu Daoyuan holds onto this and refuses to let go, she might end up in trouble instead.” When it came to dealing with Wu Daoyuan, they and Li Qingmei were, for the moment, barely on the same united front.

“Understood… Shen-dage, I will wait for your news.” Hearing her say this, Li Qingmei raised her head again and looked at her with hope in her eyes.

“Where are you staying now?” Since she had fled, she must have nowhere to go.

            

“I am hiding in a woodpile at the entrance of an alley on East Street.”

“In a woodpile?” Shen Hetang almost thought she had misheard.

“Is it because you are out of money?” No matter what, she couldn’t sleep in a woodpile. Still, being able to live there for two or three days without being discovered was quite a skill.

            

“No, it’s just that at first, I was terrified the people from Wu Manor would come out and catch me.” She had been extremely frightened sleeping in there the first night, but by the second day, she had habitually felt her way back inside anyway.

“I see… Let’s do this: I’ll find an inn for you to settle in first. Do not go out during the day. Just have the waiter bring your meals up to your room. As for your mother, I will go investigate. I will let you know as soon as there is any news.” After a moment’s consideration, Shen Hetang made the arrangements.

“Alright, I’ll do whatever Shen-dage says.” She knew Shen-dage was a good person who would definitely help her.

            

Shen Hetang, however, felt that whether it was Li Qingmei’s mother or Zhang Qingmei’s mother, since she worked at the yamen, she could not pretend to be deaf and dumb.

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Outside the gates of Jiang Manor, before she even stepped inside, she was hit by a delicious aroma drifting from the courtyard. She had been raised by Jiang Chenyu to be such a picky eater that she had barely eaten anything at the noodle shop earlier.

“Why are you back so late? Did you run into some trouble?” Jiang Chenyu approached, holding a plate of dumplings.

            

“I did run into something, I’ll tell you about it in a bit. Did you wrap these dumplings yourself?” She reached for her chopsticks first.

“How did you tell?” Jiang Chenyu opened her eyes wide in pleasant surprise and looked at her.

“Of course. The dumplings you wrap are just like you—incredibly beautiful.” The dumplings Jiang Chenyu made were very small, the kind you could eat in a single bite.

            

“Really?” Her increasingly gentle tone showed her good mood. Ah Tang’s mouth was occasionally as sweet as if it were smeared with honey.

“Naturally it’s true.” Praising her beauty was, if anything, a massive understatement.

That night, upon hearing that Ah Tang had gone to the noodle shop with Li Qingmei, Jiang Chenyu pouted her charming, moist, pink lips very high. Her long eyelashes fluttered like fans, casting playful glares at her.

            

This left Shen Hetang thoroughly amused. Feeling she could not let a beauty in the prime of her youth go to waste, she initiated another in-depth exchange on the correct usage of those cherry-red lips. Only after she had finally coaxed her into a good mood did they discuss their strategy for probing Wu Manor the following day.

The next day, Jiang Chenyu accompanied her to Wu Manor. Although the two households had rarely interacted since the high wall had been erected, Jiang Chenyu could not possibly be barred entry from the estate.

“Oh, what wind blew our Eldest Miss back today?” Nanny Wu stretched her neck arrogantly. Now that some of the household had fallen ill and others had fled, she had become the biggest master left in this courtyard.

            

“You seem exceptionally energetic, Nanny. Have you run into some stroke of good fortune?” Jiang Chenyu’s voice carried a lazy, indifferent drawl; she truly had no desire to waste her breath on this woman.

“What good fortune could there be? That little wench¹ Li Qingmei hit someone and ran off. I’ve had people out trying to catch her all day long,” Nanny Wu said with a look of pure disdain.

“Why did she hit someone? And who did she hit?” Jiang Chenyu asked, following Nanny Wu’s conversational thread.

            

“Ai, isn’t it just her own doing? Let’s not speak of her. Miss, did you return for a reason?”

“The Daughter’s Red² wine my grandfather buried for me has reached its years. Our wedding was in such a rush that I forgot to unearth it. Today, I brought my husband along to dig it up.” There was indeed a jar of Daughter’s Red, though it was merely a joke she had buried with her maternal grandfather as a child and did not really count. Under the current circumstances, however, it served as an excellent excuse.

“To think such a thing existed. How is it that I didn’t know?” Nanny Wu spoke as though she were the true master of the manor.

            

“You certainly have a lot on your mind, Nanny Wu. This was from before my father married into the household.” Jiang Chenyu paid no heed to Nanny Wu’s darkening expression and spoke plainly.

“Let us go.” Seeing that Nanny Wu was standing in the path to waste time, Shen Hetang pulled Jiang Chenyu by the hand and stepped directly through the gates.

“How has father-in-law been lately?” Shen Hetang asked casually.

            

“Our master has caught a bit of a cold. Would you like to pay him a visit, Miss?” Because Wu Daoyuan had been injured by Li Qingmei’s mother when he tried to force himself on his stepdaughter, he had strictly forbidden Nanny Wu from spreading the word, so they standardized their story to a common cold.

“There is no need. Let my father-in-law rest well. Once we have dug up the wine, we shall head back. I will visit him again after he recovers.”

What a piece of work. She had no intention of letting her own wife get anywhere near him; it was a pity he hadn’t been beaten to death.

            

Jiang Chenyu led Shen Hetang to the tree where the wine was buried. Under the pretext of looking for tools, Shen Hetang scouted around the courtyard, located the cellar, and made her way straight over.

Stepping through the narrow wooden door, she was hit by a musty odor that came from a space starved of sunlight year-round. Although Wu Manor was considered a grand estate, its cellar was not like those of ordinary households, filled with green vegetables and radishes.

Very few items were stored here. The first chamber was empty. Shen Hetang took another two steps forward and discovered a tiny inner room. The ceiling was so low that she had to bend her waist to walk through.

            

Sure enough, she spotted a woman inside, dressed in tattered rags and breathing weakly.

“Madam Li? Madam Li? I am Shen Hetang. Your daughter, Li Qingmei, asked me to find you. How are you?” Staring at the iron lock on the door, Shen Hetang tried to wake the lady, not daring to make too much noise.

Hearing her daughter’s name, the tattered woman stirred slightly. She strained to open her eyes and looked at the handsome youth standing outside the door. It took her a long moment to recall who this was.

            

“Is Qingmei… alright?” She had been dragged down here for about five days now. Although no one had come to beat or torture her, they only gave her a single bun and a bowl of water every two days, as if they wanted her to waste away naturally while keeping her from dying too quickly.

The woman’s lips were dry and cracked, her face sallow. Shen Hetang remembered how she had looked when she first married into the manor. To think that in just one year, she had shriveled like a dried apple, drained of all moisture and vitality.

“Miss Li is fine. You must hold on for a few more days for your daughter’s sake, Madam. I will head to the yamen immediately to report this to the Magistrate and find a way for both of you to leave this place lawfully.” This flimsy lock would not have stopped Shen Hetang from breaking her out, but escaping was not a permanent solution. This lady and Wu Daoyuan were registered under the same household register³. If they were not careful, the authorities might treat this as a mere family dispute, and she would end up right back in the hands of that man surnamed Wu.

            

Hearing that Li Qingmei was safe, a trace of relief softened the woman’s sluggish features.

“Son-in-law… no, Young Master Shen… Thank you for looking after my daughter out there. It makes no difference to me where I am. If it is too difficult, you need not worry about me.”

As the saying went, even an upright official finds it hard to settle family disputes⁴. At worst, Wu Daoyuan had merely locked up his own wife; even if they dragged this to the yamen, it was highly unlikely they could convict him of a crime.

            

“Do not worry, Madam. The yamen will certainly see justice done in this matter. You only need to hold on for two more days.” Worried about Jiang Chenyu’s safety outside, Shen Hetang did not dare stay inside too long.

“I will come back tonight to bring you some food and water. Please, take care of yourself.” Leaving her with this reassurance, Shen Hetang quickly slipped out of the cellar.

Li Qingmei’s mother looked at the retreating back of Young Master Shen, thinking to herself, Setting aside whether my daughter’s standards are high or low, at least her taste is quite good. It is only a pity that she lacks the fortune to match it. With a sigh, she lay back down weakly.

            

A short while later, cradling the wine jar in her arms, Shen Hetang returned to their own courtyard with Jiang Chenyu.

“How was it? Is Madam Li truly locked in the cellar?” Jiang Chenyu could not quite describe her current feelings; they were incredibly complex.

“Yes. Wu Daoyuan abandoned her there. He likely intends to leave her to her own fate.” She needed to head back to the yamen and study the penal codes of the Great Qian Dynasty with the Advisor. Simply locking up one’s wife would, at most, result in a mild scolding from the magistrate. If they wanted to save her, they had to secure a divorce agreement.

            

“Send Chuntao to the inn to let Miss Li know. I will head to the yamen first. When I return, I will open that jar of wine with you.” Seeing a round, flawless pink pearl dangling from her fair, smooth earlobe, Shen Hetang instinctively reached out to gently knead it.

“Alright, I shall wait for you at home. But aren’t you someone who doesn’t drink?” Jiang Chenyu mercilessly exposed her past habits.

“I simply wanted to have a taste.” In eyes that seemed to gather the gentle glow of moonlight, a warm smile bloomed, leaving no trace of her usual aloofness.

            

Flustered by her gaze, Jiang Chenyu buried her face directly into the crook of her neck, murmuring softly, “Come back quickly.”

“Mhm,” Shen Hetang murmured softly in response.

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