Only the dead can keep a secret forever.
But there are things that are a bottom line for being human.
Someone had burst in, and Song Jiyun initially thought to have Zheng Quan take the person down, blindfold and bind him, and throw him into the cellar of the field under her name in Tianzhuang, lock him up for a few days, wait until her affairs were settled, and then quietly take him to Nanchang Prefecture or Jiujiang to release him, and the matter would be over.
Even if this person came looking later, she hadn't shown her face, and as a servant, Zheng Quan could always find a way to get out of it.
But now, this method could not be used.
She mused, "For now, take the person to my courtyard!"
Zheng Quan was shocked and said, "How could that be acceptable? Men and women should not touch hands when giving or receiving. He's also a master. What if he goes mad and hurts you?"
Song Jiyun replied, "Other than my place, where do you think is suitable?"
Ever since her father died, all kinds of strange creatures had emerged, and the maids' behavior had become less honest.
Zheng Quan scratched his head and said, "I'll listen to Miss."
The Miss was much smarter than he was. He only knew how to throw a few dead branches under the eaves to prevent eavesdropping. The Miss had long thought of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, arranging for someone to hide in the darkness.
Song Jiyun instructed Zheng Quan to gag the strange man's mouth and tie him up with hemp rope, saying, "He has high martial skills, don't let him break free and run away, or give him a chance to make a racket. We still don't know who he is yet!"
Zheng Quan "hmm"ed in response and went to fetch the hemp rope as Song Jiyun had ordered.
But just as he had finished tying up the person, a growing commotion approached from outside. By the sound of it, a large group of people was running this way.
Xiang Zhan, assigned to keep watch outside, ran in with a panicked expression and said, "Miss, it's Steward Lin, he's leading a lot of people over here."
Steward Lin was originally a minor steward in charge of flowers and trees in the second branch of the family. After the Great Master came over to help with the funeral, this person curried favor with the Great Master and became rather arrogant, acting high and mighty, not putting others in his eyes.
Zheng Quan, anxious, asked Song Jiyun, "What do we do?"
Song Jiyun also furrowed her brows.
For Zheng Quan to go out quietly today, she had even found something to do for those who were inclined toward the main or third branch of the family, not expecting that it wouldn't keep them busy.
To slip away from behind the study room?
These people would likely become more complacent, overstepping their bounds, not taking the second branch seriously anymore.
Song Jiyun gave a cold laugh.
*
However, by the time Steward Lin led his entourage excitedly into the study room, he saw the doors wide open and in the middle of the study room, a large box about half a person's height made of pear wood with brass corners and carved pine patterns, with Zheng Quan and the Miss's maid Xiang Zhan busily packing books into it.
Xiang Zhan even told Zheng Quan, "Be careful! These are the Second Old Master's favorite belongings from before."
The big simpleton Zheng Quan, instructed by a maid not even ten years old, nodded his head foolishly.
Steward Lin looked down on Zheng Quan even more.
He pointed at the messy courtyard and asked Xiang Zhan, "What's happened here? Looks like it's been dug up by dogs! The Second Old Master hasn't been cold in his grave yet, and you girls have already started to be careless!"
Xiang Zhan gave him a cold look as if she hadn't seen him, continuing to busily move back and forth with Zheng Quan, tidying up the objects in the study room.
Face turning green with anger, Steward Lin stepped forward, ready to unleash his fury, but as he lifted his head, he saw Song Jiyun sitting quietly in the corner of the study room.
"Great, Miss!" Thinking of the maid who had been sold for the whole family because she had offended Song Jiyun and still under the remnants of her influence, he stumbled over his words, "Why, why are you here? I, I only came because I heard some noise, fearing that unrelated people might sneak in and pilfer things, so I came over to look."
Song Jiyun nodded and said, "You've come at the right time. This box is quite big, and the contents are somewhat heavy, help out and carry this box to my courtyard with Zheng Quan."
Steward Lin instinctively replied "Yes," but then he straightened up, recalling it wasn't the Second Old Master's turn to run the household, and said, "Miss, it's not that I don't want to help you, but I'm still in charge of the storage for the mourning arrangements, and I can't leave this at the moment. I think it'd be better to talk to the Great Master and have him send two sturdy servants over to help you move the chest."
Whether the chest could be moved to her courtyard as Miss wished was up to the Great Master's approval.
Song Jiyun nodded and said, "You have a point."
Steward Lin felt relieved, but then he heard Song Jiyun say, "Whoever's bowl you eat from, you take orders from. Since you're unwilling to take orders from me and to eat from my bowl, I'll not force you."
"Zheng Quan!" she called out loudly, "Drag him to the courtyard and give him fifty strokes first."
Zheng Quan had long harbored a deep hatred for these fence-sitters and was not about to take such talk.
He immediately stepped forward, secured Steward Lin's arms behind him, and began to beat him mercilessly with a stick.
Steward Lin couldn't believe it. After snapping back to reality, he cried out loud, "Miss, spare my life, please!"
Song Jiyun didn't even glance at him as she walked up to the doorstep of the Study room.
The servant boys and servants who had followed Steward Lin all took a few steps back, terrified.
Song Jiyun looked at these faces, both familiar and unfamiliar, her expression colder than ice: "Even dogs know to guard the doors of those who feed them. If you're worse than dogs, there's no point in keeping you."
No one dared to meet her gaze.
The pitiful cries of Steward Lin came from behind her.
And there was a servant boy from the main branch of the family, quietly shuffling to flee.
Song Jiyun gave a cold laugh and said, "Zheng Quan, make sure Steward Lin stays alive enough to be thrown in front of my uncle to ask him whether I can take the chest or not."
*
Song Jiyun's great uncle, Song Daliang, looked down at Steward Lin lying prostrate at his feet, barely hanging onto life, and was so angry that he overturned the entire table of food and drink.
Soup and dishes clattered to the floor everywhere.
He pointed at Zheng Quan furiously and shouted, "What does she want to do? Threaten me? Does she not understand respect for elders and betters anymore?"
Zheng Quan, following Song Jiyun's orders, cracked his knuckles with a snap and said with a gloomy face, "Miss only asked me to inquire whether that chest could be moved or not."
Song Daliang looked at Zheng Quan's large hands like palm-leaf fans, then back at Steward Lin who didn't look human anymore, and he shrank back, indignant but fearful, "What will she do if I don't let her?"
"Nothing much," Zheng Quan replied, "Miss said, since there are so many people in the household who can't do their jobs properly, why not sell them all and bring back a few who can pull their weight."
"What does she mean by that?" Song Daliang was stunned.
The indentures of servitude for the maid of the second branch were in their possession. Selling them off wouldn't normally be an issue, as he could then put people from the main branch in their place.
But his younger brother was exceedingly cunning. While he was alive, he never grasped exactly how much property his brother had, let alone now that his brother was gone, and the seal was yet to be found. If all those who served his brother daily were gone, who would he turn to for information about his brother's affairs?
Yet, if he didn't suppress Song Jiyun's arrogant aura... he couldn't swallow his pride.
Song Daliang paced back and forth in the room several times, hands behind his back, consoling himself internally with "Where there are green hills, there's no worry about wood" and "A gentleman's revenge is not too late even if waited for ten years." It took him a while to calm his rage before he said to Zheng Quan, "Tell her, this should not set a precedent!"
Zheng Quan thanked him, yet he didn't leave immediately.
Song Daliang looked at him with surprise.
Zheng Quan said, "Miss mentioned she's still four people short for moving the chest. She has asked the Great Master to send over four strong men."
"What?" Song Daliang exploded in fury.
After muttering to himself in the room for a while, he eventually sent four sturdy servants with Zheng Quan to the Study room with a scowl and an angry huff.