Volume One, Chapter Seven: Serving While Intoxicated
Within Qi Jinshan, reason and impulse waged a silent battle, revealing a restrained but fierce anger beneath.
Seeing him sit motionless, Xie Mingyue calmed herself somewhat.
“Here, while it’s still warm.”
She held a spoon, scooping a ladle of medicine, and even dripped a drop onto the back of her hand to test the temperature.
Looking at her gentle, downcast gaze, the harshness in Qi Jinshan’s heart suddenly softened considerably.
“I’ll take it myself.”
He took the bowl without care for the bitterness or the boiling broth, swallowing it in one go.
Xie Mingyue, accustomed to the delicate ways of the Xie household, couldn’t help but say, “You can’t drink it like that. The medicine is too hot; be careful not to burn your throat.”
The bitterness spread across Qi Jinshan’s mouth, red veins appearing in his eyes as he looked at her deeply.
Xie Mingyue felt a chill under his gaze and quickly explained, “You’re this drunk, so I just wanted to check on you. What’s so strange about that? Why do you have to stare at me like that all the time?”
Qi Jinshan sneered coldly, “In the past, I drank until I coughed up blood, yet I never saw a shadow of you then.”
Xie Mingyue’s eyes widened in surprise.
Who else dared to drink until they coughed up blood but Qi Jinshan?
“Surprised?” He lowered his eyebrows. “I wasn’t born an official, you know.”
He had returned to the household only in his teens, rising from a mere illegitimate son to his current position through countless trials and hardships.
Xie Mingyue thought of this and felt a pang of compassion.
After all, they were husband and wife; their fortunes were intertwined. Even if she wished not to become a widow, she had to urge him to take care of himself.
“Next time before a banquet, drink a bowl of antidote soup before drinking. It won’t be so unbearable.”
She silently stepped before Qi Jinshan and, thinking he hadn’t truly hurt her, couldn’t help but explain, “You moved too violently just now. I was scared for a moment. Don’t do that again.”
A flicker of surprise crossed Qi Jinshan’s eyes as he reached out to her.
“Next time?” Seeing her obediently offer her hand, he immediately grasped it gently but no longer pulled, “I won’t do that now.”
Xie Mingyue was bewildered but was drawn into his embrace.
Calculating the time and still intent on probing, she let him hold her hand, trying to steer the conversation.
“You…”
She barely started when Qi Jinshan staggered slightly. In the blink of an eye, he furrowed his brow and pressed his palm to his forehead in discomfort.
“What’s wrong?”
She hurriedly withdrew her hand. The empty palm chilled his heart as well.
“Is it a headache from the wine? You should rest immediately.”
---
Looking at the spreading bloodshot veins in his eyes, Xie Mingyue’s heart softened.
Official duties and banquets were exhausting. She momentarily regretted including Qi Jinshan in her plans; after all, he had already handled a messy affair in the backyard for her today. Dealing with the Yun family was her burden alone.
“Come, I’ll help you to bed.”
Xie Mingyue reached out to support him from behind, but Qi Jinshan pulled her into his arms, pressing heavily against her shoulder.
“Please help me to bed, my lady.”
The man’s slightly intoxicated voice whispered in her ear, softening her resolve. She found herself carrying him into the inner chamber.
She had come to extract information, yet somehow ended up tending to him.
She pressed her lips together. “Qi Jinshan, why did you back then…”
Before she could finish, Wutong’s voice called out from outside the door.
“Madam, Nurse Li and Nurse Huang are restless.”
Startled, Xie Mingyue knew this meant the informants she had assigned to watch were stirring trouble.
“Quick, lie down. There’s something to handle in the courtyard.”
She tried to lay Qi Jinshan on the bed, but his eyes suddenly cleared.
“What’s this unrest?”
He discarded his drunken demeanor, straightened his clothes, standing tall like a crane.
“You’re not drunk?”
Xie Mingyue froze, then realized—it had all been an act!
She had foolishly supported him all this time, and on this stretch in the room, he had pressed himself so firmly against her; she was sure he’d taken advantage of her.
“You deceived me!”
She glared at Qi Jinshan with clenched teeth, thinking her earlier softness was a joke. Tonight she would make him pay for the deception.
“I was drunk, but as soon as I heard there was trouble in your courtyard, I was already eighty percent sober.”
A smile flashed in Qi Jinshan’s eyes as Yu Jiang draped a cloak over him and led the way toward her residence at Qionghua Courtyard.
Xie Mingyue gritted her teeth and followed closely.
Wutong draped a shawl over her shoulders, whispering, “Did those two really act out?”
Wutong nodded. “I arrived after just one incense stick had burned. I heard Nurse Li and Nurse Huang inside your room plotting to steal that bracelet. If we rush in, we’ll catch them red-handed.”
When they reached Qionghua Courtyard, a maid who had been sneaking glances around darted away like a startled hare upon seeing them.
This was one of the maids who played cards in the small kitchen during the day.
“Master and Madam are here—where are you running?”
Wutong stepped forward, coldly ordering the maid to stop. Qi Jinshan raised an eyebrow at the scene.
---
“This is unacceptable behavior. Detain her.”
He knew Xie Mingyue didn’t manage household affairs, so he hadn’t objected to the Yun family placing servants with her. But he hadn’t expected her attendants to be so unruly.
Suddenly, a flame of anger fueled by the wine rose in Qi Jinshan’s heart, his expression darkening.
Xie Mingyue watched, a faint smile curling her lips.
She hoped his expression toward the Yun family would be just as stern.
The maid was about to cry out, but Yu Jiang and others came up silently, covering her mouth and dragging her away without a sound.
Xie Mingyue walked straight to the room, where a dim lamp glowed inside. She lifted her chin, and Wutong pushed open the door forcefully.
Nurses Huang and Li turned in panic but relaxed upon seeing Xie Mingyue standing at the threshold.
“Where have you been, madam? You returned without a word, frightening this old servant,” Nurse Li said, clutching her chest, face sullen.
“Is this how you speak to madam?”
Qi Jinshan stepped out from behind Xie Mingyue, causing the two old nurses’ faces to change immediately.
“Master is here? Please sit, I’ll get some tea right away.”
“Stop right there. Are you servants of madam’s courtyard or mine?” Qi Jinshan’s face was stern. “Madam enters and is questioned instead of served, while the servants of the Marquis of Shunqing’s residence behave with such disrespect.”
Xie Mingyue smiled faintly. “Nurses were carefully chosen by my mother. How could they be disrespectful? Mother just gave me a pomegranate bracelet today, yet her people act so recklessly, making me lose face before my husband. Perhaps I should return both the bracelet and the servants.”
She wanted Qi Jinshan to see clearly how her mother’s people ran rampant in her courtyard, treating her with such disdain.
Nurse Li broke out in a cold sweat. “Madam, please calm down. I meant no disrespect. I was merely startled…”
“Where is the bracelet?” Xie Mingyue interrupted.
Nurse Li’s eyes darted nervously. Wutong stepped forward with a cold sneer.
“I asked where the bracelet is. Is it so hard to answer?”
Nurse Li instinctively clutched her chest, stammering, “I had it on me, about to place it in the treasure cabinet when madam and master arrived.”
Wutong suddenly reached into her chest, pulling out the bracelet from Nurse Li’s bodice.
“You were supposed to put it in the cabinet this afternoon. Why is it on you now? This is clearly theft!”
She collapsed to her knees before Qi Jinshan.
“Master, please see clearly. Since madam’s illness, the courtyard has been somewhat neglected. This vile servant even dared to steal the bracelet given by the old madam. We don’t know how many other betrayals she has committed. Please, master, vindicate our madam.”
Qi Jinshan’s face had grown icily cold. Xie Mingyue, however, smiled.
“Since they are my mother’s people, I won’t discipline them. Let’s send them back and leave them to her.”
Qi Jinshan stood beside her, hands folded behind his back. His voice was grave.
“As long as they are in Qionghua Courtyard, regardless of who sent them, they are madam’s servants. You dared to sully this place with such unclean hands. Send for the old madam immediately.”
He turned to Xie Mingyue, removing his cloak.
“It’s chilly. Madam, don’t catch cold.”