Chapter 30 – No One Will Ever Hurt You Again

“Miss, this servant brewed a fresh pot of tea for you.” Jian Jia carefully placed the newly steeped tea on the table, a little puzzled why the red sandalwood surface looked as though it had just been wiped—still faintly damp.

She thought she had figured out a pattern: every few days, after her miss shut herself in a room alone with Lu Qian for a while, she would act strangely for several days afterward. Today Lu Qian had stayed in her miss’s room quite a long time, so Jian Jia deliberately kept her distance after entering—afraid of getting too close and earning a scolding.

Jiang Xiyue glanced sideways at her from in front of the mirror. She adjusted the casually pinned-up hairstyle and clearly disapproved of Jian Jia’s timid posture: “Who taught you to stand so far away? Get over here and comb my hair!”

The scolding tone was exactly the same as usual. Jian Jia was surprised—had she guessed wrong after all? She quickly responded and moved closer, gathering the loose hair cascading down Jiang Xiyue’s back to begin combing. Then she froze again. Why had her miss’s hairstyle changed? This morning she had clearly pinned it into a “returning-heart” bun, not a round one. Had her miss redone it herself just now?

Jian Jia’s mind was full of questions. As she lifted a strand of hair near Jiang Xiyue’s nape, she suddenly spotted a fingernail mark just barely hidden beneath the collar—like someone had pressed hard and pinched there. Jian Jia’s hand jerked violently; her heart pounded.

She wasn’t as innocent as A-Yao. The placement of that mark was suspicious—it didn’t look like something from a fight. And thinking back to how Lu Qian had just left the room, followed by her miss changing her hairstyle… Jian Jia couldn’t help but feel that whatever was going on between her miss and Lu Qian was probably far more shocking than she had imagined.

Her hands slowed. Jiang Xiyue naturally noticed and shot her a suspicious look through the bronze mirror: “What is it? Something on your mind?”

Jian Jia shivered and quickly came up with an excuse: “Actually, this servant forgot to mention—earlier Ruyi-jie from Madam’s side came twice. She said Madam heard Lu Qian had come to the residence and was worried, so she sent Ruyi-jie to ask what she discussed with Miss. She also wanted to bring Lu Qian over for questioning. But since Miss had ordered no disturbances, this servant sent her back and said we’d report later.”

Jiang Xiyue exploded the moment she heard: “There was something like that? Why didn’t you say so sooner?!”

Jian Jia had been called in to comb hair as soon as she entered—only half a moment had passed. She felt deeply wronged. Yet before she could explain, her miss abandoned the combing entirely, stood up, and stormed out—heading straight to the main courtyard to report in person.

Jian Jia hurried after her, even more confused. Even if she needed to report, there was no need to rush like that. Little did she know her miss wasn’t hurrying to give an account—she was terrified that if she arrived too late, her mother would have already “invited” Lu Qian to the main courtyard.

Jiang Xiyue had just promised to return Lu Qian’s sister. Right now the two sisters were probably only just meeting in the servants’ quarters. She absolutely could not let her mother interfere and ruin everything. If Lu Qian got angry and accused her of breaking her word, the final condition she had fought so hard to secure might be lost.

Jiang Xiyue rushed as fast as she could and managed to intercept Lin Mama on the way to “invite” the guest. Leading her people back to the main courtyard, she threw herself straight into Fang Wanhua’s arms and whined: “Mother, didn’t you promise to let me handle everything concerning Lu Qian myself? Why did you send Lin Mama to drag her over? I won’t have it! You have to keep the promises you made me!”

Fang Wanhua’s heart instantly softened at her precious daughter’s coquettish complaints. She pulled Jiang Xiyue closer and tapped her forehead: “Who do you think all my scheming is for, you little brat? I heard last time at the lake she nearly hit you? Today she has the nerve to set foot in our house—I’m going to ask her exactly who gave her the guts to treat the legitimate daughter of the Duke’s household like that!”

Seeing Fang Wanhua growing angry again, Jiang Xiyue hurriedly soothed: “That’s not true at all. How could that surnamed-Lu possibly hit me? Even if you gave her a hundred times the courage she wouldn’t dare. It was just a quarrel among servants—some cheap little maid must have exaggerated and spread nonsense to you.”

While lying to pacify her mother, Jiang Xiyue secretly ground her teeth. Back then she had been too embarrassed and strictly ordered everyone who witnessed the lakeside incident not to breathe a word inside the residence. Yet somehow her mother still found out. When she got back she would definitely punish those long-tongued women in her courtyard!

Fang Wanhua narrowed her eyes. After years as the household’s matriarch she could easily tell truth from lies. Her daughter was clearly protecting Lu Qian—how could she not see it? But Fang Wanhua was puzzled. According to all the information she had received, Lu Qian and her daughter were supposed to be mortal enemies. So why had her little Xiyue suddenly changed her tune and started covering for her rival?

Fang Wanhua studied Jiang Xiyue from head to toe, wondering what kind of bewitching potion that Lu Qian had fed her.

Jiang Xiyue felt uncomfortable under her mother’s gaze. Feeling guilty, she quickly changed the subject: “Mother, didn’t you want to know what we talked about? Actually, it’s like this—Lu Qian has been searching for her older sister recently, but I got to her first and took her into my hands. She came today to bow her head and beg me for her sister back.”

Speaking of the brilliant move she had made, Jiang Xiyue grew smug again. She tugged her mother’s sleeve, eyes curving with delight: “Guess what? I traded her sister for one condition: from now on, whenever I give her an order she has to carry it out. With that kind of leverage Read on BaiLianTales in my hands, let’s see how that surnamed-Lu dares to defy me anymore.”

Fang Wanhua looked at her beaming, foolish daughter and really wanted to ask: You went to all that trouble just to win one single condition? Shouldn’t you have bargained for more?

But never mind—Fang Wanhua sighed. Her daughter had finally managed to pull off something clever. She couldn’t bear to dampen her spirits. Changing the subject, she said: “In any case, our household is the Duke’s residence. Dealing with a commoner is as easy as crushing an ant. Play as much as you like—but you must promise Mother: come May, you’ll obediently accompany me to Qixia Temple for half a month. Concentrating on Buddhist devotion is far more important than that Lu Qian…”

While Fang Wanhua earnestly instructed her daughter, inside the carriage Lu Qian gently opened her eyes. The swaying vehicle carried her toward the village outside the city. Beside her sat Lu Xuan—eyes red and swollen—watching her with restrained caution.

Lu Qian saw her sister instinctively hunch her shoulders and shrink toward the corner of the carriage. Pain stabbed her heart. She reached out and gently pulled her sister back, soothing softly: “Sister, don’t be afraid. We’re going home—our own home.”

Lu Xuan had just finished crying her heart out. Even now she couldn’t quite believe her years of suffering had truly ended today. She asked timidly: “Thirteenth… the Duke’s household is really willing to remove my slave status? I’m an official slave… the Xu family committed such terrible crimes… My heart still can’t settle…”

Lu Qian wrapped her sister’s calloused, trembling hands in her own and spoke firmly: “Not only will they remove your status—everything I promised you will be done, one by one. I’ll bring Ying’er and Qiu’er back. The Xu family will never appear in your lives again. Then we’ll return to live in that little courtyard with the pear tree. In a few days when summer comes, I’ll take you to have new clothes made, and we’ll buy beautiful hairpins. The whole family will go out together—stroll the streets, visit temple fairs. The tofu at Qixia Temple is delicious. In autumn we’ll sit under the pear tree and watch people harvest the fruit. The village children who used to steal pears have all become fathers now, but their little ones still sneak over to steal them. And in winter… these past two years I invented a new hotpot recipe. Eating it alone with just two or three people never felt satisfying. Now that you and my nieces are here, we can finally gather around a full table. Then when spring comes again, we’ll go to the open fields outside the village and watch kites fill the sky. And when that time arrives…” The hand holding her sister’s—covered in calluses—trembled slightly. Lu Qian met those eyes that had soaked in countless years of bitterness and gave a faint smile: “Sister will finally understand. From now on, you only need to lift your head, straighten your back, and smile. No one will ever be able to hurt you again.”