Chapter Seventy-Eight: Identification

Old Madam Xue feared that Sixth Young Master Xie might really strike someone. After all, her darling little girl could hardly stand up to a half-grown boy. She hastily called out, "Eighth Girl, come back. Your grandmother will see justice done for you!"

Xue Fanzhi took victory when she could and knew when to stop. While Xie Sixth Young Master and Madam Xie of the Second Branch were still muddled, she gave a cold snort and returned to Old Madam Xue's side.

After she sat down, Old Madam Xue saw that Madam Xie's face was dark with anger, as though she meant to fight to the death.

Old Madam Xue understood very well that once a matter involved this woman, and with the Xie family's standing besides, if today's affair did not clear the Xue family from suspicion, there would be no peaceful end to it.

At once she said, "Young Master Xie, it is not that my Xue family are thin-skinned and unable to endure slander. The question is whether you have any real proof at all. If you do not, then you may as well admit at once that you came with ill intent. You barged into the inner quarters of our Third Branch, and that is plain for all to see. Even if this were taken to court, I doubt anyone would believe you."

By now Sixth Young Master Xie had been cowed by Xue Fanzhi's slap and no longer dared accuse people recklessly. He knew as well that if he wanted to clear his own name, he would have to produce genuine proof.

But the message from Fifth Miss Xue had been delivered only by word of mouth; not a single written trace remained. The blame lay only in his having underestimated a woman's cunning and malice.

Having been deceived by a young girl and beaten by an old woman, Sixth Young Master Xie had already developed a shadow over his heart. In his mind, women were no good at all. From that day on, he truly was not as fixated on them as before, and in some measure he kept his distance.

Of course, that was all for later.

At present, Sixth Young Master Xie was still trying to extricate himself. Now that he had his mother to back him, he was no longer quite so afraid even of being beaten. Instead, a surge of anger rose in his chest, and it gave his words a certain force.

"Old Madam," he said, "would you dare let me identify the servants in your household?"

This was somewhat troublesome. After all, the Xue family shared one compound among five branches, and there were at least three dozen servants. Gathering them all together was no small task.

But their opponent was the Xie family. Old Madam Xue also wanted to settle the matter quickly, and letting Sixth Young Master Xie identify the man seemed the best course.

Her face stiffened. "However, let me speak plainly in advance. If there is no such person at all and you are merely biting at random, then do not blame me for showing no mercy."

Madam Xie of the Second Branch gave a jolt in her heart. Instinct told her that her son probably would not be able to find the person. Yet this was exactly what Old Madam Xue had said: she had planned to have her son point out someone reliable, and the other side had actually said it first.

Yet Sixth Young Master Xie believed that as long as the person was there, he would certainly be able to recognize him.

He nodded in agreement, but Old Madam Xue still did not trust the character of either him or Madam Xie. She made Sixth Young Master Xie swear that if he pointed carelessly, he would die a miserable death, struck down by five thunderbolts from heaven.

In those days, people were still rather superstitious, and such oaths were not spoken lightly.

At first Sixth Young Master Xie refused to agree. Later, after some haggling, he insisted that Old Madam Xue must also swear: if he did identify the man, she would not be allowed to go back on her word, and if she did, then she too would suffer a thousand arrows through the heart and be torn apart by five horses.

Old Madam Xue was old and could not bear such words, but for the sake of fairness she still took the oath, ignoring the objections of the Xue family.

After both sides had sworn, Old Madam Xue sent Aunt Qin to summon all the servants of the five branches together to the second gate.

Meanwhile, the people in the house prepared to go to the second gate to have the identification made.

Those from Old Madam Xue's quarters, those from the Third Branch, and the mother and son of the Xie family numbered more than thirty in all. The whole group surged out of Old Madam Xue's courtyard in a grand procession.

Xue Fanzhi walked beside Old Madam Xue and glanced at the mother and son of the Xie family not far away, both of them dark-faced. She thought to herself that this was really a matter of conscience. In the final analysis, an oath was an empty thing. What if neither side cared about the oath at all and simply lied in pursuit of its own interests?

Of course, she had a plan for that too. Heh!

... ...

About half an hour later, Nurse Jiang had finally gathered all the servants of the Xue household. Excluding those who had gone out with their masters, nearly everyone was there, a total of thirty-seven men.

They stood in an open space before the second gate, the place where Madam Zhang handled the household affairs and distributed tokens each day. They were arranged in five or six rows, ready for Sixth Young Master Xie to identify the one he claimed had delivered the message.

Sixth Young Master Xie looked them over twice. Frowning, he returned to the second gate.

Seeing his expression turn bad, Madam Xie felt her heart sink. "How is it?"

Sixth Young Master Xie shook his head, then looked at Old Madam Xue. "These are all the servants your house has? There must still be some who have not come!"

Old Madam Xue and Xue Fanzhi were standing in the middle of the second gate. Hearing this, Old Madam Xue felt a great weight lift from her chest. So the boy had not lied and pointed at someone at random; that spared them a great deal of trouble.

As for the servants not yet arrived, she believed Fifth Miss would never do such a thing, so she had not secretly asked her to prepare a backup plan. She had simply sent everyone over.

"These are all of them," Old Madam Xue said. "The rest left early with the old general and could not possibly have sent you any message."

Sixth Young Master Xie knit his brows tightly.

Madam Xie was nearly frantic. She wanted Sixth Young Master Xie to point to someone at random. In a place where others could not see, she kept signaling to him again and again, but she had underestimated his superstition far too much.

The reigning emperor was a devotee of Buddhism, and that had led a great many people to follow suit. The number of temples in the realm was no exaggeration. Sixth Young Master Xie was one of those believers. Buddhism taught rebirth and taught the sanctity of oaths; since he had sworn, how could he dare break it?

With a dark face, he ignored Madam Xie and said to Old Madam Xue without the least courtesy, "Someone did send me a message. You have hidden him away!"

She was only a junior before him, but Old Madam Xue was broad-minded and not yet angry merely because of his rudeness.

Nevertheless, she said with dignity, "If Young Master insists on saying such things, then this matter will never be made clear. But you should understand in your heart as well that if someone truly did send you a message, it was most likely a servant from the Third Branch. You may say that the Second Branch took several servants out with them, but the Third Branch's servants are all here, and there is certainly no one you are looking for."

"If you still do not believe it, then wait. There are three brothers in the Third Branch, and since they are all away from home at present, only those few who attend them had servants assigned. Wait until they return and look again to see whether the person you seek is among them."

To put it plainly, servants were there to attend to the young masters, while young ladies were served by maids. There was no way Fifth Miss Xue would have sent a message through a servant anyway. Setting aside the inconvenience, how could a young lady let a servant know her private business? What if someone seized upon it and used it as leverage against her?

In truth, Sixth Young Master Xie could understand all of this too. But someone really had sent him a message. Who, then? Who wanted to harm him?

He thought in silence, his face growing darker by the moment, but that only proved that he had no evidence to offer.

And since he could produce no proof, Madam Xie had no way to hurl accusations at anyone. How could Madam Xie possibly let the matter rest?

She blurted out, "Sixth Son, this Xue household is nothing but a den of filth, full of people who ruin young masters for the sake of climbing into high places. Come away with your mother at once and leave this place, lest they slander you!"