Chapter 99

Chapter 99 Xie Run: "As long as you don't commit crimes or harm others, I will protect you and ensure you live out your days in peace." Xie Run said softly, "But beyond that, I don't have the ability to do more." Concubine Lu knelt on the ground and earnestly kowtowed three times to Xie Run. With reddened eyes, she said, "Though I may be foolish, I would never dare to harbor thoughts of harming others!" "Ju Zi used her own life to beg for your protection on my behalf—how could I ever betray the sincerity she showed me?" Xie Run looked at her like this and felt a trace of pity arise. "You and Ju Zi share a deep bond." Concubine Lu lowered her head, afraid her tears would spill over despite her efforts. After a moment, she said in a hoarse voice, "One winter, I was struck by the cold and fell so ill I couldn't rise from bed. She was the one who took care of my old mother the whole time." "Even my mother's funeral arrangements—she was the one who helped manage everything." "This debt of gratitude, I can never repay in this lifetime." Xie Run understood somewhat. "So later, when her mother fell ill, you kept helping to look after her. Even after becoming a concubine, you tried every way to have her transferred to serve by your side." "You two truly supported each other with loyalty and righteousness. But Ju Zi betrayed her master twice—her reputation really isn't good..." Hearing this, Concubine Lu suddenly raised her head and asked abruptly. "Concubine Xie, do you think a servant must be loyal to their master for life? No matter what kind of person the master is?" "Is it delusional for a servant to want to become a master? Is it ingratitude and betrayal?" Xie Run was taken aback. Concubine Lu's words, in ancient times, would be considered outright treasonous. Once a servant sold herself, even her life belonged to her master—of course she had to be loyal to her master for life. This was something that didn't even need to be asked. For a servant to want to become a master was even more audacious. Concubine Lu's thinking was truly bold. Xie Run was stunned for a moment, then a faint smile curled at her lips. She shook her head. "Of course not!" "The ancients themselves said that wise ministers choose good lords to serve. Among servants, who wouldn't want to follow a good master?" Xie Run said, "There's no reason that just because a master is weak and incompetent, the servant must suffer hardship and bullying for a lifetime alongside her." "Those unwilling to endure suffering—are they disloyal? If that's the standard, then how many in this entire Prince's mansion are truly loyal?" Tears glistened in Concubine Lu's eyes as she looked at Xie Run with great agitation. Concubine Lu hadn't expected Xie Run to truly understand her! Xie Run continued, "As for servants wanting to become masters..." "Concubines want to become Concubine Consorts, Concubine Consorts want to become Side Consorts, and beyond that—who doesn't want to climb higher?" "Why is it that when a servant wants to become a concubine, it's called delusional?" "But the label of 'betraying one's master and forgetting kindness' is too heavy a weight to place on a person." Xie Run sighed. "Yet when I think about it carefully—if you don't want to be a servant for life, there really doesn't seem to be a better path for you." At that moment, it was as if Concubine Lu's heart had been struck. Beyond her astonishment was boundless emotion, her body trembling faintly. Someone actually could truly put herself in her shoes—understand her situation, her helplessness, and her desperation. Tears fell like beads from a broken string—silent, yet heavy with meaning. Concubine Lu laughed through her tears. "Thank you for understanding, Concubine Xie. At that time... I truly had no other choice!" That one phrase—"no other choice"—said everything about the grievance and helplessness of being misunderstood and scorned. Xie Run was moved as well, her emotions stirred. "Though I haven't had much contact with you, I know you're not a fool." "As long as you don't harbor harmful intentions in this mansion, the Princess Consort will allow you to live out your remaining years in peace." Concubine Lu lowered her eyes, her tone quite candid. "Your kind words are well received, Concubine Xie. I know what's good for me, and I've never dared to harbor thoughts of harming others." "In this mansion, the Prince and Princess Consort see everything clearly. The more someone stirs up trouble, the faster they meet their end." Xie Run was slightly startled. But thinking it over, it really did seem to be true. When Concubine Ning was Side Consort, with two sons in her hands, she was utterly glorious. But from the moment she conceived harmful intentions, one wrong step led to another, until she ended up nearly without even a coffin. Concubine Han was the same. She held Concubine Ning's connections and had considerable schemes in mind—if she hadn't been so eager for quick results and resorted to all sorts of harmful tricks, how could she have fallen to where she is today? If Concubine Han had planned slowly and bided her time for the future, no one would have had a better life than her. For a moment, Xie Run and Concubine Lu looked at each other, both feeling a sense of melancholy. Concubine Lu had cried, and her makeup was slightly smudged. Dantao brought a basin of water for her to wash her face, then reapplied her makeup. After all the talking, her spirits had improved considerably. Lüzhi and Hongxi brought out the Da Hong Pao and Laojunmei tea. Xie Run didn't dare drink too much tea—she only inhaled the fragrance. With the charcoal brazier warming the room, a fresh aroma filled the air. Concubine Lu took a sip of tea; its fragrance spread through her mouth, leaving a lingering sweetness. She suddenly spoke: "I have never felt that Concubine An has done me any kindness." As she said this, she held her neck straight, with a hint of stubbornness. Xie Run listened with a smile, waiting for what she would say next. Concubine Lu said in a low voice, "I did not grow up serving Concubine An since childhood. I was merely assigned by the Princess Consort to attend to Concubine An." "I was once utterly loyal to her." "When she was bullied, I stood up for her. When her days were hard, I did everything I could to smooth things over for her." Speaking of the past, only a chill remained in Concubine Lu's voice. "But she was too useless." Those words held all of Concubine Lu's dissatisfaction and anger toward Concubine An, along with a deep disappointment and disgust. "When others slapped her left cheek, she would eagerly offer her right cheek, thinking only of keeping the peace." "Those around her protected her, yet when trouble came, she only knew how to hide, pushing her servants forward to take the fall." Xie Run sighed. "A mistress and a servant are of different standing to begin with. I imagine you suffered no small amount of bullying when you were her maidservant, weren't you?" Concubine Lu looked up at Xie Run in surprise, then gave a self-deprecating smile. "It seems everyone in the Prince's household knows the truth." "It's only because I was born a maidservant and became a concubine of the Prince's household that they insist on accusing me of climbing into the master's bed, just to look down on me." "That way, I'm made to feel inferior to them for no reason at all." After exchanging a few words with Xie Run, Concubine Lu saw the people and affairs of this household with even greater clarity. Concubine Lu said, "I'm not afraid of being bullied. What I can't stand is the spinelessness of my own people." The steam from the teacup rose, stinging Concubine Lu's eyes. Her memory was pulled back to the beginning. "Back then, she and Concubine Liu entered the household at the same time, and they were of the same standing." "That Concubine Liu was even worse off than her—just the daughter of a butcher—yet she bullied Concubine An so badly that she didn't dare speak a single loud word." "When I stood up for her, Concubine Liu bore a grudge against me and forced me to lie on the frozen ground in winter, reenacting the tale of lying on ice to catch carp." "In the dead of winter, even the cold wind alone made one's bones tremble. Had anything gone wrong, I might have lost my life." Xie Run was taken aback. "But both were concubines—how could Concubine Liu have authority over Concubine An's people? If Concubine An had refused, wouldn't the matter have fallen through?" Concubine Lu gave a mocking smile. "She said at the time, 'Concubine Liu was only making a joke. She surely won't truly harm my life. Go and come back quickly—at least let her vent her anger first.'" Even Xie Run, merely a bystander, felt a chill in her heart at these words. Now Xie Run understood why Concubine Lu despised Concubine An for being so useless. This was more than uselessness. It was another form of cold-hearted cruelty, merely wrapped in a shell of cowardice so that the world would accept it.