Chapter 31: Slander

Everyone in the room turned their eyes to Madam Liu’s hand, only to see that her entire hand was tinged with a faint bluish hue and was swollen.

“Why are you grabbing me? I’m only following orders. Everything that enters our Tan residence has to be searched thoroughly. Who knows if you might have hidden something dangerous among your belongings?”

Tan Qingjiu released Madam Liu’s arm and called out in a clear voice, “Qingdai, slap her.”

“Yes, miss.” Qingdai stepped forward, lifting her hand and swinging it at Madam Liu.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Madam Liu tried to dodge, but in the next instant, Qingdai grabbed her arm.

Qingdai’s strength was considerable; Madam Liu struggled several times but could not break free, and Qingdai’s grip only tightened. “It hurts, let go—”

Before she could finish, Madam Liu felt a sudden gust of wind, then a sharp crack sounded, and her cheek burned with pain.

She raised her free hand to cover the stinging side of her face, eyes filled with disbelief. “You hit me?”

Tan Qingjiu’s lips curled in a cold sneer. “Yes, you. Qingdai, tell her why she was struck.”

“As a servant of the household, you dare address your mistress so rudely, without a shred of respect. Such insolence deserves punishment.”

Madam Liu’s mouth opened, but then she noticed the steward fixedly watching her. She bit her lip and held her tongue.

She had been too careless.

Never had she expected that this wretched girl, Tan Qingjiu, would suddenly become so unyielding.

But Tan Qingjiu had already stepped in front of her again. “Just now, you claimed you were only following orders, searching my belongings on someone’s instructions? Whose orders were you following?”

“It was the Madam’s,” Madam Liu replied, straightening her back.

Tan Qingjiu only laughed coldly. “Qingdai.”

“Yes, miss.”

Before Madam Liu could react, the other side of her face suffered another hard slap.

The pain brought tears to Madam Liu’s eyes, but she merely glared at Tan Qingjiu.

“Are you wondering why you were hit this time?” Tan Qingjiu asked, her voice icy. “Because you spewed nonsense, slandering the Madam by claiming she ordered you to ransack my things.”

Slander?

Madam Liu opened her mouth, about to defend herself, but a voice sounded from outside the door—Chen Yueru’s: “I heard that as soon as Qingjiu returned home, she lost her temper. Has something happened?”

Tan Qingjiu looked up as the richly adorned Madam entered, a mocking smile playing on her lips. What perfect timing.

She noticed that at the sound of Chen Yueru’s voice, Madam Liu visibly relaxed, as if believing her savior had arrived.

“Second Miss flew into a rage when she saw her things had been touched, and questioned me. I said I was acting on the Madam’s orders, checking everything brought into the residence. But Second Miss, without asking for the facts, struck me and accused me of slandering the Madam,” Madam Liu wailed. “I am wronged… I truly don’t know what I did or said wrong…”

“Oh?” Chen Yueru looked toward Tan Qingjiu. “Qingjiu, is this true?”

Tan Qingjiu nodded. “I did hit her, but she did indeed slander you, Madam. Before I even entered the house, she took it upon herself to open what I brought, even rifling through my medicinal herbs, all while claiming it was under your command.”

Chen Yueru looked at Tan Qingjiu in suspicion. What was so wrong about ordering a servant to inspect incoming items? That was perfectly reasonable.

She was pondering this when Tan Qingjiu continued, “As the lady of the Tan household, you must be a woman of principle and skill, to be worthy of such a title. A woman of principle would never instruct a servant to pry into the belongings of the mistress in her absence. To touch or take another’s things without permission is theft, whether or not it is called by that name.”

“Even if there was a need to check my belongings for anything improper or dangerous, your conduct would be open and aboveboard, done in my presence—not like Madam Liu, sneaking about in secret.”

“Madam Liu, acting in secret and blaming it on you, is that not slander? If word of this got out and the other noble families heard and believed it, who knows what ridicule they would heap upon you behind your back?”

Chen Yueru’s expression changed abruptly.

She had come from humble origins, securing Lord Tan’s favor only through considerable effort, and after the death of Tan Qingjiu’s birth mother, she was officially elevated to wife. Though she had held that position for years and worked hard to learn and act as a true lady of the house, some things ingrained in her nature were hard to change.

When she first became the official wife, she had no idea how to handle the household or interact with the noble ladies, and made more than a few embarrassing mistakes.

They all laughed at her, saying that even if a crow perched atop a high branch, it remained a crow and could never become a phoenix. They mocked her for her vulgar manners, lacking even a trace of a noblewoman’s grace.

Though she had frantically imitated the speech and behavior of true ladies these past years, there were always whispers behind her back.

And so, upon hearing Tan Qingjiu’s words, she could immediately imagine how the other noble wives would laugh at her if this matter spread—saying she was petty and cruel to her stepdaughter, still harboring the habits of a concubine even after becoming the official wife.

The thought of those women’s sneering faces made her grit her teeth in hatred.

She absolutely could not admit to having ordered this.

Chen Yueru looked at Madam Liu, who was watching her with desperate hope, then lowered her gaze. “I never instructed Madam Liu to do any such thing.”

“Madam!” Madam Liu stared at her in disbelief.

She had thought Chen Yueru would protect her, but now Chen Yueru flatly denied it.

Chen Yueru pressed her lips together, straightened her back, and turned to Tan Qingjiu with a gentle smile. “I’m sorry Qingjiu was wronged. This troublesome old servant acted on her own and spoke nonsense. Take her out and give her twenty slaps.”

“Yes, Madam.”

The servants rushed forward, dragging Madam Liu away.

“Madam, I truly was only following your orders! You can’t do this to me!”

Chen Yueru seethed inwardly. Could this Madam Liu not see what was in front of her?

Forcing a smile, Chen Yueru looked at Tan Qingjiu. “This troublesome old servant must have grown too bold over the years, relying on her seniority to act recklessly. She speaks nonsense—surely you wouldn’t believe a word she says, would you, Qingjiu?”