Proofread by Peter Gong
“Concubine Zhao, sorry to bother you so late. But I need to ask you something. Please sit down.” Ma Tian’en pointed to a chair and Concubine Zhao sat down.
“Concubine Zhao, did you give Dingsi a pot of hibiscus mutabilis which was brought to the small worshiping hall?”
“Childe, are you joking? Dingsi is a gardener. I often ask him for flowers but why do I give him flowers? Hibiscus mutabilis? He once wanted to give me one. But Madam Ma said she liked them after she looked at them so she brought them back. What’s the matter ? Do you want to get a potted flower?” Concubine Zhao said in peace.
“She is lying. Don’t believe her, childe. That potted flower was from her. She also gave me ten taels. I was bewitched at that time so that I believed her. She must be the person who poisoned Madam Ma……” Dingsi shouted with anger for he discovered that Concubine Zhao was concealing the fact.
“Poison? Actually I don’t know what you are talking!” Concubine Zhao looked at Ma Tian’en and said with concern.
“My mother was poisoned. Don’t you hear that?”
“It turns out that Mrs. Ma was poisoned truly. I heard that from servants in the morning. I thought it was a rumor so I scolded them. It was shocking that someone has poisoned Mrs. Ma. Childe, you are supposed to report the case to the local government. I know that Madam Ma doesn’t like me. After all, there is no first wife who like concubines. Although Madam Ma doesn’t like me, there is no need for her to persecute me. I am only a concubine. How dare I poison her? And even though Madam Ma dies, there will be another new first wife and Master Ma won’t make me his first wife. Why do I poison Mrs. Ma? Dingsi, you said that I gave you the flowers. Do you have any evidence?” Concubine Zhao said in peace. Although Dingsi insisted that he was put in the wrong, he could not take out any evidence to justify himself.
Wu Zhong whispered to Ma Tian’en, then Ma Tian’en said with a smile, “Of course I believed Concubine Zhao. But Dingsi told me that, so I had to ask Concubine Zhao to come here. You can go back to sleep now. Be careful not to catch cold.”
Concubine Zhao exchanged usual pleasantries and went back to her room. She didn’t look at Dingsi when she left. Dingsi still cried bitterly and persuaded Ma Tian’en not to be cheated by Concubine Zhao.
“Imprison him in the wood house.” Ma Tian’en looked at Dingsi with disgust. Ashun went to block his mouth and got him out of there.
“Tian’en, what do you think about it?” Though Wu Zhong didn’t say a word just now, he was observing all the time. He found that it was impossible to get any information from concubine Zhao, so he suggested Ma Tian’en put it off until the time came.
“I think Concubine Zhao was too calm.” Ma Tian’en thought about it and said. It seemed that there was no problem in the words of Concubine Zhao, but she was unduly calm. If a person was accused of poisoning, he must be angry. But she didn’t, instead she was explaining in peace.
“That is good. Now you know how to analyze the problem.” Wu Zhong still remembered that when he first came to Ma family, she was an impetuous girl. Although she was very clever, she thought all the things were simple and she was wayward. But just within a year, she already had the ability to lead Ma family. However, when Wu Zhong thought about what she experienced this year, Wu Zhong felt sorry for her.
“Teacher, what’s your opinion?” Ma Tian’en poured a glass water for him. Wu Zhong drank a little and put it on the table.
“In order to find out the truth, we need to investigate these things clearly. Firstly, we need to know if there was the hatred between Mrs. Ma and Concubine Zhao. You once said that Concubine Zhao gave birth to a son who died as soon as it was born. I suspect that this thing has to do with it. We can find the old people in our house or the midwife. Secondly, we got to figure out where the poison was got. Concubine Zhao was merely a concubine. Even though she wanted to poison Mrs. Ma, where did she get the drug? And she was calm all the time. Why does she want to retaliate suddenly? Recently, all the strange things came about together. It may have to do with Guo Qi. It seemed that they attacked Mr. Ma in order to control water transport of grain. But it seemed that they attacked Mrs. Ma for personal hatred. As for Guo Qi, we should keep on investigating him. Even if we should investigate master Ma……” Wu Zhong paused when he referred to Master Ma for he didn’t know how to go on with the conversation.
“You mean we should investigate whether Guo Qi is an illegitimate son of my father. In fact, I already have thought about it. But I dare not to ask my father. I once asked the elders in my family, but they said that my father was well-behaved when he was young and they told me not to suspect without any evidence. Moreover, Ma family was short of a boy. If he had an illegitimate son, he would find him and take him back.” Ma Tian’en said with uncertainly.
“What you said is plausible. There is another possibility that your father really had an illegitimate son but you mother stopped your father from taking him back. So the boy would hate Ma family naturally. But it is just a mere conjecture.” Wu Zhong found that Ma Tian’en was unhappy, so he stop saying.
Ma Tian’en was silent for a moment as if she were thinking. For a few moments, she said, “Mr. Wu. Is a boy really important? Does a boy really mean so much? Though my father loves my mother very much, he still marries a concubine in order to give birth to a son. If my father does have a son outside, he would be happy to have his own son and heir. I am a fake one no matter how much love I get from my father. If my mother really made some mistake in the past, maybe it is because she could not figure out why it’s almost a sin for her to give birth to a girl. She didn’t make any mistake at all, but she had to accept a concubine magnanimously and adopted the son of the concubine. Mrs. Wu, I heard from servant Li that my mother was not like the usual daughter of an eminent family. She grew up by the river and liked to travel. But only after she married my father, did she keep herself locked up in the house as what it looks like now. I am just off my minds. I want to know the truth but I am afraid to know the truth. ”
Wu Zhong didn’t know how to deal with the problem. One thing done by the crowd did not prove its rightness. But few could change the way of the world. But if he fell in love with a girl, he wished that they could be bound in matrimony forever. And he would never break the heart of his wife in the future.
When he thought about this, Wu Zhong whispered, “I know that you have a lot on your mind but don’t worry. I will be here all the time.”
“All the time?” Ma Tian’en repeated these three words and she had a little strange feeling in her mind. To begin with, Wu Zhong felt nothing. But after Ma Tian’en repeated these words, his face grew hot. However, he still said absolutely, “Yes, all the time.”
After Concubine Zhao went back to her room, she closed the door gently. She leaned on the door and shook. She knew certainly that everything would be discovered from the beginning. Although she was safe and sound tonight, maybe she would be caught and thrown into the river to feed the fish tomorrow. She was fearful but not regretful at all. But it was a pity that Mrs. Ma didn’t die. All the lives in the world were equal. Debts should be paid. It had been 20 years. Whenever she closed her eyes, it seemed that she could see her poor dead son. When her son was not born, he was healthy and she could feel that he was moving. When she bore it, she could hear that he was crying. But she was too painful to become unconscious. When she woke up, they told her that he died. They told her that he was dead when he was born. It was impossible. she conceived the baby and it took her nine months before her son was born. It must have been Mrs. Ma who killed her son. But she did not have the evidence. Even though she got the evidence, they wouldn’t not punish Mrs. Ma for a concubine and her poor son. They would put off this thing as if nothing ever happened. Her son was dead when he was born, and even he couldn’t be buried in the graveyard of Ma. He could be the owner of the family but now he was a wondering ghost. That person was right. If the god was unfair, she should fight for the fairness even she would die.