Chapter 57.2: Move Aside, Bad Green Plum

The front and back courtyards of Song fu were both brightly lit. The maids and menservants all stood with decorum at either side of the pathway, causing Master Lin and Madam Lin to feel a bit apprehensive as they walked in.

Madam Lin knitted her brows as she silently pondered. Could it be that their daughter actually broke the Song family's daughter-in-law's hand? No matter how it was put, she was still a member of the government official's family. Things were probably ruined this time.

Thick solid candles lit up the hall, making it even brighter than daylight. Song Liangzhuo was still being obstructed from meeting with Xiaoqi, so he didn't know why such large forces were mustered at all.

Master Lin took the lead and entered the hall first. Seeing Zixiao and Song Liangzhuo standing inside, he gave a humph, "Wonder what matter this is that caused Son-in-Law to send someone to pound on my door in the middle of the night?"

Song Liangzhuo knitted his brows, displeased, then turned around and walked to the side without replying.

Master Lin saw Zixiao's bandaged hand and cried in alarm: "What is this? Who was it that had such great guts to injure you?"

Tears welled up in Zixiao's eyes as she gently shook her head, "Dad, it was daughter that wasn't careful, it had nothing to do with Xiaoqi meimei."T/N

Master Lin was just about to vituperate when Mother Song gave a heavy humph first and walked in pulling the Xiaoqi who had both hands bandaged up to her arms.

The moment Xiaoqi walked in, a dense smell of medicine was carried in with her, alarming Song Liangzhuo to the point his heart tightened. Earlier, the evening light was dim so he didn't see any injuries on her, but from the looks of this, her injuries weren't light.

Song Liangzhuo looked towards Xiaoqi's face disbelievingly. Xiaoqi's entire face was swollen and her swollen lips were still flattened grievously. When she saw Song Liangzhuo, the corners of her mouth turned down and tears started falling once again.

Song Liangzhuo felt a pang in his heart and his steps involuntarily shifted towards her.

Xiaoqi flattened her lips as she dodged backwards, causing Song Liangzhuo's pained heart to also contract uncomfortably. Song Liangzhuo reached out and spoke with a gentleness that seemed worried about startling Xiaoqi, "Come over here, where did you get hurt?"

Xiaoqi's swollen eyes were also filled with drops of glistening tears. She glanced left and right. When she saw Zixiao, her body abruptly stiffened and then trembled as if she received a huge fright.

Mother Song closed her eyes, satisfied. She waited until Song Liangzhuo carefully pulled Xiaoqi into his arms and brought her to the side before starting to speak: "It sure is difficult to invite Master Lin and Madam Lin. Right now it seems to almost be midnight. Master and Madam Lin sure have given our family a good wait."

Master Lin humphed, "In-laws family's mother's words are strange. And so, what matter was it that led in-laws family's mother to send someone to pound on the Lin family's door in the middle of the night?"

Mother Song gave a humph then walked to the master seat and sat down. She didn't hurry to speak but lifted the tea and gently swept it with the lid for a moment before lifting her eyes to shoot a glance at Zixiao and speaking coldly: "It seems Master Lin and Madam Lin didn't see. My family's daughter-in-law's hands were almost crippled, and this was all brought about by the Lin family's daughter's remarkable ability."

Zixiao looked at the two arms Xiaoqi held extended straight out with shock. Her mouth opened speechlessly, but in the end, she sensibly chose to cover her mouth and start weeping.

Madam Lin walked over to pulled Zixiao into her arms, then angrily said: "In-laws family's mother"

"Hm?" Mother Song put down the teacup and said: "Hold on, Madam Lin. As long as our Song family hasn't relented, our two families are still not in-laws. Madam Lin has always been highly principled; I expect Madam Lin wouldn't be as unreasonable as Master Lin, right?!"

Madam Lin's embarrassed face was flushed red. She bit her lips as she said: "My family's daughter isn't that type of person. It couldn't be that Madam Song thought my family's daughter seemed easy to bully and purposefully made up an accusation in order to kick her out?!"

Mother Song didn't continue to argue but lifted her chin and said: "Does Lady Lin have anything to say?"

Zixiao couldn't quite get a grasp of the situation. Glancing at Xiaoqi and the Song Liangzhuo that had kept his head lowered looking at Xiaoqi this entire time, Zixiao swallowed and didn't know quite where to begin speaking.

"Zixiao, if there's anything then you should just speak. Dad and your mom will support you." Master Lin said loudly.

Mother Song gave a light scoff, then lowered her eyes as she stroked the teacup in her hand.

Zixiao's lips trembled as she said while crying: "Last night at dinner, while Second Older Brother was talking about matters with Aunt Xue and Uncle Song, Zixiao had a maid bring hot tea. Zixiao thought that if there's something to be had, Xiaoqi meimei should have it first, so Zixiao had the maid carry the tea to Xiaoqi meimei. Who knew, who knew, wuu~~ Perhaps Xiaoqi meimei doesn't like Zixiao, she actually splashed the hot tea all over Zixiao's hand. Dad, Mom, Zixiao, wuu, feels wronged ah~~ Xiaoqi meimei even, even splashed a plate of food on Zixiao. Aunt Xue, Aunt Xue and them, they"

Zixiao cried to the point she had to gasp for breath. A hand that was wrapped into a zongzi(type of food, imagery) was lightly lifted to cover her mouth. Her appearance was extremely pitiable.

Master Lin was just about to start interrogating when Mother Song flung the teacup in her hand onto the floor. Xiaoqi was startled and trembled a moment before turning to look towards Mother Song. Seeing her displeased face, she felt momentarily helpless. Zixiao's crying also came to a spontaneous end. As she looked at Mother Song, for a moment her expression turned panicked.

The arm Song Liangzhuo had wrapped around Xiaoqi hadn't loosened this entire time. He didn't pay attention to what the two people at the side were arguing about at all. His entire sight and heart were focused on the Xiaoqi that had cried into a swollen little doll. Song Liangzhuo saw her body turn rigid before she turned her head away again. She seemed to still bear grudges regarding that hit of his. Song Liangzhuo didn't care about the people around them anymore. He couldnt help but lower his head to gently press it against her cheek as he said, "Don't cry anymore. I was wrong, I won't be like this anymore."

Xiaoqi lifted her eyes to look at Song Liangzhuo. Her lips flattened and her tears fell again, causing the already swollen eyes to hurt to the point she couldn't open them. Xiaoqi sniffled a word, "Hurts."

Song Liangzhuo's heart ached and he wanted to stroke those two gauze-bandaged arms but he also didn't dare to touch them, so he could only hug Xiaoqi tighter. He drew her into his arms until her cheek was against his chest and gently patted her.

Mother Song's smash of the teacup got Master Lin to shut up and Madam Lin also looked nervously at Mother Song, a bit helpless.

When all was said and done, Mother Song's aura was powerful. With just a sweep of her bright eyes, it caused all the maids in the hall to kneel down with thuds.

Qiu Tong pointed towards one of the kneeling little maids and said: "Xiao Hong, the Song fu doesn't raise things that eat inside but still dig outside. Now recount the entire sequence of events clearly. If there's a single mistake then don't think of working for a living in Song fu anymore."

The maid addressed as Xiao Hong was precisely the one that had carried the tea. At this time, she had already shifted forward a couple steps while kneeling and repeatedly kowtowed as she said: "Madam is wise and clear-sighted. It wasn't this servant that spilled the tea onto Young Madam's hand, this servant only handed the tea to Young Madam after hearing what Lady Lin said."

Mother Song gave a humph, then said coldly: "Slowly recount everything to the Lin family, don't leave out any details."

Xiao Hong wiped her tears as she said: "This servant only carried the tea over after being told to do so by Ke Xiang. This servant carried the tea to Lady Lin as instructed, but Lady Lin had this servant carry the tea to Young Madam. Young Madam didn't seem to know what was going on either. She didn't say anything and directly reached out to take it. At the same time that she reached over, Lady Lin also stretched her hand over. This servant, all this servant saw was that Lady Lin's hand moved and then, then that tea just overturned. This servant deserves to die, this servant wasn't purposefully trying to burn Young Madam."

"Ke Xiang, why did you use boiling water to steep the tea? Humph, I sure don't recall the fu having this custom!" Mother Song gave a light humph.

Ke Xiang knelt quietly behind Xiao Hong with her eyes lowered as she said: "Replying Madam, it was Lady Lin that had this servant prepare it like that. Lady Lin said that her stomach felt uncomfortable lately, so she wanted to have a cup of Pu'er tea during the meal to warm her stomach and specifically asked for boiling water to be used to prepare it. As soon as this servant prepared the tea, this servant had Xiao Hong bring it up."

Mother Song gave a scornful laugh, "After a few years of not seeing Lady Lin, unexpectedly Lady Lin has acquired such ability. Master Lin, from the start Lady Lin had no relationship with the Song family. Although my daughter-in-law's hand is quite severely injured, luckily it's not ruined. Looking upon the fact that our two families still have some friendly relationship, Master Lin should just lead Lady Lin home to take care of this yourself."

Zixiao cried a laugh and with a yank, ripped off the gauze on her hand. Because her movement was rough, the skin on the blisters was pulled off. Zixiao cried as she spoke: "Aunt Xue, acting like this is just saying blind words with your eyes wide open. From the start, it was Xiaoqi meimei that injured Zixiao. How did the blame get pushed onto Zixiao instead? Ha, Xiaoqi meimei's arms are sure wrapped up nicely, really don't know what exactly is wrapped underneath it."

Mother Song also gave a laugh, then waved her hand to have Dong Mei lead the doctor in. The doctor looked at Mother Song, then turned to look at Zixiao and nodded, "Scalded injuries indeed shouldn't be wrapped up, it's best if this lady allows this injury to dry in the air. In a moment lao fu* will help lady apply some ointment."

Pretty much 'this old man'. It's used by respected men past the age of seventy to refer to themselves.

Zixiao hooked the corners of her mouth, then immediately pressed her face grievously onto Madam Lin's shoulder and started softly sobbing again.

Master Lin sneered, "Madam Song sure can say blind words decisively. Didn't the doctor say that scalded injuries shouldn't be wrapped up? That girl is that wrapped up, it can clearly be seen that it isn't a scald injury."

Song Liangzhuo's heart slowly calmed down, roughly understanding the meaning contained inside both sides' words. Carefully thinking through what he saw earlier, he remembered that Xiaoqi's hands weren't injured. Perhaps it was injured, but it still shouldn't be as severe as the way Mother Song described it to be.

Song Liangzhuo looked at the person in his arms, then looked at those arms again. His brows slightly started to knit.

The doctor shook his head, "This Master seems unaware, but scald injuries also have different methods of treatment. This lady injured the back of her hand and got blisters, so naturally, it must be given contact with the open air to heal. But this Young Madam's situation is different."

The doctor walked over and pointed at Xiaoqi's hand, "This Young Madam also injured the back of her palm but there are fewer blisters and more of weak swelling."

"Haha, how funny. It can be clearly seen that the injury isn't serious." Master Lin sneered.

The doctor seemed a bit displeased at the fact that he was interrupted and was silent a while before saying: "This Master and that lady sure seem like a close family, even insisting on intercepting when lao fu is just trying to get a sentence out."

Master Lin gave a humph and turned his head away.

The doctor continued: "The back of this Madam's hand has weak swelling, but her fingers are severely injured. Everyone knows that fingers absorb heat very quickly. In cases where they are scalded by burning water, once the heat enters, it has nowhere to disperse to so the possibility of the fingernail splitting is large. Three fingernails on this Madam's hand are bleeding from the seams and there's even one that has completely split. Ten fingers link to the heart*, so naturally, this Madam is having to endure more."

Ten fingers link to the heart is a saying refers to the idea that all the little parts of the body have an inseparable relationship with the heart. Figuratively it refers to how relatives share the same interests as yourself. Of course, this has nothing to do with the context of the story. Just fyi while adding onto my own knowledge~

Song Liangzhuo was a bit doubtful earlier but now his entire face turned pale. Only the criminal law applied in torture chambers would have people fingers be crushed and run through with thin bamboo strips. Yet unexpectedly, Xiaoqi actually also had to bear this kind of pain.

Mother Song gave a cold humph and directly said: "It was only because Lady Lin used tricks to incite my daughter-in-law that there would be that incident of having food splashed onto her. And it's also because my daughter-in-law has a simple and honest character that she would pick a cold dish to splash. If it was anyone else, humph, anything short of pouring the hot soup onto her face wouldn't be enough to vent the anger. That daughter-in-law of mine received unjust treatment and was deeply hurt. When she ran out, in panic she didn't have the mind to select any paths and fell several times. She fell so many times that skin on both arms tore and her wrists almost broke. These, shouldn't they also be added onto Lady Lin's account?"

Zixiao opened her eyes wide in astonishment. For a moment she actually forgot to weep. After being silent for a moment, she continued to cry again. Pointing at Xiaoqi, she said: "She didn't get injured at all, wuuwuu, daughter, daughter is being wrongly accused ah."

Mother Lin looked at Zixiao's torn and bleeding hand with severe heartache. Her eyes were moist as she said: "In-laws family Madam Song should at least give definitive evidence. Let us see that Lady's hand. Who knows if it's not slandering my maiden daughter?"

Mother Song gestured with her hand and the doctor walked over to lift Xiaoqi's hand that had the scald injury, then started to carefully untie it. After undoing the gauze halfway, a bit of yellow liquid and bloodstains came into view Seeing it caused Song Liangzhuo's heart to be squeezed into a lump and he had to close his eyes, unable to bring himself to keep looking.

The doctor undid the bandaging up to the last layer then stopped. The doctor looked at the Xiaoqi that had fallen asleep out of exhaustion in Song Liangzhuo's embrace and gave a soft cough, "The abrasion on her arm is severe and the bandage is adhering to her flesh, so lao fu doesn't dare to forcefully tear it. If you guys want to see, then just look at the ruptured fingernails and scalding back of her hand."

Song Liangzhuo gritted his teeth and opened his eyes. Seeing that arm, his heart momentarily lurched, paining him to the point that his breathing stopped in that moment.

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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira, Proofread by Ocelot

[Chiyomiras Corner]

Well well? Hehe, it gets more fun~ Masochistic heart torment~