Chapter 87: Leaving the Matron Speechless

Madam Xia spoke directly, “The greatest problem is that you are the Prime Minister’s chief wife. As an illegitimate daughter of the Marquis Guan family, your background will always be used against you. Since you’re so intent on protecting Wentao and the Xia family, the best choice would be for you to relinquish your position as chief wife.”

Lin Baixue clenched her fists. “What do you mean by this, Madam?”

She had struggled for over a decade to attain her current status, and now the old madam was telling her to give it up. A flash of furious displeasure appeared in Lin Baixue’s eyes.

Madam Xia’s tone was cutting. “This is for the sake of Yue’er and Xuan’er. Xuan’er is now a major general with a boundless future, and Yue’er, with her beauty, is sure to become a consort. Yet you, their mother, are the daughter of the disgraced Marquis Guan. Are you not afraid that your background will become a stain upon them?”

Lin Baixue was incensed. “How am I a stain? I have been married to the Prime Minister’s residence for over ten years, and I severed all ties with the Marquis Guan household long ago. Even if you wish to keep your precious treasures, there’s no need to create trouble for me.”

Madam Xia spoke boldly, “This isn’t simply about keeping those treasures. If you truly think I care so much for a few pieces of gold and jewels, you can have them moved out right now.”

Lin Baixue was shocked. Madam Xia was being so easygoing?

Madam Xia continued her calculations. “Our Prime Minister’s household is withering by the day. With Concubine Wei gone, you alone hold sway over the entire rear court. It’s time to bring in some new blood to continue our line. As it happens, my distant niece, Ye Zhi’an, is now a widow. She can come stay at the Prime Minister’s residence for a time.”

It was clear now: Madam Xia intended to use her distant relative, Ye Zhi’an, to edge Lin Baixue out of her position. Lin Baixue’s expression changed completely.

She had thought the old madam would simply hand over the items from Tanyazhai and Jinmantang, but instead, she was using this as leverage to bring Ye Zhi’an into the household—seeking to force Lin Baixue to surrender her authority as mistress.

No wonder Madam Xia dismissed the value of those things. If her own kin became part of the Xia family, with her backing, Ye Zhi’an would have little trouble becoming chief wife herself. Then everything in the residence would fall under Madam Xia’s control.

Lin Baixue stared at her with eyes blazing with suppressed rage.

“If word of this gets out, are you not afraid of disgracing the master? He’s already kept a low profile because of the Marquis Guan and Jinmantang affairs. Now you wish to bring a widow into the Prime Minister’s household—do you mean to bring shame upon us?”

Madam Xia was displeased. “How dare you! You are the greatest stain on this household. If you know what’s good for you, pack your things and leave. Don’t let the Prime Minister be humiliated, and if you care for your children’s future, shave your head and retire to a convent. That way, no one will have any cause to gossip.”

Lin Baixue’s gaze grew even more menacing. She stood before Madam Xia and said coldly, “What did you say?”

“What, did I say anything wrong? Did you think you still had the Marquis Guan behind you? Now that Jinmantang has arrived, do you think the Xia family still wants you to fatten its coffers? I’ve long disliked you. You’re nothing but an illegitimate daughter from the Marquis Guan family, yet you dream of being the chief wife of the Prime Minister’s house…”

Fury surged in Lin Baixue’s eyes. Madam Xia was truly overstepping. When the Marquis Guan was still in power, she had at least respected Lin Baixue’s background; now, she looked down on her and would rather support Ye Zhi’an, that recently widowed woman, in hopes of unseating Lin Baixue. How could Lin Baixue let her get her way?

“Enough! I told you to stop talking—did you not hear me?” Lin Baixue, enraged, covered the old woman’s mouth with her hand.

Madam Xia struggled. “What are you doing… mmph… let go… How dare you lay hands on me! Are you tired of living? I’ll make sure the Prime Minister divorces you!”

But those words—“divorce you”—only hastened the end Madam Xia would meet at Lin Baixue’s hands.

Almost as if possessed, Lin Baixue seized a pillow from the side and pressed it hard against Madam Xia’s mouth. Only one thought filled her mind: she must never let the old woman speak again.

Madam Xia was no match for Lin Baixue in strength. There wasn’t a single servant in the room; all waited obediently outside. The old woman’s flailing arms gradually lost strength, her hands slipping limply from the bed.

Lin Baixue’s face contorted in a grimace, beads of cold sweat appearing on her brow as she glared murderously at the embroidered pillow in her hands.

That wretched shrew! If Madam Xia hadn’t been Xia Wentao’s mother, Lin Baixue would never have treated her with such deference all these years. The woman’s greed had made her easy to appease with a few treasures—she was, in truth, not hard to please.

But now that the Marquis Guan had fallen, the old madam dared to act high and mighty, even plotting to drive Lin Baixue out and hand her position to a widowed cousin as a concubine for Xia Wentao?

Once the old woman was dead, everything would be resolved!

Xia Wentao had schemed to use Lin Baixue as a convenient scapegoat—hoping that in the course of gathering Jinmantang’s treasures, she would fall out with Madam Xia. He knew well the old woman’s nature: anything in her hands was never easily given up. Forcing her to hand over those treasures would be like scraping flesh from her heart. This would only deepen the rift between her and Lin Baixue, paving the way for Madam Xia to deal with Lin Baixue herself.

Yet, as Xia Wentao waited in his study for news, nothing out of the ordinary was reported by his servant.

Could it be that Lin Baixue had finally learned her lesson and no longer dared to defy Madam Xia? If so, then when he found that the old madam’s rooms had not been searched, he could punish Lin Baixue and at the very least strip her of her authority as mistress!

What Xia Wentao did not know was that, at that very moment, the old madam lay dead on her bed, smothered by Lin Baixue’s pillow.

Across the room, after removing the pillow, Lin Baixue saw that Madam Xia’s eyes had gone dull and lifeless, like a dead fish. Suddenly regaining her senses, Lin Baixue prodded the old woman, but she no longer had any fight left in her.

Panic seized Lin Baixue’s heart. This was a disaster. Everyone knew she had come to Tanyazhai; if the old madam’s death were discovered, the first person they would suspect would be her.

No. She had worked too hard to become chief wife—she would not surrender everything now. Forcing herself out of panic, her eyes glinted coldly with calculation and resolve.

A glance at the corpse on the bed stirred a new plot in her mind. With the old madam dead, Ye Zhi’an could never enter the Prime Minister’s residence, and moreover, Lin Baixue could pin the blame for the murder on Xia Jiujiang. If Xia Jiujiang became the scapegoat… not only would she rid herself of this troublesome thorn, but she herself would remain untouched and blameless.