Within just two months of entering the palace, Su Qing'er had risen all the way from a Jieyu to a Zhaoyi.
When the news from the palace reached the Minister's manor, Madam Wu could not even begin to conceal the smile on her face.
Walking along the corridors, her posture was noticeably straighter than before, and her tone when speaking to the servants carried a hint of unrestrained arrogance.
One afternoon, “Su Jinyu” was sitting in the courtyard flipping through a book when Madam Wu walked in through the courtyard gate, accompanied by two maids.
She wore a newly tailored lotus-root-colored dress, and her hair was adorned with several more hairpins than usual. She walked in with light steps, heading toward Su Jinyu with a beaming smile. “Jinyu, still reading? Qing'er has found favor with the Emperor, and as her mother, I share in her glory. Although you are the legitimate daughter, Qing'er is now a Zhaoyi. The situation in the manor will be quite different from now on. Even your father said that the manor cannot go without a primary wife forever...”
Having finished, she stood there with an irrepressible smirk, her gaze sweeping from the book in “Su Jinyu’s” hands to her lowered eyes, as if waiting to see how she would react.
“Su Jinyu” turned a page, cast a brief glance at her, then closed the book and stood up. She walked over to Madam Wu and delivered a backhanded slap across her face.
The blow was not overly heavy, but it rang out sharply in the quiet courtyard. Madam Wu’s head jerked to the side, one of her hairpins knocking askew. She froze on the spot for a long moment before slowly turning her head back. The smile was entirely gone from her face, replaced by utter shock and a reddening handprint.
“Su Jinyu” pulled her hand back, stood her ground, and looked at her. Her voice was not loud, but every word was as clear as if carved in stone. “Remember your place. You are a concubine, and I am the legitimate daughter. Whether your daughter is a Zhaoyi or the Empress in the palace, when you return to the Minister's manor, you are still a concubine. If you put on such airs again, it won't just be a slap next time.”
Having said her piece, she turned and led her maids toward the courtyard gate.
Madam Wu stood frozen, clutching her face, while her maids kept their heads lowered, not daring to make a sound. She glared resentfully at “Su Jinyu’s” retreating figure until it vanished around the corner of the corridor. Her fingers clenched and unclenched around her sleeves, but in the end, she did not give chase.
The wind beneath the corridor rustled the vines on the courtyard wall, and sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting shifting patterns of light on the ground. As “Su Jinyu” walked out along the corridor, the maid following behind her whispered, “Miss, what you did just now... will it cause any trouble?”
“Su Jinyu” did not stop, replying calmly, “A mere concubine showing off her arrogance before a legitimate daughter is nothing to fear, even if she complains to Father. Furthermore, our dynasty strictly forbids concubines from overstepping their bounds and usurping the position of the primary wife. That is an act of insubordination and a grave offense.”
She stepped over the threshold as she spoke, the sunlight falling upon her shoulders and hair. The courtyard behind her remained silent; the echo of the slap had long been swept away by the wind, as though it had never happened.
The incense smoke at Hanshan Temple was particularly abundant in autumn. Most of the ginkgo leaves along the mountain path had turned yellow, rustling and showering the ground with broken gold whenever the wind blew.
Her grandmother had been restless lately, unable to sleep soundly at night. Even the soothing prescriptions from the imperial physician brought no relief, so she expressed a desire to burn incense at Hanshan Temple to seek peace of mind.
“Su Jinyu” originally did not want her grandmother to travel so far, but the elderly woman insisted. Thus, she accompanied her in person, staying at the temple for two days and listening to the morning bells and evening drums.
The weather was poor on the day of their return, with gray, heavy clouds hanging low as if it might rain at any moment.
“Su Jinyu” wanted her grandmother to stay at the temple for another night and wait for the weather to clear, but her grandmother merely smiled and said, “I'm not that fragile,” before ordering the driver to set off.
A team of about seven or eight servants escorted the carriage, some on horseback and others on foot, guarding both sides. Inside the carriage, besides Su Jinyu and her grandmother, were two personal maids: Qingdai and Chenxiang. Both were old servants who had been with her grandmother for many years. They sat near the carriage door, holding her grandmother's usual hand warmer and blankets.
The carriage slowly descended the mountain path, the wheels making a soft crunching sound as they rolled over gravel and fallen leaves.
“Su Jinyu” sat beside her grandmother, tucking the blanket around her knees and pulling the window curtains tighter.
Her grandmother held her hand, rambling on about how she would personally select the fabrics for her wedding once they returned to the manor. She mentioned that she had already reviewed the betrothal gift list from Marquis Weiyuan's Manor and found every item to be highly respectable.
“Su Jinyu” leaned against her grandmother's shoulder, nodding in response. But as the carriage rounded the third bend on the mountain path, its speed suddenly increased.
At first, she thought it was just the natural acceleration of going downhill. But after a few breaths, the speed grew faster and faster, and the carriage began to jolt violently. From outside the window came the terrified neighs of startled horses and the panicked shouts of the driver.
“Su Jinyu” suddenly sat up straight and lifted the carriage curtain to look outside. The two horses pulling the carriage were running wild, completely out of control. The driver had already been thrown off, rolling several times along the roadside before disappearing from sight.
Before she could even think, her body instinctively moved to shield her grandmother, and she reached her right hand out of the window to grab the loose reins.
The carriage tilted sharply at the next bend. She heard several muffled thuds and short, sharp screams from outside—like people falling from horses, or perhaps being struck by something—before those sounds were completely drowned out by the roar of the wheels grinding over gravel and dirt.
The servants on both sides of the carriage had vanished. The group of seven or eight people who had been guarding them seemed to have been swept away by something from both sides, disappearing from her view one by one, leaving behind only galloping hooves and billowing dust.
Inside the carriage, Qingdai and Chenxiang screamed as they clung to each other. Just as Chenxiang grabbed the doorframe to look outside, an arrow shot out from the shadows, piercing through the window curtain. With a muffled groan, Chenxiang collapsed by the carriage door.
Qingdai lunged forward to grab her, but she lost her balance amidst the violent jolts, and half of her body was thrown out of the carriage door.
Her head struck a rock by the roadside with a dull thud, and her body went completely limp.
Tossed around inside the carriage, “Su Jinyu” slammed against the wooden walls. In those chaotic moments, her eyes had no time to focus on any single thing; she could only listen as the horrific sounds erupted and faded around her.
At the next bend, the carriage tilted violently as the wheels ran over a protruding rock, and the entire carriage flipped onto its side.
“Su Jinyu” was thrown toward the side wall. Just as she was about to crash against the wooden boards, her grandmother's arms wrapped tightly around her from behind, pulling her into a fierce embrace.
Her grandmother had been sick for years and was never very strong, but in that split second, she held her with unyielding strength.
The carriage rolled halfway over. At the moment of final impact, “Su Jinyu” felt her grandmother's body press heavily over hers, shielding her completely within that frail yet stubborn embrace.
Her vision went dark, a sharp, searing pain shot through her left arm, and her consciousness faded.
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