Never Expect You
"Madam, the servants from the Lizhou Mu Mansion have arrived at our house."
"What?" The cup in Madam Huo's hand nearly slipped to the ground as she abruptly stood up from the Taishi chair.
Did she hear that right? Who had come knocking at her door?
"It's the lady of the house," Madam Hu said anxiously. "She came demanding to settle a score with our Miss Yu."
Madam Huo's expression remained calm. "Which Miss Yu is she looking for?"
Madam Hu curled her lips. "Who else? Isn't the one who causes the most trouble in this mansion none other than Miss Linlang?"
Madam Huo's chest heaved. "Then why are you still standing there? Go and bring that girl here!"
"I've only been back for a few days, and already there's trouble every single day. Can't anyone keep quiet for a moment?"
Yu Linlang, hearing the commotion, sighed as she walked toward the governor's mansion entrance. "So much for peace and quiet. I was promised a restful stay to take care of the elderly, yet every day, there's some new problem in this house."
Jiujin, her loyal servant, followed closely behind, nodding repeatedly. "The young miss used to spend her days raising fish and planting flowers—such a leisurely life. But ever since returning to the governor's mansion, it's been one thing after another!"
"Exactly! Every day, someone comes to bother my miss, dragging her into their nonsense. Can't a person even admire a flower in peace? I don't know who's died this time, but I swear, my girl hasn't slept well or eaten properly since she got back. And why? Because of all these dead people showing up one after another!"
"No one causes as much trouble as the people in this mansion! Every day someone dies, yet they never seem to bother anyone else—just us! My miss is sick of it!"
"I'm telling you, we're heading back to Xiaozhuang tomorrow. If people ask me about the governor's mansion, what am I supposed to say? That it's just a place full of dead people?"
The head maid leading them to the entrance twitched at Jiujin's sharp words.
This master and servant were truly insufferable—either they clammed up entirely or spoke in such a way that made others want to tear their hair out!
If the eldest lady had been present, she would have probably fainted on the spot.
As they arrived at the entrance, the doorman rushed forward, looking troubled. "Sister, why didn't you call for more people? We can't handle this alone!"
"Miss Yu," he continued hesitantly, "Madam has made it clear—you must handle this mess yourself."
"It's the wife of Lizhou Mu Mansion outside. I don't know how you offended her, but logically speaking, the third miss of their mansion drowned at home. It has nothing to do with us. Yet, Madam Li is here, demanding to see you personally."
"Madam hopes you'll kneel and apologize before the master returns, so this matter doesn't implicate our household."
Yu Linlang let out a cold chuckle. "Oh? I didn't expect your madam to step aside and let me deal with it myself. Let her keep hiding, then. Anyway, I'm used to kneeling in front of Madam Zhou Mu and crying. What else could I expect?" Her voice was calm, but her words were sharp as a knife.
The maid flinched, her face paling.
Jiujin sneered. "Stay put and move aside. This isn't your concern."
The people in the governor's mansion were truly frustrating. They acted like their lady was here to take care of them, yet all they did was cause trouble.
The capital was far away, and outside these walls, nowhere was truly safe. If her lady hadn't been so determined, why would she have returned at all?
"Open the door," Yu Linlang ordered, impatience creeping into her tone.
She barely remembered this so-called Third Miss of the Lizhou Mu Mansion—if Jiujin hadn't reminded her, she would have forgotten ever crossing paths with her.
As the door swung open, a porcelain cup came hurtling straight at Yu Linlang's head.
Her brows furrowed in irritation.
These noblewomen—who taught them such terrible habits? Why did they always throw cups at people when they were upset?
Without hesitation, Jiujin leaped forward, catching the cup mid-air and flinging it back at Madam Li's feet.
The cup shattered on impact, sending shards of porcelain scattering in all directions.
Madam Zhou Mu flinched in shock.
The gathered onlookers fell silent. Even the air seemed to still.
Yu Linlang stepped forward, her expression indifferent. "Madam, you come from a noble family. If you have something to say, say it. Why resort to acting like a marketplace shrew? Have you no dignity?"
"You—!" Madam Li's face turned red with fury, her eyes bloodshot as she glared at the slender young woman standing before her.
"Such a sharp tongue for one so young. A cold face and a black heart, just like a venomous snake! If not for you, my Third Miss wouldn't have drowned in the garden!"
Yu Linlang's gaze darkened. Her voice turned icy. "Madam Li, I sympathize with your grief, but that doesn't give you the right to lash out at random people. If you're sick, you should seek treatment instead of losing your mind and blaming strangers."
"You—you dare speak to me this way?!" Madam Li trembled with rage, pointing a shaking finger at her. "The servants all told me—you meddled with my daughter's treatment! If not for you, would she have grown weaker and weaker? In the dead of winter, she wandered to the back garden and drowned!"
Yu Linlang raised an eyebrow. "Indeed, I traveled back to Weizhou Prefecture with your daughter. Along the way, she insisted on riding outside the carriage and caught a cold. Your housemaids sought my advice, so I took her pulse and gave my opinion."
Madam Li's voice rose. "So you admit it!"
"What is there to deny?" Yu Linlang's voice remained steady. "I told your maids exactly what to do—keep her warm, cover her with extra quilts, and return to the city as soon as possible.
"Her cold wasn't severe. If she were in good health, she would have recovered on her own after sweating it out. If not, a visit to the medicine hall for a dose of Guizhi Decoction would have sufficed. How was I to know that after five or six days, her condition had worsened?"
"I never prescribed medicine. I never gave her an injection. And yet, somehow, I am responsible for her wandering into the back garden and drowning?" Yu Linlang's tone sharpened. "Madam Li, does your family name happen to be 'Lai' (赖)?" (Lai can mean "to shift blame" in Chinese.) "This accusation of yours is truly absurd and laughable."
The onlookers murmured among themselves.
"It really sounds like this has nothing to do with her."
"Is Madam Li simply lashing out in grief?"
"Miss Yu only checked her pulse—how does that make her responsible for a drowning?"
"But why did the governor's mansion send a young girl to deal with this? Where is the governor's wife?"
The head maid of Madam Huo's courtyard turned pale. She hurriedly ran toward Yuchunyuan.
Miss Linlang was too sharp-tongued. If this continued, she would talk her way out of the entire mess!
This had to be reported to the eldest lady at once!