Because a bedmaid was still considered a maidservant and not yet a concubine, she had no official status. Therefore, young masters from ordinary households did not have a formal procedure for taking a bedmaid. Often, if a young master took a fancy to a maid, they would just muddle along and sleep together.
However, ever since the Duke Ding's estate received its noble title, the rule established for the men of the family was that even taking a bedmaid had to be done openly and formally.
The process for taking a bedmaid in the Duke Ding's estate generally consisted of offering tea, sharing a meal, going to bed, completing the etiquette, and concluding.
Therefore, when Gu Zhao entered the room, the two nannies prepared the tea and tea set outside according to the rules. Just as they entered the room holding the tea set, a loud thud was heard, the sound of someone kneeling and kowtowing on the floor.
The nanny holding the tea set was still wondering why this girl's manners were so lacking and why she suddenly knelt down, when a shrill and miserable woman's wail suddenly rang out:
"I, Yan Pan, beg the Vice Minister for justice! I want to report the Yangzhou Transport Commissioner, Yang Siyong, and the Yangzhou Chief Merchant, Zhang Jingyan, for colluding between officials and merchants, deliberately framing others, and murdering loyal subjects. Their crimes are unforgivable!"
The wail was so tragic that the nanny holding the teapot trembled in her heart. Her hands slipped, and a pot of top-grade Biluochun tea, along with the pot and cups, tea and water, crashed to the ground, shattering into pieces and leaving half the inner room's floor in a complete mess.
Despite being caught between such loud noises, Gu Zhao did not even move a single strand of hair.
He gave Nanny Li a look to clear the room. Nanny Li hurriedly pulled the other nanny out, driving all the servants waiting in the outer room into the courtyard along the way. She then stood guard at the door herself to prevent anyone from trespassing.
As this involved official business, Gu Zhao waited until all irrelevant personnel had been cleared out before placing the inlaid box in his hand onto the table. With a normal expression, he pulled up a chair and sat down, his boots stepping on the messy floor as he looked at Yan Pan:
"What else do you have to confess? Continue."
Vice Minister Gu's reaction was quite different from what she had imagined. Yan Pan paused, regrouped her courage, and wailed again:
"I want to report the Yangzhou Transport Commissioner, Yang Siyong, and the Yangzhou Chief Merchant, Zhang Jingyan, for colluding..."
A burst of energy the first time, a decline the second, and exhaustion the third.
Wailing the same words for the second time, her momentum was clearly much weaker. It seemed she had nothing new to say. Gu Zhao had no patience to listen to these repetitive words, so he interrupted Yan Pan and asked:
"Where is the evidence?"
Yan Pan was waiting for Lord Gu to ask this. She crawled forward on her knees, tears streaming down her face:
"I have ironclad evidence! I want to see His Majesty! I want to file an imperial appeal! I beg you, My Lord, to show mercy and let me see the Emperor. As long as I see the Emperor, I will bring out the evidence!"
Gu Zhao tapped his fingers lightly on the edge of the table and asked:
"Your surname is Yan? What is your relationship with the former Yangzhou Salt Censor, Yan Qizhong?"
Hearing her father's name, Yan Pan cried even harder, tears and snot flowing as she choked out:
"He is exactly my father. My father did not kill anyone, nor did he smuggle salt. They are the ones smuggling salt. My father refused to associate with them, so they deliberately framed him and made false countercharges. Please investigate clearly, My Lord."
Gu Zhao suddenly stood up, picked up the inlaid box, and walked out. He said to Nanny Li, who was guarding the door:
"Nanny Li, tie her up and send her back to the official slave agency tomorrow."
Yan Pan did not know what went wrong. She scrambled to her feet, chased after Gu Zhao, hugged his boots, and sternly questioned:
"Lord Gu! Are you going to shield and indulge them? Are you also afraid of them?"
Gu Zhao looked down at Yan Pan from above, his tone indistinguishable between joy and anger as he stated flatly:
"Yan Qizhong, born of poor peasants, a second-class Jinshi in the eighteenth year of Yonghe. Two years ago, he was transferred to be the Yangzhou Salt Censor, and three months ago, he was dismissed and investigated. Lord Yan served in the Yangzhou Salt Office for only two years, yet four hundred thousand taels of silver were confiscated from his home. Miss Yan, the annual salt tax of our dynasty is only ten million taels, and the Lianghuai region accounts for half of it. Your father alone dared to embezzle four hundred thousand taels. For such a rebellious and corrupt official, even death by a thousand cuts would not be too much. For this official to sentence him to immediate execution is already a special act of mercy, yet you still dare to claim he was wronged?"
Gu Zhao's tone was not heavy, and could even be called gentle, but those gentle words pierced Yan Pan's heart like a knife and axe.
Yan Pan was terrified by the four hundred thousand taels Gu Zhao mentioned. Her face instantly lost all color, trembling in fear, completely at a loss, and slumping to the ground.
After her father was transferred to the Yangzhou Salt Censor post, the family's food, clothing, and expenses gradually became extravagant. The family did receive some tributes from the salt merchants, but that was nothing. Being an official was to make a fortune, and there was no one in officialdom who did not accept gifts. The Salt Office was a lucrative post to begin with.
But receiving four hundred thousand taels completely exceeded her imagination. How could there be so much? Did the family really receive that much?
Listening to Vice Minister Gu's fading footsteps, and thinking that if her father's case could not be overturned, she would have to return to the official slave agency and end up somewhere unknown, Yan Pan suddenly felt an urge to drag everyone down with her and perish together.
She suddenly scrambled up from the ground, tearing open her outer and inner garments as she stumbled out in pursuit. Pulling an account book from her undergarments, she shouted:
"They are not clean either! I have evidence! I have ironclad evidence! I have the account book of the salt smuggler Lei Dawu colluding with the Yangzhou Chief Merchant Zhang Jingyan to smuggle salt!"
Gu Zhao looked at Yan Pan's bloodshot eyes, which resembled those of a desperate gambler, and sighed:
"Miss Yan, if I were you, I would have left this account book in Yangzhou for the government to confiscate. You really shouldn't have carried it on you. You could have gone back to the official slave agency, but now, I can only send you to the Ministry of Justice's prison."
...
The night was already deep. Last night, Gu Zhao sat under the lamp looking at the spring palace pictures sent by his grandmother. Tonight, in the same position, with the same posture, and even with the same calm and emotionless expression, Gu Zhao was looking at the account book Yan Pan mentioned.
His attendant returned from the Fu'an Hall. Seeing that the dinner laid out in the room was completely cold and the heir had not touched it at all, he stood by the door and asked:
"My Lord, the food is cold. Why don't I have the kitchen send some midnight snacks?"
Gu Zhao gave a murmur of acknowledgment, still examining the account book, and asked:
"How is grandmother? What did the doctor say?"
Having finally convinced her grandson to take a bedmaid, only to find out at the last moment that the chosen one harbored malicious intentions, Old Madam Gu collapsed from anger on the spot upon hearing the news.
The old matriarch fell ill, and the whole family went to attend to her. The room was packed with people. The Duchess of Ding felt the room was too crowded and stuffy, which would prevent the old lady from resting well, so she stayed behind to serve her and chased Gu Zhao and the younger generation away.
Gu Zhao left his attendant outside the Fu'an Hall to wait for news. The attendant only dared to return after the old lady's condition had stabilized. He replied:
"Doctor Zhu said the old lady suffered a sudden rush of anxiety and anger. Tonight, she will use medicine to induce a fever and dispel the stagnant Qi. As long as her fever breaks tomorrow morning, she will be fine. Doctor Zhu prescribed some medicine, and the old lady has fallen asleep after taking it."
Hearing the unfamiliar name, Gu Zhao finally looked up:
"Where did this Doctor Zhu come from, and why wasn't an imperial doctor summoned?"
The attendant had always served in the front yard and was not very clear about the affairs of the back yard, especially in the old lady's courtyard. Not daring to speak nonsense, he only said:
"I only heard Nanny Li mention it in passing. It seems the Old Madam isn't very fond of the imperial physicians. She complains that they only care about avoiding mistakes, dawdling around and putting people through unnecessary torment. The Old Madam has always preferred to summon female physicians. Doctor Zhu has excellent medical skills, and since she was the one who cured the Old Madam's back injury before, Doctor Zhu was sent for once again."
