Song Jinzhao browsed the slave market but failed to find anyone suitable. Qian Sanya, having talked until his mouth was nearly dry, picked up a teapot and chugged it empty straight from the spout.
"Miss, the kind of person you're looking for is truly rare. They would have to be seasoned servants sold off by prominent families, or perhaps bankrupt merchants selling themselves into servitude voluntarily. It all comes down to luck. Why don't you lower your standards a bit? I thought the two we just saw were quite decent."
The slow tapping of Song Jinzhao's index finger against the table came to a halt. "I already have people like them at home. There's no need to buy more."
Someone like Fushun was perfectly fine at following orders, but when it came to managing household affairs and coordinating the bigger picture, he fell far short.
He could only take orders, not give them.
Upon returning to the clinic, Song Shixue handed a wedding invitation to Song Jinzhao. "The Meng family had this sent over. They are inviting you to attend the wedding banquet of Young Master Meng and Miss Guo, Sister."
Song Jinzhao opened it, took a brief glance, and tossed it aside. "Prepare a gift and have Qingshuang deliver it. We are busy at home, so we won't be attending the banquet."
Their relationship with the Meng family had reached a sufficient level; there was no need to deepen it any further.
Song Shixue nodded. Deep down, she didn't want to go either. It would not only be boring but also potentially dangerous; they wouldn't even be able to eat in peace.
On the way home that evening, Song Jinzhao narrowed her eyes, glancing behind her.
It had only been peaceful for a few days. Who had sent someone this time?
After she returned home and the front gates were shut, a distance away, Xu Geng pressed himself against the pillar of a thatched cottage, his burning gaze fixed intently on the Song family's tightly closed doors.
Heading to the shop the next morning, Song Jinzhao once again detected that faint, elusive gaze. Unlike Wang Zhong, whoever was sent this time did not seem to harbor any malice.
Wanting to uncover the person's true motives, Song Jinzhao did not expose them right away. To her surprise, this tailing lasted for seven whole days.
She stared at the youth standing in the corner dressed in tattered clothes. He looked to be about the same age as Qiming.
Whenever she went out alone, he never followed. He only shadowed the route back and forth between the shop and the Song residence in the mornings and evenings, waiting outside the rest of the time. His target was not her.
On the eighth day, as Song Jinzhao was returning alone from a medical consultation at the Liao Manor, the youth suddenly darted out from a side alley and stopped right in front of her.
Song Jinzhao stared at him. "You've been following for seven days. You're finally willing to show yourself."
The youth was taken aback. Upon recovering, he spoke with a hint of reluctance, "My name is Xu Geng. Zhang Xialian is my mother. She works in your shop and goes by the name Qingshuang now."
Song Jinzhao looked the youth up and down. The age matched, and his eyes did bear a slight resemblance to Qingshuang.
"Has your mind recovered?"
Xu Geng nodded vigorously.
"Do you want to take your mother back with you?"
Xu Geng clenched his jaw, his eyes growing stinging and wet.
He had no money to buy her freedom. Originally, he had planned to trade himself for his mother, but now...
Xu Geng clenched his fists and shook his head. His throat tightened as he forced the words out of his mouth, syllable by syllable.
"She is living a good life now. Better than she did at home."
His eyes turned red. After a moment of silence, he abruptly dropped to his knees before Song Jinzhao, tilting his head up to gaze at her.
"I am leaving today. I want to beg you to take good care of my mother. Please do not beat or scold her. My mother is a good person, and she works very hard."
He fought back his tears, refusing to let them fall. "When the day comes that I can provide her with a good life, I will come back to get her. When that time comes, I will give you a lot of money—more than you could spend in a lifetime."
Looking at his worn-through soles, she realized he had walked all the way from Haoyue City. To find Qingshuang, he must have endured unimaginable hardships.
A twinge of sorrow tugged at Song Jinzhao's heart. "You don't need to beg me. Your mother is a servant of the Song family now, and I have always valued her highly."
Through his observations and inquiries over the past few days, Xu Geng knew that Song Jinzhao was not a wicked master who would abuse her servants without cause.
Seeing her earnest tone and solemn expression, Xu Geng wiped away his tears and scrambled up from the ground. "Please don't tell my mother I was here. She will be sad if she knows."
Watching the frail, solitary figure of the youth as he walked away with absolute resolve, Song Jinzhao stood rooted to the spot for a long while before finally taking her leave.
A husband killed by mountain bandits to save his wife. A son beaten into a simpleton to save his mother.
If it hadn't been for those bandits, this family might have lived a very happy life.
Honoring Xu Geng's request, Song Jinzhao did not tell Qingshuang that her son had come looking for her upon her return.
The boy had already left, and she had no intention of returning to her old home anyway. Why shatter the peace of her current life?
If it was meant to be, there would come a day for them to reunite. For now, Xu Geng was still incapable of protecting his mother.
And perhaps the current Qingshuang had never expected her son to protect her in the first place.
Ever since Song Jinzhao expressed concerns about the medicine being tampered with or swapped out, Kong Wanru had assigned two extra people to keep a close eye on the medicine pot while it was being brewed.
After more than half a month passed without incident, everyone's vigilance slowly began to relax.
In Concubine Su's courtyard, Nanny Diao's brows were furrowed so deeply they resembled a centipede. "Song Jinzhao comes every day to administer acupuncture to the Madam, and her medical skills are exceptional. If we tamper with the medicine, others might not notice, but I fear she will. The step-wife of the Guo family met her downfall right at her hands."
Wang Zhong knocked excitedly on the door and waited to be let in.
"Answering Concubine Su, I have found out that Song Jinzhao's family might return to their hometown in Xining City for the New Year. During that time, Doctor Liu Xuanqing should be the one taking over the medical consultations. That will be the perfect opportunity to swap the medicine."
Concubine Su's voice lifted with a hint of smugness. "Anyang Academy historically goes on holiday in the early twelfth lunar month. In a month and a half, Kong Wanru's illness shouldn't be fully cured, right?"
Nanny Diao lowered her head and placed a peeled orange by her hand, curling her lips into a fawning smile. "Word from the Chunshui Courtyard is that she won't be able to stop taking her medicine for at least a year or two."
A fleeting glint of murderous intent flashed in Concubine Su's eyes. Trailing her red-painted fingernails up her leg to her lips, she crooked a finger, beckoning Wang Zhong closer.
Wang Zhong crawled forward on his knees and bowed his head before her.
"Go out and ask around. See if there are any assassins in the underworld who kill for money. Wait until Song Jinzhao leaves Anyang Prefecture, then silence them. Leave no survivors."
A flicker of dread passed through Wang Zhong's eyes. Concubine Su had never ordered him to kill anyone before.
Song Jinzhao was the first. Originally, the plan wasn't to kill her, but merely to injure her severely enough that she wouldn't be able to visit the Liao Manor.
Hiring an underworld organization to wipe out an entire family was no small matter.
A thick stack of banknotes was pressed against Wang Zhong's chest. Glancing down, he saw that it had to be at least several thousand taels.
With trembling fingers, Wang Zhong accepted the banknotes and kowtowed. "I will definitely see this matter done. One strike, no misses, and no survivors."
Nanny Diao stared at Wang Zhong's retreating back as he left in excitement, voicing her displeasure. "Miss, isn't ten thousand taels a bit too much to give?"
Years ago, when Concubine Su was newly widowed and traveling a thousand miles to seek refuge with the Liao family, she had witnessed an underworld organization committing murder. Since Wang Zhong was incapable of dealing with Song Jinzhao, she would simply find someone who was.
Concubine Su leaned back. "As long as Song Jinzhao is killed, it will all be worth it."
"If we don't get rid of her, what happens when she returns to Anyang Prefecture after the New Year and checks Kong Wanru's pulse again? It's better to just kill her and be done with it once and for all."
If she hadn't been worried that Liao Wangshu would take a new wife if Kong Wanru died—perhaps someone clever whom she wouldn't be able to control—she would have killed Kong Wanru a long time ago.
After causing her to miscarry so many times, she had finally rendered Kong Wanru barren. She absolutely could not allow a stumbling block like Song Jinzhao to ruin everything now.
