Siege in Fog Chapter 17.3

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How will Third Madam explain it all to Papa Yi? Will he believe her? Find out below…

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Ch. 17.3

‘Father was still stationed far away at that time. How could the first wife afford to let my mother wait for his return? She was behind the whole affair, but she had covered her tracks well. After the retainer reported back, she declared that since such a thing had happened, of course my mother could not be allowed to stay and gave orders for her to be thrown out of the house. Fortunately, Father had a very competent aide back then by the name of Fan. Everyone called him Mr Fan. As he was recovering from malaria at that time, he had not followed Father to Canghe but had stayed behind in Fuyuan instead. He travelled overnight to the residence and told the first wife: “This is the Marshal’s family matter and not really something we can involve ourselves in. But, Third Madam has always been the Marshal’s favourite so it is imperative that I inform him of this matter.”

The first wife, being a shrewd and difficult one to deal with, gave an irrefutable excuse: if Father were to learn that my mother had committed such a shameless act, he would be furious. It was therefore better to send my mother away first and wait until Father’s return to inform him of it.

It was at this point that Mr Fan informed her: “Before the Marshal left, he entrusted Third Young Master to my care. Third Madam has now become embroiled in such an affair. Leaving aside all other considerations, precisely because she is Third Young Master’s birth mother, I must and will report the matter to the Marshal.”

Only then did the first wife realise that Father had already taken precautions against her and had even made such arrangements in secret. It only deepened her resentment towards my mother and me and this grudge just became more bitter. Before Father’s return, that uncle of mine inexplicably¹ sickened and died in prison. Dead men tell no tales. My mother knew that the first wife was the one behind it all, but there was nothing she could do. By the time Father returned, the whole affair was a complete muddle and no one could explain it clearly.

_{¹ 莫名其妙 mòmíng-qímiào. If you’re not reading this chapter at hiding in plain sight, it has been stolen and reproduced by novelscraping sites.}

My mother was born into nobility and all her life, her reputation meant everything to her. Although she was not Father’s legal wife, they had still enjoyed conjugal bliss, shared the same tastes in poetry and literature and were devoted to each other. Even though Father never once reproached her over it, she came to regard having to bear this singularly absurd injustice as a most galling humiliation and refused to speak to him again after that. Brooding on it day in and day out brought on an illness and she passed on after only half a year. When she was ill, Father tried to visit her many times, but she ordered her servants to bar him from the room. When she passed away, Father wept for a spell but within half a year, he had taken a fourth concubine. When I saw his beaming face as he married Fourth Aunt, I swore to myself that I would never ever take a concubine as long as I lived. My mother wasn’t like Lady Li of the Han dynasty, fearing that her sickly appearance would disgust her husband so much that he wouldn’t care for me after she passed on. No, the reason she wouldn’t see him on her deathbed, not even once, was because she couldn’t forgive him. For if he had rushed home after getting the urgent telegram from Mr Fan, or had that uncle transferred out of prison to Canghe so that he wouldn’t have died, then my mother would not have had to suffer such injustice. My mother was proud, upright and unyielding in character and never expected to have her reputation so besmirched in the end. So she was actually angered to death and the one who drove her to her death was that first wife.’

To Qin Sang, this long account was little short of revelatory², more so for it concerned events of sixteen years ago. Although his tone when recounting the whole was matter-of-fact, it had all happened not long after the fall of the Qing dynasty and the thinking of that time was extremely conservative. A concubine who had been so defamed by the first wife was bound to have no way to protest her innocence. To think she was so depressed that it had cost her her life, but she had still refused to see her husband even once as she lay dying… Qin Sang could not help thinking that her mother-in-law had a disposition that was unyielding in the extreme.

‘But three years later, Lao Da fell off his horse and became a cripple. Everyone in the household whispered that it was retribution upon the first wife for having driven Third Madam to her grave. The first wife was also secretly fearful and kept engaging priests and monks to conduct rituals, ostensibly to help protect Lao Da from calamities and disasters when actually all those prayers were intended for my mother’s soul to find peace. I used to find it amusing when I heard the first wife muttering to herself in the worship hall. Having done what she did, did she really think there would be no retribution? Lao Da’s accident was just the beginning.’

_{² 聞所未聞 wénsuǒwèiwén. Translation belongs to theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT) com.}

When she heard this part, Qin Sang felt her hair standing on end and she impulsively clasped his hand. Yi Liankai’s hand was slightly cold, but his cheeks were slightly flushed, as though he were tipsy. He went on, ‘All those notions of divine justice are nothing but lies. All of them owe me a life but now that cripple of a Lao Da has actually managed to get me. Even after so many years of carefully laying my plans, I’ve still fallen short by one chess move³.’

With her own thoughts in turmoil, Qin Sang could only strive to comfort him, saying, ‘Since it’s already water under the bridge, then try not to dwell on it. Otherwise Madam will not feel at ease in the netherworld.’

Yi Liankai began laughing derisively. ‘If my mother is in the netherworld, then she should really come back to strangle me. I bent my mind to it and schemed for so long only to lose to a cripple. It’s one thing if I can’t even pride myself⁴ on having avenged her but to have let myself be trapped here as well means I’m truly… useless beyond belief…’

_{⁴ 揚眉吐氣 yángméi-tǔqì. Please consider reading from theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com rather than from novelscraping sites.}

Qin Sang understood that his vicious streak had been sixteen years in the making. She herself had never heard the true story until today and outsiders would certainly never imagine that a wealthy young master leading a life of dissipation would harbour such ambitions in his breast. Life though was unpredictable and although he had done everything he could to force Yi Lianshen into exile in the northwest, he had now fallen into Yi Lianyi’s trap. It was both regrettable and pitiful and she did not even know where to begin persuading him.

At the outset of her marriage, she had really hated his character. She had mistrusted him even more after witnessing upheavals in the family such as the coup in Fuyuan and his being made Chief Commander. But now they were walled in by their worries and it was just the two of them, husband and wife. He had confided to her his secret anguish and it had caused a faint stirring of pity and tenderness in her. Moreover, she knew that he was deeply devoted to her. Had it not been for this coincidence, he would hardly have confided in her.

Unsurprisingly, Yi Liankai said, ‘Lao Da may not spare me. My death is nothing to sigh over but I’m afraid of implicating you when that happens. If you can escape…’ He paused slightly before continuing. ‘I know these last few years have been hard on you. If you can escape, then just forget that I ever existed. Remarry, or go abroad, it doesn’t matter. Just don’t let yourself suffer any more. You’re still young and have the rest of your life to live…’

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_{(Approx. 1371 words)}

🆕
🎶 A song that seems to fit Chapter 17. 🎶

12’s notes:
³ ‘fall short by one chess move’: 棋差一著 qí chà yī zhāo.
23/10/2018: New screenshots added.
21/3/2020: Deleted most footnotes.

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Translated and edited by 12

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