Oops! The Black Lotus Can’t Be a Female Supporting Character

CHAPTER 51 PART2

Up ahead, Xiao Yan rode out of Hulu Alley, whip cracking again and again as he urged the horse faster, speeding toward the marquis’s estate.

But when he returned to the mansion, what he saw left him stunned.

The place was half-empty. The moment he stepped inside, it felt like a ghost town.

Within the outer ceremonial hall, the Zhiyuan Hall, everything had been stripped bare—completely looted. The ink painting of Ten Thousand Horses by the great master Shen Daohe, which had always hung in the central hall, was gone. The gilded wine goblets, the red coral lion statue… even the Taihu rock in the pond outside had vanished without a trace.

He had only been gone for a short while—how had the entire estate become so unfamiliar, like a long-abandoned house?

What… what the hell happened?

He stood frozen outside the hall, confused, only realizing a moment later that he had spoken the question out loud.

Housekeeper Peng Da, clearly disturbed by the bloody wound on Xiao Yan’s face, hesitated before speaking up. “Marquis… this morning, Madam sent people to retrieve her dowry…”

“You let them empty out the estate?” Xiao Yan snapped, cutting him off, veins bulging at his temples. The places where Madam Yin had struck him with the whip still ached and throbbed.

Peng Da broke into a sweat and hurried to explain, “Marquis, everything they took was from Madam’s dowry. It’s all listed on the official dowry inventory. That painting of Ten Thousand Horses—it was brought out of her private storeroom years ago when the imperial edict came for your succession.”

“It’s been hanging there for so long, everyone forgot it was hers to begin with.”

“The Taihu rock in the pond was brought over from her dowry estate when we couldn’t find suitable stones during the renovations for the old madam’s birthday…”

“And the jade Buddha statue in the family shrine—that was hers, too…”

Peng Da kept talking, but Xiao Yan no longer heard him. Shame and fury roiled inside him.

Only one thought kept echoing in his head—

All of that… was hers?

No way!

His thoughts began to spiral, and for a moment, his mind drifted back sixteen years…

Back then, in order to preserve the marquisate, Father had nearly sold off the entire family estate just to scrape together that one million taels of silver.

At that time, the residence was just as empty and desolate as it is now. Anything of value had already been sold.

The Marquis household had fallen to rock bottom overnight.

The memories flashed vividly in his mind. Xiao Yan felt as though a dark cloud loomed over him. He quickened his steps toward Ronghe Hall.

Inside Ronghe Hall, the atmosphere was stifling. A heavy gloom hung in the air. The servants all kept their heads down, silent and tense, walking on eggshells.

“Marquis.”

Amid the servants’ murmured greetings, Xiao Yan strode into the east side room and saw the Old Madam lying weakly on a couch, clutching her chest.

Wang momo sat beside her, gently massaging her acupressure points while soothingly saying, “Old Madam, we’ve already sent for Physician Li…”

Sharp pain seized the old madam’s chest again and again. Her face was deathly pale. The moment she thought of how Zhu momo had sweet-talked and strong-armed her into handing over her personal treasures, her heart clenched so tightly she couldn’t breathe—like a piece of flesh had been torn straight from her body.

Those were her private savings!

“Ah Yan!” The Old Madam saw Xiao Yan and was about to launch into a complaint, but the moment her eyes landed on the three-inch gash across her son’s face, she bolted upright from the couch.

Her heart ached. She hurriedly asked, “What happened? Who hurt you?”

“I went to the Yin family,” Xiao Yan said as he sat down beside her. His voice was cold, squeezed through gritted teeth. “That wretched woman, Yin Wan!”

The Old madam’s expression twisted first with fury, then shifted into something more uncertain.

Wang momo, perceptive as ever, motioned for the maids and older attendants to quietly leave the room. She stayed behind alone, standing discreetly near the doorway.

Once the room was empty, the Old madam took a long, steadying breath and finally asked, “Ah Yan, Yin Wan suspects that Concubine Cui switched Luan’er and Yanfei at birth…”

“Is it true?”

The moment she said it, she noticed the slight stiffening of Xiao Yan’s expression.

That was all the confirmation she needed. Her hand shot out to grip her son’s wrist tightly. Her expression grew conflicted as she murmured, “It is true?!”

No one knew her son better than she did. The old madam had sensed something was off many years ago.

Xiao Yan had disliked Yanfei since she was a child. Granted, the girl was unlucky, sullen, and far from charming, but considering how much he cherished Yingru, even if he didn’t love her daughter by extension, his aversion to Yanfei had always seemed… excessive.

That suspicion had flitted through her mind from time to time, but she had never dwelled on it. Luan’er or Yanfei—they were both daughters of the Xiao family, both her granddaughters, not some outsider’s child. In the end, what difference did it make?

There was a distinction between legitimate and concubine-born, yes, but Yin Wan was merely a merchant’s daughter—not necessarily more noble than Yingru, who hailed from a respectable scholarly family with a clean reputation.

Peace at home was more important than truth. Better to let sleeping dogs lie. And so, the Old madam had never pursued the matter.

But after listening to Xiao Luanfei tearfully confide in her the other day, she had believed her—deep down, at least.

Still, there had been no solid proof. Yin Wan had only suspicions. The Old madam never imagined she would cause such a stir based on mere doubts.

The Old madam steadied herself and asked, “When did you find out?”

“Fifteen years ago,” Xiao Yan said irritably, rubbing his brow. “That midwife had a guilty conscience. She took the silver but lost her nerve, so she came to me in secret and confessed.”

The room fell silent, a chill settling in the air.

The Old madam hadn’t expected her son to have known for so long. Her expression grew even more complicated. She wanted to scold him, but then his tone abruptly shifted:

“Mother… I was just dismissed from office.”

He spoke the words with great difficulty, his fists clenching tightly.

“What?!” The Old madam reeled like she’d been struck by lightning. Her hand, which had been clutching her prayer beads, trembled violently.

The nightmare from sixteen years ago came rushing back all at once.

First, the Old Marquis was defeated in battle. Then Xiao Yan was dismissed. Later, the court began whispering that the marquisate would be revoked. Rumors ran rampant through the capital, and former friends and allies began avoiding the Marquis household like the plague.

Xiao Yan shook his head, voice low and heavy. “Fu Chuan said… I offended the Crown Prince.”

Fu Chuan had even warned him that the Crown Prince wanted him to reflect deeply—otherwise, dismissal would be the least of his troubles.

“The Crown Prince?” the Old madam gasped in disbelief. “That’s impossible!”

Yes. Impossible.

Xiao Yan felt the same. He ground his teeth in fury. “I’m certain Fu Chuan just used the Crown Prince as an excuse. He’s still bitter over the Yin family taking that hot spring estate. He’s lashing out in humiliation, but afraid of being labeled greedy—so he’s blaming the Crown Prince to cover himself.”

The Old madam nodded in agreement. “Exactly! The Crown Prince adores our Luan’er. Why would he make things difficult for you?”

He had once publicly defied the emperor for Luan’er’s sake. Everyone in the capital knew the depth of his affection.

If Luan’er could officially become the Crown Prince’s consort…

The Old madam’s heart began to race. A hopeful glint lit up her eyes—then her brows furrowed again as she muttered, “Yin Wan is so short-sighted… utterly thoughtless and lacking in propriety!”

“She married into the Xiao family—she’s one of us now. She should put the Xiao family first and prioritize our interests. Has she even thought about it? If Luan’er becomes the Crown Prince’s consort, that’s an honor for her as a mother. A mother rises with her daughter’s status. And if the Crown Prince ascends the throne one day, then…”

Luan’er would become the empress—the mother of the nation.

A manic gleam flashed in the Old madam’s eyes. When that day came, it would finally be the Xiao family’s turn to rise!

Gripping Xiao Yan’s wrist tightly again, she said with steely determination, “Ah Yan, for the sake of Luan’er becoming the Crown Princess, we absolutely cannot let Yin Wan spread nonsense and turn black into white.”

Empress Liu was already dissatisfied with the Marquis of Wu’an’s household. She believed it paled in comparison to the noble estates of the Duke of England and Duke of Yan, and thus had always looked down on Xiao Luanfei. If Luanfei were to be relegated to a concubine’s daughter, there would be no hope left.

Xiao Yan sat there with a face like still water, silent for a long time.

Seeing that the conversation between mother and son was coming to a close, Wang momo quickly signaled a young maid to serve him tea.

“My lord, have some tea to soothe your throat,” she said.

Xiao Yan picked up the blue-and-white porcelain teacup, used the lid to brush away the tea leaves floating on the surface, sniffed the aroma, then took a small sip—

“Pfft!”

He had barely taken a mouthful when he spat the tea right back into the cup.

“What kind of tea is this?” he asked sharply, slamming the cup down in disgust and wiping his mouth with a handkerchief. The bitter aftertaste of coarse tea still lingered on his tongue.

At this time of year, the household should be drinking Mingqian Longjing. Could a lowly servant have swapped out the tea?

His eyes turned sharp and dangerous as he looked at the maid who had served the tea. She paled instantly and stammered, “My lord, the tea we used to serve came from the estate’s private tea garden, part of the Madam’s dowry. But just now, the Yin family took it all away.”

The tea in the Marquis’s residence was graded into several tiers. The high-quality leaves consumed by the household’s masters had always come from the Yin family’s tea estate in Jiangnan and were sent to the capital each year. Now that the Yin family had taken everything back, she had no choice but to brew tea from the second-tier stock meant for the stewards.

Xiao Yan’s expression tightened. In his ears, he could almost hear the harsh crack of a whip again, and the sting from the lash on his face deepened, piercing straight into his heart.

The room turned deathly cold.

The Old madam’s face grew stiff as well. Her plump fingers clenched the prayer beads tightly. With a mere glance from her, the young maid bowed her head and hurried out.

“Ah Yan,” the Old madam said, her heart aching at the sight of the wound on his face. She hesitated for a moment, then forced herself to say dryly, “Why don’t you try coaxing Yin Wan to come back? Speak to the Yin family—make them understand what’s at stake.”

Xiao Yan rose without a word and began pacing the room. His expression was grim, his gestures agitated, unable to hide the frustration bubbling beneath the surface.

Sixteen years ago, he had already compromised by marrying a merchant’s daughter like Madam Yin. Now, he truly couldn’t bring himself to bow to the Yin family again. Mere merchants—what right did they have to demand his submission?

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and turned to look at the old madam seated on the chaise. His voice rang out, forceful and resolute:

“Youzhou’s Shangguo County has fallen. It was the work of bandits from Sizhou. His Majesty wants Duke Cheng’en to lead ten thousand Shen Shu troops to suppress them.”

“Mother, I want to fight for this opportunity—to go to Youzhou and earn military merit!”

“All I need is ten thousand taels.”

Ten thousand taels?! The Old madam’s heart seized, as if it had been cut open. She blurted out reflexively, “No! I don’t have that kind of money!”

It was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over Xiao Yan’s head. His eyes darkened, thick as ink.

***