Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Sure enough, Ye Zhaonian said, “Wuzhen is generous by nature. She will not hold it against you.”
Qin Yilan laughed softly.
“Sister-in-law is virtuous, of course. But what woman truly wants to share her husband from the very first day of her marriage?”
The Second Madam could bear no more. She shoved the door open.
“How thoughtful Deputy General Qin is toward our new niece.”
The two people inside froze. Ye Zhaonian sat on the edge of the bed, his outer robe hanging loose. Qin Yilan stood beside him with his sash still in her hands. The bruises covering her exposed neck proclaimed how thoroughly she had been loved the night before.
Even with Chunxue supporting me, I swayed.
Ye Zhaonian panicked. “Wuzhen, it is not what you think.”
Before he finished, Qin Yilan dropped to her knees.
“Sister-in-law, every fault is mine. The general drank too much last night, and I should not have kept him here. Beat me or punish me as you wish.”
She raised tear-rimmed eyes to me.
“But please do not blame the general. His old wound from the northern frontier hurts terribly when it flares. He had been drinking, and I could not leave him alone.”
The Second Madam was unimpressed. “Did that old wound flare all the way into your bed?”
The Third Madam tugged at her sleeve. “Second Sister-in-law, do not be so crude.”
At that moment, Madam Ye finally arrived after waiting in vain for the newlyweds’ tea. One look told her everything.
“Why are you all crowding in here?”
“A new bride dares keep her elders waiting on her second day in the family?”
With a turn of her tongue, the blame landed on me.
Before I could speak, the Second Madam laughed.
“That is hardly fair, Elder Sister-in-law. The bride and groom must offer tea together. Zhaonian rolled into his deputy’s bed, yet you blame the bride for being late?”
The Third Madam joined in at once.
“Exactly. You have managed the household for years and always valued propriety. What family rule says the groom may abandon the bridal chamber on his wedding night?”
Madam Ye’s expression darkened. “This is no place for either of you to speak.”
The Second Madam did not flinch.
“I should not meddle, true. But when the matter is right before us and you still find fault only with the bride, even an outsider would feel chilled.”
The Ye household had never been peaceful. Before our marriage, Ye Zhaonian had told me enough about it.
His second uncle managed two estates outside the capital, yet the accounts never balanced. His third uncle wanted to place an illegitimate son in the army; Ye Zhaonian refused, and the Third Branch had complained for months. Even the division of New Year gifts could provoke a daylong quarrel.
Back then, Ye Zhaonian had rubbed his brow and sighed. “Household trivia is the most tiresome thing in the world.”
I had comforted him. “No great family is ever truly quiet.”
Compared with the smiling knives of the Eastern Palace, I had thought the Ye family’s open squabbles almost refreshingly simple.
I had been naïve. A blade could cut just as deeply outside palace walls.
At last, Ye Zhaonian spoke.
“Mother, last night was a misunderstanding. Wuzhen, Yilan’s old wound flared, and I was drunk. I merely rested here. Nothing happened as you imagine.”
Qin Yilan immediately added, “The general truly was drunk. We have fought side by side for years and never had improper feelings. Sister-in-law, please do not blame him. The fault is mine alone.”
Tears finally spilled down my cheeks.
“Deputy General Qin, you followed my husband through many battles and earned military merit. I knew your reputation before I entered this family.”
“When you came to the bridal chamber last night, I did not stop him from leaving. I believed that, as someone he trusted, you would understand what was proper.”
Qin Yilan’s expression changed.
My voice broke as I looked at her.
“You knew it was my wedding night, yet you kept my husband until dawn. You say you are merely comrades.”
“Then tell me: what comrades undress a bridegroom to this extent?”
Ye Zhaonian frowned. “Wuzhen, you may not humiliate Yilan like this.”
My voice trembled. “I was the one abandoned in the bridal chamber on my wedding night. Yet because I asked a single question, I am the one humiliating her?”
He faltered.
Madam Ye cut in sharply. “Enough.”
“Men entertain outside the home. A moment of foolishness is inevitable. You are the lawful wife. You must have a lawful wife’s tolerance.”
The Second Madam scoffed. “How broad-minded you have become, Elder Sister-in-law. When Elder Brother was alive, you threatened to die rather than let him take a concubine. Even your serving maids had to be replaced with boys. Now that it is your own son, generosity comes easily.”
The Third Madam gave a theatrical sigh.
“Poor girl. Her bed is hardly warm, and she must already learn to endure.”
Madam Ye glared at them, then reached for my hand.
“Good child, offer the morning tea first. I will give you an explanation afterward.”
Qin Yilan suddenly knocked her forehead to the floor.
“Sister-in-law need not be troubled. I will resign as deputy general today, leave Changan, and never return to disturb you and the general.”
Ye Zhaonian’s voice hardened. “Yilan! Absolutely not!”
Then he turned on me. “Wei Wuzhen! Must you be so merciless?”
Seeing her son’s reaction, Madam Ye was forced to change course.
“Yilan cannot leave. She serves as Zhaonian’s deputy. If she departs the estate now, the rumors outside will only worsen.”
I gave a bitter smile. “Do you mean Deputy General Qin should stay and I should leave?”
“Or should we both stay, call one another sisters, and pretend last night never happened?”
Madam Ye’s face sank. “Wei Wuzhen, you have only just entered this family. Do not make your words so ugly.”
I wiped my tears in confusion. “Your daughter-in-law misspoke.”
“My thoughts are in turmoil, and I fear disgracing myself before the elders. Let us postpone the tea.”
“You dare!” Madam Ye shouted.
I paused and looked back.
“Mother, on the first day of my marriage, I cannot even find my husband. Now I only wish to go home. Is that also a breach of propriety?”
Her expression stiffened.
I did not wait for an answer. Leaning on Chunxue, I turned and left.
“Wuzhen, don’t go!”
Ye Zhaonian called after me, but the Second and Third Branches would never let him escape so easily. They surrounded him with needling remarks.
I had entered the Ye estate in a magnificent bridal procession, my dowry stretching for miles.
I left in a small, silent sedan chair.
Chunxue’s eyes were red. “My lady, if we are leaving, why not take the dowry too? Let everyone see how the Ye family bullied you!”
I lifted the carriage curtain and glanced at the plaque over the General’s Residence.
“Not yet.”