Chapter 3
Chapter 3
The courtyard lamps were dim. I stared for a long while before I finally made out the newcomer’s face.
And once I did, I nearly jumped out of my skin.
He was actually an old acquaintance.
When he saw me, he was clearly just as startled.
I had only just raised my hand when he immediately lifted his sleeve to shield his face and hurriedly took a step back.
No, seriously? Was that half-step backward really necessary?
The nanny who had rushed over fell silent too.
She looked at the sky, then at me, gave a dry cough, and began the introductions.
“Eldest Young Master, this is the concubine Madam has taken in for you, Lady Zhou.”
The moment he heard that, his face went white.
In disbelief, he pointed at me, then at the Young Madam’s door.
A thousand stray thoughts flashed through his mind, but in the end, only one remained: My life is full of hardship. My luck is rotten. Heaven wants me dead.
After a long while, he seemed to finally accept his fate.
He murmured to himself, “How could Madam dare?”
I acted as if I had noticed nothing and curtsied with a smile. “This concubine greets her husband.”
I could not really blame him for looking like that. Back when my family was still doing all right, we had run a noodle shop beside the academy.
He would come by from time to time for a bowl, always preferring to visit when there were fewer people around.
Nine times out of ten, he would see me chasing my younger brother around with a fire poker and beating him.
He was different from the other scholars. He did not like to talk, and even when he ate, he took tiny, careful bites.
Quiet, unobtrusive, with hardly any presence at all.
So whenever I got into fights in the past, I never made any particular effort to avoid him.
But ever since he personally saw me swing a knife and chop off the fingers of that butcher who had harassed me, he never came again.
Qin Zhongwen had always been exceedingly timid and socially anxious. Ever since he saw her two years ago, he went home and had nightmares for a full month.
Because of Miss Zhou, he had even given up his favorite shredded pork alkaline noodles.
Who could have imagined that his wife would actually take her into the household!
He pressed a hand to his forehead and suddenly felt a headache coming on. It seemed he would have to take that nightmare remedy a little longer after all.
The maidservants were sobbing beside him. To others, this might have sounded like a lovely scene of beauties attending a scholar, but to his ears, it was unbearably noisy.
He truly did not want to offend this she-devil, so for once, he mustered a rare bit of backbone.
“Since the concubine dislikes them, they must have served poorly. Report this truthfully to Mother and send the two of them back!”
When the two maidservants heard that, they felt as if they had been struck by lightning. They immediately knelt at his feet and clung to his trouser legs, refusing to let go.
“Eldest Young Master, the Mistress of the House personally promised us before that once you passed the imperial examination, she would raise us to concubine status.”
He hastily glanced at me, then quickly lowered his head. “What nonsense are you spouting? Hurry, hurry, hurry. Send them away.”
With that, he entered the study without looking back.
He was in such a rush that he even tripped over the threshold.
Now I understood. This couple were both spineless pushovers. Not a single one of them could take charge.
For a moment, I regretted my decision again. Following masters like these, I was afraid I would have endless suffering ahead of me.
I kind of wanted to run.
I decided to go tell my beautiful madam everything right now.
As for the silver, I would count it as money I owed her. Once I had money in the future, I would definitely pay her back.
If there was truly no other way, I could work as a maid in the household for a few years and leave once I had paid off the debt.
When I entered the room, I felt somewhat troubled and was just about to say that I would no longer be a concubine.
Then I saw her cough softly and say in a low voice, “I have been frail since childhood, and my temperament is gentle. Because this marriage was one above my station, everyone in this household looks down on me. To be honest, every day I live here feels like walking on thin ice.”
“I thought this was how the rest of my life would be. Until I saw you. It turns out women can live so freely. They can also fight back with clenched fists.”
“To tell you the truth, I have been watching you for several months now. I know you have been short on money recently, and bringing you into the household was taking advantage of your vulnerability. But I can promise you this: I will never make things difficult for you in this life.”
“So please, teach me how to survive in this man-eating household.”