Chapter 1

When I married, it was my little sister I worried about most.

She had been born with a birthmark on her face. Grandmother disliked her for it.

Mother was busy, the servants careless. My sister grew up at my side.

She was timid and painfully conscious of her looks, but sweet and sensible too.

At nine, she promised me with the solemnity of a grown woman, “Don’t worry, Sister. I’ll keep Drifting Cloud Courtyard in perfect order, just as you always did.”

Two years later, I returned to my parents’ home for Grandmother’s sixtieth birthday.

By chance, I learned that after my wedding, my sister had not been allowed to stay in Drifting Cloud Courtyard.

She lived with Grandmother, eating vegetarian meals, chanting prayers, copying sutras and sorting beans every day.

Grandmother said that with a face like hers, even if she managed to find a husband, he would never love her. She must learn now to endure an empty room and the loneliness of endless nights. She must know her place, be generous and forgiving, and know her own limitations. As a daughter of the Jiang family, she must learn to be a proper living corpse in her husband’s home.

After the guests left, I argued my sister’s case with Grandmother.

Then a maid rushed in. “Something terrible has happened! Young Master He was drunk. He broke into Drifting Cloud Courtyard and assaulted the Fourth Young Lady!”

I sprang to my feet.

Only after a bowl of strong sleeping medicine did Little Four finally drift off.

The woman who had treated her whispered in my ear, “She’s badly hurt. I’ve applied medicine, but she’ll need some time to recover… There is lasting damage, too. I’m afraid there may be long-term consequences…”

I closed the door gently.

Then I snapped a branch off a willow and went to the front hall.

The hall was lively. He Zhili had sobered up and was nestled in Grandmother’s arms, wheedling and whining.

“Grandmother, I was drunk! I mistook her for one of the girls in my rooms. Why else would I have gone near Fourth Cousin? You know I go out of my way to avoid that face.”

He rolled up his sleeves and pointed to his face. “Look what she did to me! It hurts!”

Aunt was Grandmother’s youngest child, and her only daughter.

She had always been Grandmother’s favorite.

That affection extended to her son, He Zhili, whom Grandmother spoiled shamelessly.

His injuries distressed Grandmother more than anyone. After examining him from head to toe, she rounded on Mother. “Why hasn’t anyone put medicine on him? You were in such a hurry to question him, as though he’d committed a crime!”

Striking first was Grandmother’s usual tactic.

This time Mother held her ground. “Little Four lost consciousness. Am I supposed to tend to the culprit’s scratches before my own daughter?”

Mother had never defied Grandmother before, much less in front of the younger generation.

Humiliated and furious, Grandmother snatched up a teacup and hurled it at Mother’s feet.

“Lady Qin! How dare you answer your mother-in-law back!”

Years of Grandmother’s tyranny had left their mark. Mother flinched, pressed her lips together, and spoke more softly. “There must be some answer for what happened to Little Four.”

“Sister-in-law, Zhili was certainly rash,” Aunt said gently. “Mother has said before that Little Four will have trouble marrying. She may have had to enter Zhili’s household eventually. Let us simply regard this as the two of them becoming husband and wife a little early.”

The second daughter of the lawful wife of a deputy chief of the Court of Judicial Review, sent to share the rooms of a wastrel who haunted brothels.

They had some nerve.

Mother stared. “What? You want Little Four to be Zhili’s concubine?”

Grandmother snorted. “With Little Four’s looks and temperament, what else could she be? Mistress of his household? If you think Zhili beneath her and can find a better match, I shan’t stop you. I doubt you can.”

Mother fell silent. My sister’s marriage prospects had always weighed on her.

Now that this had happened, He Zhili seemed to be the only choice left.

“Sister-in-law, you know the He family is an old and distinguished house. Zhili is its eldest legitimate grandson. His wife will have to run the household and deal with the ladies of other families. With a birthmark the size of a palm on Little Four’s face, the He elders would never agree, even if I did.”

Mother’s expression began to soften.

Aunt continued soothingly. “Don’t worry. She would be a concubine in name only. Little Four is my own niece. Would I let anyone mistreat her in the He household? Even after Zhili’s wife arrives, with me protecting her, no one will dare make her life difficult.”

“You must be joking!” He Zhili had finally understood. Fourth Cousin, whom he had called an ugly freak since childhood, was to be thrust upon him as a concubine.

He raised his voice. “You marry a wife for her virtue and take a concubine for her beauty. If people find out I’ve taken an ugly freak, I’ll be a laughingstock! How could I show my face?”

“Hold your tongue!” Aunt slapped him. It looked hard, but his cheek did not even redden. The blow was for Mother’s benefit.

Looking aggrieved, He Zhili tugged at Grandmother’s arm for help.

Grandmother whispered something in his ear. His face brightened at once, and his eyes strayed to Jiaoyue, the senior maid standing behind her.

Presumably Grandmother had promised him the beautiful girl.

Meanwhile Aunt took Mother’s arm. “This will bring our families even closer, and the whole business can be hushed up. If word gets out, Little Four is the one who will suffer.”

“We’ll be in-laws as well as sisters-in-law. Wouldn’t that be lovely?”

In a few easy sentences, they had arranged my sister’s life.