Chapter 2
“Shoo! Get away! Why do these ill-omened things keep flying into the courtyard?”
My sister-in-law, Zhu Jinfeng, planted her hands on her hips. Her triangular eyes slanted upward as she ordered the servants to chase away a row of crows perched on the wall.
She had been of marriageable age for years, but her domineering nature and cutting tongue terrified the scions of both northern and southern clans. Few matchmakers dared approach her door.
“Sister-in-law, sewing again?” After berating the servants, Zhu Jinfeng came into the pavilion and cracked melon seeds beside me. “A great clan’s legitimate daughter truly is virtuous. Not like me—I spend every day among strings of coins until I reek of copper. These clumsy hands know nothing but the abacus.”
Her words were pleasant enough. Yet though I was nominally the young mistress of the Zhu household, I wielded less power than she did.
Zhu Jinfeng was exactly what her name proclaimed: a phoenix made of gold. To pluck one of her feathers, you had to tear away skin and blood with it.
She held the household ledgers. I had received no allowance for more than half a year, and whenever I needed to purchase anything, I paid from my dowry.
My husband, Zhu Jinyu, disliked my temperament. He rarely spent even one night a month in the main courtyard. Gradually, his favorite concubine’s food allotment grew to twice that of his lawful wife.
Even the servants could see that the household mistreated me.
As gossip spread, Zhu Jinfeng grew uneasy enough to offer me an explanation.
“Someone as ethereal as you must hate wine and meat,” she said. “A great household like ours would be eaten empty if we did not restrain the daily expenses. I only want to save the family a little silver. You’re gentle and virtuous and care nothing for appearances, so surely you won’t take the servants’ wagging tongues to heart.”
The bone relic burned against my chest. I smiled calmly and took her hand to comfort her.
“I followed my master in Buddhist practice from childhood and have always eaten vegetarian food. Your arrangements suit me perfectly.”
Once that story spread, no servant dared criticize Zhu Jinfeng again. Whatever sympathy they had shown me cooled into disdain.
I remained courteous to everyone. Each day at cockcrow, I rose to prepare breakfast for my husband and his parents with my own hands. When the morning dew had dried, I went to their courtyard and bowed in greeting.
Even so, my mother-in-law found fault with everything. The cured pork was too salty. The winter-melon soup was too bland.
My father-in-law, Zhu Yunsheng, ate slowly beside her without a word.
After the meal, I served them water to rinse their mouths, then tea—Mengding Snow Bud from my dowry, once presented as imperial tribute.
“You northerners are so particular about food and clothing,” my father-in-law said as he set down his cup. “Since you entered this house, even this old man has enjoyed a share of the luxury.”
My mother-in-law’s gaze sharpened at once. She arched her brows and gave a contemptuous snort.
I understood the implication and lowered my head. “Not at all. My father owes his place at court entirely to you. He will rely upon your generous guidance in the future as well.”
Only then did Zhu Yunsheng’s expression ease. Stroking his beard, he rose and let the servants help him change into his court robes.
My mother-in-law sipped her tea. “Has Jinyu gone several days without coming home again?”
When I nodded, she sighed.
“Yes, I praised your generosity. But as his wife, how can you show no concern over whose bed your husband sleeps in? Jinyu holds an official post now. If he keeps bringing disreputable women into the household whenever he pleases, as he did last year, what will people say?”
I bowed and acknowledged my fault.
She had just opened her mouth to continue the lecture when a servant came stumbling through the door in panic.
“Madam! Young Madam! Please, come to the front hall! The master is going to beat the young lord to death!”