Chapter 2

Keeping only one bedchamber maid made Yin Zonglin appear chaste and indifferent to women.

Refusing to give me contraceptive decoctions made him appear kindhearted, tender, and loyal.

My repeated pregnancies proved his virility.

Forcing abortifacients on me proved his respect and devotion to his future wife.

I bore every hardship. He claimed every virtue.

Once I had recovered from the miscarriage, I returned to Yin Zonglin’s side. He said he had missed me desperately.

What he had missed seemed considerably less sentimental. Before the sky was fully dark, he dragged me inside and shut the door.

Something felt different in bed. Yin Zonglin leaned close to my ear and said excitedly, “With the lamps out, it’s almost like you’re someone else.”

The novelty pleased him, and he kept me in his room for several nights.

At night I slept with one hand cupped around his balls. He mistook it for an intimate game and looked rather pleased with himself.

He probably thought I was hopelessly attached to him.

Naturally, nothing that happened in Yin Zonglin’s courtyard escaped his mother’s notice. When her son had no woman in his bed, she worried that a vigorous young man might damage himself by holding back. When he visited me too often, she worried that excess would drain his essence and weaken his kidneys.

Madam Yin summoned me for a warning. The moment I entered, she dashed a teacup to the floor and snapped, “Kneel.”

I obeyed at once, selected a pleasantly sunny patch, and knelt with perfect decorum.

Eldest Miss Yin was also present. As I went down on my knees, she rose and said, “Mother, see to your business. I’ll come speak with you this afternoon.”

“Sit down.” Madam Yin had no intention of sheltering her unmarried daughter from the subject. “You’re marrying after the New Year. It’s time you heard about certain things.”

Eldest Miss Yin looked unimpressed. “What is there to hear? If Zonglin touches her too little, she’s incompetent and can’t keep a man’s interest. If he touches her too often, she’s a shameless temptress who pesters him. Either way, it’s her fault. Isn’t that how it works, Mother?”

Before a roomful of matrons and maids, Madam Yin found herself unable to answer. Humiliation sharpened her voice. “What nonsense are you spouting? ‘Touches her’? Is that language for an unmarried girl?”

“Then I shall sit and hear how Mother chooses to put it.” Eldest Miss Yin calmly resumed her seat.

Madam Yin looked at me, opened her mouth, and found nothing to say.

Her daughter had already used up all her lines.

At last, irritated by the sight of me kneeling before her, she waved me away. “Go. You look as if a breath could knock you over. If kneeling makes you ill, Zonglin will accuse me of mistreating you and start fretting again.”

Eldest Miss Yin remarked idly, “If Mother had lost three pregnancies, she would look even more delicate.”

“Wretched girl!”

Given permission, I scrambled to my feet and slipped out.

Behind me came Madam Yin’s palm striking the table. “I must have committed some terrible sin in my last life to give birth to an enemy like you! How dare you speak of your elders that way—”

Eldest Miss Yin remained unruffled. “Which is why I offered to leave. Mother was the one who insisted I stay and listen.”

“I told you to listen, not interrupt! If you don’t mend that vile temper, you’ll suffer after you marry—”

Eldest Miss Yin was to marry into the Cao family of Gusu.

Gusu was a lovely place, and the Cao family’s third son was said to be accomplished in both letters and arms. But Gusu lay a thousand miles away. Madam Yin hated to send her daughter so far. Still, men ruled the household. Once Master Yin made the decision, she could only complain while throwing herself into preparing the dowry.

Parents’ commands and matchmakers’ words bound everyone—maid or young lady, noblewoman or princess.

Yet Gusu, that southern city of rivers and bridges, was enticing.

As I ground the ink stick in slow circles, my thoughts drifted far away.

“Why are you so distracted?” Yin Zonglin suddenly pecked my lips.

My hand paused. I lowered my eyes, concealing the emotion there.

“Did you hear Mother wanted to give me Hefeng, her maid?” He toyed with a strand of hair beside my ear. “Don’t worry. I refused. Mother scolded me for it too.”

“What choice do I have with such a jealous little creature at my side?” His indulgent smile deepened. “With that temperament of yours, you’re lucky you belong to me. Another master would never let you live so comfortably.”

I could not help smiling. Oh yes, my life was comfortable enough to kill me.

He stared for a moment, then murmured, “Chunyi, you seem different.”

“Does Young Master like it?” I asked lightly.

Whatever occurred to him tightened his throat. “I do.”

He bent to kiss me, his hand sliding from my shoulder toward my waist.

I knew the procedure that came next.

If I obediently undressed, I had seduced my master into lust in broad daylight and distracted him from his studies. Madam Yin would make me kneel for two or three hours.

If I resisted and Yin Zonglin took offense, he would turn cold and ignore me for days. And if Yin Zonglin was unhappy, whatever the cause, Madam Yin would decide I was at fault. I would still end up kneeling.

The only choice was whether to eat one pile of shit or two.

While I was considering my options, Yin Zonglin’s attendant arrived. I seized the opportunity to retreat behind the screen.

Madam Yin remained uneasy about her daughter’s distant marriage. Though Master Yin called the groom an old friend’s son and praised him to the skies, she had insisted on sending someone to Gusu to investigate.

Yin Zonglin had taken the matter upon himself.

His attendant was covered in travel dust. He clearly had an answer.

The Cao family’s third son was no good match. He had been married before.

“His first wife…died after he struck her too hard,” the attendant said. “I followed him for several days. I heard him bragging to friends over wine that he was about to marry a noble lady from the capital. He said our master owed him thirty thousand taels and couldn’t repay it, so he was giving Eldest Miss Yin in settlement.”

Thirty thousand taels was no small sum. The Yin family could produce it, but it would hurt.

Master Yin preferred not to be hurt.

No respectable family in Gusu would give a daughter to the Caos. For thirty thousand taels, Master Yin would.

“Do not let Mother hear of this,” Yin Zonglin ordered his attendant.

He gave me no special warning.

Jiang Chunyi was the second young master’s most faithful admirer. She would never defy his wishes.

Before Madam Yin, he lied. “It’s much as Father said. Ninth Young Master Cao is accomplished, honorable, and thoroughly dependable.”

Madam Yin’s worries vanished.

Before me, Yin Zonglin excused himself. “A quarrel takes two. His first wife must have been at fault. Why else would he strike her?”

I pressed one palm over the other. I badly wanted to demonstrate that one hand could, in fact, make a slap.

“Even if he truly is violent, my sister is hardly easy to bully. With the Yin family behind her, he won’t dare treat her lightly.”

Then he added, “With her temperament, perhaps a husband like that will teach her some discipline.”

By the end, he had convinced himself it was a splendid match.

I said nothing and poured him tea.

“How sweet.” He enjoyed it enough to drink two cups. “Did you add honey?”

I nodded.

How else could I conceal the taste of bitter sophora root?

Bitter sophora was a very useful thing.