Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“The ones who bought you weren’t the rent-collecting Zhou Family, but the Zou Family who runs the school at the south end of town.”

When Madam Liu said this, I was stunned.

“Then… then what do we do?”

Madam Liu looked at my eyebrows and chest with suspicion, still clinging to a sliver of hope. “Has he slept with you yet?”

He had.

We’d been sleeping together for nearly half a month.

Madam Liu’s face fell as if her own mother had died. She slumped onto the ground, slapping the bricks and wailing, “The girl the Zhou Family ordered ran away, and now you’ve gone and lost your virtue. How am I supposed to afford the compensation for this!”

I kept my head down, staring at the floor tiles, not daring to make a sound.

“There’s only a month left before I have to hand over the girl. Where am I supposed to find someone else?”

At the mention of a month, Madam Liu suddenly scrambled to her feet.

“No, this is on you. Who told you to show up early? You’re the one who has to pay back the money!”

…How much silver would I have to pay the Zou Family?

“Twenty taels.”

Twenty taels?

Even if I were sold four more times, it wouldn’t be enough.

“I don’t know what kind of wicked luck you’ve stumbled into. Out of all those girls, Young Master Zou just had to pick you. He said he’d take you in as a proper concubine. Once you had your face-threading ceremony and bore him a big, fat son, you would’ve lived a life more beautiful than a celestial fairy!”

Thinking about how I had spent the last two months trying to please Zhou Yuqing in every possible way, I felt as if the sky were falling.

He had a crippled leg, so I boiled pine needle water every day to apply hot compresses. I even got two large blisters on my hands from the tea stove, and they still hurt now.

He was a picky eater, so I woke up early every morning to go to the market and pick the freshest fruits, peeling them and removing the seeds to feed him.

But he looked down on me for being a provincial girl and called me stupid. He said I wasn’t as delicate and charming as Miss Su from across the street.

So, I went to great lengths to imitate Miss Su. I learned how she took eighteen sips to finish a single cup of tea, and how she lowered her head to cover her mouth with a handkerchief when she laughed so she wouldn’t smudge her rouge.

But Zhou Yuqing called me Dongshi imitating Xishi’s frown, saying my lip rouge had ruined the handkerchief.

I had been so diligent and eager to please, all for the sake of earning the status of a concubine.

But that was something the Zou Family was going to give me from the start!

I was filled with such regret and anxiety that I wanted to slap myself twice.

But it was too late for regrets. In a moment of desperation, I grabbed Madam Liu.

“Madam Liu, you could beat me to death and I still wouldn’t be able to pay twenty taels.

“Look, how about this? Young Master Zhou doesn’t like me. I’ll take the loss and consider it as having been slept with for nothing. There’s still a month left. I’ll try to coax the Zhou Family into letting me go first, then I’ll go to Young Master Zou and beg for mercy. Maybe if Young Master Zou takes a liking to me, he won’t make me pay the silver…”

Madam Liu thought about it but felt it wasn’t right. “Would Young Master Zhou be willing to let you go?”

Why wouldn’t he?

Of course Zhou Yuqing would be willing!

He didn’t like me anyway.

Besides, just this morning, he had complained that I’d dirtied his bed and told me to get lost.

Once I was gone, he could marry Miss Su. Wouldn’t that be perfect for everyone?

Madam Liu still had her doubts, but this was the only way for now.

“Then act as if I was never here. Coax him and make him happy first; then everything will be easier to discuss.”

I thought for a moment. Fearing that the next girl might suffer like I did, I couldn’t help but speak up.

“That Young Master Zhou already has a girl he likes. You’d make more money acting as a matchmaker than selling girls.”

Madam Liu spat at me. “A cripple who won’t buy a wife? What girl from a family of equal status would ever look at him?”

I didn’t think that was right.

Zhou Yuqing was handsome and wealthy.

The reason he couldn’t get a wife wasn’t because of his leg; it was because he had a wicked tongue and loved being mean to people.

Madam Zhou told me that before I arrived, Zhou Yuqing had already driven away four delicate young girls with his insults.

Madam Zhou had praised me with a smile, saying I was honest and had great capability and good fortune.

Actually, that wasn’t true. When Zhou Yuqing insulted me, I got a little angry too.

He insulted the little freckles on my face. He didn’t just call me ugly; he said the magpie droppings on my face were a waste of rouge.

He complained that I was dark-skinned, sallow, and scrawny, telling me to be careful when walking at night so no one would mistake me for firewood and stuff me into a furnace.

But if enduring a few sharp words meant I could stay with the Zhou Family and eat white flour buns, well, let him be as mean as he liked.

As I sat by the window slowly applying osmanthus oil to my hair, Changle, Zhou Yuqing’s cleverest page, gave me a mischievous wink and a grin.

“Miss Grape, you look truly lovely. No wonder the Young Master says your name in his sleep!”

“Once you’ve finished your hair, hurry on over. The Young Master will lose his temper again if you’re not by his side.”

Bah. It’s clearly because he can’t find a punching bag when I’m not around.

“What took you so long to wash up?”

Zhou Yuqing was reclining on a rattan chair in the courtyard, lazily soaking up the sun with a book covering his face.

He had a graceful build. His white silk robe rippled in the breeze like spring water. His purple bamboo walking stick, which he usually leaned on, was resting right by his hand.

“Come here.”

Zhou Yuqing rested his head on my lap, looking quite satisfied to see me obeying so readily.

“Not bad. You’ve put on a bit of weight.”

I hurriedly gave him a massage to curry favor, asking flatteringly, “Young Master, are you acquainted with the Zou Family who runs the school in the south of the city?”

At the mention of the Zou Family, Zhou Yuqing looked a bit displeased.

He tilted his head slightly, peering at me suspiciously from beneath the book. “Why bring up the Zou Family all of a sudden?”

My heart hammered, fearing he might notice something. “The young lady of the Zou Family is hosting a Doucao gathering. I wanted to go and have a look.”

“Did the Zou Family invite you?”

Well, no…

Afraid he would refuse, I quickly added, “Miss Su is going too! I’ll put in a few good words for you with Miss Su.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t spend any money or ask you for any plants. I’ll just watch from the sidelines.”

After hearing this, Zhou Yuqing closed his eyes again, ignoring me. “Take that pot of White Lion on the rack. Going there empty-handed and plain-faced would embarrass me.”

I turned my head and saw the White Peony in the courtyard blooming beautifully.

To think he called it a White Lion. I heard Zhou Yuqing had spent fifty taels to buy it from a flower merchant in Chang’an.

He cherished that flower like the apple of his eye, refusing to let the gardeners touch it. He pruned the branches and buried fish guts for fertilizer himself.

I wiped my hands and carefully went to pick up that pot of White Peony, which was worth more than I was.

I had been wondering why Zhou Yuqing was being so generous, but then it clicked.

“Oh! If Miss Su likes it, this flower is meant as a gift for her, right?”

Zhou Yuqing remained silent at my words.

He looked over my loose hair and then glanced at my waist. Finding something else to be dissatisfied with, he gave another cold snort.

“Why else? Do you think it’s for you? Look in a mirror and see if you’re even worthy.”

“When you’re out, don’t say you’re from the Zhou Family. If people find out, they’ll think I’ve gone blind and lost all my standards.”

Bah, you’re just afraid Miss Su will get jealous.

“Then I’ll just say I’m the Young Master’s distant cousin, alright?”

Zhou Yuqing didn’t say anything, which I took as silent consent.

“Playing with their daughter is one thing, but stay away from that Zou Family young master, Zou Bo’an. He’s no good.”

“What’s wrong with Young Master Zou?”

Zhou Yuqing couldn’t be bothered to answer me and told me to take the flower and get lost.

That “get lost” used to make me feel a bit sad, but today I heard it with a beaming smile.

I couldn’t help but lean out from behind a pillar in the corridor to ask, “Young Master, if I really ‘got lost’ and left for good, would you be sad?”

“Sad?” Zhou Yuqing reacted as if he’d heard the funniest joke in the world, nearly laughing out loud. “If you got lost today, I’d be burning incense for the Zhou Family ancestors tomorrow to thank them for their protection!”

Fine by me!