Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The First Madam selected two young maids for me.
In less than half a day, they were whispering mansion gossip in my ear.
One of them mentioned Miss Chen. The year they brought Miss Chen back, they happened to encounter river bandits attacking the boat. Miss Chen knew how to swim and managed to drag the young master to a nearby village.
But Miss Chen was frightened and developed a high fever that night; the young master had to return alone.
He brought people back to the village to fetch Miss Chen.
Because of this life-saving grace, the young master doted on Miss Chen in every possible way.
I chuckled at that. Doting in every way, yet he hadn’t even given her a formal status. None of the servants in the Marquis’s Mansion knew how to address her properly; they could only call her “Young Cousin.”
That was not what true doting looked like, but I wasn’t concerned with their love and grudges.
I changed the subject: “Instead of telling me about Miss Chen, why don’t you tell me about the First Madam?”
The entire Marquis’s Mansion was managed by the First Madam; I admired her ability.
The maid smiled, scratched her head, and indeed started telling me about the First Madam.
The day passed quickly. That evening, Miss Chen as usual sent someone to call Shen Xiu. I didn’t pay attention to what it was about this time.
This time he refused, stroked my hair, and said, “Go to bed early. Tomorrow we have the bridal return visit.”
The next day, Shen Xiu and I prepared many items and made a grand show of the bridal return visit.
Beside the carriage, Miss Chen’s eyes were red and swollen, and she looked listless. Upon seeing Shen Xiu, she spoke first: “Cousin, I…”
Before she could finish, Shen Xiu interrupted: “Whatever it is, we’ll talk after I return.”
Before getting into the carriage, seeing her swollen eyes, I instructed her maid: “Get an egg and roll it over Miss Chen’s eyes to reduce the swelling. It hurts me to see her like this.”
Perhaps my words were off; Chen Li’s expression suddenly froze.
But I didn’t want to dwell on her thoughts. I hurriedly got into the carriage, my heart set on getting home quickly.
When we arrived at Xie Manor, my elder sister and the First Madam had been waiting outside since early morning.
My concubine mother stood behind them. When she saw the sedan chair, she couldn’t help but lift her head to sneak a look at me.
She looked me up and down. Seeing my rosy complexion, she lowered her head again.
The First Madam took my hand and warmly greeted me, leading me toward the main hall.
My elder sister and Shen Xiu were left behind.
I’ve had sharp hearing since childhood.
I heard Shen Xiu ask my elder sister: “In this second life, I chose your younger sister. Do you resent me?”
She didn’t answer, and he quickly added: “You have a strong character and cannot tolerate Ah Li, but Lan Yin is different. I just don’t want to repeat past mistakes.”
Only then did my elder sister speak: “Are you done?”
Finally, there was a crisp “slap.”
I turned around to see my elder sister just withdrawing her hand, Shen Xiu’s head turned aside, his face red and swollen.
The First Madam walked over anxiously: “Goodness, what happened?”
My elder sister flung her hand and said, “Shen Xiu, not marrying you was the best decision I ever made. You are too hypocritical.”
With that, she tossed her sleeve and left directly.
The First Madam looked at her angry daughter and then at Shen Xiu’s swollen face, at a loss.
Master Xie is the teacher of the reigning emperor and still attends upon His Majesty.
The First Madam and Master Xie doted on my elder sister, so the legitimate daughter of the Xie family could do whatever she pleased, so to speak.
Watching the First Madam’s troubled expression, I felt a bit envious.
I spoke to give her an out: “First Madam, please go see to my sister first. I’ll take care of my husband here.”
She left one of her maids with us and turned to leave.
I led Shen Xiu to the front hall and gently touched his cheek with an ice cube.
“Tell me if it hurts.”
He looked up at me, his eyes full of scrutiny.
“Aren’t you curious why your sister slapped me?”