Chapter 4
That evening, Xie Bi did not return.
His mistress was a capable woman. Once he had gone to her, she was hardly going to let him leave so easily.
Relieved, Li Ruolan ordered several of her favorite dishes and asked me to stay for dinner.
“Aunt Chun, these are the first bamboo shoots of spring. They’re wonderfully tender. Try some.”
She looked quite at ease.
The maid serving us found it odd.
“That woman has kept the master there tonight, yet you seem in such good spirits, my lady.”
I laughed softly.
“Your mistress has seen sense. Once you understand one thing, the rest follows. Life will be much easier from now on.”
Li Ruolan paused, then put a morsel in her mouth and chewed it carefully.
“You’re right, Aunt Chun. Before, everything I ate was tasteless. Only now do I realize how delicious this food is. What a fool I was, letting so many good things pass me by.”
“Very wise, my lady!” I looked at her with approval.
“Why let someone else enjoy all the good things? It’s time to take back everything that belongs to you.”
She looked at me and understood.
Early the next morning, Xie Bi came back.
He had washed, but the scent of a woman’s cosmetics still clung to him.
Li Ruolan covered her nose with a handkerchief in distaste.
Xie Bi looked uncomfortable.
“I know what you’re going to say…”
“What do you know, husband?” She glanced at him.
“Forgive me for interfering, but a pregnant woman wearing such heavy cosmetics can hardly be doing her baby any good.”
He had not expected that. He looked rather sheepish.
“It’s Rou’er’s first pregnancy. The people around her don’t know any better…”
“That’s why I thought we might bring Miss Rou into the estate and look after her properly. It is the Xie family’s first child, after all.”
Li Ruolan seized her opening.
“Do you really mean that?” Xie Bi asked suspiciously.
She pretended to take offense.
“When I objected, you called me intolerant. Now I agree, and you won’t believe me. Being mistress of this household is an impossible task!”
She turned her back on him.
That was when I stepped out.
“Your wife is virtuous and generous. Though it breaks propriety for the eldest son to be born to a concubine, she still cannot bear to leave a child of the Xie family outside its doors. You are fortunate indeed to have such a wife, my lord.”
At my words, guilt and gratitude rose in his face.
“My lady, I didn’t think this through. Let me thank you on Rou’er’s behalf. Rest assured, whether she bears a boy or a girl, no one will threaten your position. Your son will be the legitimate heir to the Xie family estate.”
I had heard his mistress had been pestering him for a proper place in the family every day.
Xie Bi had been wondering how to broach it with Li Ruolan. How understanding of her to offer first.
The way he looked at her changed still further.