Chapter 4

It began with Grandmother.

Besides the smaller meals, her daily bowl of bird’s-nest porridge had been cut off altogether.

Within a few days, she started moaning that this part of her body hurt and that part felt unwell.

Filial duty came first. Father had no choice but to reduce his own allowance again and restore her bowl of porridge.

Then there was his mistress, Jiang Shuang’s mother.

I had never met her, but I imagined that, by the end of my previous life, she had successfully moved into the estate and become its mistress.

She lived in a separate residence with a large staff. Father personally covered all their wages.

And, proud of her scholarly upbringing, she insisted on fine inkstones and fine brushes, and was always buying elegant ornaments for her courtyard.

The expense was considerable.

Previously, Father could take money from the accounts whenever he pleased. He had naturally paid little attention to such petty expenses. Indeed, he had thought the mistress perfectly suited his tastes, the two of them enjoying refined evenings together.

Now, as she complained to him over and over about having no money and too little to spend, her face suddenly seemed hateful.

“They say my lord smashed a teacup and stormed out. His mistress cried for a whole day and night, and he never went back to see her.”

My lips curled into a scornful smile.

“Of course. They used to live off us and enjoy the good life. Naturally, they all got along. Now let them have a proper fight over the money they claim to despise.”

Nanny Ruan laughed with me.

“By the way, has Jiang Shuang done anything?”

Nanny Ruan shook her head. “She’s remarkably patient. She hasn’t complained about the decline in her food, clothes, or living conditions.”

I pressed my fingers together, considering.

Jiang Shuang had always been clever. Otherwise, her honeyed words and hidden malice could never have led me so far astray in my previous life.

She probably wasn’t merely holding back her complaints. She was preparing a counterattack.

“The four tutors’ fees will be due soon. Then we’ll see what game she’s playing.”

The Cheng’en household usually settled its accounts once a quarter.

I had sent the four tutors to Jiang Shuang just as the quarter was ending.

That had been deliberate. Didn’t she have money? I intended to make her spend every bit of it.

Sure enough, she wasn’t foolish enough to argue that I had taken all the previous lessons and the household should pay.

Instead, she pawned some of the jewelry Father had secretly given her over the years, and generously paid all four tutors substantial fees.

Father was full of praise. She was the most considerate girl in the family now, he said.

“My lord is urging you to return!”

I listened to Nanny Ruan’s report with a bright smile. “Then it’s time I went home and gave her a stage to finish her little performance.”