Chapter 1

I was the second daughter born to the Duke of Ding’s lawful wife. My father and the Marquis of Yongning had faced life and death together on the battlefield.

When they returned from a victorious campaign, the two of them arranged my betrothal to the marquis’s son.

After I heard the news, I laid my head anxiously on Mother’s knees. “What if he doesn’t like me?”

Mother laughed. “Silly child. In a marriage between great families, your husband’s affection is the least important thing. What matters is the power you hold as mistress of his household.”

Day by day, I grew up under that instruction.

A month before my wedding to Chu Yunxing, one of our nurses quarreled with someone while out shopping for the household.

Ordinarily, a dispute between servants need not have reached my ears. But the woman who had caused the trouble had a connection to me: she was Handan, the cherished concubine Chu Yunxing kept in his rooms.

With that connection, I had little choice but to intervene.

Concubine was not quite accurate. With me, his lawful wife, yet to enter the household, the marquis’s family dared not openly take a concubine for him.

Still, she was the woman to whom Chu Yunxing had given his heart.

My future mother-in-law had even visited our house over the matter. Again and again, she promised to send Handan away before the wedding.

Mother stopped her.

“Since Yunxing is fond of her, let her stay and be properly looked after. Once Ah Yao marries into your family, you can formally make her a concubine.”

That was Mother’s wish, and mine as well.

If Chu Yunxing truly cared for the girl, forcing her out now would only make him resent me.

He and I were to be husband and wife, after all.

I asked for no great meeting of hearts. At the very least, we ought to treat one another with courtesy. He should be civil to me.

A rupture over a concubine would disgrace both families and make it harder for me to manage the marquis’s household in the years to come.

Before my future mother-in-law left, she repeatedly assured Mother that they would keep Handan under control until the wedding. She would not be allowed to ruin a match both families valued so highly.

When I arrived at the Bright Moon Emporium, Handan was sitting comfortably in a broad wooden armchair, drinking tea.

Our nurse’s face was swollen. Handan’s maid had fared much worse: her hair had come loose, and even the corner of her mouth had been torn and bloodied.

On the way, my servants had told me what had happened.

Nurse had come to buy cosmetics and a set of hair ornaments for my dowry. Handan deliberately tried to snatch them away, and naturally Nurse refused to yield. During the quarrel, Handan’s maid began speaking obscenely.

So what if I was the duke’s second legitimate daughter, she said? I would still be an empty figurehead who could not hold her husband’s heart.

Once I married into the marquis’s house, I would spend every night alone in an empty room.

Nurse had suckled me. She treated me as her own daughter and treasured me more than her own eyes.

She had fed me at her breast and watched me grow, little by little, into the young woman I was now.

How could she bear to hear someone slander me like that? She went straight at Handan’s maid, and the two began to fight.

“My lady.” Nurse’s eyes reddened as she scolded the maid beside me. “How could you bring our young lady here over something so filthy? Have you forgotten who she is? Take her home at once.”

Handan sneered. “Who she is? Does being the duke’s second legitimate daughter give her the right to bully people?”

Nurse flared up. I stopped her.

“Then perhaps you would tell me how I have bullied you.”

“Don’t pretend you haven’t done anything. Your nurse hit my maid!”

“Tell me why your maid was hit.”

Handan faltered. Her expression shifted several times. “Whatever the reason, hitting people is wrong.”

I smiled. “You are quite right. Then allow me to apologize on my nurse’s behalf. Please accept these cosmetics and hair ornaments as my apology.”

Nurse blanched. “My lady, those are your wedding ornaments. They’re worth a fortune!”

Disbelief flickered in Handan’s eyes. As though afraid I might change my mind, she retorted haughtily, “Your word is your bond. You had better not regret this.”

My smile was serene. “I won’t.”

She left with the things, her chin held high.

Once she was gone, Nurse could not stop weeping. “It’s all my fault. I’ve done you such harm. If this affects your marriage, I shall never forgive myself.”

I smiled. “It won’t, Nurse. This marriage concerns more than just our family. We aren’t the ones who should be afraid.”