Chapter 2
Nurse and I had barely returned home when Chu Yunxing arrived with his mother.
Neatly arranged on the table were the very same gilded ornaments Handan had taken from me.
Mother and I exchanged a glance. She sipped her tea without betraying a thing, while a fine sweat broke out on Chu Yunxing’s mother’s forehead.
“This is the deed to the Bright Moon Emporium. A small addition from me to Ah Yao’s dowry.”
“Handan is Yunxing’s cousin. Her parents died young and left only this one daughter. We were entrusted with her care.”
Chu Yunxing smoothly took up his mother’s words. “Madam, Second Miss, I have already warned my cousin. What happened today was her fault. My mother and I offer this deed as a token of our sincerity. I hope you will accept it.”
“After the wedding, I will settle my cousin in a separate courtyard. Our family has rules, and wives and concubines each have their proper place. I respect you, Second Miss. I will not let her put herself above you.”
Mother accepted the deed. Chu Yunxing and his mother both breathed more easily. The rumors outside must have left them thoroughly humiliated on their way here.
“Both our families enjoy a certain standing. Ah Yao may not be my eldest legitimate daughter, but she is still my second. How could she wear another woman’s used ornaments to her own wedding?”
Chu Yunxing answered at once. “I will have a new set made for the Second Miss immediately. It will be even more precious and magnificent than this one.”
Mother smiled and helped him up. She chatted with them until evening before seeing them off.
After they left, Mother placed the deed to the Bright Moon Emporium in my hands. “You handled today’s business very well.”
I massaged her shoulders. “You taught me well, Mother.”
For the past three months, Handan had tried every means of drawing me out, hoping to make me retreat and break my engagement to Chu Yunxing.
I had remained unmoved until today, when I finally made my move by giving ground. My father and Chu Yunxing’s father would soon return to the capital.
The old marquis had personally arranged this match. If anything went wrong with it, his sword would not spare Handan.
When it came to that, nothing short of Handan’s death would settle the matter.
That was why Chu Yunxing had come in person to apologize today.
“The Bright Moon Emporium is the most fashionable shop in the capital. It brings in over ten thousand taels a year. Parting with it cannot have been easy for them.”
“At least I now have some idea how much Handan means to him.”
“However much she means to him, she cannot outweigh your position as his lawful wife. You will be running the entire household. Your gaze must reach beyond your husband. If he dies before you, you will become the family’s dowager matriarch. Everyone will have to show you respect. The whole estate will belong to you and your children.”
I understood what Mother meant. Children were what mattered most now.