Chapter 3

On the third day after my wedding to Chu Yunxing, I began learning from my mother-in-law and taking over the household accounts.

Chu Yunxing came to my rooms for lunch every day.

We had not consummated our marriage on our wedding night.

Handan had accidentally knocked over a candlestick and set her courtyard on fire. A maid came running for Chu Yunxing in tears. Without even taking off his wedding robes, he rushed to her.

He did not return all night.

When my mother-in-law learned of it the next day, she flew into a rage and locked Handan in the ancestral hall.

Handan refused food and water. Unable to persuade his mother, Chu Yunxing came to me today.

“You are my wife, the woman who shares my bed. Handan has a child’s temper. I know you’ve suffered a great deal because of her. But she once saved my life when we were young. Ah Yao, I cannot simply abandon her.”

I stirred the soup in my bowl, my smile gentle. “You and I are husband and wife. We have a lifetime together ahead of us. Your troubles are mine. I will speak to your mother for you. For my sake, she will let Handan out.”

After Handan was released, Chu Yunxing scolded her, and she came unwillingly to my rooms to thank me.

I moved the beads of my abacus and leafed through the accounts without looking up. “There is no need for thanks. Just behave yourself and stay quietly in your courtyard.”

She flung down her handkerchief and stormed away.

The next day, when Chu Yunxing returned from court, my mother-in-law and I were checking the number of male and female servants in the household. Winter was approaching. They would each need two new sets of warm clothing.

“Handan was an official’s daughter herself. There is so much to do here that Ah Yao cannot manage it all alone. Why not let Handan help her?”

Before he had finished speaking, my mother-in-law threw down her chopsticks. “Have you lost your mind?”

Chu Yunxing frowned slightly. “Mother, Handan is your own niece.”

She had only been a little angry before. Now she was furious. “A concubine who hasn’t even been formally admitted to the household thinks she is fit to assist its mistress? I’ve spared her life for your sake. Don’t push your luck!”

Chu Yunxing rose angrily to leave, but I stopped him. “Since you would like Handan to help me, we happen to be arranging the servants’ winter clothes. My mother and I have agreed to leave for the temple tomorrow to pray for my brother at the frontier. We will observe the fast for half a month. Handan could take charge of the clothing.”

Chu Yunxing sat down again. “That is the generosity a lawful wife ought to show.”

“Of course. As your lawful wife, I should be considerate of you. And as your family’s legitimate son, you should be considerate of your mother. Your father is away year after year. She has managed this household alone and brought you up.”

Tears rolled down my mother-in-law’s face. Struggling to contain her sobs, she said, “Ah Yao, you needn’t suffer for my sake. I shall consider this son of mine never born!”

She left. Chu Yunxing was in a foul mood. When someone came from Handan’s courtyard to fetch him, for the first time he lost his temper.

“What is the hurry? Get out!”

Once we were alone, he lowered his head and spoke to me with some shame.

“I owe Handan my life. She almost died saving me.”

The same words again.

I answered without much effort. “I know, my husband.”

Early the next morning, I set out in my carriage for my family’s home. Handan had shed her former dejection and recovered all her swagger.

“For the next half month, I will be in charge of this household. When you return, madam, all you need do is enjoy yourself. You won’t have to concern yourself with any of this again.”

“Then I wish you every success.”

Ah, did she think the accounts of a great house were so easy to manage?

If she made a mess of her very first independent assignment, Chu Yunxing would never be able to speak up for her again. My mother-in-law would only despise her all the more for her incompetence.

She would never again be allowed a hand in running the household.

To bring someone to ruin, first encourage her arrogance. Mother had personally taught me that lesson.

Handan was just like Concubine Qiu, whom Mother had pressed down into such despair that she no longer dared to draw attention to herself.

At home, I had only watched Mother at work.

Now that I had left her, this was my first practical exercise in the marquis’s household.