Chapter 2
Chapter 2
The Marquis Nanny Li spoke of was Xie Huaiyu, my husband of nearly ten years, with whom I had always maintained a courteous distance.
He cared deeply about appearances, valued order, and despised accidents and arrogant breaches of etiquette.
But the Transmigrator Xiang Tunan was the exception.
Xiang Tunan had once set off fireworks across the entire city and publicly declared that she would conquer the aloof Marquis Xie Huaiyu. She pushed him straight into the eye of the storm, leaving him openly discussed and mocked by everyone.
She had also once suddenly blocked Xie Huaiyu on his way to morning court, snatched the official hat from his head, and forced him to chase her on horseback. The two of them ran off to the outskirts for an entire day of spring outing, earning Xie Huaiyu a half-hour scolding from His Majesty.
Worse still, she had once used Xie Huaiyu’s name to forcibly seize a shop that had supported another family for three generations so she could sell ice jelly there. Afterward, she tossed down a pouch of broken silver and considered the matter settled, causing the marquis estate to be dragged to court in utter disgrace.
Time and again, she got Xie Huaiyu reprimanded and denounced. Every single thing she did trampled precisely on Xie Huaiyu’s taboos and sore spots, yet somehow she became the treasure of his heart.
Men and their romantic affairs were nothing more than gossip to the world, and I was too tired to care.
After all, the marquis estate already had a courtyard full of concubines, and I had settled every last one of them properly.
He indulged in his romances, while I held firmly to my authority over the marquis estate.
We each performed our own duties, did not disturb each other, and lived in peace.
Until last month, when I took my son and daughter to Huguo Temple to pray for blessings.
That night, it poured.
Three-year-old Xie Yan suddenly developed a raging fever for no clear reason.
When I hurriedly ordered the horses prepared so we could return to the capital,
the servants looked troubled and stammered.
Only then did I learn that every carriage in the marquis estate had been requisitioned by Xiang Tunan, who had gone off waving the Marquis’s command token.
In her righteous zeal, she had taken them to help the villagers at the foot of the mountain transport pigs from pigpens collapsed by the storm.
The carriage reserved exclusively for me and my two children
had pearl-trimmed curtains, fox-fur cushions lining the interior, soft gold-thread pillows, fruit, and pastries-everything one could need.
Even the Ferghana horses that pulled it were rewards the Old Marquis had earned through blood and merit on the battlefield.
But when Nanny Li went in person with my orders to retrieve the carriage,
the pearls were all gone, the fox fur was filthy, and the entire carriage reeked so badly it was unbearable to look at.
Even the two rare Ferghana horses, whose coats had once gleamed sleek and glossy, had been lashed again and again until their bodies were covered in bloody welts. There were even drops of crimson beneath their hooves.
Those horses were my son Xie Yan’s very heart.
He was already burning with fever, limp and faint in Nanny Li’s arms.
The instant he saw the miserable state of his beloved horses, he burst into tears…
“Mother, my horses and carriage are ruined.”
When Xiang Tunan heard this, she folded her arms across her chest and shook her head at me with a tut, looking utterly righteous.
“You’re someone who’s read a bellyful of books. How did you raise such a selfish, useless son?”
“The nobles of court are supported by the common people. You should treat the people as the parents who feed and clothe you.”
“It was pouring rain. You were hiding in a warm room filled with incense, drinking tea, worshiping Buddha, and praying for wealth and status. Meanwhile, you had no idea that the pigs and sheep the ordinary people rely on for their livelihoods nearly froze to death in their pens.”
“All I did was perform a good deed on your behalf before the Bodhisattva. By sacrificing the marquis estate’s carriage and tiring out two stupid horses, I solved a problem for the people and helped Huaiyu earn reputation and prestige. How is that not a win-win?”
“Of course, you old feudal relics would never understand something like prioritizing people’s livelihoods and solving their problems by putting yourself in their shoes.”
“Only the Empress Dowager, who also came from a thousand years in the future, could understand my noble cause.”
She glanced sideways at me, making no attempt to hide the contempt and disdain written all over her face.
“A summer insect cannot speak of ice. In the end, you’re just a woman of the inner residence. I doubt you could even understand if you listened.”
“Forget it. The good deed is done, so I’ll return the carriage and horses to you. As for words of thanks, have Xie Huaiyu come find me and say them himself.”
She turned to leave, but I stopped her with a sharp shout.
“You stood under a great umbrella as broad as a canopy, without so much as a drop of rain on your hem.
Yet you utterly ruined my horses and carriage worth a fortune.
And now that it’s over, you think you can simply clap your hands and walk away.
You used another person’s wealth to buy your own reputation and righteousness. Tell me, where in this world is there such a cheap bargain?”
Xiang Tunan halted, then whipped around to look at me.
“Because of a man, you’re ignoring the truth, getting jealous, and throwing a tantrum? You’ve picked the wrong target. Xie Huaiyu and I share the friendship of gentlemen, pure and innocent enough to be seen by the sun and moon. Besides…”
“Those were imperially bestowed Ferghana horses.”
I cut off her smug speech.
As her dark eyes trembled, I enunciated each word clearly.
“They were honors the Late Marquis earned by risking his life and shedding blood in battle. A single one is worth ten thousand gold, enough to buy every pig and sheep in the city!”
“The fox-fur cushions inside the carriage were imperial gifts bestowed by the Noble Consort out of concern for my son and daughter. Gold-thread brocade, strings of pearls, inlaid ornaments-every piece was selected by the Imperial Household Department. Every inch is a grace from the imperial family. Never mind that the carriage itself is worth a fortune; what is truly implicated here is the dignity of the throne!”
“And now you have destroyed it all. How should this debt be settled?”
With every sentence I spoke, Xiang Tunan’s face paled another shade.
By the time I finished, there was not a trace of blood left in her face.
“What do you mean?”
I curled my lips faintly.
“Very simple. Will you compensate me in silver, or will you pay with your life?”
Struck into panic by the very authority she looked down on, she opened her mouth and shouted,
“I took the Marquis’s command token. They are his things. Why couldn’t he use them?”
For that, I truly had to thank her wooden head.
Looking at Xie Huaiyu hurrying toward us through the curtain of rain,
I suppressed the cold sneer at the corner of my mouth and raised my voice.