Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Madame Zhou.

A legitimate daughter of the former dynasty’s nobility.

At the imperial banquet, Madame Zhou carried a cup of wine and walked past him. The corner of her eye swept over him ever so slightly, and Duan Qing’s eyeballs nearly glued themselves to her.

I clenched my fists and looked up at him.

He had been holding these words in for a long time.

In court, at imperial banquets, those sour-faced old ministers who had been lucky enough to keep their lives were always glancing at him from the corners of their eyes, mocking him for being crude.

Yet the moment they turned around, they would plaster on ingratiating smiles and try to shove their daughters into his household as concubines.

Madame Zhou, the legitimate daughter of a marquis household from the former dynasty. Her ancestors had been rich and honored for five generations, and she had been raised in a nest of brocade and silk. Even though she had fallen on hard times now, the bearing she carried in every inch of her body was enough to make even me, a duke’s wife, feel ashamed of my own inferiority.

I understood men like Duan Qing far too well.

A man who had crawled up from the mud, then suddenly found himself rich and powerful, feared nothing more than being called rustic.

Marrying a noblewoman was not only a symbol of status; it was also the quickest way to shed the labels of “mud-legged peasant” and “coarse military brute.”

That was why he wanted to bring a noblewoman of the former dynasty into our household. One reason was to show those pedantic scholars. The other was that his hunger to enjoy himself had gotten the upper hand.

“Madam?” he called to me in a deliberately affected tone, biting down especially hard on the word “Madam,” as if to remind me.

He was now a duke of the current dynasty. I, the first wife who had no power or influence of my own and could only share in my husband’s glory, ought to know my place.

He did not mention at all that, back when his army had been defeated and he had fled into the mountains, I had carried two coarse buns and walked a full day and night to find him.

By the time I found him, he was already burning with fever and unconscious.

I carried him thirty li on my back.

Back then, he had gripped my hand and said, “When I make it big, I’ll make you an honored lady.”

Now I was an honored lady.

And then?

He stood before me, spittle flying onto my face, telling me he wanted to take a concubine.

I folded his court robes neatly and said softly, “Dalang has spent half his life on the battlefield. It is time you enjoyed some peace and comfort.”

I was not surprised that Duan Qing had thoughts of taking a concubine.

Among that group of old friends who had fought alongside him to conquer the realm, which one had not taken concubines after achieving fame and status?

Last month, I went to Zhenbei Marquis Manor to visit Linlin, a dear sister from the old days.

We had not seen each other in three months, and she had wasted away until she hardly looked human.

Linlin lay all alone on the bed, her face waxy yellow, her breath as faint as a thread.

She held my hand, tears pouring down her face. “A promotion, a fortune, and the first wife dies. This is our fate.”

Back then, she had knelt in the snow until her forehead split open, begging for a dose of medicine for her man.

Now she lay here, with no one asking after her.

Her husband spent every night in song and revelry in his concubine’s bed.

The wife who had endured every hardship with him lay in bed, rotting and molding away alone.

“On that slut’s first day in the household, she wore red from head to toe. My husband said she was just a child and didn’t know any better, so why should I hold it against her?” She tightened her grip on my hand. “After that, she ‘didn’t know any better’ every single day. She came late to pay respects because she didn’t know any better. She ate my bird’s nest because she didn’t know any better. She contradicted me in front of guests because she didn’t know any better. My husband told me to be more tolerant.”

All at once, she laughed. Tears spilled from her eyes, slid down her cheeks, and sank into her pillow.

Only then did I notice that the pillow embroidered with gold thread had already turned black and yellow.

“That slut even framed me for causing her miscarriage, but she was never pregnant at all. But Lu Cheng, that blind fool with his eyes wide open, knocked me to the ground with a slap without another word. Not only did he call me a poisonous woman, he confined me to my quarters and stripped me of authority over the household.”

“That tigress at Dingguo Marquis Manor across the street-when her man wanted to take a concubine, she brought a blade down on the doorframe. The whole city cursed her as a jealous shrew. But her man is in her bed. I, the virtuous wife, have been reduced by this slut to barely clinging to life.”

She forced up the last of her strength and gripped my hand tightly. “If Duan Qing ever gets the same idea, you must never let those sluts from the former dynasty enter your household. They’ve fallen into the mud, and the moment they catch hold of a single straw, they’ll climb for all they’re worth. There is no trick they won’t use, no dignity they won’t throw away. We can’t beat them.”

Those words seemed to drain all the strength from her body.

She panted for a long while before speaking again, her voice as faint as a thread. “Thank goodness Duan Qing isn’t that sort of man. You are blessed.”

At the time, I could only give her a bitter smile.

Among all the first wives who had shared their husbands’ poverty, I was indeed one of the more fortunate ones.

After the new emperor ascended the throne, he richly rewarded the officials who had followed him in his rise. Without exception, those coarse men all began to grow restless-visiting brothels, drinking with courtesans, and taking concubines until it became the fashion.

Only Duan Qing could still be considered honest.

After leaving the marquis manor, I stood at the gate and glanced across the street.

The stone lion in front of Dingguo Marquis Manor still bore the gash that woman had cleaved into it with one strike of her blade.

Once I got into the sedan chair, I closed my eyes.

Liu Wei married the ruined daughter of an official family as his second wife.

Zhou Hu took the adopted daughter of the Left Chancellor as his concubine.

Old Zhao sent the wife who had endured hardship with him back to his hometown, then turned around and married a woman of the imperial clan.

When they drank, they would say, “That sallow-faced hag is an embarrassment to take out.”

Linlin said that when men rise in rank and fortune, their wives die. That was our fate.

I opened my eyes and looked at the swaying curtain of the sedan.

Lately, the way Duan Qing looked at me had begun to change as well.

Before, he looked at me as a companion who had shared hardship with him. Now, he looked at me like an old garment.

Not torn, still wearable, but no longer bright enough.

He wanted to wear something new.

He did not think those noblewomen looked at him the way one looked at a fat piece of meat.

He thought it was what he deserved.

Now that he had achieved success and fame, it was time to enjoy himself.

As for me?

I was nothing more than a stone in his path.