Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When Madame Zhou entered the household, my eldest son, Chengye, had just been invested as Heir Apparent.

She knelt to serve me tea, but her eyes carved into me like knives.

I held the teacup without taking it. “Concubine Zhou, you seem unconvinced.”

She startled, and tears immediately welled in her eyes. “Madam, you misunderstand me. To be able to serve Lord Duke is more happiness than I could ask for.”

A beauty in tears, delicate as pear blossoms in the rain.

Duan Qing shot me a glare on the spot.

I smiled. “Are you unhappy because the Heir Apparent was appointed too soon?”

Madame Zhou cried even more pitifully, her face full of disbelief. “Madam has misunderstood this humble concubine. Madam’s eldest son has been named Heir Apparent. How could I possibly be unhappy…”

She bit her lip, stubbornly holding back her tears, as if I were the vicious wife using my status to bully her.

Duan Qing immediately said, “Madam, know when to stop.”

I took a deep breath and put my perfect smile back on.

“All right, I was only teasing you. Concubine Zhou.” I stared at her. “Our Lord Duke is forty-three this year, and a coarse military man besides. You are a noble young lady of eighteen. Why would you willingly become Lord Duke’s concubine? Is it because you truly admire our Lord Duke, or because you covet the wealth and status of the ducal estate?”

As expected, Madame Zhou naturally answered, “I admire him.”

I let out a soft breath and looked at Duan Qing with a smile.

Though the man was a rough brute, he still had at least some self-awareness.

The urgent desire he had shown for Madame Zhou before seemed to fade a little.

My goal achieved, I stopped while I was ahead and deliberately rewarded her with a pair of cheap bracelets.

Though Duan Qing was wary of Madame Zhou, that did not stop him from thoroughly enjoying her.

And for a rough man who had suffered half his life like him, the gentle consideration and understanding of a highborn young lady like her was bound to be a blade scraping at the bone.

As expected, Duan Qing soon fell deep.

Not only did he make an exception and accompany Madame Zhou back to her maiden home, he also granted her every request.

He even made another exception and gave her a separate courtyard, assigning servants and maids to her, with a sedan chair for her comings and goings.

Her display was no less grand than mine, the Duchess.

Watching the accounts for Madame Zhou’s courtyard flow like water, I remained calm. Not only did I not stop it, I deliberately added even more to it.

After Madame Zhou gained a firm foothold, she predictably used those cheap bracelets to make an issue.

Sure enough, that hotheaded fool Duan Qing came to make trouble for me, questioning how a dignified Duchess could give a concubine such cheap bracelets and whether I was not afraid of outsiders laughing at us.

At his words, I wiped away my tears in sorrow.

“Dalang, have you forgotten? Those bracelets were the ones you bought especially for me back when you were a banner captain and received a reward.”

“All these years, I wore them constantly and never took them off. To me, those bracelets are more precious than any treasure.”

“Concubine Zhou does not understand what they mean to me, and I can accept that. But how could Dalang forget?”

Duan Qing’s lips moved, but before he could speak, Madame Zhou’s eyes reddened first. “It is this concubine’s fault. Madam and Lord Duke are husband and wife who endured hardship together. Naturally, this concubine could never shake that.”

She lifted her face, eyes shimmering with tears as she looked at Duan Qing. “But when Lord Duke followed the Emperor to conquer the realm, those must have been his darkest years. Ordinary people would not wish to remember such things. Why must Madam keep dredging up Lord Duke’s painful memories?”

Duan Qing’s expression changed.

The look he gave me shifted from guilt to disgust.

“Madame Zhou is right.” His face darkened. “You keep bringing up the past just to make me feel guilty, don’t you? From now on, don’t mention those old matters again.”

I looked at him.

Twenty-six years as husband and wife.

We had crossed mountains of blades and seas of fire together, yet now I was not even allowed to speak of it.

I raised my hand and slapped Madame Zhou across the face.

“You dare hit me?” Madame Zhou covered her cheek, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Duan Qing was stunned as well.

I sneered. “Madame Zhou, when your Zhou Family fell from grace overnight, I once thought you pitiful. Only today do I understand that ending up like this was no injustice to you at all.”

“What do you mean by that, Madam?” Duan Qing frowned.

I looked at him. “She said those days of yours were dark and should not be mentioned again. But who was by your side during those days? Me. I was the one who charged through the mountains of blades with you. I was the one who waded through the seas of fire with you. And now that you have achieved glory and rank, those days have become ‘darkness,’ ‘painful memories,’ things that should never be brought up again?”

Duan Qing’s lips moved.

“Then let me ask you this.” I stepped closer, pressing him. “What if the Emperor thinks the same way?”

His expression changed.

“The Emperor rules all under heaven. When he looks at old retainers from his days before the throne like you-illiterate, crude, always bringing up the years when you bled together under the blade-does he find you annoying too? Does he think those were dark days, painful memories that should never be mentioned again?”

“And those former court officials? Refined and cultured, graceful in every move, never speaking of such things. They keep the Emperor company every day, discussing poetry and paintings, speaking in soft, pleasant voices. After enough years of that, when the Emperor looks at rough men like you, will you not become more and more displeasing to his eye?”

Duan Qing’s face turned terribly ugly.

“Dalang,” I said, looking him in the eye, “you resent me for bringing up the past and making you feel guilty. But have you ever considered that Madame Zhou wants you to despise the past not because she pities you, but because she wants to dig out your roots?”

“And what are your roots? The merit of following the Emperor in his rise. Twenty-six years of risking life and limb. Once all of that is dug away, what are you? Nothing but a coarse, vulgar brute.”

“When that time comes, who can discuss poetry and paintings with the Emperor? The Zhou Family. Who can coax the Emperor into a good mood? The daughters of the Zhou Family. And you, Duan Qing?”

I pointed at Madame Zhou, who was covering her face. “It isn’t me she hates. It’s all of you mud-legged peasants. If you hadn’t followed the Emperor in rebellion, she would still be the lofty legitimate daughter of a marquis’s household. But now she has to kneel and serve you. Do you think she can accept that in her heart?”

“She can’t touch your title, so she works on your mind. She makes you despise the wife who shared your hardship, makes you forget where you came from, makes you drift apart from those old brothers of yours. And when each of you has been turned into a lone man with no one left beside him, the Zhou Family will return.”

Madame Zhou jerked her head up. “You are slandering me!”

“Am I?” I looked at her. “Then swear it. Swear there isn’t the slightest bit of resentment in your heart. Swear that when you serve him, you’ve never once thought, ‘Why should I have to do this?'”

Of course she was going to argue.

But I would not give her another chance.

I slapped her again.

Madame Zhou went sprawling, clutching her face, unable to get up for a long while.

I knew my own strength. I was a country woman who had fought her way through mountains of blades and seas of fire. Strength was one thing I had in abundance.

That slap was enough to leave her seeing stars for quite some time.

Madame Zhou covered the cheek I had struck. Blood seeped from the corner of her mouth, half her face swelling high as tears poured down like rain. Helpless, she looked at Duan Qing.

“Lord Duke… I have been wronged. I truly have been wronged…”

Duan Qing looked at her, pity and scrutiny warring across his face.

I shook out my numb hand and gave a cold laugh.

“Dalang, back then, when the Emperor was surrounded at Wazi Slope, the three hundred of you fought to the death for three days and three nights. Only forty-seven survived. The Emperor said he would never forget your grace in this lifetime.”

Duan Qing’s gaze tightened.

“And now?” I looked at him. “Those sour old scholars from the former dynasty spend every day composing poems and couplets with the Emperor, speaking gently and sweetly. After enough time passes, when the Emperor sees rough men like you again-will he also think those days were too dark and should never be brought up?”

His face changed.

“When the birds are gone, the bow is put away. When the hare is dead, the hound is cooked. You’ve heard that saying.” I approached him step by step. “If one day the Emperor also finds you old retainers an eyesore and wants to replace you with a group of refined men to serve him instead, Dalang, would that not chill your heart?”

His Adam’s apple bobbed.

I pointed at Madame Zhou. “Then put yourself in my place. I endured twenty-six years of hardship with you. I followed you through mountains of blades and seas of fire. And now, for a thing like this, you want to dig out my roots and stab me in the heart-Dalang, how can you bear to do it?”

He stared at me blankly.

After a long while, he suddenly lifted his foot and kicked Madame Zhou over.

“Get back to your courtyard! Without my word, you are not to come out!”

Madame Zhou lay on the ground, her face covered in blood, staring at him in disbelief.