Chapter 2

Yun Yaoyao was Yan Yunqing’s new favorite. Barely sixteen, she had a flower-soft face, a charming smile, and glistening eyes that always seemed to hold something left unsaid.

Perhaps she had yet to understand the situation in the household, or perhaps Yan Yunqing’s sweet words on the journey home had fed her fantasies. Whatever the reason, the newcomer seemed determined to put this “old woman” in her place. On the very first morning she came to pay her respects and serve me tea, she arrived half an hour late.

Yun Yaoyao glided into the main hall, the dusty pink of her dress making her look all the younger and more delicate. Her hair was arranged in the capital’s latest fashion, adorned with pearls and jade that were elegant yet playful.

She dipped into a perfunctory half-curtsy and spoke in an exceptionally coquettish voice.

“My lord was in such high spirits last night that we retired rather late, so he let me sleep in this morning. Everyone says Madam is magnanimous. I trust you will forgive me.”

Well, then. Not only had Yan Yunqing failed to visit me and the children on his first night home; he had also decided to test the limits of my patience.

The hall fell silent. The other concubines lowered their eyes and scarcely dared to breathe.

Here was another fool who did not know her place.

I closed the hand-copied Buddhist sutra one of the concubines had just presented and smiled warmly. “Concubine Yun is new to the household. You worked hard attending our lord last night, so of course I will not blame you. You have clearly had no time to learn our rules. That oversight is mine.

“Matron, bring Concubine Yun a bowl of sand. Have her balance it on her head and stand for an hour to practice her posture. Keep her out of the sun—the corridor out front will do.”

The smile froze on Yun Yaoyao’s face. She tried to protest, but in the end she obediently stood beneath the corridor with a bowl of sand balanced on her head for a full hour.

Servants passed to and fro. The other concubines exchanged glances, feeling a familiar dread they would rather not recall, and hurried away one after another.

When the hour was over, Yun Yaoyao returned to Embroidered Orchid Court in tears, one hand supporting her aching neck.

Yan Yunqing came to the Eastern Courtyard that evening. His smile was strained, and he was plainly in a foul mood.

“Yaoyao is young and thoughtless. I will have to trouble you to make allowances for her.”

My hand paused over my soup, then I nodded. “Naturally. I will arrange for a matron to instruct her properly. This is a marquis’s household, after all. She must learn what is expected, lest she embarrass our family in the future.”

Yan Yunqing choked on his reply. He declined as tactfully as he could, saying he had already assigned a matron to her.

After briefly asking about the household’s affairs over the past few months, he fell silent. We finished the meal without another word.

After dinner, I sipped flower tea and asked the wet nurse to bring Qing’er over. The plump baby, not yet a year old and as pretty as a New Year print, stared up at Yan Yunqing with glossy black eyes and babbled something unintelligible.

Unfortunately, her father was in no mood for her. Though he had not seen her for months, he did not even offer to hold her.

I cradled the squirming Qing’er, lowered my eyes, and let a gentle curve touch my lips.