Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The first attempt at communication was a failure.

How annoying.

I’m right in the middle of my busiest season.

Xie Canghuai is the County Magistrate of Sanyuan, and I am currently the Matriarch of the Xie family.

In a small frontier town like Sanyuan, the Huirong tribes from beyond the pass raid us every year during the autumn harvest. Over the years, I have overseen irrigation projects, reorganized the farmlands, protected merchant caravans, and dug tunnels throughout the city to hide the commoners.

Autumn is the time for inspections and getting everything in order. In previous years, Xie Canghuai couldn’t help much. I humored him, figuring a frail scholar wasn’t cut out for physical labor, and let it go.

My Imperial Brother chose this exact moment to tell me to return to the capital. And Xie Canghuai chose this exact moment to announce he wants to take a concubine.

The last Prince Consort who tried to take a concubine was sliced in half at the waist. I tried to warn Xie Canghuai, but he wouldn’t listen.

Fine. Let it all burn. I’m exhausted.

After working for a while, I sent Cui Tao to deliver a bowl of bird’s nest soup to Xie Canghuai, with a message asking him to come over tonight so we could talk again.

Cui Tao’s expression looked like she had just swallowed a fly. That’s because she isn’t a real maid; she’s a high-ranking official close to the Emperor, sent from the capital to deliver messages to me. Her actual rank might even be higher than Xie Canghuai’s.

I didn’t care if she was arrogant or if she was here to spy on me. I only cared about her competence. Since she was already here, she was going to work like a horse for me.

After half a month of being tormented by trivial chores, the look in her eyes had become increasingly vacant and weary. Normally, she wouldn’t dare to rebel. But today, she suddenly felt a spark of defiance.

So, she squatted by my door and ate the bird’s nest soup I had told her to give to Xie Canghuai.

…She didn’t even have the sense to hide.

When I caught her, she was terrified. Clearly, even though I haven’t been in the capital for years, my legend still lingers there.

I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

Cui Tao froze, her eyes wide with shock.

“Is that enough?” I asked with a smile.

The girl was only sixteen. This was her first time being so far from home on a mission. My Imperial Brother really is a piece of work.

“Come inside. I’ll give you something else to eat.”

I sent someone to a nearby restaurant to fetch a spread of good food for her. After half a month of eating meager fare with me, Cui Tao was so moved she almost cried.

As a noble daughter of the Cui clan, the greatest hardships she had faced before this were her studies and martial arts training. She stuffed her face, mouthful after mouthful. With her guard down, she actually asked me directly, “Why is it that only the Xie mother and son get to eat bird’s nest soup in this house?”

“Because my mother-in-law is elderly,” I replied. “And my husband injured his internal organs years ago while saving me. He needs the bird’s nest to recover his health.”

Cui Tao went silent.

Watching her, I found it quite amusing. When I first went into exile, she must have been only three years old.

So, I asked, “Back in the capital… what do they say about me?”