Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I transmigrated here half a year ago.

It took me a week to sort out my relationships and circumstances.

My father was, after all, a high-ranking official of the third rank.

Though I was born of a concubine, my mother was a recognized secondary wife. My status could not compare to my legitimate elder sister’s, but I was still the Wang Family’s proper Second Miss.

Father had originally already begun looking into a match for me: Zhou Rui, the eldest son of the Vice Minister of Works and a newly successful jinshi.

But my legitimate mother was deeply selfish. My legitimate elder sister was gravely ill and had little time left, and she feared that her two grandsons would be mistreated by a future stepmother. So she actually schemed against me.

My eldest nephew, Zhao Yan, came to the manor to play and accidentally fell into the water. I happened to be nearby, so I went in and pulled him out. My legitimate mother arranged for me to change clothes in the east wing, and I had only just taken off my inner garment when Zhao Hong barged in.

Anyone with eyes could see that my legitimate mother and Zhao Hong had set me up.

But they turned around and blamed me instead. One accused me of seducing my brother-in-law, while the other claimed he had been caught in my trap. They humiliated me while forcing me to become Zhao Hong’s second wife.

Father knew perfectly well what had happened, but matters had already reached that point, so he could only hold his nose and accept it. Then he immediately went to the Zhao Family and secured a good post for my elder brother.

I went to my father and brother, using both pressure and persuasion to make them compensate me.

I did obtain compensation, but I also offended them both.

Seeing that, my legitimate mother could not even be bothered to keep up appearances. She prepared only eight carrying chests of dowry for me.

“In any case, you’re only a second wife. The Zhao Family is a great aristocratic clan; they won’t deprive you of food or clothing. Whether you have a dowry or not doesn’t matter.”

As for Zhao Hong, because my father and brother had gotten leverage over him and forced him to give up some official resources, he took his anger out on me.

On our wedding night, he deliberately refused to come to the bridal chamber, and even indulged his son in making things difficult for me.

I did not care much. In any case, I had wrung two thousand taels of silver from my father and brother, along with a medicinal herb estate that brought in over a thousand taels a year.

Even if I cut ties with my maiden family forever, even if Zhao Hong divorced me, I still had a way out.

After marrying into the Zhao Family, I began my life of doing the bare minimum.

Aside from paying my respects to my mother-in-law every morning and evening, I did not touch anything else.

I did not manage the household accounts, did not look at the ledgers, did not bother with the servants. I even handed Zhao Hong’s daily needs over to his original personal attendant to worry about.

My mother-in-law was Zhao Hong’s stepmother. Her own son was useless, and she already had to lower herself before Zhao Hong. Since she did not dare try to control him, she vented all her resentment on me, the newly married second wife.

She made me stand outside her door for nearly half an hour before letting me in. When I paid my respects, she nitpicked everything, saying my manners were lacking.

Her every word implied, “A concubine-born daughter really is unfit for polite society.”

I did not fall out with her.

Nor did I endure it silently.

The moment I left my mother-in-law’s courtyard, I turned around and went to Zhao Hong’s study.

He was bent over his desk, reviewing official documents. When he saw me come in, his brows first drew together. “What are you doing here?”

I sat down across from him and got straight to the point. “I serve your stepmother in your place, and she makes things difficult for me at every turn. You need to compensate me for that.”

Zhao Hong’s brush paused. He looked up at me, his gaze plainly saying, What nonsense are you talking about?

He set down his brush, his tone indifferent. “Serving one’s parents-in-law is the duty of a daughter-in-law. Every daughter-in-law in the Zhao Family has gone through the same. Now that it’s your turn, do you suddenly think yourself too precious for it?”

“It is my duty, that’s true,” I said, leaning back against my chair. “But I have shouldered the duties of a daughter-in-law. Where are the benefits? What benefits has the Zhao Family given me?”

Zhao Hong looked as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world and let out a scoff. “The title of Madam of the Zhao main branch, the future matriarch of the Zhao Family. Is that status not enough for you to enjoy? A mere concubine-born daughter like you being able to marry into the Zhao Family as a second wife is a blessing earned over several lifetimes. Others could beg and still not obtain such good fortune, yet you come asking me for benefits?”

I smiled.

“My lord, what you say makes sense. In that case, I have a question as well.”

I leaned forward slightly. “His Majesty granted you an official post of the fifth rank, so you ought to devote yourself to your duties with utmost diligence. Being able to serve His Majesty is already a blessing earned over several lifetimes. Why would you need an official salary? Or grain stipends? Why would you even need an official rank? How vulgar. Isn’t that the same reasoning?”

“You!”

I lifted my chin at him and smiled, warm and gentle. “I never expected that you, Zhao Hong, would be such an unbearably vulgar man, scrambling so desperately for profit and advancement, thinking all day of promotions, wealth, and a fine reputation. Tsk, tsk.”

Zhao Hong’s face flushed the color of liver.

He slammed a hand on the desk and shot to his feet. “If I didn’t strive for advancement, would you have your comfortable days?”

I put away my smile and scoffed. “Yes, of course. If you hadn’t been ‘blind’ enough back then to walk into the wrong room, what right would you have had to marry me?”

“It was clearly you and that legitimate mother of yours conspiring to set me up! Otherwise, how could it have been so coincidental?”

I stared into his eyes. “Set you up? Then tell me, what exactly did I set up? Was I the one who went to the east wing of my own accord? Was I the one who opened the door? Or did I throw myself into your arms?”

Zhao Hong opened his mouth, then closed it again.

“I saved your son’s life first, and you ruined my reputation afterward. Yet now I’m the one who schemed against you? Zhao Hong, you ungrateful hypocrite, kicking away the bridge after crossing the river. Do you dare say that again in front of outsiders?”

He was completely speechless.

He glared at me, his chest heaving like a bellows.

While he was still furious, I changed tack. “Enough. We’re getting off topic. Back to your mother. If you think I deserved everything she put me through, then starting tomorrow, I won’t go pay my morning respects. If she asks, I’ll say you ordered it. Her own son may be useless, but I doubt she’d dare complain about you openly. As for how she’d resent you in private, well, that would be hard to say.”

Zhao Hong’s pupils shrank.

His relationship with his stepmother had always been delicate.

They kept up appearances, but underneath, they were like needlepoint against awn.

If I really pinned the blame for “not paying respects” on him, his stepmother might not dare make a scene openly, but who knew how much trouble she would create for him behind his back.

He stared at me, his teeth grinding audibly.

After a long while, he forced out through clenched teeth, “…What do you want?”

“Money.”

“How much?”

“Not much.” I held up two fingers, then decided that was too polite and flipped my hand over. “Two hundred taels.”

Zhao Hong’s face turned green. “Two hundred taels? Do you think I run a bank?”

“The mighty Zhao Family, always boasting of its noble lineage, can’t even produce two hundred taels?” I mocked him with exaggerated surprise.

“If you don’t have money, then don’t go around saying marrying into the Zhao Family is the blessing of several lifetimes.” I pretended to gag. “The horse never knows how long its own face is.”

“You!”

“Then my loss from marrying in is enormous. I thought I’d be wearing gold and silver and living in luxury. Who knew I wouldn’t see a single coin, only swallow a bellyful of anger? The position of Lady Zhao? What a bad deal. A huge loss.”

Zhao Hong pointed at me, his finger trembling in midair. “Crude, vulgar, unreasonable!”

“Yes, I’m crude.” I nodded. “Not only am I crude, I’m greedy too. But no matter how crude I am, I still couldn’t do something as ungrateful as you.”

I mocked him without mercy. “Your Zhao Family can’t give me money, can’t give me status, and still repays kindness with betrayal. What right do you have to act superior in front of me?”

The veins at his temples throbbed. At last, he pulled a banknote from a drawer and slapped it onto the table.

One hundred taels.

I glanced at it and didn’t move.

Grinding his molars, he added another note.

“One hundred and fifty taels. Not one coin more!”

I reached out and tucked the banknotes into my sleeve. As I left, I even muttered, “With that little money, you think you’re fit to throw your weight around in front of me? Pah.”

“Wang. Wan. Yi!”

I didn’t look back. When I returned to my own courtyard, Nanny Zhu hurried up to me, panic written all over her face. “Miss, did you go quarrel with the master again? If you offend your husband like this, your days ahead…”

I flicked my handkerchief and sat down on the couch, then told her, “The rule of this world has always been that whoever gives ground first loses.”

“If I swallow Mother’s anger today, tomorrow she’ll dare make me kneel while serving tea. If I accept Zhao Hong’s talk about a wife’s proper place, the day after tomorrow he’ll dare humiliate me even further and keep me under his thumb.”

I looked at her. “Rather than let Zhao Hong humiliate me, suppress me, and set rules for me, I might as well strike first.”

Nanny Zhu’s lips moved. “But… but he is the husband, and you are the wife…”

I laughed. “Why should a wife have to stand one head lower than her husband? I handle the mess with his stepmother for him, and he gives me money. That’s called a fair trade. If he doesn’t pay me, I don’t work for him. That’s called being compensated for labor.”

I twirled the banknotes between my fingers and casually handed them to Nanny Zhu. “Put these away. We’ll be counting on them to buy rouge and powder next month.”

Nanny Zhu took them, her expression complicated.

Looking at her face, I couldn’t help thinking of the interns I’d managed back at the big corporation.

They were the same way, always thinking that if the boss gave them an “opportunity,” it was some tremendous favor. Overtime was a blessing, and being mistreated was training.

Ridiculous.

I leaned back and closed my eyes.

I’d seen plenty of PUA tactics.

Zhao Hong’s little line about “a concubine-born daughter like you is already reaching above herself by marrying me” was, in workplace terms, standard “I gave you this position because I think highly of you, and you still dare ask for a raise?”

At the end of the day, every relationship in this world was a transaction.

Talking about feelings hurt the wallet. Talking about money, on the other hand, made feelings perfectly clear.

I rolled over and closed my eyes in satisfaction.