Chapter 3

By the time I returned to the marquis’s residence, the night was growing late. Both children were waiting for me in the main hall.

Yun Xiu looked indignant. Clearly she had seen through Cui Yuying’s hypocrisy and greed.

Yun Jing, on the other hand, looked anxious. “Mother, why didn’t you house Cousin here?”

Yun Xiu rolled her eyes at her brother. “Cousin has quite an appetite! An ordinary courtyard isn’t good enough for her. She wants mine!”

Yun Jing flushed with agitation. “Cousin is so unfortunate. It’s only a courtyard. Why not give it to her? She’ll be all alone next door. How pitiful.”

Her kindness had been thrown back in her face, and now she was being blamed without cause. Yun Xiu finally lost her temper. “How generous of you, Brother! You’ve met her once, and you’re already eager to win her favor with my courtyard.”

I had not expected the child I had raised to be so willing to give away other people’s belongings. Anger surged through me.

“Since you’re so generous, give your cousin your own courtyard. I’ll have one of the south-facing gatehouse rooms prepared for you in the front courtyard. You can move there.”

Yun Jing went scarlet and stammered a defense. “How can a man’s rooms be given to a girl outside the family? Those gatehouse rooms are shabby and mean. Servants live there. How could I?”

Before, I had been angry. Now I was angry and bitterly disappointed.

He could sacrifice his sister’s home without a thought, yet would not inconvenience himself in the slightest. He deserved to find out what shabby and mean felt like.

Unable to contain my fury, I slapped him hard enough to silence the hall.

Five clear finger marks quickly rose on his cheek.

It was not the first time I had struck a child. It was the first time I had slapped one in public!

Stunned, he held his cheek and dropped awkwardly to his knees.

“Mother! I never meant to take Sister’s rooms! I only thought that Cousin has suffered so much. She’s lost everything and has no one to rely on. It would be too sad for her to live alone outside the residence. I wanted us to look after her a little more here.”

I looked down at him coldly. “There are countless unfortunate people in this world. Her father preyed on the common people, and countless people under his rule suffered. I don’t see you offering up other people’s possessions out of pity for them. You think her downfall is tragic. Are their lives not tragic too?”

“Yun Xiu welcomed her sincerely and gave her a treasured ornament. Yet she still wanted Yun Xiu’s rooms. Her greed knows no bounds! She came here for refuge, not to become someone we all had to serve. As the elder brother, you should protect your own sister and know right from wrong. Instead, you indulge an outsider with bad intentions at every turn!”

“Compassion?” I laughed coldly. “You’re merely taken with a pretty face! Ten years reading the sages, wasted. I sent you to learn good from evil, propriety and restraint, and how to protect your family. Not to lose all sense of right and wrong, of family and outsiders!”

Yun Jing’s lips moved, but he could not produce a single word in his defense.

I had exposed his thoughts in one sentence, leaving him ashamed and mortified.

“Do you realize the Cui family was convicted and its property confiscated? The relatives of condemned officials have a dangerous status. Any association with them brings risk. I was willing to spend my money and call in my connections to rescue her from the Bureau, give her a safe house and a livelihood, and provide her with a dowry when she comes of age. That is generosity enough.”

“With her competitive, grasping nature, she won’t live quietly in this household. Today she wants your sister’s courtyard. What if she takes a fancy to your sister’s husband tomorrow? Will you help her steal him too?”

“If her identity as a convicted official’s relative is discovered, it won’t be as simple as sending her back to the Bureau.”

“I housed her outside to protect her, and to protect everyone in this residence! You see only her present misfortune. You don’t see her father’s corruption and the suffering he caused the people, or the terrible crimes of the Cui clan. If your misplaced kindness gets out and someone uses it against us, this entire household could be ruined! Our family’s honor, your sister’s future, your career—all destroyed at once. Can you bear that responsibility?”

The force of those words drained all the blood from Yun Jing’s face. He knocked his forehead hard against the cold floor. “I was wrong! I nearly caused a catastrophe. Please punish me, Mother!”

I had struck him and scolded him. I had no desire to say more.

“Observe propriety from now on. Keep the proper distance between men and women. Concentrate on your studies and set your heart straight. If you act so foolishly again, I will not spare you!”

“I will remember your teachings, Mother. I won’t dare repeat my mistake!”

I nodded slightly. It was late, and after a day of trouble I was tired. I sent them both to rest in their rooms.

Before they left, I noticed that the red characters above their heads seemed a little fainter.

Perhaps my arrangements that day had worked.

Female lead, supporting character—what of it?

I would protect my children and keep them safe. They would not become Cui Yuying’s stepping stones for nothing.