Chapter 4

After that day, my life returned to peace.

Each day I took my daughter with me to manage the household and our shops.

Yun Xiu had a talent for business. Under her management, profits at my rouge shop had recently risen by half. I simply transferred the shop to her name, bought the house behind it, and transferred that to her as well.

Girls were always at a disadvantage compared with boys. They could not sit the civil examinations or join the army. Business was the only field in which she could make something of herself, and I intended to support her fully.

As long as I remained here, the marquis’s household would be my daughter’s support. But one day the title could only pass to my son. Such were the customs of the world, and I could not change them. All I could do was leave her more of my own money.

After those recent events, I was deeply disappointed in Yun Jing. My daughter might not be able to rely on her brother’s protection in future.

When we next bought servants, I took Yun Xiu along to choose them herself. I placed their contracts in her hands and also gave her guards and female attendants trained to fight, so she could direct them herself.

Better to teach her to fish than hand her a fish. The first person she could rely on had to be herself.

Since his punishment, Yun Jing always looked ashamed when he saw me.

Hearing that his sister had given away her favorite hairpin, he used his own savings to buy an identical one as an apology.

Yun Xiu was a little rich woman herself now. With a generous wave, she bought her brother a fine set of brushes and ink.

The two were as close as before.

I visited Yuying during those days. Though I disliked her, she was still the only child my half sister had left. I could not let her lack necessities. I had an embroidery shop hurry to make her more than a dozen well-fitting outfits. I also gave her the same allowance as my daughter—six taels a month—so she could send someone out to buy whatever she liked.

Yuying no longer looked aggrieved and thanked me respectfully.

She now spent her days properly reading, learning her characters, embroidering, and sewing.

If she had come to her senses, all the better. I breathed easier too.

The emperor was in poor health and would likely pass away within the next few years. When the new emperor ascended the throne and proclaimed a general amnesty, I would spend another sum to release her from her status as a penal slave. Then I would arrange a marriage into a household that would treat her well. That would fulfill my sister’s request.

I had not expected that letting down my guard would give Cui Yuying another opening.

My son had recently been coming home later than usual. One or two days would not have mattered, but for five days running he was a quarter of an hour late.

He had passed the first level of the civil examinations the previous year. His teacher wanted him to wait another three years before sitting the provincial examination. His work sometimes kept him busy, but every day? I grew suspicious.

I summoned his personal attendant. Only then did I learn that several days earlier, Yun Jing had encountered Yuying by the road with a twisted ankle. He had taken her back next door in his carriage, and they had enjoyed a pleasant conversation along the way.

In the days since, whenever he left the academy, he had “happened to meet” Yuying returning from the West Market. They would spend a little time together by the roadside.

I searched his bedroom at once. Sure enough, tucked inside his pillowcase was a scented handkerchief, carrying a faint trace of Bewitching Incense.

The Court Entertainment Bureau often used that incense to cloud the mind. Even an immortal would struggle to resist its effects.

Fortunately, my son spent little time with her, usually outdoors and with attendants nearby. Otherwise he would certainly have fallen into her trap!

Attraction was natural at his age. But I had already made myself clear to Yuying, and she had deliberately continued to entice him—even resorting to drugs. Her character was truly vile.

Still, she could not have found an opening if he had not given her one. Apparently my slap had not been hard enough.

I had been young once too. I knew that forcing them apart now might only make Yun Jing defiant. Better to find an excuse to send him away for a while, then deal with Cui Yuying.

The northwest was unsettled, and my husband was inspecting the frontier by imperial order. Sending Yun Jing there would hardly be wise.

As it happened, my eldest brother’s eldest legitimate son, Chen Huairan, was about to take up a post as prefect of Yizhou.

I wrote asking him to take Yun Jing along and give him some experience of the world.

Reading ten thousand books should be matched by traveling ten thousand miles. Seeing more of the world might teach my son a little about people.

I wrote to his academy and arranged leave.

Having spent so long shut up studying there, he was excited by the chance to travel and gain experience.

I packed his things and sent our deputy commander and two guards with him.