Chapter 2
Two matrons hurried to obey and carefully approached to support Liang Yueyi.
This time, the little girl did not struggle.
Only at the door did she look back and glare at me, hatred all but spilling from her eyes.
Jinxia asked anxiously, “My lady, as for the young master…”
I answered coolly.
“Have someone watch him carefully. Don’t let him injure his hand.”
“But he must finish every one of those hundred copies.”
In the study,
candlelight flickered as I carried in a bowl of freshly stewed pear with rock sugar.
Liang Heng looked up from his official papers.
“Are the children asleep?”
“Yueyi exhausted herself crying and is asleep.”
“Jingyu is still copying in the ancestral hall. He has just finished thirty copies.”
His writing hand paused slightly, and ink spread across the paper.
“He’s only ten.”
A father could not help feeling for his child.
I met his gaze without flinching.
“At ten, he already knows how to threaten his lawful mother with divorce and a convent.”
“Do you want your legitimate son to grow into an educated, reasonable gentleman, or a wastrel who can do nothing but lash out with his tongue?”
Candlelight moved in his eyes. A long while passed before he spoke.
“Raising the children is the mistress’s responsibility.”
“Since I have entrusted it to you, I will not interfere. Only… do not go too far.”
I bent my knees in a formal bow.
“I understand.”
“Rest assured, my lord. They are your own flesh and blood, and my future support in this household. I know where to draw the line.”
That was only half true, but it was enough to reassure him.
Early the next morning,
I had just finished washing and dressing when Jinxia hurried in.
“My lady, the young master has fainted!”
I raised an eyebrow. “What happened?”
“He knelt all night. He was tired and hungry, and fainted in the ancestral hall just before dawn.”
“The household physician has already examined him. He says it is nothing serious and that rest will suffice.”
I rose and went straight to Liang Jingyu’s courtyard.
The boy lay pale-faced on the bed.
He looked rather more tractable that way.
But the instant I entered, anger flared in his eyes.
“You… you wicked woman! Get out!”
Without changing expression, I sat on an embroidered stool beside his bed.
“It seems the Classic of Filial Piety has not yet taught you how to address your mother.”
“Since you fainted, rest properly today.”
“Finish the remaining fifty copies once you recover.”
His eyes widened in disbelief, his chest heaving with anger.
“You… you vicious woman! Get… get out!”
“You still have the strength to curse. The physician must be right: there is indeed nothing seriously wrong.”
I rose and instructed his maid.
“See that he takes his medicine and eats. He need not attend lessons today.”
Outside his door, I spoke quietly to Jinxia.
“Find out who whispered poison in his ear last night.”
That afternoon, Liang Yueyi started making trouble again.
Stubborn as she was, she refused to eat.
She smashed every meal the maids brought and cried for her brother and her father.
Amid the wreckage, she sat on her bed with eyes as swollen as walnuts.
I glanced at the broken crockery and food on the floor.
“You won’t eat?”
“Then go hungry. When you want to eat, have the kitchen cook something fresh.”
“But every bowl or plate you break will cost you a month’s allowance. Keep breaking them until you reach marriageable age, and see whether you have any money left for those pearl hair ornaments you love.”
She stared, apparently unprepared for this approach.
“As for your brother,”
“he is fine. He is merely tired and resting.”
“If you truly care about him, you should eat your meal instead of throwing a tantrum and giving your father more to worry about.”
I had barely finished when Liang Jingyu, having somehow heard the news,
dragged his sick body in and rushed to protect his sister.
“Don’t you bully my sister!”
“Such devoted siblings.” I gave a soft laugh.
“Then her brother can pay for these porcelain dishes. Eighty taels, deducted from your allowance.”
“Why should I?”
“Because I am the mistress of this household.”
I instructed Jinxia.
“Tell the accounts office to withhold both children’s allowances this month. They may have them again when they learn how to behave.”