Chapter 3
Liang Heng returned at dinnertime.
Only the two of us sat at the table. As if casually, he asked after Jingyu.
I answered, “He has woken and had some plain rice porridge. The physician says two days’ rest should see him well.”
He murmured assent and put down his chopsticks.
“Yueyi seems quieter today.”
“Perhaps she has thought things through.”
I placed a dish before him and spoke lightly.
“Children need time to adjust.”
He raised his eyes. “You have worked hard.”
Smiling, I poured him a cup of clear tea.
“You have trusted me with managing the household and raising the children, my lord. I will do everything I can to prove worthy of that trust.”
Most noble daughters in the capital were pampered.
Liang Heng had chosen me because my family’s standing was modest, but our reputation was respectable.
I would be unlikely to use rank to oppress the two children who had lost their birth mother.
He needed a knife that sat well in his hand.
One sharp enough to prune the unruly growth in his children,
yet certain never to cut its owner.
As we spoke,
a commotion broke out beyond the room.
Liang Jingyu burst in without the slightest regard for propriety, followed by the wailing Matron Wang.
“Father! You must stand up for me!”
He dropped to his knees and pointed at me.
“This vicious woman wants to send my nurse away!”
Tears and mucus streamed down Matron Wang’s face.
“I have served the young master for ten years, and now her ladyship casts me out for no reason! She means to rob him of his closest support!”
I set down my teacup with a cold laugh.
“Matron Wang, must I repeat what you said to the young master in the ancestral hall yesterday?”
Her expression changed abruptly. Then she began making a scene.
“I’ve been wronged! Her ladyship has no room for old servants like us! She wants to drive me to my death!”
Liang Jingyu stood in front of her, his eyes red.
“Nurse treats me like her own son. If you send her away, I will never forgive you.”
I sighed, rose, and approached him.
“If this old woman truly wanted the best for you, why would she keep trying to set mother and son against each other?”
“What was it she whispered in your ear yesterday?”
I bent down and repeated every word.
“Bear with it, young master. Her ladyship is ruthless. She will find a way to torment you and your sister to death.”
“Why not write to your maternal grandmother and ask her what to do?”
Liang Jingyu stared at me in disbelief.
He could not understand how I had acquired eyes and ears everywhere so soon after entering the household.
I had no intention of explaining. Turning to Liang Heng, I said,
“My lord, a servant who sows such discord cannot stay.”
After a brief silence, Liang Heng waved his hand. “Do as my wife says.”
As two older women seized the matron, she struggled wildly.
“Young master! Save me! Everything I did was for your sake!”
I walked over to the stunned Liang Jingyu and softened my voice.
“To understand others is wisdom; to understand yourself is clarity.”
“Remember today’s lesson. Do not let resentment blind you to right and wrong.”
He raised tearful eyes to me, hatred mingled with uncertain understanding.
I instructed the maid.
“Take the young master back to rest.”
“Bring him the Analects as well. Have him read the passage on the three beneficial friendships and the three harmful ones.”
After he left, Liang Heng gave me a searching look.
“There is a banquet at the palace next month. You will accompany me.”
He rose, left those words behind, and departed the dining room.
I understood.
He intended to bring me formally into the circle of noblewomen in the capital.
On the day of the palace banquet, I dressed in my finest and set out with Liang Heng.
The carriage was quiet.
He rested with his eyes closed, and I said little.
Only when the palace gates came into view did he speak.
“Lady Cheng’en may try to make things difficult for you today.”
The Marquis of Cheng’en’s household was the family of his late first wife.
I understood at once.
It was both a warning and a test.
“Rest assured, my lord. My birth may be modest, but I know that, having entered your household, I represent its honor. I will give no one cause to laugh at us.”
Without opening his eyes, he gave a quiet murmur of assent.
The carriage stopped at the palace gates.
Liang Heng alighted first.
Just when I thought he meant to walk on without me, he held out his hand.
After a moment’s hesitation, I rested my hand lightly on his arm.