Chapter 1
Chapter 1
When news arrived that the Wen Clan of Qingzhou had sent an official matchmaker to the manor to propose marriage,
I was sitting before the huanghuali desk in the Fourth Young Lady’s room, flicking the gilded beads of an abacus as I calculated this month’s household expenses, line by line.
Zifu pushed the door open in delight, her eyes and brows bright with a smile, and trotted up to me.
“Qinglian, fortune has finally smiled on you. The Wen Family sent a matchmaker to propose. They want to marry you into their family as the young madam.”
The ivory bead beneath my fingers paused for the briefest moment, then I continued moving it. “Oh.”
Zifu stamped her foot, her anxious tone edged with envy. “The Wen Family is one of the wealthiest households in all Qingzhou. I hear their young master is exceptionally handsome…”
“Zifu,” I interrupted softly.
“Do you know why the Wen Family has come to propose again and again?”
The Wen Clan of Qingzhou did possess considerable wealth, but they were still nothing more than local merchants.
And what sort of household was Kong Mansion?
The master was the current prime minister. The Eldest Miss was a favored consort of His Majesty. The Second Miss had married a Cavalry Commandant. The Third Miss was betrothed to a Hanlin scholar.
Even a concubine-born daughter of the household would be more than worthy of an ordinary high official.
There was no possibility she would be promised to some merchant family from the provinces and lower her station.
This was why great households raised their maids with such care.
Everyone in the Capital said a first-rank maid from the Prime Minister’s Residence was worth more than the daughter of a fifth-rank official.
As the Fourth Young Lady’s personal maid, I had studied alongside her since childhood.
I began my lessons at six. By twelve, I understood poetry and verse. Even the temperature of the water used to brew tea had to be precise to the smallest degree.
When the young lady practiced the qin, I sat beside her and recorded the score. When she painted, I ground the ink and blended the colors.
After years of learning by her side, I had long since cultivated a bearing no less refined than that of a sheltered noble daughter.
The abacus beads clicked crisply. “What they want is nothing more than the reputation of someone who came out of Kong Mansion.”
The Kong Family of the Capital was the foremost of the noble clans, like an ancient tree towering into the sky.
The in-laws who climbed toward them were like vines coiling around its trunk.
They seemed to live by clinging to it, but in truth, each supported the other. When one prospered, all prospered; when one suffered, all suffered.
The denser the web of marriage alliances, the more secure a great clan’s foundation became.
Today, they promised away a maid. Tomorrow, they married off a concubine-born daughter. The day after, they formed a cousin alliance through marriage.
Thread by thread, it would eventually become a net from which no one could break free.
And I was merely a chess piece in my masters’ hands.
Where I landed had never been mine to decide.
When the Fourth Young Lady summoned me, I glanced at her quietly.
She was stirring the foam on the surface of her tea with the lid of her cup, lost in thought.
I stood with my hands lowered, letting her look me over at her leisure.
After a long while, she lifted the cup and took a sip, then asked as though in passing, “Qinglian, how many years have you been with me?”
I dipped slightly in a curtsey. “Replying to Young Lady, this servant has served at your side since the day you were born. By my count, it has been exactly fourteen years and five months.”
At that, the Fourth Young Lady gave a light laugh, and the rouge mole at the corner of her eye shifted with it.
She was sixteen this year, and I was three years older than her.
Yet with nothing more than a lazy recline, she carried an air of dignity from head to toe. Her eyes were often curved in a smile, and no matter whom she saw, her voice was warm and gentle.
Everyone in the manor said the Fourth Young Lady was the most sweet-tempered and endearing, that when she spoke, her voice was even softer than the wind chimes beneath the eaves.
Those who had never served close at hand did not know that the moment those smiling almond eyes turned, thunderous methods would follow.
Hongying had served her for eight years. All she did was accidentally knock over a cup of tea and stain the young lady’s embroidered skirt.
The Fourth Young Lady had smiled just like this then too, personally helping Hongying up as she knelt and begged for mercy. The very next day, she had a broker come and sold Hongying away.
I held my breath and waited. I knew that the fourteen years of affection between us existed only because I had always understood what should be seen and what should be forgotten.
By that count, I was actually the maid who had remained by her side the longest.
She reclined against the chaise longue, twining the tassel of her handkerchief around her fingertip, then suddenly laughed softly.
“The Wen Family sent someone to propose. My elder brother has already agreed to the match. From now on, you will be someone who gives orders instead of takes them.”
The moment I heard this, I knelt flat on the floor, pressing my forehead to the cold white jade tiles.
“This servant has served Young Lady for many years and would never dare overstep or indulge in such thoughts. Please withdraw the order, Young Lady. Allow this servant to continue serving at your side.”
“Foolish.” The Fourth Young Lady flicked her handkerchief.
“Is being a young madam not better than being a maid? When the time comes, you will naturally have servants attending you.”
I kowtowed again and again, the silver hairpin in my hair striking the tiles with a clear ringing sound.
“Young Lady has treated this servant with great kindness. Everything I eat and use is of the finest quality. I have lived more richly than the daughters of ordinary families.”
“If this servant must leave Young Lady to go serve those foul men, I would rather cut off my hair and become a nun.”
My forehead struck the white jade tiles with dull thuds.
I continued until the eighth kowtow, when I suddenly felt a light tug at my sleeve.
I raised my eyes and found myself facing the hem of the Fourth Young Lady’s purple damask skirt.
She gave me a halfhearted lift.
“What kind of talk is that? I saw the young master of the Wen Family from behind a screen. He has a proper, dignified appearance. Your father has served at my father’s side for years. In my view, you and the Wen Family are rather well matched.”
With that, she personally dabbed at my forehead with her handkerchief.
“Look at you. Why be so stubbornly sincere? It is already red. Take care not to break the skin.”
It would not break.
I was not the only maid who had kowtowed on these white jade tiles.
I had long ago learned the proper measure: I had to show sincerity, but I could not truly injure the flesh.
If I really broke the skin, would that not let others say the Fourth Young Lady was harsh and unkind?
By then, my fate would likely be worse than Hongying’s after she was driven out.
“You have served me for many years. How could I possibly mistreat you?”
“I have already restored your status as a free person, and I have spoken to my elder brother as well. He will recognize you as his sworn younger sister, so you can marry into that family in grand style.”
I bowed low in gratitude, my voice carrying just the right amount of choking emotion.
“Young Lady’s grace and kindness are beyond anything this servant can repay. I only hate that once I leave, I will no longer be able to serve at your side often. Fortunately, this servant’s father and mother are still in the manor. I beg Young Lady to allow them to fulfill my filial duty in my stead.”