Chapter 10
My uproar in the earl’s household produced excellent results.
Until then, I had been merely the young, newly arrived second wife of the eldest son. Everyone had looked down on me to some degree.
After this battle, they knew I had courage, brains, and a backbone. No one dared slight the eldest son’s two children again.
Grandfather had taught me that when I was unsure of success, I could endure in silence for a time. But once an opportunity arose, I must strike decisively and end the danger for good.
Lady Li now hated me, but she knew what I was capable of and dared not provoke me again.
The Countess and the old earl strongly disapproved of my forceful methods. But I had committed no other fault, and they could do little about me.
Yun and You had not witnessed me arguing down the whole room. After hearing the servants’ account, however, they both admired me enormously.
You in particular might be little, but he knew who treated him kindly and who did not.
Only Zhao Yuhua held a grudge. He stopped coming to the main rooms for breakfast altogether.
Did he think I treasured his company?
He actually imagined he could control me this way.
I pretended not to notice and treated him as though he did not exist.
The children could not do the same. When he failed to appear, their little heads kept turning to look around. Clearly, they missed him.
Blood really was thicker than water.
If Zhao Yuhua would not come, I would make him.
While he stayed away from my rooms, he naturally went to his concubines.
For every day he failed to appear, I summoned Lady Su and Lady Liu to stand attendance on me from morning to night, until their backs ached and their legs hurt.
As they left, I said mildly, “You know what to tell the master, don’t you?”
Of course they did. They could only mutter that when gods fought, the little demons suffered.
Whichever of them Zhao Yuhua visited, she found some excuse to turn him away or urged him to make peace with me.
Furious, Zhao Yuhua declared that women and petty men were impossible to deal with. He stopped coming into the inner courtyards and slept in his study every night.
I could do little to him, but I could make life difficult for the servants and pages in his study.
After roughly five days of forceful reform, I had dealt with everyone around him.
At last, for reasons of his own, he thought better of it and returned to the main rooms for breakfast.
The children were delighted to see him, and I resumed my gentle voice.
The moment they left, I set down my tea bowl, making it clear he was free to go.
Zhao Yuhua studied me coldly for a while. “I truly don’t know what sort of heart you have.”
Without lifting my eyes, I drawled, “A woman’s heart is a needle at the bottom of the sea. Naturally, you can’t fathom it.”
He turned away. “Yue Wujiu. That jade ruyi… was it really an imperial gift?”
My heart gave a jolt. “His Majesty has honored my grandfather many times,” I said slowly. “Our home is full of imperial gifts. Why would I lie?”
Zhao Yuhua gave a cold laugh. “It was certainly made in the imperial workshops. But I knew your sister. Had your grandfather truly given it to her, she would never have handed it so casually to You as a toy. Unless someone else gave it to her…”
Leaving the thought unfinished, he walked out.
I exhaled, took the jade ruyi from a drawer, and gently stroked it.
It was warm and smooth, small and lovely. At Jiayu Pass, I had often taken it out to play with.
Back then… No. I shook my head slightly.
The past could not be recovered. I had to look forward now.
Zhao Yuhua was sharper than I had thought. His years as an official had not been wasted.
As I considered this, Hongyuan came in, her expression grave, and whispered a few words in my ear.
“So that’s how it is,” I said.
“Miss,” Hongyuan said angrily, “shall we seize her and question her?”
I shook my head. “We mustn’t smash the jade vase while trying to kill the rat beside it. For Yun’s sake, we have to be careful.”
A few days later, I summoned Yun alone. “Would you like to attend the Wang family’s school for girls?”
The vice minister of rites had invited several highly respected women teachers to open a school in his home. It admitted only young ladies from a few closely connected noble families.
I had made a special visit to my parents and arranged this through Mother.
Yun did not quite understand. “Mother, what would I do at school? Is it like the school my cousins go to?”
I smiled. “A girls’ school is a little different, Yun. The books are more suited to girls, and you’ll learn music, painting, embroidery, and other things. Studying will help you understand the world. You can also make friends your own age. It will only do you good.”
Once I explained, she understood. Blushing, she nodded. “I’d like to go, Mother.”
Overjoyed, I made all the arrangements.
Before she left, I found an excuse to keep her nurse, Madam Zhai, behind.
Yun had always been deeply attached to Madam Zhai. Seeing her stay, she looked back several times before finally turning away.
Only when the carriage had gone into the distance did I speak. “The young lady has left. Now it’s time for you to explain yourself.”