At dinner, while the sun still hung high in the sky, Li Shu was given two bowls of mung bean soup. The table was set with three dishes and one soup, all quite simple: a plate of stir-fried chives with dried shrimp, a plate of shrimp oil tofu, a plate of stir-fried cauliflower with shredded pork, and a bowl of egg soup. Additionally, Xiao Fu Shi had added braised pig ears and mung bean soup, which tasted quite good.
Having spent many years in the Wusun Kingdom, Li Shu could never get used to mutton and often missed the flavors of her hometown. Jiujiang and Macheng were not far apart, and their culinary tastes were similar, both favoring river delicacies. Thus, even these few simple dishes were thoroughly enjoyed by her.
Normally, Xiao Fu Shi ate very little, but seeing her daughter like this, she also ate an extra bowl. The leftovers were then shared between Dan Hong and Dan Qing.
After dinner, Xiao Fu Shi personally bathed Li Shu. Having suddenly become a child again, Li Shu was very dependent on her mother. She didn’t think about anything else, only wanting to be with her mother.
"It’s too hot, little one," Xiao Fu Shi couldn’t help but gently push her daughter away.
Seeing sweat beading on Xiao Fu Shi’s forehead, Li Shu moved aside slightly and picked up a round fan nearby to fan her mother. "I’ll fan the sweat away for you, Mother."
Xiao Fu Shi was deeply moved. She was born as a concubine’s daughter, an unanticipated child. Her birth mother, Yiniang Li, was originally a chambermaid to her father. The main wife kept Yiniang Li because she was honest, plain-looking, and a born-servant who was easy to control—serving as a mere ornament to avoid accusations of jealousy.
Every time Yiniang Li served the master, the main wife would watch her drink a bowl of contraceptive medicine.
But even the wisest can make mistakes. One year, when the main wife’s mother fell ill, she returned to her maiden home to care for her. During those days, Yiniang Li served the master without drinking the contraceptive medicine and became pregnant with Xiao Fu Shi.
Yiniang Li was terrified. She jumped around the courtyard, trying to miscarry the child. When Grandmother Fu learned of this and discovered her fear of the main wife, she took her into her own quarters to care for her, allowing Xiao Fu Shi to be born.
Indeed, as she grew up, the main wife did not treat her harshly. She was still taught to be well-mannered and educated, but she was not allowed to compose poetry or participate in literary gatherings. Yiniang Li served the main wife even more diligently. Though she was the same age as the main wife, she looked at least twenty years older.
When it came time to arrange a marriage, the main wife revealed her true intentions. She claimed that Xiao Fu Shi was slender and a concubine’s daughter, making her unsuitable for ordinary official families. Therefore, she deliberately chose a poor scholar’s family, claiming they would not look down on her status as a concubine’s daughter.
Xiao Fu Shi sometimes found it laughable. Her father was a Hanlin Academy Compiler and a Zanshan in the Supervisorate of Imperial Instruction—a first-class scholar-official. How could she not be worthy of an official’s family? The proposed match wasn’t even from a minor landowning family; their clan was in decline. The main wife even said such families had fewer people and fewer troubles.
She never considered that a family with no connections, humble origins, and a husband who was merely a xiucai would have no one to support or guide him in the officialdom. Moreover, although the man was handsome, his mother looked at Xiao Fu Shi as if she were a cheap concubine’s daughter, making the marriage feel like a thorn in her throat.
Marrying down was one thing, but she would also have to endure her mother-in-law’s mistreatment. Her husband might not stand up for her, and her dowry would likely be entirely consumed. The Fu family would gain a reputation for not currying favor with the powerful, while the main wife would be praised for her generosity for providing a dowry of sixty-six chests. Yet, what would Xiao Fu Shi gain from all this?
Just as she was in despair, Grand Madam Liu took a liking to her and proposed that she become a second wife.
The legal mother was naturally very unwilling. The Liu Family was a prominent and powerful clan, a status higher than that of the Fu Family. Back then, the Fu Family was originally far inferior to the Liu Family. It was only because Grand Madam Liu heard that her elder sister had the appearance of being blessed with sons, and the Liu Family had few descendants, that she was married into the family.
Even as a second wife, the legal mother felt she was unworthy.
She was even afraid that her elder sister’s dowry would be taken by her, because the manors and farmland in her elder sister’s dowry were all fertile and rich lands, and among the shops in her dowry was a large pawnshop. Those she was reluctant to give to herself. Therefore, although she had sixty-six loads of dowry, the farmland was not much, with only twenty acres of paddy fields, and one shop that was extremely small. Even twenty of the loads were empty, filled with what appeared to be high-quality silk, but those were actually old stock from the family warehouse, accumulated over many years, only superficially splendid.
In reality, the silver hidden at the bottom of the chest was less than five hundred taels. The best time of Xiao Fu Shi’s life was the first year after she married. She won her husband’s heart and gave birth to a daughter.
Now that her daughter was still so young yet already knew to be filial to her, she couldn’t be happier.
“Mother isn’t hot. Is baby hot? Let Mother fan you?” Xiao Fu Shi couldn’t bear to see her daughter work so hard.
But Li Shu smiled and said, “No, I want to fan Mother.”
In the year she married into Wusun, the climate on the grasslands was harsh. The wind and sand were almost strong enough to blow people away, and sometimes the heat made it hard to breathe. Moreover, the man Princess Pingning married was quite old, and the princess was afraid, often pretending to be ill to avoid serving him, sending people like them instead. Li Shu was almost exhausted from maneuvering there.
Now, these quiet days spent with Mother were truly too comforting.
Children sleep a lot, and Li Shu didn’t even know when she woke up, but she saw Mother making incense.
Xiao Fu Shi was naturally meticulous and clever. At home, her legal mother only allowed her to read Admonitions for Women and Women’s Virtues, not even letting her read the Book of Songs. She was naturally talented with a brush and could paint, often depicting figures from The Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars and Biographies of Exemplary Women, which pleased her father and legal mother. Privately, she was very cautious, often burning any other paintings she made into ashes on the same day.
Making incense was also something she secretly learned. The family rules were very strict, but her legal mother still maintained appearances well, often giving her various spices and incense tablets. She seized opportunities to create incense recipes, and after marrying into the Liu Family, she became even more skilled at making fragrant powder.
This fragrant powder not only prevented sweat and eliminated odors but also contained rouge. When applied all over the body, this slightly red powder, combined with the thin gauze often worn in summer, made the faint pink skin vaguely visible, appearing exceptionally enchanting.
Bai Juyi once said, “Vermilion lips and fair fingers evenly adorned, powdered sweat and red silk patted on.”
This was an ancient fragrance from the Tang Dynasty. Xiao Fu Shi’s incense-making was naturally related to competing for favor. Seeing Li Shu rubbing her eyes on the bed, she quickly smiled and asked Dan Hong and Dan Qing to help her wash and dress.
At noon today, the ice was late in arriving. Dan Hong complained, but Xiao Fu Shi was not as angry as she was yesterday and said, “I’m afraid the madam is temporarily inconvenienced. You are not allowed to cause trouble.”
Li Shu clearly saw Xiao Fu Shi very angry about the ice yesterday, but today she seemed indifferent. She always felt that Xiao Fu Shi was brewing something.
By dinnertime, Xiao Fu Shi bathed early and applied the fragrant powder she had made that day. She said to herself, “Are you hungry? Let’s go to your aunt’s place first. Without ice, we mother and daughter won’t be able to survive the night.”
When going out, she had to change clothes. Li Shu still wore a bellyband but covered it with a silk jacket with a front opening, and on the lower half, she wore a skirt with water ripple patterns.
Li Shu thought to herself that since she had been reborn as a child, her sense of shame had indeed diminished. Wearing only a bellyband in her room felt quite cool.
When she first woke up, she had insisted on wearing the bellyband, but now, after putting on clothes, she felt hot instead. Xiao Fu Shi apologized, "Darling, just bear with it for a while, alright?"
Li Shu nodded emphatically, "I’ll listen to Mother."
"Good, Mother will take you out," Xiao Fu Shi said with relief.
This was Li Shu’s first time stepping out since her rebirth. The old woman guarding the door was surprised to see them and asked, "Is Second Mistress going out?"
It was no wonder the old woman was astonished—Xiao Fu Shi had lived a secluded life in Jiujiang for nearly two years.
Xiao Fu Shi nodded, "Yes, I’m going to see the First Mistress."
Fu Shi lived in the eastern courtyard, while Concubine Su and Concubine Ding shared a row of rooms. To go from the western courtyard to the eastern one, they had to pass by Concubine Su and Concubine Ding’s quarters. Concubine Su, a plump woman in her thirties, was cooling herself at the door. Seeing her slightly fuller figure, Li Shu knew she was also favored by her father.
Originally, Concubine Su was a seamstress bought from the south. Because of her exceptional skills, she became Liu Chengxu’s chambermaid.
Concubine Su had a good relationship with Grand Madam Liu and was skilled at bearing children. Though only a concubine, she held considerable influence. Even Fu Shi treated her with respect upon entering the household, and Concubine Su, in turn, flattered Fu Shi diligently.
As for Concubine Ding, her looks were merely delicate, but she was the youngest daughter of the County Magistrate Assistant of Macheng. Before her father retired, her mother brought her to the Liu Family.
Old Master Liu had some dealings with the County Magistrate Assistant, and upon hearing from Grand Madam Liu that Ding was dignified and graceful, he arranged for her to be taken in as a concubine for his second son, citing the care of an old acquaintance.
Concubine Ding entered the household a year before Xiao Fu Shi. Li Shu had once overheard servants gossiping that the Ding family was foolish—if they had sent her a year later, she might have become the principal wife.
However, Concubine Ding seemed less favored. Her greatest influence lay in managing household affairs, unable to compete with others who later gained favor.
It was said she was upright in character and quite virtuous. While Concubine Su openly cooled herself outside, Concubine Ding kept her door tightly shut, maintaining strict propriety.
Concubine Su was equally surprised to see Xiao Fu Shi. She picked up a slice of sweet melon, savoring its sweetness, before saying to her maid, "The sun must be rising from the west. How could she be willing to step out?"
"Yiniang, why bother about her? Since the First Mistress returned, the Second Mistress’s situation has become precarious," the maid sneered.
Concubine Su, who had risen from a sold servant to the position of concubine and borne two sons and a daughter, was no ordinary person. After Xiao Fu Shi entered the household, Concubine Ding initially enjoyed some favor, but later, Xiao Fu Shi monopolized the master’s attention.
Concubine Su had not seen the master for nearly two years. It was only after Fu Shi returned and Xiao Fu Shi retreated that she and others managed to regain favor.
Now, seeing Xiao Fu Shi like this, she felt something unusual was afoot.
**
Xiao Fu Shi lifted her skirt as she ascended the steps. By now, she was already drenched in fragrant sweat. Under the setting sun, the rosy glow of her skin seeped through her white gauze robe. Not only would men find her captivating, but even Li Shu thought her mother was truly breathtakingly beautiful.
Inside the room, the family was having a meal. The man seated at the head of the table was tall and imposing, with long eyebrows that extended toward his temples. Few could blend martial prowess and scholarly elegance so perfectly. Below him sat a woman of about twenty-five or twenty-six, dressed plainly, without even a single intricate floral pattern on her garments. She wore no jewelry in her hair, only a twisted flower hairpin tucked at her temple.
Further down the table sat a young man and a little girl. The dishes on the table, however, were quite lavish.
Just as the man was about to pick up his chopsticks, someone outside announced, "Madam, Second Madam has arrived with Third Miss and says she has something to discuss with you."
A flicker of embarrassment crossed the woman's face, but she smiled and said, "Yu Ping, please invite them in. We might as well add two more place settings."
Yu Ping inwardly scoffed. As Fu Shi's chief maid, she knew full well that Xiao Fu Shi was a wolf in sheep's clothing, up to no good. Just like Xiao Fu Shi's birth mother, Yiniang Li, who had seemed meek and ordinary but had secretly dared not drink the contraceptive medicine?
Xiao Fu Shi, a mere concubine-born daughter, had used her resemblance to the Madam to force her way into the household and even secured the status of a legitimate wife.
A counterfeit would always be a counterfeit. Today, she would learn exactly whom the master favored more.