Since he began studying at the age of six, Zhao Su Rui had never allowed even his personal eunuchs to casually hold him. Being suddenly embraced now, he nearly flung the plate of dumplings in his hand. Struggling twice without breaking free, he grew even more resentful of Shen San Fei’s frail and pitiful physique—if only Shen San Fei had a couple of pounds of muscle, he wouldn’t be so easily manhandled by a woman!
On the other side, seeing the woman lose composure, the maids on both sides hurried over to intervene.
After much persuasion, and just as Zhao Su Rui was about to kick her away, the woman was pulled aside by Tu Nan and Pei Feng working together. But the woman began to curse:
“A prestigious Lord Manor, yet so shameless! Back then, Lord Xie swore before your father’s spirit to treat you well! Xie Feng’an kowtowed three times before the memorial tablet of the Grand Academician to marry you, and now he dares to treat you like this!”
Zhao Su Rui, for convenience, wore a narrow-sleeved short robe. Standing close to “Shen Shiqing” now, one could clearly see her clothing. Upon closer inspection, the woman’s eyes were still red.
“A Qing, don’t worry. Leave this matter to Aunt Liu. In two days, it will be the Left Censor-in-chief’s mother’s birthday celebration. Once I expose the Xie Family’s actions, I’ll make sure that Xie Feng’an comes to kowtow and beg you to return!”
By now, Zhao Su Rui finally realized who this woman was.
A Chi had mentioned that Shen San Fei’s mother had a very close childhood friend surnamed Liu. Though born a concubine’s daughter, she came from an extremely wealthy family with a lavish dowry. Over a decade ago, she married a Recommended man surnamed Yao, who later passed the imperial examinations and became an official.
Over the years, Shen San Fei had received considerable care from this Aunt Liu. This time, when she was forced to stab herself and seek help with a blood letter, one of the letters was also addressed to Liu Shi.
It was Liu Shi who summoned the physician for Shen San Fei and sent servants to help Tu Nan rescue Shen San Fei from the Buddhist hall.
As he pondered how this person could be useful, in Liu Shi’s eyes, little A Qing had suffered so greatly that she didn’t even know how to voice her grievances.
The young woman, dressed in an elegant cyan short robe, wore only a plain white jade bead hairpin. Her eyes were slightly red, her breathing soft and shallow, and the usual calm leisure in her expression was gone. Her slender wrists and neck, no longer hidden by loose robes, made her appear even more fragile and pitiful.
To Liu Shi, the sight was almost too heartbreaking for words.
Zhao Su Rui, who had lost a physical struggle for the first time since he was ten, had no idea how others were looking at him. He casually wiped his mouth and said:
“Aunt Liu, there’s no need to worry about me. I’m doing quite well at Zhuangzi.”
Zhao Su Rui had calculated clearly: even if he were to return to the capital, he must immediately seize control of Ning’an Lord Manor upon his return and find a way to communicate with Shen San Fei, who was using his body in the palace. He absolutely could not end up confined to the inner quarters like an ordinary woman, at others’ mercy.
But Liu Shi shook her head: “How can you be doing well? Do you know, a few days ago at the Duke of Ying’s banquet, your mother-in-law brought that woman Feng Shi along! You’ve observed two periods of mourning for the Xie Family—we know that—but outsiders only see that you’ve been married into the Xie Family for seven years without bearing a child! Now that your family has declined, the Xie Family can divorce you as they please. How will you live then? Wait for the Shen Family to send you to a temple to become a nun?”
Knowing that her young mistress now remembered very little, A Chi hurried over to smooth things over.
“Madam, please don’t be anxious. What my lady means is that this matter requires long-term planning…”
“Long-term? What long-term prospects does a woman have besides bearing children to secure her position?”
Liu Shi turned and surveyed the inner chamber, her eyes falling upon the bottles of pigment. She shook her head and sighed: “Your father dedicated himself to the people, yet met a tragic death in the Huai River. Your mother, despite her remarkable talents, could only weep day after day after your father’s passing and departed early herself. Had your mother left you a brother, how could the Xie Family have tormented you like this? As for you, reading books and painting every day—you’ve never found a new path through them. Instead, you’ve been driven step by step to this Zhuangzi, and now even this estate can barely provide you refuge!”
Such words might be spoken to a woman, but Zhao Su Rui found them rather dull and shifted his gaze away. The Xie Family—a third-rate earldom barely surviving in Yanjing—wouldn’t hesitate to abandon a second son’s wife to cling to power and influence. Even if it meant forcing Xie Wen Yuan to divorce his first wife who had borne him numerous children, they wouldn’t bat an eye.
They acted as they did because they desired to. To control them, one must make them fear.
Instead of realizing this, they blamed Shen San Fei for not bearing a child… Zhao Su Rui sneered inwardly. If even the only elder she could confide in held such limited views, no wonder Shen San Fei had become Shen San Fei.
Patting his half-full stomach, Zhao Su Rui wiped his mouth with a handkerchief:
“Aunt Liu, there’s no need to speak of me returning to the Xie Family. Since they’ve already cast me out, they naturally don’t want me obstructing their affairs anymore. Here in this suburban estate, I am the mistress, and others are servants—I still have some say. If I were to return to the Xie Family… that would truly render me voiceless.”
“Shen Shiqing’s” pupils were deep and mysterious. Due to her frail, scholarly appearance and pitiable circumstances, her eyes always seemed to hold a misty, shallow spring.
From a distance, the spring appeared clear and transparent, but upon touching it, one would discover its coldness.
Thus, when these eyes ceased to be soft, subtle, and full of unspoken words, and instead fixed steadily upon others, people perceived only coldness.
Just like now.
Liu Shi felt as if she had been drenched in shattered snow, her inner agitation gradually calming.
Outside the window, a sudden wind swept away a few fallen leaves still tinged with green. Liu Shi looked at the slender woman before her and asked softly:
“Aqing, what do you mean?”
Under Liu Shi’s bewildered and somewhat horrified gaze, “Shen Shiqing” smiled:
“Aunt Liu, the Xie Family’s intentions have long been decided. The reason Shen Shiqing still lives is merely because Xie Feng’an is unwilling to observe mourning for his wife.”
If a wife dies, the husband observes mourning for one year—a year isn’t long, but Xie Wen Yuan’s coveted military merits cannot be delayed. They need to marry the Feng clan into the household quickly, so Shen San Fei cannot die yet.
Since Shen Shiqing cannot die, the Xie Family has only two paths: one is to divorce her. But Shen Shiqing is, after all, the daughter of the Xie Family’s benefactor and an orphan girl. Even if she committed grave errors, divorcing her might not be feasible. If it caused an uproar in Yanjing City, the Xie Family would still be the ones disgraced.
The other path is to force Shen Shiqing to voluntarily request divorce. A divorced woman without power or influence could be confined for a period and then disposed of at will—this would be most advantageous for the Xie Family.
It was with this intention that the Xie Family gradually drove Shen Shiqing to self-harm and writing a blood letter seeking help.
Then she encountered this Zhao Su Rui whose soul had swapped into this body.
Madam Liu slowly collapsed into the wen chair behind her, unable to speak for a long while.
When she regained her composure, she saw “Shen Shiqing” happily devouring another plate of lamb dumplings.
“A… A’Qing, the Xie Family is after all an aristocratic military family, you… you shouldn’t overthink things. After… after I make a scene at their house, they…”
Madam Liu uttered these words incoherently, not even believing them herself.
Finally, tears rolled from her eyes as she covered her face and wailed:
“Little A’Qing, why is your fate so bitter!”
Bitter?
At such a critical moment, he, the mighty Zhaode Emperor, had to take over this body. Zhao Su Rui thought that even if this Shen San Fei was useless in every way, her luck did have some silver lining after extreme misfortune.
Wait, thinking about it this way, didn’t that mean his own luck was bad?
Zhao Su Rui felt deeply annoyed, and his tone became impatient:
“Aunt Liu, don’t rush to cry. You’re not Lady Meng Jiang who could collapse the Xie Family with your weeping. If you truly want to help me, do you have any way to contact the wife of the Grand Master for Glorious Happiness?”
Madam Liu wiped her tears with a fine silk handkerchief and looked at “Shen Shiqing”:
“A’Qing, the Grand Master for Glorious Happiness’s household are imperial relatives. Your uncle, as the Assistant Director of the Imperial Academy, belongs to the upright scholar-officials who never associate with imperial relatives…”
Seeing Madam Liu shake her head in distress, Zhao Su Rui mentally clicked his tongue in annoyance. He despised these sanctimonious scholars who pretentiously avoided imperial relatives. If their own daughters became Empress, he wondered if they’d have the backbone to sever ties with their daughters.
Assistant Director of the Imperial Academy, eighth rank – he’d be standing at the very end during grand court assemblies. Relying on him to send messages into the palace was less promising than raising a pigeon starting now.
After eating a few more lamb dumplings, Zhao Su Rui felt unsatisfied in taste but already full in stomach. He reluctantly put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth:
“Aunt Liu, I cannot return to the Xie Family and must guard against their further attempts on my life. I must trouble you to find me some capable guards…”
While speaking, Zhao Su Rui spotted a young maid hurrying in through the courtyard gate.
“Second Young Madam, people from the main house have come again!”
Zhao Su Rui wasn’t afraid no matter who had come. He declared loudly: “Tu Nan, Pei Feng, take your swords! Let’s go meet the Xie Family again!”
Seeing the always gentle “Shen Shiqing” wave her fair hand as if ready to lead a charge, Madam Liu stared in stunned disbelief.
What terrible crimes had the Xie Family committed against their little A’Qing!
“Quickly go investigate how many people, carriages, and horses have come, and what weapons they brought!”
The young maid had never seen her mistress appear so “heroic and imposing” before. She stammered:
“Young Madam, there are no weapons. Just some escorting matrons who brought all of Second Young Master’s concubines over.”
“Concubines?”
Zhao Su Rui frowned.
The courtyard gate swung open as a flock of beautifully dressed women in silk robes, clutching their jewelry and valuables, entered weeping and wailing.
“Young Madam! You must stand up for us! Second Master has brought a Miss Feng into the household and driven us all out!”
“Madam! Madam! This humble one dare not claim merit, but I’ve borne the Xie Family a son and daughter. Now the children remain in the household while we’ve been cast out – how am I supposed to live!”
Watching the swarm of women, their faces streaked with tears and heavy with the scent of cosmetics, rush toward him, the Zhaode Emperor—who had proclaimed himself Grand Marshal, Commander-in-Chief of All Forces, and General of Border Pacification, captured and executed the chieftains of the northern tribes, driven the Moxi tribes hundreds of miles away, and revived the long-declining strength of Dayong—uttered just two words:
“Close the gates!”