“Madam has returned!” A servant woman suddenly announced from outside.
The old matriarch loosened her hold on Dou Xueci’s hand for a moment, though her expression remained grim.
Zou Nianqiu and Zhuang Wanqing entered one after the other. As soon as she stepped inside, Zou Nianqiu hurried toward Dou Xueci.
“Xueci, my daughter!”
But Dou Xueci sat firmly in her grandmother’s embrace, showing no intention of rising. Zou Nianqiu opened her arms, intending to hold her and weep, yet now she stood frozen.
She could hardly drag her out of her grandmother’s arms to embrace her, could she? The tears in her eyes suddenly seemed awkward.
“Where has Mother been? Why was she not here when her daughter returned home?” Dou Xueci deliberately hardened her face, then turned her head away, refusing to look at her, nestling instead against her grandmother.
In her previous life, Zou Nianqiu had returned even later than today. Upon seeing her, she had wept until she could scarcely breathe, clutching Dou Xueci and refusing to let go.
She cried so desperately that Dou Xueci forgot to blame her for failing to greet her, for coming home so late. Instead, she felt that her mother’s near collapse proved she loved her to the bone.
The old matriarch tightened her embrace around her granddaughter in comfort, then lifted her gaze to glare fiercely at Zou Nianqiu. Remembering that Zhuang Wanqing had entered alongside her, she grew even angrier. This shameless creature who did not know her place!
“Today is Xueci’s return to the capital, yet you were not at home waiting. Where did you run off to? Your heart must be clouded with grease, for this is your own flesh and blood daughter!”
Behind her, Zhuang Wanqing’s face suddenly turned pale. Her hands clenched tightly beneath her sleeves, trembling slightly.
The Dou family’s second branch had two sisters-in-law—Madam Zhao Lingxi of the first household, Madam Jin Yudian of the second—and the third branch, along with several younger girls of the residence, all cast their eyes upon Zhuang Wanqing, waiting to see her embarrassment.
An adopted daughter who had entered the Duke’s household, enjoying the privileges reserved for a legitimate-born young lady—there were plenty who looked upon her with displeasure.
Zou Nianqiu had already been frightened by those words and fell to her knees before the old matriarch, crying out her grievances.
“Old Madam, if you say such things, this daughter-in-law might as well be dead. How could I not know that Xueci is my own flesh and blood? These three years, I have knelt daily in the Buddha hall, begging Heaven to watch over her, only hoping my child would be safe and well. Today, I noticed that a few items were missing from Xueci’s Zhenhua Pavilion. Fearing the servants did not know her preferences, I went out personally to purchase them. Who would have thought I would lose track of time?”
Indeed, Zou Nianqiu did go to the Buddha hall every day. She claimed it was to pray for Dou Xueci’s protection. And who could question the Buddha about what she truly prayed for?
“Enough! Why are you crying like this? The more you cry, the less proper you look!” The old matriarch disliked Madam Zou—everyone in the household knew it.
Madam Zou had been born into a merchant family, and even the way she married into the Duke’s household had not been clean. In recent years, her brother had purchased an official title, and her family had grown more ostentatious.
But the old matriarch always thought her vulgar and petty.
And that excuse—ha! Ask anyone in the room, who would believe her?
Dou Xueci, seeing the commotion had gone far enough, rose and went to help Zou Nianqiu to her feet.
“Mother, please rise. Your daughter only saw you earlier, happily holding another’s hand as you entered Wanbao Pavilion. I thought perhaps Mother had already forgotten this daughter.”
Sarcasm—who could not wield it?
Zou Nianqiu’s face grew uglier, yet she was forced to squeeze out a smile. She had wanted to introduce Zhuang Wanqing to Dou Xueci, but now she dared not mention a word.
“My child, you are Mother’s only flesh and blood. In my heart, there is no one but you. It was my fault—I should never have rushed out in haste and caused my child to misunderstand.”
As she spoke, Zou Nianqiu tried to embrace Dou Xueci, tears threatening to fall.
Dou Xueci also pretended to embrace Zou Nianqiu, letting two tears fall.
But out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Zhuang Wanqing standing behind the crowd, her face deathly pale. Could she not endure even this small scene? There would be far more she would have to endure in the future.
Madam Zou cared about appearances. In her previous life, the whole capital knew how deeply she loved her daughter—loved her to the bone. So now, even if her heart bled with anger, she dared not show Dou Xueci the slightest neglect in public.
Without a son, and with the Emperor’s decree, Dou Xueci was Zou Nianqiu’s only support.
In her past life, Zou Nianqiu had played the role of a loving mother before her, clouding her judgment. After all, who would ever imagine that one’s own mother—the one who bore and raised her—would harm her?
Yet it was Madam Zou herself who invited the wolf into the house, and even poisoned the blade that took Dou Xueci’s life.
After crying enough, Dou Xueci almost forcibly pushed Zou Nianqiu away from her. She returned to her grandmother’s side, nestled in her arms, and then dropped a thunderbolt with her words: “Elder Sister Mu He, come and greet Grandmother.”
Mu He bowed respectfully, neither humble nor arrogant.
Dou Xueci continued, “This is the person my aunt assigned to me. Mu He is skilled in accounts. My aunt said that now I am grown, I should begin learning how to manage household affairs.”
Mu He thought to herself: *When did I become skilled in accounts? I am clearly trained in medicine…* But she understood. The young lady was borrowing the Empress’s authority behind her, using borrowed power to suppress the Duke’s household.
“Isn’t it a bit early for the young lady to take charge of household matters?”
The speaker was the wife of the second branch’s master—Dou Xueci’s second aunt. Madam Yao, now forty-three, was strikingly beautiful. Even at her age, she remained alluring, with added elegance and charm.
The one who had escorted Dou Xueci back to the capital was none other than Dou Minghuai, her son.
The old matriarch frowned slightly at seeing her daughter-in-law trying to seize the spotlight, but did not rebuke her.
Before Dou Xueci could speak, Madam Yao’s daughter-in-law chimed in.
Jin Yudian was known for her sharp tongue. At this moment, she was resentful toward Dou Xueci—for if not for her, how would her husband have ended up kneeling in the snow for an hour?
Though the servants had dared not neglect him and had set braziers around, when he was carried back, his knees were already swollen beyond recognition.
“I think, though younger sister Xueci is still young, she has a sharp mind. She may well be capable of managing the household. Besides, having lived three years in a place like Yongzhou, she must have grown used to making her own decisions. Perhaps she will find it hard to adjust to life back in the Duke’s residence.”
The words clearly implied she was unruly. Yet Dou Xueci acted as though she had not heard, lowering her head to sip her tea.
“How can you say such a thing? The Duke’s residence is Xueci’s home—of course, she is accustomed to it!” Zou Nianqiu glared angrily at Jin Yudian, then walked over to take Dou Xueci’s hand, holding it tightly in her own as she spoke softly: “Still, your second aunt is right in one respect. You are young, and household management is both complex and burdensome. How could Mother bear to let her child suffer such toil right after returning? Better to wait a year or two before discussing it.”
But Dou Xueci deliberately pulled her hand free, sitting upright with a bearing that rivaled even the old matriarch beside her. Her cold gaze swept across the gathered crowd, finally settling on her grandmother, who had remained silent.
Though household authority was nominally in her mother Madam Zou’s hands, the true master of the Duke’s residence was this woman.
“What does Grandmother think?”
The old matriarch met Dou Xueci’s frank, unwavering gaze and felt as though those clear eyes pierced straight into her heart.