At some point, the rain stopped, and night fully fell. A sticky, stifling heat hung in the air.
Gu Jiangzhi practically slammed through the half-open wooden gate, stumbling into the thick darkness outside. As he staggered out of the alley, the fire of humiliation burning in his chest felt as though it were scorching his very organs. Before coming here, he had truly believed he was acting out of kindness, intending to comfort Miss Nian. As long as she obediently entered his household, relied upon him, and treated him with tenderness and deference, he would surely treat her well. He would never allow his future principal wife to bully her. Yet Miss Nian did not understand his good intentions in the slightest. Nor did she understand the difficult position the Gu family now found itself in.
Shaking his head, he felt that from this moment onward, he was utterly disappointed in both Nian Chujiu and the Nian family. No room remained for softness in his heart. By the time he reached the peeling vermilion gates of the Marquis’s Manor, his shoes were already soaked through with rainwater and hung heavy on his feet.
Irritated, he raised a hand and pounded on the gate. He knocked for nearly a quarter of an hour before hurried footsteps finally sounded from within, accompanied by a flustered reply.
“Coming! Coming!” The moment the door opened, all the anger he had suppressed along the way surged to his head. He lifted his leg and kicked forward without hesitation.
“Ow!” Old Jiang, the gatekeeper, was caught completely off guard. The kick landed squarely in his chest, sending him sprawling onto the bluestone pavement with a cry of pain.
Stepping over the threshold, Gu Jiangzhi looked down coldly at the man curled up on the ground.
His voice was harsh and vicious. “You useless fool! Slacking off while on duty? Your master was knocking at the door, and you dared pretend not to hear! I think you’re tired of living!”
“As for this month’s wages, don’t expect to receive a single copper coin!”
Old Jiang clutched his chest and slowly straightened up. His bloodshot eyes fixed on Gu Jiangzhi.
“Master? Hah! Then why doesn’t Master ask what I was doing just now?”
The undisguised grief and exhaustion in those eyes caught Gu Jiangzhi off guard.
Old Jiang’s voice was hoarse, clearly worn out from overwork. “When the Marquis couldn’t catch his breath, I was the one called to help him. When the kitchen needed firewood chopped, I was the one sent to do it. When a rat got into the First Madam’s room, I was the one ordered to catch it. Even the broken window frame in your room, Young Master, was repaired by me.”
His chest rose and fell heavily as he continued without pause: “There are only this few people in the entire household who can still work! We’re running around inside and out every day until our legs are worn out and our mouths are dry. Old Zhang’s wife has been sick in bed for three or four days. Old Chen, who serves the Marquis, went home for his mother’s funeral, and no one has been found to replace him!”
Gu Jiangzhi was thin-skinned by nature. Being lectured like this made his ears burn.
Under the dim lantern light, Old Jiang suddenly ripped the filthy sweat towel from his shoulder and threw it onto the wet stone ground between them. “Young Master’s certainly impressive! The moment you come through the door, you don’t ask a single question. You just kick first and punish later!”
He let out a cold laugh. “Wages? Why don’t you pay last month’s wages first! Once you hand over the silver, my wife and I will pack our things and leave immediately! Your household’s masters are beyond serving. If I stay here one moment longer, I’ll be your grandson!” With that, he turned and walked off, intending to fetch his wife and demand their unpaid wages from the First Madam before leaving.
This job was impossible to continue. Old Jiang wasn’t some ignorant servant who had never seen the world. Back before the chaos swept through the country, his entire family had been hereditary servants to the capital’s great noble houses. For generations they had worked in the mansions of dukes and marquises. Etiquette, observation, and household management were all second nature to them.
Then the Great Yan Dynasty collapsed. When the tree fell, the monkeys scattered. Their former masters either died or fled, and the servants who had depended on those great families were likewise scattered across the land, struggling just to survive.
Old Jiang had always kept a clear account in his heart. He had looked at the situation and thought: Marquis Zhongyong had once taken a blade for His Majesty, a life-saving deed of immense merit. On top of that, one of the Marquis’s own daughters was now an imperial consort in the palace.
Any family like that ought to be thriving in the new dynasty, flourishing like oil poured onto a blazing fire, prosperous beyond measure.
That was why he had brought his wife along and entered the Marquis’s household. He hadn’t even demanded high wages, only a stable place to settle down. He had figured that with the skills and experience he had gained serving great noble houses in his youth, as long as he worked diligently and followed the rules, he would one day earn his masters’ favor. Perhaps he could become the manager of the outer household, while his wife oversaw the kitchens. Wouldn’t that provide them with security for the rest of their lives?
Who could have imagined… This generation of masters, from top to bottom, had no sense of propriety whatsoever! Tsk. Disgraceful! Fortunately, he had never signed a servitude contract.
Gu Jiangzhi stood there with a livid expression, watching Old Jiang’s retreating figure. He recalled how, even though the Nian family merely rented a residence in the capital, their servants were all composed, efficient, and well-trained.
Even Mingyue, the maid at Miss Nian’s side, had been orderly and proper, though less than courteous when blocking his path. She possessed a steadiness that remained unshaken even in wind and rain. Then he looked at his own household. Aside from the mansion and plaque the Emperor had bestowed, everything else was a complete mess.
For the first time, Gu Jiangzhi regretted agreeing to marry into the Lu family. Had he married Miss Nian instead, she would surely have transformed the entire household and put everything in perfect order. He hardly dared imagine how sweet and harmonious those days might have been. And yet now, things with Miss Nian had deteriorated to complete estrangement. He had also heard that the Lu family was not particularly distinguished. Miss Lu was probably crude and uncultured. The more he thought about it, the more he regretted letting his anger get the better of him and driving the conversation with Miss Nian to such an irreversible conclusion.
Gu Jiangzhi returned to his pitch-dark courtyard and fumbled around for a fire starter before lighting a candle.
A tiny flame flickered to life, barely pushing back a corner of the darkness. In its dim yellow glow, the room’s sparse furnishings and cold emptiness stood in sharp relief.
Only then did he notice that the wet clothes he had changed out of earlier were still lying carelessly on the footstool beside the bed, untouched and unwashed. He stood there silently for a while before stripping off the clothes he was now wearing, which had once again become half-soaked. Digging through a chest, he found another faded blue-gray robe and changed into it. But this robe was the last decent one he owned. If it got soaked too, he would have nothing left to wear.
Money. Everything came down to money. Without money, one couldn’t take a single step in this world. His thoughts wavered like the candle flame.
Sinking onto the edge of the bed, Gu Jiangzhi calculated that the only proper course now was to break off the engagement with the Lu family and restore relations with the Nian family.
Otherwise, even if he entered the Military Command, he had no chance of being appointed commander directly. At best, he might start as a deputy commander, and even that would depend entirely on whether General Lu’s influence was sufficient. The more he thought about it, the worse the deal seemed. That tiny government salary wouldn’t even cover a few outfits. How could it compare to the Nian family’s wealth? Especially when Miss Nian was so beautiful. She was the unattainable moonlight in his heart. No one could compare to her.
After steadying himself, Gu Jiangzhi rose and headed toward Madam Jin’s courtyard. As soon as he stepped halfway into the courtyard, he heard his mother’s raspy voice from inside, spitting out words in a furious tirade: “Wages! You haven’t done anything worth mentioning, yet all you ever talk about are wages! Bah! And how much did your wife pocket from yesterday’s shopping trip? Do you think I’m blind? The household may be struggling right now, but that doesn’t mean servants like you can reach into our pockets and help yourselves!”
From inside came Aunt Jiang’s aggrieved defense: “First Madam, you should speak with a clear conscience! How much can the little bit of money allocated for purchases even buy? Every day I count every coin, bargain until my lips crack…”
The room descended into an argument.
In the end, Old Jiang and his wife failed to collect their wages. Madam Jin’s vicious shout of “Get out!” drove them from the room, and they came face-to-face with Gu Jiangzhi standing beneath the corridor.
Old Jiang wanted to spit at him. In the end, he restrained himself. The sooner he escaped this family, the better.