“Same old trick.”
Li Rong didn’t think this plan would work: “Third Master Zhou has been steeped in officialdom for years—he’s seen every kind of person. The moment this idea of yours appears, he’ll see right through it.
He’s no greenhorn like the Heir of Prince Yan!
Besides, the Heir of Prince Yan has at least some affection for you, but Third Master Zhou toward you…”
Well, with all the favor and gifts, it didn’t quite look like he had no affection at all.
“Can you guarantee you could manipulate Third Master Zhou the way you manipulated the Heir of Prince Yan?”
Li Qu shook her head: “I still suspect Third Master Zhou’s motives for keeping me in the residence, but I don’t know him well. Conclusions drawn only from maids’ gossip and the masters’ discussions aren’t entirely reliable.”
“Third Sister, know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll never be defeated; plan carefully before you act—these are the words you’re always saying.”
“Even if I can’t figure him out, at the latest, once his new bride enters the household, I can leave.”
“Why?”
“First, he doesn’t like me. Second, what new bride would like her husband’s woman from before the marriage? My leaving kills two birds with one stone.”
“Three birds with one stone, and it suits your wishes too, Third Sister. But when is Third Master Zhou getting married?”
“He’s already twenty-six this year. He can’t put it off much longer.”
Li Rong nodded, then remembered the concubine registration document: “Just now Nanny Xu said Second Madam sent people to Jishui Lane. Could they be forcing Mother to sign the concubine registration document?”
“Mother won’t sign it. She knows I’m capable of anything.” Li Qu’s tone was calm: “If I agreed to this document, I would sign it myself. If anyone else comes to make you sign it, none of you are to sign.”
“If we don’t sign the concubine registration, wouldn’t that make you a lowly concubine?”
“What nonsense! I’m of registered commoner status, not some unregistered drifting weed!”
“Actually, Third Sister, you know you’re of commoner status. If you sign the document, you’d be a proper concubine…”
“What would being a proper concubine mean?”
“Then with this on record, when you leave the residence later, would you be a young lady or…”
“A cast-off wife—a wife cast off right after the wedding because her husband fell ill and her mother-in-law ordered her sent home.”
Li Rong reminded her: “There’s no record with the authorities, and once you come of age, you’ll have to pay taxes.”
To encourage childbirth, the Great Qian dynasty required unmarried women to pay a tax once they turned seventeen.
A hefty sum of twenty taels a year.
If she didn’t pay, the authorities would seize her and forcibly marry her off to whoever they chose.
“Don’t worry about money. Since the Zhou residence sent you gifts today, I won’t give you any.”
“If we accept the Zhou residence’s things, will it be bad for you?”
“Accept everything! I’m not about to let Zhou Jin get off for free.”
Li Rong coughed: “You really are open-minded, Third Sister.”
“Be careful when you’re out. If you have time, look into the Zhou family’s affairs—especially Zhou Jin’s. If you’re short of money or run into trouble, come find me.”
Li Rong hesitated: “Mother has some words for you…”
She spoke while watching Li Qu’s expression: “Mother says, you offended the Heir of Prince Yan behind the family’s back, forcing the family to abandon a thriving business and move south to seek refuge with Eldest Sister.
Now that Third Master Zhou, who is no less than the Heir of Prince Yan, has taken a fancy to you, you might as well secure Third Master Zhou’s heart.
That way, you needn’t fear the Heir of Prince Yan finding you for revenge in the future.”
Li Qu was furious: “How many times must I say it!”
“Wan County is under Zhuzhou’s jurisdiction, and Zhuzhou has Tang Xian, a trusted second-rank official of the Emperor, presiding over the Provincial Administration Commission—a true regional governor, holding real power just like Prince Yan.
The Emperor has long been wary of Prince Yan. If Xiao Cong dared to enter Zhuzhou alone, Tang Xian would never let him leave unscathed.
In Wan County, our brother-in-law isn’t under Xiao Cong’s control. Once we reach Wan County, we’ll have him to back us up. We can keep a low profile and live without worry.”
Li Rong sighed.
Li Qu had said this many times, but she couldn’t overcome the Li family’s fear.
“I think Third Master Zhou treats you quite well.”
Li Qu could bear it no longer. “Well! Then let’s go tell him that when we entered the city gates, you walked in first—you go be the concubine in that grand household!”
“Don’t be angry.”
“How can I not be angry?
Am I supposed to wait for the day I end up like Mother—her looks ruined, picked up by a mute who can’t even feed himself, then bearing a pile of children he can’t afford to raise!”
No one knew Mother Li’s exact age, but her eldest daughter Li Fu was already twenty-three, so Mother Li had to be at least forty.
And she was still bearing children!
Even granting the desire for a son, it wasn’t as if Mother Li had never borne a boy before.
“And then, once you’ve had beautiful children, people grow jealous—today one is smothered, tomorrow another drowned!”
Li Rong was struck speechless.
Li Fu was twenty-three and Li Rong was eighteen this year—five years apart—and between them there had been a boy.
He had been smothered on the day of his full-month celebration.
The culprit was never found.
Li Qu was sixteen this year. She had once had a younger brother, three years her junior, who had drowned just after learning to walk.
After that, Mother Li bore another daughter, ten years younger than Li Qu.
She had been taken to Wan County by Li Fu, who was raising her personally.
The Li family’s sons were nothing remarkable, and Father Li and Mother Li were timid and easily bullied, never causing trouble with anyone.
The only unusual thing about the Li family’s sons was that they were beautiful.
From birth, they had deep double-lidded eyes, straight noses, and skin white as snow.
Among the villagers, most of whom were plain or homely in appearance, they stood out strikingly.
“Sanmei…”
Li Qu tried to calm herself. “Second Sister, setting everything else aside—Prince Yan has countless concubines. How many brothers does Xiao Cong have?”
The Heir of Prince Yan, Xiao Cong, had two full brothers by the same mother, and two half-brothers—but the eldest of the half-brothers was only four years old.
“Besides, that Miss Lin in Yan, whom you all thought was my good friend—she was actually Xiao Cong’s betrothed, promised to him since childhood.
His father’s most favored concubine, a registered military-household woman, was beaten with rods and sold off simply for knocking over a pot of flowers that the Princess Consort Yan had sent to Madam Lin!”
“And take this Zhou household. The Second Master is a merchant and keeps a concubine with him who bore him a son and a daughter—yet because she wore the same clothes as the Old Madam, she was sent off to the estate.”
“Show me a single household where a concubine sits in the main hall, enjoying the happiness of grandchildren around her knees!”
“There are none!”
“Every one of these is real—real people, real events, vivid before my eyes!”
“Tell me, why should I risk a life of constant peril and a hopeless old age, all for a man!”
As Li Qu spoke, the emotions she had long suppressed—feelings utterly at odds with the prevailing ideas of this era—came pouring out.
“The lucky ones, like Mother, get to keep their lives.
The unlucky ones—crooked trees, roof beams, deep wells—anywhere can be where the soul departs!”
“You say you’ll compete with the principal wife?
The principal wife comes from a noble family, surrounded by servants trained from childhood to be her family’s sharp blades. How many trusted aides do you have?
Not to mention that marriages between great families are all about intertwined interests. Even if you were made of solid gold, you couldn’t outweigh the safety and prospects of the entire clan in your lord’s eyes!”
“Perhaps you’d still say you’re more beautiful than others.
Well then, isn’t our eldest sister beautiful?
“After having a child, that still didn’t stop my brother-in-law from taking a concubine—not as pretty as my elder sister—to add color to his bedchamber.”
“Li Rong, I could have been like Eldest Sister—a proper wife who ran the household and held the power, raising children on one hand while supporting my husband on the other.
With one or two concubines to share the risks of childbirth for me, I could have lived worry-free for the rest of my life!”
She couldn’t help but sit up, so agitated that her arms were trembling.
“The ways of the world do not permit a favored concubine to overshadow the wife; they praise husbands and wives who treat each other with respect.
The law stipulates that concubines are chattel—they can be bought and sold. But a husband who harms his wife is sentenced to exile a thousand li away!
Why would I, a perfectly good mistress of the household, degrade myself into a concubine with no standing whatsoever?”
“Because of this room full of gold and silver? Because of this life of ordering servants around? Or because of a man’s handsome face?”
Li Qu looked at Li Rong, her eyes full of mockery.
“Are these things worth trading away my social standing? Worth trading away the rest of my life? Worth gambling my very life on?!”
“They’re not!” No man in this whole world is worth it!
Those words rang out like a wake-up call.
“Li Rong, in the eyes of the great noble families, you and I are as easy to crush as ants. Becoming a concubine is no different from stepping one foot into the palace of the King of Hell! I advise you not to get any ideas.”
“How could I have ideas? You know I like learned scholars.”
With her emotions released, Li Qu suddenly felt a wave of relief in her chest.
Seeing that Li Qu’s expression had improved, Li Rong brought up one thing: “So, the men who came to our door back then wanting to take Eldest Sister as a concubine—they were all the ones you had ambushed and beaten up?”
She didn’t want to dwell on the topic any further. After telling Li Rong about her plan, she kept Li Rong for lunch, then sent her home to keep Father Li and Mother Li steady.
Setting aside feelings entirely, in terms of pure interest, Li Rong was counting on Li Qu to pay her overdue-marriage-age tax silver for her—so she stood with Li Qu.