Shen Chu said, “If Concubine Qiao hands over the deeds to the eight shops now, I’ll promise the Marquis that I won’t go to the Libu to change my Xuanshi registration.”
Concubine Qiao looked puzzled. “Isn’t it just for one month? Why do you need the deeds?”
“Without the deeds, I’m afraid my words won’t carry weight. What if the shop managers don’t listen to me?”
Concubine Qiao agreed. “Fine, I’ll go get them right now. Later we’ll go apologize to the Marquis together. The Marquis has his heart set on you entering the Hanlinyuan to bring glory to the marquis’s residence. If he learns you’re willing to enter the Hanlinyuan, who knows how happy he’ll be.”
Shen Chu lowered her eyes, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
After Concubine Qiao left, Hong Xiu came in and couldn’t help remarking, “You finally got Concubine Qiao to give in. A pity she’ll only agree to let you manage them for one month. What will you do when she takes the shops back after a month?”
Shen Chu smiled lightly. “One month is enough time.”
Within this month, she intended to tear off the Changning Hou’s hypocritical mask.
Hong Xiu asked curiously, “Young Master, you’re not actually going to agree to enter the Hanlinyuan, are you?”
Shen Chu chuckled. “Am I? I only promised not to go to the Libu to change my Xuanshi registration.”
Hong Xiu gave a thumbs-up. “But Young Master, the Marquis has already registered you as exempt from the examination. If you want to enter the Censorate, you’ll have to take the Quanxuan Selection examination. The Marquis won’t let you take it.”
Shen Chu’s lips curved. “Who says the Quanxuan Selection is the only way to become an official?”
Hong Xiu was confused. “What do you plan to do, Young Master?”
Shen Chu wrote a letter. “Take this letter to the Duke Huguo’s residence and deliver it to the young duke, Li Chengxuan.”
Hong Xiu had just left with the letter when Concubine Qiao arrived with the deeds.
“It’s only for one month, as agreed. You mustn’t make a mess of the shops. If there’s anything you don’t understand, come ask me.”
Shen Chu put the deeds away and agreed with a smile.
“I need you to promise me one thing too, Auntie. Don’t tell Father about handing the shops over to me for a month just yet.”
Concubine Qiao didn’t understand. “Why not tell him?”
“If we don’t say anything, then after a month, when I hand the shops back, it’ll be a pleasant surprise for Father.”
Concubine Qiao thought it over and agreed.
Mother and son went together to the Changning Hou’s study.
Naturally, they didn’t even make it through the door.
Changning Hou was roaring inside, “Unfilial son! Tell him to get lost. I don’t want to see him.”
Concubine Qiao shot Shen Chu a look.
Shen Chu knelt down readily. “Father, it was all this son’s fault.”
Concubine Qiao wept softly. “Marquis, it was this concubine’s failure to discipline Chu properly. He knows he was wrong now and is kneeling at the door to beg your forgiveness. If you’re still angry, this concubine will kneel with him.”
The study door creaked open.
Changning Hou stood at the doorway, his face dark, glaring at Shen Chu with eyes like fire.
“Tell me—what exactly did you do wrong?”
Shen Chu said, “This son shouldn’t have angered Grandmother into fainting. This son will go kowtow and beg her forgiveness shortly. And if Grandmother insists again that this son take Cousin Yufang as a concubine, this son will agree at once.”
Changning Hou’s brow furrowed slightly. “Forget the concubine matter. As long as you know you were wrong. From now on, you must not defy your elders.”
These past two days, who knew what had gotten into Zhao Yufang—she cried and wailed, insisting she would absolutely never be Shen Chu’s concubine.
When the Old Madame spoke a bit harshly to her, Zhao Yufang knelt in Songshou Tang, weeping and refusing to get up.
The Old Madame was so enraged she took to her bed and couldn’t rise at all.
Shen Chu spoke with a respectful expression. “Your son remembers Father’s teachings. Today, your son also should not have made a scene in the kitchen and the accounting office, nearly angering Father to death. From now on, whenever the kitchen sends spoiled food, your son will quietly eat it. If the accountants embezzle silver again, your son will pretend not to know. As long as Father is happy, that is all that matters.”
Changning Hou felt a tightness in his chest.
How was this an apology?
Yet Shen Chu wore an utterly sincere, apologetic face.
Concubine Qiao, standing nearby, objected with clear disapproval. “Chu, you can’t think like that. You are the eldest young master of the marquis’s residence—how can you eat spoiled food? The Marquis dotes on you so much. If he found out, he would surely be angry. Marquis, isn’t that right?”
Changning Hou… he was already a little angry right now.
With a wooden face, he asked coldly, “What else did you do wrong?”
Shen Chu said, “Your son should not have allowed Hong Xiu to beat the household guards. If they wanted to strike me, I should have let them beat me to death. When Father ordered the archers to shoot, your son should have let them fire and kill me. As long as Father is happy, your son is willing to die.”
Changning Hou could no longer keep his face composed. That damned phrase again—as long as Father is happy.
He was not happy at all.
“And what else?”
After such a long self-criticism, why did she never once mention Concubine Qiao’s shops?
Shen Chu looked blank. What else was there?
Concubine Qiao said brightly, “There’s more! Chu said that all matters of his official career will follow the Marquis’s arrangements. Is the Marquis happy? Surprised?”
Changning Hou… happy, my foot.
He looked at Shen Chu suspiciously. “You really will follow my arrangements?”
Shen Chu nodded. “Your son will no longer apply to the Libu to take the Xuanshi. As soon as the official selection results are announced, your son will immediately take up the post.”
Changning Hou snorted coldly, but still unwilling to give up, asked once more, “What else did you do wrong?”
A cold glint flashed through Shen Chu’s eyes. Given Changning Hou’s hypocritical nature, he would certainly never ask for the shops outright.
Her face full of grief, she said, “Your son’s offense this time was too grave. To show sincere repentance, I have decided to kneel in the ancestral hall for two days in penance.”
Changning Hou frowned and said nothing.
Shen Chu rose. “Your son will go kneel in the ancestral hall now.”
After taking two steps, he turned back, looking hesitant. “But kneeling in the ancestral hall for two days will likely delay the task of copying sutras for the Sixth Prince. Father, perhaps you should go to the Sixth Prince and resign from this task on my behalf? Sigh, the Sixth Prince is so capricious—who knows whether he might take his anger out on Father? Never mind. As long as Father is happy, your son…”
The veins on Changning Hou’s forehead throbbed. He squeezed a few words out through his teeth:
“Come back. No need to kneel in the ancestral hall. What happened today—never again.”
“Then your son’s confinement?”
“Lifted!”
“Thank you, Father. As long as Father is happy, your son would be willing to be confined for two more days.”
Changning Hou: … He was not happy. He wanted to die.
Shen Chu had clearly come to kowtow and apologize, yet somehow, his chest felt even more blocked.
He seemed to have won this battle, and yet he seemed not to have won at all.
After returning, Shen Chu instructed Hong Xiu to take the property deeds and brief the managers of each shop one by one.
For the next two days, she obediently stayed behind closed doors copying sutras.
Her hand nearly broke from copying, but she finally finished transcribing an entire Shurangama Sutra.
She brought the completed sutra to the Sixth Prince’s residence, only to be told by the doorman that the Sixth Prince was at Qingfeng Tower.
Shen Chu asked the doorman to pass the sutra along, but the doorman wouldn’t dare accept it no matter what, and even sent someone to escort her to the Sixth Prince.
Shen Chu had no choice but to carry the scripture over.
Qingfeng Tower was one of the finest brothels in the capital, decorated with elegance and refinement—clearly the kind of place where money flowed like water.
Pei Yuan’s personal attendant, Jin Bao, led Shen Chu into a room on the third floor.
Jin Bao pointed toward the inner chamber and lowered his voice. “His Highness is taking a nap. He should be waking up soon. Young Top Scholar Shen, please wait a moment.”
Shen Chu set the scripture on the table. “I’ve only come to deliver the scripture. Please inform His Highness for me, Eunuch Jin Bao. I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”
Jin Bao waved his hands hurriedly. “Please wait here, Young Top Scholar Shen. If His Highness finds anything wrong with the scripture, he can ask you directly, and it’ll spare you another trip.”
Shen Chu had no choice but to sit and wait idly.
After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, a sound finally came from the inner chamber—a thud!
As if something had fallen to the floor.