Though Zhou Ze had insisted she need not see him off, Zhou Du arrived at dawn to bid him farewell.
She stood watching until his carriage vanished from sight and felt her own heart grow empty and still.
Lian Qing and Lian Hong stood silently beside her, their eyes bright with unspoken worry.
Zhou Du turned back, smiling gently to reassure them. “Come. Let us return.”
There was work to be done.
These first three days she had been merely the new bride, observing propriety. But three days had passed and now she was Mistress of the Manor. It was time to establish her authority.
“Greetings, Madam Heir. We pay our respects.” This was the last group of stewards and managers to be received.
From dawn until dusk, Zhou Du had met them all estate stewards, shop managers, household heads more than a hundred persons in all. She could not possibly remember every face but Lian Qing stood beside her, recording every name and detail. Zhou Du asked each a few quiet questions, exchanging glances with her maid; wordless understanding passed between them again and again.
“Madam has labored from dawn till dusk,” Lian Hong said softly, kneading her shoulders. “Eat well this evening, I beg you.”
“I have little appetite,” Zhou Du replied. All day she had stood tall, sharp, commanding now, at last alone, her weariness showed.
Lian Qing brought her a cup of warm walnut milk tea. “There is time enough, Madam. Why wear yourself so thin? To fall ill through haste defeats the very purpose of your care.”
Zhou Du sipped the warm, sweet brew. Her weary eyes softened. “Strike swiftly and strike true. This manor has stood too long without a mistress. The Marquis troubles himself little with affairs. I have examined the ledgers… and they are riddled with error and fraud. These men have grown fat and greedy.”
Lian Hong said brightly, “Just so! They must learn that things have changed! A new mistress rules here and she brooks no laziness or deceit!”
Zhou Du tapped her hand playfully. “You read far too many street tales, child and pick up far too many rough phrases.”
Lian Hong grinned. “If I stopped reading them… where else should I find such entertaining stories for you?”
Zhou Du turned back to business. “Lian Qing the names I bade you note today… have their backgrounds investigated. I suspect those men are deeply corrupt.”
“It shall be done.”
Her suspicion proved correct. The stewards she had singled out were all hereditary servants of the house entrenched, powerful, and thoroughly corrupt. Some had seized farmland from commoners; some abducted women; some sold off the manor’s goods; others concealed harvests and embezzled nearly ten thousand taels of silver.
“Madam sees everything!” Lian Hong marveled. “You singled them out at a glance!”
Zhou Du sighed. “I knew few among them would be honest. I merely chose the most guilty examples.”
“But how did you know?” Lian Hong asked, wide‑eyed.
Zhou Du smiled. “Do you think I asked them questions merely for conversation?”
“Some wore tattered clothes and worn shoes yet spoke with undisguised arrogance and pride. They have played petty kings so long they have forgotten how to bow. And beneath their rags, the linings and collars were stitched with silk far too fine for a poor man. New wealth cannot hide itself.”
“Others seemed humble and meek yet when they spoke, the room fell silent and attentive. Glances flickered toward them. They hold power through fear or secrets either way, they are men to watch.”
Lian Hong listened, eyes shining with admiration, as though Zhou Du were a sage come to life.
Zhou Du, not ordinarily talkative, continued seeing their eagerness, and meaning to train them well.
“Afterward I reviewed their records and measured their words against what I knew. That is how I chose those names for Lian Qing to investigate.”
“No wrongdoing leaves no trace. And these men swollen with the manor’s power have not even troubled to hide their crimes.”
Lian Qing spoke thoughtfully. “How shall we proceed, Madam? As you say, few are entirely clean. If we move too publicly, panic will spread and bring endless trouble.”
Lian Hong added boldly, “Let them tremble! They are but servants! Their families, their very lives all are held in your hands!”
Zhou Du finished her tea and set the cup down. “You each see part of the truth. That is good.”
“Lian Qing take your evidence. Deliver the accused to the Prefect’s Court. Bid the Prefect judge them strictly according to the law.”
“Yes, Madam.”
Lian Qing hesitated. “Yet… Madam, it is said: family shame ought not be displayed abroad. We might punish them privately. If this reaches the courts… will the Marquis not be displeased?”
Zhou Du smiled, not angered. “Lian Qing, you think deeply and far ahead. That is excellent.”
“But some wrongs cannot be hushed up. To face them openly is the surest way to clear the Manor’s good name.”
She continued, her voice steady and clear. “A great house is like the centipede hard to kill. It seldom falls from without. It rots from within until its pillars crumble.”
“These stewards have reached too far and grown too bold. We must strike with all severity and make an example of them.”
Lian Qing nodded solemnly. “I understand, Madam.”
Zhou Du turned to Lian Hong. “When the authorities have taken them away to prison… summon every steward and manager to the Manor. I shall speak to them all.”
Lian Hong’s eyes flashed. “To warn the others by the example of the few?”
Zhou Du leaned back in her chair, swinging gently. “Something very much like that.”
While Zhou Du brought order to the household, elsewhere matters moved less smoothly.
“Brother Yanshan… is it truly as you say? Whatever dowry my family prepares… your wife will match it in full?” Song Qingqing could scarce believe such generosity.
Gu Yanshan could not bring himself to admit the truth that he had borrowed the sum. He nodded instead. “Have I ever lied to you?”
Song Qingqing beamed, then tossed her head proudly. “My family may not equal hers in wealth but I am my parents’ precious daughter. My dowry shall be magnificent! Since she is so generous… then I shall hold nothing back!”
At her direction, her parents and five brothers set about assembling a dowry fit for a princess.
Yet their lavish spending soon aroused resentment especially among the five new brides who had married into the Song family.
“Song Da have you lost your senses?” the eldest brother’s wife stormed. “Your sister takes every treasure in this house away with her! What of our households? What of our children?”