Concubine Yun was beautiful to begin with, and her husband was handsome and imposing as well. Their son and daughter had both inherited their exceptional looks.
“Yanran is fourteen this year, isn’t she? Once spring arrives, it will be just the right time to start looking at prospective matches for her.” Shen Lanyue held a teacup, her tone calm.
As the principal wife, arranging the marriages of the children in the household was naturally part of her responsibility.
There were two grown daughters in the Xiao family. Although neither was her biological child, if either girl ended up with a poor marriage, outsiders would inevitably gossip about her. It was not something she could afford to treat carelessly.
“A few days ago, Prince Ruyang’s Residence sent us an invitation. They’ll be holding a flower-viewing banquet at Taowen Pool in a month. You’ll come with me.”
That was precisely what Xiao Yanran had been hoping to hear. But young women were easily embarrassed. She lowered her head and murmured shyly for a long while before finally saying in a soft voice, “I’ll leave everything to Mother’s arrangements.”
Concubine Yun, seated to the side, watched this scene of maternal affection and filial devotion. A ball of resentment had long been smoldering in her chest, and now she could no longer contain it. She shot Xiao Yanran a vicious glare and spat under her breath, “What an ungrateful wretch. Someone shows you the slightest bit of warmth, and you forget who your real mother is.”
The room happened to be silent at that moment. Though her voice was not loud, every word reached everyone’s ears.
For a time, the entire room fell utterly silent. One could have heard a pin drop.
The blush vanished from Xiao Yanran’s face in an instant. Her heart tightened, and the first thing she did was look toward her principal mother to gauge her expression.
Shen Lanyue’s face remained impassive. She merely lifted her eyes and said in a calm, even tone that nonetheless carried unquestionable authority, “Concubine Yun has broken the rules. Nanny Feng, give her ten slaps.”
“How dare you!” Concubine Yun sprang to her feet, her eyes wide with rage. “If you lay a hand on me, Master will never forgive you!”
Xiao Yanran panicked inwardly.
At a time like this, pleading softly might still have earned her mother some sympathy. But Concubine Yun had chosen to invoke her father in an attempt to suppress the principal wife. There was no way she could escape punishment now.
Sure enough, Shen Lanyue gave a cold laugh, a thin chill settling over her features. “Drag her to the courtyard gate and carry out the punishment there.”
“Mother!” Xiao Yanran immediately dropped to her knees and crawled forward several steps. “Please spare Concubine Yun this once. I’m willing to take the punishment in her place.”
Over the past two years, Madam had not deliberately made things difficult for Concubine Yun, and so Concubine Yun had truly come to believe that Madam was wary of her children now that they had grown older and no longer dared to make things difficult for her.
But Xiao Yanran saw the truth clearly. Madam controlled the household finances and management, her legitimate son was accomplished, and her maternal family was powerful. Even Father had to give her some leeway in his daily dealings.
The peaceful days were not because Madam feared Concubine Yun. She simply could not be bothered to quarrel with her.
Yet Concubine Yun could not distinguish what mattered from what did not. Relying on the little favor she had received, she behaved outrageously and foolishly tried to use Master to pressure Madam. All she had accomplished was making herself a laughingstock.
But no matter how foolish Concubine Yun was, she was still Xiao Yanran’s birth mother. How could Xiao Yanran stand by and watch her be punished without doing anything?
Shen Lanyue’s expression remained indifferent. She took a small sip of the clear tea in her cup without even lifting her eyelids. “Yanran, you are a daughter of the Xiao family, and one day you will become a principal wife yourself. Today, I will teach you how a principal wife should discipline her concubines.”
Xiao Yanran was terrified, but she continued kneeling and refused to rise. “Mother, please calm your anger. Your daughter is frightened. But Concubine Yun is my birth mother, after all. I cannot simply stand by and do nothing. I beg Mother to show her mercy this once.”
Shen Lanyue looked at her stubborn expression and let out a soft sigh. “Concubine Yun certainly gave birth to a good daughter. Since you have pleaded for her, I’ll lessen the punishment. But the rules cannot be discarded. Five slaps, and one month’s stipend withheld, to serve as a warning to the others.”
Xiao Yanran wanted to plead further, but Shen Lanyue cut her off with a cold voice. “Yanran, are you trying to make me lose face?”
“Your daughter wouldn’t dare. Please calm your anger, Mother!” Xiao Yanran hurriedly bent forward and knocked her head against the floor.
“Return to your own courtyard.” Shen Lanyue’s expression darkened slightly, and her tone sharpened with an authority that allowed no defiance.
After everyone had withdrawn, the smile faded entirely from Shen Lanyue’s face, leaving her expression as gloomy as before.
Xiao Qing rose and went to sit beside her. In a soft, coaxing voice, she said, “Mother, don’t upset yourself to the point of harming your health.”
Shen Lanyue let out a long sigh, weariness filling her brows. “I simply can’t bear it. Your father treats me this way, yet I still have to manage his inner household, discipline his concubines, and care for his children born to them… Now, I almost wish—”
Xiao Qing hurriedly interrupted her and gently persuaded her, “Mother, you mustn’t entertain such thoughts. You manage the household not for Father, but for yourself. You gave birth to the Xiao family’s legitimate son, and your son will naturally stand firmly by your side. Once I establish myself in the future, you will become the Dowager Lady of the Xiao family. You will have endless wealth, glory, and security to enjoy.”
Shen Lanyue drew her arm around his shoulders, warmth rising in her eyes. “My Qing’er is still the most thoughtful.”
After the evening meal, Shen Lanyue dismissed the attendants and called toward the door, “Linglong, come in and meet your master.”
A young woman of seventeen or eighteen entered at a measured pace. She wore a pale pink ruqun, her hair arranged in a simple single bun. The only ornament in it was a white jade hairpin decorated with a gold-thread peach blossom and kingfisher feathers. In the wavering candlelight, her skin gleamed with a lustrous radiance, and her features were breathtakingly beautiful. Her brows and eyes were filled with delicate softness and gentle warmth.
When Xiao Qing saw her clearly, she paused in surprise. Then she smiled warmly and said, “Mother, a beauty like this deserves a better future. Why keep her by my side and delay her prospects?”
Before she had finished speaking, Linglong had already dropped to her knees. Her posture was respectful, but her tone was extraordinarily resolute.
“Second Young Master, I shall belong to you for the rest of my life, following you in life and death. If you do not want me, I have only one choice left: death. I have nowhere else to go.”
“Get up quickly. You mustn’t say such things.” Xiao Qing hurried forward to help her up. “It would be a terrible waste for a beauty like you to throw away your life.”
Linglong rose with the help of his strength. Her fingertips lightly brushed his palm, and shyly, she said in a soft voice, “It is my good fortune that Young Master is kind and gentle. If I can remain by your side, I will have someone to rely on for the rest of my life.”
Xiao Qing was speechless for a moment.
Shen Lanyue observed everything, a trace of satisfaction passing through her eyes. She gave Nanny Li a meaningful glance.
Nanny Li immediately brought over a porcelain bottle and held it out to Linglong.
“Linglong, this is Heartbreak Powder. I hold the antidote. If you truly wish to remain by Young Master’s side, drink it. From now on, I will give you the antidote on this day every month. Are you willing?”
Linglong did not hesitate in the slightest. She accepted the bottle and tipped back her head, drinking every drop. After wiping the corner of her lips, she said with respectful determination, “Madam, Young Master, you may rest assured. In life, I shall belong to Young Master; in death, I shall be his ghost. I can never repay Madam for saving my life. I am willing to devote this body to serving Young Master at his side, and I will never harbor a second thought.”
In the end, Xiao Qing brought her back to her own courtyard.
Once they reached the room, Xiao Qing appeared somewhat awkward. She rubbed her fingertips together and hesitated before speaking.
“From now on, you may remain at my side and serve me. If you meet someone you like in the future, I’ll marry you off in grand style, as though you were my own younger sister.”
At his words, Linglong lowered her brows and eyes. Her tone held a hint of coquettish reproach, as though she were both aggrieved and annoyed.
“How can Young Master say such things? Since I already belong to you, you’re trying to push me away. Is it because you look down on me?”
She already knew that Young Master’s identity as a woman could not be exposed. She had therefore decided to treat her as a man and give her all the love in her heart. Only by deceiving herself first could she conceal the truth from the world.
Xiao Qing let out a soft sigh and was just about to speak when Linglong raised her fair hand and gently pressed it against her lips.
“I know Young Master is kindhearted and fears delaying my whole life. But all of this is something I willingly chose. As Young Master grows older, there will always need to be someone nearby to serve and care for you. Let me remain by your side, all right?”
Xiao Qing’s expression turned serious, and her tone grew heavier. “Do you understand that if this matter is exposed, it will be a capital offense?”
“From the moment Madam rescued me from misery and gave me a peaceful life, my life became hers. Now, it belongs to Young Master.”
Seeing her determination, Xiao Qing finally relented. “Since that is the case, you will sleep in the side room beside mine from now on.”
With that, she turned and opened the wooden chest behind the bed. From within, she took out a pair of white jade bangles as smooth and lustrous as mutton fat, their radiance warm and restrained.
“Things were rather rushed today, so I didn’t prepare a gift for our first meeting. These jade bangles were previously bestowed on me by His Majesty. Wear them and play with them for now. When I have a day off, I’ll take you out to choose some jewelry and clothes you like.”