REM • CH009

# Chapter 9

“How would I dare anger her? She’s the mother of Concubine Lianxiang, half a mistress of this household herself!” Xiahe said mockingly, then turned on her heel and walked off with a dark expression.

“What Concubine Lianxiang? Where did this concubine business come from? What madness has gotten into this girl?” Qiutang was thoroughly confused, until Granny Wang at her side quietly recounted the whole incident from start to finish.

Qiutang’s brow furrowed as she heard it, rubbing her temple with a pained expression.

That firecracker of a girl! Why did she need to go stirring things up over people like that?

Naturally, word of what had happened in the side hall had reached Shen Xinyan as well.

“Madam is simply too soft-hearted, and that’s exactly why these small-minded people get such big ideas. That girl is nothing more than a bedchamber attendant, yet already she’s grown so bold as to reach for the Young Master’s belongings! And that mother of hers, no doubt going around outside calling herself the Young Master’s mother-in-law by now!” Xiahe said indignantly.

“What ‘Young Master’s mother-in-law’? Is that something you can say so carelessly?” Qiutang, who had just entered by lifting the curtain, said sharply upon hearing this.

Xiahe pouted, still full of resentment.

“I actually think Sister Xiahe has a point. Madam is really too soft. Who does that Lianxiang think she is anyway? It was only because Madam wanted to make things convenient for the Young Master that she let her collect his monthly wages in the first place. Who would have thought it would swell her head so much,” Chunliu added, huffing.

“We were just talking about Xiahe, and now you’re jumping in too?” Qiutang flicked her on the forehead with a scolding look.

Chunliu covered her forehead and pouted.

Shen Xinyan listened quietly to the maids’ chatter without saying a word.

It was only now that she remembered her husband did in fact have a bedchamber attendant.

She had damaged her health giving birth to her daughter, and the physician had declared she needed careful recuperation over three to five years. Though the Duke Ying household’s inner quarters were relatively peaceful, that did not mean there were no concubines or children born of them. Even someone as esteemed as the Great Princess had a husband, the Duke, who kept concubines.

Wei Junhang was a horse without a bridle, rarely staying in the household for long, and paid little mind to women in any case. Shen Xinyan, for her part, poured her entire heart into her son and daughter and cared little for her husband’s affairs. Seeing him this way, she had never bothered to arrange a bedchamber attendant or a concubine for him.

Though husband and wife alike were indifferent to the matter, this could not withstand the Great Princess’s motherly concern for her son! Though she would not go so far as to bypass her daughter-in-law and take a concubine for him directly, she had gifted bedchamber attendants a few times over the years.

Shen Xinyan recalled that none of the bedchamber attendants at Wei Junhang’s side ever lasted long. For some reason, whenever she occasionally thought to check on them, she would find, to her surprise, that they had either been dismissed by the Young Master himself or given away to someone else.

All told, this Lianxiang had lasted longer at his side than any before her.

“Since she is nothing more than a low, undeserving thing, why trouble yourselves over her? She still belongs to the Young Master’s household and came from the Great Princess’s own quarters. Even if we do not respect her, we must respect where she came from. Xiahe was indeed somewhat reckless today,” she said after a moment, unhurried.

Lianxiang, Ouxiang, whatever her name, in the end none of them ever escaped being cast out eventually. To care too much about her existence would only be giving her more credit than she deserved.

At the very least, in her previous life, Wei Junhang had never taken a single concubine until his dying day! Naturally there had been no children born of concubines either. What did she have to be dissatisfied about?

Shen Xinyan let out a quiet sigh inwardly.

This girl had a fierce temperament, unable to let the smallest slight pass unnoticed, and she was loyal to a fault. Yet if she did not learn to temper that recklessness, she would suffer greatly for it one day.

It had been the same in her previous life. Xiahe had been the very first maid at her side to die in the fighting within the inner household.

This time, she meant to deliberately smooth down that sharp edge of hers, and so she offered no words of comfort. She watched as Xiahe’s eyes filled further with tears, until the girl finally curtsied through choked sobs and withdrew. Only then did Shen Xinyan give Qiutang a meaningful look.

Qiutang understood at once, bowed slightly, and followed after Xiahe.

By the time Xiahe returned to her duties past noon, her emotions had settled. Whenever her eyes happened to meet Shen Xinyan’s, a trace of shame crossed her face.

“Madam, I was wrong this morning. I should not have been so aggressive in front of everyone,” she finally said, unable to hold back any longer, kneeling to admit her fault.

Shen Xinyan personally helped her up and said gently: “That you can think this way shows Sister Qiutang’s guidance was not wasted on you. But I have a few more words for you.”

“Please, Madam, speak.”

“You are one of my most capable people. Out in the world, you represent the honor of our Funing Hall, and where ground must not be given, it should not be given. That Lianxiang, though she belongs to the Young Master’s household, does not know her place, and there was nothing wrong with you reprimanding her. But that little maid Dong’er—was it worth lowering yourself to quarrel with her?”

“As for that old woman, since she spoke out of turn, Granny Wang is there to discipline her. It is not fitting for a young lady like yourself to trade words with someone like her.”

These few maids at her side—she intended to arrange good marriages for them in this lifetime. She had no wish to see their reputations damaged over people not worth the trouble.

“I understand,” Xiahe said, nodding, her face flushed.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Wei Junhang had just returned from outside and washed his hands and face. He took the cotton cloth handed to him by the maid at his side to dry his face, only then noticing that Lianxiang had entered at some point, having taken over from the little maid in handing him the cloth.

He paid it no mind and simply said: “You may go.”

With that, without so much as glancing at her, he hurried into the inner room, cradling the silver he had reclaimed that day, positively giddy. He pulled out his treasure chest, poured the silver in all at once, then counted it over and over for good measure, muttering to himself: “This should be almost enough to buy Madam a fine piece of jewelry from Linglongge. Though I should save up a bit more first.”

He carefully locked the treasure chest, placed it back in the cabinet, and added another lock for good measure. As he turned around, something occurred to him, and he called out loudly: “Lianxiang!”

Lianxiang entered at once: “Young Master!”

“Isn’t today the day the common treasury distributes the monthly wages?” the Young Master asked, stroking his smooth chin.

Lianxiang answered with her head lowered: “The Young Master remembers correctly. Today is indeed the day for monthly wages. Only, this servant was unable to collect the Young Master’s wages.”

“Unable to collect it? Why is that?” Wei Junhang grew agitated, his tone unconsciously sharpening.

Lianxiang lowered her head further: “This servant does not know either. Sister Xiahe only said that this servant’s status does not qualify her.”

Wei Junhang grew even more confused: “That Xiahe girl has always served at Madam’s side. What does she have to do with the common treasury distributing wages?”

“The Young Master may not be aware. Starting this month, each courtyard’s monthly allowance is distributed by that courtyard’s own mistress. The common treasury no longer handles this.”

“I see!” Wei Junhang suddenly understood, then added happily: “It’s certainly better managed by Madam!”

Seeing that he asked no further questions about Xiahe, a flicker of disappointment crossed Lianxiang’s eyes. But mindful of her place, she dared not say anything more and quietly withdrew from the room.

“Sister, why didn’t you tell the Young Master about the injustice done to you, and ask him to take your side?” the young maid Dong’er asked, somewhat resentfully, seeing her come out without a word.

“Dong’er, you must remember the phrase ‘guard your words, be careful in your actions.’ If you speak carelessly again, even I will not be able to save you,” Lianxiang said, frowning, her expression displeased.

Dong’er’s mouth worked for a moment, but in the end she dared not say anything further.

Ask the Young Master to take her side? Back in her room, Lianxiang curled her lips in a bitter, mocking smile.

Why would the Young Master take her side? Simply because of that hollow title of “bedchamber attendant”?

If she truly spoke even a single word to the Young Master concerning the Young Madam, she herself would be the next one thrown out.

Things as they stood now were already the best she could hope for. Best to quietly and obediently attend to her duties.

Shen Xinyan truly gave that Lianxiang no thought at all. A bedchamber attendant incapable of stirring up any real trouble—even if she had been a gift from the Great Princess, her future and fate remained firmly in Shen Xinyan’s own hands.

Yet this incident made her realize just how negligent a wife she had been, how little care she had devoted to matters befitting a Young Madam!

“Madam should have done this long ago. Though the Young Master has never cared much for women, that does not mean these ambitious little vixens won’t try to claw their way up when least expected. Other matters can wait, but it would be wise to sort through those attending the Young Master first—discipline whoever needs disciplining, dismiss whoever needs dismissing. Otherwise, should something happen down the line, would it not be Madam herself who regrets it?” Granny Wang, hearing her plan, agreed wholeheartedly.

Shen Xinyan smiled faintly: “Then I shall have to trouble Granny with the task.”

“Madam honors this servant too greatly!” Granny Wang protested modestly, before withdrawing with her head held high, brimming with fighting spirit.

Those flirtatious little vixens in the Young Master’s courtyard—she had long found them distasteful. Now she would see how she peeled back that foxy charm of theirs!

***

“Second Sister-in-law has been quite the whirlwind of action these days! Truly, silence before a single, stunning strike. But Second Sister-in-law, one must act with restraint in these matters. It would be most unfortunate to earn a reputation for jealousy and intolerance.” That day, as Shen Xinyan waited as usual to pay her respects to the Great Princess, Yang Shi remarked with a tone neither warm nor cold.

“When servants grow restless and stir up trouble everywhere, how else is the inner household to remain orderly without some discipline?” Before Shen Xinyan could respond, she was surprised to hear Fang Shi speak up instead, her words carrying an unmistakable note of support.

Yang Shi had not expected Fang Shi to speak up in her defense, especially not so soon after Shen Xinyan had cost her face.

“Third Sister-in-law is truly a virtuous woman, specially picking out a pleasing girl to grant as a concubine for Third Brother’s service. No wonder Third Brother has looked so rosy and radiant lately, all thanks to Third Sister-in-law,” Shen Xinyan said, smiling sweetly. She had no intention of remaining the woman from her previous life who swallowed her anger silently.

Yang Shi’s expression changed at once, embarrassment and anger clear in her eyes, yet she dared not say another word.

Who in the household did not know how doted upon that newly acquired, delicately pretty concubine was by the Third Master? Because of that Concubine Xu, the Third Madam had repeatedly been made ill with chest pains from anger.

Fang Shi cast Shen Xinyan a subtle glance, then lowered her eyes and said nothing further.

Every word from this Second Sister-in-law struck straight at the heart. This one…