Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Upon returning from outside, Jin Niang couldn’t help but approach Qin Shuanger to offer her congratulations: “I think your lucky break is coming.”

Qin Shuanger was threading a needle by the window light and, upon hearing this, let out a scoff. “You always come up with wild ideas. I’d be surprised if anything good ever happened to me.”

“How could there not be? Concubine Miao is expecting a child. And if she’s pregnant, those hundred-patch quilts will surely fall to you. Isn’t that a sign of good fortune?” Jin Niang grinned. “Besides, Shanjie even mentioned how generous Concubine Miao can be.”

The other girls piped up too: “Wasn’t it just yesterday we heard Second Young Madam was expecting, and now Concubine Miao is as well?”

After handing out the fruits she had brought, Jin Niang stepped into the inner room, changing her shoes as she said, “All I’m worried about is whether our workload will increase. The rest doesn’t matter.”

She then sat at the table grinding ink to sketch the design for *Three-Drunken Hibiscus*. Back in the girls’ school, their painting instructor had been particularly skilled in the boneless technique, but Jin Niang couldn’t afford study trips, so most of her works were copied from examples in class. She mixed pink, white, and dark green pigments before beginning her strokes, outlining the design after finishing.

As she worked, Second Young Miss’s maid came to fetch Fang Qiaolian, saying that the young miss couldn’t find her white silk gown and needed a new one made.

During the Lantern Festival, the young ladies often wore white, which under the soft moonlight gave off a cool, otherworldly beauty.

Jin Niang hadn’t expected the young misses' clothes to go missing too.

When she voiced this thought, the others merely laughed. Jiang Shanjie, never one to hold back, quipped, “It’s always the house-born servants who do it, yet they still watch us outsiders like hawks. We don’t even know the layout—how would we know where to steal from?”

Most people in the household were decent, but some house-born servants performed slack work and still found ways to blame the hired help. Whenever something went wrong, they’d claim it must have been done by outsiders, boasting that their families had served the Zhous for generations and would never stoop to theft.

Jin Niang shook her head and continued sketching until lunchtime, when Si Er came in with a meal basket and said, “Sister Jin Niang, Madam Chen says you’re to make two pairs of bow shoes for Fourth Young Miss after you eat.”

Bow shoes were for bound feet. Fourth Young Miss would supposedly fall ill every time foot-binding was mentioned. Now that she was eight, the family insisted she must bind her feet soon or she’d be too old for it. Since last winter, she had barely left her bed. Jin Niang felt pity for her, but when she glanced at Qin Shuanger, she saw only envy on her face—which gave her chills.

After lunch, she went to Fourth Young Miss’s quarters, which were next to Third Young Miss’s. Their living arrangements were similar, with the same number of servants, but while Third Young Miss already carried herself like a young woman, Fourth Young Miss, just a year or two younger, still wore her hair in a child’s bun and looked more like a little girl.

“Your servant, Jin Niang from the sewing room, greets Fourth Young Miss. I’ve come on Madam Chen’s orders to make shoes for you.”

Fourth Young Miss tilted her head, studying her curiously before smiling. “So you’re Jin Niang from the sewing room—Wei Jin Niang?”

“Yes, Your servant is.” Jin Niang didn’t think she was particularly well-known, so why did Fourth Young Miss seem so surprised?

Unbeknownst to her, Fourth Young Miss, Zhou Susu, hadn’t expected to meet a character from the novel. In her past life, during college, she had watched a web drama and started critiquing it online. To her surprise, her videos went viral, and soon each post attracted ad sponsorships. Before graduation, she was already raking in money. Later, when her inspiration dried up, she stumbled upon a popular novel titled *A ‘Fragrant-as-Chrysanthemums’ Scheming Heroine*, rumored to be adapted into a drama. Her urge to critique it was overwhelming, and she had even prepared material—only to suddenly find herself transmigrated into the very story.

The book was called *The Survival Guide for a Second Wife*, with the protagonist being Second Madam Wu of the Zhou household. When Wu Shi married into the family, her husband had a gentle, white-moonlight-like late wife and a clever concubine. Through wit and strategy, Wu Shi won the admiration of the Zhou household and her husband’s heart. But Susu disliked the hypocritical protagonist, preferring instead the black lotus villainess. Fate had been kind—she was reborn as the daughter of that very villainess.

As for Jin Niang, she was a minor character in the novel, only briefly mentioned until readers in the comments brought her up, prompting Susu to revisit those chapters. In the book, Jin Niang was referred to as Concubine Wei, the secret second wife of the proud eldest son, Zhou Cunzhi. Though Zhou’s primary wife was difficult, Jin Niang managed to navigate the household, subtly sowing discord between the couple—a turbocharged You Erjie, some readers called her.

Moreover, when Zhou Cunzhi offended his superior and was demoted, his wife took the chance to dismiss the concubines. Jin Niang, then in her mid-thirties, caught the eye of a young official. Without hesitation, she remarried with her dowry, becoming a legitimate wife and living a surprisingly happy life.

Readers had called her story unrealistic—how could a “withered willow” of thirty-six marry into an official’s family and find such happiness?

Now, seeing Jin Niang in person, Susu found it bizarre. She hadn’t expected Wei Jin Niang to be working in the Zhou household at such a young age. Then again, since she wasn’t even a proper side character in the book, there was no need for elaborate backstory. But now it seemed she had ties to the Zhou family from the start?

Zhou Cunzhi was described as exceptionally handsome, refined, and with high tastes—someone who adored delicate, flower-like beauties. How could he have fancied Wei Jin Niang? She was plump with a peach-round face, utterly ordinary.

But Susu’s immediate concern wasn’t Wei Jin Niang—it was her own mother, Concubine Miao.

Glancing down at her bound feet, she felt disheartened. She had thought transmigrating would allow her to become someone like Li Qingzhao or Zhu Shuzhen—revered talented women of the Song Dynasty. But before she could even think about competing with legitimate siblings or wives and concubines, the foot-binding alone had been forced upon her by her own mother while she slept. There was no resisting.

The sisterly feuds and backstabbing seen in dramas didn’t exist in the Zhou household. Their father rarely visited the inner quarters except to sleep. When he did have time, he might check their calligraphy—considered a good father by the era’s standards. Even the sisters mostly stayed in their own rooms after morning greetings, with little interaction. Between writing and needlework, they hardly gathered together.

Unless summoned by elders, juniors had no right to speak. Even defending oneself was seen as unfilial. Mistakes were corrected by stern matrons drilling decorum into them.

…

Jin Niang found Fourth Young Miss’s gaze unsettling. As she cut the shoe patterns, she felt like pins digging into her back. Fortunately, Green Tassel arrived, announcing Second Madam’s visit and summoning the young ladies to entertain guests, allowing Jin Niang to excuse herself.