Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Tang Shi saw that Old Madam Ming had made up her mind, and with the West Manor people present, she really couldn't make a scene in front of them without losing face for the East Manor. But she was utterly unwilling to hand over the household management to Pei Yun, so after much thought, she settled on what she thought was a middle ground.

"Mother, the Princess Consort has only just married into the family and isn't yet familiar with the affairs of the manor. Perhaps we could have Third Sister-in-law help her out as well," she said with a strained smile.

Tang Shi had no rapport whatsoever with her daughter-in-law Pei Yun—they were practically strangers. Zhou Shi, on the other hand, had been respectful and dutiful all these years. Even if she had to hand over the household management, it couldn't all go to Pei Yun alone; she needed someone on her side.

Zhou Shi was naturally delighted at this prospect, her eyes lighting up immediately. But before she could even respond, Old Madam Ming dismissed Tang Shi's idea without a second thought.

"Didn't you just have Third Sister-in-law busy with Pan Jie'er's marriage arrangements? How would she have time to manage the household's day-to-day matters? Let the Princess Consort handle it instead." Old Madam Ming pursed her lips in displeasure, her voice growing firmer. "What matters most right now is the children's affairs. Pan Jie'er is your only remaining concern, so put your efforts there and find her a good husband."

"Mother—"

Tang Shi hurriedly tried to say more, but Old Madam Ming had already closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her forehead, waving her off. "That's enough. This matter is settled. I'm tired—you all go back now."

Pei Yun was the first to rise, stepping forward to support Old Madam Ming. Her almond-shaped eyes blinked as she asked, looking genuinely concerned, "Grandmother, are you alright? Shall I send someone to the palace to request a physician?"

"No need, it's an old ailment. No need to bother the imperial physician." Old Madam Ming patted her hand and smiled. "From now on, all the affairs of the East Manor will be in your hands. You must manage them well."

"Grandmother, rest assured. I won't let you and Mother down." Standing beside Old Madam Ming, Pei Yun smiled brightly at Tang Shi.

Tang Shi gritted her teeth inwardly and looked away, deciding that out of sight, out of mind.

Sun Shi and the Old Madam's daughter-in-law exchanged a glance. Watching Tang Shi get put in her place, their eyes held little schadenfreude.

Tang Shi was scatterbrained and easy to fool. When she managed the household finances, the West Manor always led her around by the nose, with who knows how many good things flowing over to them without her even realizing it. So even though Sun Shi looked down on her sister-in-law, she secretly hoped Tang Shi would keep managing the household forever.

But now, with Princess Zhaoyang...

The girl was young, but she seemed sharp as a tack. Judging by how the couple played off each other today, Qin Chu would certainly back her up behind the scenes. The days ahead probably wouldn't be as comfortable as before.

"Chu'er has returned to the manor today. Originally, we should have had a family dinner together this evening to celebrate his return." Old Madam Ming swept her gaze over the assembled company, noting their varied expressions, then looked at Qin Chu. "But today the Ministry of Rites has official business, and your uncle can't get back in time. We'll have the family dinner tomorrow instead."

Although Second Master of the West Manor, Qin Ruili, held no noble title, he had the position of Vice Minister of Rites. His duties were generally light, though he was occasionally busy.

Qin Chu sat up straight, the cloud-and-crane patterns on his dark ochre official robes catching the faint glimmer of light. He nodded and said calmly, "Tomorrow I must accompany the Princess Consort to visit Prince Ying's manor. It'll probably be evening by then."

Old Madam Ming paused, then nodded. "That's right—you should make up for the missed post-wedding visit. I'll have Nanny You send some things to Splendid Garden later for you to take along, as a token of my regard for Prince Ying and Princess Consort of Ying."

Qin Chu didn't decline, nodding his thanks.

Standing at the head of the room, Pei Yun smiled at the West Manor side. "Second Aunt, Eldest Brother, it's a bit inconvenient to have you adjust to our schedule. Would tomorrow evening work for you?"

Sun Shi and Qin Ding smiled and quickly replied, "Of course, that's fine. No trouble at all."

Old Madam Ming sighed, feeling genuinely weary, and gestured for them all to leave.

As they left Ronghe Hall and the West Manor people had gone, Tang Shi stormed up to Qin Chu. "Chu'er, you—"

Qin Chu's expression was calm, his dark pupils like a deep pool. He said evenly, "Mother, what is it?"

Tang Shi choked on her words, staring at this son who was both familiar and strange. In the end, her fury was subdued by an inexplicable fear. She said nothing more and swept away with a flick of her sleeve.

Qin Sheng and Zhou Shi naturally dared not say anything either, quickly following behind.

Pei Yun pursed her lips from behind. The way Qin Chu interacted with his own mother was rather peculiar.

If not for the family genealogy, Pei Yun would have suspected Qin Chu wasn't Tang Shi's biological son.

But since Tang Shi hadn't taken her anger out on her, Pei Yun simply pretended not to notice. Let mother and son sort out their own issues. Today, she had gained control of the household finances, and she was quite pleased.

At least now she wouldn't have to go report to Tang Shi every time she needed something, dealing with tokens and signing slips—what a hassle.

So on the way back to Splendid Garden, Pei Yun was like a happy little bird, her joy impossible to hide. Not that she wanted to hide it anyway.

Just now at Ronghe Hall, Qin Chu had helped her take over the household management, which showed it was his intention as well.

Upon reaching Splendid Garden, Pei Yun thought for a moment and said to Qin Chu, "I want to go to Moxiang Study to check on Yue Jie'er."

Qin Chu hummed in acknowledgment, and the two went together to Moxiang Study.

It was nearly dinner time. Though Qin Yue's fall into the water today had looked alarming, she had only swallowed some water and suffered a fright. Being a delicate girl, she had fainted for a while, but after resting the afternoon, she was much better. She was now wrapped in a small quilt, eating on the daybed with Qin Yu.

Since Qin Yue was still weak, the servants had placed a small boxwood table on the daybed, setting out the soup, dishes, and utensils. The Qin Yu siblings sat cross-legged facing each other, having dinner together.

When Pei Yun and Qin Chu arrived, Qin Yu was carefully peeling shrimp to feed his sister. Qin Yue wrinkled her little brow, not wanting to eat, and Qin Yu patiently coaxed her to have just one more.

"Father! Mother!"

Qin Yue shook her little head like a rattle drum, adamantly refusing her brother's feeding. As she swayed left and right, she caught sight of Pei Yun and Qin Chu entering from the corner of her eye. Her lips immediately curved into a smile, and she waved at them with sparkling eyes.

Pei Yun laughed at the sight and hurried over to sit beside Qin Yue. Qin Yue nimbly climbed into Pei Yun's arms, sitting on her lap and giggling.

"Let Mother take a look." Pei Yun examined Qin Yue carefully, reaching out to feel her forehead. She nodded with a smile. "Good, no fever. You're looking much better."

Seeing Qin Chu approach as well, Qin Yue giggled and clung to Pei Yun's neck, acting cute. "I'm all better now, Mother. Feel—I'm full too!"

Qin Yue pulled Pei Yun's hand to feel her round little belly, hinting that she wanted her to stop her brother from feeding her more.

Pei Yun tapped her little nose. Glancing at the table, she saw the dishes were all light soups and greens, with only shrimp and a steamed fish for meat—just as the physician had instructed, telling her to eat more fish and shrimp.

"Alright, your brother dotes on you. Look how many he's peeled for you." Pei Yun glanced at the pile of shrimp shells nearly forming a small mountain in front of Qin Yu. She didn't need to ask to know they'd all gone into Qin Yue's little belly.

"Brother hasn't had a single one, has he?"

Qin Yue pressed against Pei Yun's slender neck, laughing. Qin Yu, however, properly climbed down from the daybed and bowed in greeting.

"Father, Mother."

Qin Chu watched how close Qin Yue was with Pei Yun, his gaze darkening slightly. Then he patted Qin Yu's head and sat back down with him.

Qin Yue was young, having lost her mother at birth, so she was very attached to Pei Yun. She kept clinging to her now, and Pei Yun indulged her, smiling as she said to Qin Yu, "Your sister really is full. Yu Ge, eat your own meal. I'll watch over your sister."

"Mother, she didn't eat much—that belly is from drinking three bowls of soup." Qin Yu unceremoniously exposed the fact that Qin Yue had merely filled herself with liquid.

Seeing her brother rat her out, Qin Yue covered her mouth, her eyes darting around slyly.

Pei Yun didn't know whether to laugh or cry, shaking her head. "Then we'll let Yue Jie'er digest a bit, and she can eat later if she's hungry."

Even if it was just soup filling her up, she truly couldn't eat any more.

"Oh, by the way—didn't you say yesterday you wanted to eat bamboo shoots? The kitchen just got some fresh spring shoots. Tomorrow morning, bring your sister over early. Chef Liu is making steamed buns stuffed with bamboo shoots and chicken. Come try them." Pei Yun smiled and said to Qin Yu.

Qin Yu smiled too, lips pressed together, and thanked his mother.

Qin Chu watched quietly, thinking that seeing truly was believing. No matter what he'd heard, he'd never been willing to believe Pei Yun would treat the Qin Yu siblings this well.

It seemed he had indeed made the mistake of judging based on preconceptions.

The servants at Moxiang Study saw that the Marquis and Princess Zhaoyang had also returned, so they hurriedly set about preparing more food. Pei Yun, who wasn't very hungry in the evening, stopped them and said to Qin Chu, "Let's just eat a little something with the kids, shall we?"

Qin Chu, having spent years on the battlefield, wasn't fussy about food either, so he nodded in agreement.

But Pei Yun, thinking that Qin Chu was after all a grown man and worried he might get hungry later, still instructed the kitchen to prepare a bowl of chicken noodle soup with some toppings and small dishes to be brought up.

Qin Chu watched Pei Yun's thoughtful arrangements and lowered his gaze, thinking that having a lady of the house really did make a difference.

In the Splendid Courtyard, the family of four was having a cozy dinner together. Meanwhile, in the Mingde Courtyard of the Western Residence, Ming Shi and Qin Ding, the couple, returned to their courtyard with sour looks on their faces. The servants, seeing the usually even-tempered eldest madam angry for the first time, nervously served tea and hurried out, afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.

The couple sat at opposite ends in silence for a long while. Finally, Ming Shi couldn't hold it in any longer. She stood up abruptly, pointing at Qin Ding and said, "Fine, keeping it from me, hiding it all from me!"

"Such a huge deal, why didn't you inform me beforehand? Look where we've ended up now—are you happy?!"

Qin Ding had his own troubles on his mind. Hearing Ming Shi's accusations, he grew irritated and said dismissively, "What are you angry about? I hid it from you because I was afraid you'd feel bad for Ying Jie'er and mess things up."

"You still remember Ying Jie'er?" Ming Shi sneered. "You knew full well that today was Ying Jie'er's birthday, yet you chose this very day. Look at how frightened Ying Jie'er was. What if she gets sick from the fright? What if something happens?"

Ming Shi felt a chill at the thought. She had been kept in the dark the entire time. What if something else had gone wrong at the banquet?

"I knew you'd say that, which is why I kept it from you," Qin Ding said in response.

Ming Shi let out a sigh, her expression seeming to calm down considerably, and said coldly, "Is that so? You were afraid I'd go tell Grandmother, weren't you?"

Qin Ding was taken aback, looking at Ming Shi without speaking.

"Qin Ding, I've been married to you for nearly ten years, and we have Wei Ge'er and Ying Jie'er. And you still guard against me like this?"

Ming Shi felt deeply hurt: "You only remember that I'm from the Ming family. Why don't you remember that I'm your wife!"

Seeing that Ming Shi had called it out, Qin Ding decided not to hide it anymore and said bluntly, "Well, if I had told you beforehand, wouldn't you have gone to tell Grandmother?"

"I wouldn't tell Grandmother to pass along information, but because this plan is simply foolish!" Ming Shi said. "Look at how you're going to handle this now. How will you explain it to Fourth Brother?"

"And you and Mother are also guarding against Grandmother. If Grandmother hadn't used her authority as the matriarch to placate Princess Zhaoyang today, do you think Princess Zhaoyang and Fourth Brother would have let us off so easily?"

Ming Shi looked at her speechless husband and closed her eyes, saying, "Aunt-in-law was right when she said Grandmother does play favorites with us, but she never expected us to guard against her like this, breaking her heart."

Author's note:

Madam Tang: I told you she plays favorites! Feed me some peanuts!