Tian Bilian muttered under her breath, “So what if she’s coming? Why make it such a grand affair?”
“Don’t speak carelessly. Let me test the waters first,” Tian Linwen instructed, then responded to the call with a groggy tone, pretending he’d just been woken up. “We’re in here!”
Ding Zhang pushed open the door. Qian Jiaoniang walked in with Qingya, smiling cheerfully. The entrance was blocked by piles of luggage. “Oh my, Auntie, you’ve already moved your luggage in? Just this bit? Why didn’t you ask someone to help? Piling it here makes it so messy.”
Liu Ying was just about to speak beside Tian Linwen when Jiaoniang turned to Ding Zhang. “Has someone seen to Uncle Tian? What illness does he have—is it serious?”
Ding Zhang replied, “The doctor’s already been, said there’s nothing major—just exhaustion from the long journey and a bit of heatstroke. He prescribed medicine, and Master Tian’s already taken it.”
Jiaoniang asked, “Uncle, now that you’ve had your medicine, are you feeling any better?”
Tian Linwen calmly stroked his beard and opened his mouth to speak, but Jiaoniang had already turned back to Ding Zhang. “Is the courtyard cleaned up? Having Auntie, Uncle, and the cousins all squeezed in one room makes me feel terribly guilty!”
“Lady, the courtyard was just cleaned. I was about to ask you to come inspect it with the Tian family.”
“Then let’s go take a look. Uncle, since you’re not well, just lie down and rest. Once Auntie is satisfied, I’ll send someone to invite you over!” Jiaoniang said heartily, grabbing Liu Ying’s arm. “Come, Auntie, let’s go have a look!”
The Tian family hadn’t gotten a single word in before Liu Ying was whisked away by Jiaoniang. Since Jiaoniang had already said it so decisively, Tian Linwen couldn’t very well leave the room on his own, so he simply told his children to quickly follow and not let their mother suffer any loss.
On the way, Jiaoniang chatted away with Liu Ying, laughing all the while. Liu Ying, mindful of the many servants watching and afraid that any wrong words might reach her nephew’s ears, had no choice but to act warm and affectionate in return. From a distance, they truly looked like a harmonious pair of elder and younger women.
The marquis manor was large, but sparsely populated. The courtyard in the southeast corner had long stood empty. No one remembered who originally lived there, but it was quite spacious—twice the size of Jiaoniang’s own little courtyard. The residence alone had over ten rooms. Ding Zhang had ordered thorough cleaning of the main house and two side rooms: the main for Tian Linwen and Liu Ying, and the sides for the Tian siblings. At Jiaoniang’s silent gesture, everything was picked from the very best. The Marquis’s main courtyard was already simple, and Jiaoniang’s own courtyard even more so. After Lady Feng Yuyan’s belongings were all reclaimed, many high-end furnishings had been sitting in storage, collecting dust. Now they were finally put to use. The window screens were made of mist gauze, the vanity was carved huanghuali wood with inlaid mirrors, and every decoration in the room was of superior quality and authenticity.
Tian Bilian went for a tour of her assigned room and came out barely able to contain her joy. Just as a visiting relative she could stay in such a palace-like place—if she became the future Lady of the house, how grand would that be?
Liu Ying and Tian Yongzhang were also thoroughly impressed. They examined everything with disbelief, unable to believe this place was truly theirs to use.
Ding Zhang quietly whispered to Jiaoniang, “Madam, the storeroom’s open—should I take this chance to add a few things to your courtyard as well? Didn’t the Marquis destroy your belongings when he was sick…”
“There was hardly anything to begin with. I won’t be staying long—what’s the point of adding more?” Jiaoniang said with a smile, then stepped forward and asked Liu Ying, “Auntie, are you satisfied with the place?”
Liu Ying was overjoyed at first, but when she saw Jiaoniang, she composed herself a bit, smoothed her hair, and put on the demeanor of an elder. “Satisfied, of course I’m satisfied. It’s all thanks to our nephew’s filial piety.”
Ding Zhang jumped in to flatter at the right moment. “Madam didn’t want to neglect you, so she had us bring out the finest items from the storeroom.”
Liu Ying’s smile froze on her lips. She was caught in a bind—whether to praise or not to praise.
Liu Ying was quite calculating. If she weren’t, she wouldn’t have clung to her beauty and waited until nineteen to marry the scholar Tian Linwen. Thinking ahead, she’d worried that her dependent twin sister would drag her down, and so had conspired with her husband to drive the trio out. Now, she couldn’t figure out what Jiaoniang was up to. She beckoned to her. “Madam Qian, we haven’t seen each other in years. I’ve got some private words I’d like to say to you.”
Jiaoniang pretended not to understand. “If Auntie has something to say, just instruct me.”
In Liu Ying’s eyes, Jiaoniang had always been a dim, simple girl. She assumed she really couldn’t catch the hint.
But Tian Bilian, who always wanted more than she had, couldn’t keep her thoughts to herself. In this short time, she’d already dreamed up grand visions of being the future lady of the house. Feeling smug, she jumped in, “Madam Qian, where’s your courtyard?”
Qingya sucked in a sharp breath. Everyone’s attention turned.
Qingya said to Liu Ying, “Madam, in our Great Xie Dynasty, for respectable young ladies, a plain appearance or modest dowry isn’t a big deal—what matters most is propriety. If word gets out that a young lady from a good family doesn’t even know the rules, no matchmaker would dare knock on her door.”
Liu Ying and Tian Bilian’s faces alternated between red and white after being scolded.
Tian Bilian, relying on the fact that Qingya was just a maid, snapped, “What are you, to dare lecture me?”
Qian Jiaoniang quickly said, “Auntie, please don’t take offense. Qingya was brought back by the Marquis himself from the imperial capital. No one knows if she came from the palace or some noble household, but the number of distinguished people she’s met is more than we can count.”
Although Jiaoniang’s explanation was vague, it played right into Liu Ying’s sensibilities. Liu Ying dreamed of being respectable. Whenever she saw noble ladies or young mistresses’ sedan chairs on the street, she instinctively lowered her head and hunched her shoulders, practically ready to kneel. Now that she took a closer look at Qingya, indeed, the air of refinement on her outshone any proper young lady from modest households.
Liu Ying immediately forced a smile. “Miss Qingya is right. My daughter does need to learn better manners.”
Tian Bilian stomped her foot angrily. “Mother!”
Qingya seemed well-accustomed to people like Liu Ying. Holding her composure, she said, “Madam, I speak frankly—please don’t take offense. I was trained to teach proper manners. Loving a child without teaching them is ultimately harming them. In any proper noble household, rules and etiquette are the foundation. I’ve never heard of a young lady calling her cousin’s wife by surname. If that got out, how many people would laugh?”
Liu Ying nodded repeatedly. She was angry at Jiaoniang for making her and her daughter lose face, but she also began to worry that her daughter really was lacking in decorum and might embarrass herself one day. She turned and tugged at her daughter to correct herself. Tian Bilian, extremely reluctant, finally muttered a mosquito-like “cousin-in-law.”
Qian Jiaoniang, gracious as ever, smiled and let it pass, even cheerfully pulling her along toward her own courtyard.
By the time Liu Ying and Tian Bilian reached Jiaoniang’s courtyard in the western corner, they were so tired their legs were sore. But the moment they saw her place, both their eyes lit up. This was supposed to be the main wife’s courtyard? It wasn’t even as nice as the one they were staying in. Just look—she’d even planted crops here! Did her “good nephew” not even feed her? Liu Ying’s energy surged; she circled the small courtyard and muttered as if defending her, saying how this place was too small, not befitting a Marquis’s wife.
Qian Jiaoniang just smiled, saying nothing. Ding Zhang tried to save face for her. “Madam chose this courtyard herself. She said she liked peace and quiet.”
But Liu Ying didn’t buy such perfunctory words. The entire courtyard, inside and out, didn’t look like something a Marquis’s wife would live in. To put it bluntly, it was just a bit better than a servant’s quarters. There was practically nothing inside. Even Jiaoniang’s clothes were worse than her own. If anyone said Jiaoniang had a harmonious marriage with her noble nephew, Liu Ying wouldn’t believe it even if she were beaten. She didn’t even sit down and instead excused herself, saying she had to go share the “good news” with her husband. Jiaoniang didn’t try to stop her.
On the way, Liu Ying quietly asked the steward if Xing Muzheng had ever stayed in Jiaoniang’s courtyard. Ding Zhang immediately thought of the days when the Marquis was ill and hesitated—he didn’t know whether to say yes or no. That brief pause was enough for Liu Ying to form her own conclusions. Her steps grew lighter, her face even carried a smile.
After hearing what his wife said, Tian Linwen was even more convinced that Jiaoniang must want something from them—and that something was most likely her dismissal. Perhaps Xing Muzheng was planning to cast her off, and she saw their arrival as a lifeline, intending to use the past to threaten them and secure her position as the Marquis’s wife.
“If that’s the case, then we should act first—pin all of what happened in the past on Madam Qian. Cousin doesn’t even like her; he’ll surely believe us!” said Tian Bilian.
Tian Linwen thought carefully and then waved the idea off. “If we speak first, that Madam Qian won’t back down. She’ll speak too, and things could turn ugly—mutual destruction. If he starts investigating, none of us will be safe. Besides, we’ve just arrived; he doesn’t necessarily trust us yet. In my view, we should stay calm for now. Wife, you should get closer to Nephew Xing. He seems like a filial son—if you can make him transfer the filial affection he had for your sister onto you, we’ll have nothing to worry about.”
Liu Ying bitterly complained inside. Xing Muzheng’s face carried a natural authority and his aura was overwhelming. She felt nervous just looking at him—how could she possibly get close? But with the whole family’s hopes resting on her, she had no choice but to brace herself and nod.
