UFRMDD 10

Chapter – 10

A Woman’s Lot

Qingluan said calmly, “This servant actually thinks this is a good thing.”

Jiang Li raised her eyes to look at her, her beautiful eyes curving slightly, adding a touch of allure to her already stunning features.

Qingtuan’s eyes widened in disbelief as she pointed at Qingluan. “Have you lost your mind? You actually think this is a good thing?”

At this, even Nanny Zhou, who had been frowning, suddenly relaxed her brow and smiled. “Mm, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

Qingtuan: “You…?”

She pouted, looking indignantly at the three of them.

They were just picking on her for being slow, weren’t they?

Jiang Li couldn’t help herself. She reached out and pinched Qingtuan’s round cheeks, her usually composed face showing a hint of childishness.

“Miss! You’re so mean! My face is already round, and you’re making it rounder!”

Despite her complaint, Qingtuan stood still obediently, letting Jiang Li pinch her. Her young mistress had rarely been this playful since coming of age.

Nanny Zhou said, “No matter how much we try to hide this, word will eventually get out. After all, walls have ears, and especially when someone is determined to spread it.”

“So what do we do now?”

Qingtuan’s round eyes were pure and bright.

Qingluan looked steadily at her mistress. Seeing Jiang Li’s lips curve slightly, she continued, “We have the Eldest Master and Su Shi’s marriage certificate and birth chart. This proves that Su Shi was not a concubine, nor was she a kept woman. So let them spread it—the bigger the scandal, the better. By then, it won’t be us who need to worry. If Su Shi knew the Eldest Master already had a wife and daughter and still did what she did, then she deserved her fate for being shameless. Madam and Miss would be the pitiable ones. But if Su Shi didn’t know the Eldest Master was already married, who would accept being reduced from a proper wife to a concubine? At that point, if we subtly spread word that Su Shi killed herself by bashing her head against the wall, it would fan the flames even higher with the momentum already built. But in any case, the Eldest Master has betrayed Madam’s affections.”

Qingtuan nodded repeatedly beside her, her eyes lighting up when she heard about the marriage certificate and birth chart.

Nanny Zhou added, “As for Second Miss telling Fourth Miss that her mother was dead—whether she was desperate because she was confined, or did it deliberately hoping Fourth Miss would spread the rumor that Madam forced Su Shi to her death—either way, it proves she is incredibly foolish. Spreading this may seem to trouble Madam and Miss, but it also indirectly puts her own status under scrutiny. Is she an illegitimate daughter of a kept woman, or a concubine’s daughter? Doesn’t she realize she’s broadcasting that her own mother had no rightful status?”

Jiang Li had already resumed her cool demeanor. Her slender, fair fingers, like spring onions, lightly toyed with the lid of her teacup, skimming the tea leaves.

“What was Jiang Xuan’s reaction?”

Qingluan said steadily, “This servant also inquired with our informant. The Young Master had been kneeling by Su Shi’s daybed the whole time and appeared very calm in response to Second Miss’s complaints. He even tried to advise her. At one point, Second Miss said some unkind things about Madam and Miss, claiming Madam had driven Su Shi to her death. The Young Master only said that she should figure out who the real culprit was, but Second Miss clearly wasn’t listening…”

Jiang Li raised an eyebrow and let go of the teacup lid, which landed on the cup with a soft clink.

“With a mother as clear-headed and principled as Su Shi, it’s strange that both her children turned out so foolish.”

Nanny Zhou sighed. “She was a pitiable woman too. She probably wasn’t one to spoil her son; perhaps daughters were just more cherished, so…”

“Never mind, let’s drop it. Things change in an instant. Su Shi was innocent enough; I’m sure Mother will clear her name in time. For now, we must endure this. If it’s going to stir up trouble, let it become a storm. Let it spread everywhere before we set the record straight—otherwise, the rumors outside will never be quelled. I can guess at Mother’s intentions. We’ll have to endure some hardship in the coming days. The third branch will certainly make a fuss, since they’ve always wanted to outdo the first branch.”

Jiang Li rose and walked into the study. After taking several deep breaths to compose herself, she stood before the desk and began to practice calligraphy.

Qingluan followed to grind the ink. She carefully observed Jiang Li’s expression and watched her brush strokes flow freely across the paper, noting the carefree ease of her movements—which meant her mind was far from calm.

“Is Miss worried about Madam?”

Jiang Li hummed in affirmation, still feeling a knot of discontent in her chest. She abruptly set down her brush, letting the ink bleed into a large blotch on the rice paper.

“I don’t want to marry!”

Qingluan’s expression shifted slightly as she reminded softly, “Miss, you mustn’t say such things. Every girl must marry.”

Jiang Li said, “Mother married down and was still subjected to such schemes. And I haven’t even married yet, yet I’ve heard more than once that I’m the one reaching above my station. If I’m mistreated in my husband’s household, can my father stand up for me? I’m afraid the entire Jiang family would urge me to share the family’s glory and endure its losses—unlike what my grand-uncle told Mother: that no matter what, she has the Xia family behind her, and that he would never let anyone bully her. If you have a loving husband to protect you after marriage, life is bearable. But if your own father can’t be relied upon, can you really expect a man you’ve barely met to be any different? Men in this world are fickle and cold!”

Jiang Li didn’t want to be so agitated, but she couldn’t suppress her racing thoughts.

As a girl, obey your father; as a wife, obey your husband; as a widow, obey your son.

If a father is unkind and the household is restless, you suffer humiliation. If a husband is unloving, you endure loneliness for a lifetime—or end up like Su Shi, dead. And in old age, if your son is unfilial, your final years are miserable. A son is also a man—how can he empathize with his mother? Why should a woman’s life be forever dependent on a man?

“Miss worries too much. Not all men are like the Eldest Master. Look at Old General Xia—his wife has been gone for years, yet his devotion remains unchanged, and he lives alone.”

“I know I shouldn’t condemn all men with one brush, but it’s true that most men take multiple wives and concubines. As for Gu Huai’an…” Jiang Li laughed coldly. “Let’s wait until this matter is spread and our reputations are in tatters. Then we’ll see what he does. And what the Gu family does!”

Qingluan replied, “Consider it a test, then.”

Why had she called it a good thing? She simply didn’t want her mistress to end up like her mother.

A woman’s marriage is like a second rebirth—like a seed scattered by the wind, falling on fertile ground to thrive, or on barren soil to wither.

The engagement between Jiang Li and Gu Huai’an had been arranged by Jiang Li’s great-grandmother, along with her mother and the late old matriarch of the marquis’s household. The old matriarch had been a close childhood friend of Jiang Li’s great-grandmother.

After the betrothal was settled, the old matriarch and Jiang Li’s great-grandmother both passed away soon after.

The Huaiyang Marquisate was a family of military generals. Gu Huai’an was rooted in the military camp and spent most of the year away from the capital, though he hadn’t achieved much of note.

So Jiang Li had met him only a handful of times. With her uncle Xia Jinlin having risen to fame in his youth, Gu Huai’an seemed rather mediocre in comparison.

If Jiang Li were a daughter of the Xia family rather than a granddaughter, Gu Huai’an would clearly be unworthy of her.

Jiang Li’s feelings about the engagement were neither fond nor averse.

If her parents had not been so unhappy, she might not have felt such aversion to marriage. But having watched her mother labor in vain for years, and then seeing how her father had betrayed and deceived her to this day, she felt a chill down her spine.

Especially with her grandmother’s coldness and cruelty.

She couldn’t accept having to marry into a strange household, serve another family’s parents, and wait, hoping, for her husband’s love—only to endure neglect if it didn’t come. No matter how much you give, you can never buy true affection.