Old Madam Chen asked Ying Yuan only a few questions before saying calmly while sipping her tea, “From now on, the child will remain under my care. I don’t think it’s convenient for you to serve Second Master at his side.”
Ying Yuan, who had been smiling, withdrew her smile upon hearing this. Her eyes shimmered like deep pools of water, full of hesitation.
The child sat in the wet nurse’s arms, still unable to speak, staring blankly at his birth mother.
Madam Qin also spoke up, “It’s inconvenient for you to care for the child. Since you’ve returned to the Chen family, you should serve the Second Master properly from now on. When Second Master returns, we’ll elevate you to the position of concubine. For now, you’ll stay in the Second Household. Concubine Zhao’s Fuqu Pavilion needs someone to share the quarters.”
Ying Yuan’s face turned pale. She bowed gracefully to Madam Qin, “Greetings, Second Madam. I am from the Liu family. I haven’t yet had the chance to pay my respects to you.”
Her status was too low; if not for having given birth to a son, Old Madam Chen might not have even agreed to see her. Naturally, there was no need to introduce the people present to her.
From the tone of the conversation, she naturally knew this was Second Master’s legitimate wife.
Outside, she and Second Master shared deep feelings, and he was willing to dote on her. Sometimes she truly forgot that he had such a family far away in Northern Zhili. Although Madam Qin was older and not particularly beautiful, her dignified and noble bearing was something she could not match.
When she was outside, she thought that as long as they had deep feelings for each other, everything would be fine. Only after arriving at the Chen household did she realize that nothing was as she had imagined. Her child would be raised by others, and before the Second Master’s return, her status in the Chen family was ambiguous. Even if she were elevated to concubine status later, what difference would it make? Second Master had other concubines besides her; he couldn’t possibly attend to her alone.
Madam Qin’s gaze fell on Ying Yuan’s face, and she didn’t dare raise her head.
But Madam Qin did not trouble her further and merely withdrew her gaze with a sound of acknowledgment.
Ying Yuan followed the matron away. Seeing his mother leave, the child began to wail loudly.
The wet nurse was also startled by the child’s crying and hurriedly tried to comfort him, fearing Old Madam Chen’s displeasure. Old Madam Chen had her take the child to the gauze-screened room to nurse, and gradually the crying subsided, replaced by the sound of the child swallowing milk.
Madam Qin never glanced at the child again.
After Old Madam Chen had retired to rest, Gu Jinchao finally left the Half Bamboo Courtyard. The weather was gradually getting warmer; though it was only April, the sunshine was already quite harsh. Xiuqu brought over a paper umbrella to shade Jinchao from the sun, smiling as she said to her, “In another month, you’ll be able to use the ice stored during winter. We can make red bean snow dessert with sugar syrup; it’s quite refreshing. Adding some hawthorn makes it even more appetizing…”
Fearing that too much cold would harm her body, Gu Jinchao smiled and shook her head, “I dare not eat it, but we can make some for Xuanyue. He likes eating ice. He ate most of the frozen pears I stored last winter.”
“Ninth Young Master is indeed peculiar. During winter, he made desserts with sheep’s milk and ice, even sharing some with us servants. It was quite delicious.”
Gu Jinchao remembered this incident; Chen Xuanyue had simmered half a bucket of sheep’s milk down to a small bowl of cream and mixed it into ice shavings.
He probably didn’t know how expensive that sheep’s milk was…
Gu Jinchao shook her head, “He’s always following his whims.”
Suddenly, someone called out to her from behind—it was Madam Qin’s voice.
Gu Jinchao turned around and, indeed, Madam Qin was approaching her, surrounded by her attendants.
Could she want to ask about the courtesan? Gu Jinchao secretly speculated, letting a smile appear on her face first. Madam Qin had stopped her and pointed to a lakeside pavilion not far away, inviting her to sit together. The two-story pavilion was exquisitely decorated with carved beams and painted rafters. She then dismissed everyone around them.
Madam Qin selected a dried apricot from Gu Jinchao’s snack box and slowly asked, “Third Sister-in-law, this Liu woman is a Yangzhou courtesan, isn’t she? How long have you known about this?”
So she did want to ask about Liu. Gu Jinchao had thought Madam Qin would beat around the bush.
Madam Qin already had conflicts with her, and now she would probably find her even more disagreeable. Gu Jinchao didn’t hide anything: “For more than three months. Mother asked me to look after them. That’s why I didn’t tell my Second Sister-in-law, and besides, it was indeed an awkward matter to bring up… If my Second Sister-in-law blames me, I won’t say anything.”
But Madam Qin smiled, “Why would I blame you?”
She continued, “If I were to blame anyone, it should be Second Master or myself. I would never blame you. I just wanted to ask if Second Master instructed you to look after her?” Without waiting for Gu Jinchao to answer, she smiled and shook her head again, “Never mind, I’m being foolish. Without the Second Master’s word, this woman wouldn’t even know which way the Chen family gate faces. Mother has always protected Second Master; I know that well enough…”
Gu Jinchao sighed, “Second Sister-in-law shouldn’t belittle yourself. You have given birth to three sons, you are the legitimate wife, and you have the Qin family’s support behind you. Why bother with such a person?”
Madam Qin was momentarily stunned.
Gu Jinchao understood women like Madam Qin very well; no matter how capable and shrewd she was, her husband was still her world, able to determine her mood at will.
“Why concern yourself with those concubines and bedchamber servants? Second Sister-in-law should just live your own life. Let her bloom and fade as she may. Haven’t you heard that no one stays fortunate for a thousand days, and no flower blooms for a hundred days?” Gu Jinchao smiled, “The only one who can remain by Second Master’s side forever is you, Second Sister-in-law.”
Madam Qin looked up at Gu Jinchao as if seeing this woman clearly for the first time.
She understood the principle, but when it came to her situation, it was as if her eyes were blinded and she couldn’t think clearly.
She hadn’t expected Gu Jinchao would be willing to say these things to her.
Gu Jinchao added, “These are just casual words, Second Sister-in-law. Take them as you will.”
Madam Qin didn’t speak. Gu Jinchao prepared to leave, calling Xiuqu over to pack up the snack box.
As she stood up, she heard Madam Qin say softly from behind, “Thank you…”
Gu Jinchao smiled and shook her head, “What are you thanking me for? No matter what others say, foolish people won’t understand. The second Sister-in-law is already wise; I’m just helping you see things. Besides, it’s easy for others to talk when they’re not in your shoes. Who knows how they would react if it happened to them!”
Madam Qin also laughed, “Third Sister-in-law, you should be managing the household. Mother chose correctly in selecting you.”
The two enjoyed a rare moment of cordiality.
Gu Jinchao didn’t believe Madam Qin’s words and didn’t take them seriously. She just smiled and moved on.
When she returned to Muxi Hall, Gu Jinchao saw that Luo Yongping had come to see her, bringing his two sons to pay their respects.
Now Luo Yongping’s eldest and second sons were both managing shops in Xianghe, and both were very capable.
If it weren’t for something important, Luo Yongping wouldn’t come to see her. He was now her chief steward and was always busy. Realizing this, Gu Jinchao asked Madam Song to take Luo Yongping’s eldest and second sons to the kitchen for some food first.
After bringing Luo Yongping to the flower hall to sit down, he immediately took out an account book.
“Madam, this is the account book for the silk shop that Chief Steward Chen asked me to manage. I noticed some irregularities and brought it for you to see. And these irregular accounts involve significant sums…”
He pointed to several places, “On the fifth day of the third month, the Hangzhou silk shop in Qingping Ward in the capital suddenly had an extra thousand taels of silver, recorded as proceeds from selling a batch of Hangzhou silk. But there was no increase in the amount of raw silk purchased, so where did these extra silk goods come from? Moreover, a thousand taels is far too much—even the best-selling Hangzhou silk would only bring in a few hundred taels in a month.”
After hearing this, Gu Jinchao took the book to look, and indeed the accounts were not quite right.
But how could this be? Even if someone wanted to falsify accounts, what fool would put money into someone else’s pocket?
Luo Yongping continued, “This situation isn’t limited to just this shop; there are others as well. I asked Chief Steward Chen about it, and he said it was on Third Master’s orders—he was adding money to your dowry. This made me even more confused; who adds money to someone else’s account like this…”
Gu Jinchao didn’t understand at first, but as she listened to Luo Yongping’s words, she couldn’t help but feel a chill throughout her body.
If it was on Third Master Chen’s orders, then she probably understood what it meant…
“Go call Cao Ziheng here,” Gu Jinchao told him. “Call him here right now; I have urgent matters to ask him!”
Luo Yongping was frightened by Gu Jinchao’s manner and didn’t dare delay. He immediately sent a servant to harness a carriage to go to the shop where Cao Ziheng kept accounts.
Cao Ziheng happened to be handling business in Wanping.
He didn’t even have time to change his clothes before hurrying to the Chen residence.
Gu Jinchao spoke with him at length, then called for Madam Song and Steward Zhao to inquire about the recent arrangements for the Third Household and the Central Estate.
She could finally determine that Third Master Chen was laying out an escape route for them!
He had transferred the silver from his private treasury to her name, and some properties suddenly sold by the Third Household had also been transferred to her. The guards at Heyan Tower had suddenly increased, but they weren’t protecting Third Master Chen; they were protecting her…
She didn’t know if Chen Yanrun had arranged anything else!
Despite knowing that what Chen Yanrun was doing was probably the best choice, she couldn’t help but feel distressed. If the guards were all protecting her, what about him? If the silver had been transferred to her, hadn’t he been left with nothing?
He had assured her confidently that the chances of success were high, that there wouldn’t be any problems. But with preparations going to such lengths, could there be no problems?
Gu Jinchao took a deep breath and asked Madam Song to wait in the outer courtyard and inform her as soon as Third Master Chen returned.
She waited for him in the room.
Third Master Chen had just returned from meeting with Li Ying when he received the matron’s message. Thinking that Gu Jinchao had something important to discuss, he went directly to Muxi Hall.
Candles were lit in the room, and Gu Jinchao was reading a book.
He put down his official cap and walked over, “What’s the matter? You urgently wanted to find me…”
Worried that something had happened to her, he had walked briskly back.
Gu Jinchao didn’t know where to begin and asked calmly, “You’ve transferred all the silver from your private treasury to me?”
Chen Yanrun sat down beside her, “Yes, that’s money I had from my early years managing the Central Estate. You can use it as capital. Since this silver originally belonged to the Central Estate, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to give it to you directly, so I created a false account… Why, is this what you wanted to ask me about?”
Gu Jinchao couldn’t help but tear up, clutching his official robe sleeve, “Chen Yanrun… explain this to me clearly. Are you planning for what happens if you meet with an accident? You told me before that the chances of success were high…”
Chen Yanrun felt somewhat helpless. He hadn’t expected Gu Jinchao to discover this. At that time, to reassure her, he naturally had to say so.
“…Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she continued to ask. “You’re always like this, never changing despite repeated promises.”
Chen Yanrun took her hand down and said softly, “How could I tell you? This matter is fraught with danger, and you’re pregnant. Not telling you was the best option. This man Zhang Julian can change the situation with a flip of his hand. I cannot fully guarantee…”