Xiang Lan sat on the soft couch holding her embroidery frame, lost in thought and feeling deeply wronged. Seeing no one around, she quietly wiped her tears. She had no one to rely on in the household, and she couldn’t bring herself to be servile and fawning like Hui Er and Huai Rui.
She had hoped to establish herself through hard work, maintaining good relations with everyone while enduring humiliation without conflict, but somehow she ended up being bullied and having her achievements stolen, leaving her increasingly without a foothold.
Just as she was wiping her tears with her sleeve, she suddenly heard someone at the window say, “Xiang Lan, come out and help this old woman with something.”
Xiang Lan hurriedly turned around to see Old Woman Liu standing outside, beckoning her through the window. Xiang Lan quickly blinked back her tears, walked out of the room, and forced a smile, saying, “What is it, Mother Liu?”
Old Woman Liu said, “Come help me tidy up the tea room.”
After they entered the small tea room behind the house, Old Woman Liu stared at Xiang Lan’s face for a moment, then sighed, “Child, you’re too honest, even crying in secret when you’re upset. No wonder they bully you.”
Xiang Lan tried to smile, “I wasn’t crying, just got some dust in my eye and rubbed it hard…” But seeing Old Woman Liu’s knowing look, she trailed off embarrassedly and lowered her head.
Old Woman Liu sat down on a small stool and patted the empty stool beside her, saying, “Girl, sit here.” Xiang Lan sat next to Old Woman Liu, who let out a long sigh and said, “Since you’re new here, I shouldn’t say too much, but I’ve been watching and can see you’re a good person, not like those frivolous girls. But you only know how to work blindly hard. I’ve wanted to advise you several times but never got the chance. Today when I saw them bullying you, this old woman couldn’t stand it anymore. I know and have seen how you work like an ox day and night, spending three days making those shoes.”
Xiang Lan felt comforted, her grievances diminishing by half.
Old Woman Liu continued, “Girl, you’re too soft-hearted. You’ll be bullied to death and still be called useless! That Cousin Young Lady is no good thing! Her grandmother was just a concubine’s daughter of our Old Master, and they stopped associating decades ago due to some scandal. Now she’s come from Yuzhou to seek favors. Old Master and Old Madam did consider that she was orphaned, which wasn’t easy, and thought that even if her grandmother had done wrong, the granddaughter was innocent. With her glib tongue winning people over, they let her stay. Old Madam was wary because of her grandmother’s poor character and had Second Madam make some inquiries. Guess what they found?”
Xiang Lan asked, “What did they find?”
“It turns out this Young Lady Huan was a tyrant at home. After her parents died, she and her brother conspired to steal the dowries of their two half-sisters and the inheritance of their half-brother. She even suggested marrying her half-sister to an old, fat salt merchant as a second wife, and her half-sister to a white-bearded seventh-rank petty official as a concubine. Because these two men didn’t want dowries and would even pay their family a large sum of silver!”
“What?” Xiang Lan was stunned.
“Second Madam is someone who won’t tolerate any nonsense, so she immediately reported this to Old Madam. Old Madam had initially been fooled by Cousin Young Lady and let her stay with Young Lady Ling, but after just two days they quarreled and she even hit Young Lady Ling. So Old Madam had this Cousin Young Lady move out to the most remote Luo Xue Wu, and gave her Huai Rui, the least favored maid from her quarters.”
“What?” Xiang Lan was dumbfounded – Huai Rui was the least favored maid in Old Madam’s quarters!
“Huai Rui’s father was a manager with some standing before Old Master, and he insisted on sending his daughter to serve in the household, actually hoping she’d become a concubine. But his daughter… tsk tsk, her looks, speech, and abilities were all lacking. She was lazy and loved to slack off, so Old Madam only tolerated her for Old Master’s sake and pawned her off to Cousin Young Lady. Unexpectedly, they got along well.” Old Woman Liu gave a cold laugh, “I once saw Huai Rui secretly give Cousin Young Lady a piece of silver and two pieces of fabric, which she accepted without a word. Oh my, what a joke! Usually, it’s the young ladies who reward servants, but now we have servants giving gifts to young ladies!”
Xiang Lan smiled slightly, “No wonder Cousin Young Lady doesn’t assign work to her – must be thanks to that silver and fabric.”
Old Woman Liu sighed, “But now that Cousin Young Lady has entered the household, it’s not so easy for her to leave. She can only wait until her mourning period ends and she gets married. To get more silver and have the household add more to her dowry, she constantly tries to curry favor with Old Madam. Though Old Madam is indifferent to her, she won’t give up. Old Master still has some sentiment for old times’ sake and always tells Old Madam to treat her well. She’s friendly with Madam Lou, and these two have schemed quite a bit of silver from the Lin family.”
Xiang Lan didn’t know what to say and silently poured Old Woman Liu a cup of tea.
Old Woman Liu snorted, “Old Madam Zeng is about to pass away, and the First Branch will return from Beijing for the funeral. When First Madam returns, all these demons will return to their true forms!”
Xiang Lan asked, “Is First Branch’s Madam really that formidable?”
Old Woman Liu smiled, “Twenty years ago when First Madam was here, the household wasn’t like this at all. Later, when First Master was promoted, the First Branch went to Beijing, leaving only Young Master Lou to be raised by Old Master. Second Madam is straightforward but not good at managing the household. After managing for a few years, things became somewhat disorderly. When Young Master Lou married, Madam Lou took over the household management, and things became even more chaotic. Madam Lou only loves flattery – whoever praises her loudly and gives her more gifts gets promoted. Few people in the household do honest work anymore, they’re all focused on slacking off and lining their own pockets. As for Young Master Lou, there’s nothing bad to say about him. He’s handsome and capable, not only passed the imperial examinations but also became a Military Champion, helping the family with big business ventures, earning more silver than several generations could spend. But it proves the saying ‘a good man has no good wife’ – he married this thing, and after five years of marriage she still hasn’t produced a child, yet she won’t let the Master take concubines.”
Xiang Lan thought to herself, “Zhao Yuechan is also a demoness, no wonder she’s friends with Cao Lihuan – birds of a feather flock together.”
Old Woman Liu had been holding these grievances for a long time and continued unstoppably: “When First Madam was here, she promoted me to work in the accounting office, and I had my glory days – never made a single mistake with the money that passed through my hands. Later, when Second Madam managed the household, though I wasn’t clever at flattery, I was still useful. When Madam Lou came, she was afraid she couldn’t manipulate the accounts if I was there, so she sent me here to be a menial servant…” She seemed quite melancholic at this point.
Xiang Lan comforted her, “Mother, don’t be discouraged. When First Branch’s Madam returns, she’ll remember the old days and surely find you a better position.”
Old Woman Liu smiled slightly, “I’m already this old, in a few years I should retire home, what position could I ask for? But you’re different – you’re so beautiful and have such a good nature, you shouldn’t be following that worthless person who’s rotten to the core… That Cousin Young Lady is also pitiful in a way. Since childhood, her parents were at odds – her father had five concubines and countless maids he’d taken advantage of. Any girl who looked somewhat pretty would be dragged to his room, and he drove her mother to live in the countryside. This is truly a case of ‘pitiable people must have detestable aspects.'”
Xiang Lan also sighed, “She initially sweet-talked me into working hard for her, sometimes saying she’d put in a good word for me with Madam, sometimes saying without her I couldn’t stay in this household, that Madam would drive me out and sell me…”
Old Woman Liu’s eyes widened, “What did she say? Without her, you’d be driven out by Madam?”
Xiang Lan nodded.
Old Woman Liu sneered, “Who does she think she is? The Madam or Old Madam? How dare she make such big claims – she should be careful not to bite her tongue! She doesn’t have that deep a relationship with Madam. You can rest assured about staying in the Lin family, regardless of what that Cousin Young Lady is!” She sighed again and patted Xiang Lan’s head, “Remember, the more capable person gets more work, while others are happy to enjoy their leisure and push all their work onto you. Once you get used to working like this, you won’t be able to stop, and others will even gossip about you being lazy. Child, you’re too honest – in the future, when you need to be shrewd, be shrewd, and keep your wits about you!”
Xiang Lan smiled, “Being honest is a good thing – if I weren’t honest, Mother Liu wouldn’t think I was good and specially come to advise me.”
Old Woman Liu wanted to say more, but seeing Xiang Lan’s sweet and innocent smile, her heart softened, and she closed her mouth.
Though Xiang Lan’s face showed an innocent smile, her mind was working differently. She thought to herself, “This impression of being ‘simple’ and ‘slow-witted’ that has been established isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Since I’m not particularly skilled at scheming anyway, appearing somewhat dull might be better than those desperately trying to show off their cleverness and quick wit. But in the future, I can’t let people push me around so easily, and I need to find a way to leave Cousin, Young Lady.” After thinking it through carefully, she asked Old Woman Liu about more situations in the Lin household, but we’ll leave that for now.