Lady Yu watched Fu Tingyun’s retreating figure with a complex expression.

Twenty-four years old, with neither illustrious family background nor noble birth, this woman, who lacked even family protection, drifting like a floating duckweed, had somehow become a Lady of the Third Rank… Looking around, apart from imperial relatives, she was probably the only one of her kind!

Not only that, she had also gained the favor of the Grand Empress Dowager, standing alongside the Grand Lady of the Marquis of Longping and the Lady of the Marquis of Wuding, receiving the Grand Empress Dowager’s attention and making quite a display… Such an honor, how many could claim it!

With mixed feelings, she returned to Jiadao Street.

Her daughter-in-law, Lady Fan, was waiting at the front gate with maids and female servants.

Lady Fan was strikingly beautiful, with a gentle smile, and she respectfully came forward to help Lady Yu down from the carriage.

But for some inexplicable reason, Lady Yu felt irritated.

What use was being beautiful? There were plenty of beautiful women in the world, but did that mean they could attend the Grand Empress Dowager’s seventieth birthday banquet?

Lady Yu’s mind suddenly conjured Fu Tingyun’s stunning face.

Standing before the Grand Empress Dowager, Fu Tingyun’s smile had been brilliant and bright, her demeanor graceful yet humble and courteous. That was true gentleness, elegance, and beauty… How could women like sparrows, never knowing their insignificance, possibly understand?

These thoughts made Lady Yu feel even more dejected.

She went to the main room with a gloomy face.

Lady Fan felt bewildered but could only serve Lady Yu with redoubled caution.

Lady Yu, seeing that Lady Fan only knew how to please without having any opinions of her own, found her increasingly disagreeable and asked, “Did Depu say when he would return?”

Because of the Grand Empress Dowager’s birthday, the Imperial Censors had all returned to the capital. Yu Jingxiu, due to his insufficient rank, could not participate in today’s birthday celebration.

Lady Fan smiled and said, “There will be fireworks at the Western Garden tonight, and my husband said he would return late.”

Lady Yu nodded and asked, “With whom did Depu go to the Western Garden?”

“I don’t know,” Lady Fan said with a graceful smile. “My husband didn’t say, so I didn’t ask!”

For some reason, Lady Yu became furious.

She said sternly, “If he doesn’t say, you don’t ask. If one day both his father and I pass away, and he sells our fields and land outside, does that mean if he doesn’t mention it, you won’t ask either?”

Lady Fan was stunned.

Then she felt wronged.

She had followed the principles of the three obediences and four virtues—how could that be wrong?

But she dared not argue with Lady Yu and could only bow her head and admit fault: “Mother, please don’t be angry. It’s my fault. From now on, I’ll ask where my husband is going.”

Lady Yu wasn’t asking her to investigate her son’s whereabouts but rather hoping she wouldn’t just focus on Depu’s daily necessities and would instead show concern for what her husband was doing outside… Seeing that Lady Fan completely misunderstood her meaning, Lady Yu wearily rubbed her forehead, then with a displeased expression, waved her hand, signaling for her to withdraw.

Lady Fan left the main room, her face alternating between red and white.

A young maid cautiously reported through the curtain: “Madam, the eldest young master has returned!”

Lady Yu looked up to see Yu Jingxiu entering energetically, dressed in a bamboo-green Hangzhou silk robe.

She asked with surprise, “Weren’t you planning to go with friends to the Western Garden to see the fireworks? Why have you returned so soon? Did something happen?”

Yu Jingxiu paid respects to his mother, then sat down beside her with a smile, saying, “Nothing happened. Just that someone accidentally spilled wine on my shoe at the restaurant, so I came back to change shoes.”

Lady Yu’s gaze fell to his shoes.

They were dark green auspicious cloud shoes, and she couldn’t see which part was dirty.

With a slight frown, she nodded and asked, “With whom are you going to the Western Garden to see the fireworks today?” For someone to spill wine on his shoes, it couldn’t have been a respectable place!

“Some former colleagues from the Court of Diplomatic Reception,” Yu Jingxiu smiled. “They said they hadn’t seen me for a long time and especially invited me to go out and enjoy the festivities.”

Lady Yu pondered, “Today is the Grand Empress Dowager’s birthday; the people from the Court of Diplomatic Reception should be helping…”

Yu Jingxiu smiled, “The Court has thirty or forty people; not everyone needs to go. They just selected a few who are familiar with protocol…”

For an official in the capital, familiarity with protocol was very important. Such people were usually promoted easily.

Lady Yu looked even more displeased and said, “Since you’re going to enjoy the festivities, you should have invited some colleagues from the Censorate to join you. The term for Imperial Censors is only one year. When you return to the Censorate, some will surely have been promoted to department director positions or sent to govern counties. By then, such gatherings won’t be so convenient.”

Yu Jingxiu smiled dismissively, “Mother, the Censorate has always been like a permanent camp with flowing soldiers. When people leave this year, others will be selected to come in. After my term ends and I return to the capital, there will still be time to socialize with those colleagues.”

Seeing that her son didn’t take her words seriously, Lady Yu was displeased and said, “You’re not so young anymore; how can you afford to be wasteful? You should focus on establishing yourself early…”

Before she could finish, Yu Jingxiu’s expression changed slightly, and he said, “It’s too late to arrange anything today, but we can discuss it another time when I’m free!” Then he stood up. “It’s getting late, and they’re waiting for me at the restaurant. I’ll go back to my room to change shoes first.”

Lady Yu was exasperated and couldn’t help saying, “Truly, ‘a good wife is half one’s fortune…”

Hearing this, Yu Jingxiu frowned deeply and said with displeasure, “Mother, what is it now? You can criticize me directly—why bring Fan into this?”

“What’s wrong? I merely commented without even mentioning your wife’s name, and you can’t bear it? For her sake, you’d even talk back to your mother!” Lady Yu was furious. The anger she had been suppressing since seeing Fu Tingyun finally erupted like a blazing fire. “Your father is still alive, and I’m not yet senile, yet for your wife’s sake, you can’t tolerate your mother? You’re truly filial! It wasn’t in vain that I carried you for ten months and painstakingly gave birth to you…”

Lady Yu was speaking sarcastically, and Yu Jingxiu’s face immediately turned pale. He quickly knelt before his mother.

Mama Shu, seeing this, immediately led the other servants out of the room.

“Mother, that’s not what I meant!” he pleaded, pulling at his mother’s sleeve. “I just feel that Fan is now your daughter-in-law, and if there are things she doesn’t understand, you can teach her. When you criticize her in front of the servants, how can she establish herself in the family? She is the wife I chose; if she’s not good, then I’m not good. Even if you don’t leave face for her, please leave some dignity for me…”

Lady Yu spat at Yu Jingxiu and said, “So you know that criticizing her means taking away your dignity? Has anyone ever considered my face? Teach her? How dare I teach her? The moment I open my mouth, you immediately shield her as if I’m going to eat her, fearing she might suffer even the slightest grievance. Do you know who I saw today? I saw Lady Fu! She’s now a Lady of the Third Rank! How did you treat her back then? Don’t you know in your heart? If it had been someone else, grass would likely be growing tall on their grave by now. But do you know what the Grand Lady of the Marquis of Longping told me today? She said that one of the important reasons why the Emperor decided to employ Zhao Ling, besides being recommended by the Marquis of Yingchuan, was that Fu was chaste and virtuous. The Emperor said that with such a woman as his wife, even if Zhao Ling had some presumptuous aspects, he would not lose his virtue or conduct.”

Yu Jingxiu’s face changed dramatically.

Lady Yu coldly smiled at him and said, “Don’t you always say how virtuous and good Fan is? Then give me some examples to hear! Has she contributed to the Yu family by bearing children? Or has she advised her husband to advance in his career and bring glory to the ancestors? Even her household is in disarray, causing people to gossip… only you treat her like a treasure! Let me tell you frankly, our Yu family has never had divorced women, but if she continues without repentance, sending her back to her old home in Nanjing to fulfill filial duties to your aunt in your place would be reasonable, and no one would dare say a word against it!”

“Mother!” Yu Jingxiu was alarmed. “I know I was wrong. I will certainly guide Fan better in the future…” He kowtowed several times to his mother.

Lady Yu contemptuously grunted and called loudly for Mama Shu: “Go tell the eldest daughter-in-law that starting tomorrow, she must pay her respects morning and evening, and not break the rules. She is the eldest daughter-in-law of our Yu family, with aunts and uncles above her watching, and concubines below her to discipline. She cannot break the rules and make us a laughingstock.”

Mama Shu glanced at Yu Jingxiu, who was kneeling on the ground with a somewhat dazed expression, and answered softly, “Yes.”

Lady Yu, leaning on Mama Shu’s arm, got down from the kang bed, not even looking at her son, and went to the study.

The room fell silent.

Even the rustling of leaves in the spring breeze could be heard clearly.

Yu Jingxiu felt as if a millstone were pressing on his heart, making it hard to breathe.

Had the Grand Lady of the Marquis of Longping said that the Emperor’s employment of Zhao Ling was partly due to Lady Fu’s merit? Or was this just a lie fabricated by his mother to provoke him… Though his mind questioned this, in his heart, he knew his mother was not that kind of person… But how could the Emperor look upon Zhao Ling differently because of Fu, who was merely a woman?

He suddenly recalled the scene when he had gone to see Fu Tingyun.

She had held her head high, her gaze containing a proud disdain for the world… unlike any other woman he had met… as if nothing could defeat her… such women were what his mother admired most… His aunt seemed to be like his mother, also favoring such women… saying that men were like trees, women like soil; no matter how good the tree, without good soil, it could never grow tall and strong… If he had married that woman, even if she didn’t get along with his mother, she would surely have had ways to compete with her? Perhaps she might have been even more formidable than his mother, even suppressing her…

The thought flashed through his mind, and Yu Jingxiu couldn’t help but shudder.

How could he think like this?

It was too absurd, too absurd…

He immediately got up and fled from his mother’s room.

…

Meanwhile, Lady Fan was feeling sullen. Seeing Yu Jingxiu enter with a somewhat distracted air, she quickly put on a smile and went to meet him: “Weren’t you going to the Western Garden to see the fireworks? Why have you come back at this time? Have you eaten? I had the kitchen stew an old hen, originally prepared for your late snack. Would you like me to have someone bring you a bowl?”

“No need,” Yu Jingxiu made an effort to smile, saying, “I just came back to change shoes, and then I’ll leave. Some colleagues from the Court of Diplomatic Reception are still waiting for me at the restaurant!” Then he asked Lady Fan, “How much silver do you have on hand? Give me two hundred taels; I have a use for it.”