Recently, the Qiu Mansion hadn’t been very peaceful. Although the day of Qiu Sanniang’s departure drew closer day by day, there actually weren’t many people truly busy because of it. Case in point: Zhang Shi currently had a matter before her that gave her more of a headache than Qiu Sanniang’s marriage.

“Mother, just agree to it.” Qiu Wu sat beside Zhang Shi, tugging at his mother’s cloud-brocade sleeve.

Zhang Shi’s face lengthened. She yanked her sleeve back and snorted heavily. “How many times have I said it? I can’t agree.”

“Mother, my wife has already agreed, so why won’t you? It’s just a maid. You said if I liked someone, I could ask you for her.” How could Qiu Wu give up so easily?

“I did say that. Haven’t there been enough maids for you to toy with over the years? That would be fine—one willing to beat, one willing to be beaten. But this time, you want someone from that room. Are you pretending not to know who your mother finds most annoying in this household?” Seeing her second son lean forward to act coquettish, Zhang Shi raised a fingertip and pushed against his forehead, making a show of disdain. “Stay away from this old woman. How old do you think you are, still acting like a little boy?”

“Of course I know who Mother finds most annoying, but isn’t she about to get married? A daughter who’s married off is like water that’s been thrown out. Why should Mother still be annoyed? Besides, if I take away one of her trusted maids, Mother can replace her with your own person. Then nothing that happens in Prince Jing’s mansion will escape your notice. How wonderful. Mother has been treating her extremely well these past few days—that’s also for our future planning.” Qiu Wu was shameless and persistent, but when it came to his own interests, he was quite willing to use his brain.

“It’s good that you know Mother is swallowing her anger for the sake of you brothers. However, forget about the maid. Setting aside that she’s a formidable character who won’t tolerate me placing people around her…” Zhang Shi wanted to say that taking one was already improper—how could they take another? But fearing Qiu Wu would make even more of a fuss, she softened her tone to coax him. “Her temperament is prickly through and through, and the maids beneath her are each and every one difficult to provoke. Go look elsewhere. If you see someone you like, Mother will definitely arrange it for you.”

“Mother, you’re so unfair.” Qiu Wu threw a tantrum, jumping down from the soft couch and glaring at his mother. “You helped Brother obtain one, but won’t help me. Ordinarily you scold and berate me, while you treasure Brother like a precious jewel. My wife said you treat Fourth Sister-in-law much better than her too. I endure all of this—who told Brother to be better at managing affairs than me? Coming from the same womb, I’m naturally inferior to him in everything. I can’t blame anyone.”

Zhang Shi feared Qiu Wu acting like this most, making it sound as if she’d poured the entire bowl of water to Qiu Si, leaving him as the sole aggrieved person in heaven and earth. Thinking that though her younger son was unaccomplished, he was very good at pleasing her, her expression couldn’t help but soften, and her words became coaxing.

“Zheng’er, my son, I love your brother, but I love you just the same. If I didn’t love you, would I have let you run wild these past two years? Also, the maids in your courtyard are constantly jealous and quarrelsome, causing chaos like flying chickens and jumping dogs, even showing no respect for your proper wife. If I weren’t coaxing and helping, could they be kept under control? When has your brother ever taken a fancy to any maid in our mansion? When his wife came to tell me, I was unwilling in my heart, but his courtyard has only one wife and one chamber maid. Since he rarely takes a liking to anyone, I had no choice but to give in. Because of this matter, I even had to smile obsequiously before Sanniang. Your temperament is hot for three days and cold for two. Why must you have that particular one? Moreover, how am I supposed to bring this up with Sanniang? She’s leaving soon. Her dowry and trousseau are almost completely prepared. If we want to take another one at this point, leaving only two out of the four senior dowry maids, how could she agree? She holds her maids’ indenture contracts. If she’s unwilling to give them up, no one can force her. To tell you the truth, the one your brother wants to obtain—your Fourth Sister-in-law hasn’t even gotten her proper consent yet.”

“I don’t care about the one Brother likes. They’re not the same person anyway. The one I want is Bai He. If you won’t speak up for me, Mother, I’ll have my wife go tell Sanniang. What’s wrong with a dowry maid? If Fourth Sister-in-law pays silver for the maid’s dowry, my wife can pay too.” His wife had quite a bit of private money—Qiu Wu was quite accomplished at working that little scheme.

“Who told you Fourth Daughter-in-law is paying silver?” Zhang Shi was startled, displeased in her heart. Jiang Suxin hadn’t mentioned this matter to her.

“…Some loose-lipped person, I suppose. I don’t remember.” Qiu Wu made something up on the spot. “Mother, I’m thinking of you, which is why I’m asking for your permission first. Otherwise, for just a hundred taels or so, I could buy the maid from Sanniang, and you’d have no recourse.”

“A hundred taels or so?” Zhang Shi spat in front of her son. “You think Sanniang is that easy to deal with? Without at least a thousand taels, it’s impossible she’d relent.”

“A thousand… taels?” Qiu Wu stood there stupefied for a moment. “That could buy dozens of ordinary little maids.”

“Exactly. Stop thinking about it. If you really want to take a chamber maid, Mother will help you find someone suitable.” Zhang Shi took the opportunity to persuade her son to abandon the idea.

“…No, no way. I want Bai He.” Qiu Wu suddenly came to his senses, refusing to budge an inch. “A thousand taels it is.” Just thinking of that delicate, charming hibiscus face and that graceful figure as weak as a willow, he was willing to part with the silver. He fell for someone new each time he saw them, but before obtaining them, he was absolutely unwilling to give up.

“You spendthrift.” Zhang Shi was furious, slapping Qiu Wu’s arm with one palm.

“Anyway, Mother, if you won’t allow me to have Bai He, then you can’t allow Brother to have the one he wants either. Otherwise, no one gets any peace.” Qiu Wu dropped this harsh threat and strode away with a flick of his sleeve.

Stepping out and turning the corner, seeing Jiang Suxin standing in the corridor—he didn’t know for how long—Qiu Wu said with a grinning, playful face, “Sister-in-law heard? You help persuade my mother. The palm and the back of the hand are both flesh. One person gets one—that’s only fair, isn’t it?”

Nanny An silently groaned, stepping forward to advise, “Young Master Zheng should say a few words less. Madam is in the outer room.”

But Qiu Wu was accustomed to being unruly—who could restrain him? He turned and viciously kicked Nanny An’s waist. “My affairs—do you, an old hag about to die, have any right to manage them? Get lost.”

Finished speaking, cursing and huffing angrily, he left the corridor and slammed the door behind him.

Inside the room, Zhang Shi heard the commotion and sent Ai Xing out to look.

Ai Xing saw Nanny An’s ashen face lying on the ground unable to get up, while Fourth Madam had the panicked little maids quickly help support her. She hurriedly asked what had happened. Hearing it was Qiu Wu who’d kicked her, she was shocked. One was an old servant at Madam’s side, the other was Madam’s own son—she didn’t know how to report this back to Madam.

“Fourth Madam, what should we do?” As a maid, she had no ideas, so she asked her mistress.

“Fifth Master didn’t measure his kick. He probably kicked too hard. First help Nanny An back home to lie down, then give her some silver and have a physician come look at her. If anyone asks, don’t tell the truth. Just say Fifth Master had been drinking and didn’t pay attention. Remember, if any unpleasant talk spreads from this courtyard, you can forget about staying in the mansion.” Jiang Suxin found two strong wives to help, then gave these instructions to the maids and servants in the courtyard.

Having sent these people far from the main room to prevent them from hearing anything else, Jiang Suxin followed Ai Xing inside to see Zhang Shi.

Zhang Shi had heard most of what happened from inside. On one hand, she secretly praised Jiang Suxin’s proper handling of the situation. On the other, she thought of Jiang Suxin giving Sanniang silver, and for a moment her expression shifted between looking good and looking terrible, unpredictable as changing weather.

Finally speaking, her mother-in-law’s manner prevailed, her voice carrying resentment. “You’re the one who started all this trouble. I didn’t agree to take Mo Zi as a chamber maid at the time, yet you even wanted to promise her concubine status. For a chamber maid, you subsidize her with silver. In the past when money was tight in the mansion, I never saw you be so generous.”

Hearing this, Jiang Suxin grew angry too. She thought: Mo Zi wasn’t sold into service with the Qiu Mansion—why should she be expected to take the eldest daughter’s perfectly good maid as a chamber maid for her husband? Naturally, a proper sedan chair carrying her in was the reasonable way. It was Zhang Shi who was forceful, leaving her no choice but to go along and break the rules. Giving Sanniang silver was to avoid people thinking she was as unreasonable as Zhang Shi. If she couldn’t provide status, at least she could be generous with money. Moreover, her own private money was hers to use as she wished. When money was tight in the mansion, she’d contributed quite a bit herself. Now she was being called stingy?

Kind and accommodating as she was, she ultimately came from a wealthy background and had her limits of tolerance. Her expression gradually turned cold and detached, and she said not a word.

Seeing Fourth Daughter-in-law remain silent with a flat expression, Zhang Shi knew she’d spoken too harshly. She felt some regret in her heart, but given her position, she couldn’t lower herself before her daughter-in-law. Very stiffly, she instructed Ai Xing and Ai Tao to bring tea, then asked Jiang Suxin to sit.

“I’m not blaming you.” Being the mistress of this household wasn’t easy—coaxing one person after another. “It’s just that you’re still young and don’t understand some things. If you yield one step, others can advance ten steps. In this mansion, I make the decisions on everything. Until the day Sanniang marries out, she must call me Mother. Though I don’t hold her maids’ indenture contracts, if I ask the master, could she refuse to hand them over? There’s no need for you to spend silver. By giving Sanniang silver, you’re lowering your head and showing weakness to her. After her maid enters your household, won’t she climb over you in the future? I’m also thinking of you in this.”

“…” Clearly just being stingy about the silver, Jiang Suxin understood perfectly well. But since her mother-in-law had softened her tone, she couldn’t continue showing displeasure. She obediently replied, “Madam is right. This daughter-in-law was inconsiderate. However, Sanniang hasn’t taken a single penny of that silver.”

“She didn’t take it?” Zhang Shi’s mental image of counting silver all came to nothing.

In her view, Sanniang should have been very happy to add another portion of dowry silver. The master said he’d prepare eighty chests of dowry, but she had no sincere intention of filling the trunks for this daughter. She’d cobbled together forty actual chests of worthless trinkets. Of course the good things had to be saved for her Jiuniang. As for Qiu Sanniang’s face before her in-laws, she didn’t care one bit. They surely couldn’t return the marriage just because the dowry wasn’t good.

“Sanniang didn’t take it. When I went, she hadn’t been able to discuss this matter with Mo Zi yet.” Jiang Suxin shook her head.

“That was how many days ago, and she still hasn’t mentioned it until now?” Zhang Shi had fought with Qiu Sanniang for so long—her instincts told her something was wrong.

“Five or six days ago, I suppose. Yesterday when I went to look at the dowry list with Sanniang, I asked about this matter. Sanniang said she’d already told Mo Zi. Mo Zi was somewhat hesitant. It just happened that her nominal relatives outside the city sent word that someone was ill, so Sanniang gave her leave to visit her relatives. She could think things through while she was there.” Jiang Suxin stated the facts plainly, showing no particular emotion.

“What is there to think through? A little chicken entering a golden nest, with fine clothes and jade food, days of being served right before her eyes—who wouldn’t be delighted? It’s just putting on airs. Don’t worry. Wait peacefully for her to come agree. When the time comes, don’t you dare mention the silver again.” Zhang Shi looked down on a mere maid.

Jiang Suxin softly agreed, then asked, “Madam, about Fifth Brother wanting to take Bai He—what do you think…?”