Chu Linlang looked up at Chu Huaisheng, whom she had not seen for so long, drew in several deep breaths, and finally swallowed back the curses that had risen to her lips.

Before she had left home to be married, she had never been short of words when it came to talking back to Chu Huaisheng. She was not afraid of being beaten or scolded — but in the end, it was her mother, who depended entirely on others for her livelihood, who bore the brunt of his fury.

For the sake of Sun Shi, she could turn a deaf ear to whatever Chu Huaisheng said, treating it as nothing more than an irritating foul wind.

Chu Linlang followed Sun Shi upstairs and greeted Chu Huaisheng with a bow: “Is Father keeping well?”

Chu Huaisheng assumed the airs of a father-figure and settled himself into the old armchair with its peeling lacquer at the post station. He blew at the tea leaves floating in his cup and said coldly: “Whether I am well or not, you — this unfilial daughter — don’t concern yourself with. And now that you’ve truly become the wife of an official, what airs you put on. If I hadn’t come myself, would you have forgotten that you still have parents to attend to?”

Chu Linlang said nothing, letting Chu Huaisheng scold away. Sun Shi grew so anxious beside her that she was pressing her lips together, and at last tremblingly ventured: “My lord, please calm your anger — Linlang has come to see you now…”

Chu Huaisheng shot Sun Shi a glare, and Sun Fu immediately shrank like a quail drawing in its neck, not daring to utter another word.

Fortunately, he remembered the purpose of his long journey to Lianzhou, and at last restrained his scolding, beginning to ask after Chu Linlang’s circumstances with some semblance of proper form — though his words kept circling back to his son-in-law, probing here and there for news of Zhou Sui’an’s situation.

Chu Linlang, worried that her father harbored ill intentions and was looking to cause trouble for Zhou Sui’an again, cut him off before he could open his mouth: “The Sixth Prince has arrived in Lianzhou bearing an imperial mandate. The officials above and below are all on tenterhooks awaiting summons at the yamen. My husband has not been home for several days and will likely be unable to come and see you, Father. He has specifically sent word asking me to prepare generous gifts on his behalf for you…”

At hearing that Zhou Sui’an could not come to see him, Chu Huaisheng’s brows and whiskers drooped immediately, and he slapped the table: “So that impoverished wretch who ran off with my daughter is no longer the struggling nobody he once was! Now that he holds some insignificant little post, he dares to put on airs before his own father-in-law! If that’s how it is, I shall go to the yamen myself to pay him a visit — and let his colleagues know full well what shameless business he got up to back in the day!”

Because his daughter and Zhou Sui’an had not been brought together through proper matchmaking, Chu Huaisheng had always held this point over them. Yet the matter had at the time been tacitly accepted by both families — not honorable, but not illegal either.

But Zhou Sui’an was an official now, a man who valued his reputation and his standing. With this in hand, was he afraid Zhou Sui’an would not comply?

Having said his piece, Chu Huaisheng waited for his daughter to lower her eyes and humbly beg him.

But Chu Linlang remained completely still, and said with perfect composure: “Father arrived this morning, so you must have seen the spectacle at the city gate tower — a dozen or so heads the size of watermelons rolling all across the road. It will take half a day just to sweep away all the blood. Do you want me to have my husband lose his own head before he comes to see you — and only then would he not be putting on airs? I’m not afraid of much else, only that if you rashly offend some great personage, I shall end up having to go out into the street with Mother to gather up your head…”

That morning had been precisely when those thugs and followers who had attempted to assassinate the imperial prince were beheaded in the public street. Chu Huaisheng had happened to pass by and caught a few unwanted glimpses — enough to put him off his supper for several bowls — and now hearing Chu Linlang speak this way, he found himself unable to argue back, and lacked the brazen audacity to go storming off to the yamen to make a scene.

But being blocked in like this by Chu Linlang’s words, he couldn’t let himself down, and burst out with more furious scolding: “Phooey, phooey, phooey — how dare you curse your own father! Since he’s not available, pass along this message: your elder brother has been sitting idle at home for too long, and that’s no solution. See if there’s any light and easy post available at his yamen, and arrange something for your brother.”

The “elder brother” he spoke of was Chu Linlang’s half-brother by their father — Chu Renfeng, the very person who had urged their father to send his concubine-born younger sister off as a man’s concubine.

Though this brother bore the auspicious name meaning “a phoenix among men,” he was in truth a worthless piece of material that couldn’t even match a chicken’s claw — supremely accomplished at eating, drinking, and merrymaking, but incapable of managing anything of substance. A thoroughgoing wastrel through and through.

At one point he had helped manage the family business, only to lose money repeatedly, yet he had shifted all the blame onto Chu Linlang, who had been managing the accounts alongside him. That had earned Chu Linlang a beating from Chu Huaisheng, with no way to defend herself.

Later, this Chu Renfeng had schemed and cultivated connections, securing a minor clerical post back in their hometown of Jiangkou — only to be caught in the backyard of a superior’s household, having carried on an affair with the man’s concubine, and was beaten half to death.

Had Chu Huaisheng not spent a great sum of money to smooth things over, Chu Renfeng’s legs might well have been broken entirely.

Now that he was sitting idle at home, Chu Huaisheng felt that could not continue, and so he thought to use his son-in-law’s connections to elevate his son further.

Chu Linlang had learned of this so-called “phoenix among men” elder brother’s doings from her mother’s previous letters, and upon hearing her father’s words, she merely gave a cold smile: “My husband is nothing more than a minor Vice Prefect. Though he oversees certain affairs, personnel matters all fall under the jurisdiction of the local Prefect. Whatever idle posts may be available are already filled with the Prefect’s own relatives. And besides — people who come through the back door at least have to be scholars who can read and write. I wonder whether my elder brother has taken any examinations in recent years, gained any scholarly credentials — something my husband could actually put forward as a recommendation?”

Chu Huaisheng was again rendered speechless, unable to save face. He launched into another round of cursing, accusing Chu Linlang of being a black-hearted creature who cared only for her own prosperity and gave not a thought to her brother’s survival. He added insults directed at Sun Shi as well — calling her a woman of low-born origins, a creature of base stock, incapable of raising decent children.

Chu Linlang could bear no more of it and wanted to curse back, but Sun Shi gripped her hand tightly, twisting hard, forbidding her to argue with their father any further.

Chu Huaisheng grew tired of scolding after a while, and with his craving for water-pipe tobacco coming on, he called for his newly taken young concubine to help him back to his room to rest.

Only then could Chu Linlang retreat to her mother’s room, and the two of them could speak some words meant just for each other’s ears.

Chu Linlang had asked this question as a child too, but her mother would always brush it aside and be unwilling to explain it in detail to a child. Now that Chu Linlang was grown, Sun Fu no longer held back: “I used to hear her ranting all day about some faithless man, lamenting that she had urged her husband to seek glory and renown — that sort of thing. It seems she couldn’t bear her husband taking a concubine, and she made such a scene that she went mad, and her husband’s family drove her out. And that family was quite ruthless — they drove out her son along with her. At least she had her son at her side to care for her carefully — the servants that family hired were diligent. Only it’s such a pity for a child that small, to suffer so alongside his mother!”

“Mother, just bear with it a while longer. Once I’ve found a way to compel him to release you, I’ll buy you your own house to live in — no more enduring his foul temper!”

There was a time Chu Linlang had witnessed this as a child — those thin, frail little arms, raising a large stone and bringing it down on the back of someone’s head until it was a bloody mess of flesh, and that pair of large eyes that didn’t even blink once…

Sun Shi also had no desire for the Zhou family’s principal wife to extend her reach into her daughter’s household. The principal wife’s two daughters by blood had both had troubled marriages, while the concubine-born daughter’s household was thriving and harmonious — and the principal wife was already seething with envy and barely suppressed fury!

This was how her life would be, and as long as it didn’t drag her daughter down, that was enough.

Chu Linlang heard it immediately and knew what her legal stepmother’s calculations were. She said at once: “What business does she have reaching into my Zhou family’s household? Tell the principal wife that when it comes to taking a concubine, my mother-in-law is the one who decides — it’s not something I need to concern myself with.”

Chu Linlang knew her mother was a woman who looked ahead and behind, who had long been afraid of others and accustomed to being controlled. She had no patience to persuade her further — but the plan she had already set in her mind, she would carry out sooner or later. Since there was nothing concrete to speak of yet, there was no need to argue with her mother over it now.

Sun Shi, in front of her daughter, could speak much more freely. But she was troubled by the fact that her daughter had not yet produced any children, not knowing whether she was being made to suffer at her husband’s family.

Because there had been no mother to care for him, that child had gaunt, drawn features with eyes that seemed too large for his face. But what made an even deeper impression was the ferocity with which that little wretch brained people with rocks when thugs and ruffians came around trying to take advantage of his mad mother.

And so the two women leaned against each other on the bed, able to speak the words that were truly in their hearts.

Chu Linlang reported only the good things and hid the rest, speaking only of happy matters.

Unlike the raving lunatics you saw on the street, though her hair was disheveled, she was not grimy-faced. Though she might be slumped against a street corner, having gotten mud all over herself, the next day she would appear clean-faced again.

Worried that her daughter had not conceived, she would lie awake through the night fretting about it — she lovingly stroked Linlang’s hair: “When you were small, you were such a mischief-maker, more like a boy, always getting into fights. I used to worry that your headstrong nature would make things difficult for you when you married. Thankfully your temperament has softened a good deal, and Sui’an is a gentle, educated man — that puts my mind at ease. But remember: for women living with their husbands’ families, there is no such thing as a path that is perfectly smooth. Some small grievances must be endured. Too strong a temper is never a good thing. There was that mad woman from Jiangkou back then — let her be a lesson… oh…”

Sun Shi, though comforted by what she heard, shook her head and sighed: “He is your father, after all. Living in the Chu household, I have food and clothing without worry, and you at least have a maternal family to rely on. If I were to leave, those who don’t know the circumstances would think I had been driven out at my age for being unchaste. Your reputation would also suffer, and your mother-in-law would think even less of you…”

Chu Linlang had long since forgotten the mad woman her mother kept mentioning, only vaguely recalling that the house they had rented in Jiangkou had indeed had someone like that as a neighbor — someone who wandered about raving and calling out to people all day long.

Only from her mother’s account did she learn that Chu Huaisheng’s reason for coming here had not been specifically to bleed her dry, but that he had a deal to finalize, and had come to Lianzhou incidentally — bringing Sun Shi along with him.

But seeing that he had brought the aging Sun Shi along, it was clear this was no sudden whim — he had long been planning to come and use his concubine-born third daughter as leverage.

Linlang had been daring enough from childhood to talk back to Chu Huaisheng on her mother’s behalf, barking like a little dog standing guard before her. Sun Shi found it both heartening and bittersweet.

Sun Shi dimly remembered that she had originally been the daughter of a well-to-do family — it seemed as a child their courtyard had been quite large, with servants always following behind. But unfortunately, when she was still young, she had become separated from her family and been abducted and sold onto a flower boat to be trained as a courtesan. Before she had even been put up for sale, Chu Huaisheng had taken notice of her and bought her as a concubine.

Chu Linlang heard this and fell quiet for a moment. Whatever Chu Huaisheng could find would be nothing good. Of the three sisters in the Chu family, only the eldest had a gentle, placid temperament, who was courteous and kind to both her and Sun Shi, and there was at least some sisterly warmth between them.

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Suddenly curious, she couldn’t help but ask: “By the way — how did she go mad? I’ve quite forgotten.”

The two of them chatted idly about affairs in the Chu household. Speaking of these things, Sun Shi let out a sigh: “Though the two daughters born of the principal wife both married early, neither has fared as well as you. Your eldest sister and her husband went to the capital to seek their fortune, and from what I hear, they were deceived and lost their money — they even used your eldest sister’s dowry to fill the hole. Your eldest sister couldn’t manage, so she came back to borrow money, only to be berated by your father, who is now pressuring her to seek a divorce!”

A woman of soft temperament is always easy to be manipulated. Chu Huaisheng’s standards for a son-in-law were measured solely by money and power — he would never consider whether the man had another match waiting. Eldest Sister had already borne two children, and he was still forcing her to divorce — this was not concern for his daughter at all. It was plainly a fear of losing money.

Her temperament was gentle and meek — she never quarreled with anyone. Yet somehow, this quail-natured woman had raised a daughter bold as a leopard.

“Indeed — your father has already found her a new match. Only the principal wife apparently disagrees and has caused a great uproar with your father over it.”

The little boy Sun Shi spoke of — Chu Linlang remembered him quite clearly in her memory.

Sun Shi continued: “Your second sister’s situation is somewhat better. Her husband has taken a naval patrol post, but his temper is foul and he likes to go wild when he drinks. He has beaten your second sister as well… Your stepmother is out of sorts, and is always asking after your situation. Hearing that you have had no children all this time, she keeps mentioning to me that her maternal relatives on her side have a niece of suitable age…”

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