Zhou Sui’an, now brought to his senses, followed Chu Linlang’s lead and said: “Even if there were a modest position available, none are free! Father-in-law, you had best wait a little longer. Putting him forward at this critical moment — would that not be bringing harm to the whole family?”

Chu Huaisheng was somewhat rattled, and seeing that his son-in-law had at least relented enough to give him a way out, he did not press further. He turned instead to raise another matter with Zhao Shi — he wanted to send his legitimate wife’s niece to Zhou Sui’an as a concubine.

This time, without even waiting for Chu Linlang to intervene, Zhao Shi jumped in first with a stiff tone: “What poor timing — I have already reached an agreement with a matchmaker to take a properly born concubine for Sui’an. The gifts have been exchanged, and she will be coming in just two days. Though Linlang is still young and I ought to have given her a few more years, I… my health grows worse by the day. I fear that one day I may let go without being able to face the Zhou ancestors.”

Having said that, she deliberately asked: “Linlang, you won’t blame me for acting on my own initiative, will you?”

Chu Linlang looked up at her mother-in-law, and seeing the commanding light in her eyes, she inwardly guessed that Zhao Shi was not simply making things up to deceive.

These past few days, Zhao Shi had been going out frequently — leaving early and returning late — and had also shifted some of the household silver. Her mother-in-law had deliberately raised this in front of Chu Huaisheng, evidently having calculated that Chu Linlang could not properly object in public.

After all, if Chu Linlang were to oppose it in front of Chu Huaisheng, would that not give the loathsome niece an opening to enter the household?

Chu Linlang inwardly conceded the point: after all these years of hidden battles with her, her mother-in-law’s mind had grown ever sharper, and she had at last made some real progress.

Sure enough, in front of Chu Huaisheng, Chu Linlang said not a word — only picked up food with her chopsticks and drank her wine, cup by cup.

Zhao Shi quietly let out a breath of relief, feeling a measure of smug satisfaction.

But Zhou Sui’an, believing his mother had only invented the story on the spot as a pretext to ward off his father-in-law, immediately said in a flurry: “Father-in-law, I am grateful for your kind intentions, but since Mother has already made an arrangement, it would not be appropriate for me to take concubines one after another. After all, Lianzhou affairs are so demanding, and the reputation of the inner household must also be considered…”

Chu Huaisheng had not held much hope for this scheme of his legitimate wife’s in the first place. He knew his third daughter’s temperament — if he really pushed a niece into the household, the girl would very likely turn on him completely.

He was still counting on this son-in-law to elevate the whole family, so there was no need to rush into offending Chu Linlang.

Women — always thinking like this, always so petty. As if keeping a man to herself meant he was entirely hers!

When she grew old and faded, no longer beautiful, and had lost her husband’s affection — then she would understand what her stepmother had meant well. After all, the Zhou family would grow large and prosperous in the future, and Zhou Sui’an cut such a dashing figure — how could such a household remain quiet? Getting her own people in early would make things far more manageable!

But a person cannot understand loss until they have suffered it. He would wait for the girl to eat enough bitterness before she came crawling back to her family for support.

In due time, after eating and drinking their fill, Chu Huaisheng took the medicinal tonics and supplements his daughter and son-in-law had prepared for him and stumbled into his carriage with unsteady steps.

He had come on business and could not linger too long in Lianzhou. Since his daughter and son-in-law had given him ample face, there was no hurry — he could come back to squeeze more out of them gradually in the days ahead.

But Sun Shi held on to her daughter’s hand and would not let go, regarding her with a face full of worry. Finally, her lips moved and she spoke: “No matter how aggrieved you feel, do not quarrel with your mother-in-law…”

A daughter who could bear no children had no standing to make trouble in her husband’s household. Even if the matter truly came to a divorce because of this, she would only be mocked as jealously cruel and shrewish!

What was more, her own father was someone who had always been ready to sell his daughters. If Linlang left the Zhou household, how could Chu Huaisheng treat her well?

Chu Linlang understood what her mother was worried about, and simply patted her hand in comfort: “Have you ever seen a household take in a concubine and have the First Mistress fall apart over it? You need not worry — your daughter will live her own life well.”

Sun Shi heard this, and at last felt a measure of relief.

Sure enough, just as Chu Linlang had anticipated — after seeing the salt merchant in-laws off, Zhao Shi turned to Chu Linlang and Zhou Sui’an with a tight face and said: “What I said earlier was all true. The matchmaker Li from the front street has already selected someone — the second daughter of Teacher Hu from the private school in the neighboring village. She is seventeen years old, literate, and educated. I went to see her myself yesterday. The girl is quiet, with a gentle and good-natured disposition, and well-suited for childbearing. I was very pleased with her, so I left a betrothal headpiece and silver as deposit, and also invited the village elder as witness to sign the agreement. In two days, the Hu family will send her over.”

Only then did Zhou Sui’an realize his mother had acted so unilaterally, and he was greatly taken aback, quickly turning his head to look at Chu Linlang.

The farce over concubine-taking had erupted periodically over the years, and in the end, Chu Linlang had always managed to foil it, after which his mother would cry and carry on and threaten to cause a scene.

So much so that whenever Zhou Sui’an heard the word “concubine,” his temples would tighten, feeling as though he were being slow-roasted over a low flame in a wok of oil.

In Zhou Sui’an’s estimation, this time would likely be no different. Chu Linlang would strike with a smile hiding a blade, and slice his mother’s schemes to fine pieces.

So when the palanquin bearing young Miss Hu truly was carried through the household gate, Zhou Sui’an was even more astonished than Chu Linlang, and even asked Chu Linlang what he should do.

Chu Linlang sat cross-legged on the bed, threading a needle, and said without looking up: “Mother has taken a concubine for you, yet you come to ask me what to do — surely you don’t expect me to enter the bridal chamber on your behalf?”

Zhou Sui’an thought Chu Linlang was sulking, and said helplessly, sitting down beside her with a furrowed brow: “I had nothing to do with arranging this. If you are unwilling, you could just foil it as you have in the past — why make things difficult for me by putting me in the middle?”

Chu Linlang kept her eyes lowered and said: “The business with Yuan’er caused such an uproar. I hear your colleagues make a jest of it every few days, saying that Lord Zhou’s backbone is as soft as rotten mud. Getting the reputation of a jealous wife means little to me, but for you, a distinguished prefectural judge, to become a laughingstock — where would your dignity as a man be?”

Zhou Sui’an had never once heard Chu Linlang speak in such a virtuous and magnanimous way.

He did not dare to believe it for a moment, and when he moved to ask again, an old woman from Zhao Shi’s side arrived and hurried Zhou Sui’an off to drink wine with the new arrival.

Without Chu Linlang standing in the way, Zhou Sui’an would have found it difficult to directly defy his mother.

That night, after Zhou Sui’an left, he did not return. It was said that Zhao Shi had stationed a matron outside the door, terrified that Chu Linlang would come charging in to cause a scene.

Chu Linlang went to sleep very early. Xia He kept stealing glances at her, and only after seeing that she appeared perfectly composed and showed no signs of distress did she feel at ease enough to leave.

She slept like this until the middle of the night, and then Chu Linlang — who had not stirred once — suddenly sat up, shuffled into her shoes, pushed open the window, and grabbed two handfuls of snow to stuff into her mouth.

This time, without Xia He there to stop her, she ate to her heart’s content — but the night wind was bitterly cold, and after a little while it blew through her until she couldn’t help shivering.

When she closed the window and got back into bed, the warmth had already drained from the covers. Chu Linlang lay in the slightly too-wide bed, wrapped in a chill that had soaked into her bones, and gave a bitter, self-mocking smile.

She truly had no standing to object — and yet Zhou Sui’an could have talked back to his own mother, could have stepped forward and stood in front of her!

What had she been hoping for? That Zhou Sui’an would defy his mother and send the concubine back? Or that he would ignore the new concubine and return to her room in the middle of the night?

Chu Linlang had always thought too well of her husband. But now she had no choice but to see clearly — Zhou Sui’an was no paragon of virtue and restraint.

If he could resist the pull of a woman’s charms, then how had Yuan’er come to exist? How had she — a lowly concubine-born daughter of a salt merchant — managed to elope with Zhou the young man and bind herself to him for a lifetime? And how had Zhou Sui’an mingled so freely with the recently widowed Miss Yin, composing poetry and boating on the lake without the slightest concern for appearances?

Chu Linlang sneezed twice in quick succession, and at last came to understand clearly.

As her mother had said — when obsession runs too deep, one is apt to lose one’s mind. She could hardly spend her days like the madwoman from the old neighborhood, sitting or sprawling in the streets, cursing the faithless wretch from morning to night.

Her thoughts drifted, and the madwoman came to mind — stirring what little memory Chu Linlang had of her.

The madwoman had a hard life, but fortunately she had a filial son. Though the boy was sullen and bad-tempered, he looked after his mad mother with great care, ensuring she had clean clothes to wear every day.

But that boy had greatly disliked her. He had even berated her, and had soiled her new clothes.

Chu Linlang was no pushover either — she had waited until he was washing clothes by the river, and kicked him straight into the water.

She later discovered he couldn’t swim, and had no choice but to go in and fish him out.

That little wretch was truly no decent creature — he had taken advantage of the moment to bite her arm, not caring about anything, pressing down on her head trying to force it underwater, with that reckless, death-defying viciousness of someone intent on taking another person down with him!

If the women who had been doing their laundry nearby hadn’t come over and pulled them apart, the two of them might very well have both sunk to the bottom.

As for why Chu Linlang could still remember this at all — it was only because the incident had nearly resulted in a death, and she had received a severe beating from her father because of it.

From that point on, every time she saw that boy, her hands would itch — she wanted nothing more than to shove him into a cesspit!

Not wishing to dwell further on such stale and rotten old matters, Chu Linlang turned over restlessly. She had never been one to dwell on suffering — better to think of ways to make her own days better than to grieve and pity herself.

Madam He, the Governor’s wife, had once said: being a government official’s wife was like being the head shopkeeper of a thriving establishment. Since you had already earned the proprietor’s trust and were managing all the household finances and silver, you might as well skim off what you could — there was no point entertaining such tiresome notions as soaring side by side with the proprietor or blooming together like twin lotus flowers.

A new concubine entering the household was simply a new shop assistant joining the business. There was no logic in a head shopkeeper growing haggard and unable to live the moment a new assistant arrived.

And so, the mind of Shopkeeper Chu gradually filled with the ordinary trifles of daily life — she would need to rise early tomorrow for the birthday banquet hosted by the Governor’s wife.

All the women of standing in the prefecture would be there, so she ought to think of bringing a few extra gift boxes of food as a contribution, and take the opportunity to promote the tavern she was about to open.

Additionally, the official salt license she had handed over to Xia He’s elder brother to operate was nearly due for renewal. It was a license she had quietly obtained back when she was still a young woman, by taking advantage of her involvement in Chu Huaisheng’s business. With it, she could clear customs — hire a few boats to carry salt back and forth to the northern territories, and it would be a source of income.

Originally, mindful of the fact that Zhou Sui’an had entered officialdom, and yet unwilling to give up a license she had worked hard to obtain, she had transferred it to Xia He’s brother to operate, using the proceeds to offset expenses.

The license was due to expire this year. She had originally planned not to renew it, but now — she wanted to keep it going.

This business was something even Zhou Sui’an knew nothing of. Thinking back now, a person always had to keep some means of retreat…

When her body at last grew warm, the long-awaited drowsiness finally arrived. The second half of the night, which she had expected to pass sleeplessly, saw Chu Linlang sink into deep and soundly satisfied sleep.

In the morning, Chu Linlang still failed to rise early. Perhaps it was from indulging in the cold the night before — when she woke, she had a severe headache, and she was too lethargic even to reach out and take the tea the new concubine had come to offer her.

Beside her, mother-in-law Zhao Shi looked even more haggard than Chu Linlang, with two dense dark circles hanging beneath her eyes. She had been fighting so hard against her daughter-in-law Madam Chu that she had been constantly braced for some masterful countermove. Once young Miss Hu was brought into the household, Zhao Shi had remained on high alert, waiting for Chu Linlang to make her move.

But the blow she dreaded kept not falling — and that itself was a torment!

The night before, besides arranging for a matron to escort her son to the young concubine’s room and stand guard at the door, she had also slept in her clothes, ready to charge out at any moment and stop Madam Chu from coming to cause a scene.

She had endured like this through the night, and every time she heard a sound from the courtyard, she would climb out of bed and open the door to peer out. In the end, she had made herself so anxious she had not slept a wink.

At her age, she truly could not bear it.

But now Zhao Shi at last had the feeling of clouds parting to reveal a bright moon — she could not help letting out a cold snort: “Gui Niang poured you tea — why didn’t you take it?”

Only then did Chu Linlang look up at the timid young concubine kneeling below.

No wonder she had caught Zhao Shi’s eye — this delicately fragile and pitiable manner of hers was rather similar to the young Miss Yin’s, with something of the weeping willow at a lakeside about both of them, soft and yielding.

It seemed her mother-in-law was convinced her son favored the bookish, gentle sort of delicate young woman, and so her second search had turned up the same type.

Chu Linlang observed the new concubine for a few moments, then reached out and took the tea. Her throat was parched and aching, so she tipped it back and drank it all down in several long gulps.

Gui Niang was left rather dumbfounded — was this not the kind of courtesy tea meant to be sipped in just one small mouthful? How had the First Mistress Chu just guzzled the whole cup like water?

Zhao Shi, watching from the side, felt as though what her daughter-in-law had drunk was not tea, but a towering vat of vinegar.

She had finally managed to take charge and get a concubine for her son, pressing Chu Linlang down at last — and she felt satisfied at heart. In an uncharacteristically conciliatory tone, she said: “All right, I know you feel aggrieved inside. But Sui’an has indulged you all these years — as the official wife, you need to have some magnanimity. Our household is small, and there is no room for the kind of disgraceful business where a jealous wife persecutes a good concubine.”

The young concubine kneeling below, hearing this, hunched her neck inward with grievance.

She had only learned when she was about to enter the household that the First Mistress Zhou was given to jealousy and had once driven away a girl the mother-in-law had taken a liking to.

But now, having gotten a clear look at the First Mistress, Hu Shi felt a twinge of inadequacy: how could there be such a beautiful woman? Jet-black hair, skin white as snow, delicately arched brows — and those eyes most of all, bright and vivid in a way that seemed almost to compel…

If she had not been unable to bear children, a village girl like her would hardly have had a turn at all…

Chu Linlang glanced at the angle of the sun outside the window, feeling she could not afford to linger any longer. She responded to her mother-in-law in a perfunctory manner, then had Xia He bring out a pair of silver bracelets as a gift for Gui Niang, went through the proper motions, and then took her leave.

By the time she arrived at the Governor’s inner household, she was the only one to arrive fashionably late. Lin Niangzi led the teasing, laughing and insisting that Madam Chu be penalized with a drink.

This was also the first time the official wives of Lianzhou had gathered together for wine since the incident in which Zhang Xian and Zhou Sui’an had come to blows.

Yet the two families’ wives, who ought to have been at daggers drawn, appeared very much like sisters who had known each other for years — which genuinely surprised a number of the official wives who were not privy to what had transpired.