Manager Qian shook his head with a sigh. “It is none other than the Chu family’s second young lady who has returned home! Somehow she heard about the Zhou family’s affairs through an acquaintance in the capital and took the opportunity of a visit to her parents’ home to tell Master Chu. Once he learned of it, he sent people to audit the accounts here. He had originally sent someone to take over my position as well. But I told them that I was hired by you, the eldest young lady, and therefore without your word, I would hand over no accounts and go nowhere. If he insisted on dismissing me, he was welcome to bring the property deed to the shop and sort it out in front of the magistrate’s office. He backed down when he heard that — but he forcibly took the shop’s cash box, which had more than eighty taels of silver and banknotes in it. He also said he had already sent someone to the capital to bring you back. When you returned, he would have the shop’s contracts changed, and then the shop would pass into your elder brother’s hands. A thorough piece of outrageous bullying! He is your father, after all — I could hardly report him to the authorities. Fortunately, you have come back. Otherwise I would still owe payment to suppliers, and without getting that money back, the debt collectors would soon be—”

Chu Linlang listened, and her fists clenched tight. She let out a cold laugh.

Her father truly had an abacus where his brain should be — calculating with remarkable speed.

He had figured out that now that she and Zhou Sui’an had separated, she had no backer, and he was planning to seize her two shops first, then hold her here and interrogate her over all her supposed wrongs!

Regarding Chu Huaisheng’s reaction once he learned of the separation, Chu Linlang had anticipated it long ago — but she had never imagined he would move so quickly to take over her shops. It seemed she had still underestimated—

But the one who had suffered the most from Chu Huaisheng’s fury was undoubtedly her mother.

Chu Linlang had originally planned to slip in and see Sun Shi quietly, but that was clearly no longer possible. If she did not show herself, her mother would likely endure even greater suffering at Chu Huaisheng’s hands.

Thinking of this, she had no further interest in looking at account books. She spent some more time asking the manager about details—

Meanwhile, back at the Chu household, it was now dinnertime.

With the second daughter, Chu Jinyu, home for a visit, the dinner table was slightly livelier than usual.

However, the Chu family son, Chu Renfeng, characteristically did not eat at home, off to who-knows-where again—

For the past several days, Chu Huaisheng had been in a foul mood. He had heard that Chu Linlang had shown considerable nerve — going ahead with the separation entirely on her own initiative, without so much as consulting her family — and the fury had him trembling.

Zhou Sui’an’s career was flourishing. Among all the impoverished scholars in the world who managed to pass the examinations by sheer luck, how many could rise to a position in the capital’s Ministry of Finance in just a few short years?

A man having several wives and concubines was perfectly normal! Had the wretched girl not been so jealous, so unable to bear children, so stubbornly reluctant to allow her husband to take a concubine all this time — why would Zhou Sui’an have ever gone looking elsewhere?

Unable to bear children herself, she ought to have endured it quietly and obediently. And yet she had gone ahead and separated from that Zhou man—!

Did she fancy herself an untouched maiden? Set free like this, did she think someone would scramble to want her?

His son Chu Renfeng, upon hearing that his half-sister had separated, slapped his knee and announced that a salt commissioner he had recently gotten to know was looking for a concubine — the man had a taste for worldly-wise, experienced women.

If Linlang were sent to him, it would make future dealings over salt tax exemptions considerably more convenient.

After all, the man was lecherous but not short of children or heirs, and Linlang’s looks were just right — enough to dazzle a man’s eyes. That was surely better than being impossible to marry off.

Chu Huaisheng thought there was some logic in this. But knowing that third daughter’s temperament, as the whole family did — if she were made to remarry as a concubine, she would surely kick up a fuss.

So the matter of remarriage or no could wait to be settled later. The first order of business was to get her back.

As luck would have it, his second son-in-law, Zheng Biao, had received an official assignment to travel to the capital on business. So Chu Huaisheng had him make haste to bring the girl back — to haul this disgraceful creature back from the capital and deal with her then.

He also spent time at home railing at his eldest daughter, Chu Jinyin, for concealing the matter and saying nothing to the family — letting Chu Linlang, that wretched girl, make a spectacle of herself out there in public.

The elder Madam naturally had a few words to say in defense of her eldest daughter. One sharp word leading to another, the husband and wife were soon in a full-blown quarrel.

Listening to her parents taking turns abusing eldest sister and third sister, the second young lady, Chu Jinyu, felt quite content.

Chu Jinyu had made what was arguably the worst match among the three Chu sisters. Her husband, while respectable in public, became a man who liked to beat his wife after a few drinks of rice wine.

This had given the perpetually competitive and proud Chu Jinyu a persistent sense of inferiority among her sisters.

But what goes around comes around. Now she could watch as her eldest brother-in-law lost money in business, nearly ruining her eldest sister’s dowry, while Chu Linlang had been ignominiously cast out by her husband.

Among the three sisters, it appeared she had actually made the best match!

Thinking of this, she could not help but contentedly pour herself a cup of wine and drink it with great satisfaction.

Seeing his second daughter helping herself to wine in leisurely self-satisfaction, Chu Huaisheng said irritably, “I asked your husband to go and bring someone back — why is there still no word?”

Chu Jinyu’s husband, Zheng Biao, had originally been a patrol officer in the naval garrison and had recently been promoted to Head of the Naval Garrison, with some fifty or so men under his command.

Among the three sons-in-law in the family, only this second one could stand squarely before her father and speak.

Since Zheng Biao was a military man who threw punches at the slightest provocation, this gave Chu Jinyu a slightly firmer footing when speaking in her father’s presence.

Having heard her father complaining that her husband was too slow, Chu Jinyu said unhurriedly: “My husband is on official duty; he can only look for third sister in his spare time. How could he deploy military vessels specifically to chase down one divorced woman? Besides, what good does it do for third sister to come back sooner? She has already been turned out by the Zhou family — scolding her will not change anything. That reckless girl really has some nerve! I don’t know if it was that concubine Sun who put ideas in her head — she had the audacity to handle something this big without consulting father and mother at all.”

Having said this, Chu Jinyu glanced, deliberately yet casually, at the woman standing in attendance beside the dinner table, softly coughing from time to time.

Sun Fu, as a concubine, was not permitted at the dinner table and was standing to one side. Some days ago she had been washing clothing for the elder Madam near the water and had been caught in the night wind, and for the past few days had been coughing softly.

Chu Huaisheng, provoked to fury by his second daughter’s few words, seized a soup bowl and hurled it at Sun Shi’s head: “Cough, cough, cough! We’re trying to eat dinner as a family, and all I hear is your coughing! Look at the worthless creature you gave birth to! What was I thinking, the day I bought you, you stupid thing!”

The soup in the bowl was scalding hot. The burn made Sun Shi flinch violently, and she let out a muffled cry of pain.

But Chu Huaisheng’s fury was still unspent. He actually reached for the soup pot on the table and moved to hurl that at Sun Shi as well.

It was at precisely that moment that a voice rang out loudly from beyond the hall: “Stop!”

Immediately afterward, an embroidered slipper came flying in and struck Chu Huaisheng square in the face.

The blow caught him squarely. The soup pot he had been lifting tilted sideways, and the scalding liquid splashed directly onto his neck, burning him badly enough that he let out a string of yelps and hurriedly set the pot down.

Everyone looked up. There in the doorway stood a brilliantly beautiful young woman in a silk pink skirt, her hair piled high and pinned with a pearl hairpin, striding in with her attendants and maids, her expression full of fury.

Sun Fu’s lips trembled as she cried out, voice cracked with grief: “Linlang — were you brought back?”

These past days, Chu Huaisheng had done nothing but drink and curse without cease at home. Added to his frustration over the blocked takeover of Linlang’s shops, he had grown worse than ever, itching to pin the third daughter down and give her a thrashing. But since Chu Linlang had not returned, he had been taking it all out on Sun Fu.

Seeing Chu Linlang appear so suddenly, Sun Fu assumed she had been dragged back by the second son-in-law. Thinking of what lay ahead for her daughter, her vision went dark, and she sank softly to her knees on the floor.

As it turned out, when Chu Linlang had knocked at the door just now, the gatekeeper had recognized the third young lady and, without even announcing her, had simply opened the gate and let her in.

By the time Chu Linlang had walked to the threshold of the main hall and been about to enter, she had seen Chu Huaisheng at the height of his fury, flinging the hot soup at her mother’s face.

There had been no time to rush over and shield her. Watching as Chu Huaisheng moved to throw more soup at her mother, Chu Linlang had simply yanked off one of her embroidered slippers and flung it with full force directly into her father’s face.

When she stepped over the threshold into the hall, she had only one slipper on her foot, but her bearing as she walked in was so formidable that it made people hesitate to look at her directly.

In her days at the Zhou household, Linlang had worried constantly over their livelihood, and inevitably grown somewhat thin and wan.

But after living with Situ Sheng for so long, she had had almost nothing to worry about beyond preparing three meals a day in the beginning, and her figure had filled out slightly, her skin growing more delicately fair.

Furthermore, Linlang had attended the finest women’s academy in the capital, studying the everyday etiquette of noble ladies — flower arrangement, the tea ceremony — and had been cultivated alongside true great-family daughters like Tao Yashu. Every aspect of her — from her makeup and grooming to her bearing and composure — had undergone a profound transformation.

She herself may not even have noticed these changes, but to the people of her old home who had not seen her in so long, the sudden sight of her produced a disorienting feeling, as if an entirely different person had appeared before them.

Even Chu Huaisheng, who had just been struck across the face with the sole of a slipper, only came to his senses once this magnificently arresting young woman had walked straight up to him — finally recognizing that the imposing, refined figure advancing toward him was his own good-for-nothing daughter.

Chu Jinyu was also momentarily dazzled by Linlang’s brilliant appearance.

She had been jealous of Linlang’s beauty since childhood. The consolation had been that this girl was illegitimate, and therefore wore and used things of lesser quality than she, the legitimate daughter — which had always given Chu Jinyu a sense of superiority in Linlang’s presence.

But in the matter of marriage, what had been a world of difference between the two sisters had now completely reversed itself.

Chu Linlang, who had originally eloped and married a penniless scholar, had seen her life grow steadily better, eventually becoming a proper official’s wife.

Whereas her own husband Zheng Biao had remained a minor naval military officer all along, with nothing like Zhou Sui’an’s rate of advancement in his career.

And Zheng Biao had a bad habit when drunk — every time he came home after a few cups, he would smash things and curse the entire household. It was a constant misery, and to make it worse, he was stingy, kept a tight grip on the household money, and would not allow her to purchase even a new set of clothes or accessories.

Chu Jinyu had long been simmering with resentment over Chu Linlang’s superior marriage.

And then, thankfully, Chu Linlang had been cast off by Zhou Sui’an and become a pitiable divorced woman. This had allowed Chu Jinyu to gloat for quite some time, and had enabled her to eat an extra bowl at every meal.

But who could have expected that third sister would not, after her failed marriage, become gaunt and forlorn?

The things she wore, the accessories on her head — they were all in the most fashionable styles of the capital, beautiful in a way that transcended the ordinary, refined and elegant, enough to make one’s eyes sting with envy.

Remembering that Chu Linlang had struck her father across the face with the sole of a slipper, Chu Jinyu grew indignant and said sharply, “Have you gone mad?! How dare you treat Father like that!”

Chu Huaisheng, reminded by his second daughter, now saw clearly that the embroidered slipper had come from Chu Linlang. His fury surged and he grabbed the slipper and hurled it back at Chu Linlang with full force.

But Dongxue caught it neatly in one hand and called out loudly: “What of it? Do you really think you can bully our eldest young lady’s mother just because there are more of you?”

Chu Jinyu found this form of address grating and arched an eyebrow: “Oh, listen to that — ‘eldest young lady,’ is it? A concubine-born daughter of the Chu family — being called ‘third young lady’ is already giving her face! ‘Eldest young lady’? Putting on airs like she’s a legitimate daughter, deceiving people into thinking she has no elder sister?”

“Where is the Chu family’s monthly stipend only a few qian of silver? How would these servants know how to behave properly?”

“The account — how did you work it out?”

“So before she came, she also ran to the county magistrate’s office. By the time it happens, the person—”

“Wretched girl — where did she hire those armed escorts? She came home deliberately to cause a scene!”

“I am not a maidservant bought by your Chu family! Our young lady’s mother gave birth to only one—”

“If someone is injured or crippled, the law provides for a reduction of two degrees in sentencing — even that is governed by law!”

—the hand had gripped her wrist like iron pincers.

He wanted to bypass words entirely and raise his hand to slap Chu Linlang across the face, then have her bound—

“How much silver has he stuffed into this man’s pockets, to make him take sides so blatantly?”

Seeing Chu Huaisheng about to open his mouth again to pour out the usual speech of “I raised you and gave birth to you,” Chu Linlang—

Chu Linlang counted the sum, confirmed that the silver and the banknotes were all there, then expressed her thanks—

Chu Linlang had never been one to seek out trouble, but when trouble came looking for her, she was never one to dodge it either.

“So the Chu family has gotten capable enough to provoke deaths now? Even if it is your own concubine—”

“Even counting yourself as Chu Niangzi’s father, going to someone else’s shop and taking without asking is still theft—”

—and shielded herself in front of Chu Niangzi.

Seeing Chu Huaisheng nod, the county magistrate’s assistant spoke with meaningful gravity: “Your family’s third young lady—”

—a small maidservant.

“—have a look at the burns, and not disturb your dinner any further.”

Chu Huaisheng had not even registered what was happening before feeling a snap of bone-breaking pain in his hand, letting out a sharp yelp—

—and gestured with her eyes, indicating that she should include a tip for the official’s trouble.

The moment money was mentioned, Chu Huaisheng’s attention shifted immediately: “You wretched girl—”

Chu Huaisheng slammed the table: “Insolence! Come — seize this unfilial wretch and the people she brought—”

Chu Huaisheng, now treating the county magistrate’s assistant as one of his own, made no effort to be restrained and began airing his family’s dirty laundry—

—had never performed it before!

—flouting the law?

Seven taels? Just a few broken boxes and old quilts — yet what you took from my shop was—

You have no need to worry about the person. However, she incited her vicious servants to assault her father, which is a crime of the utmost gravity—

The two young servants in front suddenly felt the air rush past their scalps, reached up to touch it, and discovered that their own—

Oh? Chu Huaisheng was baffled now.

—disappearing from sight.

Chu Huaisheng had no patience for this either and was too lazy to waste words—

—carrying an aura of a demon from the underworld, every pore seeming soaked in blood. The old man had not even needed to speak — merely a slight widening of the eyes buried within those creased folds of skin was enough to make people—

—tremble.

By the time he looked up again, Chu Linlang had already led her people out the door and into the carriage.

—just separated from her husband. I am afraid she will do something out in the world to disgrace the family, so I—

—in his line of sight; he looked over from a distance but could not make out anything.

Taking without asking is theft!

—going to drag cats and dogs with some vague family connection into my household to throw their weight around?

—the whole family!

—Sui Qiye pressing his blade to that man’s throat was quite sufficient.

—has no face to keep a divorced woman here; we will arrange a match for you presently and have you sent far away!

—and hurled it hard to the ground, finally silencing Chu Huaisheng’s torrent of abuse.

—did not even need to speak; a slight, barely perceptible narrowing of those eyes buried in weathered creases was enough to make a person feel—

—pressed down beneath it.

—had this really happened?

—come with me to the magistrate’s office, where we will complete the deed transfer and hand these two shops over to your elder brother—

—so both banks of the river and official roads had been lined with tall screens of blue cloth, blocking people’s view—

—became classmates with the daughters of Duke Yingguo and the Prince’s daughters.

Yet when the silver packet was about to be pressed into the county magistrate’s hand, the magistrate, ordinarily so practiced in accepting such gifts—

Sui Qiye withdrew, stepping back one pace.

He was at a loss as to how to continue from there.

But today Chu Linlang’s father had encountered something of an ill-fated star. That hand had not yet come down before it was seized in an iron grip by a lean, dark old man standing beside Chu Linlang.

Yet the elder Madam read the situation well; seeing that the county magistrate’s assistant was about to press Chu Huaisheng further toward the magistrate’s hall—

The county magistrate’s assistant seemed to be in a poor mood today and, without waiting for his old drinking friend to finish speaking, said—

—’I have accepted your daughter’s report of a crime, yet you want me to take your silver in return — is that not corruption and bribery—’

—her temperament.

“You—” Chu Jinyu had never encountered a maidservant with such a sharp tongue. She was so furious for a moment—

—out of the Chu household.

Oh? Chu Huaisheng was baffled again. This performance of the upright magistrate — the county magistrate’s assistant—

—the Zhou family could not keep her, and you cannot take her from them— You might as well give me the silver—

Looking again at Chu Huaisheng’s fat wrist, it had already reddened in a full ring and continued to throb with pain—

Oh? Chu Huaisheng was stunned again, finally beginning to sense that the county magistrate’s assistant’s tone had shifted, and—

—had frequently shared meals and drink together in the past.

—the dowry was returned — so that dowry and those shops should naturally come back to my Chu family! Tomorrow you—

—please summon the constables and arrest these vicious servants!

—dropped to one knee at the side of the dinner table in pain, pounding the ground with one hand!

Then they backed away in fright, and told Chu Huaisheng: “The old— the old master—”

Chu Linlang had anticipated all of these reactions from Chu Huaisheng. If it had simply been a matter of asking for money, she could have let—

—you see my wrist — and these vicious servants—

He stood there in silence before them, and the servants who had come rushing over could only stare—

—and would not dare advance.

“What a calamity for the family! I have given birth to such an unfilial daughter — she said nothing to me, not a word—”

Chu Huaisheng glared helplessly, then turned and asked the county magistrate’s assistant just how much silver this girl had stuffed into his pockets—

Chu Linlang tenderly wiped the hot oily broth from her mother’s face and said coolly—

Chu Huaisheng, being an old acquaintance with the county magistrate on account of business dealings—

—had come together with these noble young ladies on a government vessel.

—a few inches lower, and would that not have been a cut to the throat or across the nose? Truly a body refined by—

So he hastily came forward to greet him, pointing at Sui Qiye and saying: “County Magistrate, you have come at exactly the right time—”

—and then those eyes flashed with lightning speed, and the next moment—

—looking at what he held—

The old man stood behind Chu Linlang, his eyelids lowered as usual, his back stooped, appearing for all the world like a half-dead, harmless, wiry old man—

“—come here! I have received your daughter’s report of a crime, yet if I take your silver, am I not guilty of corruption and bribery?”

The county magistrate’s assistant was too impatient to waste more words on him and simply laid out the entire matter plainly in one stroke, saying—

Chu Linlang was not fond of listening to his foul invective. She reached out, picked up a teacup, and smashed it to the ground with a resounding crack—

Chu Huaisheng of course knew that a vast and imposing fleet of ships had arrived at the river port, with the naval fleet as escort — word was it was a renowned women’s academy from the capital—

When Chu Huaisheng pointed at Sui Qiye, the throwing knife that had been spinning in the old man’s hand had somehow already vanished without a trace—

—the head’s dowry was not the same as my Chu family’s? When you married out, I gave you a supplementary dowry. You—

—striding through the gate and into the courtyard with measured, unhurried steps.

“Now listen clearly — I am not a maidservant your Chu family bought with silver! Our young lady’s mother only gave birth to one daughter—”

—the fleet that had come into port — had you seen it as well?

Sui Qiye had climbed out of piles of corpses on the battlefield, weathered by long years of hardship, carrying with him an aura—

—and had not dared to step forward.

—”you have gone mad! Tell that old wretch to stand down!”

But when Sui Qiye made a slight flicker of movement with his hand, it was enough to send Chu Huaisheng ducking and throwing his arms over his head in panic—

Yet her purpose in coming today had not been about the money at all — it was her mother, Sun Shi.

—these vicious servants she brought!

—suddenly assumed an expression of fierce and righteous indignation, gave a sharp flick of his hand, and said: “Chu Huaisheng! What do you mean by this—”

—to block the way.

—and kept wagging his finger angrily at the elder Madam nearby: “Mother, just look at what kind of vicious servants third sister has raised—”

—it ought to be collected back as dowry, so she can stay home and properly reflect on her behavior. These are all family matters, and it is only right—

—”Such misfortune for this family! I have produced such an unfilial daughter. She went without a word and—”

Chu Huaisheng was so furious he could only glare, then turned to ask the county magistrate’s assistant how much silver this girl had given him—

Chu Linlang asked her stepmother for the silver — she knew that the household money was managed by the elder Madam, so she went straight to her—

She was her own household, her own registered residence — if they were not to call her the eldest young lady, what should they call her? Were they to—

—then said: “Seventh Master, let him go.”

The Chu family’s monthly stipend was only a few qian of silver — could these servants not be expected to understand propriety?

But when the packet of silver was about to be pressed into the county magistrate’s hand, that official who ordinarily accepted such things without hesitation—

Linlang impatiently gave a wave of her hand: “Out of a father’s house into a husband’s, and on separation by one’s own right — there is no need for me to explain this principle at length. My two shops were both earned through my own efforts after I married. As for the matter of dowry—”

—and it was not she but the elder Madam who had concealed the whole affair, claiming third sister had been caught stealing her things. The kind who has been greedy their whole life would surely find a way to get their hands on the deed if they could not talk her mother into it—

The elder Madam was showered with blood, so much so she could barely open her eyes, as it dripped and streamed down her face.

—just happened to coincide with the opening of the women’s academy, and the Sacrificial Wine Official granted her permission to sit the entrance examination. Who could have expected that she gave it a try and actually passed.

The elder Madam let out a cold laugh and rebuked the second daughter, saying that a concubine of the Chu family had no grounds to leave the household to convalesce.

The elder Madam, having been firmly warned by the county magistrate’s assistant that day, now understood the extent of Chu Linlang’s connections and social reach. Moreover, after the massive brawl at home that evening, the second son-in-law had spoken up with his own grievances and given firm orders to both mother and daughter — they were not to be as rash as the father-in-law, not to offend Chu Linlang and her noble connections, and not to ruin his prospects.

As long as Sun Shi remained in the Chu household, the third daughter would not dare to be disobedient!

Otherwise, just as she had done when she was married to Zhou Sui’an, she would always find ways to avoid the family’s affairs, never allowing anyone to benefit from her connections. What kind of behavior was that?

And they even appreciated her calligraphy? Could it be that the Sacrificial Wine Official’s household was haunted by ghosts, and they needed the two brushstrokes written by the third girl to ward off evil spirits?

Sun Shi rinsed her mouth and still looked somewhat worried, asking: “Can the deed of ownership really be recovered?”

But then Chu Jinyu thought about how Sun Shi had indeed been coughing softly from time to time these past few days, and her expression immediately changed.

The elder Madam heard and stared hard at the second daughter. The master had given instructions before he left — no matter what tricks this Chu Linlang attempted, she was absolutely not to be allowed to take Sun Shi away.

Chu Linlang gave a slight smile: “We women simply cannot manage without money in hand. If second elder sister could help me obtain Sun Niangzi’s deed of ownership and allow her to spend what little time she has left in freedom and ease, my gratitude to second elder sister would be boundless, and there would be further thanks to follow.”

But even as Chu Linlang spoke all of this with a perfectly straight face, her words ring with conviction, and she did not appear to be lying at all. After all, she was indeed now a student at the city’s most prestigious women’s academy, in close and familiar terms with daughters of dukes — all of it confirmed as fact by the county magistrate’s assistant himself.

This daughter of hers — truly a belly full of scheming minds!

This one spectacular spew perfectly compensated for Sun Shi’s clumsy acting.

One old concubine who did not have long to live — when better to wring something out of it? If father came back, this silver would not fall into her hands!

“Surely not — I always thought she looked quite healthy!”

Looking at the old hairpin on her head, the same one she had worn on her wedding day, Chu Linlang knew exactly what would most effectively win over second elder sister.

Chu Linlang, while the elder Madam was washing her face, pulled second elder sister aside for a bit of sisterly “private talk.”

Thinking of this, Chu Jinyu cleanly pocketed the banknote and agreed without hesitation.

In the tea house, amid the gentle, lilting strains of a Suzhou-style song, the elder Madam of the Chu family ventured cautiously to ask Linlang how she had managed to gain entry into the Ronglin Women’s Academy, which was filled exclusively with noble young ladies.

As for the matter of Linlang wishing to take Sun Niangzi away — that would require going home to discuss it with her mother before a decision could be made.

After that, if these managers and shop assistants were willing to follow her to the capital, they were welcome to come. If not, she would give each of them a generous severance settlement.

Everyone said that consumption was contagious, and her two children had both been brought along to her parents’ home. If they caught the illness from the consumption patient, what then?

Chu Jinyu sneaked a glance at the amount on the banknote — it was enough to make her eyes burn.

The elder Madam, convinced she was putting on an act, sat down at the bedside and, putting on a show of gentle warmth, called out to her — only to have Sun Fu suddenly snap her eyes open, and then fall into a fit of coughing she could not suppress. She had just managed to press her lips together and muffle the sound into two stifled coughs when her mouth suddenly flew open, and she erupted into a cascade of blood droplets that sprayed all over the elder Madam’s face.

She knew that the family business followed a custom of beginning the account audits at the first of the month, when Chu Huaisheng would personally go to the neighboring town to inspect the accounts.

That remark caused the second elder sister, Chu Jinyu, who knew full well what Chu Linlang was actually worth, to inadvertently laugh out loud.

The previous day, Linlang had gone to a fishmonger and obtained a fish’s swim bladder, then filled it with fresh blood drawn from a rooster purchased for the purpose.

The elder Madam was stumped. A minor cough like this — why spend money calling a doctor? Still, she could no longer flatly say that Sun Niangzi had been in good health all along.

This second elder sister, when she was small, used to frequently steal copper coins from the elder Madam’s money box to buy sweets.

The strong, heavy smell of blood hit them full in the face — there was no escaping it.

When it came to waving a banner of authority, Chu Linlang was absolutely unrestrained in the moment, and simply smiled as she casually fabricated the story.

These past years, what Chu Niangzi was capable of — they had all seen it with their own eyes. In terms of business acumen alone, even measured against men, Chu Niangzi was a cut above.

This second elder sister of hers had not made a good marriage and was kept on a very tight leash by her husband — she could not even manage her own dowry herself.

Chu Linlang dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief steeped in chili oil, and the tears came readily.

Over the past few days she had, guided by the manager, met with several buyers in turn. After comparing prices, Chu Linlang had signed the contracts with the buyer who offered the highest price, and exchanged banknotes.

Watching second elder sister leave, Chu Linlang turned back inside with a cold smile and went upstairs, returning to her mother’s room.

Hearing this, Chu Jinyu quickly said: “That is wonderful — with her own daughter there to care for her, my mother can rest easy—”

So, taking advantage of the fact that Chu Huaisheng was away from home, she sent word and invited the elder Madam of the Chu family and second elder sister to come out for tea.

“Elder Madam, I will speak plainly — I noticed that Sun Niangzi has been coughing quite badly in recent days, so I took her to see a doctor. The doctor said — Niangzi has — she has contracted consumption!”

Chu Linlang turned to Chu Jinyu and said quietly: “Among everyone in this household, it is only second elder sister whose heart is genuinely good and knows how to show compassion. If you can persuade the elder Madam to allow my mother a peaceful place to recuperate, I will certainly not forget to thank you generously—”

As for the Chu family, beyond two visits from a young servant urging Sun Shi to hurry home, there had been no other disturbances. Chu Linlang guessed that the county magistrate’s assistant had probably had a word with her father, which was what had kept him quiet for the past few days.

So Chu Jinyu, having laughed alone with no one to join her, found herself on the receiving end of Chu Linlang’s cool, composed gaze. She could only draw her laughter back with an awkward smile.

Sun Shi’s acting had been somewhat lacking, but when she bit down on the swim bladder she had fallen into a real fit of coughing, and all the blood in her mouth sprayed out in one go.

As she said this, she pressed a banknote into Chu Jinyu’s hand.

Linlang indicated that she actually had no desire to take her mother away either — after all, as a divorced woman on her own, life was already difficult enough, and if the family was not bothered by the inconvenience, she could also reluctantly agree to send her mother back.

“Elder Madam — don’t open your mouth, don’t exhale! The doctor said the blood from my mother’s illness is full of toxic poison — it can spread the disease to others!”

She described in vivid, colorful detail how, when she had been working as a household manager for a capital official, she had gone to offer birthday congratulations to the Sacrificial Wine Official Qi Gong, and unexpectedly, a few brushstrokes of her own calligraphy had caught the old man’s eye, and he had remarked that it would be a shame for someone like her not to pursue her studies.

Her eyes were tightly shut, but the eyelids were twitching rapidly — clearly she was not actually asleep.

No longer concerned with bringing Sun Shi home, the elder Madam thought only of rushing home to bathe and change her clothes.

Chu Linlang lifted her eyes and looked steadily at the elder Madam. “Oh? In good health, you say? Sun Niangzi told me she has been coughing for many days now — and had you brought a doctor to examine her during that time?”

The elder Madam, upon entering the room, was met immediately by a heavy smell of medicine. When she reached the bedside — there was Sun Shi, who had been perfectly fine just a few days ago, but whose complexion had now turned even more waxen and sallow than before.

The matter of the shops had already attracted inquiries from buyers well in advance.

The bloody spectacle was like something out of a slaughterhouse — it frightened the second elder sister, Chu Jinyu, into letting out a wail of terror.

—